Hello!
I did a sort of half-introduction in another thread, so I'll do a proper one here. I'm a 37-year old LEO in conservation enforcement on the west coast of the USA. My usual patrol area is somewhat flat, but I occasionally work in a more mountainous area. I had a fitness wake-up call last year, where I needed to ruck a 40 lbs bag of medical equipment to an injured hiker. It was a relatively short but steep hike, and I was gasping by the time I got to where I needed to be.
I tried Simple & Sinister after that, but it wasn't getting me to where I needed to be. So, I'm now entering week 6 of Base Building, alternating barbell work with the Grey Skull LP program with LSS jogging, between 30 - 50 minutes worth. I've never done any sort of real strength training before, so after a bit of a false start, I started at the bar and added weight from there. I've done Couch to 5k before, so I was able to build up my LSS faster. I've never been good at SE work, mostly because my strength isn't that great. We'll see how Weeks 6-8 go. I'm just finishing a rest week, due to Metatarsalgia in both feet. Turns out that running on pavement in shoes designed for dirt trails isn't a great idea.
My basic goal is to be able to do all functions of my job without being limited by my fitness level, and to be able to do hard physical things for fun in my off-time. Since that's sort of vague, I refined it to the following:
Deadlift = 2x bodyweight
Bench = 1.25x bodyweight
Low Back Squat = 1.5x bodyweight
Weighted Chinup = total 1.25x bodyweight, including me + weights
1.5 mile run = 9 minutes
Ability to run 1/2 marathon in good order (jog continuously, end feeling tired but not destroyed)
Right now my lifting numbers are nowhere near that. I can currently slowly jog about 10k and not feel completely destroyed, though when I did a timed 1.5 mile run early last year it was about 14 minutes. After I complete the BB block, I'll shift into Operator/Black:Professional. I'll keep with the GSLP 3/week until I plateau on the LP, then switch to the lifting program out of TBI. The 2x HIC/week will be a mix of 600m resets, Apex Hills, and the occasional kettlebell cluster. The 6th-day E session will be a mix of tempo runs, bicycling, and the occasional fun run. Once my strength numbers are about where I want them to be, I'll shift to Fighter/Green, and start focusing on the running speed and endurance. Hopefully, the combination of increased muscle mass and 3x/week cardio sessions during the OP blocks will shave enough off my frame to make the running goals easier to hit. I'll be doing Intermittent Fasting (16:8) to control caloric intake, unless that starts impacting my training.
Ideally, I'll hit my goals by the end of 2020. We'll see how it goes. I've got a training log
here, if you're interested.
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." - Will Durant, The Story of Philosophy
