by Ed Arntson - US Army Ranger

After a spotty month of training in November and first half of December, I’m happy to report that I’m taking my own counsel and I have been training consistently for the last 5+ weeks and seeing real results, especially with respect to my running.

I have been focusing on my running over the last few months after treating it as an economy of force portion of my fitness regimen for the last few years. I intend to continue on with it, focusing on my running from a macro perspective for the next 10-12 weeks with two specific goals: Run 2 miles in under 13 minutes and run 5 miles in under 37 minutes.

My return to longer distance runs of late has been enjoyable. After having little interest in running anything over 5 miles for the last several years (seriously, at 5 miles, my interest switch turned off), I have recently decided that I like running longer distances again.

Now don’t get me wrong - you won’t see me out pounding the pavement on 15-20 mile runs in the near future, but the occasional 8-10 mile run isn’t out of the question and running a half-marathon entered into my thoughts for the first time since October 2012 (when I completed Miami 70.3).

What spurned this recent sea change you might ask? I’m not sure. I haven’t done much Olympic lifting - if any - over the last year plus, which was a staple of my training for years. While Olympic lifting and distance running aren’t mutually exclusive activities - I know that I feel much better running when I am not grinding hard in the weight room.

For the next 10-12 weeks, I will build my strength and conditioning training around my running - not the other way around. 

I’ve got goals for strength and conditioning too - starting with pull-ups. I want to do 20 pull-ups again. There’s something that feels almost elite about doing 20 pull-ups. Maybe that’s why the Marine Corps uses it as the ‘max’ for their fitness test…or maybe it’s just really hard to do 20 pull-ups and I want to get back to that level. Right now I can do 17-18 pull-ups. “You’re almost there!” you say…not so fast. The difference between executing 17 straight pull-ups and 20 is the like the difference between a 6-minute mile and a 5:30 mile…maybe it doesn’t seem like it’s that far to the goal, but when you start working towards it - it darn sure is. 

So that’s what I’ll be working on the next few months as I transition from the States to Korea. Yes - I’m heading out the door again - this time to Korea, which isn’t quite a combat zone, but also isn’t quite a resort town. As I take on the challenges of operating in Korea, I’ll also be working on the above stated fitness goals using PerfectAmino and the Complete Multi-vitamins along the way. 

I’ve been taking Perfect Amino now for just under 10 years - I think it’s about 9 now. There isn’t anything better out there on the market. Anyone I recommend it to always raves about the results they had while taking Perfect Amino, and clearly I’ve seen outstanding results while taking it. As I transition back to running longer distances, I can definitely feel the benefits of Perfect Amino. 

Take care and talk to you next month - from the Republic of Korea! 

- Ed