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 Multi Complete 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