I got an email from one of my Ragnar Wasatch Back teammates inviting us to go on a run at Las Sendas. I wasn't sure if I was going to make it even though I wanted to because of my chronic (do you like that word?) back aches. But I decided to go, just to see everyone. Unfortunately I was late, and 'everyone' had left.
I just finished eating three over-stuffed fajitas, so I took it easy. I forgot my Garmin, but according to Map My Run I went 3.32 miles. Out and back. 174 feet ascent and descent. It felt like longer. As I was driving away I saw Marilyn, the only other teammate that showed up and her cousin. Kelli knows Marilyn. She has a picture of her on her Facebook.
This morning I ran with my boss, although I don't think he'll be my boss for long, as business is slowing down. I'm pretty sure I'll be let go soon. But this isn't the Fast Pity Burt Blog. It's the Fast Running Blog! So on to the report. I thought it was only a 4 mile jog to his house. I headed up Lindsay and got to Brown. Any Mountain View Toros in the house? I was pretty sure there was a stop light at his street which I believed to be a half mile north of Brown, but I couldn't see one for another mile. So I called him and asked him if he lived half a mile north of Brown or north of McKellips. He said half mile SOUTH of McKellips. I told him I was passing the stadium so I should be there shortly. But I never saw his street. Finally I was getting close to McKellips and I knew I didn't pass it. So I tried to call him again, but he didn't answer. I turned around and ran back to the high school. This time I knew for sure I didn't pass his street. I stopped a kid on his bike and asked if hew knew where it was. He said it was past McKellips. So now I'm about a mile and a half away and it was already ten minutes after 5am. Luckily my boss called and apologized for saying the wrong thing. He told me he would come pick me up. I was grateful because I had already gone 4.41 miles, and he wanted to run about 6. My average pace for the warm up was 9:41.
He even offered me a ride home. He likes to run a little loop which takes us into Lehi through the orange groves. He says the temperature drops 5 degrees there, but it didn't feel like it. By the way, I froze a Gatorade over night, and it had already melted completely before I was done with my warm up and the sun wasn't even up yet. Anyway, the loop only ended up being about 5.43 miles, and I wanted to get an even 10, so I kept going a little bit to reach my mini goal. Average pace 8:46.
It's been almost two months since I've done a P90X workout. So I'm starting all over. Again. But this time I'm sticking to it! I've even signed up to be a "coach" to help motivate me more. Basically that means I am working for Beachbody selling their products. If you need anything from Beachbody, whether it's their workout DVDs - P90X, Insanity, Turbofire, Body Gospel, Rev Abs, etc., or their nutritional supplements, vitamins, Shakeology, the list goes on, you can get them from me. No, I haven't lost my real job yet, but maybe this will help some.
P90X - Day 1 - Chest and Back/Ab Ripper X - I didn't sweat a whole lot until I got to the Ab Ripper X. And then I was dying. All the junk food I've eaten the last couple of weeks did not do me the good I thought they would. I just do my push-ups in reps of 5. I know that sounds weak, but it's just right for me to pace myself and not lose good form throughout the entire workout. I always do 12 reps of assisted pull-ups. That's just about right, too. As I progress, those numbers will bump up.
So it turns out that Scott W's not the only person on the blog that likes get their groove on at the local disco joint. Check out Lily's moves.
Day 2 - P90X - Plyometrics - Tony Horton calls this the mother of all P90X workouts. Funny, he called yesterday's workout, Chest and Back, the mother of all P90X workouts, too. Seriously though, this is an extreme leg workout. My hamstrings and calves are gonna hate me tomorrow.
Tracy had a pretty exciting race the other day on the runway of an airport. It was run fast or get sucked in a jet engine.
This is my favorite workout. I think because I use resistance bands, so it's probably not as hard as using dumbbells. The Ab Ripper X hurt so good. My entire body is sore. Name a part. It's sore. But it should all pay off. Somewhere inside this fat body is a musclebound airhead trying to break out.
I've done Yoga X 5 or 6 times now. Today was strange because I was still so sore from the previous three days that it was hard to do some of the moves at the beginning that used to be not so hard. But as I kept going, I pushed myself harder than I have to do the more advanced moves, and I was able to do them better than before. I guess it's not that strange, but it was different. So, all that stretching felt good. Hopefully the soreness will go away soon.
I was going to run with my Wasatch Ragnar team, but I got a phone call that nobody was going to make it. So I just ran three miles around the block at 8:30pm. It was still 99 degrees out.
Time - 28:06 (avg. pace 8:56)
Splits - 9:16, 8:42, 8:51, 1:18 for 0.15
Then at 10pm I did my P90X workout. I probably shouldn't run that close to P90X.
Well, my mileage was terrible this week, but I've been consistent on P90X. And I did ride my bike to work every day this week. So that's about 25 miles worth of riding.
Day 6 P90X - Kenpo X
This is my least favorite workout, but I'm starting to get used to it. It's a good cardio workout because you run in place on your breaks. Wow, it's late, and I have to give a talk tomorrow in sacrament meeting. Good night!
Today my wife and I gave our talks in Sacrament Meeting. She was really worried, but she did very well. Here's the beginning of my talk:
Good morning brothers and sisters. It's a pleasure to be in this ward, and it's a pleasure to be here today to give this talk. Although, since I'm new to this stake, can somebody give me a head nod and let me know if the person right behind me is the stake president? Yes? (Pull a pen from my pocket) Then I will be taking out this part of my talk, this part, can't say that..."
Day 7 P90X - X Stretch
This is just an hour's worth of stretching. It does a body good. I don't know why I don't consider this one to be my favorite.
After a week of P90X I'm starting to feel pretty good. I did 60 push-ups and 72 assisted pull-ups. My favorite part was when my 3 yo grabbed the push-up bars and started doing push-ups. My 5 and 7 yo's were working out with me, too. Abby had her chicken and shrimp going in her world famous Karen pot stirrers. AJ did Ab Ripper X with me. I felt pretty good that he couldn't keep up with me.
By popular demand, here's a video of me doing P90X. Yes, go ahead, make fun. I wouldn't post it if I didn't want to be humiliated. You can tell that one of the moves is out of sequence by the amount of sweat accumulated.
Sigh. One of these days I'll get up early enough to go on a run. Feeling pretty good about the P90X though. I ordered some of their recovery drink, so I'll see how that goes.
I just heard that Road Runner Sports in Tempe puts on a free 5k race once a month. I thought, "Free. I love free. I think I'll do that." I knew it was going to be hot, but all the more bragging rights. This morning they sent out a blast on Facebook that it would not be a race. Rather it would just be a group run due to the excessive heat advisory. That's fine by me. I'll still go because it gives me an excuse to get out the door.
I was hoping we'd still do at least 3.1 miles, but they said we were only going to do about 2. It ended up being 1.44. Pretty funny actually, but oh well. I met some cool people. Two of the Coury brothers were there, Nick and Nathan. These guys are like the Walter Brown's of Arizona. There is another brother, Jamil, that wasn't there. But all three are great runners. Only one female showed up to run. She also brought everyone home made salsa. Yum! After the run there was a clinic on Chi Running. I've heard Brent (correct me if I'm wrong) talk about this before. It was pretty interesting. Afterwards there was a raffle. There were five prizes, and only seven people hung around. I felt sorry for the two guys that didn't get anything. I won an $22 sweat visor. My wife thinks it will look girly on me, but if RivertonPaul can pull it off, I can try. I also got a free Muscle Milk. It was like my birthday. I chose banana flavor since last time I chose malt. It was good. I'm hoping the chunks were pieces of banana instead of curdled milk.
Time - 12:05 (avg. pace 8:25)
Splits - 8:35 for the first mile with 7:25 as my max speed. 3:30 for 0.44 miles with 5:54 as my max speed.
I heard about another free 5k tomorrow, so I wanted to get my P90X workout in early. So I did it before dinner. I've been doing all of them so far after dinner. Tonight I really lacked energy. I guess because I hadn't eaten yet. However, usually when I run in the morning it's on an empty stomach, and I don't feel that bad. But I toughed it out and really struggled on some of the lunges. I actually did Ab Ripper X after dinner, and didn't get to bed 'til after midnight anyway. (I'm writing this Saturday.) Good luck to everyone else racing tomorrow (today.)
2010 Sole Sports 5k (3.1 Miles) 00:23:18, Place overall: 16
Total Distance
3.10
Sole Sports is opening a new store in Scottsdale. A friend of mine works there, and let me know about a free 5k they were doing. Knowing that today is either the fourth or fifth race in the ARR summer series, I figured there wouldn't be too much competition and maybe a small turnout. Boy was I wrong.
I tried to get to bed early last night, but that didn't happen. At midnight thirty I finally stopped watching Most Shocking Videos and went to sleep. The alarm was set for 4:30, but I got up at 5am. I brushed my teeth, shaved, showered, and put some smell-ums under my armpit. I couldn't find any Body Glide, but that was fine. I don't get nipular bleeding unless I run more than 8 miles. Now I needed to hurry as I was supposed to check in at 6am. I ate a granola bar real quick and grabbed a Gleukos Performance Beverage that my wife had bought me. I figured I'd drink it on the way. It comes in this pouch with a screw-top lid. I opened the lid and promptly spilled it down the front of my shirt and on my shorts. It's so warm here though that by the time I got to Snobsdale, it was all dry.
So I'm expecting to see 20 other people, 30 tops, but there must have been at least 100. I signed my waiver and bought a $5 technical T. There were no bibs or timing chips. There were no prizes for the winners either. But there was plenty of complimentary food at the finish line and a couple of raffles.
I saw my new friend Jeff that I met Thursday night at the group run. We talked about how the cloud cover was making it cooler than the previous couple of mornings as we walked to the starting line. Then I saw Derek Detemple. I told Jeff that Derek is a fast dude.
At the starting line everyone shied away from lining up front. You know my philosophy. If people are going to be scared of the line, that's my ticket for a front row seat. Derek came up and lined up next to me. He, of course, won. Jeff came in 4th. The course went along the canal and a golf course. The rolling hills of the course were not nice. I was up front with the leaders for about a minute as it didn't seem like the pace was too terribly fast. Then Garmin told me I was running a 6:24 pace. A little too aggressive for a guy that hasn't run more than 10 miles over the last two weeks. Next Garmin made me french toast and bacon for breakfast. No, that was my wife. ChrisM's got the fancy Garmin that does that.
My first mile was 7:05. I did settle down and hoped to get faster as I went. But that didn't happen. (Funny how things never happen the way I plan.) About 3/4 mile I got chicked. She was the only female that beat me. I gave her a black eye after the race. The second mile was 7:32. I got passed by two guys here. One of them was pushing a stroller! Whatever. The third mile was 7:56. This is where most of the little rolling hills were. They weren't even that bad, but I was dying. I did pass a guy that stopped to walk. I knew everyone else was pretty far behind me so I was worried that if walker man caught his breath he might catch back up to me. The last 0.10 miles was 44 seconds. I was able to hold everyone off, but because I knew I wasn't in danger of going down a place, I just cruised in. Had I anything resembling a kick, I might have caught the guy in front of me.
I'm okay with my 16th place and time knowing I haven't put any miles in lately. It also proves that P90X is keeping me in decent running shape. Hopefully next week I can start running in the mornings. I won a free T-shirt in the raffle by virtue of having run all 4 Ragnar Del Sol relays. And while I was waiting the sweat kept dripping off me. If you thought it was bad earlier in the week, you should have hugged me now.
I wanted to run a couple of miles after I got off work. But I had to stay late. Somehow, I blame KP. Anyway I got home at almost 9pm, and decided against it. My daughter had a friend staying over, and they were watching The Spy Next Door starring Jackie Chan. So I did my workout in the bedroom. (There will be no videotaping there!) I upped my reps by 1 which basically means I did 12 more of everything this week. When I was done I could barely lift the mattress to help my wife put the sheets on.
I can thank Marathon Dreamer for getting me out this morning. We're gonna go running tomorrow, so that's another name I'll get to add to my list. But I want you guys to know that you're more than just names on a list. You're all such special people.
This morning I had the pleasure of running with another fellow blogger. We met in the parking lot of Pei Wei's and ran down Baseline to the Consolidated Canal. Then we ran north and were going to just go until we felt like it was time to turn around. But we got so close to my house that I said, "Hey, let's go to my house." So we went and got some ice cold water. Only my sister was awake. The house, of course, was a mess. I hope she forgives me. We had a great conversation, and now we know everything about each other. We're best friends. We even brushed and braided each other's hair.
Remember what I said about nipular bleeding only occuring after 8 miles? Well, that's when I'm running regularly. I sprung a couple of "leaks" this morning. I was so embarrassed that I had to take my shirt off, which of course made me even more embarrassed. Hey, I'm serious. There is nothing pleasing to the eye about a fat, pale white, hairy, shirtless guy. Just ask MD. Anyway, I say it's time for a local FRB run this Saturday. Who's in? James? Lybi? Camille? AZDesertMonsoon? RunnerJeffAZ? Uh, Bonnie? (Flagstaff isn't too far away, or for that matter Lake Havasu City.) Rhett?
The left side of this picture looks really good. The guy on the right side has a ginormous head! Look at that thing. It's like an orange on a toothpick! It's a virtual planetoid! It has it's own weather system! I'm not kidding, that boy's head is like Sputnik; spherical but quite pointy at parts! He'll be crying himself to sleep tonight, on his huge pillow.
My back is killing me. I usually feel better after doing this workout. Something about the resistance bands seems to work the muscles in the opposite direction, and they just seem to recover. We'll see if it helps my back.
Lots of stretching. Lots of losing my balance. Lots of downward dogs. Let's see. What's 90 divided by 18? 5? Yes. I'm 20% done then. I need to go on a run in the morning.
Don't you think it's strange that the Arizona monsoons are starting right when AZDesertMonsoon starts blogging again? Bonnie, I think you're on to something.
I went running running this morning with a group of FRB runners. But it was just me and Marathon Dreamer again. Everyone else couldn't make it. We ran the same route as last time, Pei Wei's to my house and back. Abby was sleeping on the couch but woke up when I got ice out of the ice maker. Kim enjoyed talking to her while I emptied my bowels and changed my shirt. My Garmin must not have been on the charger correctly because it died, but I know we were running faster than last time. Instead of braiding each other's hair this time we popped each other's pimples. When I got home I compared the amounts of sweat in the different shirts I wore. I wrung out a cup and a half of sweat from the first shirt and only half a cup from the second.
I stayed home from church today because Emily's a bit congested. I took advantage of the time to do dishes and X Stretch. It was good because I am sore. Maybe I'll do it twice today.
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2 miles this morning. 8:44 and 8:24. My back was huring so I stretched good afterwards. Yesterday Emily fell off (or was dropped off) the bed. We took her to urgent care because she wouldn't put any weight on her left foot. On the way there I saw a couple power walking down the road. The guy had on a Havasu Half T-shirt. I rolled the window down and yelled at him. "I have that same shirt!" I told him a ran it last year but not this year. He said he ran it both years. My wife laughed at me.
Rattletrap just got back from a trip to Mexico. Within six hours of coming home he was off and running the Ragnar Northwest Passge relay. How does he do it? It's almost as if he's receiving divine help. Or something.
I felt so much better today than the last time I did yoga. I felt more flexible, and I was able to hold the balance postures longer. You might not believe this KP, but I can touch my toes.
These next couple of videos are for ChrisM. Chris you may or may not know that Mormons abstain from alcohol. Well, now you know for sure. As I told you a couple of days ago, the power walker in that Snickers commercial is a staple in Mormon pop culture. He raised a little controversy when he filmed the following commercial:
Later he filmed the following piece trying to justify his actions:
He says he needed the money. Hmmm...I would have passed. I like how Danny Ainge used to not accept the Miller Lite player of the game even though the money would go to charity. Now that's a stand up guy.
I had my alarm set for 4:30. Without realizing it I kept hitting snooze over and over. After an hour of doing that the snooze feature no longer works. That's when I realized I was supposed to be up and meeting Marathon Dreamer at the usual place. I had about 10 minutes to get ready. No shower. No shaving. No brushing my teeth. I did throw some deoderant on. I'm sure that helped. I hopped on Facebook to see if she was online, but I missed her by 7 minutes. I was about to run out the door, but I knew I'd have an accident if I didn't take care of business. So finally I run to my truck and drive to Pei Wei's. I see MD running in the parking lot. Apparently she too was about to have an accident.
After our innards had settled down we ran our regular route except this time we went further up the canal to get another mile and a half in. We grabbed some water at my house. By this time my shirt was soaked thru with sweat, but I didn't change it. It rained last night, so sweat levels were at a 10. I decided to run the last 2.5 miles with Ginger. She enjoyed it, but started to wear out the last half mile as MD pulled away. Thanks MD for getting me out!
I went running with my Ragnar teammate Marilyn and her cousin Liz at Las Sendas. Marilyn brought her two kids and pushed them in a double jogging stroller. I offered to take turns. She was kind enough to let me push them uphill. What a workout! The uphill about a 200 foot climb over 1.25 miles (3%.)
Has anybody heard of the HCG diet? I started it this week with my wife. I haven't heard anything bad about it. Then again, I really haven't done my research. Anyone?
Another run with Marthon Dreamer this morning. She likes to do her long runs on Sundays because there's less traffic. That's fine by me. 4 sounded real good this morning. There was a light sprinkle when I walked out the door at 5:30am. But by the time we stretched and got running, it stopped. I was surprised to see how many people were out this morning. We ran south down the Eastern Canal today just to change things up a bit. I was really scared we might run into some aggressive ducks or something. Luckily we just saw a large crane, some loud peacocks, and a few oxen. As another runner approached us I put my hand out for him to slap me five. At the last minute he saw it, and managed to make contact as he apologized for not recognizing my awesomenaciousness earlier. After the run we planned on swimming some laps, but the pool was locked and didn't open 'til 9am. It's probably for the best. With the amount of sweat that I was dripping, I'm sure I would have overtopped the pool.
