This morning I got to go run down Power Road to check out the impacts the road widening project will have on the private irrigation facilites from Ray Road to Pecos. I grabbed my camera and my wife got me two squeeze bottles of ice water. I left one in the truck for when I was done and carried one with me. I parked in the Super Target parking lot, stretched out, and took off. I would stop periodically to take pictures and video. All in all I ran exactly 6 miles. And hey, I got paid to do it!
Start weight - 196
Finish weight - 188.5
Temp - 99
I felt some soft tissue discomfort at mile 5. I looked down at my chest to see my meat was starting to brown. I took my shirt off for the last mile. Nobody honked at me. And I'm still going to be pasty white for my 60 day pictures coming up tomorrow.
I refereed a couple of games for the young men's basketball at church last night. They're good kids. It was quite the workout. Also, I backed up into the bleachers and my bumped my left leg pretty good. I really didn't want to do my P90X tonight, but I did anyway. Luckily this is my favorite workout. My wife videoed me doing Ab Ripper X. Now there's proof that fat guys can do sit-ups, too.
Day 60 P90X - Yoga X - Did somebody say day 60? I know that number is important for a reason, but I can't put my thumb on it. Oh, picture time. How silly of me to forget.
Day 61 P90X - Arms & Legs/Ab Ripper X - I wasn't wearing a shirt when I did Ab Ripper X today. As I did Hip Rock & Raise, my back kept making a farting noise on my mat. I swear it was my back.
Last week I tried to set up another group run. I asked peds endo doc if he wanted to go, and he was up for it. JamesW was going to come, but then remembered he had plans. But I forgot to get back with PED until late last night, and apparently it was too late. So I was flying solo. Then I got really sad because I realized I would be running the same route Marathon Dreamer and I used to go a lot. So when I reached home I decided to bring Ginger back with me. She tried to go real fast out of the gates as usual. But once she settled in and we were running the same pace it was great. The best part was when I saw the Galapagos tortoise.
Day 62 P90X - Kenpo X - After a fun filled day at Sun Splash, I did NOT want to work out anymore. I just wanted to crawl into bed. But then I felt like Daniel Larusso at the end of Karate Kid when he knew he wouldn't find balance unless he got back out there.
Day 64 P90X - Chest, Shoulders, Triceps/Ab Ripper X - I had to get up early this morning to go help my friend finish a slab of concrete in his back yard. (Walter would be proud.) So no running. But we did some extreme finishing. As I was leaning out over the slab balancing myself on the mag float with one arm, my buddy says, "It's a darn good thing you've been doing P90X."
The workout tonight just burned. You do slow motion push-ups. Good gravy! Them be tough. Oh, and I broke my record in Mason Twists with 48.
This morning I wanted to take Ginger on another run, but I know she's been struggling with 2.5 miles. Not really struggling, but slowing way down. So I figured it would be a good idea not to go farther than three miles. I planned a route out that ended up being exactly three. Nice. Along the way I stopped at my friend's house to pick up my bicycle that my daughter had left there the day before. I ran the last half mile home with a dog leash in one hand and dragging a bike with the other.
Time - 26:34 (avg. pace 8:51)
Splits - 8:32, 8:42, 9:24
A big congratulations to our very own Nan for coming in 3rd at the 20k National Championships. She likes strawberries.
Day 65 P90X - Plyometrics X - A funny thing happened tonight. I know this is a tough, tough workout, but I found myself wanting to feel the pain. Nan must have inspired me.
This morning I wanted to get a fast mile in because there's another open mile coming up in a few weeks. allie was going to come until she found out that it was an ENTIRE mile. Then she wimped out. My fast mile was my second fastest Garmin recorded mile since I started running again three and a half years ago. The only thing is, it felt like I was struggling. I don't know if that's good or bad.
Time - 23:51 (avg. pace 7:37)
Splits - 8:18, 6:15, 8:13, 1:06 for 0.14159 (8:03 pace)
Now sit back and wait for ChrisM to tell me I ran pi.
Day 66 P90X - Back and Biceps/Ab Ripper X - Another night of refereeing basketball. I paced myself this time. Then home to some serious Bringing It! Yes, I'm trying to sound like an infomercial.
The song I had going through my head on my run yesterday was Hark the Herald Angels Sing. Today it was Teenage Dream. Let you put your hands on me in my skin tight jeans, be your teenage dream tonight...
Day 68 P90X - Legs and Back/Ab Ripper X - Sunday is my wife's birthday so we went to AMC to watch the Other Guys. Pretty funny, but more swears than I've ever heard in a PG-13 movie. We had popcorn and soda, and afterward went to In N Out for a burger, fries, and shake. Let's just say I was dragging this workout.
Day 69 P90X - Kenpo X - I gloriously slept in today. I hoped I'd get a run in later in the day because the weather's been fantastico lately, but I d-n't. Kenpo X felt pretty good though tonight being all fresh and loose. Just like Will Smith in his early career. It's past midnight. I don't know what I'm talking about.
Day 70 P90X - X Stretch - Today is my wife's birthday. I made her pancakes and scrambled eggs for breakfast in bed. I had some pancakes myself, too. And I've been eating a lot of junk food today. Cupcakes, pie, ice cream, cake, nutter butters. What does this have to do with my workout? I don't know. It must be getting late again.
Day 71 P90X - Chest and Back/Ab Ripper X - With less than three weeks to go, this is the last time I get to do this workout. I'm a little sad. I did 100 push-ups and 108 assisted pull-ups. I was only able to do 3 decline push-ups on my second set. 41 Mason Twists were all I could eke out today. Good enough for me.
After P90X I ran around the block twice.
Time - 8:46 (avg. pace 7:42)
I'm feeling pretty good about my 5k this Thursday. We'll see how Mother Nature treats me.
This morning I took my son to school because he wants to apply for a job at the cafeteria. On the way home I started to run out of gas. I might have been able to make it home, but I didn't want to risk it. So I pulled off in a church parking lot and ran the rest of the way. I was wearing my sexy bicycle shorts and my swimming shoes. So it was like barefoot running. Sexy barefoot running.
Three miles this morning or there abouts. I took MichelleL's advice and left the Garmin at home. Okay, the battery was dead. But I wanted to go on a nice easy run anyway so who cares? I took Ginger with me. She defecated.
Day 73 P90X - Arms and Shoulders/Ab Ripper X - I had to referree for the young men again. If that's not enough of a workout, my buddy Brad and I played some hoops afterwards. It's probably been two years since I've done that. In the second game I tried to poke the ball away from someone. That was stupid. I jammed my right index finger real good. It started swelling up immediately. I literally saw it puffing up like a balloon. Of course I had to keep playing because there was only 8 of us. Then I went home and threw in the P90X. Thank goodness this is my favorite workout. Why? Because it's not hard to me. The only thing I couldn't do was lock my fingers together. You only do that at the beginning when you stretch out and at the end when you do Mason Twists. Even typing this hurts. Hopefully it feels better in the morning.
Ha, there's a new blogger called burp. I just blogged right after him so it said Burt and burp on the Most Recent Entries Board. Well, I thought it was cool.
2010 September Tempe Road Runners Free Monthly 5k (3.1 Miles) 00:22:02, Place overall: 3
Total Distance
3.10
Yesterday I was feeling pretty good and thought it might be a good time to push for a PR. Then I played basketball. All that jumping around tightened up my lower back. Plus my finger got jammed and is all bruised and swollen still. Around 5am this morning I had one of those killer calf cramps/charlie horses that almost had me crying like a baby. So I was kind of limping around today. Then at 2pm I was driving down the freeway and saw the Gateway Hospital sign flash that it was 107. Holy smokes! How in the world am I going to PR now?
When I walked out the door to the race my thermometer showed 100. So maybe it was 99 by the time the race started at 6pm. My teammate Shannon from Ragnar last year showed up. It was great to see her. She's still doing all sorts of triathlons.
I was the first one to get there and sign in. I filled out my raffle slip and thought, "There's no way I'm going to win anything if my slip is all the way at the bottom." There were probably 30 people that showed up and they raffled off four prizes. My chances weren't that good, but I won a $40 dollar running shirt! Shannon helped me pick it out.
The 'race' was the same course as last time. We run on the sidewalk down McClintock, turn right on 8th, turn right again on Rural, turn right on Playa del Norte for a short bit, then turn around. It seemed like everyone lined up in a single file behind me when we started. I took off a little too fast. Everytime I looked at my Garmin it was showing me being in the low 6's. It felt okay, but I didn't think I could sustain it. I was in the lead by virtue of my strategic start position for the first half mile. Then this dude passed right by me and told me I was doing great. He didn't look like he was running fast, but he zipped right by.
I finished the first mile in 6:47. I have to believe it's a slight downhill because we run in the direction that the Salt River flows. When I reached Rural I looked behind me and saw another guy hot on my tail. He ran right behind me until the turn around. Then he dropped me like I was hot. It seemed like a had a pretty good handle on third place, but I hoped I could hang on to the guy that passed me and maybe he'd slow down. He didn't. He finished about 40 seconds ahead of me. My second mile was 7:18 and third was 7:16. That's encouraging having the third mile be faster thant the second because it means I didn't totally kill myself starting out too fast. The last 0.1 was 41 seconds (6:54 pace.)
After I caught my breath I walked back until I reached Shannon. Then we ran in together. She was a little disappointed because she had to walk a tiny bit. But that's because it was so hot. She came in third for females. Go Shannon!
So I guess that makes it a PR. I'm going to count it because I think I can beat it pretty soon once I start running more miles again. Somebody was giving away free acai berry juices at the finish line. Mine was partially frozen, so it tasted like a yummy slushy. Then I talked to the store owner to see if she thinks I could do a P90X presentation some time at her store. She was all for it. I love these races!
Day 74 P90X - Yoga X - Nearing the end. When I started my workout, still sore from the race, I didn't think I would be feeling this good afterwards. Acai juice?
Here's a picture of my bruised index finger. Pretty? Also notice the scab on my pinky knuckle from finishing concrete.
Here's my $40 Tempe Road Runner shirt and my Blue Steel pose.
And here's the view from behind with my stretch pants that look espenseeb.
Day 75 P90X - Legs and Back/Ab Ripper X - I took a little nap before this workout. If I wasn't such a dedicated guy, I might have skipped this one. But then I just wouldn't be able to live with myself. Good luck everyone doing TOU!
Day 76 P90X - Kenpo X - I finally got some work done in my garage. We sold one of our refrigerators on Craig's List. One to go. I wanted to get a run in today in honor of all those doing TOU, but it didn't happen. Maybe that's why Kenpo X seemed so easy tonight.
Congratulations to everyone who ran the Top of Utah Marathon yesterday. TOU was my first marathon so it's very special to me. Not really though. I stunk it up and never want to go back. But there were some impressive performances. Predog was the first local boy to cross the line and allie was the first female.
I wanted to get some fast miles in this morning, but not too fast and not too many. I have the Open Mile tomorrow. I hope I can break 6 minutes or come close.
Day 78 P90X - Chest, Shoulers, & Triceps/Ab Ripper X - This is a tough workout. Maybe because you only do it 5 times throughout the entire 90 days, and your body doesn't adjust to it. I don't have to do it anymore, and I won't miss it. I made sure to push it harder than last time. And I took it up a notch with Ab Ripper X by doing all my Leg Climbers without arms. Just straight up and touch my toes. There is a six pack underneath a couple of layers of fat in there somewhere.
Arizona Road Racer's Open Mile September 21, 2010 (1 Miles) 00:05:57, Place overall: 11
Total Distance
2.84
A new post high school PR! I'm pretty excited even though I feel like I've been put on one of those conveyor belts in the cartoons where the giant glove punches you, then you get chopped up into a dozen pieces, then the iron roller with the spikes flattens out and pulverizes what's left of you.
All day I've been thinking about how I opened my big mouth and told everyone I was shooting for a sub 6. I've been thinking about what excuses I could give for not making it; too hot, too windy, not enough mileage lately, not enough speed work, Garmin's not calibrated correctly. But on the other hand I really felt like it was in me. So I decided to go with MichelleL's advice and just take off like a rabbit.
The way this race works is they line everybody up on the Scottsdale Community College track. You run a little over four times around to get your mile in. Ten minutes after the last person comes in, you run another one. I brought my son with me. He's in cross country but due to reasons we don't quite understand, he's not eligible to run. Anyway, he wanted to do it, and I wanted to see what he could do.
I saw some familiar faces and knew there were some fast people there. Perfect. That's why I come to these, to race against good competition. I lined up a row back in lane 3. That made me have to run in the second lane up until right before the second curve where I saw an opening and took it. From there on I don't remember passing anyone or being passed. They called out the first lap as 1:25. Nice. I started out hard and then slowed up a hair. I felt like I could maintain this pace for another 3 laps. The next lap was 2:55. Okay. I'm still under my goal pace. I'm running strong, but I'm starting to feel it. The next lap was 4:30. All I need is another 1:30, and I've already done that twice. I consciously picked it up. At this point a guy started coming up on my shoulder. I thought he would pass me but as we hit the straight away with the wind at our backs I just opened up my stride. With 200 meters to go I began my kick. Coming out of the curve I could see the clock and saw that I had about 20 seconds to go. Maybe allie was right with her 5:55 prediction. I kept running hard, and I kept seeing seconds tick off it. Slow down clock! I might not make it. I have to not only cross the starting line, but run the little extra because the track is short. Well, I made it! 5:57! (Actually Garmin has me at 5:47 because it measured the distance as 1.03 miles.) However, I'll go with 5:57 (official results) because it's my fault for running in the 2nd lane.
I was pretty excited, but I had to see where AJ was at. I was surprised that he was kind of far back. He came in at 7:16. I know he can run faster than that. I think his knee was bothering him. Oh well. I told him since I made my goal of a sub 6, that I would take the next mile easy. When we lined up I stood one row back in the first lane. Nobody came to step in front of me. This is dumb, I thought. The guy that started us told us that if we didn't beat our first mile time he would stand us at the 40-yard line and throw javelins at us. Then he put us to our mark. All righty then. I moved up to the front (so unworthy of me.) Set. Go. I took off way slower than the first one. I made the comment, "Looks like I'll be dodging javelins on the 40." My second mile was a lazy 6:54. This time Garmin measured it 1.00 even. Must be because I had the pole position. I did lap my son, too. The funny thing was when he crossed the finish line on his third lap they handed him his popsicle stick with his finish place number on it, so he stopped.
I know this is the longest entry/mile race report ever, but this is a historic, monumental, breakthrough moment for me. I would never have thought I would see another mile within the 5's from me. Especially when I weighed over 250 lbs. three and a half years ago. Just goes to show what hard work can do for you. I feel blessed that I am healthy enough to run and that my family supports me. Sub 5 now? Well, let's not get too overzealous.
Day 79 P90X - Plyometrics X - The race was at 6:30pm. I got home and ate dinner. Then I did a little blogging, a little facebooking, and generally just procrastinated doing my P90X workout. I finally started it a little after 11pm. There's a lot of jumping in Plyometrics X. Because I was feeling sore from the race, I didn't BRING IT like I usually do. But I imagine I worked as hard as I did when I first started.
Day 80 P90X - Back and Biceps/Ab Ripper X - Another evening of refereeing basketball. I am sore tonight. But look on the bright side. In 11 days I'll be a P90X graduate. Woot woot!
Day 81 P90X - Yoga X - I had another late night. Finished up just a bit after midnight. I don't kick things anymore when I do this workout. I am calm of mind and body.
Because of the late night last night, I didn't have time to go far. That's okay because I feel a slight twinge in my hamstring again. I think it should be fine. So I took Ginger and ran around the block twice.
Day 82 P90X - Legs and Back/Ab Ripper X - I can kiss this workout goodbye and good riddance. Haha! It's a tough one. 176 pull-ups! I won't have the arm strength in the morning to put a shirt on. Maybe it'll be a good time to wax.
This morning I had plans to meet with two of my friends, Ox and Cox, to go for a swim, bike, and run. I set my alarm for 4am but forgot to turn it on. What a dope! I was supposed to be at Jared's (Cox) at 5am. I woke up at 5:30am. I texted him and he said just to join us for the bike and run.
I drove over to Lake Saguaro and actually got there before they started to swim but decided not to join them. That gave me an opportunity to PAS. Jared had his wet suit on and finished before Ox. Neither Jared nor I realized that Ox was doing this serious as a time trial for his upcoming triathlon, so we didn't see when he took off.
Jared was kind enough to let me ride his wife's road bike since I haven't fixed my back wheel yet. I also borrowed a helmet from him since Ginger has chewed up both of mine recently. It was an aweome helmet, pink with flowers.
As we left the parking lot and hit the first hill I still hadn't figured out how to work the gears on Michelle's bike. I ended up having to jump off and push it to the top. Once I reached the top I was good and got into a nice rhythm. Now Jared was way ahead of me and Ox still way ahead of him.
Between mile 1 and 2 was the fastest. I averaged 31.3 mph and maxed out at 35.5 mph. It was freaking awesome. I was out in the middle of the street and didn't know or care if any cars were behind me. There was, but the speed limit was 35mph anyway. There were a lot of cyclists out this morning. This is a favorite area for them because of the hills. I made sure to yell good morning at them in my most manly voice so they wouldn't think I was a fruit for wearing a girl's helmet.
I finally figured out how to shift correctly on the hills. The plan was to go 13 miles. At mile 11.2 I hit the really big hill. I shifted to the lowest gear, but the chain still kept slipping. So I jumped off and started pushing again. Then I saw Ox running down the hill. So I rode for about 11.5 miles. Then I ran with him down the hill a while until I jumped on the bike and rode down to his parents who loaded the bike up, and I continued running with him.
The original plan was just for me to pace him in the run, but when I told Jared about it he wanted to come along. Then he talked me into joining them for all of it. Anyway, Ox wanted me to pace him at an 8 min/mile. He was going about 7:40 average. I only saw Garmin hit 8:00 once. He should do pretty good in his tri. So after 1.5 miles we were done. I turned around to run Jared in. He was half a mile back. I got 2.5 miles running in. It was pretty fun despite me almost ruining it for them.
Day 84 P90X - X Stretch - I'm thinking I strained my hamstring again doing the mile this last week. I felt a twinge today. I'm going to keep running, but not as hard.
I decided to run my 5.5 loop backwards today so that I wouldn't have to bother with the kids going to school and all the cross walk guards. It wasn't until I was about 3 miles in that I realized running it backwards would cut almost a mile off.
Day 85 P90X - Yoga X - Crane, royal dancer, tree, half moon, warrior 1, 2, and 3, yoga belly 7, bridge, crescent pose. No wonder I used to struggle with this one.
Day 86 P90X - Core Synergistics - I used little dumb bells in lieu of the resistance bands that I usually use. A little muscle confusion, as they say. This entry is not meant to be funny, just like my last one.
Day 87 P90X - Kenpo X - This is a good cardio workout. I refereed for the last games of the season for the young men. That was a good cardio workout, too. It's funny how some people really get mad at the refs. I think I used to be like that, too.
