Disappointing Week

Disappointing in both that I've somewhat fallen off the wagon, and, I was not selected for the NYC Half Marathon. I have several options though, which I must now weigh, for the Half:

Option 1: Wait until Jan 15, in which NYRR may hold a secondary drawing and see if I get in.
  Option 1a: If I dont get in again, then run for Charity (losing 1 month of fundraising time!)
  Option 1b: If I dont get in again, sign up for the World Vision Half 13.1 on Apr 2
Option 2: Withdraw from the secondary drawing, and just run the NYC Half for Charity (maintaining the extra month to fund raise).
Option 3: Withdraw from the secondary drawing and just sign up for the World Vision Half on April 2.

Decisions.....decisions.....

I'm not really sure what happened, but since the last post, I had volleyball that night, and have not done much of anything since, except for a 5 mile run at about a 10:20 pace on friday. So since 12/13, until today, 12/21- ONE RUN! Severely lacking motivation to workout. Its like a switch got shut off, no drive, no desire. To make things worse, my nutrition, though already not the greatest overall, has been even worse the past few days! I'm now debating if I should just wait until after Christmas, then start back up with 2 weeks of Phase 2, a recovery week and then jump into Phase 3. Or, if I should try to start now. Either way, I'm going for a run tonight, to try to jump start things again. I think I may shoot for 6 miles. Regardless of which Half marathon I end up doing, I figure I'll need to start ramping up the training very soon anyway, since they are only 2 weeks apart. Lets hope I can finish off P90X in the process.

Here's to hoping I have a better trainig week.....

Phase 2, Week 2: Complete!

Another solid training week in the books. All with the exception of Wed (12/8), where I fell asleep at 8pm, and didnt wake up until the next morning! I guess my body was craving a rest day after 9 consecutive days of working out/activity. Unfortunately, that was plyo day, and since I didnt want to revise my schedule, I commited the sin of skipping it. Sad, but true.

So the night of the last update (12/7), I did C/S/T, and I was able to do FOUR plyo push ups! Felt pretty good. That workout is still hard as heck. I skipped ARX that night. 12/9, after my nearly 12 hours of sleep, was Back & Biceps. I tried to use the 30s as much as I could, and ended up doing a lot of them assisted, which I preferred, over using the bands. Pull ups are still improving. I was able to do 6 unassisted consecutively, and then pounded out 2 more after a mid-set break, then another 2 for a total of 10 unassisted. Of course that didnt continue through the whole workout....

Friday was my first run with the Mizuno Creation 11. So instead of doing the usual 5 miles, I did a 5k, but tried to beat my previous time (according to my Nike+ which was 31:24). I was able to finish 5k in 29:40! Which translates to about a 9:30 pace, which! Is actually my first sub 10 min-mile for any run that I've done! So its either I'm getting better (thank you P90X) or, its the shoes. haha....lets just say its a little bit of both. But the Mizunos feel really good. Provide the support I've long been lacking, though touted as a cushioning shoe, its not quite as soft as the LunarGlides. Best of all, post-run, I had no aching or soreness in my ankles or feet. Good sign, good sign indeed.

Did Yoga X on saturday, was not able to do all of the Warrior 3 sequence as I was able to last week. Not really sure what happened. Had to briefly put the other foot down on each side.  I discovered it may be a bit easier if I lean a little further forward. In either case, its still much better than I have been doing.  L/B last night, amped this workout wiht the dumbbells. Used both 30s for calf raises and most of the squat moves. Also used it on the dead lift squats, even though Tony says not to. I just feel its a bit easy without, and instead of doing 20, I prefer to lower the reps and add the DB to it. I'm starting to feel it already today. Hope it wont affect vball later!

So, thats about it. May throw in a rest day tomorrow, and then restart another phase 2 week. Still debating if I'll extend it an extra week like I did Phase 1. I probably will.  Wed is the NYC Half lottery. Waiting in anticipation......

Full Phase 2 Week

It's been a very good past week, in which I've completed an entire Phase 2 week! With some extras sprinkled in. So, since last update (had done C/S/T and ARX on mon, vball on tue):

Completed Plyo on 12/1, it went pretty well, bonus round and all. Legs felt strong and the ankle didnt bother me much. Been actively trying to go deeper and jump higher to boost the intensity, like I need that! Thursday (12/2) was Back & Biceps, followed by ARX (which I did, AGAIN). I'm starting to see some decent progress on pull ups, which is very encouraging. I could only use the 30's on bicep work for maybe the first couple of moves, then had to resort to the bands. And I must add ARX was harder this time than compared to last time. Probably had to do with the fact that I was still a bit sore.


Friday, as a replacement for Kempo, I did another 5 mile run (in the cold! and dark!) in Central Park. Time was a bit slower than my previous few 5 milers, but was happy with my pace given the conditions. I was also still a little sore from Plyo, which was done 2 days prior. I should also mention I did a few "strides", which from what I read, is interspersing some sprints, so every half mile I threw in a 30 second sprint.  I went to get my gait analyzed at a running store afterwards. Had me walk, then jog on a treadmill. He determined that I'm a very mild pronator. I'm a bit skeptical of his assessment though. I'm almost pretty sure I land on the outside of my feet, which wouldnt make me a pronator at all. But oh well, I already have my next pair of running shoes ready to go!

*edit* - ok, I guess I had this whole "pronation" thing misunderstood. I'm a mild pronator, meaning I'm probably normal. Further, pronation, apparently, is more about how you roll from foot strike to toe-off, and not where you land. Glad I cleared that up for myself...haha

Saturday, after a long day of laundry, I still did Yoga. It's getting better and I can now do all the push ups again. BIG NEWS: I was able to do the ENTIRE Warrior 3/Half Moon sequence!! In fact, I felt like I wasn't even struggling on the right side! I was in utter shock! Big pat on back for me! haha....And Sunday, I was about to complete skip legs & back, as it was a tiring weekend and my legs were sore from running and yoga from the 2 days previous. But thanks to my wonderful wife, who is piecing together the workouts herself now, provided the encouragement and motivation for me to pound out L&B, along with ARX! Pretty decent workout, my left knee is still problematic. Though there are days where it feels FANTASTIC, yet others, like I'm a 90 year old man.


Yesterday was Vball, same ol' same ol'. So that wraps up the last week, havent had a rest day yet, and dont think I will. Tonight I'm flips back to C/S/T. Will get back to do my Plyo push ups again soon. 'Till next time!

Phase 2 and ARX, finally

Well, it seems like forever (and if you think about it, it has) since I've been into Phase 2 of the X.  In fact, I think the last time I did a "Phase 2 Week" was probably June 2009, before the wedding. Since then I've yet to make it out of Phase I. So here I am, thought it deserved its own update!

Chest, Shoulders, Triceips. How I've missed you! (Yea, right!). Just as I remembered, a seriously Tricep intensive workout, as Chest and Shoulder moves will require some tricep as well. Needless to say, my tri's burned out quickly and frequently. Though I felt I did alright, for a workout that I haven't done in about 15 months. My numbers weren't great, and I did take a couple extra breaks in order to let my tri's recover a little, esepecially before the One-armed push ups and Plyo/Clap push ups. Some of you may remember a video I posted (which is still there actually) of me doing the plyo push ups, in which I believe I got up to 7.  Sad to admit that I could only do about 4 clap push ups. Will soon work my way back up. One interesting note was how I felt at the end. Though my triceps were on FIRE, overall, my energy level was still pretty high, and didnt find myself too tired at all. I dare to say that I probably could have gone for a brisk run afterwards!

And I finally decided to do Ab Ripper X in this round. I hadn't touched it yet since starting round 3. I started with 15 reps of each move (except those that required moves in twos, which I did 16). I was thrilled that I was able to get through it decently, at 15 reps. Will up it to 16 next time, and so forth. Glad to see that running has kept my core in decent shape. The soreness for both abs and C/S/T arent too bad. I'd classify it as moderate and tolerable. I mean its definitely there, but I've felt much, MUCH worse.

Had vball last night, so will tackle plyo once again tonight. Hopefully that will go as "well" as it has. My right ankle is still a little tweaky, so I may have to back off the intensity a bit. Thur should be Back and Biceps, Fri: I think I'm planning a run, Saturday: Yoga and Sunday: Legs & Back. We'll see how well I do.

PS. all my "gear" is starting to arrive. All the Nike gear is in, just waiting on my Mizuno's and the New Balance running vest. Uber excited....haha. 

PPS!! The lottery for the NYC Half will take place on Dec. 15th. Will be sure to update once I hear back on that!