Slow Start to 2012

Even with the Rock n Roll USA Half in DC looming (less than 2 months away), motivation is still lacking. Not really sure what it is, maybe its just the cold weather. Don't get me wrong now! I am in now way complaining, I'd much rather have it this cold than in the 90s with 90% humidity. But still, running in any kind of extreme weather is not very pleasant, but I'll take the chill over the heat/humidity as the lesser evil.

So its only been 5 measly runs since the new year, totaling under 20 miles. Got the ball rolling, with 9 weeks left, on the "serious" training last week, doing one hills session and an EZ run. Was going to do one more "long" run, but got scared away by the cold (did i really just say that?). This week so far, its been one hills session, a short EZ run, and I have 7 miles planned for tonight. That will put me around 13 miles for the week, which I guess is not terrible for week 2 of training (though is terrible if you consider I'm only a little over a month removed from the Half in vegas).

Otherwise, nothing spectacular on all fronts. Just trying to get the ball rolling again and find that same motivation that got me up to 12 mile long runs for Vegas. I guess I should just be happy that I'll have done 3 runs this week. I've yet to get myself to cross train, which I wanted to break out Yoga, Plyo and Core from the X. Or even some swimming at the Aquatic Center, which I payed $75 membership for. Until next time!

Another Milestone...

So far for 2011, with last night's run, I've done a little over 210 miles. To put that into perspective, from NY, I'd be somewhere in between Washington, DC (209 miles) and Alexandria, VA (214 miles). Or if I were to head north to New England, I would be right around Concord, NH (211 miles). Crazy huh? And, since I started this whole running thing February of last year, I just broke the 500 mile mark. That would put me somewhere between Detroit, MI (488 miles) and Toledo, OH (508 miles)! I know for the more serious runners out there, this doesn't really amount to much, but for me, someone's who never really run before, and has had terrible conditioning all my life, its a pretty big deal!

A little bit of whats been going on. As mentioned above, I went for a quick 1.72 miles around the small loop in CP last night. My first run since the Tri (over 2 weeks ago already!). It went alright, considering it was in the mid to high 80s, but low humidity. My legs felt strong, but could tell my conditioning has already started to decline. Actually, I noticed it last week when I attempted Plyo X, and had to extend the breaks in the second half to 60 seconds instead of 30, and that was on top of heavily modifying the moves already. The day before that I did Yoga, and boy did I need that. Everything was tight all over and I felt like I was going to tear my hip flexors, thats how tight they were.

So, a few things I'm considering on the horizon: 10/29- Urbanathlon! Not sure if I'll be ready for that. Its a little over 9 miles long I believe, which is where I should be in my training for the Half in December, if not further. But I'll need to be dedicated with my P90X workouts if I want any chance at those obstacles. I've all but tossed Warrior Dash out the window. And, I'm eyeing a couple Tri's in late Sept, early Oct, but worry about the timing with Urbanathlon. Not sure which my priority would be. The Tri's would of course be Sprint distance again, not going to try an Olympic distance until I have a couple Sprints under my belt.

So thats it for now. Will continue to take it easy through July, then start kicking up the training in Aug (once I decide on whether I'm going to do another Tri, Urbanathlon, or both).  And then somehow mix in the half-marathon training. Fun!

T-Shirt Time!

First, another quick events update: Registered for the American Heart Association's Wall Street Run (3M) on 5/17 as well as the annual JP Morgan Corporate Challenge (not a NYRR race) on 6/15. This will be my third year doing the JPM CC. Very disappointed with last year's time, even given the crowds. So, hoping it'll be better this year (time that is, it'll be crowded regardless).

So the last 3 weeks have been very consistent. Since the beginning of March, I've been able to get out twice/week, and have now re-established my base at 5 miles. So this past Tue I upped it to 6 (outer park loop). Finished in just under an hour, for an average pace of 9:53, which would be the first time I've done a sub-10 min/mile for that distance. Felt good doing it too. Funny thing now is, I used to prefer doing the loop clockwise (the "wrong" direction), but now, I think I actually prefer going counter clockwise, or the "right" direction. And my stats do show that I'm faster going counter clockwise. I should mention the Scotland Run (10k), will be in the clockwise direction. Hmmm...

My second run of last week was on Friday, when the temps soared into the upper 70s! It was such a welcome surprise, but the biggest thing was actually going out for the run in just shorts and a t-shirt. On my way out of the building, I almost felt underdressed without the under armour, running tights/pants, gloves, hat, hand warmers, etc. So on this fine day I tackled hills, doing 6x the hill by the Boathouse. I think it went pretty well, as the 6 repeats went by pretty quickly. I think the most challenging part of the run was trying to dodge all the people in my way, as the warmer temps drew out everyone and anyone. On the last repeat, I continued up to 90th street, took a quick breather there, and then head back down to where I usually enter on 59th. Overall, good run.

Was going to go out for another run yesterday, though not as warm, was still a very nice and sunny day. Laziness got the better of me, so I ended up staying in, but, I did do Yoga X in place of it. And it was a good thing I did.  It was TOUGH. I even had a hard time doing all the push ups in the routine. My hip flexors and groin were super tight, and it felt really good stretching them out through yoga. Moderately sore in my legs, chest and shoulders today. I wonder if it'll be worse tomorrow.

Thats pretty much it for now. Hope to keep the rhythm going, and to hit 7 miles this week. If I can do that, and then up it to 9 next week, I'm going to sign up for the LI Half. If not, then the focus turns to the DC Tri (aka- find a pool to train in!!). 'Til next time....

Off the Wagon

Well, its been about a month since my last P90X workout. A month. Sad but true. Three runs is all I've done since the last post on 12/21 (well, 4, if you include the day of the last post, since I went for a run that night). Dec 12 was the last time I did a P90X workout. Now I could start listing the excuses or justifications for my lack of working out, but I won't. At the end of the day, I've just been lazy. No more, no less.

So, to recap a little....I did 6 miles the day of the last post, which is once around Central Park. It was a good run, 10:40 pace.  I went clockwise (the "wrong" way), which is my preferred direction to run in. Temps were right around 32, and was windy. Next run was on Christmas Eve, did a little over 4 miles, but did some hill training. I did the hill near the Boat House in central park. Its about a .2 mile round trip up and down, so I did 5 reps. On the final rep, I wanted to continue all the way up to 90th and come back down, but I was just too tired. So I stopped around 85th and came back down. Tired, but an overall good workout. The type of workout which I will not neglect this time!!

So, after a long layoff (11 days, I believe)- I went back out on Tue (1/4) for my usual 5 miles. My legs felt like bricks. I actually made it a tempo run, after a 1 mile warm up. Did 2x 2miles, and lets just say was probably a bad idea considering it was my first day back after an 11 day break. My feet hurt (arches to be exact), legs were sore. Not pretty. And I wasnt running as fast as I had liked, for a tempo run. Since there was supposed to be snow in the forecast again (which it did today), I went out again yesterday (1/6) and was able to do 7 miles! Legs felt a little better, but were still a bit sore from the previous run. I wanted to just make the 7 miles, so I made it an easy, long run. Conditioning was good, was not too badly out of breath, but my legs struggled by mile 5. Final pace ended up being around 10:50, which actually is not bad, compared to my 10k pace from Cow Harbor (11:10).

So the Mizunos have been doing good, and bad. The Good: my knees, ankles (and hips even) still feel really good after runs, even after the 7 miler. The bad? Well, my forefoot has been getting very sore, almost like a feeling that the bone will rip through the skin! I'm hoping this is due to the fact that I haven't properly "broken" them in yet, as I've only logged 30 miles after last night. Also, these arent quite as cushiony as the LunarGlides. I still like the support, a lot, and is much better than the "squishy" mechanics of the LunarGlides. But, I must mention, that I have again pulled the trigger on another pair- the Asics Cumulus 12. If I'm going to do as many races as I plan on doing, well, I'm going to need them!

Which reminds me, too, I've joined the NYRR. And MAY attempt to do the 9+1 guaranteed entry for the 2012 NYC Marathon. I just need to find the 9 races to do. And I've decided on option 1b from the previous post, which is to wait until the possible second lottery (Jan 15), and if that fails, go with the 13.1 Marathon Series (aka World Vision) on April 2.

Well, that sums up the last 3 weeks. I may have to come up with a hybrid program now to mix P90X and running, since either way, I'll be doing a half marathon in less than 3 months. YIKES! 'till next time....

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!

Thanksgiving Recap

Yesterday was the Garden City Turkey Trot and it was a great way to justify the overeating that would ensue that night...haha. Anyway, it was a cold morning (38 deg at start time), but I'll take that over an 80 deg, 80% humidity day! Actually finished almost a minute slower than the NYRR5, with a time of 52:49 which translates into a 10:34 pace. But according to Nike+, my split times werent too bad. The first mile was what killed my average, due to the slow start, which took over 11 min. I was around 10:10 miles for the remainder, and actually pulled out a sub 10min final mile. This run didnt feel as good as the NYRR5 though and was also super crowded at the start, reminicent of the Cow Harbor run.  Also didnt help that it was an unfamiliar course, so I wasn't sure when I could or couldnt push a little. In the end, it was nice to have another run under my belt, and a free t-shirt. Its why I do all these runs right? for the free stuff!

The schedule has been a little off since the last post, and it was supposed to be a recovery week, which is slowly turning into a recovery 2 weeks..  VBall in fact didnt happen that day, and I ended up NOT doing  yoga as I wanted to.  Friday was another off day, and Saturday I did a run at the Cross Island path. Did a few repeats in an attempt to improve my pace. Did 3 x 800m then 3x 400m, at around an 8-8:30min pace, since my race paces have been around 10:15-30 as of late. I did pretty well with them, considering the state I was in (had just stuffed myself with dim sum 1.5 hrs prior....talk about a stitch...), but I was pretty winded.

Monday was vball again, and Tue I did Core again. Tried to not spin myself silly by "spotting" my spins. That did help the headache situation a bit. The workout otherwise went well, though I felt like I was a bit more winded than the previous time. I should note I worked out THEN had dinner. I usually do it the other way around.

On a gear note, I've pulled the trigger on a new pair of running shoes: the Mizuno Wave Creation 11. Of everything I read, its geared to heavier runners (of which I am), and admittedly, the LunarGlides were just the WRONG shoe for me. The LunarGlides were for overpronators (to which I am not) and is more of a stability shoe- which turns out to be the kind of shoe I needed to AVOID. May explain all the calf issues I had in the beginning. I did find them to be more soft and spongy than I prefer. So the Creation 11 is supposed to be a neutral-cushioned shoe, with minimal mechanics correction. Also supposed to be very "springy" and cushiony too, which is what makes it ideal for heavier runners. AND, I did try these on in a store this time (but ordered online).  Can you believe I'm over 300 miles on the LunarGlides? Crazy. Will probably run in them a little while longer (as I adjust to the Creations), and then keep them for one last hurrah at Warrior Dash, then officially retire them (aka- throw them in the trash!....ok fine, recycle). 

Back in the Groove

I completed the planned 5 miles last Friday, as mentioned in my last post. Did well, 10:10 pace, and did it in about 51 min! To think, that's what I could have done for the NYRR 5 had it not been for my rookie mistake. The following 3 days (Sat, Sun, Mon) went well too, doing: Shoulders & Arms, Yoga and Legs & Back.

Nothing spectacular with S/A, as usual. I need to buy some 20 lb dumbbells. Trying to juggle either a 30 lb, or trying to hold two 10 lbs in one hand is getting a bit annoying.  Really worked the biceps, because they were actually sore the next couple of days. 

Yoga went well, did it all the way through (except the ohms) again. The warrior 3 sequence is still KILLER. I will one day be able to do the entire thing without putting my leg down.

Legs & Back, what can I say. Was done on Mon, and as of this post (Thur), my glutes and inner thighs are STILL SORE. Calves arent very sore this time, unlike the last time I did it. My left knee is still problematic. Some days are better than others, but I may need to consider seeing an orthopedist.

Took the next day (tue) off, and then I kicked off "Recovery" week last night with Core Synergistics. And you know what, it wasn't as bad as I remember it being. I'm thinking its probably because my conditioning has never been this good by the time I get to this workout. In fact, of all the times I've done this workout (which admittedly, has not been very much), I don't ever remember having much left in the tank for the "bonus" round. But I went into it with plenty of gas left in the tank. It felt good and was actually a little surprised that it was over so "soon".  One thing remains though, I still get a SPLITTING headache halfway through. I took a couple extra 45-60 second breaks to prevent it from getting too bad. I had thought the culprit were the banana rolls, superman/banana and bow to boat, but now I'm not so sure. I think its the Lunge and Reach, because you're constantly, "spinning". I noticed my head hurt a lot after that move. Will check it when I do it again, which I think should be Saturday.

Was supposed to be Volleyball tonight, but due to a lack of players, its not happening. So, I think I'm doing Yoga. I've also just signed up for the Garden City Turkey Trot! 5 mile race on Turkey day!

Ok, that became lengthy. Til next time!

Since 10/29??

Somehow, I let almost 2.5 weeks go without a recap. Maybe because I've allowed 8 rest days in the last 2 weeks. *hangs head in shame...

anyways, since 10/29 (which fittingly became a rest day, was going to do yoga...) the schedule has been a bit spotty, P90X-wise, but I did throw in a few runs. Did a 2.75 run (intervals), 6 miles in central park (a race simulation) and the actual race (the NYRR5) itself last friday. Finished in just under 52 min, which is a personal best at this distance. I must admit that I made the most rookie-est of rookie mistakes- FORGETTING TO DOUBLE KNOT MY LACES!!! Costly. I debated with myself for about a minute whether or not I should even bother to stop and tie them, or just let them be. My shoe didnt feel like it was coming loose anyway. But I thought better of it and stopped to tie them. Lost probably around 30 seconds, which at this kind of distance, makes a difference!! Ugh, lesson learned. Anyway, it was a cold and dreary day, but at start time, the sun did come out and the rain stopped, so only the ground was wet. Overall, good and fun race, and got to experience (if only slightly) the excitement of the NYC Marathon. Will soon get to a 10 min/mile pace soon, I hope.

The only other training I got in were 2 Chest & Back days, which seems to be the workout I've been most consistent with. Which is okay, because its the areas I need most improvement in, push-ups and pull ups. Volleyball was the only other "training" day I had. Like I said, its been a spotty 2 weeks.

So, since this really is week 4, and what should be recovery week, I'm actually doing an extra Phase 1 week to sort of make up for it.  So with C/B last night, I'll do another run tonight (instead of plyo- with my track record for the last couple weeks, I feel its safer to just do a run after work, than risk going home and getting lazy!!). Shooting for 5 miles, which I think I can soon call my "base" mileage. Then Shoulders & Arms, Yoga, Legs & Back on Sat, Sun, and Mon respectively.  Then on Tue, jump into recovery week.

Quick Recap

Been updating more frequently with scheduling updates, but havent really given recaps, so, here goes. Since the last real recap, its been going pretty well. Currently wrapping up Week 2. Some high- (or low) lights:

I'm struggling more with pull ups than I thought I would. Didnt see much improvement this past C/B session, which really is the third time, since I did a Week 0. Legs & Back went well, first time I've done it this round. But I was REALLY sore for about 3 days. Mostly in  the glutes and calves (since I did the calf raises on the stairs). Thighs were a bit sore, but nothing crazy, which was expected after months of running. Did plyo this past wed, and it seemed tougher than the previous time, probably because it was a humid day. Was still able to complete it without extra breaks, and keeping up pretty decently with "the kids". Nothing spectacular with Shoulders and Arms last night, only highlight is that the biceps are feeling stronger (and the reps/weight show it). Still need to expand my weights....

So I'm keeping up with my plan so far, will hopefully knock out Yoga tonight. I may do a run tomorrow instead of Legs & Back, but I really dont want to skip it. But I know if I do L&B on tomorrow, I would be able to run for a couple days after. Maybe I'll run on Sat. then L&B on Sun, but I want a rest day.....hmmmm....

'Till next time!

Week 2 Progress

Day 1: Volleyball, check.
Day 2: Chest/Back, check!
Day 3: Plyo X, check!
Day 4: Shoulders/Arms, check!

Rest Day

So I didnt do Plyo yesterday, mainly because my calves and glutes were still EXtremely sore from Legs & Back on friday. I didnt want to risk that, and then have volleyball tonight. I wanted to go for a bike ride, but didnt think my glutes would be up for that either. So I just made it a rest day. So this week's plan looks like:

Day 1 (Monday)	Day 2	Day 3	Day 4	Day 5	Day 6	Day7
Volleyball	Chest & Back	Plyo or Run	Shoulders & Arms	Yoga	Legs & Back	Plyo or Run*

*(whichever wasn't done earlier in the week)

And just another note: Will be doing a 5-mile race on Friday, Nov. 7!

Progress

10/21 Legs & Back: DONE!

10/22 Shoulders& Arms: Complete!

10/23 Yoga X: COMPLETE!

10/24 Plyo? We'll see....

The Plan

This is more a reminder for myself of how I'm going to handle the coming days...as of the previous update, I had volleyball that night. Last night (thur) I did Legs & Back (a more thorough recap later). The plan, as of now is:

Tonight (Fri): Shoulders & arms
Saturday: Yoga
Sunday: Plyo
Monday: Volleyball
Tue: Chest & Back

This will put 2 days in between plyo days (instead of 1, which would be....dangerous, not that 2 is all tha much better....haha). At least if I go with whats scheduled. I may do another 5 mile run on Wed instead, weather permitting.

Obstacles...

So last Wed., I actually got up early in the morning again, to pound out Shoulders and Arms, only to feel, somewhat "not right". I felt it was probably better to not do the workout and crawled back into bed (contrary to popular belief, I actually REALLY wanted to do the workout and was kinda bummed!). So, turned out my hunch was correct, and I ended up having a stomach bug.  Fortunately for me, it was only about a 24 hour thing, but it did sideline me from working out for three days in total.

Therefore, on Saturday, to sort of make up for the missed days, I did the first half of Yoga X (which should have been done on Thur), and then jumped into Shoulders & Arms. All I had were my 30 lb dumbbells, which were ok for about the first few moves, and had to modify from there. Also had a pair of 10 pounders, which I used for lateral raise type moves. Took another rest day on Sunday (seriously, was going to go for a ride, but was darn tired,  dang it!). But since this supposed first week didnt go very well, I decided to call it 'Week 0', and dive in the next day as my REAL week 1.

I already have to modify my schedule a bit. But was able to get C&B in on Monday (some moves slightly better, others, no as much, I suspect Saturday's Shoulders and Arms having to do something with it). Yesterday, I did a 5 mile run in CP, averaging about a 10:15 min-mile, which to date, is my best pace for that distance, EVER. I'm still wondering how people do like, 7 min-min miles. Crazy.

So today should have been Shoulders & Arms again, but I have volleyball. So, in the next 4 days (Thur-Sun), I need to somehow squeeze in: S&A, Yoga, Legs & Back, and Plyo; keeping in mind it'll be C&B again on Monday. As you can see, its quite leg intensive- so this will be a bit of challenge in how to put it all together.

'Till next time.

Still On Track (Sort of...)

I'm not to sure how my recaps ended up on a Tues, but I guess I'll keep that going until it changes again. So I had volleyball last tuesday, worked up quite a sweat. Took Wed and Thur off (was significantly sore from Yoga!). On Friday, I went out to CP and ran 5 miles.  Being that its been about 2 weeks since I last ran (Cow Harbor 10k), it was a pretty good run. After using the first couple miles as a warm up, I actively tried to push the pace a little bit, to be just outside of my comfort zone, with my average pace being 10:30 for the entire run. Broken down into mile splits (which Nike+ now has), after my warm up mileage, I was actually closer to a 10 min-mile, which is much faster than I had been running.  So all in all, was very happy with that run.

Had every intention to bike at least one day over the 3 day weekend, but it was nixed by trips to Ikea! haha...so though I did not take the bike out on saturday, I did remain active. How you ask? By putting together Ikea furniture! Ok, a bit of a stretch, but it beats sitting around doing nothing.

"Day 1: Chest and Back (~50 min)
One word describes this work out, INTENSE. workout essentially alternates chest (push-ups) and back (pull-ups). and on top of that, after you're done with that, you tackle Ab Ripper X, which is 339 reps of various ab exercises. the key to chest and back? PACE YOURSELF. you think you're all manly and do as many reps as you can in the beginning, when you repeat the set, forget it, i was down to 3 reps because i ran out of gas."

As I'm trying to restart the X, I thought it'd be fun to revisit my first post, from 2 years ago, when I first started P90X.  I quoted it above. I thought I was more descriptive, but I was not. And that last part about being down to 3 reps, yea, that was ON MY KNEES. So Monday I did in fact jump into Chest & Back. and man, its every bit as tough as it was on that day over 2 years ago. I tried to take it easy, but even so, I was pretty spent, ALMOST thought about not doing Round 2, but was determined to. I did have to skip Dive Bombers cuz quite frankly, I couldnt even do 1 at that point. Hoping next week will be better.

and FINALLY, another pat on the back as I, WOKE UP EARLY TO DO PLYO THIS MORNING!! Go t up at 6am, washed up, changed, downed a protein drink, and got started around 6:20.  Overall, it went well, I was able to keep up and not add any extra breaks (thank you half marathon), and my legs did get a good workout. Jump knee tuck and Rock Star hops are still the 2 most exhausting moves, ever. But as of right now, as I write this post, my legs feel fine, and I'm not even really sore from the workout.  In fact, I'm tempted to even say it doesnt feel like I actually DID plyo this morning. Perhaps I dreamt that I did...haha. But no, I KNOW I did =).

Ok, hoping the rest of the week goes as smoothly as the last couple of days, and hoping that I continue to get up to workout in the morning. Thanks for reading, 'til next time!

A Quick Update

It has been about ten days since the Cow Harbor Run, and everything is still going as planned. Asides from volleyball the the tuesday after the race, I pretty much took the rest of the week off. As further proof of my lack of cross training when I was training for the Half, I was moderately sore after volleyball. And honestly, I dont find volleyball that demanding!

Saturday (one week removed from the race) I took the bike out and did 12 miles. I did take a mini break in the middle, so the first 6.3 miles took me about 29 min, then another 6.3 miles took me 27 minutes. This included some congestion due to walkers and/or cars, and not really busting it all out. So I'm thinking I should be able to do the bike portion (of the Sprint Triathlon) in around 40-45 min. Now that I'm thinking about it, if I can do each leg of the Tri in 40 min, and with a finishing time of about 2 hours, I'd be pretty darn happy with that!

Finally, I did Yoga X last night, and well, it left me pretty exhausted. I actually did the whole thing (sans the "ohmms" at the end). I was completely wiped out at one point, and actually had to pause for some hydration. I was able to do all the push-ups that are thrown in. Definitely lost a good amount of flexibility in my legs, especially the muscles which are in high demand when running (like the hip flexors).

Have volleyball again tonight, then hoping to hit up Yoga X again, maybe thur or friday. Take the bike out again during the weekend, then its X time.

Chicago Half Marathon Recap and Lessons Learned

Chicago Half Marathon 

I did it! I actually did it! Part of me is still trying to settle with the fact that I completed a half-marathon. Crazy. As expected, my official finish time was 2:38:15, which equates to just about a 12 min-mile.  The day started with getting up at 4:45am, getting ready, and boarding the shuttle to the race at 5:30am. It waited until almost 6am before it left, and with the traffic due to the street closures for the race, we didnt arrive until 6:45am, 15 min before the race. Due to their port-a-potty shortage and my need to use the facilities before I run, the gun actually went off as I was still standing in line for the bathroom. In fact, I didnt join the slow march to the start line until 7:10ish, crossing the start line a little more than 15 minutes after.

It was a beautiful day, 60 degrees, low humidity. We really couldnt have asked for better conditions. I started out really well, taking the first 2 miles easy to warm up. After that, I picked it up a little bit, and was really trying to achieve negative splits, at least for the next couple miles. Made it to mile 5 without a water break.  Was good until about mile 7, and thats where I started to struggle. Got through mile 8 and 9, slowly, then went into a stretch where I was alternating walking and running in 1 or 2 min intervals. Got to the mile 12 marker, and told myself to finish strong. Started running, but could barely make it another quarter mile, before having to walk again. Got to the 'half-mile to go' marker, and sucked it up, and ran to the end. What an experience. All the months of training, all for this one moment. The thrill of crossing that finish line and saying, "I did it".

Lessons Learned
As I look back at my training and all, theres a few things that I really do regret or wish I did, to which I'm certain would have allowed me to have a better finishing time.

1.  Lack of training structure- Since I had signed up for the race so far in advance, somewhere in the back of my head, I kept telling myself that I had plenty of time to train.  This caused me to never get into any kind of flow or structure in my training runs. I would just head out for a run, and say to myself, "oh, I think I'll run this amount today".  
2.  Focusing all my effort in mileage-  I concerned myself too much with just increasing mileage.  Little did I cross-train, nor increase the intensity of my runs. This is what caused me to go from a 10:30 pace in April, to a mid 11 pace later on, even though I had been steadily running about 15 miles per week up to that point. 
3. Lack of intensity- This kind of goes with the previous point, but not being diligent with tempo, interval and hill training really, really hurt me. I did it once in a while, but nowhere near as regularly as I should have.

What's to come
So, there you have it.  I've completed my first Half-marathon. It was a great experience, and was going to decide, based on this experience, if I'm going to do it again. Verdict? HECK to the YES! Haha....in fact, I've placed my name into the lottery for the NYC Half in March! Here's to hoping I get selected! And now that I've purchased a bike, I'm giving the DC Triathlon (sprint distance) in June some heavy consideration.

So here's the plan for the coming weeks: taking the rest of the week off to recover, do 2 training runs before the Cow Harbor 10k on the 25th, take another 2 week break (light training/biking, if I do anything at all), then shooting for Oct 11 for the start of: Round 3, P90X. Yeah, baby. 'Til next time....