60 days
I know I haven’t been updating much but the daily updates were bogging me down a bit.
60 days of P90x are down and I’m still loving it. I just completed legs and back with 112 pull-ups. Considering that 60 days ago I was in the 70s this is a large improvement.
Running — 10k time is down to 53:45. Almost a 10 minute improvement since I started running 10ks a month and a half ago.
Biking — Looked at tri bikes yesterday. I am going in to get fit for my first bike. The cost of the fitting is $250. Considering how much time I am going to spend on the bike this really is an important thing to do.
P90X – Chest, Shoulders, Tris and a little Plyo
I missed posting yesterday. I did P90x Chest, Shoulders, and Tris. Like I’ve written before, this is an awesome workout.
Did Plyo today. I’ve increased the number of reps in almost all the exercises. I’m starting to get used to this. Time to modify so I can bring it!
10K Saturday
This was another bad week for working out. In fact, the next two weeks will be equally as bad. With that said, I was able to swim on Wednesday night non-stop for about 20 minutes without too much trouble. Not bad for someone who has only swam twice in the last year and not much before that. My form is still pretty bad, but I’m hoping to improve that with time.
My 10K today was not that great…. Probably the result of the lowered volume of workouts and increased work stress. Not to mention that I’ve been eating really badly all week. Two steak dinners in a row. Not that great for me. I got started late today because my community wellness center is packed right now. I give it a few more weeks and the resolutioners will start to drop out. I’m not angry at the resolutioners. In fact I wish more of them would stick with it. Unfortunately, they never really do. It is probably because they really don’t try that hard and lose interest when they don’t see immediate results. During the almost 20 minutes I waited for a treadmill I did a pretty sold pull up routine. This tired out my arms and caused my heart rate to start out in the 140s. It quickly went up from there and I was pushing 170 at about 4 miles. I had to slow down and luckily came in at about 59 minutes. Not my best time so far but not bad either.
P90X — Back and Biceps
OMG — This may be th toughest workout in the entire program. PlyoX is tough but I can get through it and not feel like my legs are going to fall off. At the end of B&B there is a strip set that just kills my arms. My muscles literally feel like pudding. I guess that’s why I like it.
P90X – Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps
First time for P90X Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps in a about a month. This work out is tough. It seems like I should be able to do more push ups etc, but the order of the exercises makes each exercise even harder. Right now I’m using 10s and doing 12 reps for a lot of exercises. Since I’m going for bulk, 15s are a necessity.
P90X rest week and 10K Saturday
This was not a good week for working out. I had too many work related interferences. The worst part is that I was not able to follow P90X this week. So my rest week work out only consisted of one day of YogaX. That is somewhat unfortunate because I was really hoping to be able to stick to the program.
The good news is that I was able to swim for the first time this year. I’m not sure how long I went for but I’m pretty sure I swam for 15 to 20 minutes nonstop. I’m concerned that this is going to be the hardest part of my training for the triathlon. I just don’t have any real swimming background.
Ran 10K today (treadmill). Finished in under an hour. Not too bad considering I was only able to work out four times this week. I was pretty much toast at the end of the run and my legs are pretty sore. Hopefully the recovery drink I had will fix me up before I get back into P90X tomorrow. Can’t wait to bring it next week.
P90X Rest week 1 — YogaX
I have been skipping YogaX and doing a 10K instead but for the rest week I decided to do the first one (there are two scheduled for the rest week). I totally forgot how awesome this workout is… I’m feeling pretty beat up for only moving around on my mat. The good news is that I am feeling really stretched out. I think my legs welcomed the stretches after the 10K I ran yesterday.
10K Sunday and Thoreau
Ran my 10K Sunday in under one hour. It was right around 58 minutes. Not bad for my fourth 10K Sunday. I’m looking forward to really starting to bring it when the weather gets above freezing and I can run outside. I was actually able to keep my heart rate below 180 the entire time too despite running at much higher speeds earlier in the run. So it does appear that all my hard work is paying off. A little reassurance is always a good thing.
Spent part of the day reading Walden by Thoreau. Very inspiring and thought provoking book. I figured that since I am trying to better my body I should better my mind as well. I truly believe in the whole mind, body, and spirit thing. Going to get into bed early tonight and read some more before I fall asleep.
P90X – KenpoX
I’m feeling pretty silly. Since I’d already done one cycle of P90X I thought I knew the schedule. I was wrong. I’m actually done one more week of round one than I needed to do. No wonder I felt pretty run down. I’m looking forward to the rest week next week…
Did KenpoX today. I like this workout but I’m not a huge fan of the sanders (sp?) cycle at the beginning. I would rather do some traditional warm up and some stretching. Also, while this is a good kenpo video I think some of Billy Blanks’ Taebo stuff is better. Especially his original boot camp series.
I was planning to post a picture but my wife thinks that it will end up on some other site and I will be made fun of… I’ll think about it and maybe post a round one picture after the rest week.
I finished the Haruki Murakami book I was reading. It was really good and I feel even more motivated to tackle a triathlon this year.
New Year’s Day! P90X, Murakami, and Resolutions
Happy New Year! I think this is going to be a decisive year for me. I am planning to do my first triathlon and planning to work on some side projects I’ve been putting off for a long time. I hope everything goes smoothly and that I make it to the end happy and healthy.
I did P90X legs and back this morning. I like this workout. It was starting to get easy so I had to take it up a notch by adding weights to some of the routines. For some reason I feel like I haven’t really been bringing it this time around. This could just be a mental thing. I need to focus and get my head back in it.
I’m reading a great book right now by one of my favorite fiction authors Haruki Murakami. I was introduced to his works in a literature survey class I took in college. The book is What I Talk About When I Talk About Running (Vintage International). It is not fiction. It is his story of his passion for running. I’m finding it very inspiring. This is probably because, like me, he is not an athlete. He is just a normal guy that is trying to reach a goal. For him it is to run a marathon a year. It would be great if I could run an Ironman a year… Anyway, I recommend the book.
Perhaps the most important part of this post is my New Year’s resolutions…
1. Run an Olympic distance triathlon and begin training for an Ironman in 2011.
2. Drink less. Once or twice per week. Maybe I can go back to my college rules — only drink on Friday nights.
3. Exercise to my full potential, i.e. “Bring It” every time.
4. Read more.
5. Build on my relationships with family and friends.
