5 Mile Run

Hello all! Feeling good right now. Just got done watching some college lacrosse after my 5 mile run. Yep, today' schedule called for a 5 mile run. Having done this same distance last weekend, I was interested to see how I would do. Last week was a struggle. I got through it (in better time then I thought I would). But it was tough and I had trouble running with my water belt, etc.

Today was much better. To begin with, I wore the hydration belt differently. I had the bottle on my hip (like a holstered gun) instead of in the small of my back. It was much easier to take out while running. I also refused to look at my Garmin again until I knew I had to be close to the mileage I wanted. This let me just get lost in my music and have my mind wander a bit. It was much better. My first glance at the Garmin came at 4.16 miles. NICE!

My time was much better then before- which again was surprising. For some reason, my left foot hurt for the first mile or two. So I thought I was running slower. Add to that we still have those strong wind gusts, and I felt for sure I wouldn't run fast...but I was wrong. Time was 51:12 for my 5 miles. Not as fast as I ultimately want to run, but a far cry from the 14-15 minute miles when I was starting!

I also wore sunglasses while running today. It was mostly cloudy, though the sun did peek out from time to time. but what I found was it was really helpful in keeping my eyes from watering when the cold wind blew in my face. It was a big help actually- mostly from a morale issue!

Anyway, schedule is a stretch and strengthen day tomorrow. But for P90X it's an off day. I will probably do X Stretch to loosen up a bit. Plus I have an indoor soccer game tomorrow night, so I'll get a little sweat on there too.

3.5 Mile Run

Well, the snow didn't come...yet. It looks like we got somewhat lucky. The storm veered off the ciast and missed us. But they say it is wrapping back around and will end up hitting us tonight and tomorrow, dumping 3-6" on us by end of day tomorrow. Not that bad considering what we got recently, and what we could have gotten today. But the high, hurricane-force winds are still a real threat. And boy were they gusting already today!

So, I got home from work today and decided to try and get my run in with the little daylight I had left. The schedule called for 3.5 miles today. I hit the roads and knew right away it was going to be a tough run. the wind was blowing hard. It made running difficult at times as it was like a wall you had to run through. It sucked. It was also very cold, cutting through you like a knife and making my eyes water. Miserable!

Due to that my mindset changed right away. I said to myself, "I'm going to go slow. Just get through the run and don't worry about your time/pace.". So I decided not to look at my time on the watch. i covered it with my sleeve and didn't look at it- I just ran. When I started getting close to the distance (roughly) I thought I needed, I snuck a peek at the bottom of my Garmin to verify mileage- not looking at time. When I finally finished, I figured my time was going to be pretty bad- rough weatherand all. to my surprise, it was the fastest time for me at 3.5 miles yet. I did it in almost 36 minutes flat. When I did 3.5 miles before, the best I did was just over 37. I was amazed because my pace didn't seem near as fast as that one, yet my time was better- and that was with running into the wind a lot (espeically on a lot of the uphills-sucked!). So, I guess I'm getting a little faster. I still don't really care about my times right now, but it's always fun to see the little incremental improvements along the way!

2 Mile Run

Hello all. sorry for the absence from the blog. My schedule has been a bit crazy the last few days. I am working on soem big projects for work. As such, time has been limited to do much.

In fact, I missed any/all workouts yesterday. I literally was busy from roughly 6am until midnight working on different things. So, tonight I went for the 2 mile run I missed yesterday. It was all I had time to squeeze in. Since this is also a recovery week for P90X, I don't feel bad about only one workout today. My body is a little beat up right now anyway. Hopefully I can get back on track shortly.

We are also bracing for another winter storm here in Baltimore. They are saying this storm will look liek a hurricane on radar and will bring hurricane strength wind gusts along with a decent amount of snow. We won't get hit with the 2 foot snow we had the last two times (each). But they are saying 8-14". Trust me- no fun. Especially when we still have at least 6" on the ground left over from the double blizzards from 2 weeks ago. Thsi sucks. I'm especially worried about losing power wit the high winds. It's really cold and I have 2 small children at home. I don't want to have to wrap them in a bunch of blankets to keep them from becomng popcicles! Also, I am concerned about the impact more snow will have on my ability to run.....so pray that we get the lighter side of the totals!!!

3.5 Mile Run and Yoga

Hello all. I've seen a little spike in traffic since Jeff pimped me on his site. So welcome to any new faces out there. Your words of encouragement are very appreciated!

Today, my half marathon schedule called for a 3.5 mile run. I was on the fence about getting out there to run because another storm system has moved in. Lucky for us, no snow this time. This one decided to dump sleet and freezing rain instead (fun!). It had just started when I got home from work today. I sat there looking at it trying to convince myself to go out and run. It seemed to be letting up a little, so I talked my self into running by saying I could squeeze in at least 2 miles before it started to get heavy and before the sunset.

I ran up to our bedroom, layered up the cold gear, grabbed the Garmin and the iPod and hit the road. Just my luck- it started sleeting heavily. It was all I could do to not stop during the first few minutes. It was cold, wet, sleet was hitting me hard in the face (and eyes). In short- it sucked. But after the first half mile, it seemed to lighten up again and I decided to keep going. At the 2 mile mark, I told myself not to be a wuss and that I was already out in it and wet, so why not just do the last 1.5 miles? So I did.

One thing I didn't do was look at my watch timer at all. I figured with the bad weather, I would be happy just getting it done- no matter the pace. However, when I stopped, I was shocked to see I had run those 3.5miles faster then any of my previous times at that distance. I am quite happy because I'm still seeing some real progress each and every time out. Baby steps I know, but encouraging nonetheless.

The P90X schedule calls for a recovery week this week as it is week 4. Today was Yoga. I'm short on time, so I only did the Warrior section at the start (1st half of the DVD). Still it was enough to get me sweating heavily again and reminded me how farI have yet to go to get back into shape.

5 Mile Run

Saturday was a scheduled 5 miles run. this followed a 40 minute cross training on Friday. So, let me start there.

Friday I decided to use the Kenpo X DVD for my P90X as my cross train. And I switched the legs and back workout to Saturday. I tried to push myself during the Kenpo to keep my heart rate up as high as I could. I figured it would be a good way to push my cardio base without pounding on my legs by running. Got a great workout in. Felt good and it als helped with osme of the soreness from my heaviest training week so far.

Saturday, I saw the running schedule called for a 5 miles run. I was quite nervous as this would be the longest I have ever run (4 miles last weekend was the record for me so far). I got a little bit of a break as the weather was awesome- well, awesome in comparison to what we've had recently. It was in the low 40's and really sunny. So, instead of 3 layers, I only put on 2 layers of gear, plus I didn't wear my hit or gloves. However, knowing that this run would probably take me over 45 minutes, I decided to take some hydration out with me as well as a GU gel pack. I didn't want to hit a wall while running.

Overall, I felt pretty good about the run. I managed to do this run in 54:10. So I was able to keep my mile paces under 11:00. Which for me is huge. Just a few weeks ago, I was struggling with 14-15:00 miles. I'm seeing improvement every time, which is positive. My only issues with the run were these:

1) I have to get used to running with a hydration belt and how to drink and run at the same time. The weight of the water bottle on my backside made me feel awkward while running. I really thought about it a lot in the first mile. And, to take my first drink (after abotu2.5 miles), I had to stop quickly to get it out, take a drink, and put it back in.

2) I have to get used to eating the GU gel while running. My hands were so sweaty, I had trouble getting the pack open and eating it. I ended up stopping quickly to do this. I'm sure this will come with practice.

3) I need to find the right thing to use as my liquid hydration. For today's run I mixed up a batch of P90X recovery drink. Normally, after a hard workout, I drink this stuff. And it tastes SO GOOD. but between the platic taste of my waterbottle, and the thickness of the liquid, it just wasn't a good fit for my run. It was fine after- just not during. I picked up some of the GU hydration drink mix as well as some Propel mix and I am going to test them out during my runs to see what I like best.

Anyway, today is sunday and I'm taking a rest day. I am not as sore as I was right after the run. When the run ended, I felt like I needed a nap! And my legs were pretty tight. Grabbed a shower and stayed in it a while just relaxing! So I thought I'd be sore today. but I really am not. Which is a good sign I think. It shows my body is adapting well to the extra work.

Shoulders and Arms

Got in a shoulders and arms workout last night. i have a lot of stuff going on with work right now. Much of it is pretty stressful. So it's really dominating my thoughts at the current time. As such, my focus duing my workout was lacking. I did the best I could and tried to do as much as I can. I still felt like I got a good workout in, so I guess it was ok.

I also had a late soccer game last night (11pm). We had no subs and the other team had two full lineups. It was fun! We ended up winning 6-3. I was pretty damn busy in goal. Since we had no subs my guys got pretty tired. Ususally, I would have had some trouble in this kind of game- especially beforeI started working out again. I would have gotten tired pretty quickly and had trouble making saves at the end of the game. But since I've been running and working out (and dropping weight), I felt good all game long. And it showed. I was on fire. I was damn tough to beat. And the other team had two former pro indoor players on the field- including one who just quit and is young (25). If I hadn't been in the process of getting fit, I bet I wouldn't have had the game I did.

Speaking of weight, it is amazing how fast I'm dropping weight. When I started this P90X round with the half marathin traiing, I was the heaviest I've ever been. I weighed 218 lbs. This morning, I weighed 205.5 and I haven't even completed 3 whole weeks of training! When I finished P90X last time, I weighed 197.5 lbs. So, I'm not that far away from thatlaready after 3 weeks. I don't expect to keep up this pace in terms of weight loss, but it's exciting for me!

3.5 mile Run

Hi there! Quick post as I'm tapped and need to hit the sack. I did a 2 mile run yesterday (per the running schedule). I pushed it hard (for me) and ran my fastest back to back miles since college. Of course- I wasn't even close to my time from college, but considering my lack of running experience, and my lack of overall fitness right now, I'll take it.

Today I got in a 3.5 mile run as called for in my half marathin training schedule. I got it done in a fairly good pace. this was especially challenging considering the strong wind we had today due to a small storm system coming through. It made it pretty cold too- about 25 degrees. Lungs were burning all run.

I was supposed to do shoulders and arms today too, but I'm wiped from an all day meeting. so I'm going to bump it to tomorrow.