Geocaching

Today was my 'off' day so I tried my hand at geocaching.  For those who don't know about this - in a nutshell it's like taking a hike looking for hidden treasure.  All you need is a GPS (or iphone) to get started.  I downloaded the free started app to my iphone and was suprised to find over 300+ geocaches within 8 miles of my house - kind of surprising if I do say so myself.  Anyway I thought it would be fun to go looking for my first one with Abby - about 2 miles later and 2 cashes we returned home.  It's fun to do and I got to spend some time with my little girl.  The next time I go out I'll capture some pictures and share them.

Last night I got in 2.2 miles with a .3 mile cool down.  I ran it pretty close to a tempo pace I would have had about two months ago, so my conditioning is coming back - I struggled throughout but I'm happy I was able to cover the distance at a fairly good pace without walking.

I'm still failing in getting up at 5:30 am.  Tomorrow I HAVE to get up so I can get a run in because tomorrow night is softball, and I won't have the chance to run at night.

Physically I feel pretty good - the scale is p*ssing me off, why did I stop running/working out for that month and a half?  Any why did I eat like a pig?  It's frustrating when I think about it.

Tomorrow I'll write a little about my upcoming races - I have two planned........

Keep Steppin'
Bob

Nice Tempo Run

The last couple of days have been good.  My body has responded pretty well to running the 11.5 miler on Sunday.  Beth and I have done our P90x workouts, and they are getting a little easier (almost enjoyable).  I don't feel so tired doing them, an I'm seeing the benefits (still) during my runs.  The core workouts are helping me keep my form longer during my runs - overall I'm pleased with my results so far.

Tonight's run was a nice tempo run that I snuck in late tonight (after 10 pm).  And it didn't come until I had done my P90x workout.  The weather was nice, and I got in a quick tempo run 2.3 miles at a (9:12 pace) so overall I'm pleased.



The rest of this week I'm going to try to push myself a little harder and get in a few more miles so I can finish my month strong.  I need another 20 miles to hit my 100 mile goal and it's going to be tight for me to get there.  Even if I don't make it to 100 miles, the month isn't a total waste.  My overall mileage is looking solid, and steady; my body is reacting to the extra workouts pretty well; and I think next month I can even take my intensity level up another notch without hurting myself.

Keep Steppin'
bob

Wonderful Weekend!

I can't believe how good this weekend was both for workouts and family!  Where should I start?  Let's see, I'll start with my running stuff - Friday I did 7.5 mile total, a bunch of that was fairly slow in fact Beth joined me for 2.3 miles!  She's going to try to get some running in an maybe run a race coming up.  It was nice getting out with her, we took Bogey, Cade in the stroller, Abby was on her razor with her friend from accross the street.  I enjoyed getting out of the house and spending time with Beth.  She always seems to handle running easily and she ended up doing the distance at a 12:06 pace.  Not bad for someone who doesn't really run. My main run on Friday was only 2.6 miles and most of that was downhill.  It didn't worry me though because Friday's are actually my rest day when it comes to my planning schedule, so getting in these miles were a bonus.  My legs feel pretty good and overall I feel strong.  Pace was a pretty quick 9:15 per mile so I'm very happy since the run itself didn't take too much effort.

Saturday was another good day - I picked up Alex from his Mother's and he wanted to run with me that night, so after giving him my old New Balance shoes, we went out he front door for an easy 5k.  This kid is fast, but having him there really helped me.  I was able to talk with him while we ran and the time flew by.  Before I knew it we were going up our last hill for the finish.  At that point Alex wanted to 'stretch his legs' and picked up the pace.  Me being his old man tried to limit him pulling away from me.  Over the final half mile he got about a :45 seconds on me and I fnished in 28:24 only :20 slower than my personal best.  WOW!  This run felt so easy paced for me so I know running with him will help me a ton.  Hopefully he'll stick with it.

Saturday is my week ending date so I put together a solid week - I ran everyday this past week and logged 38.2 miles doing it.  Beth and I ran, Alex and I ran, and Beth and I did the pretest on P90x.  (more on this later)  Overall it was a great week, I'm feeling really strong right now, and my workouts are going great!  I still can't believe that I'm pushing myself into new territory here.  I can't wait for P90x to get into full swing......

Sunday I did my long run for the week (5 miles).  Alex joined me again.  I thought maybe he was going to be tired from the night before, but the three miles didn't seem to bother him at all.  We did just over 5 miles at a 9:24 pace.  A little fast for me, but once again I felt good running with him, and he takes me out of my confort zone just a little.  Not so much that I'm struggling, but just enough to give me that 'next level' of training that I need.  Overall with our warm up and cool down we ended up logging 6.5 miles.  This Wednesday he's has his first track day; 9+ miles on a track!  They do 10 laps, 9 laps, 8 laps, etc.  What an introduction to track running!  No timing, but they have to finish before they go home.......  This season could be interesting for him, but after doing 5 miles with me, it shouldn't be a problem him as long as he paces himself.  BTW he logged a 6:15 mile for his PE final last week, I wonder what he could do with solid training?

Monthly totals: 179.9 miles, three new PB's, started weight training, did pretest for P90x.  Pretty solid month if I do say so.  Too bad for that three day rain stretch otherwise I might have had 30 days of straight running.

Family stuff this weekend was wonderful.  Beth had to put in some hours at the office, but once she was home we made the best of it.  Like I mentioned, she went running on Friday, and Saturday we had fun just hanging out together.  Sunday we took the family down to San Diego (about a 45 min drive) and spent about 2.5 hours on the Midway.  Yes the Aricraft Carrier Midway from WWII.  The carrier is now decommishioned and is a floating museum down in San Diego.  Beth's Uncle works as a tour guide / safety staff on the ship and gave us some free passes over Christmas.  We had a blast.  If you're in the area, I'd recommend this site to anyone even if you're not a big history buff.  This boat has such a rich histoy and was so vital to us winning the war in the Pacific, you can't help be feel in awe when you step aboard.  They are continusously opening new rooms so there is always something new to look at.

 Cade with his Monkey Leash

Eject! Eject!

Just one of several planes they have on display, this is INSIDE the Midway.

Go Navy!  Mr. Speedy himself.

Abby and Cade

Beth and Cade

Helicopter tansport - Alex knows it from Call Of Duty for XBox.  Scary thing is Abby and Cade knew it also.

The kids

Check out that anchor!  That only one of two in the bow.  Taken from the flight deck.

Downtown San Diego skyline - taken from the flight deck of the Midway.

 

Abby the Fighter Pilot

After a late lunch in Old Towne.

Keep Steppin'

Bob

P90X

Well Beth and I took our "Before" pictures last night - I can't post them.  Just too horrible - maybe I'll get over it once I've finished the program but for right now I can't stand looking at them.  Tonight we're doing the fitness test to see if we can even handle doing the program and most likely we'll start the actual progam over the weekend.  We're both pretty sure the fitness test won't pose any problems but I'm still worried.

We're pretty much going to follow the program except for maybe the supplements they sell.  Foodwise we're going to eat better and clear out the house over the next 30 days.  After 90 days if we like the results I'm sure we'll do it again.  I'm looking forward spending that extra hour working out with Beth but it's going to be hard on me getting up an hour earlier, I'm such a night owl.

I'll keep everyone posted on our/my progress. 

On top of this program I am continuing my running and weight program(s).  So I'm upping my daily workout time from approx 1 hour a day to 2 hours a day - I know this is going to get me tired but I want to see how far I can push myself here.  I have enough base work put in over the past couple years I should be able to handle it.  I think the hardest thing for me will be the change in diet.



Last night I snuck in a 5k at an very easy pace (10:26 per mile)  that's a little too slow, but because of the two previous days at the quicker pace I'm ok with this.  Also my running partner kept stopping and wanted to smell the grass.......  My legs did feel pretty tired last night and I was overdressed for the weather (windbreaker and gloves).  I most likely could have gotten away with just my sleeves and no gloves but I was being a wimp because of the slight drizzle.  Still it was a good run, I got out the front door and put in the miles where I could have just easily sat in front of the tv so I have to be pleased that I put in the effort.  I've run this particular course 14 times now and this run is the second slowest I've done, so that kind of tells me I did take it rather too easy.

Today is turning out to be fairly nice (forecast called for 40% chance of rain today), I honestly don't think we're going to get it.  That's good because I want to sneak out and get my first speedwork workout in.  I haven't done any speedwork in such a long time it's going to be interesting to see how my body reacts.  I'm just wondering if I'm going to survive. :)

Because of the rain I'm basically two workouts behind schedule but I'm not worried about this at all. I'll just make them up along the way since I'm planning on doing more mileage than what my plan calls for anyway.  Friday's are scheduled rest days and I love running Friday nights so I'm sure I'll make one day up this week.  My long day - Sunday this week is only 5 miles so rolling in the P90x program this weekend works out well also.  The weight training is coming along but I haven't really seen any results from this yet, hopefully by the end of March the work I'm putting in here will begin to pay off.

Keep Steppin'
Bob