P90X - Day 3 Shoulders & Arms plus Ab Ripper X

First time doing Shoulders & Arms for a long time. The good news is I have room for improvement! I maxed out on a few of the exercises before my 15 rep standard. Thankfully, it was only a few of the 32 exercises and only a few reps short.

As the S & A cool down began, I thought, "Whew! It's over." And then I remembered... oh no! Ab Ripper X is after this workout!

I did all of Ab Ripper X, 20 reps each instead of 25 and modified a few exercises because of my lower back that is still not 100% (and may never be).

I was absolutely wiped after that and I am now resting my forearms on the desk as I type this post. Even lifting my recovery drink (protein powder in a glass of orange juice) is a challenge!

Feeling good and looking forward to gaining some muscle back that I have obviously lost. I will post again tomorrow!

What they don't tell you about...

I am sure you have heard the saying, "The longest journey begins with a single step." But what they don't tell you is that the second step can sometime be just as hard. Especially with sore muscles!

I was feeling my lower abs, triceps, lats, and hamstrings all day but especially when I was doing the yoga part of Cardio X today. I ached, but it was a good ache. However, it took just as much willpower to do the workout today as it did to start the P90X program for another round yesterday. I do feel good after a workout, and that is the feeling that I have to draw upon when my mind tries to convince itself that I don't need to exercise.

Anyway, I did it and I feel good, albeit a bit sore. One other benefit of exercising is stretching and my back thanks me for giving my vertebrae a chance to align!

P90X...Again!

Just did Core Synergistics for the first time in a long time. Some of my muscles were shaking at the end of it. You can fool yourself that you haven't really lost much after not working out regularly for a while, but then you do a real workout like this and reality sets in.

I started P90X today (Thursday) to have my rest/stretch day on Wednesday, which is Scouting night and I don't always have a lot of time before the 6:30 meeting after I get home just after 4:00.

I could have waited until January to start, but I figured, "Why wait?"

Here we go on another round of P90X! Wish me luck!

10 kilometres, 59:54!

I finally ran 10 kilometres in less than 60 minutes! I have not been running much this summer, I have been spending almost every spare moment completing landscaping projects on my property, leaving little time and energy for running. Most weeks I might get out once or twice, at most.

The last ten minutes of the run were hard, almost every minute my mind was saying, "Just walk for a bit and rest," but I pushed through that nonsense and finished 10 kilometres in 59:54. I know it is only 6 seconds faster than 60 minutes, but it is still a personal victory. Now to get back into a regular running schedule and keep dropping the time, with the eventual goal of running another half-marathon!

Dartmouth Natal Day Race

I had originally planned to run the 2 mile race today, just to have fun and not be too serious with it. I thought the run was at 9:00 AM or so, but when my sister Michelle called me at 7:05 AM, asking if I was still going to run, she informed me that the race started at 8:15 AM!!!

I left the house in a rush and forgot my Garmin, so this was going to be an old-school run with no clock to go by. I decided to run with Michelle, again thinking I will just go for a fun run.

With a few hundred metres to go before the finish line, I told Michelle I was going to run the 10K. She gave me her Garmin and I ran with her to the finish line of the 2 mile race. After about another kilometre, my task ahead of me finally sank in. I will have to run three 2-mile loops around downtown Dartmouth, not just one! Did you know Ochterloney Street has a hill near the harbour? It does. Did you know Crichton Avenue has a hill before Hawthorne Street? It does.

Anyway, the run went well and I finished in 62 minutes, which is pretty good for me, after rolling about of bed an hour before the race with no intention of running 10K.

Thanks to everyone for all the cheers and shouts of encouragement along the way!

10 kilometres, 1:00:30!

Father's Day 2011 - I went out for a 10 K run this morning and did it in 60 minutes and 30 seconds! So close to my goal of 60 minutes!

I did the first 5 K in 29:05, then did 10 and 1's for the second 5 K. I ran the last ten minutes by mentally counting my paces, which really improved my pace over that period, I ran the last kilometre in 5:20! I am going to try doing that earlier in the run next time. I completed 9.88 kilometres in 60:00 and finished the last 120metres in 30 seconds.

I felt good afterwards and I feel even better knowing that my 60 minutes 10 K is within reach.

Lunenburg 5 K Muffin Run

I had fun on June 12 when I ran the Lunenburg 5 K "Muffin Run". The route encircled the downtown section of Lunenburg, which is such a historic place the UNESCO designated it a World Heritage Site.

This was on my mother's birthday, so for her present I decided to do the 5 K run with my sister. There were other Team Myles members there: Jacki Stevenson, Sheila Doyle and Susan Graham. It was good to see them, as well as the other Heart & Sole members: my brother-in-law Gordon Crooks, as well as Sarah Austin and Paul Wesson.

I really enjoyed running with Michelle, it gave us a chance to catch up and talk for a half-hour, which we haven't done for a while.

True to the name of the run, there were hundreds of homemade muffins available after the run. Heart & Sole's trophy for this run was given to the member who ate the most muffins. Through sheer determination, I won the muffin-eating competition and I have vowed to never again eat so many muffins at one time!