Solid running, P90X and adventure training

At lunch on Friday Jim was fishing for someone to run with – So I obliged. Jim is a little bit listless following the ironman also. We don’t seem to have a whole lot of direction right now. Don’t get me wrong – I am still exercising and maintaining / improving my fitness but without clearly defined goals I am not focused. Jim mentioned Boston Qualifying again – he ran Boston a few years ago – he said he did not have a good race – the goal had been just to qualify. He also mentioned maybe trying for a 2:59 marathon – now that is a lofty goal. During the summer we do our cycling time trials – staggered start – set course – always trying to PR. Jim and I tossed around the idea of starting an evening running time trial. Something like a 5K or maybe a 4 or 5 mile run. Get a group of people to meet after work one night a week and lay it on the line. This would be our speed work and camaraderie all wrapped into one. Seems like a good idea even if it is only Jim and I that show up!

On Saturday I had class – Adventure Training – so I got up early per normal to get some exercise in. I had skipped the Kento P90X DVD earlier in the week so I thought that I would make it up. Although I was sweating profusely the work out just was not very intense! At this point I simply do not have the balance and coordination to do this work out all out. Watching the people on the DVD they are using their entire core and twisting with their legs to deliver what looks like powerful kicks and punches. Try as I might the most that I could incorporate was my upper torso and shoulders for the punches. I am really going to have to work on this part of the DVD’s. Funny story - When I was an out of shape chubby little kid – 5th or 6th grade I begged my mom to let me take karate. This was a big step for me – I was completely unfit – very little exercise and no diet what so ever. For the karate classes you had to commit to 30 days and had to buy a karate suit and stuff. My mom made me promise to stick with it. I was scared and excited about the class. During the first class they had us do all of the respect stuff when entering the ‘dojo’ or whatever and then had us practice some punches and what not. It was fun. I was having a good time. Then the instructor was going to do a little bit of a demonstration – show us some of the moves connected together. He was kicking and punching and we, the kids, were all lined up watching him. It was impressive. I was kind of day dreaming about being some kind of karate kid. Then the instructor started to a lot of punches and was kind of dancing around us – the line of kids. On one of his punches, and these were real punches – during the back stroke his elbow connected solidly with my eye socket. I went down like a sack of potatoes. I was dizzy and dazed and confused. Looking back I think that I may have had a mild concussion. The instructor felt horrible and helped me up. I sat out the remainder of the class. I was frightened at this point and was never to return to karate.

So, a little bit defeated by the Kento DVD and not feeling completely spent I put the pylometrics DVD in – this is the dynamic jumping around DVD. I was able to keep up the intensity on this one – in fact I skipped most of the water breaks and just fast forwarded the DVD. This, on top of the previous DVD was exhausting. I really laid it all on the line. Then it was off to class.

My adventure training class was described as land / water orienteering and team problem solving. That is not was the class was about. I will follow up on this a little later in the week.

After class Jodie and I went to gather out supplies for Halloween. The one prerequisite is that you have to be able to run in the costume. The track-on-tap Halloween addition is slated for Thursday, October 29. Jodie and I will also be in New Orleans on Halloween for a ½ marathon and I am considering, since I have not trained at all for a ½ marathon to run the race in full costume. This will definitely not be a PR but I bet it could be fun. We are also going to stay the night in New Orleans and do all of the Haunted Tours and what not.

Sunday is the first day of the week for me regarding the P90X series so I popped in the Chest and Back DVD. Last week this was very challenging – lots of pull-ups and push-ups. I brought the same amount of intensity as before and I had a great workout. Using a chair I was able to complete a lot more pull-ups and keep the intensity up. I took all of the water breaks and really tried to push myself. I am not used to the circuit training intensity of these routines. I think they will be good for me. I was dripping wet, a little nauseous and had a splitting head ache when I finished. Good stuff.

A couple of us from the running club were going to get together and run the Hobble then Gobble Thanksgiving day race course. The race directors wanted to make a slight revision to the course. I was not sure if I was going to be able to make it – the time might conflict with Beer Club. So I was sitting around the house eating candy (we were decorating Halloween cupcakes for Beer Club) and a little bit stir crazy. The weather was cool outside and there was a slight drizzle. I decided to go for a little run – no real direction – maybe 3 miles or something. I headed out at a very easy pace and I felt good. I just trucked along in the rain. I was soaked but I was enjoying the run. I would not be making the Sunday group ride today – I would so much rather run in the rain than ride in the rain. Before I knew it I was coming up on the Beaver Pond – this is 4.5 miles from home. I turned around and Charles (ultra runner / solid cyclist guy) came up from behind. I did not want to slow him down too much so I really picked up the pace – miles 6 and 7 were a couple of minutes per mile faster. I was glad he came up because it allowed me to get some real striders in during this run. These couple of miles really dropped my pace average for the run. After talking with Charles I dropped the intensity down a little bit – still higher than what I was running and finished up with 9 miles for the run. A good solid run.

I took in some nutrition at home and the phone rang. It was Charles from the running club and he said we were getting together to run the 5 mile hobble then gobble course in about an hour and a half. So, why not, I would get a few more miles. The rain had let up for the most part when I got to the race site. Audrey, Charles wife, wanted to run Buccaneer – this is a very hilly route. I discovered it during a long, hard brick last summer – it ate my lunch. I had joked about changing the hobble then gobble course to include Buccaneer but we would lose so many participants the following year. We have also batted around the idea of having ‘The hardest 5K in the Hub City’ race on this road. Anyway, Audrey and I decided to run the hills. My legs were a little tired and we pushed each other. It was challenging. Towards the end we both picked up the pace and finished the 5 miles with an average pace of about 8:10. This was faster than my ‘easy’ run earlier. So all in all I got 14 miles for the day – about 7 easy and about 7 hard.