Sunday, August 30, 2009

P90X Hybrid Day 23: 18 Mile Cycle

The plan was to wake up at 6:30 am and be on the road by 7:00 am. Well, that didn't quite work out. I remember turning the alarm off but nothing after that until I picked up my head and saw that it was already 8:00 am. That is very late for me to sleep so my body must have really needed it!

At that point we got up and had breakfast. Annie was going out with some girlfriends to see an early matinee so I figured I'd just go ride then. The temperature was only 87 and the humidity was better than normal. The cool thing was that a nice wind was blowing. Usually this sucks for cyclists but it was going to give me a change to really try out riding in the aero position.

Long story short is that riding aero is just awesome in the wind. One section of road has about a 1.2 mile straight-away that is just wide open. When I made the turn onto it I had my hands on the "bull-horns" of the bike and the wind was blowing directly at my face. I was on the big ring and working pretty good. Looked down at the speed and I was going only 17.5 mph. From there I dropped down on the aero bars and hammered it just to see how much speed I could pick up. A few cranks later I looked at my speed and was going 22.5 mph into the wind. Very, very cool. The best part was that my cadence seemed to be about the same in both positions but my speed had increased. Really digging the Tri Bike!

After the bike ride I got home and got a call from Annie telling me she was in my car about 5 miles from the house and the car had broke down. It is my company car so I called up the leasing company and they sent out a tow truck. I was planning on getting in a run tomorrow morning but now I have to get an early ride over to the dealership and pick up a rental. These situations are never easily or quickly resolved. Should be a fun day!

Tomorrow is Shoulders & Arms again (assuming I have a coche to take me to the gym).

Thanks for Reading,

Annie

Saturday, August 29, 2009

P90X Hybrid Day 22: Chest/Back/ARX + 5 Mile Run

Okay so it is Saturday which means another double workout day! This fitness lifestyle is just killing other aspects of my life. My yard looks like crap, I have a ton of chores to do around the house, we never go out anymore, I barely watch TV, the laundry pile keeps getting higher, and I have never felt better!!!

Today is the beginning of Week 4 for this edition of P90x. All of you P90X enthusiasts know this as the recovery week. Well, not for me! We woke up early this morning and did a 5 mile run in the neighborhood. My wife Annie is training to run a 1/2 Mary and Saturday is her schedule long run. According to the program she is following the pace is supposed to be "conversational". So, I have been doing this run with her and she has been pacing me. This morning was awesome because we are having what the weather people here in Houston call a cold front. Yes, if you look on weather.com is will still say our temperature is 94 degrees, but the humidity is drastically reduced. And for us Houstonians in August that is some much welcomed relief!

Anyways, we did our conversational 5 miles at 54:54. A pace of a little under 11 min/mile. My average HR was 148 BPM and my Garmin said I burned 672 calories. This was a nice base run that kept me in the aerobic zone for basically the entire distance. I have never been a long distance runner and was unsure about this "training in the aerobic zone" thing, but I am now a believer because my running has improved drastically over the last 6 months of this type of conditioning.

After the run we had some breakfast and relaxed for awhile and then I went to the gym for Chest, Back, & Ab Ripper X. I love going to my crappy gym on Saturdays in the early afternoon because I practically have it all to myself. I don't mind when a crowd is there but it makes it easier when I am the only one using the dumbbells and lat pull down machine. By the 2nd time through Chest & Back my body was feeling some fatigue. When I got to the wide push-ups again, which I am doing with dumbbells on a flat bench, it was hard to initially get the weights up to my chest. And my arms were shaking some as I struggled to heave the 40lb DBs in the air - it felt awesome.

Ab Ripper X was a good time today as well. My intensity was good (thanks again NO Xplode) but my results we a notch below good. I made it through but struggled more than usual. I ditched using the medicine ball for the Mason Twists because I was too darn tired to walk to the other side of the gym to pick it up! That is usually a sign of a good workout!

I came home and slammed some Muscle Milk (my new recover drink - 22G Protein) and am now going to take a nap on the couch until dinner. Guess the house chores can wait until tomorrow, again!

Tomorrow morning I plan on getting up for a nice bike ride on the Q-Roo. I might just stay in the neighborhood since traffic is so light on Sunday mornings but if I am real motivated I might just make the 20 minute drive to Huffman.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Friday, August 28, 2009

P90X Hybrid Day 20 & 21: 5 Mile Run + Rest Day + One Year Anniversary of the Carrot

It has been One Full Year and 321 posts since I began blogging about P90X and my fitness journey. In that time I have done P90X (2.5 times) and P90X Plus. I've completed a Triathlon and went Running with the Bulls. Both my nutrition and lifestyle has gone from extremely poor to extremely clean. And as a result I have spent more money on new clothes this year then probably the last ten years combined - this is a good thing! I may be a year older but feel many years younger. Thank you Beachbodies and Tony Horton because without you none of the above would have been possible.

Another big THANK YOU goes out to everyone who has read and commented on the Carrot over the year. I could not have continued without all of the support and encouragement from you. And hopefully the Carrot has helped some of you on your own fitness endeavours because if it has it is all worth it!

..................................................................................

Yesterday I completely forgot to post! Annie got the AMC show "Mad Men" Season One on DVD (pretty decent so far) so we ate and started watching and next thing I know I was sound asleep

Yesterday was a good run. It is still Africa hot here in Houston so to the treadmill again it was! The treadmill for 5 miles is usually just awful but yesterday was okay. First off I am still listening to an audiobook on my iPod and then at about mile 2.5 some Pace Booty jumped on the treadmill directly in front of me so that provided the rest of the motivation I needed to finish.

End result was 5 miles even at 44:35 seconds. Right at a 9 minute mile.

Now I need to start making some decisions about my running. The highest my HR got up to yesterday was 155 BPM, the average was 148 BPM. That is extremely low and is a good sign that I have a built up a decent base. It has been this way for the last couple of weeks. Also, I checked my resting heart rate on Wednesday night just to see where it is right now. When I began P90X about a year ago it was at 74 BPM, on Wednesday it was 46 BPM. I am thinking that I can start to try and Bring It some more on the runs. If any of you runners have any advice I'd really appreciate hearing it!

Today is the last day of Week 3 of my Hybrid P90X workout. It is my scheduled rest day and I am debating on whether or not to take it. Despite doing Legs & Back on Wednesday and Running last night my legs are feeling reasonably fresh. I'm considering waiting for the sun to set and go hit the road for a few miles on the bike. But tomorrow I am going to run 5 miles with Annie in the morning so I don't want to overdo it.

We shall see ...

Tomorrow is a 5 Mi Run in the morning and then the beginning of the Week 4 Recovery week. Well, my body really is not that in need of a recovery week so I am going to do a repeat of weeks 1-3 and do Chest & Back in the afternoon. I am enjoying lifting weights again and really just don't feel the need to take a recovery week. If I start to tire at the end of the week then I will relax for a couple of days but until that happens it is full steam ahead.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

P90X Hybrid Day 19: Legs/Back and Ab Ripper X

Very exciting! Just got home from the gym and what is on the TV? The 1986 classic "The Delta Force" starring the always awesome Chuck Norris!

Why is that exciting? Well, for one it is just a great movie about an American Special Forces Team kicking some terrorist butt. Back in the day when our country wasn't run by a bunch of lefty progressive whiners! But it is also awesome because during my workout today I felt like Chuck Norris, baby!

That is right, when I was doing push-ups I didn't push myself up I pushed the earth down!

I love the Chuck Norris jokes - always crack me up!

Today was my favorite P90X workout Legs & Back and I absolutely slammed it. As many of you P90X vets have point out, once you get used to the P90X videos you become impatient with all Tony's talking and just want to move it along. Well, I am a member of that group but have found a way to make it work in my favor - Do more reps! Especially on the leg exercises. What I do is just keep going when he stops and starts talking about the next move. I am adding 5-10 reps on most of the moves and the results have been glorious!

I also had a ton of energy left (thank you NO Xplode) for ARX and added a whole bunch of reps for this too. For the Mason Twists I did 50 reps with a 6 lb medicine ball. Rested for about 30 seconds and did another 50 reps with the medicine ball. Just killed my core! No windshield wipers though, I didn't want to embarrass myself because the Masons destroyed me!

Alright, I am out. Gonna go watch Chuck Norris shoot missiles from the back of a dirt bike at terrorists -- Good Times!

Tomorrow is a Running Day, 5 Miles, 9 minute miles!

Thanks for Reading and See ya when I see ya!

Jeff

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

P90X Hybrid Day 18: 15 Mile Bike

I drove down to Huffman this evening with my new Tri bike in tow. It was still pretty damn hot so I dressed in light gear and loaded up on sunscreen.

This was my first attempt taking the bike out of my limited access neighborhood to the open roads. I ended up not doing the full trail (26 miles) because it was starting to get dark (traffic was awful getting there) so I just did 15 miles. A couple of things I found out were that this bike is FAST. I mean real fast. The roads I were on are relatively flat and at one point I had the bike up to 32 mph on a long stretch and the amazing thing was that the bike still had some more to give! My old road bike would top out at 21-22 mph and that was working as hard as I possibly could. Another thing that is cool is how much more effective I feel while in the aero position. I mean you can really dig down and pedal your heart out!

Now something that is going to take some work is my steering while in the aero position. I have no problems going straight but making turns is challenging. Surely this will get easier as I ride more. Something else that is different from my road bike is the way the pressure is felt in my legs. The Tri bike distributes the force more evenly through out my quads and hips. With the road bike most of the force was in my quads. This is good and bad. Good because this will make doing the run portion much more comfortable during races. The bad is that all my conditioning has been done on the Road bike and it feels like I am starting from day one again!

Overall, I couldn't ask for a more enjoyable ride. The bike is just awesome and I cannot wait to go again!

Tomorrow is Legs & Back and my quads are probably going to be a little sore!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Monday, August 24, 2009

P90X Hybrid Day 17: Shoulders/Arms + Ab Ripper X

An overall uneventful Monday!

Went to the gym this evening to get in my P90X Shoulder & Arms workout. I was a little sluggish so it was two scoops of NO Xplode to get the juices flowing. As usual the NO Xplode did it's job.

On a scale of 1-10 today's workout probably was an 8.5. Not the best but pretty close. Ab Ripper X really did a number on me. This will never be easy.

Not too sure about tomorrow. I'd really like to Bike but the forecast is calling for rain on and off all day long. I wanted to go in the morning but I have to leave early so that isn't going to happen. If it is raining I will probably go run on the Treadmill and beat on my legs again - which are still pretty sore today!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Sunday, August 23, 2009

P90X Hybrid Day 16: 2 Miles Speed Run

Today I REALLY wanted to hit the trail for a long ride on the new Quintana Roo! This morning we went to the hospital to visit one of my wives good friends who had a baby boy last night. I figured that it would cool off (low 90's maybe) in the evening and that's when I could cycle away. I got on my padded shorts, shimano shoes, jersey, checked the air pressure in the tires and went inside to get a water bottle and that is when I heard the loud crack of thunder!

Yep, the sky opened up and it was pouring. I considered still going in the rain but my wife talked me out of it. Using the reasoning that I am still not real comfortable on the bike yet and it might be dangerous in the rain. She is much smarter than me!

The gym was already closed so I couldn't go to the pool. So, my options were to either run in the rain or do a P90X workout. I was feeling stir crazy so running in the rain it was! Now the problem with this is that I have ran the last two days for a total of 11 miles. My legs are not used to this type of mileage and they were already pretty sore. I started a light jog to warm up and I could feel my calves already tightening up. At this point I was already soaked from the rain and I decided to go balls out for 2 miles just to see what I could do. Every now and again you got to push yourself just to see what you can accomplish. I hit start on the Garmin and took off. Mile 1: 6:57; Mile 2: 7:10. Two Mile total: 14:07. My legs are feeling it right now too, but it was cool to record those times on a run!

Tomorrow is Shoulder & Arms. I was planning on getting up early and running but my legs may fall off so that ain't going to happen. Tuesday I am keeping my fingers crossed that I can get on the saddle and log a few miles!

Oh, Finally sold my Road Bike today. It went to a young guy who is just getting into biking and I am happy he will get some good use out of it!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Saturday, August 22, 2009

P90X Hybrid Day 15: 6 Mi Run + Chest/Back and ARX

Annie and I woke up early this morning to try and beat the Texas heat! She is following a 1/2 Marathon Training plan that she found in Runner's World and according to the plan she is to do a 6 mile run at a "Conversational Pace". I have decided to try and add a few more miles into each week so I decided to join her. This would also be an opportunity to run in my aerobic zone and continue to build a solid base. We had a real nice run that lasted a little over an hour. According to my Garmin I burned 745 calories. Towards the end it was HOT and at this point I remembered why I have been running indoors on the treadmill! The last 1/2 mile I tweaked my right knee. Sitting hear with an ice pack on it and it already seems to be feeling better.

We came home and had a good protein filled breakfast. Annie went off to work and I headed off to the gym to do Chest, Back, and ARX. I took two scoops of NO Xplode and ripped through the workouts with Tony and the kids! My ARX session was a little sluggish as I was loosing some steam right after I finished the "Heels to the Heavens".

Good, solid workouts today. I am going to try and add in some more double days to get in some more running.

Thanks for Reading and Here We Go Steelers!

Jeff

Friday, August 21, 2009

P90X Hybrid Day 14: 5 Mile run

I set the treadmill at a 9 minute pace and hit shuffle on the iPod! When it was all said and done I ended up with 5 miles in over 45:30. I felt great throughout the entire run and my HR only got up to 161 bpm. This is right in my target and aerobic zones. Very good day of training.

About 15 minutes in some guy came in and changed the channel on the TV in front of me (without asking) from Fox News to MSNBC. The amazing thing is that my HR did not get above 161 bpm when this happened! What is even more amazing is that this guy was the lost twin brother of Congressman Barney Frank. I mean I had to do a double take to make sure it really wasn't Frank. I was really proud of myself for not saying anything to the Barney Frank impersonator about changing the TV to that second rate cable news station. I really had to fight the urge to talk about Heathcare reform with Barney ...

Tomorrow I am going to run again in the morning with Annie and then the afternoon I will begin Week 3 and do Chest & Back!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Thursday, August 20, 2009

P90X Hybrid Day 13: Rest Day

I forgot to mention in yesterday's post that I had a work function tonight so I was switching today's Running day with tomorrow's Rest Day. I just got home and still have a bunch more work to do so this works out much better. So tomorrow evening I am going to my 5 mile run in!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

P90X Hybrid Day 12: Legs & Back + ARX

I got kicked out of the gym tonight! I'd like to think it is because I am so hardcore that I just wore out all the gym employees until they had no choice but to close and go home. But the real truth is that I just got there very late because my work day was extremely long AND my gym sucks because they close at 10PM.

When I left the house this morning I got gas down the road and I reset the trip meter to zero. As I was pulling into my street this evening I looked down at the trip meter and it said 284 miles. That is a heck of a lot of driving considering I was in Houston metro all day!

I ate dinner before the gym because someone was supposed to come and buy my old road bike. Well, they never showed and I ended up not getting to the gym until 8:30.

The good news is that I had another excellent P90X workout and am feeling stronger than ever. The amazing thing to me right now is that I just completed only the 2nd week and I am looking absolutely ripped. The difference from Day 1 to now is amazing. I weighted 162 pounds this morning - a 10 pound gain from Day 1! And that weight is all in my chest, back, arms and legs. I have not increased my calories at all but am gaining solid muscle all over my body. I am sure a lot of it is from my supplements (Cell Mass and Creatine) and a lot is from the fact that I have cut cardio from 6 days a week to 3 days a week.

Now this weight gain leads me to wonder: Will my cardio conditioning be good enough for my next Triathlon on October 18th? Most runners and triathletes are pretty skinny. Lean, but skinny. I was skinny two weeks ago. Not so much today. So I am sort of at this crossroads right now (and I know my buddy Boomer is going through the same thing). I want to do Triathlons and Run in a 10K and 1/2 Marathon in the near future but I like the way my body looks when I am doing P90X and weight training. Such conundrums!

It is almost laughable that a year ago I was worried about blood pressure, cholesterol, and my overall fatness and today I am worried about being too skinny or too muscular! I need to shut-up now because I am annoying myself!

Tomorrow is Day 13 or in your P90X programs: Kenpo X. As per my hybrid plan I will be running instead and plan on doing 5 miles at a moderate pace.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

P90X Hybrid Day 11: 9 Mile Bike Ride

Yes, I brought my new bike home today!

This thing is a freaking rocket - I had it up to 28 mph in my neighborhood on a straight away and the wind was in my face! On my old Schwinn road bike at the same piece of road I could get it up to maybe 22mph if the wind was at my back. And the aero bars make such a difference. They really let you get your legs into the stroke and just hammer as do having the clipless pedals. These two features are just great.

I cannot wait to go take it out on the bike route in Huffman!

Anyways I only got in 9 miles today because of lightening. We had some much needed storm showers all through the day and I was hopeful they were done by the time I got home. But they were not so I had to hustle back to the garage! According to my Garmin I still burned 300 calories so not a bad workout.

Tomorrow is the always brutal Legs & Back.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Monday, August 17, 2009

P90X Hybrid Day 10: Shoulders & Arms + ARX

I had another long day out on the road but was able to have solid nutrition day. Started off with a Whey Protein Shake with banana and a whole wheat bagel with some organic peanut butter. One thing that is a little annoying is that my supplements need to be taken on an empty stomach and it is not recommended to eat for a half hour afterwards. So, I have been waking up early to take the supps and then I check emails and take care of the dogs before I eat. After breakfast I packed a couple of protein bars and my creatine and nitix into a cooler and hit the road. I had a protein bar for each snack and a 12-inch turkey on whole wheat from Subway for lunch! I just finished off a late dinner of grilled chicken breast, long grain rice, and carrots and broccoli.

I was not able to get to the gym until 7pm and to give myself an added boost I took some NO-Xplode. And it worked wonderfully! I was able to hit the Shoulders & Arms workout with a great deal of intensity and felt completely exhausted afterwards. My left shoulder was feeling a little tender but not at all limiting. It did not prevent me from holding back on a single exercise. I even busted through the straight arm extensions in the bonus round!

I was feeling beat but sucked it up and refocused on Ab Ripper X. It was not my most intense ARX workout but it was still a pretty good one. I even had a little left over to do two sets of five Windshield Wipers. It hurt to walk down the steps to the locker room after those suckers!

Tomorrow is an exciting day! Not because I get to do cardio, but because I am getting properly fit to my new Tri Bike and I get to bring it home. The LBS (Local Bike Shop) is even going to take me out to the parking lot and practice clipping in and out of the pedals ... should be fun! Depending on the time I get home it will either be a Cycle day or if dark I will got hit the treadmill.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Sunday, August 16, 2009

P90X Hybrid Day 9: 1000 Yard Swim

Hello from Hot and extremely Humid Texas!

I have a bunch of stuff I need to get down in the yard around the house but it is just too hot out to do anything. So, I spent most of the day inside until I went to the gym to swim some laps.

Before I get into my swim I want to talk about this cool swimming website I found. It is called Swim Smooth and it teaches you all the aspects of having a good freestyle stroke through an interactive app that you can download to your computer. I wish I would have found this thing about 4 months ago! Check it out if you are planning on learning to freestyle or even if you have been doing it for years!

Anyways, I went to the pool today for the first time since my Triathlon. I decided to work on my stroke and my breathing using some of the techniques from the Swim Smooth site.

Also, all the reading I have been doing about improving my swim time involves doing intervals. Today I did a couple 4x100 sprints and a 4x50 sprint. This allows me to go fast but also not to lose my form. It is all about the muscle memory. I felt very good after the swim and could have went a little more but decided to stick to my plan of doing 1000 yards total!

Tomorrow is Shoulders & Arms and Ab Ripper X. My left shoulder is feeling a little better today so I plan on Bringing It hard.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Saturday, August 15, 2009

P90X Hybrid Day 8: Chest & Back + Ab Ripper X

After I spent my morning bike shopping (See post below for new bike picture)then it was off to the gym for the beginning of Week 2 and Chest & Back.

I was feeling a bit sluggish today so I took 3 scoops of the NO-Xplode pre-workout drink in a 16-0z water bottle. Now this was a good idea because I was super jacked up to workout. It was a bad idea because during my workout it gave me a light-headed feeling that is still with me right now. Very weird. I took this supplement for 12 weeks before and not once did I get this light-headed feeling. I am thinking it may have happened because I missed my mid-morning snack and had a lighter than normal lunch.

I still had a decent workout but I banged myself up some. My left shoulder, which put me on the shelf for about a month last year, is acting up again. I was doing military dumbbell presses the second time through and I felt a little ting in the muscle. I backed off on the amount of weight and it didn't really bother me but it has been barking some since I got home. Also, I have no idea how I did it, but my left hamstring is feeling tender. I do not think either of these are going to set me back at all but it still sucks.

Tomorrow is a cardio day so I am going to hit the pool and do a bunch of laps. Swimming is the weakest link for me so I am really going to need to focus on this for the next Triathlon on October 18th.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

New Triathlon Bike

This morning I went out and tried the Cervelo P2 and Quintana Roo Tequilo at their respective bike shops. I really liked the P2 but I had trouble finding the perfect fit. The P2 comes in 51cm and 55cm sizes. The 51cm felt a just a little too small and the 55cm was big on me. I probably could have got by with either but I don't want to just get by - I want it to be perfect.


So then I went up to the Woodlands and and tried the QR bikes again. The QR is made in 52cm and 55cm. I sat on the 52cm and it felt perfect. I decided to purchase the Quintana Roo Tequilo 2009. The bike shop also gave me a really good deal. I am going back on Tuesday to get it fit. I also got clipless pedals and shoes at a really good price.


All of my indecision finally came down to the bike that fit me best so I am happy. Another thing that is nice is that this Bike Shop is much closer to my house and they are really nice. I figure that will be important later on down the road.


Here is a picture of my new bike:

Friday, August 14, 2009

P90X Hybrid Day 7: Rest Day

We spent about 7 hours in the car today and then another 6 hours at our meetings and I am very glad this is the rest day. After this post I am going to pass out.
I posted pics of my supplements for two reasons. 1) They are working wonderfully! I feel stronger than ever and my recovery time is excellent. 2) I have gained 8 pounds!
I began taking the Cell Mass, Nitrix, and Creatine two weeks ago and my weight was 152 lbs. Today I am 160 lbs! The funny thing is that I weighed myself the morning I began P90X, one week ago, and I was 152 lbs! That means I have put on 8 lbs in One Week.
I'm pretty happy about the weight gain. I was looking rather skinny after all the Triathlon training and felt like I needed to balk back up. I just thought it might take a couple of months and not just one week!
Tomorrow is Chest & Back and a couple of test rides on Tri bikes.
Thanks for Reading,
Jeff

Thursday, August 13, 2009

P90X Hybrid Day 6: 3.5 Mile Run

My legs are jello people!

I had every intention of hitting the treadmill for a medium paced 5.5 mile run today. I was in the car driving to the gym and I was talking to a buddy on the phone and telling him how surprised I was at how good my legs felt after doing Legs & Back.

Well, that all went to crap as soon as I started to stretch out my legs in the back of the gym. My quads and gluts were just screaming! I guess I didn't realize it earlier because I was sitting in my car all day long. I stated yesterday that I, "killed it" doing Legs & Back - well I was wrong - Legs & Back won, not me!

Anyways, I started out and every stride was a chore. I tried to ignore the uncomfortableness in my quads and ass by listening to my audiobook. It worked for 3.5 miles and I just couldn't go anymore. I kept telling myself that tomorrow is the rest day so I can push it but I just crapped out and couldn't do it. Still, 3.5 miles isn't bad but I really wanted to do two more.

For the week I ended up doing 13 miles running. This is about double of what I was doing during Tri training so I guess I can't be that upset!

Tomorrow I have a Team Meeting in Waco, TX. It is about a 3.5 hour drive. We have to be there by 9:30 am so my buddy Ryan and I are leaving at 6am. This works out good since this is my scheduled rest/stretch day. I will not be home until 7-7:30 PM and imagine that the rest will do me good.

Saturday is the beginning of Day 8/Week 2 and it is another round of Chest & Back! Also, thanks to Todd, Boomer, and Steve for weighing in on the Tri Bike question. On Saturday afternoon I am going to go take each Bike for a spin and make the final determination. The bikes are so darn similar that it is going to have to come down to which one just fits me better!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

P90X Hybrid Day 5: Legs and Back + Ab Ripper X

Dudes, I am hurting right now! Legs and Back is a bitch and I remember why the heck I love this workout so much!

I absolutely killed this workout today and also killed Ab Ripper X too! I am so glad to be back on the X.

I am planning on swimming tomorrow but I might just run again to see how my legs handle it. My buddy Boomer over at Project Exercise is training for a marathon and he has been increasing his overall mileage each week. He has mentioned how it is difficult on the legs and body. I think I was feeling some of what he was talking about yesterday when I hit the treadmill. If I run tomorrow I am guessing I will really be able to relate! I am at 9.5 miles for this first week and I will try and do 5.5 miles tomorrow to get me to 15 miles for the week! I am really enjoying running while listening to an audiobook!

Look at the post below it show the two Tri bikes I am considering. Check them out and let me know your thoughts!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Which Triathlon Bike?

Okay, I am torn between two different triathlon bikes. The first bike is the Quintana Roo Tequilo. The second is the Cervelo P2. Both are 2009 editions and I like the way both look. I have also taken both for a spin and like the way they both feel. The QR Tequilo is a couple of hundred dollars less than the Cervelo P2, but if I am going to buy one of these bikes I am trying not to let cost be a factor.

Here are the two pictures. If you click on them it will take you to the company website. Look them over and let me now your thoughts in the comments below. Anything you see, looks, wheels, components, tires, paint ...etc, let me know!

Thanks!


Quintana Roo Tequilo:


Cervelo P2:

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

P90X Hybrid Day 4: 4.5 Mile Run (pace)

Four days down; 86 days to go!

So another one in the books. Normal P90X schedule today would have been Yoga, but to accommodate my Triathlon training I hit the treadmill hard. My legs were feeling a little sluggish today. I did a 5 minute light jog to try and get some energy in them but it didn't help. I was planning on running for 45 minutes at about a 9:00/mile pace but realized my legs needed some help so I just cranked the treadmill up and figured I'd run at my 5K pace.

My reasoning is if my legs don't want to cooperate then I will force them to! Basically, it is I either keep up with the treadmill or I fall off the back of it ... this worked well because I ended up doing 3 miles in 22:08, about a 7:30ish pace. I wanted to go a little more but was feeling the burn so I backed off to my aerobic 9:00 minute pace and did another 1.5 miles.

Overall a pretty good workout.

The reason my legs were not all there today is because I am SORE. I forgot how bad P90X rips you up the first couple of weeks. My arms, chest and back are just aching anytime I move. It is not fun. And even though my legs are in good shape physically beginning P90X has put some strain on them too! I absolutely love P90X and cannot wait to hit the gym for Legs & Back tomorrow. This is my favorite workout on all the P90X and P90X PLUS videos. And I thought my legs were sluggish today? Wait until tomorrow!!!

Oh, I have been rambling on about wanting a new triathlon bike. I have checked out a few different ones over the last week and am still unsure. I have them narrowed down to two bikes. I might post them both tomorrow and see what you guys think?

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Hybrid Day 3: Shoulders and Arms + Ab Ripper X

Took my butt to the gym again for my Day 3 of P90X and did Shoulders & Arms.

I am enjoying doing the weight training at the gym. Even though I could probably do Shoulders & Arms at home because it is just shoulders - bis - tris and repeat! For one it is much easier to use nice fancy racks with the dumbbells loaded on them then picking them off the floor. Another thing that is nice is having the space to move around. The gym I go to is older and a couple of new gyms have opened so this means I am pretty much alone most of the time. That is cool!

Anyways, I brought the heck out of it today. When I had trouble raising my arm up to put the keys in the ignition of my car that was a good sign that I worked hard. I did extra reps on ARX and again used a medicine ball for the Mason Twists at the end.

If I can keep up this level of intensity I am going to be pretty ripped up again by about day 30!

Today is Day 4 and in the normal P90X schedule I would be scheduled to do Yoga. For my hybrid schedule I will substitute running with yoga. I really should swim today but I have become a little obsessive about my running of late.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Sunday, August 9, 2009

P90X Hybrid Day 2: 45 Minutes Run (5 miles)

Today is my second day of the hybrid P90X round. I am doing all the weight lifting (Chest & Back, Shoulders & Arms, Back & Legs..etc) but will substitute Plyo, Kenpo, and Yoga with running, swimming, and biking. Lots of commas in that sentence!

I am planning on another Triathlon in October so I need to keep up on my cardio training in order to be ready. This is one of the best things about P90X. As a stand alone home workout program it is second to none. But it can be mixed and matched to fit in to other individual training goals.

Now that I will be only running once or twice a week I am going to increase my mileage during each individual run. In the past I have trained by doing 3.1 miles mainly in the higher anaerobic zone to increase that threshold. But since my running sessions are going to be decreased I need to increase the time and mileage of each day. So today I ran 5 miles for 45 minutes. That breaks down to be 9:00 minute miles. My HR stayed in my target zone (131-168) for most of the running today and I burned over 600 calories. I'd say that is a pretty good, if not better, equivalent to Plyo!

The good news is that I easily could have ran a few more miles. I downloaded a new audiobook to my iPod (Glenn Beck - Common Sense)and just ran and listened. One of my best runs to date. Now the Tri I am planning on doing in October is only a 5K run so I am not going to get too crazy with my distances. I am actually planning on mixing in some interval runs and speed training to help me get faster.

Anyways, that is all I got for today. Tomorrow is P90X DVD #2 Shoulders & Arms and I am going to do this at the gym again.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Saturday, August 8, 2009

P90X Hybrid Day 1: Chest & Back + Ab Ripper X

Day one is in the books!

Went to the gym this morning with P90X Chest & Back loaded on my video iPod. I strapped it to a Velcro case around my bicep and turned it upside down so I could see Tony and the kids. I was a little skeptical at first but this ended up being a great way to do Chest & Back, Instead of doing Push-ups and Pull-ups I did dumbbell presses on a flat bench and lat pulldowns. Now the main reasons I am doing P90X this way is because I need to balk up some (need heavier weights than what I have at home) after all my Triathlon training and this is my third round so doing it different should keep me focused and motivated.

The good news is that I was able to replicate every move on the bench or lat machine just like Tony. Except dive bombers and decline push-ups. So I just did them like the Tony. The only decline bench at my gym is for a straight bar. Next time I might just use that instead.

After I finished up 2 laps of the Chest & Back workout I went to the back of the gym and did the ARX video. I had been doing ARX a couple of times a week during my Tri training but by memory as opposed to following along with Tony. Today I followed along and it really kicked my butt. I think when doing it with out the video I tend to speed up my reps and pace and maybe do not get as good a burn. ARX was a struggle for me today but I completed it all and even used an eight pound medicine ball on the Mason Twists. My old nemesis Fifer Scissors came back with a vengeance and darn near made me vomit!

After I finished up ARX I went over to the pullup/squat rack and tried a new Ab exercise that Steve (boxcarvibe) and Boomer have been talking about. Windshield Wipers! Steve found these on youtube and shared with us and the only thing I can say about these are: "ouch, omg ouch, and ouch again". I was able to do five of them and I started to get dizzy. Next time I probably should start as soon as I get upside down. This time I hung upside down like a dumbass for a little bit looking around afraid I was going to fall.

Here is what they look like (mine where not this pretty):



Tomorrow is Day 2. Supposed to bike, going to run. I have decided not to bike until I get my new Quintana Roo. I have nothing but disdain for my current road bike right now and if I blow another tire chances are I will leave the bike where it lays and just walk home. So in order to prevent that inevitable child-like display from myself I am putting my bike up for sale for a bag of peanuts.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Friday, August 7, 2009

P90X Round 3 Begins Tomorrow!

I am sitting on the couch right now with my wife and two pugs. We are watching Die Hard on FMC for like the 200th time. We love this movie! The reason it is such a quiet night is that Annie has been under the weather the last few days. She is starting to feel better, but it looks like the sickness may have found a new victim in yours truly!

I have been downing Vitamin C all day long and hydrating like crazy in hopes of fighting this thing off before it even starts! If this tactic works then I am ready to hit the gym tomorrow morning with my video iPod and kick the crap out of Chest & Back!

The supplements (Cell Mass, Nitrix, and Creatine) are starting to kick in already since I started my new cycle on Monday. I have really missed how Cell Mass and Nitrix make me feel during workouts and am excited to get back in there.

I am going to have Annie snap off a few photos in a couple of minutes so I will have a comparison on days 30-60-90. If you are new to P90X make sure to take the before pics! They are the biggest motivational tool out there and if you follow the program you will see great results.

Also, my nutrition is going to be about the same as it has been for the last year. Ever since I began P90X I have pretty much followed the nutrition guide and will continue to do so. The only difference is that I will be using Phase II of the program instead of Phase I. The reason is that I weigh 152 lbs right now and really do not want to lose any more weight. Phase I is the "Fat Shredding" section and I am shredded enough right now.

See you tomorrow!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Countdown to the X: 2 days + Interval X

I wanted to go to the gym today and do a light 3-4 mile run, but I ended up getting home late and I had to complete a contract for my Real Estate company. So the gym was no longer in my plans. Instead as I was scanning all the docs I jumped upstairs and did Interval X from P90X PLUS.

I wore my old HR monitor and it said I burned 480 calories. This is also the first time I did Interval X since I began all of my cardio training. Even though this is a probably the toughest workout in the entire P90X and PLUS series I handled it very well today. I used to be dying by the time I got half way through Interval X but today I was holding strong. My HR got up to 174 BPM at one point but I think all the running in the anaerobic zone has really prepared me for Interval X. Also since yesterday was an off day that probably helped too. And I am now 5 days into taking Cell Mass, Nitrix, and Creatine so those are probably giving me a boost.

Tomorrow I am going to do Yoga X and then on Saturday I will begin my 3rd Round of P90X. It will be a hybrid round because I will be substituting pushups and pullups for dumbbells on a flat bench and a lat pulldown machine, respectively. And Plyo and Kenpo are going to be replaced with running, swimming, and cycling. So actually I will be doing more than what is required by P90X!

I will have Annie take a few before pics of skinny Jeff and we can see how this hybrid version works!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Couple more Triathlon Pics + 3.1 Mile Run







A couple more pics from the Tri on Sunday!

Today I went to the gym with Annie and we ran on the treadmill. Separate treadmills, not the same one. My legs were feeling a little tight today so I was going to plan on just doing an easy 5k run maybe at like a 9 minute per mile pace. Well, I ran my first 2 miles in 14 minutes flat. This was not exactly the easy run I should have been doing. So when mile 3 started I backed off and slowed it down considerably. I ended up going 3.5 miles total. Good run.

Also, today is day two of taking my BSN Supplement Stack and I already feel like it is kicking in. I can't wait to start hitting the weights again!

Tomorrow I am going to rest up again. I have decided to start my new round of P90X on Saturday instead of Monday. The main reason is that the rest days will be on Fridays. It always seemed that in the past Fridays are always tough to get a good workout in.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Monday, August 3, 2009

Triathlon Pics and My Future Training Plans

After a day of thinking about what I want to do I have have come to a conclusion.

I am too darn skinny right now (152 lbs). This has been brought on from all the cardio (swimming, running, and biking) that I did in order to train for the triathlon. My problem is that if I want to continue to do Tri's I need to keep on doing the cardio training. I saw serious gains in all three of the Tri sports from the time I began. So, if I stop altogether then I will probably lose all those positive gains.

Now what I really want is to have the build that I did while doing P90X but also not lose any of the cardio gains that I have developed.

So, I am going to do both! The way it is going to work is that I am going to do all the P90X Strength Training workouts + Yoga and substitute the P90X cardio (Plyo and Kenpo) with running, swimming, and biking. I am going to do the full 90 day schedule and on the rest weeks I will increase my cardio workouts even more. Instead of push ups and pull-ups I am going to do dumbbell bench presses and lat pull downs. My buddies Boomer and Steve have tried P90X this way at times and have had good results.

Also, today I stopped at the Nutrition Depot and picked up Nitrix, Cell Mass, and N.O. Xplode. I am going to stack these supplements along with Creatine. I started the supplements tonight.

And I am pretty sure I want to try another Tri! Not ready for the Olympic level yet so another Sprint will be just fine. There is one in October about 20 miles from my house. It is currently full but it sounds like on the day before you can show up at the sponsoring Local Running Shop and they will sale you one of the packets that was not picked up ... I might try this!

Anyways, I will ramble on more later and am planning on starting the training very soon.

Here are some of my Triathlon pictures:





My friend has a bunch more and a couple videos. She burned it onto a DVD and of course all three of my computers are not compatible with so I am going to need to go flash drive it.
Thanks for Reading,
Jeff

Sunday, August 2, 2009

I am now a Triathlete

I made it out alive!

My wife and our good friends Annie and Chris spent the weekend at New Braunfels, Tx in a little vacation house. Chris was competing in the Tri as well and it was nice to have a buddy with me.

We woke up at 4:30am this morning and got to the race site at 6:00am. We parked off in some field adjacent to the race location and walked our bikes up to the transition area. We found the bike racks that had our age groups listed on them (30-34) and began setting up the transition area. Once the transition area was all good we went to the lake to find our wives and see where we would be starting.

My first thought was that the swim looked a hell of a lot longer than I imagined. Then we found out that over 1000 triathletes were participating in the event and over 100 in our wave. After a quick warm up swim and some stretching exercises we were ready to go!

After the first two waves were off if was now our turn. The countdown started as it hit "zero" we were off. Now I had spoke with many people who told me that the beginning of the swim can sometimes be a little rough. That is not a correct statement. It was downright violent! Arms, elbows, feet, knees, just flying everywhere and I took a few solid shots! About a minute or two in I found a lane and was doing my Total Immersion stroke and "BAM" ... I swam right over top of someone. It was one of those situations where the only thing you can do is just keep going - so I did. And it was right at that time that I took a hard shot to the mid-section. More precisely, I took a hard shot a little lower than the mid-section - the nuts! It hurt like hell and I ended up rolling over on my back and breathing like I was in a Lamaze class.

From this point on the swim was absolutely brutal. I had an extremely hard time with my breathing and I laboured throughout the rest of the swim. Everyone says that swimming in a pool and doing an Open Water Swim are as different as night and day - they are right! Once I recovered from the ball bashing I found myself zig-zagging all over the lake. It was very difficult to see where you were going but once you did it was even harder to get there! The swim portion was 500 meters and I probably did 650-700 meters! My time on the swim was 13:59. I was hoping for 12:00 but was happy I just made it.

So once I finished it was a short jog to the transition area to grab my bike. I found it with no issues! I threw on my cycling jersey, helmet, sunglasses, socks, and shoe ... shoe, not shoes(s)! Yes, one of my shoes was missing, the left to be exact. I eventually located it on the other side of the rack. I jumped down on my stomach and reached under the rack and grabbed it! Off to the races! My transition time was 3:05. The shoe incident cost me a good minute.

Now I thought the swim was bad but it was nothing compared to the bike ride. Only it wasn't physically brutal it was a number of things completely different. One(1): my $119 bike sucks! Two (2): New Braunfels has hills, Houston does not! Three (3): The longest section of the course was just recently Chipped and Stoned by the County!

So what does each of these things mean to me? First, I did well on the bike when I was on a flat stretch (which was very rare) and when I was going uphills (which was not at all rare). The problem was that I would pass people going up the hills and then they would pass me going down? My bike just couldn't keep up with the bad-ass Tri and Road bikes that were a plenty. I passed one guy 4 different times going up hills and he passed me 4 different times going downhill. It was sort of frustrating because I was busting my arse but could not make and gains. And it wasn't like they were slowly passing me ...oh,no...they were passing me going downhill like I was sitting still. Second, the hills took me a little time to get used too. We don't have that type of terrain in Houston. After I got the shifting down it was pretty fun! Third, the roads were in awful shape. If you have ever seen an asphalt road recently chipped you know what I mean. Little rocks and other debris is all over the place! This is not a comfortable thing to be experiencing on a road bike. Maybe it is because I am a very inexperienced cyclist and have never been on rough roads like this, but the dudes on the fancy Tri and Road bikes seemed to have no problems with the poor conditions. Me ...? I felt like I was going to blow a tire at anytime throughout most of the race! After the race everyone was talking about it and I saw quite a few bikes with flats along the course, but since this was my first time, that may not be that unusual.

Despite the unusual road conditions I still had a smile on my face the whole time during the bike ride. I was not going very fast but it was a lot of fun! My time on the bike for the 14.8 mile ride was an unusually slow 55:32. One thing for sure is if I do this again I need a better bike.

I dropped my bike off at the rack and grabbed my hat, garmin 305, and water belt. I had a small rock in my shoe so I had to take it off and get the rock out. My time in the second transition was 1:57. Not bad, but still could have shaved a few more seconds.

When I started the run my legs felt strong but goofy. Which from my brick training this was about right. I finally found my rhythm and started to feel good about a 1/2 mile in. At this point my energy level was a lot better than I thought it was going to be and I was beginning to feel guilty about not busting it on the bike more. At around the 2.3 mile mark I could hear people cheering at the finish and I decided to kick it in some. At this point I probably passed a good two dozen people and sprinted my way into the finish. My mile splits were - 9:11/8:55/7:52 for a total of 25:58. My goal was 28 minutes. I was hopeful for 26 minutes so I was very happy with this time. I was even more happy that I got stronger with each mile on the run.

Overall I had a wonderful time. The swim was violent, the bike was frustrating,and the run was awesome! I wish I could have had better times in the swim and bike, but a lot of my difficulties can be chalked up to inexperience and in hindsight I had an absolutely awesome time so I can honestly say I am not at all disappointed. I believe I trained enough because not at any single point did I feel like I was too tired or even struggling. The funny thing was that I felt like I was prepared for certain things to happen like a flat tire or leg cramp. But things I never even considered were what occurred - Like the crappy roads and getting hit in the boys.

So, the question is can I see myself doing another Triathlon? I am not sure yet. I might need a day or two to reflect and consider if this is something I want to do again. If I do decide than the first thing I need is a bike that is made for this. A good bike could have knocked probably 10 minutes of my time! I guess I just don't know right now.

Also, we have a bunch of photos and some short videos from today. We are having some flash drive issues and I don't have the energy to work it out right now. Tomorrow I will get them all posted. My buddy Chris took a header on his bike during the dismount. He only suffered a small scrape on his knee so we can laugh about it now and our wives got some good pics of him eating asphalt! Pictures tomorrow.

I am going to take the rest of this week nice and easy. A few slow runs on the treadmill and that will be it. Next week I am considering starting a full round of P90X again. But am just not sure with that either ... I am quite indecisive today aren't I!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff