#running #marathontraining #motoactv

Chicago Marathon, here I come!  It all starts with that first step and for me that first step involved a 3 mile run.  This is my first time running since St. Patrick’s Day and being flu like for the better part of the month of March.  So how did it go?

SLOW!

I’m incredibly sore from Asylum yesterday and am glad this is a rest day from that.  My hips and back and calfs were stiff from the start but I powered through.  My heart rate stayed up and I burned about 575 calories so I was working the entire time.  I need to work on pace (as usual) and speed, which will come.  I also ran in shoes!  I’m not a fan as my lower back starts to hurt around 1.75 miles.  The problem is in vibrams, my right foot starts to hurt…mmm, i think i’m going to have to work something out.  I’ll wear the Vibs for tomorrow’s run and see if i notice a difference.

For the next 18 days I”m going to be running, doing asylum and teaching turbo-kick so i will be sore and tired but I think it will help build a solid base to get faster in the long run.  Here’s my graphic…

Time for some Shakeology and off to a client meeting!  Have an excellent day and tomorrow is Asylum Speed and Agility and another 3 mile run!

#insanity

There is an order to things people.  Yesterday and today I got my workouts mixed up and did them out of order.  What happens when you do Insanity workouts out of order?  Nothing much, most of the time, but you are exceptionally sore during some exercises because you worked that muscle yesterday and it wasn’t meant to be worked the same way today.  Did that make any sense?  No?  Do insanity out of order and you’ll under stand.

Speaking of order, there is a reason it’s called a program or a system.  P90X system, Insanity system, Turbo-fire system.  It’s because he workouts are laid out and the diet plan is laid out so the results can be laid out.  When people get a program and just randomly do the routines and then ultimately only do the ones they like and then complain because they aren’t getting results, it’s because they aren’t doing the program.  When I was doing Turbo-fire, if i only did fire 45 and 30 and never did any of the other stuff because I didn’t like it, sure i would see something but I wouldn’t get “THE” results.  Yes, some of the workouts in a program are hard and suck but they are there for a reason in an order.

I did Cardio Abs at the end of Cardio power today to make up for not doing it yesterday and because I didn’t do it last year due to an oblique issues (you can go back in my blogs a year and hear me bitching about it).  Today, i’ve notice that not only can I do cardio abs, I CAN DO cardio abs!

Today was a good calories day as I am not ranked #29 on the Motoactv cardio killer challenge!!!!!  In the immortal words of James Todd (aka LL COOL J)  ”Don’t call it a comeback, I’ve been here for years!”

I have another day of Comic-con a head of me so I need to eat, put on a superman T-shirt and head to Chicago.

Keep pushing play and enjoy living, we only get one life make it a fun and healthy one!

#Insanity

Nine days into the craziness and I catch my breathe within 2 minutes of starting the 10 minute stretching round after the “warm up”.  The first 10 minutes of Insanity is more difficult than pretty much any workout I’ve done.  No kidding.

I talk to people who do various workouts, by Jillian or some other person and talk about how they made it to level 2 or 3 and that’s great, I’m glad you are being active.  But seriously, until you do Insanity, don’t ever tell me how hard your workout is.  I challenge anyone to do the Insanity Pure Cardio or Plyo MONTH ONE routines and tell me how easy it is. There is no levels there is GO and when you finally get to a point where GO happens faster, you’re switching to Month 2.

I also did a turbo kick workout last night, basically getting ready to start teaching classes again next Tuesday.  Ok ok, i’ll admit I did it more to rack up more calorie burning points in my Motoactv contest but it was good to do Round 45 and get some after work movement going.  As a computer guy, I don’t have to move much during the day so I have to make a point to get up and walk around the building from time to time.

I’ve moved up to #32!! I love this device and it doesn’t quite accurately count all the calories you burn doing Insanity or Turbo because it counts them as aerobics but they are both so much more.

Keep Pushing PLAY!  I have a new sub goal now, I want to crack into the top 10 by the time this challenge is over.  I think if i stay committed to my workout (which  I typically do) and I start running on the weekends with a few long runs, I should be able to do it!  As goofy as it sounds, this little app makes things fun!

#Insanity

This mornings workout was another round of pure cardio.  Sweat flying, my carpet will need to be steam cleaned at the end of this 60 day rotation.  The workout felt a little easier than last week and it should.  The body is an amazing thing and quickly adjust to physical activity, especially if you’re feeding it correctly (Shakeology anyone?)

Having an accountability partner when working out is important, it’s especially so when doing something this difficult at 4 am.  Kat doing Insanity with me this time helps because there has been one time when I probably would have skipped it if she wasn’t going to do it and times like this morning where she might not have gotten up if I wasn’t getting up.  Accountability when you’re trying to stick to something is key.

With team beachbody, I have an online accountability gym that you get access to just for joining my team.  When you log in you track your workout, can see who’s working out at the same time and what workout they are doing.  You can make online contact and set up times to workout together… virtually.

I have access to my coach (YES, even I have a coach!)  If i have problems with a workout or need suggestions I talk to her and if she doesn’t know she talks to her coach and on and on.  It’s a community of people who are trying to get into the best shape ever!

I’m also hosting and Insanity Challenge and will be starting another one in May.  With this I form 5 person groups where we communicate and track our weight, diet and encourage each other to hit those difficult workouts.  Accountability is not about yelling at each other or being sent to the principals office, it’s about encouraging each other to do the activities we want to and are doing anyway.

Join my team and check it out:  Coach BruceA

Another cool thing I’ve done.  With my uber cool MOTOACTV GPS/Fitness running watch device thingee

I joined an online competition.  From March 7th - June 7th the contest is to see who burns the most calories doing any activity and tracking it on the device.  Thus far 152 people are in the contest, I just saw it and joined it yesterday.  I was hoping that all my workouts in march would be tracked and….THEY WERE!!!  I went from last place having just joined the contest to 39th!!!!!!

ACK!  I just dropped to 40th, i need to upload today’s workout:

So many cool things going on to help keep you motivated and excited about workout out and that’s not even counting the results that you will ultimately get!

Keep pushing play and keep working towards that goal, you will get there.  See you tomorrow .

Recovery week comes to an end with my long 7 mile run.

The weather was almost perfect for a long run around the wonder neighborhood of Washington…ILLINOIS!

It really was a good day to run, minus the 15 mph head wind beating on me throughout most of the run.  Temp was about 50 outside and I figured out (last long run) that if i wear toe socks in my toe shoes that it adds a tad more padding and my feet don’t get as sore around mile 6.

The was also the make or break run for my MOTOACTV.  Clear day, no reason for GPS issues and if it didn’t come in around the same distance as my phone GPS, it is going back to the store and i’m getting a garmin.

so my phone has me running 7.14 miles in 1:38 and the motoactv has me at 7.01 in 1:35.  Taking into account that I started my phone first since I wear it on my bicept, I am happy with this comparison.  Last nights massive software upgrade of the moto was also nice as I can now track Yoga, Aerobics, Martial Arts, Weight Training and 35 other activities.  I think this device is a keeper, at least for me for the next year.  I like the website and how it tracks, I like that it has a calorie counter and a pedometer built in and it’s an uber tech gadget so if i hack the android os, i can pretty much make it a mini tablet on my wrist.  

But back to the actual run, I really don’t like doing hills or inclines (which means it’s probably the best thing for me to do).  Several points on this trail are some pretty decent hills to run up.  I had to do a loop lap around a school but overall I planned out the course nicely.  

Next weekend is the Get Lucky 1/2 Marathon, 13.1 miles and I think I’ll be ready for it.  I would like to finish this one in 2:20 which will take a little work but I think I can do it.  Let’s just keep our fingers crossed and hopefully I will…get…lucky….hahaha (see what I did there with the…nevermind)

Tomorrow is a totally off day and I will enjoy it.  Phase 3 of P90X2 starts on Monday.  

That’s all for now.