Go, you chicken fat, go away!

Day 28 P90X - X Stretch

How about that?  I've got nothing to say.

Since I was so nice and stretched out from yesterday's P90X X Stretch I decided to do a couple of surges on my little 2 mile run.  First I ran 0.61 miles at an 8:45 pace, then I picked it for 0.36 miles at a 5:45 pace.  Next I ran 0.60 miles at an 8:51 pace, then I tried another surge, but wimped out.  I ran 303 feet at a 5:37 pace.  I finished the last 0.38 at an 8:32 pace.

I'm excited to start the second phase of P90X this evening.  I'll be doing a new workout I haven't done yet.

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I noticed I was two pounds lighter after my run this morning.  This means I lose one pound of sweat per mile.  How much is that volumetrically?  Assumptions: 1) Sweat has the same specific weight as sea water.  2) Atmospheric conditions and 32° F.  Let's see.  Sea water weighs 64.08 lb/ft³.  There are 7.48 gallons in a cubic foot.  There are 16 cups in a gallon.  Awesome!  That's 1.87 cups per mile.

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I also rode my bike 5 miles to and from work, swam 70 yds, and jumped off the high dive.

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Day 29 P90X - Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps/Ab Ripper X

Was that just hard because I've never done it before? or did I actually push myself to the limit?  Good golly!

Pretty cool that the little loop around the neighborhood and down the canal is exactly 3 miles.  Yes, it's the little things in life that please me.

Time - 27:27 (avg. pace 9:09)

Splits - 9:08, 9:21, 8:58

Finish time - 5:10am  Temp - 82

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Day 30 P90X - Plyometrics X

Day 30?  Does that mean anything special?  Hmmm....can't think of anything....Oh well.

As for the workout, not to sound like a broken record, but I really brought it today.  I mean I really brought it.  I'll be running with Marathon Dreamer tomorrow.  I hope I can keep up with her.

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Did anybody see RivertonPaul jump rope his way through his last marathon?  The guy is amazing.

Last night I took my family over to Marathon Dreamer's house to go swimming.  Everyone had a good time.  I was really impressed at how well her kids could speak Spanish after only living in Mexico for one year.  Her husband getting stung by a bee provided some much needed entertainment.  What was the point of this story?  Oh yeah.  So I soaked in the hot tub for 20 minutes and got pretty dehydrated.  I made sure to drink a lot of water and Gatorade to replenish.  By the time I did Plyometrics last night I was plenty hydrated because I was flicking sweat on my wife from across the room.

This morning's run with MD was perfect.  Nice, slow, and perfect.  I feel pretty good now.  Today we didn't stop at my house.  We just kept going on our out and back run along the Consolidated Canal.

Splits - 9:45, 9:39, 9:30, 9:44, 9:35, 9:14

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My wife and Marathon Dreamer talked me into posting this.  I think I'll only keep it up for a week, so download it now.  Make your copies.  Create your silly photoshops.  This is a limited time only.

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Day 31 P90X - Chest and Biceps/Ab Ripper X

 Haven't done Chest and Bicep before.  I was excited to see that it was only 50 minutes long.  Using bands and chair assisted pull-ups, it's not that bad.  Ab Ripper X doesn't seem to get any easier.  The simple explanation is that as you do it more, your form gets better, and you really work it instead of dogging it.

Same route as last week with the same gals.  This time no kids to push up the hill in the stroller.  But it was hot.  105.  It's fun lilstening to the girls gab about their families.  They're both kind enough to ask me a few questions now and again to keep me involved in the conversation.  I noticed there was a lot less conversation when we were running uphill.

Time - 47:00 (avg. pace 9:39)

Splits - 9:15, 9:15, 9:43, 10:19, 8:27 for 0.87

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Day 32 P90X - Yoga X

Man, that felt pretty good.  I struggled through a lot of it, especially Yoga Belly X, but I'm getting better, and I feel like a million bucks.

Day 33 P90X - Legs and Back/Ab Ripper X

This is a hard workout.  114 pull-ups.  Lunges.  Wall squats.  Ouch.  Then to top it off I get to rip my abs.  There's a move called Fifer Scissor kicks.  It's pretty basic.  We've all probably done them in gym or track.  You just lay on your back and raise one leg in the air as high as you can keeping it straight and flexing the foot.  The other leg comes off the floor about an inch.  Then you switch every 3 to 4 seconds.  I've never been able to do it all the way through without collapsing.  But as I approached 12 I thought, "I'm almost half way there.  That means I just have to repeat what I just did."  Then I kept thinking I wouldn't make it, but I decided to go for it.  The last four were sooo hard.  I was grunting and groaning and barely breathing.  My wife thought I was going to die.  It was a little moral victory for me.

This morning while many of the bloggers up north were enjoying the Provo River Half Marathon, we were having our own little blog get together.  It may have been on a much smaller scale and much slower.  But it was fun.  I met another blogger who was kind enough to join us, Peds Endo Doc.  He is the father of JeffMc, who in my opinion is the fastest guy on the blog right now.  My good buddy and former Ragnar teammate JamesW also came.  It was good to see him out since he's been recovering from an injury.  And of course was the lovely and talented (P90X reference) Marathon Dreamer and her husband, Dave.

The first thing that happened was me sleeping through my alarm for an hour.  I need to go to sleep earlier.  So after waking up in a panic I jumped on the toilet thinking about how I need to text MD to let her know I was getting ready.  Then I heard my phone beep, so I thought it was her.  Turns out it was James asking which parking lot we meet in.  I was glad to have him join us and I hoped PED would come too.  I got dressed, skipped my normal flawless personal hygiene routine, grabbed a towel and a Gatorade, and sped down the road wondering if I was still in dreamland or reality.

I thought we were only going to do 3 to 4 miles, but everyone wanted to do more.  They were up for 5.  Knowing that it's exactly 5 miles to my house and back, I hoped MD wouldn't say anything because there was a big pile of stinky dishes in the sink.  They're clean now.  Luckily we just went up the Consolidated Canal for 2.5 miles and turned around.  We ran as a group for the most part and got to know each other better.  I enjoyed the company at the easy pace we ran.  The last mile James decided to take off.  He ran a 7:43 and MD was hot on his heels.  I stayed back with PED.  It was a good time.

Time - 46:32 (avg. pace 9:14)

Splits - 9:39, 9:19, 9:09, 8:55, 9:10

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Day 34 P90X - Kenpo X

My legs were pretty sore to start out.  They felt a little better after the warmup/stretch.  But I could feel the burn as we went.  I will really be looking forward to X Stretch tomorrow.

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I also had about 25 miles on the bike this week as I rode every day to work.

Day 35 P90X - X Stretch

Day 36 P90X - Chest, Shoulders & Tricep/Ab Ripper X

When I first started doing P90X I would just do enough pull-ups and push-ups, pacing myself so that I could do the same amount through the entire workout.  In other words, I would do 6 push-ups at a time, and by the time we did our last set, I could barely squeak the 6 out.  However, you're supposed to do maximum reps each time.  That means you have to feel the burn on the last three.  So that's what I've been doing lately.  Push-ups 'til I collapse.  I also am keeping a record as I go.  It's interesting to see what I can do more of this week and what I did more of last week.

Time - 24:29 (avg. pace 8:10)

Splits - 8:51, 6:35, 9:05

Temp - 84

Thought I should do a little speed work today, so I threw a fast mile in the middle.  I lost 4 lbs. of sweat on my run this morning.  Now my data is all outta whack.

Story time - It's really not that great of a story.  Yesterday I was riding my bike to work.  I looked down at the chain wrapped around my handlebars.  There sat a cute little jumping spider about the size of a lady bug.  He would turn and stop.  Turn and stop.  Such a cute little guy.  Then he turned and stopped looking directly at me.  This put me in a state of uncomfortability because he had quadruple the eyes that I do.  Make that double.  I had my glasses on.  Can spiders sense fear?  If I stare at it, will it take it as a sign of aggression?  It turns out it wanted to have a staring contest because I blinked, and it turned and stopped again.  After a little bit it left the chain and crawled on to the  handlebars.  It continued down the right handlebar directly toward my hand.  Even with as cute as it was, with my prior nervousness, I made up my mind that I would find it a new home if it crawled on my hand.  The itsy bitsy spider did crawl on my hand, and I promptly shook it off.  Good luck little guy.  Oh, snap!  My right hand is the one I use to hold my lunch!  Luckily the gooey rubber of my handlebars held the lunch in place long enough for me to grab it again.  I told you it wasn't that great of a story.

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Day 37 P90X - Plyometrics - My legs were kinda sore from my run this morning, but I'm really starting to like this workout.  Why?  Because it's only 58 minutes long as compared to the other workouts which are between 75 and 90 minutes each.

Yesterday morning I weighed 197.  After my P90X workout, I weighed 193.  This morning first thing I still weighed 193.  After my run I weighed 191.5.  What happened?  Well, I've been eating nothing but salads and apples for the last two weeks.  Finally last night I took a cheat day (don't know if they're allowed) and ate two slices of Papa Murphy's pizza.  They were heavenly.  I should have been eating nothing but pizza for the last two weeks.

Last night my friend invited me to a "leadership" meeting.  It ended up being a meeting for a multilevel marketing company for the distribution of MonaVie acai berry juice.  While I could use some extra income, I don't know that I'm sold on the product.  I had a can of it, and all it seemed to do was make me groggy on the drive home, and make me not be able to fall asleep because my heart seemed to be beating fast.  So I've been doing research this morning, and of coures I'm reading all the stuff from people that are against it.  Has anyone else used the product or have an opinion on it?  I am involved in a MLM company with Beachbody for P90X, but at least it's something I know works.

Today was the first day of school for the kids and Abby's very first day of kindergarten.  I had to cut my run short with Marathon Dreamer so that I could be there for Abby's big day.  We ran 3.48 miles at a 9:45 pace.  My Garmin died after a mile because it either wasn't placed on the charger correctly or someone was playing with it.  MD kept going for another 2.5.  Truth be know, she probably ran another 5 because she's been running crazy lately.

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Day 38 P90X - Back and Biceps/Ab Ripper X - Love that B&B is only 52 minutes followed by 16 minutes of ARX.  However, some of the exercises aren't very nice.  Corn cob pull-ups.  Towel pull-ups.  Maximum rep pull-ups.  Yeah.

Day 39 P90X - Yoga X - Is it just me or does it seem like this routine is done over and over?  Well, let's see.  I do it once a week and twice on recovery week.  So I've done it 7 times already.  As girly as it is, it's a kick butt work out.  I just said butt.

Yesterday we had the sister missionaries over for dinner.  After that my MonaVie friends came over, and we talked a while.  I told them in order for me to get behind this, I would have to be really passionate about the product.  It's easy for me to be passionate about P90X because I can see the results.  But I'd have to consume the acai juice for a while to see if it makes any difference.  And I don't think I want to shell out $100 for a bottle.  Anyway, it was pretty late when I did my Yoga X routine.  Then I got up early this morning to run with Marathon Dreamer.  She's moving Thursday.  [insert sad face :( ]  She was feeling sore from all her miles and speed work, so we took it pretty slow.  My legs are kinda sore, too.  But then we picked it up at the end.

Time - 56:58 (avg. pace 9:25)

Splits - 9:40, 9:26, 9:33, 9:37, 9:35, 8:48, 0:19 for 0.05 (5:51 pace)

I think the kids at the bus stop thought we were nuts for stopping and waiting there.

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Day 40 P90X - Legs and Back/Ab Ripper X - You have to be careful with this workout.  It can tweak your back.  I'm sure it's been the source of my back discomfort in the past.  40 days!  I've never stuck to anything this long.

Happy birthday to JeffL, Shimelle, Nan, and ChrisM!

Day 41 P90X - Kenpo X - I was out the door at 5:30 am to go on a lake trip with the youth of our church.  It was a fun time.  I did some swimming and some rowing.  I think that's worth mentioning here.  It was a good workout.  When we got home I was so exhausted that I took a nap.  Then after dinner I fell asleep on the couch, but I forced myself to get up and do my workout.  It felt pretty good.  I find that if I visualize  actually punching someone in the face or kicking them in the gut, it helps with my form.

Day 42 P90X - X Stretch - People are jealous.  Don't hate me because I have a beautiful body.  I started to do X Stretch while my sister-in-law was still at my house, so she took it as an opportunity to put an ice cube down my shirt.  Jealous.  Joke was on her though.  It felt great.

Here's a picture of Marathon Dreamer talking to a duck.  She's a loony toon.

I was hoping to get out and push the pace this morning, but my back is still bothering me from Friday.  I think my back hurts whenever I overeat.  Starting the diet again after taking a break since Thursday.

Time - 24:56 (avg. pace 8:19)

Splits - 8:21, 8:21, 8:14

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Day 43 P90X - Chest, Shoulders, & Triceps/Ab Ripper X

I...can...barely...type.  Last time I did Ab Ripper X I was able to do the last move, the Mason Twist, without stopping.  This time I hoped I would be able to say it was the first time I did the Fifer scissor kicks and Mason Twists without stopping.  You have to do 40 Mason Twists, but I only got to 33.  So close!

I got up a half an hour earlier today because MD's marathon training schedule called for more miles today.  We wanted to do 8, but I was worried I wouldn't make it home in time to get my kid to school.  So I only did 7.59 and MD kept going.  It's pretty sad.  Tomorrow's going to be the last day we get to run together until she comes back to visit.

Time - 1:10:12 (avg. pace 9:15)

Splits - 9:49, 9:23, 9:16, 9:01, 9:26, 9:18, 9:05, 4:55 for 0.59 (8:17 pace)

Temp - 95

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Pictures of my first win in high school cross country.

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Day 44 P90X - Plyometrics X - Good workout.  I need more sleep.  Where's SlowJoe's couch when I need it?

Sad day.  Burt's losing his Ernie.  His Miss Daisy.  His snot rocket, loogie hocking, phlegm hacking little buddy.  Just kidding :) MD is moving to San Diego tomorrow, so today is the last day we had to run together.  We were both feeling sore, so we did three really slow miles.  We saw some geese flying over head honking away.  We talked about the move and making new friends.  It was fun having a running buddy for a few months.

Time - 28:44 (avg. pace 9:35)

Splits - 9:59, 9:29, 9:17

Here's a picture up at Buffalo Park where Bonnie was running with the elites.

This is my BFF from HS Jon on the right.  allie, do you love my shoes?

Here I am running in Lake Havasu City.

 Hello!

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Day 45 P90X - Back and Biceps/Ab Ripper X - I'm half way there!  There are two moves that I struggle with most in Ab Ripper X; Fifer Scissors and Mason Twists.  Today I was finally able to do both of them without stopping.  Woo hoo!

Time - 23:09 (avg. pace 7:29)

Splits - 7:25, 7:39, 7:27, 0:39 0.10 for (6:43 pace)

Temp - 101 (6:30pm)

This is was a fun little race sponsored by the Tempe Road Runners Sports Store.  It's not chipped and no awards are given out.  They just do it once a month to promote fitness and get people in their store.  I think about 30 people showed up.  There were a lot of people from the East Valley Runners.  One of them invited me to come running with them Saturday.  I may just do it.

At 4:30pm I threw X Stretch in the DVD player because my legs had been sore all day.  I fast forwarded to the leg and back stretches.  It felt pretty good.  Then I drove to Tempe.  I got out of the truck and did some more stretching while I waited for Garmin to sync.  Then I saw this lady get in to her van.  I saw that her shirt said something...Barcelona España.  So I kept staring at her until I could see the rest.  La mision de Barcelona España.  That's where I served!  So I went up to her and made her roll down her window.  Turns out she was there a couple years after me.  She met her husband there.  He was probably a year after me.  It was cool talking to her, but she didn't serve in any of the cities I did.

We had to cross McClintock Road to get to the starting line.  Four of us braved to cross when the light turned green.  Everyone else crossed on the next green light.  I didn't know they were going to start the race right there and now I was in the back.  Oh well.  With as hot as it was, I wanted to take it easy and not push it too much.  [Pause in race report to tell you what my 5 year old just shared with me:  "Dad, have you looked into mom's eyes?  It's the only way to know if she's the one.  If you see just beautiful, you know she's the one."] 

The "race" started and I waited for an opening.  After about 20 seconds it thinned out enough for me to go around and run in the landscape area and pass some people.  Then I jumped back on the sidewalk.  There were three guys and  one girl in front of me.  The third place guy was wearing a tan cotton shirt and swim trunks.  I wondered how he would do.  Turns out he did pretty good, staying in 3rd place the whole way.  Another guy in a yellow shirt was running right next to me.  We weren't making up any ground on the girl.  At 1.2 miles we turned from Rio Salado north on Rural Road.  If you're familiar with Tempe, you know that the ASU campus is right there.  The yellow shirt EVR had passed me up.  Then we ran over a bridge.  This is where I caught up to the girl.  We ran shoulder to shoulder up to the turn around point.  Then I started to open my pace up a little.  She stayed right behind me along with another guy.  After we crossed the bridge again and were about to turn on to Rio Salado I hear a thud behind me.  The girl took a little tumble.  The other guy totally stopped and I was about to.  We both asked her in unison if she was all right.  She was good, so I kept going.  We joked about it afterwards. 

I kept trying to push the pace, but not getting out of my comfort zone.  Yellow shirt was about 40 yards ahead of me, and I knew I could catch him if I kicked it in.  However, it was hot and what would be the point?  It's just a fun race.  So I was content to cruise in with my 5th place finish.  The girl passed the other guy and finished about a minute behind me.  Then I went back to the store and grabbed a water bottle.  I headed back to the street to wait for everyone.  I toweled down and decided to change into the dry shirt I brought.  As I was changing everyone crossed the road.  I tried to hurry, but the cotton T wasn't cooperating with my damp pits and stuff.  So I let everyone walk by me and it was a wave of stinky body odor.  P-U!  LOL!  I should have let everyone know how bad they stunk.  Then I hung around for the drawing.  They gave away 5 hats and a free pair of shoes.  I didn't win :(  But it was fun, and I'll be back next month.

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Day 46 P90X - Yoga X - This is a great workout after a race.  I'm still struggling with balance postures, but I'm doing a lot better with crane.  Oh, which also is a balance posture, but not a one-legged, don't fall down, balance posture.

My son wants to join cross country.  We sent him on a run around the block.  It's just over a half mile.  I had him take the Garmin so I would know that he wasn't slacking.  He ran it at a 6:26 pace.  Pretty soon he'll be faster than me.

Day 47 P90X - Legs and Back/Ab Ripper X - This week wasn't as painful as last week.  I made sure to focus and control each move.  Sore legs are better than a sore back.

Day 48 P90X - Kenpo X - I realized today how annoying I must sound doing this workout.  I either count every move or say what it is.  I never shut up.  Drag, claw, punch...drag, claw, punch.  Jab, cross, hook, uppercut...jab, cross, hook, uippercut.  One, one, two, two, three, three...

Day 49 P90X - X Stretch - I tried to work on my tan yesterday mowing the lawn.  I don't think it worked.  However, I think I raised the luminous levels in the neighborhood by a few thousand candela.

I got up at quarter to six this morning and got all dressed to go on a run.  I wanted to get some good miles in.  I figured that since everybody raced over the weekend, it might be a good opportunity to make it on the first page of the Mileage Board.  But then I realized I wouldn't be able to get all the miles in I wanted and get my son to school.  So I waited until after I took him.  But while I was there dropping him off, I figured I might as well find out what bus he can catch so I don't have to take him anymore.  I finally got home at 7:15.  Now I didn't have time to run the miles I wanted and still get to work.  So, to make a long story short, I ran three miles.

Time - 25:41 (avg. pace 8:34)

Splits - 8:30, 8:33, 8:39

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Day 50 - P90X - Yoga X - Day 50?  Holy moly! 

I did crane for 40 seconds!

After 90 minutes of yoga last night, I didn't feel like waking up.  Eventually I did and went on a short run.  I was surprised that my 2nd mile was faster than my first mile.  But I guess it's because I didn't pick up the pace until a quarter mile into it.  That's when the school crosswalk guard helped me across the street.

Time - 15:47 (avg. pace 7:54)

Splits - 7:56, 7:52

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I think Teena found a substitute for Gatorade.

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Day 51 P90X - Core Synergistics - Chaturunga running?  I don't think so!

When I hopped on the scale first thing this morning I was at 197.  After my run I was down to 190.5.   Take that Lily!  We had a monster monsoon roll through yesterday afternoon.  As I was driving home there were pieces of tree all over the road.  Then there was an entire tree in the road!  Anyway, I think it cooled everything down a few degrees this morning.  But when the sun breached the clouds that were hugging the horizon, it was warm and humid.  My shirt was saturated beyond capacity.

Time - 48:32 (avg. pace 8:46)

Splits - 8:50, 8:36, 8:46, 8:55, 8:49, 4:35 for 0.53 (8:34 pace)

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Day 52 P90X - Kenpo X - Now that I can do this without having to worry about if I'm doing it right, I like it.  It's less than an hour long.  It's cardio.  You sweat.  It's nice.

Day 53 P90X - X Stretch - With a stretch day on Sunday, Thursday, and Sunday again, it almost makes me forget that I have to do Core Synergistics twice this week.  I mean, get to do Core Synergistics.

Day 54 P90X - Core Synergistics - I started this workout at 6pm.  That's about 4 hours earlier than I usually do.  I thought it would be great to get it done early and have the rest of the evening to do whatever I want.  The bad thing was a couple of my wife's friends came over.  Now I'm not shy about working out in front of people, but the dam burst, and I started sweating buckets.  Look at me, the gross sweaty guy in the wife beater shirt!

Good luck to Marathon Missy and Eightkidmom and Ben? as they do their half ironman tomorrow!

Everyone should go to Kory's blog and wish him a speedy recovery.  He was hit by a truck.

I was going to run with my old Ragnar team, but at the last minute everyone bailed on me.  So I decided to go run with the Sole Sports group.  I heard they were giving away a free pair of shoes.  I got there a few minutes late.  Most everyone had taken off.  I stretched out and took off.  I caught a lot of them.  The last half mile I noticed some areolic hemorrhaging, so I took my shirt off.  I hung around for a bit, but I was too shy with my shirt off to ask if there was a sign in for the shoe raffle.  So I just left.

Time - 51:37 (avg. pace 8:36 pace)

Splits - 9:18, 8:42, 8:37, 8:27, 8:30, 8:02

I forgot to mention that I won a free pair of running socks from the Tempe Road Runners.  They put a facebook blast asking you to post something funny on their page.  I didn't think I could be Johnny-on-the-spot funny, but I did it!

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Day 55 P90X - Yoga X - That last moving oscillation where you go the Warrior 3, standing leg splits, reach to the sky, twisting reach to the sky is killer!  But I'm getting better.

Day 56 P90X - X Stretch - Lots of stretching this past week.  People who start P90X and don't finish it probably are neglecting the stretch workouts.

It was pretty nice out this morning; under 80º.  A good day to get some serious miles.  Serious for me anyway.  I hopped on the scale this morning.  I was at 196.  Any guesses as to what I was after my run?  Whoever wins gets my new socks that I wore for the first time today.  I won't even wash them.

Time - 1:20:46 (avg. pace 8:35)

Splits - 8:32, 8:33, 8:26, 8:40, 8:43, 8:35, 8:42, 8:33, 8:34, 3:28 for 0.41 (8:25 pace)

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Day 57 P90X - Chest and Back/Ab Ripper X - Tony calls this the Mother of all P90X workouts.  Then he turns around and calls Plyometrics the Mother of all P90X workouts.  Anyway, I did 101 push-ups and 96 assisted pull-ups.  I was glad that I was still able to do all my Fifer Scissor Kicks and Mason Twists after taking a week off from Ab Ripper X.

Day 58 P90X - Plyometrics X - My legs and back are still sore from yesterday's 9 mile run.  That's why I didn't run this morning.  That and knowing I had Plyo X tonight.  I should have a nice fun run tomorrow.  I'll even be getting paid to do it.

Check out Emily bringing it!