Go, you chicken fat, go away!

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...