Plans Change… We Must Adapt

We all know that even the best laid plans must be altered due to unforeseen circumstances. But, that doesn’t make it any less annoying!!

As you may remember, I have committed to running a marathon this year as one of my resolutions. I would love to do the New York City Marathon, but chances are slim that I’ll win that lottery. So, I had decided that my back-up plan would be the St. Augustine Marathon in November. Well, imagine my surprise when I went to their webpage to check the date and registration information and there’s NO MARATHON!!!! WHAAT?!? Yeah, this year they are only having a 5K, 10K and 21K (or half marathon). BUMMER!!! So what’s a marathon girl to do? Well, I went searching for another marathon, and the only thing I can find that works with my schedule is the Disney Marathon in January, 2013. Does this mean my resolution is a bust already? That depends on how you think about it. I like to say it’s an issue of semantics. Will I have completed the marathon by December 31, 2012? No, but I will have trained for it, and that’s the hard part! Right?

The other change is in the P90X Training program I’m doing. I’m into week 3 and I truly believe it’s working, but I’m a little bored. Oh, and Tony’s voice is grating on my last nerve!!! Yeah, I’ve hit my wall, not with the program but with him. So I’ve decided to not do the video and just do the exercises on my own. And, I even created my own plyometric, interval and ballet workout routines to replace his plyo, shoulders & arms and that stinking kenpo routines.  So, is it really even P90X? Technically, no, but I’m much happier because I don’t have to listen to his voice anymore!!! And my workouts are way harder than his! Stay tuned… I may post my workouts at some point. I have to make sure they work first!!!

P90X Update: Week 2

OK, Week 2 is DONE!! WoooHooo!!! Yep, I’m still on target as prescribed… everyday workout, with Sunday as a stretch day. I feel GREAT, and I’ve even lost a few lbs too! This week was much easier than last. That would be proof that I’m getting stronger.

So I have a confession…Truth: I dread the 90 minute Yoga! I know, it sounds like an easy day, especially because I LOVE yoga. But it’s not my kind of yoga. It’s about a gazillon chaturangas, warriors and up & downward facing dogs. Then, after your completely exhausted and thinking you’re about done, you go right into balance poses. It’s really hard to balance when your legs are shaking with exhaustion. I admit, I did much better this week than I did last week, but it’s still hard! And yes… I did face plant a couple times during the crane pose. It wasn’t pretty!

So this is week three and the last week of this schedule. Yippeee!!! Week four has Yoga X two times??!?!?! Ughgh! I think I can… I think I can… Say it with me!!!!

Kudos to the “Losers”

I consider myself to be in fairly good shape. I run, walk, weight train, eat healthy (usually), and I would consider myself a pretty active middle-aged adult. That being said, I’ve been amazed at how sore I’ve been from my 60+ minutes of P90X every day. Now I know I’m using different muscles in new and different ways, but I never expected to be so sore that I couldn’t move with out groaning like a really, really old person. Again… this is after a measly hour and a half work out.

So, I was watching The Biggest Loser, the other night, and I started wondering why none of these contestants complain about the muscle pain. I mean, we see them working out to the point of exhaustion and quite frequently nausea, but I’ve never heard any of them complain that it hurts to laugh, or move, or even just to take a breath.  Am I just wimpy, wimpy wimpy? Or is this just really good editing?

2012 Training Plan

First of all, yes, I’m still doing P90X… week 2 is well underway!! I’m still eating clean (or clean enough for me) and logging my food and exercise. You’ve got to love progress!!! I get so inspired when my training plan works! With that in mind, I realized that I needed to sort out my plans for the rest of the year. Yep, I said YEAR! See, I’ve committed to run in the Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon in November with my nieces AND I have the St. Augustine Marathon, which also falls in November. YIKES! So, it was time for me to organize my training schedule. My biggest fear was that these races would fall on the same weekend. But, alas, Disney posted the date for the half and it’s November 10th!!! YAY!! This is a week before the marathon… Pheeww!! Ideally, I should be tapering the week before the marathon, but I’ll just make it work.

So, when figuring out a training schedule, I work backwards. I start on M-Day (Marathon day) and work in the reverse to figure out when to start my training. BUT, I’m also trying to work in the P90X workouts. Yeah, go ahead and say it… OVERACHIEVER!!! I’m thinking that this combination will give me that added strength to succeed at my marathon challenge. I found a plan I like somewhere on the internet. It was a pdf of a Nike Running plan and had beginner, intermediate and advanced levels. So last night I painstakingly entered this plan into my iCal, working in the reverse. I was so proud when I finally finished and my iCal looked all full and busy-like. Then, I went web surfing this morning and found the Nike Running Training site, which allows you to enter the date of your race and it will calculate your plan for you!!! UGH! AND… it will import it into your calendar!!! REALLYY?!?! I couldn’t have found this BEFORE I wasted an hour or so of my life?

Anyway, I officially start training for my marathon in the beginning of May, which happens to be my birthday week! How perfectly appropriate!!! So from now until May, I will continue with P90X, round 1, which will end April 15th. And I may try my own workout from then until May. Or, if I can stand it, I’ll do P90X, round 2! Stay tuned!!!

I’m now a P90X-er!!

So I’ve been hearing of the P90X fitness program for years. Yeah, I’ve looked at it briefly over the years, but just never felt like investing the $$. Not that it’s crazy expensive, but $140 for a set of DVD’s that are just gonna look pretty on the entertainment center is an investment I don’t care to make! So, why now? Well, I happened upon a set of the videos… FOR FREE!!! Yeah, FREE… So I took this as a sign, that I should get my arse moving!!

Today is Day 5 and I’m feeling GREAT!!!! Who knew that 5 days could make me feel SO much better?! Don’t get me wrong, I’m sore, make that SUPER SORE! But I LIKE IT!!!! And I’m also eating better. MUCH BETTER than this time last month, when I was ingesting mega amounts of Christmas cookies. Blech! Now I’m eating regularly and mostly clean foods. I’m also following my food intake with the Lose It! app that I wrote about previously… here. If you haven’t downloaded this app yet, DO IT NOW!!!! It’s the most amazing app that not only teaches you how to balance calories in and calories burned, but also, holds YOU accountable for your own weight loss or gain. Yes, I’ve been known to take a late walk around the block, or run up and down the stairs for 15 minutes just to burn off those extra calories I HAD to have!! It works, really!!

So, for those of you wondering if I’m still running… YES, sort of I’ve actually been too sore to run this week, but I am fully intending to pick up my mileage (which won’t take much) next week. And now that I’ve written it, I must DO IT!!! After all, I do have a marathon to run this year!!!

Happy 2012!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! It’s 2012!!! WOOHOOO!!! So, like every new year, I’ve come up with a resolution. Actually, I have MANY resolutions. Resolutions that will undoubtedly be unresolved by year end But if I only complete one of them then I’ll have been successful!!! You see, that’s why I make MANY resolutions, so the odds of succeeding are much better. Some years I even repeat failed resolutions from previous years. Now, some may call that cheating, but I like to think of it as persistence. And persistence is a good trait, right?

Well, one of this year’s resolutions is… wait for it… dum da duuumm…26.2 miles… yup, to complete a MARATHON!! Now, I’ve tried this one once before, but didn’t get to complete it due to injuries. YAY, it’s going back on the list!! I think if I train properly this time, I WILL succeed!! You see, last time my training consisted of just running, with an occasional yoga or pilates class. (Like one of each the entire 20 weeks of training) I didn’t do any weight or flexibility training. I am convinced that these two additions are essential to a successful marathon. We will see!!!

So I’ve decided to commit to this crazy goal, but which marathon shall I do? Hmmmm…

1. Disney Marathon – well I live in Orlando and could easily do the Disney Marathon, but it’s in early January, which is about a week away. Yeah, not gonna happen! And, if I sign up for next January, I’ve already failed. And that’s just not acceptable!
2. There’s the Space Coast Marathon which is nearby, but it’s held the Sunday after Thanksgiving. That would mean that we would have to skip our annual Thanksgiving trip to Charlotte… NOPE, not gonna do it!!
3. ING New York Marathon in November would be fun and the application process (lottery) starts TODAY. This is not only a tough race to get into, but also a rather expensive one! But I signed up for the lottery and I’ll just have to wait and see!
4. The Bank of America Chicago Marathon is in October and is reasonably priced at a mere $150. Registration opens in February, so that’s another option. And I know my hubs would come be my cheerleader, since he LOVES Chi-town!
5. The St Augustine Marathon is very close to home, which saves $$ on airline tickets, and close enough that I could actually have some peeps at the race!! Hmm, yeah this may be the one!!! Unless, of course I get lucky and get into the ING NYC.

Stay tuned and I will keep you up-to-date on how the training is going!

Happy Belated Halloween!!!

BELATED BOO!!! Did I scare you? No? Well, POO! Yeah I got you there, huh? As any parent knows, POO trumps BOO on the scare meter, anywhere, anytime!! But, is it scarey enough to get you moving? Are you running from your computer, screaming in fear? Good then I have succeeded in my task to get everyone out and exercising off all the sugar we ate yesterday!!

OK, so I have to confess something…I’ve been a little lax in the running lately. There…I’ve said it. Isn’t the first step in solving any problem, admitting that there is a problem? And now I’m gonna want to lace up my runners and hit the pavement. ..right? NO? CRAP!!! Well, I tried!!! In my defense, I have been walking 3 miles 3 times a week with my hubs. So I’m not sedentary, just a tad lazy. Well, maybe lazy isn’t the right word… running in slow-motion might describe it better.

So since I started writing this a couple days ago… yeah maybe lazy is the right word… I added a 2 mile run to my hubby walks. That’s a total of 5 miles!!! Eventually I will have hubs running the 3 mile walk and then I’ll be running 5 miles three days a week. Not bad… I think what I really need is to find a race to sign up for and get myself inspired!!! Stay tuned!!!

Free… Yes, F-R-E-E… Marathon

What does the word MARATHON mean to you? Yes, the obvious answer is 26.2 miles of running, walking or crawling, depending on who you are! To me, it’s one of those love-to-hate things like child birth, deep tissue massage or dieting. You know, the intense pain before the immense pay-off! I mean, think about it… when you decide to sign up for that race, you agree to:

1. commit MONTHS of your life to training
2. forfeit a couple toe nails for the cause
3. run through at least a couple pair of rather expensive shoes
4. live with the aches and pains in the hams, hips, quads and knees
5. forfeit your normal social life for one centered around the long weekend runs

AND, for all this wonderful (code word for torturous) fun, you would normally, pay (happily, I might add) a couple hundred dollars just to register!!!! Well, I found a F-R-E-E marathon!!! It’s called The Really Big Free Marathon, and it’s in VEGAS on November 3rd!!! WOOHOO!! Here’s the rub… registration opens on March 24th at 12:01AM PST. Yes, that’s Pacific Standard Time, which is 3:00AM for those of us on the East Coast! UUGGGHH!! Eeeh, what’s a little lost sleep in the grand scheme? RIGHT?!?

The Nike GPS App

I’ve been an avid user of the Nike Plus system since I found out about it waaaayyyy back when. I bought the iPod Nano, the Nike + shoes with the little hole in the sole for the chip, the chip and transmitter and tons of music from iTunes! Yeah, there was a lot of overhead, but I used it on every run, and even on those rare walks. OK, I admit it… I even used it for my dog’s walks. Hey, don’t laugh at me, a dog’s got know how far and fast she’s moving, too!! Needless to say, I thought it was just the coolest thing ever!!! But… now there’s an even cooler way! It’s Nike GPS!!!

Are you asking “What the heck is Nike GPS?” Well, let me tell you… it’s like the Nike +, but you don’t need the nano, the shoes, the chip or the transmitter!!!! You just need to download the app from iTunes app store for a mere $1.99, and that’s it!! It uses the GPS in your iPhone to track your run and measure your pace. Your runs can then be synced up with your Nike account. Are you running indoors on the treadmill? No worries it can keep track of your treadmill miles too! Just make sure you set for an indoor run before you start! Oh… it even allows you to play tag with your fellow runners!! I KNOW… IT’S SO COOL!!!

UPDATE: Run Hubby, Run…

Just wanted to give to you an update on the hubs and his training program. HE’S STILL RUNNING!!! YAY!! This is impressive in itself, but he’s also been traveling and still kept on track with the plan! YAY BABE!!! Are you wondering what plan? Yeah, I realized that we didn’t really set a plan…HAHAHAHAHA! I guess it’s easy to stay on track if you don’t have a track!! Never fear, I came up with a plan and a goal!! I love creating goals for other people!!

So, the plan is to run/walk for 30 minutes, 3 days a week with Sunday being our “long” day.  Eventually, we’ll stop the walk portion and just run. Oh, and the long run, yeah, it will gradually increase each week. The goal….MWAAAHHHHH… his first 5K run!!!! We will do Disney’s Expedition Everest Challenge and Scavenger Hunt!!! It’s a team race which starts with a 5K run with obstacles set up along the way, followed by a scavenger hunt through Animal Kingdom®…kind a like The Amazing Race (his fave show). Sounds like fun, huh? It’s perfect for his first race since it’s a night race and the run is split up by the obstacles. OK…it’s a little pricey, but that’s a sure way to keep him motivated. He’s not going to pay the $$$$ and then not run! Hit ‘em where it hurts right? Oh and we have Disney passes, so we can make a vacation out of it!!!!

Stay tuned for more updates and more wife-induced goals!!!