Surf + Ride

I was going to do Yoga X, but had to do some shit in the morning. Plus we were trying to get our surf on a bit earlier. So did the surfing thing then the biking thing.

7.40 mile ride :: 28:39 :: 15.5 mi/hr
7.40 mile ride :: 29:27 :: 15.0 mi/hr

Another Sandwich

Ab Ripper
Chest & Tris
Ab Ripper

14.02 mile ride :: 53:36 :: 15.6 mi/hr

Thursday Weak Sauce - Friday Not Bad

Thursday just didn't work out - ha. I tried to do a workout, but working 3 days in a row until about 5am finally caught up to even me. But I got on the bike this morning and started a little further back. I'd rather do about a 15 mile ride, but it's close enough. I also wanted to do Yoga X this morning, but again work got in the way. I woke up at about 4a and worked until about 8a before getting on the bike and heading to do more work. Now on to my ride home.

14.07 mile ride :: 54:53 :: 15.3 mi/hr
14.12 mile ride :: 52:52 :: 15.8 mi/hr

So Far

Just a bike ride to work...so far!
13.2 mile ride :: 47:24 :: 16.7 mi/hr
And then a ride back.
13.2 mile ride :: 51:24 :: 15.4 mi/hr

Nothing else - weak sauce!

A New Goal

I'll explain it later in detail, but basically I'm trying to hit a whole new level. And for now, just the workouts for reference.

Ab Ripper
Chest & Tris
Ab Ripper
12.9 mile ride :: 46:39 :: 16.5 mi/hr (Started in Redondo on Espalande :: Dock Snack Stand :: 25:25)
12.9 mile ride :: 51:19 :: 15.1 mi/hr

P90X Day 78 (Day 92)

Weight: 193 lbs.

6.30a -> P90X Phase 3 Continues - Chest & Back
8.00a -> 14.5 mile bike ride, 54 min.
6.30p -> 15 mile bike ride, 55 min.

P90X Day 72 (Day 86)

Weight: 195 lbs.

6.30a -> P90X Phase 3 Continues - Plyometrics
8.00a -> 14.5 mile bike ride, 51 min.
6.30p -> 15 mile bike ride, 58 min.

P90X Day 57 (Day 71)

Weight: 198 lbs.

6.30a -> P90X Phase 3 Starts - Chest & Back
8.00a -> 14.5 mile bike ride, 49 min.
6.30p -> 15 mile bike ride, 53 min.

P90X Day 56 (Day 70): Redondo Beach Triathlon

The day has come and gone. I was a little nervous at the start. Chris was not feeling too sick, but wasn't going to test it by competing today. He was there to support me along with Giannina and Una. He also compiled a pretty sweet little highlight reel of my day which you can see below. I'm pretty happy with my time, but even more so with the feeling I got when I finished. It was much more exhilarating than I ever thought it would be.

My swim was horribly slow, but that is to be expected when you're breast stroking your way through a .5 mile swim. Swimming is definitely not my strength. You can check out the results here.



Oh yeah, this was supposed to be a P90X rest day. And the workouts resume tomorrow with phase 3 starting.

P90X Day 51 (Day 65)

Weight: 197 lbs.

6.30a -> P90X Recovery Week for Phase 2 - Core Synergistics
8.00a -> 14.5 mile bike ride, 55 min.
6.30p -> 15 mile bike ride, 56 min.

Chris has fallen terribly ill this week. Some sort of viral thing. He hasn't done P90X this week. I still have only missed that one Kenpo day and have definitely made up for it. Hopefully he'll be okay for the Triathlon.

P90X Day 47 (Day 61): Kinda Stupid

So at some point in thinking I could accomplish any endurance task I wanted, I decided it might be a good idea to do an Iron Man Triathlon. Those are the toughest of all triathlons, The distances are almost silly. It's a 2.4 mile swim, follwed by a 112 mile bike and then cap it all off with a full Marathon (26.2 miles). I wasn't sure if I could actually do that, but I started to look into it.

A co-worker who had already done one the year prior and was in the midst of training for another pointed me in the right direction of what it would take. I found one Iron Man that was in August and we worked backwards from there in terms of training. Basically I was about 8 weeks out and the training called for being able to do a 4 hour bike ride (at least 50 miles) followed by a 2 hour run.

So after doing a P90X Legs & Back workout and Ab Ripper X, I headed out on my bike ride. I may have not mentioned this earlier but all of my biking is done on my 7-speed beach cruiser. I started out real strong, averaging a faster speed than ever before. I'm usually carrying a 15-25 lb. bag with clothes to change into for work. This time I had no bag and the lesser weight felt great.

After about 25 miles of flat riding on the coast I headed into the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Now those are some serious hills. The beach cruiser is not necessarily the best choice for this ride, but I made a much worse mistake. My beach cruiser does not have a water bottle cage so I didn't bring any of that with me. Of course I also didn't bring any food, energy bars or anything of the sort. At some point around mile 40, a little less than 2.5 hours in my body told me I needed water badly. Luckily I was smart enough to bring some cash with me and I stopped and got some water. I continued my ride thinking I was good to go.

I headed out of the peninsula and back to some coastal bike path riding. I was going okay for a while but at some point, my energy went way down. It was a strange feeling. My heart rate was dropping and I was starting to feel a bit dizzy. I made a couple of stops to splash some water on my face and ended up making it back okay. I rode 57 miles in just under 4 hours. I was not even going to attempt to run after that. I was exhausted and had made a serious mistake not having any food with me, not to mention a ready supply of water. That was a good lesson and I'm glad I didn't have any injuries as a result of that stupidity.

P90X Day 45 (Day 59): Some Say I Go Overboard

I mentioned that I was thinking about doing this so it was only a matter of time before I actually did. Once I get an idea in my head...

5.20a -> 7.1 mile run, 78 min.
6.45a -> P90X Phase 2 Continues - Back & Biceps
8.15a -> 14.5 mile bike ride, 53 min.
6.00p -> 15 mile bike ride, 52 min.
7.10p -> 7.1 mile run, 79 min.

This may seem a little crazy to some, but I'm starting to feel like I can do just about anything in terms of endurance and there is really only one way to find out. I always listen to my body though and so far it has only sent mild 'why are you doing this to me' messages. No major distress signals telling me to stop. Knees and joints are holding up okay and now I'm absolutely certain that I'm ready to participate in the Redondo Triathlon which is a little more than a week away.

P90X Day 44 (Day 58)

Weight: 199 lbs.

6.30a -> P90X Phase 2 Continues - Plyometrics
8.00a -> 14.5 mile bike ride, 49 min.
6.30p -> 15 mile bike ride, 55 min.

This is the first time I've been under 200 lbs. in the last 5 years. I'm already feeling great about this accomplishment, but I'm no where near where I want to be. The bar is set high and I have no intention of coming up short.

P90X Day 37 (Day 51)

Weight: 201 lbs.

6.30a -> P90X Phase 2 Continues - Plyometrics
8.00a -> 14.5 mile bike ride, 55 min.
6.30p -> 15 mile bike ride, 58 min.

P90X Day 29 (Day 43): Phase 2

Weight: 201.5 lbs.

6.30a -> P90X Phase 2 Starts - Chest, Shoulders & Tris
8.00a -> 14.5 mile bike ride, 52 min.
6.30p -> 15 mile bike ride, 55 min.

Phase 2 of P90X isn't any easier than Phase 1. Different muscle groups on Mondays and Wednesdays is basically the only difference. The Ab Ripper X is just as tough as before, and Chris and I found out we didn't miss it at all during the Recovery Week.

Chris and I have also decided that we're going to compete in Triathlons. Really I decided that it might help me in training and am making him come along for the ride. He seems to be eager to try to beat me at something. Other then tennis, he has had some issues with me dominating sports we play.

The first triathlon we're doing is the Redondo Beach Triathlon. It's a sprint distance, but with an unusually long swim in comparison to the other events. Swimming is my biggest weakness and I'll probably lose a lot of time to Chris right off the bat. But I really just want to finish. It seems like an accomplishment all on its own. Already this bet seems to have some residual up sides other then the physical aspects.

P90X Day 22 (Day 36): Stats Update

Weight: 205 lbs.

6.30a -> P90X Phase 1 Recovery Week Starts - Yoga X
8.00a -> 14.5 mile bike ride, 51 min.
6.30p -> 15 mile bike ride, 53 min.

P90X Day 15 (Day 29): Stats Update

Weight: 207 lbs.

6.30a -> P90X Phase 1, Week 3 - Chest & Back
8.00a -> 14.5 mile bike ride, 50 min.
6.30p -> 15 mile bike ride, 51 min.

P90X Day 8 (Day 22)

Weight: 209 lbs.

6.30a -> P90X Phase 1, Week 2 - Chest & Back

The bike rides have not stopped, but I won't be posting every day I ride in to work. You can assume that I'm doing the 15 mile ride twice a day at least 4 times per week and usually 5 times.

Day 10

The P90X workout program arrived today. Chris and I are going to start it on Monday. We're very excited about trying something new. The program looks very thorough and tough. It has a fit test you must complete to see if you're 'P90X Ready'. We're planning to do that on Friday after the bike in to the gym. They also recommend taking pictures, which I will do before Day 1 of P90X (4/16/07). I'll also post all of my numbers from the fit test.

7.00a -> 14.5 mile bike ride, 55 min.
8.10a -> Legs, Shoulders, Abs (LA Fitness)
6.40p -> 15 mile bike ride, 62 min.

Day 9

6.40a -> 14.5 mile bike ride, 50 min.
7.35a -> Back, Biceps, Abs (LA Fitness)
6.30p -> 15 mile bike ride, 59 min.

Day 8

6.30a -> 14.5 mile bike ride, 56 min.
7.45a -> Chest, Tris, Abs (LA Fitness)
6.30p -> 15 mile bike ride, 60 min.

Day 5

Weight: 213 lbs.

6.30a -> 14.5 mile bike ride, 55 min.
7.40a -> Back, Biceps, Abs (LA Fitness)
6.15p -> 15 mile bike ride, 65 min.

Day 4

6.30a -> 14.5 mile bike ride, 56 min.
7.40a -> Chest, Tris, Abs (LA Fitness)
6.30p -> 15 mile bike ride, 59 min.

Day 3

7.15a -> 14.5 mile bike ride, 57 min.
8.20a -> Legs, Shoulders, Abs (LA Fitness)
6.30p -> 15 mile bike ride, 57 min.

Day 2

6.40a -> 14.5 mile bike ride, 56 min.
7.45a -> Back, Biceps, Abs (LA Fitness)
5.50p -> 15 mile bike ride, 58 min.

Day 1: The Workouts Begin

Weight: 215 lbs.

6.40a -> 14.5 mile bike ride, 55 min.
7.45a -> Chest, Tris, Abs (LA Fitness)
6.15p -> 15 mile bike ride, 61 min.

Pre Day 1: The Plan

We returned from Italy on Saturday and it is now Sunday. I'm all set to begin some serious working out. I know this isn't going to be easy especially since Italy was not so kind to the midsection.

Some stats...
Height: 6'0
Weight:: 215 lbs.

The plan for the cardio workouts is to drive down to Chris's house in South Redondo and bike to Marina Del Rey to a gym near work. That bike ride is about 14.5 miles. The bike ride back from work is about 15 miles. That should be a little less than an hour each way for cardio.

While we were in Maryland at Giannina's mother's I saw an informecial for P90X. Chris had mentioned that workout regimen a few months back and after seeing the informecial I was convinced. At least convinced to give it a shot. The workouts and goals seem realistic. It looks like a lot of very hard work - that sounds like somethng I can be inline with. So I ordered the program. It comes with 12 DVD's, a workout book, a nutritional guide (which I would have to ignore completely), and some resistance bands. I also ordered the P90X pull-up bar. That will arrive in about a week or two. Until then, the plan is to do a more traditional weight lifting regimen at the gym after the bike ride and before heading in to work.

Tomorrow will be the first day I make the full 15 mile ride from Chris's house. Until now, I was riding in to work 2-3 times per week from a mid way point (closer to my house). I have been doing that for a little over a month with little to no signs of improvement in the physique. I hope that kicking it into a higher gear will change things.