Paddle Board to Catalina

Now that I'm a stand up paddle boarding expert (see video below), I'm thinking of doing another one of those stupid things I like to do. A stand up paddle board trip to Catalina seems to be the next logical step. I'm pretty sure I want to do it sooner than later since the waves and water will be getting more intense. I think it will be really hard, probably harder than the knee paddle boarding that people have races to Catalina. I haven't heard of anyone doing the trek over on a stand up. There are lots of logistics to figure out, like practicing and having an escort, etc. Those will come later.

And still taking it easy on the workouts. Just surfed yesterday and today.

Stand Up Paddle Boarding

Since my dad is in town, we decided to try out the latest craze of stand up paddle boarding. My dad, Chris and I rented 3 boards and went out for a while. It was pretty awesome. Great workout and even better comedy. Chris and I were falling all over the place., and we probably fell over the most when trying to make the other person fall.

Here is one of the boards we rented. The Laird 12'1 monster. It was pretty stable and the easiest to stand on (please keep in mind the relativity of that statement).


And this is pretty much what we looked like by the end:

Recovery + Surfing

Today's workout:

Ab Ripper
Kenpo X
Surfing

Possibly best surf session yet. Starting to figure some shit out, and I'm also just much more comfortable out there.

3/8 Yoga and Super Fun Surfing

I didn't get going this morning too good. I pushed through the first half of Yoga (but barely pushed), then did some Yoga Belly 7 and the last part which is super relaxing. Skipped all that good for you stretching stuff.

Then went surfing which was awesome. Waves were pretty small and rolly and I figured some shit out. Got some good rides. Might have turned a corner.

Yoga
Surfing

Recovery Week

I've decided to do a recovery week. Pretty arbitrary actually, but I always found they were helpful in some way while I was strict in my P90X regimen. But just to spice things up a bit I preceded Core with an Ab Ripper:

Ab Ripper
Core Synergistics

New Pool

So Equinox finally finished the pool on the roof. And I had a chance to check it out. Pretty sweet. It's supposedly salt water, but I couldn't tell the difference. Here's what I did while I was there:

30 min. of swimming
15 min. run :: 1.9 miles
KB Swings :: several sets at 40 lb.
Dumbell Flat Bench :: 10 x 50 lb., 7 x 60 lb.
Dual Pulley Lat Pulldown :: 8 x 60 lb., 6 x 70 lb.
Bicep Curls :: 6 x 35 lb., 8 x 30 lb.
Tricep Pull Downs :: 20 x 50 lbs., 7 x 65 lbs.

Ab Ripper + Kenpo

I've been trying to kick it up a notch, so preceding Kenpo with Ab Ripper seemed to make sense. I also counted how many reps I do in my full strength Ab Ripper. The norm is 349, and I do 470. That's a pretty solid increase. Kenpo was fun as always.

Ab Ripper
Kenpo

More of the Same

Some P90X and surfing. Surfing session was pretty rough. It was a bit windy and choppy. And it's not like I would know the difference much except that it was much harder to get out. Legs & Back was also especially hard. I had some awesome numbers in the Back portion, but I was struggling with Legs.

Ab Ripper
Legs & Back
Surfing

Sports Day

Today was a day full of good stuff:

Yoga X
Surfing
Basketball

P90X + Surfing

Enough about the damn Sandwich already. At least that's what I keep thinking when I read how many times I've mentioned it in the last couple of weeks. So today was a regular old P90X workout followed by some Surfing.

Ab Ripper
Back & Bis
Surfing

Weak Sauce Sandwich

Today was the first time I did some P90X Legs & Back in over a month. Because of my sprained ankle I've been taking it easy on the lower half. But I'm at about 80-90% in terms of strength (though still pretty swollen), so I figured it was time to bring it back in to the mix. I forgot how hard I find that workout. The Ab Ripper Sandwich was tougher than ever. I would barely even call the 2nd one a full one. I half assed a few of the exercises.

Ab Ripper
Legs & Back
Ab Ripper

Oh yeah, and after all that, some surfing

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

Not all Ab Rippers are Created Equal

Today was going to be a huge day and it got off to a great start. Unfortunately car issues caused a bit of a slow down, but not enough to make a fuss about. Woke up at 4a and did some work. Followed it up with another sandwich:
Ab Ripper
Back & Bis
Ab Ripper

I rocked the first Ab Ripper. Did more reps than I might have ever done (I do extras in just about every move), and all real solid too. The Back & Bis was good too, but I had very little energy to do the 2nd Ab Ripper. I still got through it, but stopped short a couple of times.

And when that was all done I had to take my car in to get fixed which made the Surfing start a little later than anticipated. And that caused no biking to work. It would have been a sick day to do all of that, but surfing and P90X is pretty solid (especially with a sandwich).

Yoga for Mud Run

Tomorrow is the SBSD Mud Run. Chris and I are doing the 10K. So today I'm taking it easy and just did Yoga X this morning. I was going to bike in to work, but time was an issue and rest seemed like a good idea.

Surfing++

So far today, only surfing for about an hour and a half. But I'm planing to do a workout at Equinox before heading home. Again the ridiculous working hurts. I had to have my sis drive me to my car last night instead of bike. It was late, I didn't have a light and my wife was a little uneasy about the biking. Excuses, excuses - I hate them.

Another Sandwich

Ab Ripper
Chest & Tris
Ab Ripper

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

Mud Run Training

My friend Chris and I confirmed at the end of last week that we will be doing the SBSD Mud Run. And although I wasn't planning on doing high impact training due to the sprained ankle, I figured I needed to be sure I can run the 10k on it. I went to Equinox this morning and ran the 10k (hilly version) without too many issues, though I wasn't very fast. Ankle hurt very little during and a little bit after, but I think I'll be good to go on Saturday. The only concern is some of the obstacles and landings. I think I'll be taping it up or at least wear a brace of some sort. Hopefully there will be no horror stories next week, just victory!

Great Monday

I was going to do another Ab Ripper Sandwich, but opted for some surfing instead of the 2nd Ab Ripper due to time. If I had enough time, I think I would workout about half the day away. So it ended up being:
Ab Ripper
Back & Biceps
Surfing

Sunday Kenpo

Ab Ripper and Kenpo X to start the day. The new schedule has some serious advantages. More day = More working out potential. After my workouts I spent a good part of the day working the yard. Cleaned that shit up good.

Beach Volleyball + Ab Ripper

My new schedule is working out pretty well. I woke up early enough to get some work done and do an Ab Ripper before heading out to a beach volleyball tournament. It was the CBVA's Cal Cup State Championships. It was a solid day of beach fun and always a good workout.

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!

Equinox Day

Due to a sprained ankle from about 1.5 weeks ago, I won't be doing Plyo X. Normally I would do that and add another workout such as biking or at the gym.
Equinox Workout:
Ab Ripper
15 min. Elliptical (Wha? - Normally would run, but the ankle)
5k Row - 19:27

A New Goal

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

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