Insanity P90X 26.2 70.3

Close to Peak Shape

Can you believe it two posts in one day?  I really need to keep up with posting since I know it is motivation not only for me but others out there and I’ll try to post more frequently.

I have a benchmark that allows me to know whether I’m in good shape or not and that benchmark is running 8 miles in one hour, as you can see I was able to do this today on the treadmill.  I know people hate the treadmill but you really need to embrace it, I have numerous ways to mix up my treadmill workouts and I have posted them in the past, if you’d like some ideas you can find them here, here, here and here.  One other piece of advice when running on the treadmill, make sure you move the incline to 1.0 to simulate outdoor running, if you run with no incline then the machine actually works in your favor.  I’ve ran at a 1.0 for the last two years and just this year I’ve decided to now run at 1.5, I can’t feel the difference from 1.0 but I know I’m getting a better workout.  Here is a quick link on running on the treadmill vs. outside and this link gives you a pace conversion based on mph and incline setting.  As for today my treadmill workout break down goes like this:

• start at 7.1 mph and increase .1 until you reach 8.1
• stay at 8.1 until last mile
• last mile increase .1 every tenth of a mile
• run ends at 9.1 mph

Obviously everyone has different levels of fitness so if you need to start off at 5.1 or 6.1 then adjust as you see fit.

So now I start to think, what is my new benchmark?  Can I possibly do 9 miles in one hour?  If so my pace would have to be 50 seconds faster per mile and average 6:40, maybe for now I should target 8.5 miles and go from there.  Tomorrow I hit up my circuit weight workout, bike and pool.

Till next time, I run do you?

Good Workouts Bad Eating

My workouts have been fantastic, in fact I ran 10 miles with my buddy Kevin Saturday morning and didn’t have any soreness during or after the run, I’m confident that riding the stationary bike and swimming have helped my running muscles considerably.  Then there is the diet/eating portion of training which has completely sucked for a lack of better words. 

Lets first discuss the good and that is my workouts, I’ve been averaging two 20-30 minute swims, 25-35 miles on stationary bike, 20-25 miles running and at least one circuit weight training session for the past 3 weeks.  The breakdown looks like this:

• Monday- 45 minute bike/15 miles
• Tuesday- Circuit Weights & 20 minute swim
• Wednesday- 7 mile run
• Thursday- 10 mile bike & 4 mile run
• Friday- Circuit Weights & 20 minute swim
• Saturday- 10 mile run
• Sunday- off

Now some of these distances vary but this is a good average as to what I’ve been up to.  I will try and stretch theses workout a little longer starting next week.  Note, for all the bike sessions I’ve been on the stationary.  My settings are level 25 (hardest) and interval hills, I really push myself, in fact I get out of the saddle for the hardest hills. Here is what my heart rate chart looks like during one of these workouts:

I know it’s hard to read but my average HR is 147bpm with a max of 166bpm and clearly shows when I’m out of the saddle climbing the hills.

I’m not going to spend a whole lot on the eating/negative because it’s a simple fix, discipline.  I need to eat smaller portions and STOP eating junk after dinner.  For the most part I do fairly well throughout the day it’s when I get home and the weekends which absolutely kill me.  Why is it that I feel the need to treat myself every night simply because I worked out that day?  I need to change my thought process and discipline myself when I have those cravings, it’s going to start today.

Quick shout out to my buddy Keith who is on Day 10 of Insanity, DIG DEEP buddy.

Till next time, I run do you?

Building a Base

As I explained in my earlier posts I’ve decided to put Insanity 2011 on the back burner so I can start building a base for the Half Ironman, I won’t rule out an Insanity workout here and there when I am pressed for time but for now my focus will be on swimming, biking, running and circuit weights at least 1x per week to maintain muscle tone. 

When it comes to building my base I need to do some research online and see if there is a program that will get me ready for my 20 week training schedule which starts on May 15th.  Click here for the 20 week program.  As you can see I need a good enough base that allows me to bike 90 minutes, run 50 minutes and swim 45 minutes, obviously not all at one clip but there are days in which you will have to do two exercises back to back. 

So what have I done so far?  It’s only Tuesday but here’s what I did yesterday and today:

• Monday- Stationary bike 10 miles on hardest hills setting, 31 minutes & Ran 3 miles in 26:34
• Tuesday- Ran 4 miles in 32:00 and swam .25 miles in 20 minutes

From what I can tell I think I’m in pretty good shape leading up to May, I will obviously increase these totals slightly each week so I will be ready to go come May.

Till next time, I run do you?