The Kidz Marathon Training Blog

Video Updates and More

2011-04-12T10:34:00.000-07:00

I know it's been a long time since I last updated my Blog....You'll have to bear with me, but life and vacations got in the way. Here's some quick updates. I did get through my 90 days, but as part of the chaos that is life as a Father, Baseball Manager, Husband, Exercise Junkie, and Manager at work, pictures fell to the wayside.

BUT, have no fear, I will take some updated photos from the NEWEST round of P90X that I've started. There was no way that I was going to take time off. I just can't afford to do that. That's when I lose fitness, and end up starting from Square 1. So to me, P90X isn't just a 90 day program, it's something that I'm going to incorporate into my everyday life. In fact, in this round, I'm going to introduce a new training into my P90X workout regiment. Beachbody just release the newest in it's Insanity Franchise called Insanity Asylum. For those who are regulars on the P90X circuit, Insanity is regularly combined with P90X into hybrid workouts. Well, I knew that BeachBody was coming out with a new version, and I ordered it today. I can't wait to get it and work it into my current Round of P90X.

Something else that I also added into my regimen, is Shakeology. I've heard coach after coach talk about the benefits of Shakeology as a meal replacement, but I had shied away from it as I really wanted to stick to the P90X diet principals. Well, 2 weeks ago, I took the step and added Shakeology to replace a meal, and I have to say first hand, that it does what EVERYONE claimed, and I will have specific data to prove it via blood work. I can say this, it does suppress my appetite. That is one of the claims made by each and every coach, and I can confirm this. I would ALWAYS be raging maniac hungry by about 10:45. That's after eating a breakfast at 6am. That was when eating a large protien packed breakfast of egg white omletes. Then, life got in the way, and I didn't have enough time to make the breakfast and I switched over to Slimfasts. Well, 10:45 went to 10am. That didn't hold me over 1 bit. So, I bought Shakology and I don't even start thinking about food until 11:30 or 11:45ish. Then I have a nice sized lunch. I can totally tell the differences. Today, I actually brought a breakfast and will have Shakeology for lunch. It will be interesting to see how my mid afternoon hunger is. With that, I'll be getting concrete proof as to what the effects are on my Cholesterol. I got my blood tested last Thursday free at work, so I hope to have some good results there.

Finally, I've started videoing all my workouts and I'm going to put together some minute and a half accountability updates with footage of me doing the P90X exercises (good and bad). I ultimately started videoing the workouts so I can see where I need to work on form. My hope is that I'll get better on each and every exercise with a push towards perfect form!!!

So Click the video link below and tell me what y'all think!!!!

P90X Shoulders and Arms - Week 1

P90X 60 Day Update

2011-03-11T14:35:00.000-08:00

So, my 60 day update is finally here. I'm ofically 2/3rd done withmy program. I have to say that I feel absoltely AMAZING! I'm getting stronger. I'm running faster. My performance is gaining by leaps and bounds. But, I do have to say, that when I took my pictures, I was a little bit dissappointed. Sure, I'm down 18 pounds overall. I've lost over 2.5" in my waist. My arms have gained a half inch in size. My clothes are fitting better then ever. But the part that gets me, is that when I took my 60 day pics, they don't look much different to me then my 30 day pics. I think that I can see a difference in my belly fat are. Sure the round ballness in the gut area isn't as round. But I fully expected to see some more definition then what I'm seeing. I'ts really kinda weird it you ask me. I'll let you take a look for yourself, and post in the comments what you think.

But, have no fear....I'm definitely going to keep pushing play. I'm definitely going to continue to push myself HARDER NAD HARDER every single workout. It's truly amazing how much stronger I am then I was 60 days ago. In week 1, I barely sqeezed out 15 pushups. In round two of the week 1 workout, I barely got 8, then did 10 on my knees. Well, in week 9 I did 25 in round 1. And in round two, I pushed out 19.5 with NONE....yes I said NONE on my knees. Actually, the only push ups i have to perform on my knees so far are the diamond pushups. I am absolutely TERRIBLE at those ones.

And Tony.....FYI.....I did 26 Side Tri Rises......When can I expect you for dinner.....

#BRING IT!

P90X: Week 8 - No Rest for the Weary

2011-03-03T07:12:00.000-08:00

As with any good training plan, it's always important to schedule in a rest week. That's where I am today, coming to the end of what will be a great "rest" week. You're probably wondering why I put the word rest in quotes. Well, P90X is extreme. That's what the X stands for. It's not easy by any stretch of the imagination. And even rest is taken to the extreme. For one, you take a week off from the extreme weight workouts that you've been mastering over the past 3 weeks. For me, I actually add in more cardio during this time so that I can get the extra calorie burn. And the workout you do twice during the week is Core Synergistics. There's also 2 days of Yoga, a day of legs and back, and two days of stretching. All of these are integral pieces to the puzzle. It allows your muscles to recover after taking a beating.

But you know me, I modify things to fit my ridiculously hectic and crazy schedule. Here's a recap so far:

Monday: 5am run with my running partner Paul. We went out on a different course then we normally do. We headed out 2 miles up the new Twin Peaks interchange. It's a really steep hill, and was a nice increase to our normal flat 3.5 miles that we normally do.

Tuesday: This was my first double of the week. It started out at 5am with a Hill workout with the running group. About a dozen crazy individuals getting together to suffer as one. And suffer we did. The workout was 15x300 up a consistent grade. My target times for each set of five was decreasing at 1:28, 1:25, and finishing at 1:23. Let me just say....OW OW OW OW......1:28 seemed easy, I totally butchered and ran the next 5 too fast at 1:23. I then told the guy I had the same targets as to go ahead and I would try and keep up. And keep up I did, and I hit 4 of the 5 target times. The workout ended up at 5.9 miles on the Garmin and a little over 900 calories of fat SHREDDED. My second workout was Core Synergistics. That's an hour long Cardio Weights workout. OMG. Talk about another round of SWEAT drenching workouts. Over 1200 calories later, I was totally wiped out. So, 2100+ calories for Tuesday was a good P90X "Rest" day.

Wednesday: Well, I screwed this day up. Perhaps it was because I destroyed over 2100 calories the day before. Dunno. I was RIDICULOUS tired. So tired, that I never heard my alarm. I either didn't set it the night before, or subconsciously turned it off without even knowing it. What did that mean?? Well, it left Paul out in the cold. I always give him a hard time for missing, and it was my turn to take the ribbing. It also meant that I had to adjust my schedule. Normally Friday is my day off. Well, thanks to sleep in Wednesday, I am now going to run on Friday instead of sleeping in till 6am. No worries, I'm flexible.

Thursday: BACK to the grindstone of running with the group. I didn't sleep through my alarm and made it to the group run at 5am. Today's workout looked easy on paper. Well, that's the only place it looked easy. It was 4 sets of 800m, 400m and 400m. A total of 4 miles of HARD running. My target times were 3:50 for the 800s and 1:50 for the 400s. I have to say, I hit ALL but 3 of my target times. My first 800 was 3 seconds slow. I had 2 of my 400s 3 seconds slow. But, on the flip side of that, I had 3 800s that were all 5 seconds fast. So in the end, that all washes out. When you add in the warm up and cool down, I ended with 5.5 miles.

So, that leaves Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Right now I have a total of just over 15 miles for the week. Last week, I ran 22 miles. So, I am on track to easily run more miles then last week. Tomorrow I intend to run another 4 miles of the same course I ran on Monday. I may even make it 5 miles. That would take me to 20. Saturday, I'm going to run a 2 mile time trial. The group is running it at 6am, but I may have to run it before or later in the afternoon since we have the early football game. That will be a minimum of 4 miles. That would take me to 24. Then Sunday, probably 8-10 miles. That will take me over 30 miles for the first time in a long time. I also plan on adding in a Core Synergistics or Saturday and a Yoga on Sunday. I really love Yoga. It's such a great workout. You do SOOOO much without doing anything but move your body around. And the stretch at the end is such a relaxing end to such a great workout.

Finally, on the weight front, I did gain a couple of pounds from last weekends binge eating. By a couple, I mean 2 pounds. Not much, but still not the direction I wanted to go. I can say that those 2 pounds are gone. The scale is back where it should be, and I have just a little over 10 pounds to hit my goal. When I close out this week, I'll be at Day 56. Four days later (one week from Today) I'll be taking my Day 60 pictures. I have to say, there is a HUGE difference. I can see new things everyday in the mirror. I'm starting to see the top two layers of ABs, and I'm really starting to shed that fat. I think I have at least 15 pounds of fat left. I'm FEELING PHENOMENAL! It's incredible how strong I feel. Doing P90X and doing Mamma Micheles running workouts are HARD by themselves. TOGETHER, they're even harder. Some would say insane. But that's INSANITY......A totally different set of workouts that I'll probably take up once I'm tired of this. I actually don't see that happening anytime soon though.
And thank you for taking the time to read my journey. If I can help one person attain their goals, then I'm happy. If you're reading this, and are looking for someone to help you attain your own goals, head to http://www.beachbodycoach.com/kidstallyn. I can provide you with free support to help you attain your goals.
Keep pushing play, and keep bringing it.

P90X: 42 Days to Go

2011-02-28T07:34:00.000-08:00

That's right, here I stand typing this blog entry with just 42 days to go to meet my ultimate goal of being not only fit in body, but in mind. Last week was an amazing week. It was my first week of Doubles on 3 days of workouts. On Sunday, I did a nice 5.6 mile run in the morning, and after nice mid afternoon rest session, I did a hard legs, back and AB Ripper X session. I have to admit. Where I am in this 90 day session doesn't even compare to the last. I probably sound like a broken record. But, I am 100% convinced, that my attention to detail on my diet plan has made this the success that it has been to this point. I've built some nice meal muscle, and I'm excelling at every workout that I have been doing. I'm treating the food I intake on a daily basis as fuel, and not just food.

With that, I do have a small confession to make. This past weekend, I cannot honestly say that I did a great job on my nutrition plan. Not that I totally went off the wagon, but I didn't eat the way I should have. Friday night, we took the boys out for their 12th birthday to the restaurant of their choice. They chose a buffet. Well, I did eat too much. Plain and simple. And when we got home, I had birthday cake. Definitely not "Doing" your Best.......I totally forgot the rest. I was a little bit better on Saturday, but even there, healthy choices were replaced with higher fat options. I was planning on smoking a turkey that my inlaws had brought with them, but due to the high winds of a storm system that rolled through, I ended up cooking it inside and lining it with bacon. I gave in to my inner Emeril and Pork Fat won out. And then there was the wine with dinner. I hadn't had alcohol Since Jan 2nd. My tolerance was GONE. Not that that's a bad thing. I'll say this, I was KNOCKED out and slept like a rock Saturday night. I slept until almost 8am. I haven't done that in FOREVER!!! Sunday I was a LOT better, getting back to my "normal" eating plan. I only took in about 1800 calories, and by the end of the day was craving a Yoga Session.

So, I popped in Yoga X and got my groove on. First off, let me say WOW! I hadn't done Yoga in a while. It's not been a normal part of my plan due to the fact I need to do it on Mon, Wed or Friday. I just don't have an hour and a half on those days. I did it at the beginning of this round on Sundays, but that got overtaken by my long runs and double workouts. So I was really missing it to say the least. It's hard WORK! Normally in my workout room, it's usually about 70 degrees. Yesterday, it was about 55ish. Our high was only in the mid 40s which is really out of the norm. Shoot, it snowed overnight. That's totally abnormal for the desert southwest, especially here. What I noticed as I went through the workout is how many people complain about the length. I just laugh at that. Do you realize that when you do one of the weight workouts and Ab Ripper X your doing an hour and 15 minutes. Well, Yoga is really only 15 minutes longer. And the really hard portion of it is really only like an hour long, and it's 30 minutes of stretching. It's the Yin to the Yong as Tony describes it. Also like Tony, balance postures are not my thing. But I keep trying to do them, and I get better each and every time. Finally, I managed to do wheel for a full 30 seconds. I have never lasted that long. My Abs ALWAYS gave out. My new goal is to get through the FULL minute with the leg raise. And, oh, when I decide to put my mind to it, I will get it done! To me, failure is NOT an option.

With 6 weeks to go today, I am rolling into this rest week. I threw down a LOT of calories and sweat last week. My goal this week is to match the number of miles I ran last week, but the running courses change. Time to add in some hills. Today, Paul and I changed the route we run. The normal 3.5 mile loop is flat. Today, we went two mile straight out on the new Twin Peaks Rd. Straight uphill for two miles. Nice downhill on the way back. Each time we hit it, we're going to extend the run. I want to get use to the point where we are 3 mile up the hill and 3 back. Paul may not like that plan, but hey, he's going to have to suck it up. :) So, this is the "rest" that all of us in P90X have come to love. Enjoy the extra Yoga sessions, get your Core Synergistics on, and up the mileage. That's my recipe for success. GAME ON!!!!

Day 45: The Halfway Point in X

2011-02-23T07:20:00.000-08:00

So, for me, today is officially Day 45, the halfway point of my most recent P90X journey. I wanted to take the time in this blog update to look back and reflect at where I've come. I have to be honest, 45 days ago, I was a complete mess. Back in November I had gotten sick, and that seemed to be the catalyst that sent me on a downward spiral of overeating and drinking. By the end of the year, I had ballooned myself up to 206 pounds. My Belly had started to look like I had Dunlaps Disease. You've seen that on many obese men, when their stomach done laps over their belt. I know, weak attempt at comedy, but I have to make light of the fact that I was heading down a slippery slope where heart disease, diabetes, and general health problems thrive.

So, I started back onto this Journey on Monday, January 3rd. The first week was ridiculously hard. Seriously. I had to take that do your best and forget the rest mentality. Because P90X beat me up. I didn't even get all the way through the first two workouts. I had to stop about 2/3rds of the way through. It was very humbling to say the least. Ab Ripper X....WOW. Let me just say, I looked like a fish that was just taken out of water, who was flopping around on the shore. It wasn't pretty. When they were getting 25 reps done, I was lucky in some instances to get 5-10. You would have not known that I had actually completed a 90 day session in which I started back in May. It was EMBARRASSING. But, I made a commitment to my wife, and to my kids that I would see this through.

Not only did I take on the exercise portion of the program, I went full on with the diet portion. The last time I did P90X, I thought I was the "Food Expert" and I didn't follow the plan to a T. I made my own recommendations, that I thought were "Good Enough". In reality, they were just sodium packed processed messes that were not nutrition. I'm the type of guy that learns from trial, error, and failure. I learned the hard way, that I was not the expert, and that I really should have taken to heart the diet plan. I spoke to my P90X coach, John Cowart, and others that I know who have had great gains, and my wife and I decided to attack the diet plan, using only the recipes contained in the plan. And WOW!!! Did I see changes. In the first week alone, I lost an amazing 7 pounds. Remember, I added in the workouts, but I was not able to complete them fully. I attribute that initial weight loss to my body flushing out the processed junk, and making a switch to the new diet.

By week two, I added in running. My modified P90X plan is different then what most may be doing. Me, I love being outside and running. I cannot lose that aspect of my training. I love running long and short distances. But I also like moving weights around. So I modified the plan as follows, to not only fit my ridiculously busy schedule, but account for the fact that I love running so much.

Monday: 3.5 mile run
Tuesday: P90X weights workout, Ab Ripper X
Wednesday: 3.5 mile run
Thursday: P90X weights workout, Ab Ripper X
Friday: Rest
Saturday: P90X Legs and Back or Run, Ab Ripper X
Sunday: Long Run

I had to modify this schedule due to my numerous outside responsibilities. For one, I coach my twin boys youth flag football team. It's a HUGE time commitment. We hold practices on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday with games on Saturday. I incorporate P90X workouts into their training. These kids, are SUPERSONIC X-FIT! I fully believe that my kids are the most FIT team in the league. We are the only team to have 2 double headers, and in our last one this past Saturday, we only gave up a total of 13 point in the two games. In the past 3 games, we've outscored our opponents 82-13. They're fast, they're aggressive, and they attack the ball. Never before have I seen such progress that I have with these kids. I've been coaching in this league for 6 years now, and I've had 8 of these kids over those years. These kids are getting their first dose of P90X, and they don't really realize it. But I digress.....

Back to my results, at the halfway point. Every single week, I documented every repetition, and pushed myself farther and farther. Week 2, I was able to get through the entire workout. Week 3, I increased number of reps. Week 4, I "rested". I put that in quote, because it was my first FULL week of running, and I managed to get in close to 20 miles in that week. Week 5, we switched form Push-Pull to all Push, all Pull. Week 6.....The dreaded sickness hit. It was just a matter of time, but I stopped the clock, rested my body up, cut the calories down to account for not exercising as much, and gave week 6 a do-over. And here I am in Week 7, officially on Day 45. As I write this, I'm sore. I've had some AMAZING workouts. I did my first double this week. On Sunday, I went out for a 5.6 mile run. I then came home, fueled my body, rested for a few hours, and then later in the afternoon did a KILLER leg workout.

On Monday, I did my standard 3.5 mile run. On Tuesday, I woke up at o'god early and met with my running group. I hadn't met with them in over 6 months. And booy was I lucky to pick yesterday as my "comeback" day. Normally during a weekday run, I never go much more then about 4 miles. Imagine my face when Mamma Michelle, our Coach Extraordinaire, handed me the piece of paper documenting the workout. I had no idea before hand what was in store. Basically, on the schedule sheet, it just said "Short Intervals". Well, here's what we did:

4x200m - 48, 47, 48, 46 ~6:15/mile pace
3x1000m - 4:38, 4:46, 4:46 ~7:38/mile pace
2x400m - 1:53, 1:48 ~7:40 pace
1x1mile 15sec on 15 sec jog - 8:25

All I can say is WOW. My legs today are tired, lacking energy, and SORE. But that wasn't my only workout. I did the Double. I had Shoulders, Chest, Back and ARX on the docket. And let me just say, I nailed it!!!!! ARX, I am no longer floundering like a fish out of water. I'm hammering EVERY SINGLE exercise. Yesterday, I successfully managed 48 mason twists!!! New League Record!!! My weight, I'm down 17.5 pounds. I'm only 14 pounds away from my goal weight. My body has lost CRAZY amounts of fat, built some lean muscle, and is NOT the same body that I was 45 days ago: physically AND mentally. Seriously, it's absolutely AMAZING where I've come in just 45 days, and I cannot wait to see where I am after 90!!!!! It's moments like these, that keep me motivated and pushing myself to new heights.

Remember, KEEP PUSHING PLAY and DO YOUR BEST AND FORGET THE REST!!! Progress will come as long as you BRING IT!!!

P90X Week 6: The Incredible Shrinking Man

2011-02-20T18:08:00.000-08:00

Talk about complete and total MOTIVATION!!! The say that a picture is worth a thousand words. My 30 day pictures were pretty amazing. And gave me a HUGE motivational boost. But, I'm an engineer. I need numbers and data to make sure that things are going right. I've actually stopped weighing myself everyday. It was driving me insane, and I didn't want to get all over myself for seeing a half pound increase. So, I started a "Biggest Loser" style weigh in. I'm now just weighing myself once per week. Let the weekly drop in weight be a big surprise. I was exstatic when I saw my 189.2 on Wednesday for my last blog post. It's been a really long time since I've been under 190, even if it's only .8 pounds. My ultimate goal is to be around 175 by the end of this round, and have some amazinly ripped abs. I've run a total of 5 marathons, and I can honestly say that every one of them I was overweight, and no where near my goal weight. I want to run another marathon, but I will not do it in the 190s. I won't put myself through that. It means I'm not ready to lay down a Boston Qualifying time.

And I'm well on my way and to get back to the data, imagine how far my confidence soared when I saw these measurements in just 3 weeks.

Measurements in 3 weeks:

Neck 14.5 to 14
Shoulders 46 to 44
Chest 38 to 37
Waist 37 to 35
Abdomen 36.5 to 34! SERIOUSLY 2.5 INCHES!!!!
Hips 40 to 38
Thigh 24 to 23
Knee 15.5 to 14.5
Ankle 9.25 to 9
Arm 12.5 to 13
Forearm 10.5 to 10.25
Wrist 6.75 to 7

To me, it's totally UNREAL how much my body is changing right now. Add up all those measurements, that's 10.25" of fat OBLITERATED off of my body in just 3 weeks. My metabolism must be flyng through the roof right now. Seriosuly, I cannot remember a time where I've made a body transformation like this. All I have to say is that, I cannot wait until until I take those 60 day pictures. Will I recognize that new guy in the pic. Will I have some abs showing through. Who knows, only time will tell and with the momentum I've built right now, there's one thing that's for certain. I will be pushing play each and every day. And I will be dropping some sweat drenching workouts that will obliterate fat. Lookout peepz......The KID IS EN FUEGO!!!!

P90X Week 6: The 'Do-Over'

2011-02-16T08:34:00.000-08:00

Well, it was bound to happen. As much as I tried and tried, I ended up getting sick. A wicked head cold that lasted an entire week. I had just come off a high on Sunday running a 10 mile course that was 5 miles out on a steep uphill, and 5 miles back with the downhill. Amazingly, I felt great on the run. I was at the highest of highs. I had climbed that mountain that Rocky Balboa conquered in Rocky 4. I was at the top, yelling DRAAAGO at the top of my lungs. Then, Sunday night kicked in. I got little to no sleep. Twitching away like my legs had some more running to do. Then, on Monday night, even worse. I didn't fall asleep until 1:45am. Needless to day, my running took a huge hit. I ran on Monday, but it was hard, and I felt like crap. By Tuesday, my body had run down, and I had no energy to even consider working out. I had that scratchy feeling in my throat, and I knew it was over then. I started loading up on vitamins and orange juice, but nothing was going to stop the onslaught of misery that would be my next week. My head felt like it was going to explode. On Thursday, I did my Tuesday workout. I pushed my way through it, but it was exhausting. That was it for workouts for the week. Saturday, I coached my football game, and immediately hit the baseball fields to grade talent for the upcoming majors draft, of which I'm one of three managers. By Sunday, I thought I had turned the corner, but I was soooooo wrong. Monday was just as brutal, but by the end of the day I had felt the break I needed.

It was then and there that I made the decision, to completely throw out last week, and give week #6 a Do-Over. In the past, I would have completely gone into a funk of how I screwed up my workouts. Not this time. This time, I have the resolve and determination to KEEP THE TRAIN MOVING FORWARD. You have to keep your eye on the prize. And so yesterday, I re-did that week 6 Shoulders, Chest, Tris and ARX! I did it with passion and vigor. I pushed out more reps on almost every single exercise. And on ARX, my abs have improved so much, that I can not only get through every exercise with good form, there are many where I can do extra in the allotted time!!! I'm absolutely LOVING my progress so far.

Finally, this morning, I was rewarded with a HUGE mental victory. When I stepped on the scale, I had left the 190s, and broken into the 180s. Sure, it's 189.4, but that's STILL less then 190! What that means is that I've lost a total of 17.2 pounds along this journey in 37 days! That's HUGE!!!! It also means that I've only got 14.4 pounds until I reach my final goal of 175!!! Man, that will be a GLORIOUS DAY WHEN I GET THERE!!! AND I HAVE THE RESOLVE THAT I WILL GET THERE!!!!

I'll close with this. I'm not a personal trainer by any stretch of the imagination. I just want to be a fit guy, who has a healthy life. If you're motivated by my story, follow this blog, and don't hesitate to post comments if you have questions. I would love to help you meet your fitness goals.

http://beachbodycoach.com/kidstallyn

P90X Week 5: Muscle Confusion

2011-02-07T07:47:00.000-08:00

WELCOME TO WEEK 5!!!! Week 5 is where @P90X takes you deep into muscle confusion territory. After a nice rest week, I've come into week 5 with a completely new refreshed view of my progress. Last week included some pretty amazing milestones.

First, it marked the 30 day mark. @P90X and @BeachBody both tweeted how have you done on your New Years Resolution after a first month. Sadly, you will find a LOT of people who have fallen off the fitness bandwagon. It's where I hope this blog will help those who are wavering, to stay on the program, and Keep Pushing Play. I'm also on a TeamBeachbody message thread, and I've noticed a LOT of people who have left the message thread. And we were just one third of the way through. So, I'm adding to my new years resolution to help others meet they're own goals. So, in my excitement, I tweeted to @P90X, the link to my blog, and my 14.5 pound weight loss! Amazingly, they re-tweeted me, and my Blog STATS went through the roof! Thank you so much for all of you who made comments or sent me feedback. First off, yes, I am a TeamBeachBody Coach. Yes, I know ALL about Shakeology. I am a part of an AMAZING team called Team Sixpack, and we are ALWAYS looking for people who are interested in helping others meet their fitness goals. For me, my Coach John Cowart (@JohnDCowart on twitter) has really helped me in areas where I've been lacking. For me, that's ALWAYS been nutrition. For everyone NOT seeing huge weight loss, and getting frustrated, I would first do a deep dive into your daily caloric intake. I can say first hand, I thought I was doing it right, but in the end, everything I was "choosing", ended up being processed and full of sodium. These foods are NOT on the list, and they are going to compromise your results. Sodium is one of the HUGE killers of any diet plan. In fact, the FDA has implemented new guidelines regarding how much sodium is recommended, and I think they're even double what we should have. I've tried to keep my sodium intake around the 1200mg levels, and I am seeing amazing results so far!!!! Just take a look at my week 4 post that includes my 30 day comparison pics from week 1. 14.5 pounds over the first 30 days is pretty amazing.

So, this week we went from PUSH/PULL to ALL PUSH, ALL PULL. Muscle Confusion. Your muscles have no clue what's coming up next. My chest....WIPED OUT. My arms......BLASTED. My ABS.....OMG! On Thursday I had my best AB Ripper X session yet. First off, I did 45 Mason Twits. HUGE goal of mine is to be able to get through them all, including the OT that Tony does. But, what I'm proud of most, is the fact that I was able to get through 23 of 25 of V-Up Roll Ups with perfect form!!!! Those have always been my Achilles heal. I finally got to the point in week two where I could come up on the pulse up. From there, it was my goal to increase the number of pulse ups EACH AND EVERY TIME. It's that personal goal setting that's going to get you through each and every workout.

Finally, I had a SIGNIFICANT amount of running during this week. Monday and Wednesday were great days. I managed to get my running partner to get his butt out of bed and meet up for that 5am run. Thursday, in 19 degree record setting cold, I bundled up like the stay puffed marsh mellow man and did my 3.5 miles. FINALLY, what I'm most proud of, on Sunday, I met up with my old running group and went out for a 10 mile run. This run was like no other. In our neighborhood, we have a new road that opened up a few months ago, and it included a 5 mile paved running path that's off the road. From where we start, it's 5 miles of uphill fun. I knew that I needed to get 10 miles in, and I knew that if I didn't running 10 miles by yourself was going to be really difficult. So, I set out with my group, and when I got to the top of the 5 mile hill I was absolutely AMAZED at the pace I was able to keep. Basically, we ran about a 9:11 pace heading up the hill. WHA WHA WHAT! And this was no easy uphill! This was a CRAZY Supersized X-HILL!!! For your reference, here's the GPS track of the out and back course with elevation.

And let me just tell yahs......DAAAAYYYYUM!!! My legs are MEGA sore today!!!! But, you know.....It hurts so good, because I know that I'm making progress and dropping pounds of fat with each and every workout I do. Last week, I lost ANOTHER 1.9 pounds, and am down a total of 16.4 pounds after completing Week 5. So, if you ever need motivation, send me either a message on Twitter (@kidstallyn), Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/kidstallyn) or email (kidstallyn@gmail.com). I may not know everything in the world, but I have made enough mistakes to know quite a few thing NOT do do.

Keep Pushing Play and Stay Motivated!

P90X Journey Week 4: To Rest and Recover

2011-02-03T10:45:00.000-08:00

So, for those who follow P90X, we all know how important those rest and recovery weeks are. After three hard weeks of going balls to the wall, it's a really good idea to take a respite, and let your muscles recover. That's what my last week was all about. Let me qualify this though....It doesn't mean that you should go out and totally forget those new eating habits that you've worked so hard in establishing. It doesn't mean that you become a couch potato for a week and sit there surfing TV channels while downing a bag of chips, beer and Pizza. That's not what it is at all.

P90X has designated workout rituals specifically made for that week. Two rounds of Yoga. Two Rounds of stretching. Cardio. And two rounds of Core Synergistics. Honestly, I'd totally forgotten what a great workout Core Synergistics actually was. And so did my abs.....my arms....and my shoulders. Just call it Cardio Abs.

To follow onto that, I added what would be my longest week of running mileage to date. After my 8 mile Sunday run, I logged a total of 22 miles for the week. I also enjoyed the loss of another 1.8 pounds. Making my grand total fat shredding for the month of January, 14.5 pounds!

Talk about a HUGE motivational factor. To see the scale down to 192.1 pounds was an absolute MENTAL victory. It totally showed that when you follow a plan to a T, you can make gains. Furthermore, I have so much more energy then I have in the past. My runs in the morning are strong and fluid. My times, are coming down in average per mile. What I used to run in 34-35 minutes, I'm now consistently doing in 31s.

I'd figure I'd leave you with a little picture of my progress, down 14.5 pounds. Don't mind the horrifically white skin. It's 19 degrees outside in Arizona as I write this, so I don't see myself getting any sun anytime soon, but this is my day 0 vs Day 30 photos. I really wish I had taken measurements on Day 0, but I totally spaced it. I did take them for Day 30, so when I put of the Day 60 pictures, I should have an accurate measure to what I have shed to date.

P90X Journey Week 3: I Am Ironman

2011-01-26T07:32:00.000-08:00

Week 3 for me wasn't the mental test that week 2 was. On my last update, I posted about the mental challenges I was going through with respect to all of the evil negative diet influences. Seeing all of those beer and pizza commercials during the Football playoffs were killing me. Seeing my favorite candy on sale for buy one get one free, could have put me in a sugar induced coma where I'd be lying on the floor with drool coming out of my mouth, and maybe a lemon head friend stuck to my forehead. But it didn't. I made it through the week. I conquered. I overcame. And I made HUGE strides. When I woke up and saw that email from my running partner telling me that he wasn't going to show up at am for our run, I made a point to go out there and run harder. I ran 8x400m interval sprints up a pretty nice hill. While he was deep into slumber, I was out there working my ass of to get stronger.

Tuesday I did my final Chest and Chest workout for phase 1. Looking back at the workout logs, it's pretty amazing how far I've come in 3 weeks. I look back at week 1 were I couldn't even finish the entire workout, to where I was Tuesday night, totally drenched in sweat. I'd managed to up my push ups in ever single category. I'd done more Lat Pull downs then the previous 2 weeks. And I got back to LOVING the burn. And then I sat down for a little more motivation to watch Biggest Loser. And seeing the Twin brothers gain 9 pounds EACH totally made my hard effort even that much better.

On Wednesday I convinced my running partner to quit slacking and get out for that 5am run before work. When it came time to make the decision to turn for the 2.8 miles, or extend to 3.5 miles, I casually looked at him and said.....we're going longer today.....He grimaced at me, but then quoted in true fashion that it was his punishment for wussin' out on Monday. With a little laugh, I said.....how he had read my mind. But when we were done, he felt better about his efforts, and I managed to keep up to my goals of increasing my mileage each and every week.

Thursday came to my most favorite workout of the week. I absolutely LOVE anything that has to do with biceps. Tony Horton calls it the glamor muscles. I 100% agree. And I totally BROUGHT IT. I upped my curls from 15 to 17.5 pounds, and still did the 15 reps, with the last 3 being pushed to failure. By the end, I was totally wiped out. I could barely lift my arms.

With Friday being my designated off day, I rolled into a busy Saturday that started with my sons Flag Football game, of which I'm the coach. This is the point of the blog where I get to divert attention from my goals to my sons. We started off our season 2-0, with two very impressive wins in our double header debut. We had some high hopes going into week 3, but we fell quite a bit short against the best team in the league. We didn't have our A game going on, and it you want to beat the best, you have to up your game and play your best. So, at 2-1 we came into Saturdays game against a team that we lost to last year, but a game that was by far the most exciting game I'd ever coached. Last year, down by 6 points, we had the chance to score the winning TD with about 45 seconds to go. We fell short that day, but the kids sure played their hearts out. This year, as if deja vue, we come down to the final 45 seconds of the game with 1 last ditch chance to tie the game. But this year we had the inner fortitude to move the ball down the field, methodically and score a the game tying TD with 11 seconds left on the clock, on our FINAL down. After failing to convert the extra point (pass called incomplete by the refs) we went through not just one but 2 overtimes. the 2nd overtime is a 2 point shootout. You get one play in an attempt to score. Our defense came up HUGE and we shut them down in their opportunity. When it came time for our chance, I called a quick timeout to talk it over with out offense. I made a crucial switch in personnel that ended up being key. I split up my two best receivers to opposite sides of the field. This split up their double coverage. I used my best player as a decoy, and had my QB pump fake to him. Everyone bit enough on the fake, that it gave my son Dylan the extra step he needed to clear his coverage. My QB made amazing throw and my son Dylan made a catch, outstretched on the sideline of the end zone to complete the catch for the win. I couldn't believe we pulled off the victory!!! It was HUGE!! There had to be 150 people watching the game at that point. The next teams who were to take the field, all their parents. All our parents.....Random people at the park. It was AMAZING. And to be honest, I credit P90X training giving these kids the strength to get through a game like that. I incorporate P90X moves into their practices. And it's helped with speed and focus that's for sure.

So, coming off a high like that, I went out for an AWESOME 4 mile run that afternoon. I was still so jacked up, that each mile split got faster and faster. My final mile split was 7:45. We finished off the night with a little Super Hero action of Ironman. And after a game like that, and a run like that....I truly felt like I was Ironman!

Sunday I went out for a nice easy 6 mile run. Managed to get in 17 miles for the week. I'm slowly ramping up the miles each week, so that when my 90 days are over I can roll right into half marathon training. I want to be lean and strong when I get there in April. Can't wait to get there. Larry Fitzgerald lives by three words. Faith, Focus, Finish. I've adopted these three words to help me get better each and every day.

So, until next week: Work hard, and Keep pushing play!

P90X Journey: Week 2 In the Books

2011-01-17T13:18:00.000-08:00

P90X week two is officially in the books after yesterday. Week one came in kinda like a lamb with the workouts, but week 2 I really kicked up the intensity. As you may remember, in week one I was unable to actually complete the workouts in full. Talk about epic fail. If it weren't for the fact that I had lost 7 pounds, it may have been a major setback in my mental aspect of training. And that's what really fueled me for the week 2 road ahead.

As I started into week two, coming off the emotional high that I had lost so much weight, I was really looking forward to so good hard workouts. Monday, was an early morning 3 mile run. I took that one pretty easy, but even in that, I marked each mile and got subsequently faster on each split. Tuesday was chest and back day, for this one I really worked hard. So hard, I went to complete exhaustion. I lowered the weights, and went for total quality on each and every exercise. Focusing on form. The same held true with AB Ripper X. Did get the full 25 on several exercises, but my form was good on the ones I was able to do. And mason twists, my arch enemy exercise.......30. I had to stop at 23, but I was able to bang out 7 more after a little rest.

Wednesday, I got out for my morning run. I set the tempo nice and easy, but found myself going faster and faster. It was weird. Negative splits again. ended up running around 8:15/mile by the end of the run. Not sure where that was coming from, because lately it's been a struggle to get the legs moving at anything but a slow speed. Maybe it's the decreased weight loss that's making me faster....who knows. All I know, it's really hard to get out of bed in the AM, but I'm still doing it.

Thursday was shoulders and arms. One of my personal favs in the P90X library. I absolute love working biceps. Big fan here. Again, I worked to exhaustion. I push so hard, my arms were screaming for a little Results and Recovery drink post workout. Well, they got their wish because they earned it.

Friday was my designated off day. Slept in till 6am, and that was such a nice reprieve. Saturday I did another 3 mile run. This time, the splits were even faster then the previous 2 runs. Again, not sure where this is coming from, but I like it.

Sunday is my designated longer run. Sunday morning, I didn't feel all that great. Not sure if it was too much coffee or what, but boy....My body was having some disagreements with me. So, needless to say I didn't run in the morning. By 2pm, I was totally dreading lacing up my shoes. But I went ahead anyways. My son was really pushing me to get going because he wanted to ride alongside. So lace up the shoes I did and we started out on the 3 mile loop. Once I got going my legs really felt in tune, and my body started to feel better. Totally crazy! At my normal turning point of the 3 mile loop, I made the decision to take it a little longer....and so I lengthened my run, and turned up the speed while my son road on home. I cranked up the gear to about an 8 min/mile pace. In all, I ran 3.8 miles. Not as long as I had initially intended on the grand schedule, but longer the the 3 miles my brain had settled upon. And when I got back and took a shower afterwords, I felt like a million bucks.

And that takes me to this morning. I got up at 4:15am to get ready for my 5am run with my running partner. Well, shocking news here, my running partner decided to bag the workout (again with another lame excuse) and not show up. So, what did I decide to do....Well, I kept it close to home by doing quarter mile hill repeats. The uphill segments I ran in around 1:45s. The downhill back, I ran in 1:41 as my fastest. Yeah, that's between a 6:40 and 7 min/mile pace. HELL YAHS!!! I kept telling myself during the workout, as Paul slept in, I was getting stronger, with each and every step. And I kept throwing in there, LAST CHANCE WORKOUT!!!! Yes, yelling at myself Biggest Loser Style!! Why??? Because today is day 15. It's weigh in Monday to see how much weight I had lost over the last week. And with each beep of the scale I kept wondering in my head if I could trhow down another 7 pounds. Well, it wasn't a 7, but it was an equally good 3. Today I weighed in at 196 pounds. That's a total weight loss of 10.4 pounds over 2 weeks, or 5.2 pounds per week. Not too shabby in my mind. And let me just tell you, this was a difficult week in training my diet. Holy crap have I been having cravings!! Probably one of the worst weeks ever. Seriously, I think that pizza commercials were put on TV to torture me. And then there's all the beer ads during football playoffs. DAMN YOU!!! And wine.....COME ON MAN!!! And finally, it was that late night run to Walgreens to get the kids some poster board to make fund raising signs for a community garage sale. Seriously....did EVERY candy have to be on sale that night. Well, I passed the test. I didn't buy any candy. I didn't buy any beer or alcohol. I didn't eat a truck load of pizzas. Not even a single whiff. It was a huge test in what I'm going for. It just means that when I get to where I want to be, that I will have earned it. But in moderation. Right now is no time to take steps backwards. Right now I the time to keep taking steps forward. Progress to the body that I know I can have. I have to make short term sacrifices if I want to make long term goals. Yes, I can have Pizza again someday. But not right now. Yes, I will be able to throw down a cold one or a glass of wine. But not right now. I need to cleanse my body of all the daemons that got me to where I am. It's all about being healthy.

As I close this out, I remind everyone.....Do your best and forget the rest.....and BRING IT!!!!

2011 Is a New Year: P90X Week 1 Complete!

2011-01-12T08:45:00.000-08:00

That's right, 2011 is a New Year with new goals. One of my goal is to take this fitness stuff serious. Why is it that I continue to let my mind take over and rule my non-activity? I don't know. But that's how the year ended. Making up all kinds of excuses as to why I shouldn't work out. I was at a high point closing out October, and was on a roll in November. But that sickness at Thanksgiving threw me a one two punch where I took several steps backwards. Mentally, I shut down the workout routines and got plain and simple lazy. Everything that I had worked so hard for the previous year, totally wiped out. I ate all of the wrong things, drank lots of alcohol, sodas, and started back onto the candy routine. My weight rapidly increased and I stopped looking at the scale. My wife saw the spiral that I was getting into, and she basically said enough is enough. You've got to get back into the habits and routines that you'd tried to establish before. She talked to another friend of mine who was doing P90X and he mentioned that, when you follow the diet religiously, that you will have amazing results.

Now, I love P90X. The workouts are amazing, but the diet for me, was really hard to follow. I didn't use any of the recipes, and I thought I could do it myself being the super smart engineer that I was. It's just food right. Well, my wife, after her talk with Jason, was dedicated in helping me achieve my goals. 206.4 was not anywhere either one of us wanted me to be. My problem is, when I'm inactive.....I gain weight. I look at a doughnut, I gain 5 pounds from the smell of all those carbs in it. That's just how my body rolls. And speaking of rolls.....well.....Yes, I was starting to get that fat belly. Not cool in a bathing suit. So, on Saturday Jan 1st, my wife and I sat down and we went through page by page of the Nutrition Guide. We first determined my daily calorie calculation. We settled on the low end of Level 2 for phase 1 which was 2400 calories. We used the portions to come up with that first week menu. Sure it was a lot of work. But when we went through all of the ingredients to build a shopping list, we were pretty surprised at how much we already on hand. Sure I didn't have egg whites, things like that. As I said before, I followed the diet, but I used my engineering judgment. Instead of doing 8 egg whites, I use 4 eggs. Volume is about the same. Unfortunately, the fat count is NOT!

So January 3rd, I started my next round of P90X with an emphasis of leaning out and losing about 30 pounds. I want to go from that nasty looking 206.4 to somewhere around 175. Honestly, that would be a GREAT weight for me. It's not near my lower threshold of being "healthy", but it's where I think I will be the most comfortable. I really don't think I will ever see that 143 number that comes up in calculations. But, 175 is also something I haven't seen win WELL over 20 years, and it's 3 pounds below the 178 upper range. So my first goal is to start there. When I get there, I know everyday things will be so much easier. Carrying 30 less pounds will have that effect.

That's where I come to the Week 1 results. Let me preface this by, WOW. It's amazing how much fitness you can lose in a 6 week period. Or should I say...DAYYYUMMMM!!!! I lost a LOT! Push-ups were hard. Pull Downs on my Bowflex dropped 20 pounds from where I was before. I didn't even make it through my first two workouts, and I was ridiculous sore after both of them. And as for running. I didn't get in as many days or miles as my mind had planned for. But with that, I followed the diet. Measuring and weighing EVERYTHING! I ate a hot breakfast of 8 egg whites with some varying flavor every morning. Spinach Scramble HIT. Cheese Scramble HIT! Every single recipe from the P90X library was AMAZING last week. Hunger cravings, non existent. I didn't come home and go through a half bag of chips. It's not on the plan. So it's not going into my body. I didn't have that nightcap of Cran-Apple Juice and rum, or wine. I haven't had a single soda. I've logged everyone of my meals and followed it to a T. And I am so happy to report that after week 1, my weight loss was damn near Biggest Loser Esque! I went from 206.4 to 199.0 in the first week! A whopping 7.4 pounds or 3.6%! That's HUGE!!! It's a major victory for both Body and Mind. So much so that I have totally ramped up my efforts in week 2. Hit both target runs so far. ROCKED my chest and back workout. ROCKED AB Ripper X afterwords. I totally cannot wait to see how the weight loss progresses for week 2. Will I have that dreaded Week 2 Biggest Loser curse with a low number, or will I pull through and continue with the home run that I knocked out of the park last week. Stay Tuned!!!!

Marathon Training Week #2 - Off to a Rough Start

2010-11-15T10:41:00.000-08:00

Week #1 was in like a lion, and out with a bang. I didn't get in as many miles as I had done the previous week, but that was mainly do to a distinct lack of time more then anything. I did, however, have a GREAT group of workouts, so it was not a failure by any stretch of the imagination. In all, I had almost 31 miles. That's just over 3 miles sort of what I did the previous week, but I managed to do that without a Sunday run yesterday. That's the part that's HUGE. Had I had the time to run for the hour and a half, I would have logged 42 miles. Again, not a failure at all. Especially when you look a the quality.

Monday - Rest
Tuesday - 3.5 miles / P90X+ Weights & Abs Ripper X
Wednesday - 4 miles / 4 miles
Thursday - 5.6 miles / P09X+ Weights & Ab Ripper X
Friday - 6.5 miles to include 5x800m repeats at sub 3:45 splits
Saturday - 10K plus 1/2 warm up and cool down, Total of 7.2 miles

To call that a disappointment would be crazy. I am not going to complain about that kind of output. Especially, when I go out on a Friday evening after work, blast out 5x800m exceeding my goals, only to come back early Friday morning for a 10K run and do that in 56:23. On a ridiculously hilly course. AMAZING. The main question is, how do I feel. Well, actually, I feel great. I feel stronger then I have in a very long time. There's not been any soreness in my legs whatsoever. I've been using my hot tub in the evenings to open up the pours and get the junk out of the legs. I've been doing so X-Stretch along the way to keep limber. This week, now that there is a lull in the kids baseball schedule, I'll get my P90X Yoga workouts back on the schedule to get even more flexibility into these legs!

In all, it was a great workout, and so far, I'm loving the progress in my running. Well, that was until the disaster of last nights attempt to sleep. What a joke. By 12;30 PM I had succumbed to the fact that I wasn't going to be running in the AM. It is what it is. I was angry after a pathetic showing of my Arizona Cardinals, in a must win division game that, I as a season ticket holder, attended. I was angry at the lack of heart showed on the field. I was angry in the lack of focus on the field. And most of all, I was angry at how these professional athletes have forgotten some of the most basic aspects of the game. Some would say I take it too hard. Maybe I do. I have high expectations, since I pay a good chunk of change in Money and Time to make the 2 hour trip from Tucson to go watch a game. When they lose like they lost on Sunday, it just makes that 2 hour trip back even that much longer. So, anyways, I've got to get my workouts in this evening, and hopefully, after a good restful night of sleep, I'll be able to come out refreshed tomorrow and lay the schmack down on some pavement!!!

Remember, strength is built by how you respond to adversity. You can crawl into a corner, or you can face it head on and beat it into submission. I choose to face it head on! Keep Pushing Play and BRING IT!!!!

The Start of my next 90 Day Adventure.

2010-11-09T12:06:00.000-08:00

So as my "rest" week came and went by in a FLASH. I managed to log 34 miles of running for the week and finished SUPER STRONG with an 11 mile run on Sunday...

Yesterday, I officially started Round 3 of my P90X adventure. With anything, in order to finish successfully, you must have a plan. That includes building a house, starting a business, and even your P90X exercise workout plan. So, on Sunday, I spent the afternoon, going through my nutrition guide, and mapping out the next 30 days of eating habits. I broke down everything into the recommended groups, and then went through the list of foods to come up with a meal plan for the week. On my previous 90 days, I didn't really lose a lot of weight. In fact, I think overall I gained a couple of pounds. I didn't really do phase 1 of the eating plan, I stayed in phase two for the first 60 days, built some crazy muscle, and then went into phase 3.

This round, I'm going back to the basics. I'm going to start with the Fat Shredder phase, and really get the most out of the plan. At my 201.6 pounds, they recommend that I eat a 3000 calorie diet. Wha wha what?? Yes, you heard it right, 3 THOUSAND CALORIES. Well....I did that the first time, and I couldn't actually put that much food in my stomach during the day. So, I'm going to stick to the level 2 guidelines that put me around 2400 calories, still adhering to the 50/30/20 ratios of Proteins/Carbs/Fats respectively. To be totally honest, I need to lose some of that fat that I've gained over the past 15-20 years. Especially looking at the "after" pictures on Day 180 and me still having that same 'ol belly. Sure, it's smaller, but it's not GONE!

Well, in order for me to reach my next goal, of running a half marathon in under 1:40 minutes (beating my current personal best of 1:41), I need to shed 15-25 pounds. And right now, it's a plain and simple caloric deficit scenario. So, based on my caloric needs, I need about 2000 calories to sustain myself every day. (Weight * 10 gives you a BMR). That's the energy it takes to pump your blood, walk around throughout the day, breathe, and sleep. Next, I know you have have about a 3500 calories burn to lose 1 pound of fat. I also know that running I burn about 150 calories per mile when I run. So here's the quick scenario. Furthermore, P90X+ workouts expend about 500 calories per workout. I've seen as much as 600, but for my body, my heart rate monitor says ~500.

(2000 calories *7 day) + (150 * 35 miles wk) + (500 calories * 6) = 22,500 calories burned during the week.

2400 calorie diet * 7 days = 16,800 calories taken in.

That's a net weight loss of 1.5 pounds/week over the course of the next (at least) 8 to 12 weeks. Later on in the training program, as I ramp up my mileage, I'm going to have to up my calorie counts. But for now, this is what I intend to lose. My hope is that I can lose the full 18-22 pounds of fat along the way. If that goal holds true, I should be ~175-180 pounds on race day.

Now, the engineer in me also likes to equate how excess weight reduces your running times. Right now, I'm running my speed work sessions at an 8 min/mile for half mile repeats. They were faster, but I'm using 8 as my target. That's approximately a 1:47 half marathon. Knowing that my goal is sub 1:40, how will the lower weight help get me there. Well, studies have shown that the reduction of every pound equates to approximately 2 seconds per mile. If I was to lose 20 pounds by race day, that would equate to approximately 40 seconds/mile. That's a 7:20 min/mile. That equates to a 1:36 half marathon, and therefore meeting my goal of a sub 1:40!

So, now that I have my plan, it's time to EXECUTE and use P90X to get me to where I want to be!!!!!! Be sure that you click the follow button on the right hand side so that you can get updates as I post my results from each week here. BRING IT!!!!

P90X Rest Week

2010-11-03T08:16:00.000-07:00

What??? Rest??? P90X?? Are you crazy??

I'm sure those are the questions that are running through everyone's mind right now. Especially since the X in P90X stands for X-Treme!! Well, the fact is.....Yes, in P90X there is a variation of a "rest" week in your workout routine. No, you don't take the entire week off. That wouldn't be very x-treme now would it. Basically, what it means is that you do a subset of workouts for a week, that will allow your muscles that you've worked so hard (in this case for the past 4 week) get some down time to recover. There are no weights this week, but there is a LOT of Yoga, Stretch, Core, and Cardio.

And by cardio, I mean foot pounding mileage. As a runner, and as I've stated before, you have to log those miles. Since my weekend was hellishly filled with Baseball and Football games, where we left at o'dark early, I did all of my 25 miles during my Monday thru Friday runs. And because I took those two days off last week, this week has started out to be more of the same. On Monday, when I headed out the door, I wasn't feeling all that fresh. I was tired from Sunday, and to be honest, was a tad dehydrated and hung over. Yes, I overindulged in the Adult Beverages on Sunday. But I knew I had to get out the door and just put one foot in front of the other. Well, after my planned 3.5 mile run, it was still plenty early since I started out at 5am, and I was actually feeling pretty good! So, instead of finishing my run by making the turn into my neighborhood, I set out on a trek to check out the new I-10 interchange that is going to open in less then 2 weeks. I wanted to see how far it was to there anyways, and I hadn't been on it in several weeks. Come to find out, it's exactly a mile and a half to the other side of the interstate at which time I made the turn around and headed back home. Total mileage, 6.5. Yesterday, I made the choice to sleep in till 6am, go vote, and head into work. My plan was to run 5.6 miles after work once I picked the kiddos up from school. I got home, threw on the running clothes and headed out the door. It was an absolutely perfect day for running. About 3 miles into the run I made the choice that I was going to extend it. I was in a zone, and running about an 8:40 pace. I made the turn up the hill on Wade Rd, and ran some rolling hills through Continental reserve. I finished with 7.5 miles, and I felt absolutely AMAZING!!!

So today's run I knew was going to be a tough one, since I had run in the evening the day before. But I also knew that if I slept in, that Paul would show up and give me a substantial amount of crap for being weak. So I could not let that happen. I rolled out of bed and met Paul at 5am. And thankfully he showed up, because my legs were saying...Oh no you di'int! But, we persevered and did a nice easy 3 mile clean up run. Paul had run 8.6 with the group Tuesday AM, so he needed the same kind of clean up run.

So, in all, I've put 17 miles on my legs in the first 3 days of the week. Today is also a much needed X-Stretch. Can't wait to get me some stretch on! Again, something else my legs REALLY need!!!

On Monday I officially start my P90X+ journey to the Rock and Roll Half marathon on Sunday, January 16th. It will be 10 weeks from race day. Get ready to BRING IT!!!

Last Back and Biceps

2010-10-28T09:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was yet another day of a double. In the morning, I met up with my running partner at 5am and we did a nice easy 3 mile run. This wasn't a run for distance or speed, it was just a nice and easy clean the junk out of the legs from the previous 3 days of effort. Sundays 9.5, Monday's 5.6, and Tuesdays 5.6 had left my legs tired and lackluster. But the key with running is consistency as I've posted before. And sometimes you just need a shorter run to get the blood flowing to the muscles.

After our quick run around the short loop, it was get my butt to work. Once work was over I picked up the boys, made my way home for my most favorite workout of all time.....P90X Back and Biceps. Absolutely LOVE that workout. Biceps are definitely the glamor muscles as Tony calls them. I'd have to agree. In my south end zone craziness, you'll always seem me showin' off the GUNS.....Well, before P90X they were kinda in that small pistol category. Well, after 2 rounds of P90X, and double the weight that I originally started with 170 days ago......I can now put them into the CANNON division. Not quite A-DUB style, but I'm damn proud of them at this point of my workout life. And the sad part of this whole story is that this is the last time I get to do this workout for quite a while. Who knows, maybe in my craziness of P90X+, I'll squeeze in a little Back and Biceps for some nostalgia. What makes it the greatest workout ever....In my opinion its the strip set as your very last exercise. You've just gone through close to an hour of double back, double biceps. You're SHOT. If you brought it, you've got nothing left in the tank already. The final strip set really shows you haw much of a man or woman you really are. Me, I like a good challenge. 4 reps of 8.....it's 32 curls. BRING THE 25s to start with!!! The last 3 were just willing those weights up. Then on to 22.5 with my BowFlex SelecTech Dumbbells. Again, the last three were just BURNING!!!! Then 20s. IT BUUUUUUUUURNS!!!! Finally, finished up with 17.5s. You'd think that 7.5 pounds lighter would be a huge recovery. It's NOT. And that's why I absolutely LOVE that workout. By the end, my arms were THROBBING! My shirt was drenched with sweat. I could barely make the X with the arms.

So when you say to yourself, how did you make yourself better today. Look deep inside your inner self, tell yourself I CAN....Don't say I can't. Remember, DO YOUR BEST AND FORGET THE REST!!!!

And down the stretch we come!!!!!

2010-10-25T12:10:00.000-07:00

I am rapidly closing in on the end of my 2nd round of P90X. My journey has been one of resilience and strength. My first 90 days on my journey through P90X plus, there were a LOT of flaws. This round, I looked at the training plan and followed it to a T. I've hit every single planned workout, and replaced a few so that I could incorporate my love of running. As I've seen incredible gains, as I did just this past weekend, I felt a strength that I've never felt while out running. My Sunday long run, I planned a course that included some very serious hills. After the normal 3 mile route, I started making my way up the "Hill". Wade road is a gradual 1.5 mile long hill that peaks just towards the end of the run with a straight up beast of a hill. It's not the Mt. Lemmon marathon, but it's still nice and steep, and has always created a burn. Once at the very top, I get to make the right turn that's a long stretch of roller coaster style hills. Fall and roll down type steep on the down....seemingly steeper on the ups.....Once you've crested through roller coaster alley, I made the right hand turn for the nice easy dirt road decent back into the neighborhoods.

The thing about this course......It's advanced. It's the one that we normally run towards the end of marathon training. It's the one that proves you have the "it" factor. And yesterday I was amazingly STRONG!!! Normally, this is where I'd tell you how my back seized up. Normally I would tell you how I struggled but beat the hill. Yesterday was different. yesterday was 166 days in the making. Yesterday was all about RESOLVE. Resolve that I will NOT fall back into my old self ways. You know, that guy where you make the decision NOT to wake up at 4:15am when you alarm goes off for the morning run. Yah....Definitely not THAT guy. So much NOT that guy that I followed up yesterdays RUN with an AMAZING 6 mile run while my running partner snoozed his way to those old habits that I'm leaving behind.....

Life's all about the choices that you make every single day. Do you want to be STRONGER or do you want to sleep in and be soft. I choose to be stronger each and every day! There's NO WAY I'm going back to that 'old' life!

The Power of X

2010-10-21T13:13:00.001-07:00

What is the Power of X. Well, to me, it's building muscle like CRAZY!!! I cannot wait to post pictures of my adventures in X. Yesterday I finished up Shoulders and Back for the last time this round. My push/pull segment is complete. Next week is all push, all pull. I wanted to go through my completed workout logs that I fill out as I go along. To see where I've come is absolutely astonishing. I've gained almost 3" in my arms, 8 pounds of muscle, and an amazing doubling of the weights that I'm lifting. To me, that's absolutely MIND BLOWING! I never in any of my wildest dreams thought that I would have that kind of successes.

And who would have ever thought that I could go out and run for an hour AND then go to work all day long, and then come home and BRING IT TO COMPLETE exhaustion on shoulders and back. Not only that, I set new records on almost every exercise. I'm hoping to take pics very soon. I keep saying that, but I think I'm going to hold out and unleash the pics when my Round 2 90 days are up.

Keep pushing play, and go get your Yoga X on today boys and girls!!

Fall Weather and Coming to the End of Another Phase

2010-10-20T07:38:00.000-07:00

Well, as with all goo things, they must come to an end. When I did Chest and Back yesterday for my P90X workout, I realized that I had completely filled out every line on the log sheet. That meant, that I will not see that workout for quite some time. I was officially on Day 162 yesterday. That puts me with 18 days left until I start my phase 3 journey. Most people take the step and do a hybrid of Insanity and P90X. Me....I just thought that was well.....Insane. Although, my next adventure through P90X will be I guess my own version of Insanity. Basically, I'm going to take everything I've learned and employed over the past several months, and create a Marathon Training plan that not only includes miles out the wazoo....But put in there the strength training that my body is gong to need to sustain the level of effort I want to accomplish.

It's said that we learn from our mistakes. Well, if that's true, then I should be a freakin' genius when it comes to making mistakes in any running plan. I've done everything wrong. I've upped my mileage too quickly. I've left out strength training all together. I've over trained for a marathon and came down with bronchitis the week before, and eventually was pulled out by race officials after 14 miles. I've under trained for the marathon and watched in horror and agony as it chewed me up and spit me out. Well, now it's time to take all those life's lessons, along with some amazing marathon workouts, and meld them together with some P90X and doubles. I can truly say that my body IS ready this time. After 180 days of Tony Hortons masterful workouts, my body is strong and ready for my next challenge. And what is that challenge you ask??? Well, the title of my blog says it all.......QUALIFY FOR THE BOSTON MARATHON!!!

As for my running today. Chock up another 6 miles at a nice easy pace. When I first went out there, my mindset was to just get 3.5 miles in. But then, at the turn off point, I made the decision to to the entire big loop. And it was the right decision. Fall is a beautiful time here in the Southern Arizona desert southwest. There as no way I was going to let the opportunity of running in this amazing weather slip away. And that my friends, was me pushing play for the day. Well......Until I get home this afternoon to bang out Shoulders and Arms!!! BOO YAH!

Great week of training!!

2010-10-18T11:58:00.000-07:00

This past week I have to say I've made some serious mental and physical gains! For one, becoming a Team BeachBody coach has really pushed me to put forth just that much more effort in every single workout. Bring it to a whole new level that even I didn't think was possible! And so, this past week, I pushed play AND managed to get in quite a few miles of running! Here's a recap....

Monday: 6 mile morning run, Chest and Triceps (push to the ULTIMATE extreme), & AB Ripper X
Tuesday: 6 mile run
Wednesday: Shoulders and Arms (Pull baby PULL) & Ab Ripper X
Thursday: Yoga X
Friday: 3 mile run
Saturday: 6 mile run
Sunday: 7 mile run

For those keeping score, that's a total of 28 miles of running (just under 5 hours of cardio) and 3 hours and 45 minutes of P90X! Total of almost 9 hours of fat shredding, calorie burning workouts! And I'm excited to say that this is only the beginning of great things to come!!!! And as for the P90X workouts. I really enjoy going back and looking over the workout sheets. To see how far I've really come. To see that I started out with 15 pound dumbells for curls, and to see me now doing curls using 30 pound weights is AMAZING. In fact, my goal for next weeks Biceps workout.....Start the strip set with 30 pound dumbells! Think about it....that's DOUBLING your load in just 90 days! Mind blowing if you ask me. And here's the kicker. I'm starting to notice something.......Under that layer of what used to be fat around my belly.....THERE'S ACTUALLY ABS UNDER THERE!!! Just a few weeks ago I tweet'd that I didn't know if I would ever LOVE AB Ripper X. Well....I'm getting closer and closer to actually loving it as my second 90 days comes to a close. I wanted to get some pictures taken yesterday, but life passed me by, and to be honest I just wasn't feeling it. My run yesterday was pretty tough. 4.5 miles into it, I started having acid reflux issues and wicked bad heartburn! New coffee pre-run, way too acidic. But, after this mornings recovery run, I feel great, and I will get them taken either tonight or tomorrow.

Speaking of this mornings recovery run, I already have 6 miles in the books. When I get home, I'm going to bust out Chest and Shoulders. It's push pull week, so there should be a whole lot of muscle confusion goodness going on!

And for those interested, make sure you head over to my Team BeachBody coaching page. You can get there by going to: http://www.beachbodycoach.com/kidstallyn. There you can learn about the P90X training program which includes their full nutrition plan. You can also click on the link to the side of this very blog your reading now! And if you want a complete nutrition solution, click on the product link and learn more about the Results and Recovery formula. It's just what the Dr. ordered for feeding your muscles after the P90X workouts. I know it's helped my in being able to bring it the next day, and it's taste is AMAZING! You can also learn about Shakeology. When you couple Shakeology with P90X.....You're going to see amazing results!!! It's the complete nutritional solution when paired together!!!

Keep pushing play!!

BREAKING NEWS!! The Kid is now a Team Beach Body Coach!

2010-10-11T11:09:00.000-07:00

That's right boyz and girlz!! The Kid has taken his next big step in fitness. Let me start off by saying one thing. The past 12 months have been absolutely trying with respect to my training regimen. My running got totally derailed back in December when I fractured 3 ribs in a drunken yet tragic pre-game tailgating accident..... And that's how i literally limed into 2010. My original goal was to set forth on a track to run 2010 miles in 2010. Yet again.....Injury stepped in to slap me around. From there, I spent a couple of months not sleeping and barely being able to walk with a menacing lower back problem. When April rolled around, I decided I'd have had enough. While I was at my yearly physical I talked to my doctor about the back problems that I had been suffering through. He referred me to a physical therapy group who, in my opinion, saved my running career. I will say this, there are doctors out there, who are not in support of running. I've had them. They've told me to stop running all together. That's not advice that I'd wish on anyone. My Dr. knows me and knows that I'm not going to be happy unless I'm out there pounding the pavement running, and enjoying a great football game on Sunday. So he paired me with a Physical Therapy group who was like minded. My physical therapist pair were both runners and tri-athletes. To put it mildly, they got it. And together we figured out the mess that was my lower back situation. To put it in laymen terms, my hips were doing the job that my lower back was supposed to be doing. Totally pulling me out of alignment whole my back checked out and took a vacation. was it as a result of my previous injuries. No. Just a culmination of myself NOT doing what needed to be done. In all my running, I had totally forgotten the most important thing along the journey. Strength and Flexibility. I would just run, and do nothing else. And my back had checked out.

Well, after 6 weeks of intense physical therapy, I had finally graduated. It was then when I was introduced to P90X. Nope, I had never seen the infomercials. It was my physical therapist who recommended that I look into it. At that point, because I hadn't been running I had started the balloon syndrome. The sedentary fat boys dun-laps disease was starting to set in. You know.....Where your stomach dun-laps over your belt. So on May 3rd I started my first journey into P90X. And I've never looked back!!!! The thing I found about P90X is that it's put together in such a way that, as long as you put the DVDs in, push play, and put forth your best efforts, you HAVE to succeed. There is no failure. If you start out only being able to do a couple of push ups, at the end of 90 Days, your going to be able to do close to 100. If you started on your knees, by the end of 90 days, you'll be doing big boy push ups.

That's where my journey started. Today, I'm in my second round of 90 Days. And I'm absolutely and totally addicted. My Arms, Shoulders, and Back have never been stronger. Those lower back problems.....Thing of the past. WHY....because I keep pushing play. Tony Horton's methodology of muscle confusion, is by far the best workouts I've ever seen. Sure I've lifted weights along the way, but NEVER to this degree. Never in such a regimented fashion. You will succeed! GUARANTEED!

And what about that little thing called running. For the record, I'm now doing doubles. I get up at 4am, and head out the door at 5am for a morning run. In the evening, I put the workout clothes on and get bizzay with a little P90X.

If your interested in learning more about P90X, feel free to drop me a line. My lower back is living proof that Tony Horton knows what he's doing!!!

KEEP PRESSING PLAY, and BRING IT!!

Back to the Postings......

2009-07-17T12:53:00.001-07:00

So....Since i went on vacation, there's been a whole lot of training going down...Let's look back.....There's last Thursdays mega bonk.....then there's last Saturdays 5 mile Time Trial. Then.....SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY!!! That was our first official 20 mile run.

The bonk was a little disconcerting. But I will say, it was a direct result of my own poor fluid management. First off....I went into the run somewhat dehydrated. Mistake #1, 2 and 3.....Especially when the temp was during the hottest week of the summer that we've experience yet. At 4am, the outside thermometer read 85 degrees, and it was about 80% humidity. Let's just say.....my body was done at mile 10 and a half....and it was a jog/walk to get back to the comfort of home. I did bring an energy drink, but turns out it was a diet....and had no calories...not a good thing for the conditions.

I spent my off Friday re-hydrating and resting to run fast on sat of the time trial. When I showed up, I realized I was going to have to run naked......errr....without the services of my garmin for mile splits. So I went and ran based on feel. Remarkably....I beat my last on the time by 5 seconds. I'm actually very happy with that. It shows consistency, which is what I need at this point of my marathon training.

Sunday was going to be the first of many mental checks. It was our first of many 20 mile runs. 4 laps of our 5 mile time trial course. Not the most scenic, but a good place to just click off the mileage. My goal was to do it in 3 hours.....and that's EXACTLY what I managed to do. On top of that.....I pulled off my last mile at a 7:40 pace. Mostly because I just wanted to get the darned thing over. I started at 5am.....and finished at 8am. By 8am....it was already 95 degrees, with ridiculous humidity.

Monday and Wednesday were nice easy runs with my buddy Paul! He's back with the group, and we've started meeting each other again! I'm really glad to see him back with the group....even happier to get my running partner back. It's going to make that jump to 5 mile mornings on Mon and Wed that much easier.

Tuesday was a 70 minute Tempo at 90% of our marathon pace. Again, even on the Uber tired legs...I hit EVERY SINGLE TARGET TIME! I love it whe you can do that. And I got 8.7 mile in doing it.

Finally.....was Thursdays 14 miler that mixes in 5x800m. No bonk this week. I finished strong and felt great throughout the entire run. So far this week (including Sunday), I have 54 miles in the books. Tomorrow closes this weeks chapter, and we have a 15x300m hill repeat segment. My targets are 1:24, so look for a report on how I did. We also have another 20 mile run on Sunday, so look for that one too!

Until then.....LIVESTRONG and Train Hard!

Thie miles keep on building....and building....and YIKES.....BUILDING!

2009-06-23T09:45:00.000-07:00

So here we are week #3 of the marathon training plan. My first two weeks came and went, and I will say this, actually kinda surprised myself. After last week, I left off with my 12 miler adventure on Thursday. After a much needed Friday off, I toe'd the line on Saturday morning for 15x300m hill repeats. The goal was to run each one in 1:20. Not blazing fast, but a really good pace. There was a group of 5 of us at that pace, and we all stayed together each and every set, and we hit our marks spot on. Well.....except for the last one....where the two little rabbits took off, and I found myself staying with them....that one came in at a 1:16. Not my fastest split ever, but one to be remembered. I will admit, after that workout I was pretty tired. I'm finding my mind looking for that reason not to run. It's that mental fatigue that I need to overcome, and GET THROUGH WEEK #3. The YIKES week. But before I could get to YIKES, I need to get through Sunday's 16 miler. In every marathon training sequence I've never hit 16 miles this early. That's always at least 2 months into the cycle. Also, I've never worked mini bouts of speed work into them, like i am now. The 16 miler included 4 miles at marathon pace. Very similar to last week where we did the last 5 miles at marathon pace. This week, though, they started at miles 9.25 and went through 13.25. So, realistically, I should have been able to knock them out easier then last weeks. Oh how wrong was I .....Actually, the first two miles went very well. 8:05 and 8:06. Mile 3.....that's where we turned into the wind and that little blast of air (which I liked from the cool down perspective), zapped all my energy out....I slowed to an 8:32......Mile 4 was even worse as I argued with myself to keep chugging along. I finished that one in 8:54. That's not acceptable. Honestly I think it's a combination of miles, and the heat and humidity that's starting to build. Although we started at 5am....It's starting to be much warmer. And it's going to ZAP the energy right out of us. Not to mention, the first 9.5 miles weren't the flattest....They were ridiculous hilly. The slowdown hit everyone, and we all came back with the same tales of breakdown in the last couple Marathon Pace miles. And when i got home, I confirmed my bonkage by getting on the scale and having lost 8.5 pounds during the run.....That's AFTER drinking 64 ounces of fluid!

Needless to say...Monday AMs alarm came while i was in a dead sleep. I managed to crawl out of bed and make my 3.5 mile run. Not sure how...But I did it. I even got in a 1.5 mile walk in the evening with the wife and kids. Which leads me to todays workout....a 6 mile tempo run in which I had target times of 7:57/mile. I will say this....My LEGS WERE TIRED! BIG TIME! As we toed the line, I through out my target times and ran by feel. Actually....I didn't remember my target times, becasue i forgot to look at them before i left.... LOL... Anyways, I took off at what felt like a nice easy pace that I could hold for the whole workout....Mile 1: 7:39.....WHAT??!!?? Mile 2: 7:39.......Okay.....Mile 3: 7:38......Huh....Mile 4, which is my mental mile on this 5 mile course.....7:44.......Not a huge slowdown.....Mile 5 (i think) 7:42......Finally, Mile 6: 7:40.....I got back in the groove a bit. Everyone at the finish (of the marathon group) seemed a little down about not making thier target times. Although, Rhonda was very close. Since I knew mine was 7:xx....I was very OKAY....and I thought they were around 7:40-7:45ish. To my surprise they were the 7:57 I listed above. We'll mail those to coach mamma michele and see if I get yelled at, or adjusted from here on out...

Until then.....TRAIN HARD and LIVESTRONG!

Small Victories Come with Consequences....

2009-06-16T12:08:00.001-07:00

So.....After my last few days of screweduppedness....yes....that's a word dammit....I finally conquered the wake up daemons that have been plaguing me this first week and a half of training. today, I woke up an rolled out of bed at roughly 4:30 am.....The dog was ready for his morning treat and trip outside.....and I was just happy that I wasn't going to be late. Last night I took some time to get my watch setup for the 60 minute tempo workout. We had a nice group of people show up this AM, and both marathoners and non marathoners took off at the same time. The non marathoners were doing a 40 minute version of our workout, but at a faster pace. We were supposed to run at 90% of our marathon pace, but that's where I made mistako numero uno!

My goal pace was supposed to be an 8:55/mile for this workout.....But as we took off with the group, I went out on what felt comfortable. And by comfortable, I mean conversational pace. There was a pack of 4 of us that pretty much ran the whole workout together, the only problem was that the pace was just a wee bit faster then I should have been running......In fact.....we pretty much ran an 8 min/mile pace for the entire workout. At the 5 mile point the 40 minute tempo twosome bailed off to the side.....and I continued on....my eyes squarely focused on the runner in front of me. Now...She had a good 25 seconds on me, but I didn't want to let her increase that I just wanted to stay nice and even.....and as I clicked off the miles, I kept hitting right at an 8min/mile pace.

In all.....I covered 7.6 miles in that 60 mins. And things were going well, until Mamma Michele asked me what my pace was..... ;) Well....I've never been one to lie, and I knew it wasn't going to be pretty, and she lived up to the hype....She let me have it. I know she's right, but I also know that what she predicts my goal time to be, is based off of times that are a totally different me. That's the me that ran at close to 200 pounds.....That's not the me that is currently running at 183, and just came off a 3 pound weight loss week. So, I should be faster for crying out loud. We both made concessions and I'm going to dial it back a bit for the rest of the month.....and at the end of the month she can go through all my splits and times from the June workouts and we'll make the adjustments for July. So I'll run my thang, and just keep loggin' the miles.

Up for Thursday is 12 miles with 5x800m stuck in the middle. Until then, TRAIN HARD and LIVESTRONG!!!

The long weekend.....

2009-06-15T14:38:00.000-07:00

And I don't mean rest......well, except for Friday...... Saturday started out on the wrong foot. For whatever reason on Friday night, I somehow forgot to plug in my phone when I went to bed, and that started the subsequent cascade of dominoes, that I have yet to fully recover from. LOL.... Anyways, since my phone is my alarm clock, and it wasn't plugged in, the battery died sometime in the night. You know that feeling when you wake up that something isn't quite right.....and then as you come to it kicks in, and you jump into OMG FREAKOUT mode....well, that was me Saturday morning. The session started at 5:30, and I literally woke up at 5:20.....to the sound of chirping birds and fresh off some weird dream that involved pole dancing.....and I was the one doing the dancing.....HA....you can deal with that mental image.....LOL

Anyways, in my rush to get out, I got changed, threw on my shoes, grabbed my Garmin....and headed out the door....From that point on, the dog got t'd off at me, and ended up keeping my wife up....so, straight to the dog house for that one...It's okay....it's comfy out there, and comes fully furnished with a pool and gazebo.

I managed to get to the start line on time, but still half asleep. I told myself, that this 5 mile time trial was important, but since i didn't warm up properly, that I would hold back for the first couple of miles. So, I know I wouldn't be breaking any land speed records, or personal bests. Just get in under 40, and enjoy that it was over. When I crossed the finish line in 37:24, I was VERY pleased with my time. That was by far the most consistent take at the course in a very long time. Didn't bonk, and felt great afterwords. Afterwords, the group went off and did the 2 mile cool down....this is where it gets a little sketchy. Since my morning routine was totally screwed up....so was my mornign movement....you runners know what I'm talking about, and about a half mile from the end of the cool down I started getting that clenching feeling.... ;) I was able to hold it back without having to divert into the desert...NOTE TO SELF.....PLUG IN YOUR PHONE THE NIGHT BEFORE.

Which I successfully did Saturday night. Sundays run was 15 miles, with the last 5 miles at marathon pace. Unfortunately for me, I made the "assumption" that the workout started at 5:30.....Well.....You know what happens when you assume.....it means I showed up 30 mins late....Which sucked, because I was really hoping to run with the group. Anyways, I started out, (at this point I didn't realize they had started at 5:30) so instead of taking it easy, I took off at an 8:30 pace to hopefully do a little catch up. but, since they had a 30 min head start, all I was doing was pulling further away....No biggee though....I made it through the first loop, and decided that I should tone it closer to my target splits for lap number 2. On lap number two, I got passed by Todd and Dave while they were busy hammering their 3rd lap at marathon pace. When I finished lap #2, I stopped at my truck for a quick Power Aide break, and then started the last 5 miles. I started off at an aggressive 8 min/mile pace. That actually quickened on the second mile to 7:55. Mile three was still at 8min/mile, and I made the decision to get some water, so I pulled back the throttle a bit and drank from my fuel belt. At the end of that mile, I had increased my speed back to an 8:40 pace, and with 1 to go, I stepped on the throttle a bit. My legs were screaming not to, but that's about the point where the Rocky songs kicked in on the iPod. Burning Heart, Hearts on Fire, and Eye of the tiger got me to the finish in 8:26 for the 15th mile. In all, my run was MUCH faster pace wise then last weeks 14 miler. That one worked out to be about 8:55/mile in the end, this one was a) only 4 minutes slower then last weeks, but one extra mile, and b) an overall 8:25 pace! talk about GIT ER DONE! I took that one home, and shoved that baby in the BANK!

In all, it was a great ending to what looked like a daunting week. In total, I got 52 miles, and I was still able to get out for my 3.5 miler this AM. I'll definitely take that, and LOOK forwards to this weeks challenges. First goal of the week.....Proper alarm clock setting......Second Goal.....Proper Start Time.......Third Goal.......Proper start location....All the rest is cream cheese!

Until tomorrow, TRAIN HARD and LIVESTRONG!!!