12/24/11 to 12/31/11

Summary – This was probably my most complete week thus far. I ran every day; I put in almost 11 hours of running and much less walking than usual. I also got in a lot of core and stretching work. I’m feeling strong and fit for the upcoming races.

I also had a few runs on my own at a quicker pace which has me more optimistic for the marathons. I was running close to 7 minute pace for most of my runs and feeling easy and fresh. Our condo also has quite a few mirrors in it and I’ve been having fun flexing and seeing my new muscles from all the P90x work. The workout videos are getting to be more doable now and with my tan from being able to run without my shirt, I’m feeling not only in shape, but even a little studly. Watch out!

Total running time: 647 minutes (10 hrs 47 mins); Walking: 130 minutes; Core: 141 minutes; Stretching: 120 minutes; Tennis: 346 minutes

Saturday – Ran for 70 minutes, mainly with Julie on the roads from the condo. It felt like we were moving pretty slow but I was generally tired and a little sore so I didn’t mind moving slower today.

Julie and I walked together for 55 minutes around the resort and then did P90x Stretching (55 minutes) to finish out the day and the year.

Friday – Ran for an hour on the trails with Julie and Jeff and then continued on alone for another hour, about 30 minutes on the trails and 30 minutes on the roads to get back to the condo. Feeling pretty good. The road mile markers had me running a little over 7 minute pace, and I felt like I was running very under control.

Right when I got home, we did the P90x Core Synergy workout (55 minutes). This is the most difficult of the P90x workouts we do. There are many different push up exercises as well as lots of lunges and squats. All of these either leave me sore or are exercises I just can’t complete yet.

Jeff and I played tennis for about 55 minutes under the lights in the evening. We played one set, I won 8-6.

Thursday – Jeff and I ran for 2:01 together starting at around 9:20 am. We ran the trails today and spent quite a bit of time on the sand which wasn’t bad in the first hour, but was a bit tiring the second time around. Carried the water bottle for the second time in three days and had little discomfort with it. I also felt much better today than the first few days of the week.

Came home and ate lunch. Shortly thereafter, we went out and played a couple sets of tennis. Jeff took the first one 5-7 and I won the second 6-2. We played for 65 minutes and got a pretty good workout. It’s almost 70 degrees and sunny today so we also got a chance to work on the tans a bit by running with our shirts off and playing tennis the same.

Wednesday – Awesome day for exercise. We all got up a bit earlier, around 7 am and did our weigh-ins. At 9:30 we went for our runs. Jeff and I ran together for 14 minutes on the roads and then I went ahead on my own. I did a total of 91 minutes and after splitting from Jeff, had road sign mile marker splits between 5:45 pace and 7:30 pace. It felt pretty good and I am interested to find out what my actual pace was. Some of the standard discomforts, sore right foot, left soleus, and right hamstring. Had to watch my posture as I was tending to lean back as I traditionally do. But felt good to be moving and getting tuned up for the marathons in 10 days.

We then went out to play tennis after lunch. Jeff and I didn’t know the rules for tiebreakers and only knew we had to win by two. I ended up winning the monster set at 18-16. It took 2:03 to play one set!

We then came back to the condo and immediately did our 16 minute Ab Ripper X workout. It was the first time I made it all the way through the workout. I’m feeling much stronger and I enjoy the short ab workout. We then went down to soak in the hottub and pool for a few minutes before calling it a day. Feels good to be finished with all my exercising for the day by 4 pm.

Tuesday – Ran for one hour with Jeff at the trail. It was sunny for the first time in awhile, the air was a little brisk, low 60’s, but still no shirt weather. Legs feeling better today than yesterday but my hips are still a bit sore.

Played 55 minutes of tennis with Jeff. We finally bought new tennis balls and it’s now a whole new ball game. It’s not necessarily more running because now the ball often actually bounces to me, but I have to be ready to move more quickly laterally because the ball is moving much faster.

Jeff, Julie, and I did the P90x stretching routine for 55 minutes and then I walked for 10 minutes to cool down and finish my day up.

Monday – Jeff and I ran for an hour on the trails again. Only got rained on a little but the skies were cloudy and impending the entire time. We are still in no shirt weather though which is a big plus. Felt pretty crappy today. Not exactly sure why but my hips and hamstrings were sore and achy. Glad to only go an hour today.

Jeff, Julie, and I did the hour long core synergies workout with P90x. That one is the biggest butt kicker of all the P90x workouts we do so far. The lunges and squats really make me ache right now and I’m a bit embarrassed at how poorly I can keep up with the various push up exercises because I actually thought I was pretty good at push ups prior to P90x.

Julie and I finished the day with a 65 minute walk around the resort after dark in the misty rain. At times we did stairs and walked one of the bigger buildings because the rain had picked up.

Sunday – Jeff and I ran for 2:05 at the trail on Christmas morning in the rain. It’s not cold but it’s been continuously wet for most of our time here so far. I felt really good today though and hope for a good week of training.

Julie and I played tennis for around 45 minutes amidst the rain before she tweaked her hamstring again and had to call it a day. I then stretched for 10 minutes while watching football in the evening to finish up my exercise for the day.

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