Posts Tagged ‘P90X’

Fresh off another great #runchat (by fresh, I mean I’m typing this 5 minutes after the chat ended), I wanted to take some time to answer the questions that others answered tonight on Twitter. Scott and I had a great time tonight and are so happy to have so many people join us to talk about running. We’re laying low on answering the questions during the chat — that’s your job — and instead answering the questions later. Just like on Twitter, I’m keeping my responses to 140 characters or less.

Q1: Thanks to @RoadID for sponsoring tonight. What’s your No. 1 way to assure your safety while running?
I usually wear light-colored clothes, take a flashlight and take my phone and/or ID with me.

Q2: How do you manage to run in harsh conditions when training for a spring race/marathon?
I just do it. Layer up. Protect the face.

Q3: During winter if you are injured what do you do to stay sane and occupied?
Like right now … trying to do P90X, walk my dog, read a book.

Q4: How do you log your run? Distance/time? Do you log route, elevation, weather, calories etc.?
I love Daily Mile to keep track of all that. Usually distance, sometimes time, sometimes all of the above.

Q5: Why do you run? How does it make you feel?
These days I sometimes question “why.” I’ll have to avoid an answer for now.

Q6: Play a game: If you were an animal what type would you be and why?
A dog: seeing my dog, Duke, running so carefree and happy is motivating. He makes it look easy, and it should be.

* I quietly announced in a few places that I hit running mile 1,000 for the year on Saturday. I’m working on a blog post about my 1,000-mile journey, but it started sinking in how much it means to me. It’s one of the biggest goals I’ve ever had, so it’s taking me a while to put together the highlights of this quadruple digit milestone. For now, though, running is over.

* So a few people did read last week’s “Dear Santa” post and just a few days later I was hooked up with P90X. I don’t have any intention of doing the entire program, but instead use it as a supplement to running. True cross training. For now, since I can’t really run, I’m giving myself a slow introduction to the program. All I have to say after two DVDs … two partial DVDs … is WOW.

My arms were sore for almost three days after the first disk, and I just finished up the Plyometrics disk. Who knows how I’ll feel tomorrow, but it’s very nice to do a full lower body workout with my knee not bothering me at all.

* Speaking of knee issues, I’ve had a couple of visits with the chiropractor and things seem to be going well. (I was supposed to have appointment No. 3 today, but my SUV wouldn’t start after work. Ugh.) I probably won’t blog about it too much. Honestly, I have to see how it all goes. I’m confident that getting things lined up will go a long way in making 2011 a great year. For now, I just have to wait.

* Speaking of 2011, I announced on Twitter today I wouldn’t be running a marathon next year. It’s certainly not a big deal, and I’m not sure why I tweeted it, but it’s just something I don’t want to do. I won’t say “never again,” but it’ll be a while before the urge hits again. I want to stick to half marathons, but I want my first focus to run pain free again.

* And speaking of Twitter, #runchat was awesome last night. If you haven’t joined in the conversations yet, please join us for the next one Dec. 26. As a reminder, #runchat is the second and fourth Sundays of every month.

In a time when running isn’t at the forefront of my mind, it’s kind of weird for me to even think about wanting anything running-related for Christmas. I know, though, that this injury is just a minor setback in the big picture and one day this will just be a story I can tell to others. So that being said, it’s time for my annual Christmas wish list. It’s probably not too drastically different from years past — I’m not even going to look at what I’ve done in the past couple of years.

Keep in mind that I’m doing this all in good fun … like if I could sit on Santa’s lap one time, this is what would spill out of my mouth.

Shorts
My running shorts are in a sad, sad state. Many of them are five years old or older. It probably doesn’t help that I often will put them on to lounge around in. I’m not too picky — I just ask that they not be lined. Any brand is fine with me.

Shirts
Thanks to the increase in races giving out moisture-wicking shirts, I don’t necessarily need running shirts, but it doesn’t hurt to have another one or two so I could filter out some older ones in the closet. I could use a new solid green one, and I have zero red shirts. Kind of fitting for a Christmas wish list, right?

Socks
I recently tried out Injinji toe socks thanks to my local running store — Riverside Runners — finally carrying them. They were pretty cool — very different feeling, but I know I’ll use them for long runs and races down the road. But I bet I won’t buy myself another pair at $16 a piece.

On a similar note, my running socks are getting worn out. I need socks worse than shorts and shirts. Remember the greater than/less than things from math class? Here’s what I’m looking like: socks>shirts>shorts>pants. I guess what I’m saying is a need a running gear overhaul … nothing a gift card couldn’t solve. (By the way, local friends, Riverside Runners now has gift cards.)

Gloves
This is a separate issue than mixing it in with the above. In nearly seven full years of running I’ve had two pairs of running gloves — a pair of Brooks and a pair of Nike. My wife has bought me both and they’ve easily been the best running gift ever. I love a fairly thin layer of gloves to keep my hands from freezing off when the temperature drops. Both pairs are still in existence and can probably get me through this winter OK, but both pairs now have their fair share of holes.

P90X
With as much as I’ve enjoyed cross training lately, I think I could get into P90X. They’ve promoted enough on ESPN Radio this year that I’m sold on it. I probably wouldn’t want to do the entire program, but would instead just incorporate the workouts a couple of times a week into my routine. It’s expensive, so even a couple of the DVDs off eBay would be fine for me.

Fruit of the month club
Do these still exist? Since I’ve been trying to eat healthier and eat less, I could go for something like this. I should expand my fruit intake anyway, so maybe I’ll start my own fruit of the month club in 2011.

Garmin
Another year is nearly gone with my Garmin still hanging on. At various points in the past couple of years or so I thought it was over. I’ve had dead screens; the beeping is sporadic; I’ve had random dead batteries after it was charged; but my Garmin 205 that I bought on eBay many, many moons ago is still ticking away. So head over to the Garmin Forerunner website and just pick out a new one for me. Any of them will do.

RUN, the book
On a more serious note, I’d really like to have the “RUN: The Mind-Body Method of Running by Feel” book by Matt Fitzgerald. I’ve had at least a half dozen people, if not more, tell me that I should read this book. Running by feel has worked for me for most of this year and I plan to continue running by feel once I get back to regularly running again.

That’s all, for now.