P90X - Day 60

Actually just finished Day 61. Nevertheless, haven't written about my progress in a while due to the usual reasons - work, work, and finally a vacation.

Took my 60 day progress pics yesterday. I think visual progress has been fairly minimal. It could be because I broke my P90X diet in Lanai (how can anyone turn down two complimentary surprise desserts from a Four Seasons resort??), but I think it's really because I was lean starting the process anyhow. Here are some of my measurements, and no, I don't think I'll post any photos:

• Gained nearly 2" on my pecs, but I think most of that is from a wider back since that what I've seen in the photos. Definitely able to crank out much more push-ups and pull-ups now.
• Lost nearly a couple of inches on my abs. Surprising considering these photos were taken post Thanksgiving, and I took a day off from the P90X diet as well.
• Legs shrank a little, probably because I drastically cut down my mileage post NYC marathon.
  
• Day 1 legs and back workout, did 89 various grip pull ups. Day 60, did 133 pull ups.
  
• Day 1 chest & back, did 214 various position push ups. Day 56, did 334 push ups.
  
• Start weight: 137.4 Current weight: 134.2 - my weight fluctuates between 133 to about 136 instead of 134 - 137. I think I actually have more muscle mass now.

29 days remaining in the program. I broke my diet while I was in Hawaii, but I'm back on it. I'm quite proud that I had not touched dessert for over 1.5 mo's before that. I can survive without it for another 30 or so days.



On another note, I bought my first pair of Newton running shoes today. I figure it's the best time to try out new shoes since it's the off season. Will be posting about it in upcoming days after I've broken them in.

October Mileage

The following is my mileage for the final month of the NYC marathon training. As I mentioned in my previous post, lack of mileage reared its head around mile 5. But I didn't mind it one bit given the extra time I had.


What's not included in the calendar are the P90X workouts that went on 6 days/week, which I continue to believe helped me in the race and recovery.

With my racing season over, I'm looking forward to doing some relaxing and miles with some old buddies in Hawaii as they train for the Honolulu Marathon.

2009 NYC Marathon Race Report - Going Through the Motions

The 2009 NYC Marathon was my 3rd official NYC Marathon. I say 3rd because I ran it as a bandit most of the way through from in 2005. And of all three official races, I'd have to rank this as number three and least eventful. But more on that later. My experience for yesterday's race went something like this...

Pre-race
4:30am - Wake up, get dressed. Pack all my race day weapons which consisted of 5 roctane gels, a small bottle of water with lots of added table salt. For breakfast at Fort Wadsworth, a Clif builder bar and pineapple flavored Vita-coco.
5:00am - Left my apt to knock on neighbor's door who also ran the race. Other neighbor comes home with about 15 others in their Halloween garb.
5:30am - Our bus departs for Staten Island.
5:50am - 9:10am - Got to Fort Wadsworth early enough that neighbor and I claimed a semi dry spot in a tent.
9:15am - 10:20am - Waited with hundreds of increasingly frustrated runners who couldn't get into the starting corral for the wave. Not good energy usage IMO, so I tried to stay calm as others around me threatened to push the fence and screamed at officials. I ended up starting with wave 2 when I should've been with wave 1.

The Race
10:27am - I cross the starting line and I'm off! Love the adrenaline of a marathon start, especially in NY. Unfortunately, it wasn't completely there for me. But that helped since mile 1 is ALWAYS supposed to be slow. Covered the uphill on Verrazzano Bridge in 8:28.

Miles 1-4 - I knew to take it easy, but man, I felt like it was too easy because of the traffic. A lot of weaving. I think most people were running 8+ min/mile while I was trying to maintain 7:30's. Some guy along mile 3 blew his nose in front of me, and for some reason, the snot flew up and chunks of it landed on my forehead. Most disgusting marathon moment for sure.

Miles 5-10 - Somewhere around mile five, I started to feel the weight of my legs. From past experience, I realized then that the race was going to be longer than I thought and that I'd have to battle to the finish. I expected a fade at the finish and adjusted my time goal from 3:20 to 3:30. BTW, I've ALWAYS loved running through Ft. Greene and Lafayette Ave's even more so that 1st Ave. in Manhattan. Loud, proud spectators and the lively live gospel music by the African-American church at the latter part of the stretch is so awesome it makes me want to walk so I could enjoy more of the atmosphere. But I ended up averaging about 7:40's in this stretch because of the crowd.

Miles 11 - 15 - This is the part of the race that I know nothing about in terms of location. Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Long Island City and a part of Queens. Still enjoyable running through a different part of the city though. I admonished a couple of able looking runners who were walking, and they started to pick up the pace. Legs definitely felt heavy going over the Queensboro Bridge, covering the span in 8:08.

Miles 16 - 20 - Exiting the Queensboro Bridge made me fall initially fell in love with the race. It's the closest I'll ever experience to playing the Super Bowl. Stadium atmosphere of spectators. The rush provides an energy boost for a couple of miles. Miles 17 and 18 were 7:13 and 7:28 respectively. I thought of trying for a sub 7 mile but decided it wasn't worth the effort. I didn't want to pay later. The latter part of this block of miles, I just wanted to keep my legs moving, particularly over the orange carpeted bridge. There were portions where I wanted to slow down and walk heading up to the Bronx, but my wife put this



on the back of my shirt. I couldn't be seen walking with that on my back :-P

Miles 21-25 - Time to gut it out. I was sick of the gel's and the gatorade so I took in only water these last miles. Just kept telling myself to keep my legs moving and not to walk. From the Bronx, all I could think of was getting to Central Park and facing that uphill mile. It wasn't as hard as I thought. I moved as my fast my heavy legs allowed me, which were threatening to cramp everytime I sped up just a little. That uphill mile was 9:07! Slow, but I didn't walk. Also cramped up a couple of times once in CP, but slowing down a little more alleviated it.

Mile 25 - finish - As I crossed the mile 25 marker, my watch read 3:19:57. A quick calculation told me I needed to maintain an 8 min pace the rest of the way. "Piece of cake," I thought. It wasn't, but thankfully the downhill to 5th ave and the crowds along CP South helped. Once I got into the park, with 100m to go, I saw that I had 30s to spare. I was going to make 3:30. Official finish time was 3:29:55.

Rest of the story
It always amazes me that the moment that I stop running after 26.2 miles or so, everything hurts. I wish the adrenaline boost from the last 1/4 mile would last a little longer. It never does. The painful walk to the exit seemed to take forever, but I needed to keep my legs moving so I wouldn't stiffen up badly. And for whatever reason, I felt like shedding happy tears of accomplishment along this walk. I was just so grateful to have finished. Unlike my previous races where I was motivated by a time goal, it was more of a battle to keep my legs moving.

So why is this my least favorite of the three that I've done? Like I said, It felt uneventful. I ran the mileage and hoped to experience the race. Didn't quite happen. My heart wasn't there. I still had fun and appreciate everything about the event. However, I may need to take a step back and volunteer or spectate next year to readjust my perspective.

The P90X Effect
The other factor I've been wondering about going into this marathon was the P90X program I started about 35 days ago. Looking back, I think the P90X program helped me to get stronger for running, particularly improvements to my core and flexibility. I also think it helped me to pull off a respectable time. Ultimately, I believe it was my lack of mileage that probably slowed me down. My heart rate averaged 166 - a few beats lower than my marathon PR average. Good cardio but uncooperative legs. What I've appreciated more about the P90X program though, is that I think it has helped me to recover a lot faster. It has only been a day, but I had no problems going down stairs and can pretty much function normally. I'm glad that the marathon is over so I can focus just on P90X from now until end of this year.

Links
Garmin Mileage splits
P90X Program

Pre-marathon Thoughts

Not sure what to expect tomorrow. Here's why...

Detriments:

• Insufficient mileage training (no 40+ mi wks)
• One 20+ mi run
  
• Started speed workouts about 5 wks from race, and not much of it

Positives:

• P90X workouts alongside marathon training have made me stronger and more flexible
  
• Diet regimen from P90X program made me fuel better (ie no sugary desserts...for 32 days and counting!)
• Less mileage might be good for my legs after all

My best estimate tomorrow is about a 3:30. My main goal is to have fun, then run fast. We'll see how it goes.

Off to bed for a 3 hr nap.

P90X and Marathon Training

In one word....DRAINING


I've found myself working out until 1:30am once. This past Tuesday, I did phase 2 chest, shoulders and tri's (by far the toughest workout) and immediately followed that with 5.5 miles with a Tabata set.

Luckily, I have only just over a week remaining. I'm in day 24 of P90X now. Supposed to have a rest week, but decided to push that back to next week to accommodate my taper schedule. I figure I can suffer for one more week. Work is also starting to calm down, thank God. I think I'm starting to see some light.

Tonight, it's back, biceps and abs, which I'll probably start at about 11pm. Why so late? Because first league basketball game started tonight. We lost. I stunk it up. Got home at about 8. Took a nap. Had dinner. Rest. Workout.

I guess that about sums up what I've been up to the last few weeks. Work. Workout. Recover whenever I can squeeze in the time.

P90X Day 14 - Chest & Back + Interval Workout

Haven't written in the last few days because I've been out and about at a friends place and road tripping. But that doesn't mean that I skipped my workouts. As a matter of fact, I was able to squeeze in 20+ miles and the kenpo workout on Sunday. The kenpo video turned out to be quite beneficial to loosen up stiff joints and muscles from the long run.

Today's was the third time doing the chest & back routine. And I was definitely happily surprised at the results. Here's my chart for this workout:


I tried to keep the first round same or slightly better than the previous week's numbers. Then go all out in the second round. I was able to almost double some second round numbers. Huge improvement. I remember the first week, I could barely do two diamond push-ups. This week I did 9! It's exciting to see the progress :-)

Also did a treadmill interval workout today. I'd forgotten how much more interesting it is to do interval workouts on a treadmill. Inverted ladders - 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 minute repeats at increasing speeds with rest periods at about half the interval. Covered about 6.75 miles for the workout during lunch.

P90X Day 9 - Shoulders, Arms, Ab Ripper

It's definitely the lack of carbs that had me bonking.

Continued with my carb lifestyle today and I felt great. Lots of energy to last throughout the day and my workouts. Ran the same route today as I did Tuesday at probably a faster pace and I didn't feel anywhere near as heavy-legged or winded.

Also was able to put a good effort into the P90X workout tonight. Comparing my numbers to the first time I did shoulders and arms, I think I slacked off too much the first time I did it. Needed to make up for the lack of effort.

After 9 days, I'm not sure if there are any results yet. What I am proud of though is that I haven't had any dessert since I started the program. :-)