Success Warrior: The Blog That Embraces ADHD

Get Ready for Summer (Part 2)

So,

There are about 90 days left until June, which gives people enough time to make some dramatic changes in their body composition or fitness levels before summer if they start now.  We have taken it up a notch here to get ready, individually and as a family.

We started doing something new a couple of weeks ago that has been fun and that we'll continue.  It stems from, in a way, from watching The Biggest Loser.  Quite some time back, as I was walking through the living room to get a drink before returning to homework, I noticed that Tia and Trey were watching some kind of fitness show.  This went on for a couple of weeks and I found that I would stop at watch a few seconds more each time to see what was going on.  One day, I just sat down and finished watching the rest of the episode they were watching.  They were watching episodes on Netflix and by the time that I finally decided it was interesting enough, they were halfway through Season 2.  I have a whole post of information in my head about The Biggest Loser but the important point for today's post is that many of the people on the show have been obese since childhood.

Trey is incredibly skinny and I think that Tia and I provide a good example for him already but we thought it would be fun to do some exercise together as a family a couple of afternoons a week.  When the weather is nicer, it will be less like "exercise" and more just "activity".  Last year, we would go for walks together, play basketball, and go do some batting practice.  Yesterday it was snowing so we stayed indoors and tried to do one of Bob Harper's kettlebell workouts.  Kicked my butt.

I haven't done much exercise in the last 3 weeks other than the family exercise time because I have had some kind of nagging illness that has just made things miserable.  I think I'm on the mend now and Monday I'll be getting back to my morning workouts.  I'm going to change them up a bit.  I usually change them every 4 to 6 weeks anyway but I'm going to increase the intensity a bit this time along with changing the exercises.  I'll still be using Tabata Intervals because they fit my personality so well at the moment and have proven to be effective for me. 

As a family, we have cleaned up our eating habits a bit more over the last month as well.  Tia has been reading various cookbooks on healthy eating and we've been trying several different dishes a week.  Some have been good and some not so good as far as taste goes but it has kept things interesting and we are seeing results, especially Tia. 

She also drinks a BeachBody Shakeology shake every morning because it's something healthy that she can blend up and take with her out the door, which is so handy because morning's can be a little chaotic around here (like most families, I suspect).  Shakeology is a meal replacement shake with lots of good stuff in it like protein, fiber, prebiotics, vitamins, minerals, and plenty of other stuff.  BeachBody just came out with Strawberry flavor too, which Tia is really happy about.  I changed our monthly order to strawberry and it should be arriving next week.

We have also decided to run a 5K this year as a family.  We haven't decided when yet.  We've glanced over some of the 5K's that are coming up but we either need to pin down a date or a particular race/location/cause that we want to take part in.  After Tia and I were done working out last night, Trey decided to do intervals on the treadmill.  He was doing minute intervals and I was watching because he wanted to see how fast he could go.  He did 7 mph, 5 mph, 8 mph, 5 mph, 9 mph, 5 mph, and then tried at 10 mph.  He did about 20 seconds before he looked like he was losing control and I pulled the plug.  Earlier, Tia and I were talking about who would hang back with Trey on the 5K.  Instead, we may have to see who can keep up with the kid.

***

Follow me on Twitter to get updates on when new posts show up on this blog (plus get random thoughts on the life of Success Warrior) and feel free to "friend" me on Facebook.

Success Warrior is an Independent BeachBody Coach for BeachBody.com, a company that offers fitness programs, supplements, and equipment that have absolutely changed my life.

Have you heard of P90X? That's BeachBody. They also have Insanity, Turbo Jam, TurboFire, RevAbs, Brazil Butt Lift, and many more. They have some of the best exercise programs on the market. These aren't just DVDs but are complete programs to transform your body. They also have the hugely popular, and what they call "the most important meal of the day", Shakeology. Go HERE to learn the most inexpensive way to get Shakeology.

They have equipment and supplements in addition to Shakeology and popular exercise programs. Visit BeachBody.com and click on the "Shop" link to see everything they offer.

There is also a business side to all this fitness that you can take advantage of. Whether you're looking to just make a couple hundred extra dollars in fun money or are looking to take complete financial control of your life, BeachBody can help you get there. If you have a desire to be more fit and would love to help other people do the same while making some money at it, visit BeachBody.com and click on the "Coach" link. Team up with me and I'll help you reach your goals, in fitness and finance.

Wun Like a Wabbit

So,

First, to everyone that wished me happy birthday on Facebook about a month ago . . . Thanks!

Really?

What he said.

Okay, I've been a bit out of touch - Shut It! - for a while and that included not ever logging into Facebook.  I would get friendly weekly reminders from Facebook letting me know that all of you were posting status updates and that I was really misssing out and I really should log back in to see what I'm missing out on and maybe even post my own status update.  If I did, I'd post something like, "I'm not actually checking anything.  I'm just trying to stop Facebook's annoying email campaign." 

Second, my wife gave me a new and improved treadmill for my birthday, which I'm absolutely loving. 

Your wife or your treadmill?

Choose carefully, she may read this post.

It has a much bigger deck than the previous one and . . .

Your wife or your treadmill?

Choose very carefully.

. . . and has shock absorbers, which makes the TREADMILL so much better than running on the street.  Even more so because I've been wearing my VFF Bikilas for running.  It comes with 28 preprogrammed routines which completely kick my ass nearly every time.  Of the 22 that I have tried, I have successfully completed 8 of them.  The rest of them, I have to knock down the speed for a minute or two to catch my breath.  It's been a long time since I've been running so I'm happy that I've even been able to get through 8 of them. 

It's cool that I can run where it's warmer than 30 degrees on a surface with a little give even if I'm in charge of watching my son.  Trying to fit running in when it wasn't too cold, wasn't too hot, and when I wasn't in charge of Trey was a bit challenging.

So, I'm a runner again.  Huzzah!

Core and More

 

This morning's workout was going to target the upper torso.  Abs, along with chest and back.  I have to tell you that, while I did work those muscles, I pretty much worked everything from my knees to my ear lobes.  A lot of muscles decided to come to the aid of the muscles that I was trying to target.  Quads, hams, shoulders, biceps, and triceps all took turns trying to take pressure off of what I was trying to hit. 

There was no smack talking from me today. 

There was an "oh lordy!" from one of the other warriors.  Welcome to my church.  Another one laid in a pool of his own sweat for the half of the last ab exercise, too beat to care.

Tomorrow is kicking.  Lots of kicking.  Maybe a little trash talk for my invisible opponent.  We'll see how I'm feeling in the morning.

I also gave the treadmill a try today.  It's been a while.  I'm hoping that today is the beginning of a change for that and that I'll be able to run through the winter.  How cool would that be?

I listened to part of my new audiobook What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami while . . .

- - - couple hour break while typing this sentence because I had to call the fire department - that story tomorrow - - -

. . . I was running.  I found that I enjoyed that more than TV, which turns out to be quite handy at the moment because the treadmill is in my office now to make room for the Christmas tree.  I can't see the TV.  Not that I couldn't play DVDs or get "Play Now" movies from Netflix on my computer but I found that I was able to focus on running better while just listening.  Last time, I was just about chucked off the back as I focused on the TV.  When you're running on the street, you have a lot of leeway if something catches your interest but a treadmill is quite a bit less forgiving.

I tried it barefoot again just to see if I had a similar experience as last time.  Yep.  The belt is just too course for my poor feet.  It's like running on sandpaper.

I went for 20 minutes at 5 mph (I like that aspect of running on a treadmill) and decided to call it quits on behalf of my feet.  I'm going to have to throw on some Vibrams from now on.  I think I'll use my VFF Classics.  They aren't getting much use now that it has turned cold and they are pretty hammered already so they will become the official treadmill shoes.  I'll be getting a new pair (or two) in the spring for wearing out and about.

A bit of quick news and then I have to get going.  The dog has a vet appointment and then I have to run into civilization.  That's the rest of my night gone.

File this in the "Misery Loves Company" file.  I have mentioned many times in the past about how the large corporations sit on the boards or otherwise control the supposed watchdog agencies that are there to "protect" citizens.  Pfizer and Monsanto run the FDA, Goldman Sachs has the SEC, and so on. 

Well, the UK is creating a new board to help come up with ideas on how make people more healthy.  Who sits on this board?

"The Department of Health is putting the fast food companies McDonald's and KFC and processed food and drink manufacturers such as PepsiCo, Kellogg's, Unilever, Mars and Diageo at the heart of writing government policy on obesity, alcohol and diet-related disease, the Guardian has learned."

Natch.

I'm sure this board is going to come up with some wonderful ideas on how to get people to quit consuming their poisonous products.  Won't they?

Okay, gotta run!

***

Follow me on Twitter to get updates on when new posts show up on this blog (plus get random thoughts on the life of Success Warrior) and feel free to "friend" me on Facebook.

Success Warrior is an Independent BeachBody Coach for BeachBody.com, a company that offers fitness programs, supplements, and equipment that have absolutely changed my life. 

Have you heard of P90X?  That's BeachBody.  They also have Insanity, Turbo Jam, TurboFire, RevAbs, Brazil Butt Lift, and many more.  They have some of the best exercise programs on the market.  These aren't just DVDs but are complete programs to transform your body.  They also have the hugely popular, and what they call "the most important meal of the day", Shakeology.  Go HERE to learn the most inexpensive way to get Shakeology.

They have equipment and supplements in addition to Shakeology and popular exercise programs.  Visit BeachBody.com and click on the "Shop" link to see everything they offer. 

There is also a business side to all this fitness that you can take advantage of.  Whether you're looking to just make a couple hundred extra dollars in fun money or are looking to take complete financial control of your life, BeachBody can help you get there.  If you have a desire to be more fit and would love to help other people do the same while making some money at it, visit BeachBody.com and click on the "Coach" link.  Team up with me and I'll help you reach your goals, in fitness and finance.

Today's Lope Was An Actual Run

Holy mother of all that is good and evil!  What have I done to my abs?

My toughest student, Drill Sergeant, dropped the F-bomb this morning.  Her abs hurt worse than mine, or rather, more of her abs hurt and I had her doing a quad exercise that involved the abs to a great deal.  It sounds like her obliques hurt right up to her armpits.  Yes, as a matter of fact, your obliques do go up to your armpits.  I know this because I have done the same thing to myself before.  You know you have worked your obliques hard when your ribs hurt.  Damn.

After working out, I went to the couch with a bag of Cheetohs and some Dr. Pepper to watch American Idle reruns.

Actually, I mixed up some Shakeology and worked on a fitness plan for a friend but it's easy to see how the two could be confused.  Well, except for the fact that I don't eat orange colored styrofoam or drink sugar water and have never seen a single episode of American Idle (and I couldn't even put in something cute there because I can't remember what Idle is - singing contest?).  But, other than those minor technicalities, it's easy to see how the two could have been confused.

After I had Trey off to school, it was time for another experiment with the Fibram Five Finger Bikila.  I went up to Leppy Hills, which is a walking trail here in West Wendover.  There is a 1 mile loop, a 3 mile loop, a 5 mile loop, and lots of hills.  I thought it would be great.  I could head out hoping to get through the 3 mile loop but if it didn't look good, I could cut off for the 1 mile loop.  On the outside chance things were going great, I could hang in there for the 5 mile loop. 

I ended up going around the 5 mile loop and ran the whole way, which I thought was amazing for someone wearing new shoes and being "out of shape".  It was pointed out to me recently by Drill Sergeant during one of my "out of shape" whining sessions (there have been a few over the 5 months of my injury recovery) that while I may be a long way from my peak condition, especially when it comes to strength, my "out of shape" did not actually match the general definition of out of shape.  Only, she didn't caught say it like that.  It went more like this, as I dropped the weights to the mat:

"Sheesh, I'm outta shape."

"Bullshit!"

It's close though, right?

So, I haven't run for several months and setting out on a 5 miler might not be considering breaking back into it easily but there it is.  It felt good too.  Not super fast but that's okay.  As I hit the 2 mile mark, feeling really good, I thought that if I could make the 5 miles in 50 minutes with all the hills, I would be a super hero. 

56 minutes.

I missed super hero status by 6 minutes.  Crap.

I noticed some things on this longer, hillier run than I noticed on my super brief test.  My stride length returned to normal.  It was short in the beginning but as I got back into the rhythm of running, it lengthened out to my normal stride.  I still hit mostly with the ball of my foot.  It was like I would stretch my foot out front and then start the kick before my foot hit the ground.  Coming down the hills put a lot of impact on the balls of my feet.  In fact, I ended up with a blister on the ball of my right foot. 

I sprinted the last hundred yards to see how that felt.  It felt like sprinting.  Don't know what else I can tell you about that.  I didn't feel anything on my heel that was jarring but I wasn't thinking about it much at that point.  I was just see how fast I could sprint after running 5 miles.

I'll have to take some time off from running until the blister goes away.  I saw a place that would be fun to climb but that will have to wait as well.

I also think that a disk golf course would work nicely up in that area.  There are big enough boulders and ravines to keep things interesting.  I'll have to go back and walk the area more slowly.  The city manager has already warned me that the BLM will probably tell me no but I'm going to look anyway.  The disk golf course in Taylorsville goes around with a walking trail so it's something that can be done.  I didn't take my camera with me or even my Droid because I went light.  My VFF Bikilas and my iPod and that was it.  Next time (and there will be a next time because I need to see if I can shave off those 6 minutes to earn my cape), I'll take my camera so you can see the area. 

I found a pic online that kind of shows the "area" but not really the walking trail area specifically.  I'll give you this for today and fix it next time I go.

I was going to talk about dropping water weight in the first couple of week's of a diet change but I think that will have to wait until tomorrow.  Now, it's time to get ready to start the weekend at work.  I've also got to start looking into what I'm going to be doing next week, taking the blister into account.

Stay tuned.

***

Follow me on Twitter to get updates on when new posts show up on this blog (plus get random thoughts on the life of Success Warrior) and feel free to "friend" me on Facebook.

Success Warrior is an Independent BeachBody Coach for BeachBody.com, a company that offers fitness programs, supplements, and equipment that have absolutely changed my life. 

Have you heard of P90X?  That's BeachBody.  They also have Insanity, Turbo Jam, TurboFire, RevAbs, Brazil Butt Lift, and many more.  They have some of the best exercise programs on the market.  These aren't just DVDs but are complete programs to transform your body.  They also have the hugely popular, and what they call "the most important meal of the day", Shakeology.  Go HERE to learn the most inexpensive way to get Shakeology.

They have equipment and supplements in addition to Shakeology and popular exercise programs.  Visit BeachBody.com and click on the "Shop" link to see everything they offer. 

There is also a business side to all this fitness that you can take advantage of.  Whether you're looking to just make a couple hundred extra dollars in fun money or are looking to take complete financial control of your life, BeachBody can help you get there.  If you have a desire to be more fit and would love to help other people do the same while making some money at it, visit BeachBody.com and click on the "Coach" link.  Team up with me and I'll help you reach your goals, in fitness and finance.

Vibram Ridge, Running for Fun, and a Metabolism Reset

Trey and I took the Vibram Ridge out for some practice at a ball field yesterday.  The Ridge is his favorite disk and he feels that he plays better with it than the other disks.  I may have to buy him one.  I think it would make a great first disk.  It's easy to throw for a kid.  It's more Frisbee-like than longer range disks.

I took my portable basket along with my Aviars, Sharks, and the Ridge.  I wanted to compare the three types of disks with each other.  There was a bit of a wind.  Not that it matters much when comparing all three disks under the same conditions but I was hoping for a calmer day.  It's always windy in Wendover though so I can't complain too much about the wind when it was gentle by comparison to most days here. 

The Ridge is softer than the other disks and is easier to grip.  It's got more of a rubber feel to it than plastic. 

I set the basket up at about 200 feet from where I was going to be throwing (best guess).  The basket was just to give me a target to aim at so that I could get a good feel for the disks.  I didn't expect to make any of my first shots into the basket.  A couple of them were pretty close though and I'm sure if I kept throwing, I would have eventually made an ace.

Here's an interesting note.  The disk that I did the absolute worst with was my new Star Shark.  I wanted to try the Star material because it's supposed to be better.  The disk kept slipping out of my hand early so that all my shots were way off to the left.  Way off.  Even though I was hitting the basket in one shot, I should have been getting an easy two.  I was far enough off with the Star Shark that it took me two putts to get in the basket.  Trey gets all my disks that I don't use and it looks like he has just inherited a Star Shark for his bag.

The rest of the disks were fairly evenly matched on the first shot.  The Shark had a little bit more distance on it, which was to be expected.  I never overthrew the basket with the Aviar or the Ridge.  I wasn't chucking the Shark out of the ball field, it just tended to go a bit farther if I put too much into it.  I played all the disks to the basket for practice and found out that I suck when I putt with the Shark.  The Shark is a good all purpose disk that a person could use if they were only going to buy one disk but I definitely putt better with the Aviar and the Ridge.

On the drive, there wasn't a whole lot of difference between the Aviar and the Ridge other than a bit more fade with the Ridge.  As it slowed down, it took more of a left turn. 

On the putts, the Ridge felt better in my hand but was a bit more "floaty" for me.  Now, mind you, I've been putting with the Aviar since I started playing disk golf so it is most likely the way that I'm throwing the Ridge and if I end up wanting to play with it as my exclusive putter, I'm probably going to have to drop practicing the with Aviar and stick solely with the Ridge.  It's something that I'm considering doing because I really like how the Ridge feels in my hand.

The drawback at the moment is that I've collected 5 Aviars over the years so they are great for practice sessions.  I can throw 5 disks before I have to walk to the basket to collect them.  I will have to build up my collection of Ridges if I want to be able to do the same thing.

I've been giving quite a bit of thought to running over the last couple of days because Trey starts school Monday and that means that I'll get to run a few times a week again.  I am going to take to the desert because the ground is softer and it's going to give me a chance to just goof off a bit.  I've got my eye on a hill not too far from here that is topped with boulders that I could climb once I get to that point.  I don't know how many miles of a climb it would be and I'm not even promising to run the whole way.  The focus is going to be on movement and enjoyment, not any kind of time scale. 

I am also going to be going for a hike next month, up a mountain and then back down.  I think that it's only a couple thousand feet up from where we are going to park the truck.  This first hike on this particular mountain is going to be from the end of the road and not up the entire mountain.  Just a little test and I might even take this test in my Bikilas.  Not sure on that yet but I might try it and have it my trail running shoes in the backpack, just in case the terrain is too rough.  The reviews that I have read on this particular hike state that the rocks can make the climb a bit harder than it would appear. 

Speaking of tests, I may head out for a short run in the desert in Bikilas today.  Time is going to be the factor here because I did not get anywhere close to enough sleep last night so a nap is going to be mandatory.  Tia didn't sleep well last night either so she's sleeping now while I keep Trey from bothering her.  She will return the favor later so I will have to see if there is enough time between when she wakes up and when I go back to bed, with some lunch in there somewhere as well.

To get ready for my 10 week training block, I am going low carb for a week.  Low, not "no".  I am still using orange juice in my Shakeology and I had a baked potato with dinner last night.  I want to get my body ready for what's coming but I'll start adding in plenty of fruits and vegetables next weekend because I'm going to need energy for the workouts, plus it's just plain good for you.

I have tried the edges of the spectrum, super low carb and vegan, and my conclusion is that the human body (at least mine) wasn't made for such extremes.  Plants and animals are here for humans to eat and I plan on eating them.  What wasn't put here for humans to eat are frankenfoods and I'll be trying to steer clear of those over the next couple of months (and pretty much for the rest of my life). 

The P90X program starts with a lower carb intake for Phase 1 to help get the whole thing kick started but it can lead to a bonk in the workouts and I want to avoid that so my "Phase 1" eating plan is going to end before I actually get into the tougher workouts.  I have 3 easier workouts planned for the next week, plus my running, plus I'm going to try to get my bike functional for this fall (the goathead thorns out here are killer on tires).  When I get into the ten week plan, I want my energy levels up so that the workouts are challenging based on the workout, not on energy depletion.

I'm really looking forward to everything that I have planned for this fall and I have a disk golf day planned for this Thursday.  I'll be taking the Ridge out into the real world to see how it performs (or rather, how I perform with it) out on a couple of different courses.

As always, I will tell you how it all goes.

Stay tuned.