Junior High Cross Country and Yoga Booty Ballet

Tonight after work I drove out to Norwalk to pick up Luke. I got there in time for his pre-season cross country parent's meeting and also the coach allowed me to tag along in practice.

We started with a warm up of about 1/2 mile, then stretching, then several "drills", toe walks, skipping, butt-kicks, and such.

Then she broke the team into groups and sent them out for a 2-mile run at staggered intervals, with the slower runners starting first with the intent that the kids would work on catching the group in front of them.

I ran with 2 boys in the first (slowest) group and they kept up ok, one girl from the next group back almost caught them but that was it.

Then we did 2 "strides" and 4 "sprints" of about 75 meters, and then about 1/4 mile cool down, and then more stretching. Hopefully they will have a good season. Their first meet is in about 1 1/2 weeks.

Then when we got home, Victoria and I did day 1 of Yoga Booty Ballet. YBB is another exercise program from Beachbody, the company that distributes P90X.

Day 1 is watching a 15 minute video describing some basic yoga moves and poses, and then a 10-minute ab workout with a squishy ball. It was no P90X for sure, but the ab workout was ok and it's great to be exercising with my wife!

Weekly Wrap Up (P90X, Running, Yoga)

Tuesday night I ran with the Oberlin gang and then came home to do my P90X Chest, Shoulders, & Arms, plus Ab-Ripper X. This was my most normal night of the week.

Wednesday I had a soccer meeting then plans to watch my nephew's band Darkhorse at the Red Iron in Wellington. Plus I would be away from home on Thursday & Friday so I decided to switch P90X Back & Biceps to Wednesday night. This allowed me to travel without needing to find a pull-up bar or weights.

Thursday morning I donated blood.

Thursday night I met my family at Gem Beach at Catawba Island. I brought my laptop and tried to do P90X Plyometrics on the beach, but the waves were too loud so I came back and did the P90X workout in the yard. I added Ab-Ripper X, which doesn't usually go with Plyo but I was due since I had switched nights.

Friday morning I went for an easy 2 mile run with my son Luke and then in the evening I did P90X Yoga. The neat thing was I was under the supervision of an actual yoga instructor (my wife's friend Jen). Thanks for the advice!

P90X Yoga Modification, Plyometrics, & Bowling

I had a super-busy schedule yesterday and had to modify my P90X Yoga workout to get it done. I split it in half, doing the moving asanas in the early evening and then the balance postures later at night. Also I surrendered in a battle for tv time so I made space to do them in the bedroom. The only challenge to that was in finding a spot to stand where I didn't bump into the ceiling fan when I reached up.

Earlier I had done a partial P90X Plyometrics workout with 8 kids from our soccer league. We did most of the moves, but for 30 seconds each and only 1 time through.

And the bowling was on a date with my wife. I haven't bowled in years, but started out my first game with 2 strikes in a row. I ended up with 170, but it could have been even higher as I was awful at picking up my spares, and I rolled a gutterball on my 3rd ball of the 10th frame (after 2 more strikes).

My second game was more my speed with 123.

Double Double

Tuesday after work I did Ab-Ripper X, then ran on the trail in Oberlin with Randy, Keith, Andy, Thomas, Orrin, and Liz, then came home and completed the Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps workout in the P90X program.

Wednesday I went to Lagrange for open soccer, and then I came home to do the P90X Yoga. This was a slight modification, moving Plyometrics to Friday this week.

My quads are pretty sore from 2 days of double workouts. The good news is I think that after an entire year post-surgery, my hernia-related pain is gone!

Tuesday Yoga For Men

The fitness center offered a class today titled Introduction to Yoga for Men. Since my wife enjoys yoga I thought I would go.

Of course work interfered and I was a little late in arriving. I was surprised to find the lights dim. I got myself a mat and a yoga brick (which I didn't use), found a spot, and started trying to follow along.

We did something called the Sun Salutation. This involved going from standing, to bending over, to bending over with hands and feet on the ground, down to a plank, and then back up. We also did a few things that were similar to squats.

There was alot of stretching and breathing. We did a balancing pose on one leg, and then repeated with the other leg.

I'm sure it was good for my flexibility and balance but I am working out for endurance and strength. If I had unlimited time I might even participate in yoga a couple times per week, but all in all, I think my time is better used running.

Weight = 189