P90X Week 13 & Trackwork

I am in week 13, the final week, of my P90X routine. I did Core Synergistics this morning which is a great combination of pushups, lunges, ab work, and other core exercises. It is one of my favorite workouts, I think.

My weight after today's workout was 176, down from 205 just 88 days ago. I am more than satisfied with the weight loss program of P90X!

Last night Luke and I went to the Midview track. He has new spikes for cross country which he has never worn. I wanted him to have a chance to try them out, so we went down and did a 6 lap warm-up.

The workout was 4 reps of 400m, I thought maybe he could run them in 80's but that proved to be ambitious. My reps were 90, 83, 78, 77 while Luke ran 102, 95, 90, 93. After the first one I gave him a 10 second head start each time so we would finish closer together.

The last 2 400s he wore his spikes (and I wore my racing flats).

Wednesday Speedwork - Part 3

I ran my weekly speedwork today for the 3rd week in a row. Today again I ran on the track at St. Ignatius. The weather was much cooler (53) and a little breezy.

My plan was to run 3 x 400m. Hopefully around 75 seconds or faster. And I succeeded.

• 78
• 75
• 74

Since my fastest last week was 76, I felt pretty good about this. Total distance = 5 miles.

Money found = 6 cents (1 nickle & 1 penny)

Weight = 185 lbs

Trophy-Winning Speedwork

I ran speedwork on the St. Ignatius track today. I took a few sidestreets to get there and noticed something I've never seen before. The birthplace of John Heisman! Yes, the famous football coach who the award for college football's best player is named after.

Anyways, after a 1 3/4 mile warm-up, run partly with Rick and Kevin D, I arrived at the track. My plan was to do 4 x 400 meters, in around 80 seconds. My first one felt easy and smooth at 77 seconds. I guess it felt too easy because the next one I ran in 82 seconds.

I put some more effort into the 3rd one and was back down to 80 seconds, and the final repeat was my fastest of all in 76 seconds. I jogged 1 lap in between.

My pulse before the final 400 was 132 and then immediately after I finished it was all the way up to 204!

My 2 mile cool down took me past the Heisman house again for a total of 5 1/2 miles.

Thursday Speedwork

I haven't done any speedwork since I hurt my hamstring almost 3 months ago. However, since I am planning on running my last race of the season at the end of the month, I decided to give it another try.

After 1 1/2 mile warm-up, I ran 3 repeats of 1/2 mile, with 1/4 mile walk/jog in between.

• 2:55
• 2:55
• 2:49

The weather was chilly, there was a light rain / drizzle falling, and the pavement was wet. To top it off, I was running alone, which is always more of a mental challenge. So I'm pretty happy with the results.

Next week I plan to do 4 x 400, and the following week 3 x 300, leading up to the race.

With a 3/4 mile cool down, total mileage for the day was 4.

Wednesday Speedwork

I ran speedwork with Matt today. This was my 3rd speedwork session in 4 weeks, all on Wednesdays. We ran 4x800 again, in the flats. It was not nearly as warm as the past couple days, and it was a little breezy.

My left hamstring started feeling tender on the 4th repeat so I didn't push as hard, and I stretched a little extra when I got back.

• 2:56
• 2:53
• 2:54
• 3:12

Add in 1 1/2 mile warm-up, 1/4 recovery jog in between repeats, and 3/4 mile cool down, today's total distance was about 5 miles.

Weight = 181 lbs.

Wednesday Speedwork - Short Track

I ran speedwork today with Marty. Marty likes to run intervals on the track at St. Ignatius HS. The strange thing about this track is it is not a 400m track. The inside lane is short. The 4th lane is actually 400m. There are wierd starting lines spaced out all over this track. The 1600m start is at the start of the home straightaway and the 3200m is near the normal 200m start line.

Anyhow, the warm-up and cool-down is about 1 3/4 miles each way. We ran 4 x 800 but I only ran 3 x 800 and a 400 on the last one. The heat was sweltering! We did a 400 jog in between each 800 for recovery.

• 2:59
• 3:10
• 3:13
• 1:37

Total distance 6 miles.

Weight = 178 lbs

Wednesday Speedwork

I ran speedwork today with Matt. Rick started with us also but the pace wasn't to his liking so he continued doing his own work on a different block.

I ran 4x800 today, my times were very consistent:

• 2:54
• 2:52
• 2:53
• 2:51

With 1 1/2 mile warm up, 1 mile cool down, and 1/4 mile jog in between, today's total distance was 5 1/2 miles.

Weight = 181 lbs

Wednesday Speedwork

I did the full workout today, 6 x 800m. I was able to keep my times even, all within 3 seconds and all under 3:00. There were just 3 of us today, Matt, Curt, and I. Kevin D ran his this morning

• 2:55
• 2:54
• 2:56
• 2:53
• 2:55
• 2:56

The weather was chilly (40's) and very windy.

This was my best speedwork workout yet. Total distance = 5.5 miles.

Weight = 186 lbs.

Wednesday Speedwork, Cut Short

I joined Matt, Curt, and Kevin D today for speedwork but I had some important issues on my mind and could not focus.

I ran 2 good repeats and gave out during the 3rd one. My splits were 2:54 & 2:55.

Total distance 3 1/2 miles

Weight = 188 lbs

Wednesday Speedwork

I got a new laundry bag today!

I don't know if I mentioned this before, but one of the great things about our fitness center is that they do my laundry!

Once you go at least 9 times per month for 2 months, they give you a locker and a numbered mesh bag. After you are done working out, you put your dirty clothes in the mesh bag and toss it in the laundry bin. The next day when you show up, your clothes are washed and back in your locker. This is included in our membership fees of $6 per week!

Well today, for the 2nd time in about 2 weeks, I started getting dressed and realized I only had 1 sock. I went to the lost and found and, just like last time, there was my sock, clean and on the top of the pile. I checked my laundry bag and sure enough, it had a hole in it that was about big enough for a sock to fall through. So I exchanged my bag for a new bag.

But enough of that, today was speedwork day. We ran the same course as last week and there were 4 of us today: Matt, Curt, Kevin D, and myself. This time I was able to do the first 4. I took a break and then did 2 more. Curt had a slight injury so he only did 4 and Kevin D is still ramping up so he did 6 as planned. The last one was just Matt and I (his 7th, my 6th).

My splits for the 1/2 mile were: 2:47, 2:47, 2:56, 3:12, (skip), 3:10, (???). Thanks to Kevin D for wearing his watch and calling out my times. Kevin D went back after 6 so my final repeat was untimed.

Total distance for the day was 5.5 miles.

Weight = 185 lbs

Wednesday Speedwork

There is a group from the fitness center that has been doing speedwork on Wednesdays for a while. Today I joined them for the first time. We did a 3/4 mile warm-up, followed by 1/2 mile repeats with 1/4 mile recovery jog, and then ended with a 1/2 mile cool-down.

Curt was out of town today, Rick is injured, and Kevin D had a meeting. So that left only Matt, Troy, and I. Troy wears a Garmin Forerunner 305 which uses GPS satellites track time, distance, and pace.

On the first repeat, I felt like we were going easy. I was out front but stayed with the group most of the way. On the 2nd repeat I went hard and was a little ways ahead. On the 3rd repeat my arms were feeling tired so I stayed with the group again.

Since this was my first week of speedwork I skipped the 4th repeat. On the 5th repeat I again was just a little out front. On the 6th repeat I was really feeling it and stopped about 2/3 of the way through. I walked for a while and then joined in again when Matt and Troy came around for the 7th and final repeat.

I didn't time my 1/2 miles but according to Troy they were in the 2:45 - 3:00 range.

In all I did 4 full repeats and 2 more half-repeats for a total of 2.5 miles of speed, 1.25 miles of recovery, .75 miles of warm-up and .5 miles of cool-down. Total mileage for the day is 5 miles.

Weight = 186 lbs