With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams...

Got a little more sleep in this morning.  EST is nice for morning conference sesions because I get 2 more hours to sleep :-)

When I got up, I did the p90x kenpo that I neglected yesterday.  I just didn't have time to do it after I finally got up in the morning.  I'm not sure it was a bad thing either since I went on a long run. 

   I will still continue on my p90x adventure, and I still have a goal to finish. When I tell people I finished p90x, will I feel like I need to clarify that I skipped one day and made it up on my rest day?  I hope not.  If I focus on what my purpose of doing the p90x is (to get stronger), then there's nothing wrong with modifying my rest day from day 7 to day 6, is there? 

Good news- I got the referral for PT (went to Dr last Tuesday).  Not sure how long to get an appt, but I'm on my way.

p90x chest, shoulders & back.   Tried to up the weights- by 2 pounds, and it made the sets seem twice as hard!!  Oh, well- little by little.  I can see improvements on all the push-ups except the one armed variety.  It's all I can do to just bend my elbow and straighten it.

Ab ripper x...  same old, same old.  16 minutes of annoying.  I need a new attitude.   Since it's at the end of the first video, I can't change it to the "shut up Tony" variety.  I did like the part of the chest video where the lawyer told Tony to "get out of my face."  Sweet!!!!  He really is stirring up a big pot of trouble :-)

After playing hide and seek with my headlamp (MR used it and left it in the garage), I finally got out for a quick run.  I just set out to run, and I felt great.  Increased speed for mile 2, and thought I'd cut back & had slowed down for mile 3, but I guess I just maintained because it was the same as 2 (what a nice surprise).  Tried to kick it up for the last .2..... just a nice run.  The weather was beautiful.  Not humid, dark & cool enough to get some breath fog going, but warm enough to just wear a t-shirt and shorts.

paces were 9:27, 8:31, 8:29, 7:40

Run this afternoon again if it's not raining.  4.01 slower miles with MR.  It was tough to get going...that first mile was never going to end!  We were just going to do 3.5 and ended up tacking another .5 on after arriving at home so we could finish 4.  The .01 is just for me to get an even # :-)

When I woke up, I realized I'd hit the snooze button 3 times and had no recollection of doing so.  That's dangerous!  Do I move my alarm clock further away from the bed, or just turn up the volume? 

Plyo X.  This is week 6, and it still wears me out.  Glad I didn't go running after!

Decided to run before p90x instead of after today.  I got to see a beautiful orange moon setting over the treeline in the west.  It was awesome.  My cool down walk I got a chance to look up at the sky, and there were so many sparkling stars in the sky- it was beautiful.  2 hours later, it was cloudy and gray outside.  I'm glad I went out early to run & got to enjoy the world.

"Glamour muscles" day for p90x.  Back and biceps.  then Ab ripper x.  I took my shoes & socks off for ab ripper, and in my mind, it was easier because I didn't have extra weight on my feet for the exercises.  Mind games- the key to p90x.  I think it's why Tony is crazy.

Today is Good Friday, or for those of us in the QP household, Good Fry-Day.  We gather together a few other pirates and land-lovers at our ship, and deep-fat fry everything and anything that comes to mind.

On the menu this year were 3 different batters:  a tempura-type batter, a beer batter, and a dessert batter made out of white cake mix.

Then there were a variety of things to put in the batter:  mushrooms, shrimp, crab, green beans, pickles, bell peppers, (carrots & celery, which don't fry up very well), oreos, twinkies, marshmallows, extra large marshmallows stuffed with mini reeses cups, or any other goodie.

We also had home-made egg rolls and fried chicken, as well as home-made fry bread courtesy of Wyatt & Co.

I ran before the fry fest, because based on previous experience, the day after the fry-fest is not a good day for running :-)

x-stretch, and a 2 mile walk in the pm.  Happy Easter- the Bunny-chicken brought us eggs already colored!

Sleeping in, then p90x chest, shoulders & triceps followed by ab ripper x.  MR did them with me, he's enjoying spring break with me!

 We headed out for a run and went 6.44 miles.  Avg pace was 9:42.  MR had some leg troubles so I ran home to get the car for him. 

Went to the cannery today, and had to leave early, so I did plyo early at 4:15.  Then good times at the cannery with powdered milk, flour, and potato flakes :-)

 Day 45 of p90x.  Half way there!  I actually feel like I've been doing this forever.  It's almost the end of week 7 and the end feels too far away.  One day at a time.

Glamour muscles today.  Back and biceps.  MR took turns on the pull up bar with me, so we had more mini-breaks.   Didn't help much with ab ripper though.

run avg pace: 9:26

MR rode the bike while I ran.  It has been very dry and windy here lately.  And it seems I always get to run into the wind.  Today I tried to make the first half into the wind so I could run home with the wind at my back.  Application wasn't as great as the idea, but I  was glad we took that route, because it was a great treasure hunt trip.

Treasure one was a big plastic box with a lock on it.  What was inside????  It was too heavy to bring home on the bike so we had to drive back to get it.

Treasure two:  a kite.  still in the wrapped plastic. Here's MR with his valentine kite.

 Treasure three: a dead snake...only I didn't know it was dead until after I'd screamed and jumped out of the way.   It was only then I saw the ants eating his head.

After we got home, and had retrieved the box, MR did his magic hammer voo-doo on it and we found that instead of a hidden wad of money, the gun that killed JFK, or a box of dope, there was only a universal use battery. 

No answers, just more questions.  Why was this battery inside a locked box?  Where did the box come from?  Who, What, Why, Where, When, and HOW???

p90x yoga.  MR did the whole video with me!  

Of course this was after sleeping in all morning.  Then as best I can remember, we wasted the rest of the day just being on break.  

I did work a little on the dress for the Warrior Dash this year.  Last year was prom theme...this year will be even better!! 

There was a plan at one point in time to run in the evening, but it was only a dream...

more sleeping in...I could get used to this!

Last week I had a hard time running after doing legs & back, so we went running first.  Easy slow run today.  I went a little longer today because I'm running long Sunday and not Saturday.  

Then we did the legs & back video and put up with Tony through another session of ab ripper x.

rootbeer floats to celebrate all the workouts today.

kenpo x with MR followed by 3 hours of yard work.  It was beautiful out, but I didn't run because I'm supposed to have a long run tomorrow with my neighbor.

Go up earlier than usual on Sunday to run with my neighbor.  She's been out of town for 2 weeks and asked me to run on Sunday since she'd just gotten back.  Sure, no problem.  She wanted to do 10-12 miles, so I charted out a 12 mile course and off we went.  MR was the water boy on the bike and we were off.  We went slowly because her knee was bothering her, which was good for me since I know long runs should be slower anyway.  

At mile 4.5, we went over some railroad tracks, and  the short little down-hill bit (10 feet long, 3 foot drop) was too much for her knee.  She had to stop and stretch and walk the pain out.  I feel so bad for her.  I know what that pain is, and I know how maddening it can be when you just want to run.  At that point we decided to cut the run short and headed back for 9 miles instead of the 12.  We had to stop again after the other side of the railroad tracks 3 miles later,  but other than that we pushed on through.  She'll be going to physical therapy and hopefully have her knee back & up to running again soon.... I hope.  It was great to be able to run with her again!

p90x with yoga belly 7 times.  "I know I'm yelling too much for yoga!!"

Saw my neighbor's new house (7 miles away :,,,(   drat!) but was thrilled to see it included a very awesome in ground pool.  Triathalon summer ahead!

Last week of training level 2 for p90x.  Core synergestics. 

Then I took an easy run for 4 miles in the hood. I used my old knee band instead of the big brace.  Stayed close to home incase it wasn't going to go well, and I was happy when everything was great.  The band is easier to run in and I'm glad everything felt good.  All the leg building with p90x may be good for something after all!

I'll still use the brace for long runs, but I'm going to use the band for the shorter ones.  Good news for me!

3:50 am I started Kenpo.  That's one workout that will wake up even the sleepiest pirate.

Then a 4 mile run with my neighbor through the hood. My watch would not load satellites, so I didn't get the first 2 miles stats, but we ran the last two at a 9:17 pace (with the knee bands again).  Her watch had our 4 mile avg pace at a 9:22, so we kept a good pace overall (for us).

It was a good morning, but now it's 11:40 and I've been sitting at my desk for almost 4 hours and the sleepy times are starting to sneak up on me.  STAY BACK sleepy-ness or I'll have to sword-hammer-knuckle punch-front kick-back kick-hook-uppercut you!!!

I was going to get up and do some elliptical before my p90x stretch video, but I stayed in bed instead.  Was going to run with Wyatt this afternoon, but she's getting sick and won't run in the cold (imagine that, not wanting to sacrifice her health for my needs!!) so I'm going to have to go solo.

Too much junk & crap going into the belly today, just not having a "strong" day on the battle of the healthy diet front.  I'm tempted to go home and eat those cheetos I've got hidden away in my treasure chest (bottom dresser drawer).  Maybe I should wait till after the run?

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Well, I avoided Cheetos and just went for the run.  Had to stretch out after 1 mile, and when I'd finished stretching, I realized that I'd been standing in a pile of fire ants and they were all over my foot and leg.  I screamed out for help, tried to get them off my skin, and MR took my shoe and beat it silly till it was ant-free.  I've got 3 small bumps and one nice yellow welt forming on my leg now.  I hate those stupid ants.  Our local Hockey team is called the "Fireants," and they're horrible and cant' do anything right.  Why can't the real ants be as useless and ineffective?

My Garmin seems to be ready to give up the GPS ghost.  It shut itself off 5 different times during my run yesterday.  I'm hoping to get a new one soon, but I want to get a good one.  Any suggestions?

I planned on elliptical again this morning, but my knees are kind of sore and I'm doing a long run tomorrow, so I only did 5 minutes.  Then I did p90x core synergestics- I'm glad it's not as hard to complete as it used to be for me.   It IS still hard, just not as bad.

But I was able to get my hands on some cheetos at work :-p

Early out for a Saturday with my neighbor.  We ran 12, and kept the pace under 10 min/mile.  We stopped 3 times.  Twice for a "look at that! break and once for a slightly twisted ankle. 

We found a bat, a ball, and another snake!!  I didn't get a pix of the ball, but it's just a baseball that was in pretty good shape for being on the side of the road.

MR was a good waterboy and kept us hydrated and safe from cars.

Then we helped with the city wide clean up and picked up trash along side of the highway for an hour.

Had lunch, took a little break, and went to town with my p90x yoga.  I was tired by the end of the day!  Went to see Wyatt and her new baby chicks.

Rest

First day of Unit 3 of p90x.  Week 9 is started and we're on our way to finishing up this bad boy.  Chest & back...push ups & pull ups, over & over & over again.

After work, went to physical therapy and learned some new ballistic stretches.  Then MR and I went for a quick run before dinner.  

early morning with plyoX and then a 6 mile run with neighbor.  We were out and saw the sun come up because it was later than when we usually run.  

After work the power was out, so we had to go out to eat :-)

I am finding it very difficult to scrape up the desire to do all the physical therapy exercises they've given me.   It's not just time, but desire.

p90x shoulders and arms, work, and 20 min on elliptical while dinner cooked in the oven.  I saw a beautiful sky this morning driving to seminary.  This pix shows just the beginnings of the magenta color that filled the whole eastern sky.  Beautiful!!

I woke up at 3 am so I could do my p90x yoga and run with my neighbor.  I did almost all the yoga (except the last 23 min of stretching), then we went for a run.  We were going to do 6, but she wanted to keep it short and stay in the hood.  She had blisters that were sore and icky on her feet.  We managed a 9:18 pace.  My garmin quit on me twice during the 4 miles.  I am really sick of it.

After the run, I finished the yoga stretching & yoga belly 7 times.  Then I took a quick 15 minute nap.  So nice.

Physical Therapy wore me out and made me sore.  They had me sweating like a pirate in church on Sunday.

After work and dinner Mr & I went for quick 1 mile walk around the loop.  In bed by 9 and asleep at 9:00:03.

p90x legs & back, then ab ripper x.  I'm almost done with week 9.  Glad it's Friday.  Taking the week-end easy since the Dirty Hog is next week.

http://www.dirtyhog.com/ 

I hope I can move after.

This weekend we went west to the Great Smoky Mountains.  MR, little buccaneer, and I went white water river rafting on Saturday.  The water was cold, but when the sun came out it was just perfect.  I ended up becoming one with the river on a particularly insane rapid.  But like any good pirate I was quickly back on the boat and swore vengeance on any crew member that mocked me.

After an amazing 12 mile and 2 hr 16 min trip down the river, we all had a nice nap on the bus ride back to the condos.

MR and I went for a walk along a bike path/trail around town totaling maybe 3 miles in the evening.  I had time for half the kenpo x before we left, and finished the second half at 9:45 at night.  Oh the things I’ll do for Tony.

MR and I went on an early 2 mile walk around Beech Mtn, which was all hills.  We found a rusty old knife... Treasure #1:

Then on our drive home through Appalachia, we stopped off the side of a winding road to get drinks out of the back of the car, and found treasure #2:

Wire framed bifocals!  These will go great with my bifocal collection.  All I need now is some dentures.  Certainly not something I'll find in Appalachia.

After we got home we took a quick mile walk around the hood and went to bed.

p90x week 10.  Not sure I'd ever really imagined I'd actually stick with it this long.  

Chest, Shoulders and Triceps.  Sore again since it's been 2 weeks since I've done it last.

And of course Ab ripper X.  Of course.

Then I went for a quick run around the hood.  9:18  avg pace, but actual times were over 10mm, 9:30mm, and two 8:55 ish miles.

I was so tired when I got back home that I had to take a nap before work.

I had physical therapy in the morning, and decided then I was finished working out for the day.