oh great blog....SAVE ME!

I haven't been a good blogger...or exerciser, for that matter.  Anyway, tomorrow's a big day -- going to go back to boot camp.  It's going to be painful (not only b/c my rt. tricep and left calf feel strained) but I NEED to get myself back into shape.  I fear putting myself back on the scale...I don't get to until May (after Neel's wedding)...I'm going to go on record here and say that if I'm not at 185 by then, then I'm going to be very disappointed in myself.  Anyway, tomorrow...one step at a time....we've got the 6am class w/ Nandor.  After that, cereal for breakfast and salad for lunch.  That's as far as I'm looking ahead - I'm gonna go for a run with Dave, eventually, but not going to say it just yet.

(cross your fingers everyone!)

Happy New Year!

Wow...so 2008 was a great year...got this blog started up, though I didn' finish as strong as I'd like to have...anyway, it's a new year and we've still got the same goals as last year..."500 total blog posts"....

Anyway, boot camp starts up on Weds the 7th, so in preparation for that, I'm going to be doing a bit of running this weekend (routes are still TBD - but I might just go and do the gool ol' fave of running down Colorado and back Olympic)...nice and flat, nothing too ambitious.

As for getting the running club back and going, I don't know how we'll do...Dave is still around and I know I can count on him, but Asia, moving down to Manhattan Beach and all, is out :-(

So for Tuesday, I'm planning on doing a quick trip around Brentwood CC...you can see the route on my August 29 post here

Piss Poor

Seriously...it's been two weeks since I last blogged-it-out, and even then, it wasn't the best of entries. I will spare you the excuses, but it's been way too difficult trying to keep with this regimen during the course of actual casework. I'm definitely going to have to figure out how to accommodate boot camp and exercise during times when casework seems overwhelming.

Well...that's behind us...I went to boot camp today and man, it was tough. The fact that the air was a little smoky didn't help...but I'm pretty sure the main reason why I had a hard time was because I had to work out all of the airport CinnaBon, McDonald's and Pizza Hut from my system!

We're back, and that's all that counts. Tomorrow, I'm going to go for a 4 mile run - reinstitute the west LA running club (Asia's out for now - he's got some ankle impingement or something).

Until next time (....we've still got a long way to go before 500 posts!)

Good ol' days...

I'm staying with Jesse and Sarah here in Oakland today - my case ended yesterday so I bounced out of LA last night and came up here to Oakland to hang out on my Comp day. Tomorrow, I'm headed into the SF office to interview some candidates, but for now, just going to enjoy myself. I am overheating at the moment. Spike is looking at me in a really weird way, maybe it's because I'm shiny all over from the sweat. I did the old Lake Merritt run (clockwise, though) and it was great to see all of the familiar sights including the numerous bridges, Merritt diner, Fairyland, the big gate at the NW corner of the Lake...everything was really nice. Instead of just going around the Lake, however, I turned up Brooklyn and then up Wesley onto Prospect for a really tough 4th mile straight uphill. My main concern was my leg holding up (and then my heart) - but I'm happy to say that my cardio is in great shape! As for my legs, they held up...at least my left quad, but I still had that little tweak in my right knee. (Maybe I should go get that checked out)...anyway, here's the run, and hopefully after I get back, we'll be back onto the boot camp thing next week.




Elevation change:

one day before election day!

man..i am in some serious pain - i don't know what it is, but something is really hurting in my left thigh. I hope I didn't pull my quad, but it sure seems like it. I know that last thursday dave and i set out to run ~4 miles and I had to stop not even 2 blocks in! This is not good...

Slow Recovery Run at Dave's

it was COLD today!!!

37:03

comes out to about 8:50's...probably slower in the beginning, but we really picked it up in the end

the really cool thing was that there was mad steam coming off us after the run when we were stretching...that was indeed a very cool sight to see!

More and more boot camp

ran around a bit - definitely sore from yesterday's 10k

we did a lot of abs - i'm definitely feeling stronger...at least upper abs, not so much on the lower abs, but i'll get there!

also, need to log in that last thursday at assoc outing, 3 different people said that i look like i've lost weight! 3!!!

plus, on saturday, when wil and dave came by the office, wil mentioned that i look thinner, too

things are good...i guess slow and steady wins the race, eh?

Santa Monica 10K

What did i do the previous weekend? Oh yeah, Josh's bachelor party - so nothing on Friday, Sat or Sun

Thursday was a run: -
Tuesday was run with Silvia - 5. some odd miles -
MW Bootcamps

52:07 (8:24s)

also did 34:16 for 4.26 miles on Tuesday
---this was a backwards run around Brentwood CC (i think i hurt my knee)
Nothing on weds or thursday
boot camp on friday (7:15am class instead) --- totally beat me down - cotton mouth and everything

10K run route:

West LA running club -- New member and new group name (pending)

- LFE's
- Side stitches
- Silvia
- Asia's absence
- 8:50 pace ?? (depends on distance)
- did it in 57 (dave); 57:15 (silvia) and 57:26 (amish)
- 6.50 miles?

talk about funny guy on weds at bootcamp

Definitely Going faster and faster!!!

I don't know what happened, but Dave skipped out on us...he sent me a text at 5:58am. Poo on him! Ha ha...anyway, Asia and I ran just under 4 miles on a new route (see below). We're seeming to go faster and faster, and before we know it, I think we'll be able to conquer that 40 minute barrier for 5 miles!!!

As for now, we did it in 8:24's (32:02)...

Another interesting note...there were some serious temperature changes, for example, I swear the temp must have gone up at least 5 degrees when we turned onto Olympic...very weird indeed.

Boot Camp - It's so hottt!

Apparently these Santa Ana's are supposed to break sometime soon, but for now, it's so hot here in LA! I think it got up to 98 in Westwood, and was certainly very warm this morning at boot camp. Combined with only getting about 4-5 hours of sleep a night this week b/c of casework, these early morning workouts are starting to catch up with me!

I guess now's the time when I'll have to really stay committed to this plan, and hopefully we'll continue to see more and more improvement!

As for the workout today, we did a lot of pushups, and a ridiculous amount of ab-focused exercises...I guess it had partly to do with the heat (hardly did any running at all today).

West LA Running - Back to the Basics

We decided to do the Franklin hill as another short run. We didn't quite go as fast as the last 5k (which was about 8 min miles), but we did manage to do it in 8:42's. (Again, Dave was a bit faster at 8:35's...and I'm sure he could have gone faster given that he waited for me and Asia at the top of Franklin).

Anyway, Asia said that his knee didn't feel all that bad, and we were all able to get a nice, quick run in. I calculated the calories burned - only 439...I guess if I'm going to keep this weight loss program up, I'm going to have to supplement those runs with some other exercises. Based on what I've been doing so far between running and boot camp, I think I'll be in good shape as long as I'm burning somewhere around 700 calories exercising. Obviously, the easiest way will be to continue to run farther distances (i.e., 5 miles at 8:45/mile pace) - so I'll keep pushing towards that goal.

(Total run count since I started the blog: 117 miles)

Boot Camp - Shoulder Workout

Wow! I really should have lifted some weights yesterday as I've totally exposed my weak points:

Still, my pushups are not anything to write home about
in addition, my shoulders are so weak! We did some work with the SPRI bands and my arms were shaking like never before.

Of course, my running is getting much stronger (though I did feel a side stitch coming on....aargh!)

Well...stay tuned as I try to figure out where / when to fit some weightlifting into my schedule!

Rest day

I don't know what it was, but I just couldn't do anything! I woke up at 10am, and I felt like doing nothing but watch TV. Is there something I'm doing wrong in terms of recovery? I know I ran 7 miles yesterday, and after that, I had a huge lunch and tried to walk around for a lot of the afternoon. After that, had a decent sized dinner --- maybe that's it! I didn't have enough calories. Anyway, I still have to work out figuring out how to NOT tank the next day after a hard workout.

Well, hopefully tomorrow is much better - the last week of my 2nd boot camp!

Ran another 7 miles - Slow!

Did the same 7 miler I did with Asia back on Sep 11.

It was so hot today - I ended up running it in 9:32's...oh well...maybe next time!

Tomorrow, I should go lift - I think I'm going to focus on my legs (what's left of them) and maybe a little on my arms / shoulders (boot camp is getting to the point where I know I need to get stronger if I'm going to improve - and that's gonna require me to do some serious resistance training in addition to the normal calisthenics)

Boot Camp - Lots of running today!

Wow - we had a slow start today - definitely focused a lot on abs with some bug, some bicycle kicks, definitely plank (2 x 3 min) and a sprinkling of some pushups. On top of that, we ran quite far (relatively speaking)...all the way to Pico and around the park and back (~2 miles). Typically, Nandor doesn't invest 15-20 minutes of boot camp to running, but it was good. At least I felt good - I am positive all of the running with Asia and Dave has really helped out. In fact, I took a little tally of what I've been up to, and since I started this blog, I've run over 107 miles!!!

Woo hoo!!!!

Quick Shorty - 8 min miles!!!

Asia proposed that we run a shorter distance so that he can ease back into the routine (he was in Chile snowboarding last week..I know....rough life, right?) Anyway, we did our own 5k through "westwood-adjacent" neighborhoods and just as Asia promised, we ran faster. 8 min miles! I didn't even think I could go 8:30's...(Dave went even fast at about 7:52's!)

Anyway, here's the run in case you're interested:

Boot Camp - Ab mania!

Today's boot camp was pretty good. I've kind of gotten into a groove with it, but today I was glad that it was changed up enough to still give a great workout. There was a lot of focus on abs and core today (bug, plank, straight leg kicks, inch worms) - given that we did a lot of chest and arms (lots and lots of pushups) on Monday, we laid off that muscle group.

Of course, we also did the obligatory random runs around the park - running up and down a hill as well as some "follow the leader" at the end of the session really got my heart pumping!

Anyway - Asia's back and should be sending out his proposed run for tomorrow anytime now.

Finally back running in LA!

Dave and I ran the airport run this morning - only backwards. No, I didn't literally run backwards, it was that we did the course in the reverse direction. I have to admit, it was a much easier run. Basically, all of the hills going in the reverse direction are longer on the way down and shorter on the way up (you may recall from the first run up Franklin around my house was way easier than running it in the other direction for the same reason).

Anyway, here's the run (we ran it at a much slower pace - I dunno, maybe it was because it did all of jack sh*t last week - weak sauce, I know)

Lagging on the Blogs!!

9/12 (nothing - red-eyed in)
13 (nothing - jamanda's)
14 (nothing)
15 (ran 5.5 miles around the longfellow and harvard bridges - really windy)
16 (very little cords)
17 (very little cords)
18 (ran another 5.5 miles - same route) - need to map it out
19 (not much - maybe 20 pushups)
20 - nothing
21 - nothing (travel)
22 - bootcamp - really sweaty - tried 50 pushups!!!

Super Windy and Humid!!!

Here's the 5.5 mile run across the Longfellow and Harvard bridges while at C1 Training:

Somerville Five Hills (pending - didn't do)

Super short bursts

20 jumping jacks
1 minute plank
1 quick run around the park
pushups
20 jumping jacks
etc...

As if the runs can't get longer!!!

Ha! 6.94 miles. 9:16 pace. 995 calories!

Bring it!

Boot Camp - So sore!

I don't know what it was...maybe the razorback hills yesterday, or maybe the evening boot camp with not enough recovery time before the run -- all I know is that my body (especially my legs) were so stiff, sore, and aching! Anyway, I took it easy today at boot camp...basically, didn't try to be up in the front whenever we ran, and when it came to doing scissor kicks, plank, etc., I tried, but I was just dragging.

Anyway, I managed to wake up and go to the morning class, so hopefully we're back on schedule (yeah, just in time for one more class before I have to skip an entire week when I head out to Boston for Training). That will be an interesting week - I'm still contemplating what I'm going to do to maintain this exercising. Of course, I'll incorporate running. But as far as resistance / boot camp training...I did buy a green and red SPRI band from Nandor - so maybe I'll be able to create my own little boot camp at Butterfield Manor!

Need to update Blog....

Tuesday, Sep 9: 4.3 miles (need to upload Asia's map); 41:47
Monday, Sep 8: missed morning boot camp; went at 6:30pm class
Sunday, Sep 7: nothing - walked around D.C.
Saturday, Sep 6: nothing - hung out with Ross fam - weighed myself - down to 195!!!
Friday, Sep 5: nothing - traveled; Brennan's wedding
Thursday, Sep 4: Running club - 5.5 miles; 54:59; Judy joined (need to show revised map)
Wednesday, Sep 3: Boot Camp - first day back
Tuesday, Sep 2: Ran with Dave (29:15)- can't remember the run - need to go thru emails
Monday, Sep 1: Nothing (traveled)
Sunday, Aug 31: Nothing (wedding)

Home is Hot!!!

Flew in today on a red-eye and was feeling how I should - pretty much like crap. Anyway, my knee was really bothering me, but I got bored, so I thought I'd go for a short run before heading out for Garba-Raas in the evening. Anyway, the most amazing thing happened - my pain in my knees disappeared (and I know why, too!)

I stretched. Stretched my calves, my achilles tendon, my quads and my hammies. Focusing on the quads, I think, is what really alleviated the pain from my knees. In any case, I ran about 3 miles and some change and was soaking in sweat by the end of mile #1!

Hopefully, I'll be able to wake up early enough to squeeze in a run before the wedding...if not, then I'll have to knock it out before the reception.

Here's my Indy hood:

Knees are Shot! I need to rest!

I ran with Dave this morning - it was supposed to be a simple, easy 4.2 miler that would have incorporated some hilly parts, but just something in lieu of boot camp (Nandor said that today's and Labor Day's classes are off). Anyway, there was just something weird about the run from the first step. My right knee was killing me! I tried to shuffle my feet, tried to alter my stride, but nothing was helping the pain. Anyway, we made it - after an epic 40 minutes (way slow!). But anyway, I've gotta get in the gym and really strengthen up so I don't end up hurting myself seriously!

Anyway, if you'd like to check out our run, here it is:

Light 5K - Dave's Neighborhood

We did the same run as Dave's first one on July 24 in order for Asia to take it a little easier given that he has to run 10K for the Nike Human Race on Sunday. However, though this was a shorter run, we really started out pretty fast, and by the time we hit the Stanwood hill, I was done about 2/3 the way up! I hit another wall (kind of a theme this week) and developed a side stitch, too (another theme!) . Anyway, Dave just killed this run, and Asia did quite well, too. It's the hills and the side stitches that are really getting to me, and I think the only remedy is to get stronger (i.e., get in the gym and throw some weight around).

So let's plan on seeing some more weightlifting posts from now on. I'm going to shoot for Saturdays as my lifting days.

Boot Camp - Extra Days

Wow! So we aren't even supposed to have boot camp today, but Nandor offered to hold some extra sessions anyway...and the most impressive part about this was that I saw EVERYONE from the class there! I am definitely excited to keep this program going.

I don't know if it was because this was an extra class, Nandor was pissed off, or that I was just out of it, but we hit it HARD today! "Superstar" was at the class, so it was my goal to remain #2 on all of our runs, etc. I kept up pretty well during our opening run (which took us about 1.5 miles around the park including 5 laps around the bases with a jog from 1st through home, and a spring from home to 1st - 5!!!) After that, we ran back to the courts for some more pain. In total we did
-200 Jumping jacks (20, 40, 60, 80; every other 10 was rapid)
-80 squat/lunges
-3 minutes running in the sand
-2 x 1 minute planks
-30 seconds of slow high-knee raises, 30 seconds of high-knee running in place, 15 seconds of slow, 15 seconds of fast (that 15 seconds of slow is KILLER!!)
-some donkey kicks
-some squats...
.... and the list goes on!

Again, I was drenched from sweat and it was a GREAT workout! How do I know this? Well, there was one final run we had to go on, and of course, I was #2, BUT, about halfway through it, I just hit a wall. I couldn't even lift my legs. My body just shut down and I had to walk it back to the courts! While disappointed at that moment, I'm glad I pushed myself to the limit!

The Dreaded Stairs!

It was Asia's turn to come up with the West LA's run this Tuesday, and he decided that we should incorporate some stair workouts to help strengthen our quads, calves and improve our breathing. We went over to University High School, which was about a mile away, and we did it at a pretty fast clip (it to have taken somewhere between 8 and 8:30!)

Anyway, we did the stairs for about 20 minutes, and it was KILLER!

Here's a map just so you know where Uni-High is in relation to our runs.

Skipped Boot Camp

I can't believe I skipped Boot Camp! Even after having a relatively restful weekend in Palm Springs! Anyway, I woke up feeling so out of it, that I snoozed for another full hour! Anyway, I did manage to make up for it (somewhat) by getting in a decent workout at LA Fitness.

I did a warmup run on the treadmill for 2 miles, then went straight to the mats. I did some pushups, plank, pike, and crunches. I can't believe how sweaty I got. My entire shirt was soaked and sweat was dripping off my nose, my forehead, everywhere! After getting in some calisthenics, I focused on my arms by doing some bicep curls (30lb curl bar), tricep extensions (10 lbs; over my head) and some shoulder raises (10 lbs). All were with light weights, but I did 3 sets of 12 reps.

I felt great. If I regret not doing one exercise, it was definitely forgetting to focus on my back muscles (row, lat pulls). I think that would have been quite helpful as well. Anyway, I am going to try to incorporate at least one weight-lifting day to my weeks moving forward (I'm sick of not being able to do pushups or plank for 5 minutes!!!!)

Palm Springs - Day 2

Same deal as yesterday. Didn't really do much. I do have to admit that waking up and heading down to the pool was definitely nice. After that, I met up with Zach and his fiancee (Saskia) in El Paseo near Palm Desert for some coffee. Good times...good times!

I can definitely say that this was a fun, relaxing weekend, and I can't wait to get started on the upcoming case and continuing boot camp!

Palm Springs!!

I figured I could reward myself with a trip to Palm Springs! (Too bad it was just as hot as Vegas!!!) We're talking 105-110 degrees during the day and 90-100 at night! Anyway, I didn't do any exercising and just took in the very nice accommodations (including the Pool Party) at Hotel Zoso.

Anyway, going to meet up with Zach tomorrow before heading back. Should be a relaxing weekend overall.

I made it! Boot Camp is done!

Well...to be honest (both to you and myself), I did oversleep and miss one class this past Monday. That said, I'm pretty stoked to have stuck to this regimen of waking up everyday at 5:30 and doing something active, be it boot camp or the West LA running club.

For our final class, Nandor really turned it up and still managed a way to beat us down. It was pretty simple...run around the park, and then spend 10 minutes in the sand (3 minutes at a light pace, 4 minutes of 15 or 30 second intervals and 3 minutes of a moderate pace). It was killer - this 10 minutes made me play "catch up" for the rest of the class!

Of course, we also had to do our requisite pushups and plank - given the sand workout, we did 5 separate 1-minute planks (as opposed to 5 minutes in one go) and again - I don't know why, but my shoulders keep giving way (I have to admit, if there is one thing I've been slacking on, it's my pursuit towards 100 pushups)

Anyway - we're done - we made it - and guess what...I signed up for more! So stay tuned and hopefully I'll continue to make improvements. (One place where I need to step it up is definitely the pushups)

As for this weekend, I'm going to reward myself with a little trip out to Palm Springs for some R&R!

Cut another minute off!

Dave had a rough day of travel up to SF and back, so it was just me and Asia for the run today. At first, I was trying to plan out a flat 5-mile run for us to take it easy while still logging some good distance. The routes I tried out had too many stoplights and seemed pretty monotonous. Given that, I suggested we just go for the big 5.9 mile run that I first did on August 10. The first run I did took just over 59 minutes, the second time took 55:13, and this time we took about 53:40. That means I'm down to 9:10 miles now.

I really think I'm going to get to that 8:30 goal by November - I can just feel it.

On another note, today is the official "weigh-in"...but I think I want to wait a couple more days until finding out the verdict (maybe sneak in another boot camp session and 5 more miles of running!!) ;-)

Penultimate Boot Camp - Day 14

Woke up today and felt horrible, again! This time, however, it took a few extra minutes to get going, but it was a good thing that we started off boot camp with a quick jog around the park. It was something manageable and definitely something I've been familiar with (see every other post before this!)

Anyway, I felt like hurling all day - and the exercises weren't that much more intense than any other day -- I don't know what it was.

The most intense exercises were 1) the jumping jacks WITH resistance bands and 2) 10-second pushups....10 seconds down...10 seconds up...10 times. Who knew that slowing down an exercise like that would make it that much more intense?!

I'm up for our group run tomorrow - don't know what I want to do just yet. You'll have to check back in tomorrow to see what I ended up deciding on!!

Apparently we're all training for a 10K

even though only Asia's signed up! Ha. I'm glad, however, that Dave decided to combine both his first run (July 24) and the Santa Monica Airport runs (Aug 7) to make a 5.2 miler with a ton of hills. I definitely felt like I made up for yesterday's piss-poor showing. I ended up not making it to the evening boot camp nor the gym b/c Will dropped in from NY and I just had to grab a beer with him.

Anyway, here's a link to the run (in case the picture below is screwy):

Overslept!!!

Oh no! Hopefully I'll be able to make it to tonight's 6:30pm class. It's the last week and I have to make sure I finish strong!

(I felt so dead this morning - it probably had to do with me running yesterday.)

Another 5.9 miler - Try to go faster

Last week, I did this great run up through the San Vicente neighborhoods in Brentwood - though I hit a weird "wall" about 2 miles in, I wanted to try this run again to 1) break through that "wall", 2) make up for yesterday's piss-poor "rest day" and 3) see if I can improve on last week's time.

It was, as usual, hot again. But the run went pretty well. I think it helped to see a bike race on San Vicente, that kind of distracted me and motivated me all at the same time. So, the final time was 55:13 (down from 59.48 from last sunday!)...that puts me at 9:20's....I think it's pretty good and I'm definitely headed in the right direction. The ultimate goal will be to get it down to around 51 or 52 minutes - I think that'll put me at 8:30's....but I think that's still a few months away - maybe by Thanksgiving???

If you want to see the run, go here. (Or scroll down to the Aug 10 post)

Summer Party Aftermath - ad hoc rest day

Man oh man - yesterday's summer party at the beach was great! Got to learn how to surf - well, at least stand up on the board. (It's super tiring!) After about an hour of that, that's when the damage really started. First with beer, then onto shots and mixed drinks, I was drunk by 4pm. It didn't help that I continued to party and took it through to midnight with Deepak over dinner and drinks.

Anyway, Deepak and I were supposed to meet up this morning and go for a run - well, waking up at 1:30 didn't help - so....it's a Rest Day!!!

Boot Camp - Week 4 Complete

While I can now string together 20 pushups in one go and get up to my 50 - 100 for the day, doing them at boot camp is a whole different ordeal. I don't know if it's the sequence of exercises, the fact that I'm totally winded or what, but I'm good for no more than 5 pushups!!

I guess that's a good thing - means I'm really working those critical muscles out to the point of failure. In fact, that seemed to be the running theme to today's workout - do more exercises as soon as you're out of breath. For example, we would to 50 jumping jacks, then jump right on to our bellies and then do 20 squats and then back down to do 20 divebombers (if you're curious, I'd be happy to show you - it's a really neat exercise)...anyway, after the divebombers, Nandor's like "ok, let's go!" --- basically, that means let's go run a mile and then come back to do more...that's what we did for the whole hour. Not so much focused on strength, but really making sure our bodies can handle a high level of aerobic stress.

Well, 4 weeks complete and only one more to go! Also, the official weigh-in is next week, too. (Can't wait!!!)

West LA running club - ready for more!

Asia's run today was slated to be around 5 miles - it turned out to be around 4.6, but it was still a good run. We ran today up into the VA center, and then proceeded around the LA National Cemetery, through Westwood Village and back. It was a good run, especially the last half mile or so, where we really picked up the pace. I think we're ready to add a little bit more to these runs and before we know it, we'll be knocking off 5's in no time!

Here's today's run (with elevation):

One Hand Pushups?! (not quite)

Today's boot camp was awesome! While it's still brutal getting up at 5:30 (especially after staying up past midnight watching the Phelps beast dominate in Beijing), I actually enjoy the initial 5 minute warmup runs we do now.

The main theme of today's workout was to "up the ante". By this, I mean we pushed our planks out to 5 minutes, used the higher resistance red bands (instead of green), and even attempted one-hand pushups after doing 60 normal ones (yeah, right...I did the first 20 normal, then the rest were on my knees -- still beastly for me). As for the one-handers, I managed to squeeze out 3 on each hand to about 30%-40% of the way down. (We were trying to do 5 on each hand)

Anyway, I think I'm starting to understand the difference between "more of the same" and really "pushing it"

Anyway, I think Asia has 4-5 miles planned for us tomorrow. I'm gonna try and "push" it - we'll see what happens

Intense! (= Gumby legs)

The West LA running club mixed things up a bit today. I had everyone run into Stoner Park (it's about a mile for each of us) and meet up at the tennis courts at 6:30. I had planned on running 3 sets of "lines" on the courts (see diagram below) but we ended up running 6! (Precisely the reason why I wanted this club to exist - so that we (I) keep getting pushed into doing more)

While we didn't go for distance, the start/stop nature of this workout really worked a number on my calves and especially the quads. Thursday, Asia's up for our run - I just know he's gonna go 5+!

Boot Camp - 2/3 Done!!!

Wow. I have no idea what has been afflicting me in the mornings, but I just feel so clammy and want to throw up. HOWEVER, as soon as we start the first exercise, I lose that feeling, and within 10 minutes, I feel great. It must be adrenaline or something. I just wish I knew what it was and knew how to control it.

Anyway, we really focused on shoulders and back today. I guess there were the requisite ab exercises (i.e., bug, scissor kicks, 4 and 3.5 minute planks) but it was really all about the shoulders. Lots of lifting with the resistance bands, mountain climbers, pushups and...well, I don't even know what to call it, but rolling onto your side holding yourself up with one arm and one leg (same side).

Anyway - did 75 pushups yesterday - I'll try to get in another 50 (staged, of course) before heading to bed.

I still have to plan out tomorrow's run, but it will most likely be a one mile warmup, running the lines on the tennis courts (3-5 times) and then jogging back - that should definitely fill up the 30-45 minutes.

Week 4 Begins - with a long run!

I ran for an hour today. A full 60 minutes. It was hot, uphill, and definitely a workout. I thought my legs would give out on me, but it was more the endurance b/t the heart and lungs. Anyway, I made it (almost 6 miles!) and can't wait to make 5 mile runs routine (again).

Here's where I ran - relatively flat - just wanted to get to the 60 minute mark:

Rest Day - Week 3

Today was a pretty chill day. I woke up super late - like 11am! This past week just really took a lot out of me. Anyway, ended up finally heading into the gym for about an hour's worth of exercises. Did some bicep curls, tricep extensions, shoulder raises and then some ab stuff a la Jorge - like doing the plank but putting my feet up on the ball.

I tried to focus a lot of the workout on strengthening my arms and shoulders. I think it was a success in that they felt like Gumby arms after I was done.

Anyway - I'm setting up for a big run tomorrow - probably around 5 miles - don't care if I go slow - just want to try to go for 50 or even 60 minutes.

Boot Camp - Week 3 complete

Man oh man - today really felt like a boot camp. I don't know what it was, really - maybe it was the emphasis on doing diamond pushups every other exercise, or maybe it was quicker than usual transitions before exercises. Nandor really upped it today, maybe to make a statement that we're over halfway done now and we're ready for the next level.

Anyway, it was a great boot camp, no new exercises that I haven't talked about already, just a flat out, constant pushup, jumping, planking, running cycle for a full hour.

It's really getting hard to resist weighing in and getting a progress report. I know I have to wait two more weeks - it'll totally be worth it.

Next week: Boot Camp week 4; also, Asia and I are up for running routes on Tues and Thurs.

I haven't decided what I'm going to do over the weekend yet. Maybe actually head into the gym on Saturday and try to throw down the 5-miler on Sunday - of course, we'll have to wait and see...

West LA Running Club - We got lost AGAIN!!!

At least this time it was in our benefit - well, in terms of having to run less (instead of last time where we tacked on an extra 0.5 miles!).

Dave came up with a pretty good run that took us by the Santa Monica airport. It was also different than the other runs in that we went downhill and then uphill for the second half (opposite what we usually do).

Anyway, we also saw that the Barney's warehouse sale is on this week - so maybe I'll go check out some suits there.

Tomorrow will be the last boot camp for week 3, get a run in perhaps on the weekend, and keep on keepin' on.

Today's run:

Boot Camp - Almost Halfway Done!!

It was a hot and humid again! On top of that, I think I'm getting sick (probably from the hot-cold-hot iterations I did in Vegas this past weekend). Anyway, today's session was clearly focused on toning up the butt. We did a number of squats, intervals, bacwards running, step, and donkey kick exercises - and I felt it. This, of course, was in addition to the typical exercises - plank, bug, running around to random places - but it was yet another change.

So far, out of the 7 sessions, no two have been the same. Though I was a bit under the weather (confirmed by the reappearance of those pesky purple spots!), it was still good to get out there and do something active. Again, I almost didn't go b/c I wasn't feeling up to it, but the "Patel" in me kicked in and was like, "you already PAID for this class" ha ha

Anyway, Dave said he'll be putting together a new 4-mile course for us tomorrow. Can't wait to see it!

West LA Running Club - Week 3!

Asia had a 3.8 mile run plotted for us, but we ended up getting lost at Montana and San Vicente...as a result, we ended up running 4.8! It was a good run, though a bit noisy on the busy streets (San Vicente, Wilshire, Barrington), but all-in-all, it was a really nice run. I'm sure I'm going to feel it tomorrow, most likely for two reasons: 1) we ran at least a mile longer than I usually run and 2) we ran for an extra 8-10 minutes than I usually do, too.

That said, we finished the course in about 43:30 so that was good. (Also, Dave did really well - he was concerned he wasn't going to be able to go much longer than 28-30 minutes, but he powered through to the end.) In fact, I ended up finishing about 20 seconds behind both Asia and Dave.

Anyway, it looks like the running club might be a fixture here on the west side!

Dave's up for the next run on Thursday - can't wait to see what he plots out for us there!

Map of today's run:

Boot Camp - Week 3

OMG - it is sooo humid! Nandor showed up about 10 minutes late (he said he 'overslept' which is a good thing because I was under the impression that he always came to boot camp from somewhere, implying that he gets up at 4am or something crazy like that)!

So we started off with Indian Runs - joined the fast group and I was feeling like a million bucks - no cotton mouth, going faster than everyone - all in all, I think my running is starting to take shape.

As for strength, that's a whole different matter. Whenever we do plank, pushups, inch-worm, mountain climber - basically anything involving me holding myself up with my arms, my shoulders ache so badly! I wonder if my shoulders are just THAT weak, or if I'm in a weird position. I think I'll try first to directly strengthen them and that means that EVERY off day (T, Th, Sa, Su) I need to do pushups. At least 10 - hopefully 20 or 30. I think if I can do that, I should start to be able to handle the exercises at boot camp much better.

If not, then I think I'll have to ask someone for advice on my form or specialized exercises to strengthen up the right muscle groups.

Anyway - it was a great start to the week and I'm looking forward to pushing 4 miles with Asia and Dave tomorrow!

Vegas = Trash One's Body

Out at the clubs till 2am last night - woke up at 10am and hit the road right away. Still took nearly 6 hours to get back - I don't think I'm ever driving to Vegas again!

Anyway, got back and felt really yucky so decided to go on the Brentwood CC - Two Hills Run (see "Overheating" on Jul 26). It was good - did it in 34:27.

On top of that, I did a few pushups (10); did the "bug" for 1 min and stretched for a solid 10 minutes. I was so overheated that after my shower, I had to get out of my oven of a place and headed over to 3rd St. and walked around for about 2 hours. I may have walked another mile or two, but I think it was a really good idea to keep moving and to get into a cooler spot.

Tomorrow: Begin week #3 of Boot Camp! I can't wait till Aug 21 when I get to really see if I've been improving or not in terms of weight, waist size, etc.

Vegas, Baby!

Wow...so it took 6 hours to get out of LA and out to Vegas...dinner at midnight Friday, so no additional exercising then. Saturday was a good rest day...hit up the pool, go hit the slots, and catch a show (Ka @ MGM Grand). There was absolutely no way I was going to run as it was 108 deg during the day and 102 at night!!! Yup, 1-0-2!!!

So what did I do on Saturday? Not much - just 10 pushups in the afternoon.

Boot Camp - Week 2 ended!!!

Oh man. I am just not getting this right. If I'm going to start trying to become a morning person (i.e., wake up between 5:30 and 6 every morning), then I can't be staying out drinking till midnight - 3-4 times a week!

Last night started out at the W for the LEK alumni event - free food and drinks, cabanas...basically an all-around good time. After that, we headed over to Beechwood (again) for Cavs' surprise birthday party - I told myself "only one drink" with the expectation that I'd be out of there no later than 10pm....well, 11:41 rolls around and I still hadn't left. Anyway - enough about last night.

This morning, I got to boot camp about 10 minutes early - walked around in the sand for a bit to get the heart pumping - but probably shouldn't have and instead should have drunk some water as I had cottonmouth about 5 minutes into the class (and never really recovered).

There was a big emphasis on arms and chest - I am really really weak. I don't know why it's so hard, but we did 50 pushups, and by 15, I had to punk out and go to my knees to finish them off. Between 40 and 50, my arms were shaking! I guess I just need to keep at it.

As for other exercises, I've been doing plank just fine...for about 1 minute, after that, my shoulders start aching real bad. I know the abs are supposed to hurt, but I didn't think my shoulders would be feeling it, too. Maybe I'll check in with Nandor and have him look at my form on Monday.

As for this weekend, I'm heading to Vegas - probably won't get a chance to do much (which could be really nice), but I'll try to get in the gym on Saturday afternoon. Of course, I'll keep y'all posted.

West LA Running Club - Ouch

Dave is in SF
Asia got back from Boston late late last night.

So it was just me running today. Woke up ok. Didn't feel as bad as I usually do when I wake up, but there's definitely that feeling where you just don't want to get up or be up for about 15 minutes. After that, though, I'm all good.

I ran a new route today, just trying to find some variety in / around my neighborhood. This loop was up to Sunset and back via Bundy. I thought I'd see some nice houses, but I didn't. I think the first run had the best views, so far. Anyway, it was a little longer at 3.85 miles and I did it in 36 minutes. A brutal 36 minutes. There's no way I'm going to get back down to 4.3 in 35. But I gotta keep trying.

Tomorrow's boot camp and then, hopefully next week the West LA running club will be back in full effect. Asia's run on Tuesday, and Dave's run on Thurs.

Here's a map of my run up to Sunset and back:

1/3 Complete!!!

Getting up at 5:30 still hurts. I don't know how much longer I'll be able to resist hitting the snooze button!

Anyway, got to boot camp, and today, it finally came. In Jorge's circuit training class at Berkeley, he used to set up the stations such that you were doing abs / lying on your stomach right after doing an exercise that had you breathing heavily. Today, it was running laps in the sand, and then immediately onto our stomachs while raising both the arms and legs in the air. Right after that, 40 jumping jacks, back to the sand for some run-skips, and then back on the stomachs, except this time, acting like I was swimming. And I had the same response as in circuit training - purple spots and an incredible urge to HURL!!

It was a great workout, and I'm glad I made it this far. Only 10 more sessions to go!

West LA run - week 2

Wow! I woke up today at 5:30am even after a big meal and a late night (12:30) - without my alarm going off. Who knows? Maybe this whole early AM thing might be kicking in (let's just keep our fingers crossed that a ridic case doesn't roll in).

Dave came by (Asia's in Boston for training) and we did the same run I did on Saturday - the Brentwood CC Two Hills run. It was pretty good...got a bit cottonmouthed at the start of it, but that fixed itself about halfway through.

I'm starting to feel some improvements (i.e., getting through these runs without feeling like I'm about to die!) I didn't really notice it yesterday, but I think it was a really good idea to take that Sunday rest-day.

Can't wait to "check in" on Aug 21 - if anything, I know I'm going to be "feeling" a lot better, even if I don't "see" it.

Week 2

Wow. I thought yesterday's "rest" would've done the trick, but I really had to fight the urge of NOT going this morning. I, however, didn't let myself be THAT weak...at least, not yet. So I went to boot camp - today's focus was abs...without a doubt. Did quite a few planks, crunches, and really slow situps. Both going up and going down. Doing one rep over 10 seconds really burns!!!

Today, Nandor started achieving Jorge-like status in my book...he was doing the plank, with is arms bent across his chest...he started first walking forward - forearm over forearm...and if that wasn't enough, he started spinning around - left leg out to the side , then move the arms, then bring the right leg in...did a full 360!

I now know what I need to get to.

Anyway, Asia's got a great run lined up for Thursday - it's a bit longer at 3.86 miles, but I'm confident we'll be able to make it!

Rest Day

Yesterday's run killed so bad. I felt I had to take a rest day so that I can at least be in some sort of decent shape for the upcoming week. Anyway, boot camp tomorrow, bright and early at 6am. I'll definitely give an update on that tomorrow.

Overheating!!!

Okay...this goes on my personal list of stupid things I've done: running at 3pm on a hot, sunny day, uphill! I'm still sweating and it's been over 30 minutes since I got back. Anyway, this is my first weekend since my new exercise/boot camp program started, and I'm still figuring out what I'm going to do. I decided that I have to do something, but should it be jogging, running intervals, lifting weights? I have no idea. I think I'm going to head on up to San Vicente and try doing some interval training in the median...hopefully early in the morning - this whole afternoon thing is not a good idea (still sweating).

As for the course, I basically ran the West LA Running Club's inaugural run, but backwards. Also, I took another hilly street back just to intensify the jog slightly more.

Here's the run:

Boot Camp - Day 3

Oh man! Today was rough! First of all, I am really not setting myself up for success here. For example, last night I went out on "Lady Hornblower" for a company social event around the marina in Marina Del Rey (aka Booze Cruise). That actually ended at 9pm...ok, so we were pretty lit, but 9's early enough to recover from. HOWEVER, my idiot self agreed to go to Brennan's on Lincoln afterwards to watch the turtle races...LAME! Except for the two add'l drinks at the bar, that was kind of a bust...net-net, I didn't get home till 11:30---head stopped spinning enough for me to get to bed by 12:30...so had about 5 hrs of sleep last night - woke up with a crashing headache.

As for boot camp, again, Nandor switched up the routine - today we did a lot more leg work...some hills, some sprints, some stairs...it was brutal. I saw the purple spots again, actually had sweat dripping off my face in the plank, and get this, I looked over my shoulder and I saw steam coming off my back!!! I can't wait till August 21...that's when we have our first weigh-in.

One final note - don't know quite yet what I want to do on the weekends...if I want to rest or just keep pushing. Nandor recommended instead of doing the ~3 mile runs, to do interval training...maybe I'll try that tomorrow and take it easy on Sunday.

Gotta get logged in for work - gonna hit up Wine House on the way in...it's my turn for wine-club this week!

West LA Running Club - Run #2 at Dave's house

Looks like this running club is going to be a winner - day #2 and everyone showed up on time...same crew: me, Asia, and Dave. We ran around his neighborhood at an easy pace (for some reason, we were all hurting / sore) but it was a nice run, nonetheless.

Here's a map of what we ran:



Next week, we'll run my route, backwards, as Asia'll be in Boston for training. Can't wait to see what he conjures up for Thursday's run!

On a side note, I gotta say, that neighborhood on the southeast side of the Santa Monica airport has quite a few nice houses...I might need to take a closer look and learn more about the area!

Boot camp - Day 2

Damn!!! I'm weak. There was a little bit more running this time - which I did decent at, but there were definitely difficult parts, too...I really need to strengthen up - had the hardest time trying to do 50 pushups - did nowhere near that many...but we'll get there...the other parts that were difficult were the "bodybuilders" and 5 minutes of lunges...in the sand!

Nandor orchestrated another good workout - can't wait till Friday!

As for tomorrow, gonna go run with Dave and Asia again around Dave's place...the running route will be coming shortly!!

West LA Running Club - Inaugural Run

Today was the first meeting of the West LA Running Club. Currently, there are 3 members: Asia, Dave, and me. We went for a 3.25 mile run to Brentwood CC and back...it was nice, there were a couple of hills, definitely a lot of nice houses, and just a fun 30 minutes! Can't wait to see what Dave has planned for us in his neighborhood for Thursday!

Check out the run route:

First Day at Bootcamp

Hey everyone! This is my daily blog tracking my exercise / diet / fitness / discipline program.

I have only a few goals that I hope to attain over the next 6 months all towards an overall theme of increasing my self-discipline:
1) Write something in this blog on a daily basis
2) Exercise on a daily basis
3) Improve my diet
4) Lower my hours at work

With that....

....today was my first day at Boot Camp at the Cheviot Hills Rec Center. I was hoping to wake up early enough to take it easy on the way down there (~10 min drive); however, it didn't happen. Sarah, Dante and I had an amazing dinner at Shamshiri Grill in Westwood (lamb koobideh is now my favorite dish, surpassing the chicken tahchin).

Anyway, back to the Boot Camp - I woke up at 5:51am...booked it out the door and made it by 6:02...close enough, but it was obvious they got started without me (I'll definitely need to get there earlier so I can stretch out)

The exercises were tough, with the majority of the program focused on core strength and calisthenics - lots of push ups (and variations), lots of ab work, and we even did a 3 minute jog in the sand...Nandor, the instructor, has a great attitude, and he succeeded already as drill sergeant in getting me to almost puke on two separate occasions in the span of 45 minutes!!

This really wasn't the ideal start I hoped I'd have...on top of waking up late and realizing that I'm WAAAYYYY out of shape, I didn't go with my own towel / mat....VERY BAD IDEA...we did most of the exercises on the blacktop / basketball court so you can imagine that it wasn't very comfy.

As for my performance, I probably did 50% of the exercises, either half as fast, half as many, or half the weight depending on the exercise. The full range of fitness-levels is there in the class...which makes it nice to set a goal and strive to that next level.

Next up:
1) Buy an exercise/yoga mat
2) Get in a 3 mile run tomorrow morning (gotta do it at 6am!!!)

If you're interested in seeing what I'm doing - hit up the West LA Morning Crunch boot camp site here