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