P90X Phase Two - Day Forty Two

Today was as usual, a make up day. I have missed both Yoga X on Thursday and Kenpo on Saturday do to scheduling conflicts. So I decided to go for Yoga X as the workout I made up.

I really went for it all the way up to Warrior Three. With each move I would really push myself to go farther than before. Once I got to Warrior Three things started to get too tough. I had to drop my back leg to the ground to do the moves, but I still pushed the exercise as much as I could.I would twist as far as I could on the Half Moons, and with each breath go a little more.

It was a very good session, and I am glad I did it. One of the main things in the boat is balance, and Yoga really works you over in that department. I highly recommend it to improve your balance, flexibility, strength, and endurance.

Ab Ripper X

My third round of Ab Ripper X was the best so far. I some what managed to keep up. Now I have to work on keeping my legs straight. The hardest one are the two where you raise your legs straight up in the air. It really starts to hurt my lower back, so I roll up a towel to support my back. It seems to work.

P90X Phase Two - Day Forty

Another round of Legs and Back. My ability to do pull ups is still not that great. In this workout you end up doing around 100 pull ups. I do not find it fun tonight. More like a chore in fact, but I managed to fight my way through it. I will feel good about it in the morning, but not right now.

P90x Phase Two - Day Thirty Nine

I was late getting in last night, so I skipped Ab Ripper X. So this morning as my "reward", I did Ab Ripper X. Oh boy, what a way to start the day. I still do not like Ab Ripper X but I have a goal of doing them all from now on. God help me.

Sun Run Training Run #1

Today was my first Vancouver Sun Run training run. It was just an easy 6 km jog just to shake out the cobwebs known as my running.

The entire workout was only 41 minutes long, which consisted of:

5 minute warm up
15 minute jog
1 minute walk break
15 minute jog
5 minute cool down.

During the jog, I concentrated on technique, landing on my forefoot, and springing off with each stride. I kept the stride itself to a short distance, but kept the turn over at a medium pace. Also I focused on driving my elbows back, and keeping my arm bent at less than 90 degrees. (hands closer to my feet) This helps in keeping my shoulders from shrugging while I am running.

It was a good workout, after having not ran in so many months.

P90X Phase Two - Day Thirty Eight

This mornings workout was Back & Biceps. This was another of the workout that does not have repeats in it. So it was hard to determine the amount of weights I should use for each exercise. So I erred on the side of caution and backed it down a bit. Starting with lighter weights until I could figure the exercise out.

I marked down in my log book if the weight was easy, medium, or hard. So the next time, I can "bring it". This week repeats for the next three weeks, so I will be doing this each week. Trying to best the previous weeks high score, so to speak.

I must admit, this program even though it is tough,(or as tough as you want to make it) is a lot of fun.

P90X Phase Two - Day Thirty Seven

It has only been 6 hours since the last workout, and here I am doing Plyometrics this morning.

I was really bagged this morning, but I managed to keep up with everything except the single leg hopping. I still have difficulty in doing the criss - cross. So I just hop up and down instead.

By the time I was finish I was drained. It felt good, but I am going to be knackered for the rest of the day.

Ab Ripper X

I did a round of Ab Ripper X. I don't do these workouts too often. I know I should but for me these are really difficult, and I don't really like it. It is totally wrong attitude, and I need to change that fast.

By the time I was finished this workout, I was shaking, and completely soaked from sweat. I glad I made it through it. I will use this session as my motivation for the next Ab Ripper X.

P90X Phase Two - Day Thirty Six

Today is the first day of the second phase. I am one third of the way through the first round. It is kind of a milestone in my journey for better fitness, and being able to go faster in the boat.

I thought that Shoulders and Arms was a good workout. It was nothing compared to Chest, Shoulders and Arms. This workout is great. For the first time through this workout, I took it easy on the weight. Good thing. Even with the lighter weights I was struggling with the last three reps. The slow motion push up were specially hard. Going down for a count of four, and back up to a count of four, and it seems Tony counts way too slow. The one arm push ups I had to do it on my knees, there was no way I was going to able to do it with straight legs at that point.

My personal favourite exercise in this workout was the pike presses. It is a kind of do or die exercise. If you fail part way, you are going to do a face plant guaranteed.

P90X Phase One - Day Thirty Five

This session of Yoga was a hard one. I was doing ok with the moves all the way up to Reverse Warrior, and then things went south. I was really struggling with Warrior Three. I had to drop one one knee more than once on each side.

The balance moves were good, but anything that required me to keep my leg straight wasn't going too well. My Hamstring are not very flexible at this time. This is an area I really need to work on, if I am going to improve at this.

Masters Technique Session

Today was a Masters Technique class at Burnaby Lake. I have missed the last three or four sessions.Since that time the ranks have swollen to over 12 paddlers. There was around 13 or 14 K1s out on the lake today. It was a prefect day for paddling, no rain, no wind, and it was actually warm out. I had to strip down to one long sleeve shirt after one lap of the lake.

I got to the lake early so I could set up my Thunder and get a good warm up and stretch. I did a short dryland warm-up of running in place, with high knees and wide stance, much the same as in P90X. Then I did all my stretches, especially working on the my legs, or so I thought.

There were so many boats that there was a line up to get out on the water. Once on my way down the lake, I realized that I did not in fact stretch my Hamstrings enough, because boy could I feel them, they were really tight. I even considered turning around to go back to the dock to stretch them, but I kept going.

My balance was pretty good today, I had no emergency braces at all. My stroke rate was medium, some where around 80, and I was just concentrating on technique. After about two laps of the lake, the call came from my coach, to turn around and see her. She said she was going to video me and observe my stroke. I told her to give me a few meters for the steam on my glasses to clear up. She said I didn't need to see.

So off we went down the lake. It never fails, the video camera always makes me nervous, and it sure showed. Then we stopped and discussed my areas of improvement. As usual, I am leaning too far back, and losing it at the catch. (Hamstrings too tight) I was going to slow with my rotation at the hips (Hamstrings too tight) and not enough slide. I was cycling too fast and not pausing for the setup. I need to slow down at the setup with a horizontal shaft, "before" putting the blade in for the catch.

This is why you have a coach. They are able to see where you cannot, the errors in your technique, and give you ways of correcting the problems.

After the video section I did two more laps and then headed in. It is good to see so many new faces to the club. Most of them are from the Tuesday night races in Deep Cove. Good job Chris and Gary for promoting the club. Next weekend I will back at the slough to train in K1.

P90X Phase One - Day Thirty Three

Core Synergistics was the workout this morning. Today I was sluggish, and wasn't keeping up on some of the exercises. I kept an even pace throughout the workout, but could not get into the "X" level of it. As usual I did the extra. It does not make sense to me to stop, and fast forward to the cool down. Just keep going and do the extra stuff, at the end you feel much better for doing it.

Still having difficultly in doing the banana to superman. Will keep working on it. Presently I am setting up my calendar to do two rounds of P90X. The next one will be doubles, and should take me to the start of the spring surf ski racing.

P90X Phase One - Day Thirty One

This mornings workout was Kenpo. The one issue I have with this workout is that there is not enough of a warm up for the legs. So the next time I am going to do this one, I will do a separate warm up before I start.

At 5 in the morning, things are just not ready to go full out, and my hamstrings were not up to the task today. My kicks were basically pathetic. The punches no problem, actually they were a relief after trying to do the kicks. As with the other workouts, this is just another part to work on to get better. The workout is fast paced and fun.

I was still sweating from it, even after my shower. It really gets the heart pumping, and I guess that is what it is all about.

P90X Phase One - Day Thirty

Wow thirty days already. Time really flies when you are focused.

This mornings workout was Core Synergistics, and after only getting about 4-1/2 hours sleep, it was difficult. This is really a great core workout, and I felt it afterwards. On this first run through I did not add any weights to the exercises, just worked on form.

This was a good idea, especially doing the Lunge, Kick Back, Curl, Press routine. I tries it first with weights but had to drop them because I was such a spaz, I kept tipping over. I also had trouble doing the Superman to Banana exercise. Going from Superman to Banana I had no problems, but going the opposite way, I had to push off with my hand every time.

No one is perfect right off the get go, and these are areas I need to work on. It what makes this program fun. Learning new exercises and moves makes it interesting and challenging.

P90X Phase One - Day Twenty Nine

Today's workout was Yoga X, and It is becoming my favourite session. When I started doing this workout at the beginning, I cannot tell you how many times I fell over. I was thinking that Tony and the group was not human, but I kept working at it, and now I can go through the workout without falling.

Mind you my form is still no where near to the group. but I am going to keep pushing it. This workout has really helped my flexibility, and this will show up in the boat. My Quads and Hamstrings have always been really tight, which does not equal a good leg drive. The looser the muscles the better the drive with each stroke. It will also help prevent injuries, and increase my endurance.

P90X Phase One - Day Twenty Eight

Today I tried as usual to play catch up on the workouts that I missed. It was a grinder doing Legs & Back. It has a lot of pull ups, which is my weakest area of all, but even with that said, I have made improvements doing them. Small improvements, but improvements all the same.

Tomorrow I start week #4, and the cardio section of the program.

Monday: Yoga X
Tuesday: Core Synergistics
Wednesday: Kempo X
Thursday: X Stretch
Friday: Core Synergistics
Saturday: Yoga X
Sunday: X Stretch

It will be a good week of workouts, that's for sure.

P90X Phase One - Day Twenty Four

Today was my fourth round of shoulders and Arms, because I am re-doing week three over again.
Even with my cold, I managed to keep the same intensity was the last time I did this workout. The only exercise I did not match was the second round of Tricep Extensions. I had to stop two reps short because I was going to drop the weight on my head.

Since I have started P90X, my chair dips have gone from 20 reps to 40 reps, with my butt just short of touching the floor. Those last 5 reps are a killer. I am also up to 20 Side Tri-Rises, again the last three or so reps are difficult, to say the least.

Even though I am struggling with the weights I am using, I need to start looking for heavier ones. So I can decrease the number of reps I am doing. Less reps with heavier weights is where I am heading towards.

P90X Phase One - Day Twenty Three

Back on track with the workouts. Today was another plyometrics session. It is becoming one of my favourite workouts because it is a grinder. It really makes you want to work hard.

Even though I have been only at it for a little over three weeks, including the pre-P90X sessions, I am starting to see results. I need to add another hole in my belt, to tighten it up more, and I have lost about 5 lbs. Cool.

Tomorrow it is back to the weights and my top work out, Shoulders and Arms

P90X Phase One - Day Twenty-Two

Today is my re-start of week three. Last week I had a cold, and wasn't feeling that great that I only managed one P90X workout all week. So I decided to re-start at week three. I managed to go beyond what I did last time with some of the exercises, but on others I bombed and could only do half the reps.

That is what it all about. Trying to better the last time, and kept on improving. Even if it just one more rep than last time or more weight with the same number of reps. Inch by inch, step by step, just keep pushing yourself, and you will get better.

Deep Cove Distance Surf Ski Paddle

It has been two weeks since I was actually in a boat, that you can paddle. It was a group paddle out of Deep Cove, on a beautiful partly sunny day. It was a well organized paddle and thanks goes to Jeff of SurfSkiBC for setting it up.

It was a good turn out with eight paddlers taking part. There was Jeff in a Fenn XT, Katja in a Think Legend, John in his Fenn Millinium, Ben in a Fenn 6, Tom in a Westside X-Par missle, Gary in a Think EVO, Caroline in her Huki SX-1, and myself in a Think EVO.

We had a brief discussion on which course we were going to do, and the north or old marathon course was picked. this would take us out of the cove going, of course north, to the power stations and back. So off we went, at a nice easy pace. The pace was perfect for practising technique, and since I had missed the previous days' Technique Class, this is what I needed.

As I was paddling along, I heard a boat motor coming from behind. I turned and saw Tom riding the stern wash of a big sail boat that was going up the arm. So I jumped over and rode the side wash for a little while. Then I dropped off the waves and let it go for a short distance, and then hammered along the side wash back up to the boat. It was a good drill, but very tiring. By this time Ben and John were up in the distance ahead. We managed to get spread out a bit, but every once in a while the leaders would stop and we would regroup.

As we were coming to the point where we turn to cross the arm to head over to the power stations on the east side of the arm, I saw a familiar face coming towards us. It turned out to be Bern coming back from paddling to the end of the arm and back. This was a long paddle of about X kilometers.

We all stopped and grouped up to cross the arm together. Caroline had cut the corner, and was at the north power station waiting for us to cross. As we headed south along the east side of the arm back to the cove, we were four across, and cruising at a nice pace. I could see Tom off to our right closer to the middle of the arm, and Gary and Caroline bringing up the rear. As we came to Twin Islands, the front group stopped for a quick rest and then we were all off in different directions.

Jeff and Katja headed towards Bedwell Bay, John and Ben headed towards Raccoon, and Tom and myself waited for Gary and Caroline to catch up. Tom and I discussed which way to go, and I said I was just going to head straight to the cove from here. Once Gary and Caroline had caught up, off we went in a group of four. Once we had passed Raccoon, I could not see which way Ben and John went. It turned out that they went towards Jugg. As we headed towards the cove, our group split in two, with Tom and Caroline going down the middle, and Gary and myself heading over to the west side of the arm.

At this point I was starting to get fairly bagged, but I looked over and Gary was going strong, so I sucked it up, and kept up the pace. It wasn't until we got inside the cove did Gary say I needed to take it easy on him. The whole time I thought Gary was driving the pace. Oh Well.
Since I did not know when I was going to get out actually paddle with a group, I decided to crank up the pace, just for fun. At first it was 10 kph, then I upped it to 11kph, and then I had some left in the tank, and pushed it pass 12 kph. It was a good hard push at the end of a great paddle. Hopefully I will start feeling a little better, for the next paddle. hopefully next weekend in the Thunder. So the paddle ended up being 18+ kilometers in two hours.