Tag Archives: herbalife24 rebuild endurance

herbalifestrong.com

Day 109. Say Ahhhh …

Two days removed from Day 1 of T25 (Tuesday) and a 6.32 mile run (Wednesday), I enjoy this off day. I’ll continue T25 once I get a pair of house cross-training shoes. Attempted to use the Vibrams and it was a bit challenging. The inside of the Vibram has some loose threads and that rubbing effect wasn’t the best for my feet. My motto (one of many) … Until I finish the marathon — PROTECT MY FEET!

So, I call it a day off, but I actually did 2 sets of various arm movements, alternating with no rest with 3 sets of various shoulder movements. Rest compared to having my feet rubbed raw like I was one of the P.O.W.s in Rambo 2. No thanks to that … remember the motto!

I was able to try something new today. That’s always brain enhancing. My wife discovered a frozen Yakisoba noodle — she just happened to be really hungry that day and stumbled upon this in the community fridge. No need to call the fridge police. I took a trip to Costco and today was the day to partake. The verdict? Delicious and Fast. In three minutes, you’re eating and on your way. My kind of food.

Life lesson #109 — keep your eyes, ears, and mouths open for new opportunities. You never know what you see, what you hear, or how it tastes until you try new things.

Morning weight = 171.5.

Thursday, 09-26-2013

Day 109. Don’t Knock It.

Life lesson #109

Keep your eyes, ears, and mouths open for new opportunities. Remember that old saying, don’t knock it ’til you try it.

Today was one of those days when I happily discovered a new food. Frozen Yakisoba can actually be “Yummy”soba and not so “Yucky.”

Thursday, 09-26-2013

Day 109. Veggie Corndogs

run262

MyFitnessPal 09-26-2013

When did I eat:

  • 8:15am – (Meal 1) Breakfast is served. Herbalife smoothie and Herbalife Core Complex.
  • 11:20am – (Meal 2) Lunchtime. My wife discovered this while at work. A unknowing co-worker shared her Yakisoba with her. My wife since confessed and it’s all good. My next Costco trip was just for this noodle bowl. Chased my food with Herbalife supplements.
run262 ustronger marathon nutrition

Meal 2

  • 2:20pm – (Meal 2.1) Snack time. Yes, that Yakisoba was “yucky” at all. It was “yummy”soba. Sorry about that … but I’m sure the kids will like the play on words. Chased with my favorite snack food of all time, Lay’s Original Chips.
run262 ustronger marathon nutrition

Meal 2.1

  • 5:45pm – (Meal 3) Possibly a dinner, but definitely good. Hot Dog on a Stick veggie corndog and some fries. The picture shows a lot of ketchup and mustard, but it was just for the photo op. I’ll stick with mustard on my burgers.
run262 ustronger marathon nutrition

Meal 3

  • 7:40pm – (Meal 3.1) C.R.E.A.M. – Cookies Rule Everything Around Me. Not quite Wutang, but I’m sure their lawyers will be calling soon. First visit and quite possibly my last. I’ll stick with It’s It. The cookie was hard — one bite and all the ice cream squeezed out and the cookie broke. Not the cleanest way to eat an ice cream sandwich.
run262 ustronger marathon nutrition

Meal 3.1

  • 9pm – (Meal 4) Homemade egg fried rice to end the night.
run262 ustronger marathon nutrition

Meal 4

Thursday, 09-26-2013

Day 108. Disciplined in the morning, not-so-much in the evening.

All my nutrition packed in the morning to get me through my middle-of-the-week run and after burning 839 calories according RunKeeper, MyFitnessPal tells me I just added it back with a dinner bear claw (540 calories) and buttered popcorn (720 calories). Hey, at least I didn’t do the cliche diet soda. I’m still a card carrying member of the water drinking club.

Ahhhh … but who’s counting. Well, I guess I am with the help of these two Apps.

Life lesson #108 — Use the available tools to gain insight towards your goals. Don’t use a spoon to dig a hole, use a shovel.

Morning weight = 171. Post-run weight = 170.

Today’s Meals:

run262

Meal 1 — 8:45am

run262

Meal 2 — 12:30pm

run262

Meal 3 — 5:30pm

run262

Meal Snacks (see below for times)

Snacks:

  • 630am – Pre run nutrition and hydration. Herbalife24 Prepare, Prolong, and Niteworks. 1 medium-sized banana. Tip! Best to eat a minimum of 30 minutes before a run. Preferably 60 minutes.
  • 3:30pm – Kind Plus Peanut Butter and Dark Chocolate bar
  • 7:30pm – Local bakery – fresh bear claw. Ate 1/2 during my 5:30 dinner and enjoyed the rest later with popcorn. Salty and sweet … I think I just found my new favorite flavor. Bear claw flavored popcorn. Packed with calories and it was delicious. Regal buttered popcorn.
  • 9:30pm – Herbalife24 Restore
run262

Meal 0 – Pre Run — 6:30am

run262

Meal 0.1 – Post Run — 8:20am

run262

Meal 1.1 — 10:55am

run262

Meal 2 — 12:30pm

run262

Meal 3 — 5:30pm

run262

Meal 3.1 (Snack) — 7pm

Today’s Activities:

  • RunKeeper tells me I did a Great Job this morning. Reminds of that kid during Game (something) when Lebron was walking off the court after they just got beaten like a dog. This future Tony Robbins shouted out, “Great Job. Good effort” which is in fact the exact opposite of what the rest-of-the-world’s eyeball’s just witnessed.
  • Today was a 2×2 mile fast. The stages are 1 mile slow. 2 miles fast. 3 minutes slow, etc. At the end of the session, I added another 6.32 miles onto my running shoes.
run262

RunKeeper 2×2 miles fast (09-25-2013)

Wednesday, 09-25-2013

Day 107. Day 1 of T25

Look what the postman delivered yesterday … we might as well become Beach Body representatives, better yet, Shaun T groupies. We have Insanity. We have Hip Hop Abs. We do the Dr. Oz versus Shaun T’s 15-minute workout. What? Never heard of that … Google it and then Do It! An excellent workout for the “I never have enough time” people in your life.

T25 Cardio Review

shaun t

T25 Cardio “Day 1”

I tend to rate things on sweat factor. For example, Insanity is a 3-towel workout. P90X Plyometrics is a 3-towel workout (and garbage can if you feel a little light-headed). Dr. Oz/Shaun T 15-minute workout is actually a 1-toweler.

So, what would an extra 10-minutes be like? Well after completing T25 – Cardio, it is officially a 2 1/2 towel workout. I’ve ran 14-miles and didn’t sweat as much as this workout. Just glad I was at home because after 6 minutes, I was already shirtless workout guy. You know the guy … he’s the one that when it comes to a “shirts and skins” pickup game of hoops, he can’t wait to be skins. He’s the guy in the gym that wears the matching Gold’s Gym spaghetti string tank top and biker shorts ensemble while he works out at 24 Hour Fitness. Well, I turned into all these guys shortly into this workout. Thank God I was in the comfort and seclusion of my family room.

The Good. It’s in the name. 25-minutes. Come on. If you can’t find 25-minutes at least 2 times a week, you’re either too rich to care or (permission to be honest) just lazy. Nobody is that busy. You may think you are, but we need to ask ourselves this simple question. How do others manage their 24-hours? Ultimately, it certainly is possible — just make a decision. Also, the constant movement is wonderful. First starting out slowly to get the body acclimated to the movement. It’s almost like a rest period while accomplishing its goal, steadily, but rapidly building up to a burn movement. Each movement is about 1 minute, targeting specific areas for 4 straight movements until Shaun T moves onto the next.

Then, that “rest” movement and repeats. So, ultimately, it is 25-minutes, but realistically, there is only 20 minutes of an intense, 2-towel-type of workout. Also, the girl that was featured front row in the Insanity discs is highlighted here as well, but (permission to be honest again), not so in-your-face annoying. First, congratulations to her because she just had a baby and she is featured for the low-impact version of the workout. Smart Shaun T. Very smart!

The bad. Your washing machines will go on overdrive because of all the extra loads of clothes and towels you’ll need to wash post workout. This again is a 2 1/2 toweler and there is nothing bad about this at all, at least Disc 01 – Cardio.

Will review the other workouts in the series as I do them, but I don’t plan on doing the consecutive 60 day workout. Sounds odd to say this outloud, being that I just soap-boxed the “lazy” tag for those who can’t find 25-minutes. I have my reasons. Notice how I didn’t say excuses, but reasons. In short, I’m nearing 80 miles per month road time now and I don’t want to burn out 60 some odd days from my main goal. I can say I’m excited for the possibilities for T25 as a lifetime workout. After graduating P90X and finishing 75% of Insanity, I can see this being an everyday workout. P90X and Insanity (permission to be honest once again) weren’t realistic for my lifestyle and being constantly sore wasn’t fun. Anyway, I don’t want to be “shirtless gym guy” anyway. You have permission to mock me if that day ever comes.

Life lesson #107 — You can “find” 25 minutes to do anything. Why not make that thing a workout.

Morning weight = 170.5

Today’s Meals:

Herbalife run

Meal 1 — 8:15am

herbalife run

Meal 2 — 11:45am 

Herbalife Run

Meal 3 — 5:30pm

marathon

Meal Various Snacks (see below for times)

Snacks:

Herbalife marathon

MyFitnessPal 09-24-2013 Results

T25 nutrition

Meal 1.1

mexican food

Meal 2

herbalife nutrition

Meal 3

herbalife run

Meal 3.1

Today’s Activities:

  • Off day, but doesn’t give me an excuse to sit on the couch to watch Seinfeld reruns (as good as that might sound). Shaun T’s T25 arrived yesterday so let’s give this a try. Cross-training will certainly help my fitness and help prevent silly injuries.
  • Googled the calorie burn for T25 Cardio. 600 calories for a 25-minute workout.

Tuesday, 09-24-2013

Day 106. Overdue

herbalife training

Overdue

I’ve had books overdue at the library. My wife has been overdue on her monthly cycle — unfortunately it was a false alarm. We were hoping and praying. I even have a run stroller in mind, but that’s a different blog. Now I can add “overdue” to my training regiment.

After my big Pacman push yesterday, I just didn’t need a rest. My body was telling me I needed a rest. I felt twinges in areas that I don’t normally feel so yes RunKeeper, thanks for pointing out that I’m “overdue.” I cliche-icly figured, “this is a marathon, not a sprint” so I will fight (ahem … run) another day. Missing one scheduled run won’t keep me from crossing the finish line.

Life lesson #106 — If books are overdue, you pay a fine. If your body is overdue, pay attention. Don’t injure yourself in the short-term for a long-term goal.

Morning weight = 172

Today’s Meals:

herbalife 24

Meal 1 — 8:15am

herbalife24

Meal 2 — 11:30am

herbalife run

Meal 3 — 5:30pm

herbalife run

Meal 2.1 — 3pm

herbalife24

MyFitnessPal 09-23-2013 Results

Today’s Activties:

  • Press screening of Ron Howard’s Rush and hanging with my parents. They are our movie partners. Regarding the movie … loved it and I know nothing about the world of Formula 1. If you think Derby folk are high-society, Formula 1 honks make the Derby look like a ghetto.

Monday, 09-23-2013

Day 105. Rock the 80s Run

Rock the 80s Run

Rock the 80s Run

Running Down a Dream fits today. One of my all-time favorite 80s jams and today being an 80s-themed fun run.

For the record, there was a Superman — not sure why, but colored tights can certainly be 80s. He should’ve rocked some leg warmers and took it over the top. I also spotted plenty of neon. I grew up in the 80s and didn’t notice that much neon, but I guess so. When I think 80s, I think big hair and break dancing. Not neon and Superman. But who am I to talk … I didn’t even bother joining in the theme fun so I don’t have a right to trash talk.

So, let’s talk results. No cape needed here … I think the words are “PR” or “Personal Best” 8:15/minute and 4th in my age group. Something to certainly to pat myself on the back for. Especially exciting because I ran my Mile 7 at 7:56 and Mile 8 at 7:35. I believe that is my fastest mile and to do it at Mile 8 was pretty cool.

rock the 80s

Post Run Photo Op

I seem to thrive in race situations. Let’s set the scene. About Mile 6, I can see a few people ahead of me in the distance. Their silhouettes first small, but as each stride, geting bigger. Am I closing the distance? I think I am and I say to myself, “I’m going to catch them.” So did I … I passed 4 runners on the left hand side (excuse the Musical Youth reference, but it is 80s) at Mile 7 and passed another runner about 50 yards later. I had 2 more to catch and the one immediately in front of me was fading fast. Done on the second to last turn to the finish line — it was a slight incline and I thanked God for those ramp runs.

Elk Grove California

Rock the 80s Run

The last guy was about 50 feet in front of me, but I was running out of real estate. I could sniff the finish line and I’m sure he could too. Probably thinking to himself, “I won’t let this guy pass me” How do I know that … because I’d say the same thing. Finish in sight and I ran out of gas. Sorry for the anti-climatic ending, but I literally ran out of gas and ended up 1 1/2 steps behind him. Could I have caught him? Yes. Did I catch him? No.

Why? Ahhhh, who knows. I tried my best and ended up 4th overall in my age group. From the results, it looks like the guy immediately in front of me was in the mid-20s age group so for all us 40-44 year old groups, I almost showed them young whipper snappers!

I just missed out on the special wooden Pacman. It was given to the Top 3 finishers in their age groups. I guess you could say I didn’t gobble up enough pavement fast enough.

Life lesson #105 — Be like Pacman. After finishing stages, he would show why he does what he does. Love!

Morning weight = 173. No post-run weight … attended an after party.

TODAY’S MEALS:

rock the 80s elk grove

Meal 1 — 6:15am

herbalife run

Meal 2 — 1pm

rock the 80s elk grove

Meal 3 — 7pm

herbalife run

Meals Snacks (see below for times)

Snacks:

  • 9:20am – Post-Race nutrition. Banana and Power Bar Energy Blast. Always fun hanging out after the race and partaking in the food samples a la Costco kiosks.
  • 2:30pm – Snickers Peanut Butter Squared
  • 4pm – Homemade Rainbow Cake. Cake featured in Meal 2 photos.
herbalife run

MyFitnessPal 09-22-2013

herbalife run

Meal 0 – Pre Run Nutrition

herbalife marathon

Meal 2

Herbalife run

Meal 3

herbalife run

Meal 3.1 — 9:45pm (peaces)

TODAY’S ACTIVITIES:

  • Race morning and feeling good. Thankful that my training schedule perfectly aligns with the mileage for today! Do your best and forget the rest! Let’s do this! Oh … and looking forward to hanging out with my family and friends
Rock the 80s Run Elk Grove

Rock the 80s Run Results

Sunday, 09-22-2013

Day 104. Is Chili a Good Pre-Run Meal?

What a perfect God we have. I’m scheduled for 8-miles today. But wait … I have an 8-mile Rock The 80s race tomorrow. I don’t need to see people walking on water to call it a miracle or the blind given sight. Are those miracles, of course! Is this a miracle? Of course! Reminds me of one of my favorite scriptures:

Romans 8:28 — All things work together for good for those that are called according to His purpose.

I haven’t quite gone “bumpersticker with this”,but I the magnet hangs on my fridge. Over the years, I have seen God do wonders and this scripture has been a foundation in my life. I’ve found that even if things don’t work out as we plan (keyword “we”), God’s plan is always better, thus the ALL THINGS. If you study that, just imagine. ALL THINGS. Not just some things, but ALL THINGS. I love this promise from God.

And this is so cool … since I didn’t run today, RunKeeper somehow didn’t even dock me a non-training day. Even calls it a rest day. Today’s words of encouragement … I like RunKeeper even more now. Quoting bible scriptures!

Ecclesiastes 11:4

Ecclesiastes 11:4

Life lesson #104 — There are no small miracles, only small visions. Give thanks!

What I learned today from my food intake … my wife’s homemade chili has almost no sugar. Note to self! But, is “Chili a good pre-run meal?” Here’s the answer http://www.livestrong.com/article/781-eat-before-running/

Morning weight = 173.5

Today’s Meals:

herbalife run

Meal 1 — 8:45am

Herbalife run

Meal 2 — 1:30pm

herbalife run

Meal 3 — 7:30pm

herbalife run

Meal 2.1 3:30pm

 

Today’s Activities:

  • Rest day. Ready for tomorrow’s race! Wondering what costumes I’ll see tomorrow … will there be a Tubbs and Crockett sighting? Would be hard to run in alligator slip ons.

Saturday, 09-21-2013

 

Day 103. Do I Still Run When I’m Sick?

Wife home — not feeling well. Nice for me … love spending more time with her, but probably not the ideal situation for her. She’s been doing her best Joe Camel imitation for about 2 weeks now.

Has me thinking … what to do when not feeling 100%? Some say rest. Some say eat chicken soup, but that does no good for vegetarians. Some say 7-Up is an absolute cure all (I might be swayed to belief this — 7-Up has saved many a day in my life). But what to do when you’re not feeling 100% and it falls on a big day, for example … off the top of my head, a marathon? Or just training days? And especially as the days grow shorter and Winter weather creeps in.

Today I’ll get my mindset that no matter how I feel, I will complete the goal. But in doing so, first and foremost, I will pray for health and restoration not just for me, but for everybody running the race. While my wife does her best Joe Camel, I’ll do my best postman … rain, sleet, snow (or sniffle).

Life lesson #103 — Make up your mind on how you will react before something happens and this will keep your attitude steady. There will be surprises, but you don’t have to be surprised by them.

Morning weight = 173. Post-run = 170.

Today’s Meals:

herbalife run

Meal 1 — 8:15am

herbalife marathon

Meal 2 — 1:30pm

run

Meal 3 — 7:40pm

marathon

Meal Snacks (See below for details)

Snacks

  • 9am – Meal 0, Pre-Run Nutrition. Herbalife24 Prepare and Niteworks.
  • 2pm – Meal 2.1 European chocolate biscuit cookies
  • 3:30pm – Meal 2.2 Filipino Suman
run marathon

MyFitnessPal 09-20-2013 Results

run

Meal 0 — 9am

marathon

Meal 2 — 1:30pm

marathon run

Meal 2.1 — 2pm

marathon runner

Meal 2.2 — 3:30pm

Herbalife Run

Meal 3 — 7:40pm

Today’s Activities:

  • With the Labor Day race on Sunday, this Friday run will be a nice warm-up and I’ll push back my scheduled Saturday run and save it for race day!
herbalife run

5 mile easy run

Friday, 09-20-2013

Day 102. S.O.S. Sugar-On-Sodium

So one of the best parts of this is tracking my food intake. Not just calories, although I’ve found it to be the easiest way to monitor weight loss/gain. It’s also the other elements of a healthy and dare I say balanced, meal plan.

Here’s the deal … it’s like I’m 10 years old again and eating candy and everything sticky. My sugar intake is off-the-hook. Thank God I’m not a diabetic, but I do know that diabetes runs in my family. I am consistently over my recommended sugar intake by a whopping numbers.

And let’s not talk about sodium. If sodium intake was an Olympic sport, I would be a gold medalist for sure. These figures are glaring and I’ve noticed them over these past hundred days, but I’ve never actually noticed them. That’s just a nice way of saying I wanted to ignore the signs of a potential problem. All hail the “Guy Code!” Avoid, avoid, avoid!

Sugar. With my family history and my uber-numbers, it’s time to see what it’s doing to my body so it is time to enroll in Google U’s course on “What Does Too Much Sugar Do To My Body?” In sum, because of the blood sugar spike, my organs think I have enough energy (fuel) to keep my body going and instead of burning fat for fuel, stores fat. What? Two worst words ever … stored and fat. Here’s the full story

I notice this from a body perception … I burn a ton of calories weekly and yet my weight has been increasing and I noticed I’ve stopped shrinking around the waist. Metabolism got me again, but now I’m “hip” (pun intended) to its plan.

Sodium. Google U (“What Does Too Much Sodium Do To My Body?”) isn’t a pretty picture. Of course, I’m not one to get alarmed, but it’s simply not smart to ignore a potential problem. Based on what Professor G says, sodium (table salt) is essential to maintaining fluid blanace for hydration. Since I didn’t understand that, I dove a little further and in layman’s terms, too much sodium can cause the body to retain fluid which also increases blood volume. With an increased blood volume, my heart has to work harder to push blood to my major organs, ie High Blood Pressure. There’s more to it than that, but High Blood Pressure is a mic-drop moment because a chronic problem can result in heart complications and I’m sure I speak for all of us … no thanks! Here’s the full story

The plan. Do my best to monitor my sugar and sodium intake. As it is, I feel I eat better than most. I’m a vegetarian for goodness sake which makes me superior to most. (I’m hoping you watched Scott Pilgrim vs. the World because if you didn’t, I sound like a big jerk). I jokingly say the vegetarian thing because I was also a 224 pound vegetarian at one time in my life — a diet of bread, rice, and pasta is dangerously vegetarian. People use to say I was the biggest vegetarian they’ve ever seen.

So in doing my best, I also know if I can increase my metabolism with supplements, I can also start to see the waist shrink. I noticed weeks ago when I was consistently drinking Herbalife Concentrate Tea I had a tightness in the mid-section that I was really digging. Why I stopped, don’t ask me, but it seems like a good time to start up again.

Life lesson #102 — Live and learn so you can continue to live. Don’t ignore blaring glimpses of the obvious.

Morning weight = 172

Today’s Meals:

Meal 1

Meal 1

Herbalife Run

Meal 2

Herbalife24 marathon

Meal 3

herbalife run

Meal – Various Snacks (see notes for times)

Snacks:

  • 3:30pm – Homemade Banana Split Cupcake (can you blame me?) Two of my favorite things … homemade and banana split.
  • 4pm – Cereal break plus my favorite biscuit.
  • 9:30pm – (not listed), but like clockwork, I take Herbalife24 Restore daily.
herbalife run

MyFitnessPal 09-19-2013 Results

Meal 1 -- 8:15am

Meal 1 — 8:15am

marathon

Meal 2 — 1:30pm

run

Meal 2.1 3:30pm

Meal 2.2 4pm

Meal 2.2 4pm

herbalife run

Meal 3 — 7:30pm

Today’s Activities:

  • Rest and recovery.

Thursday, 09-19-2013