INSANITY Fit Test 2

So today was the second fit test for INSANITY.  I'm happy with the improvements and I'm looking forward to pushing it more and seeing how well the next time goes.

Move	Fit Test 1 (Day 1)	Fit Test 2 (Day 15)	Fit Test 3 (Day 36)	Fit Test 4 (Day 50)	Fit Test 5 (Day 63)
Switch Kicks	55	122
Power Jacks	50	63
Power Knees	80	95
Power Jumps	15	43
Globe Jumps	6	11
Suicide Jumps	6	16
Push-Up Jacks	15	34
Low Plank Oblique	20	55

Ice Baths

New to running?  Not sure what this Ice Bath business is?

Check out this short video: http://running.competitor.com/2011/08/videos/recovery-the-ice-bath_15966

Hydration

Here's an article at Runnersworld.com about hydration and running:

Sipping Points

Check out the reviews of some carb and protein drinks on the second page.  You might be tempted to try something new.

Running 101

Runnersworld.com has a nice article, "Running 101: Class is in session" by Kara Goucher.

Some great tips on running, training and your first race.

Update

Just a quick update.  Markx Spot has done a little upgrade and now has a new address.

Now you can use www.markxspot.com!

More to come later today.

Weekend Posts

With it being a holiday weekend and the fact that I've been working on the look and feel of my websites, I haven't had much time to post anything.  I should be back at it tomorrow and plan on catching back up to my post a day.

M

New Look and Feel!

So as you can see, I'm in the midst of making changes to the site look and feel.  I feel this works better for the users than the old layout and gives me a little more flexibility.  As you can probably tell, I'm not done yet.  As I get time, I'll be adding more little things.

P90X2 Pre-Order

P90X2 Pre-Orders start today. If your interested in ordering head on over to my page: http://beachbodycoach.com/esuite/home/markxfitness and click on the link on the right hand side. Let me know if you have questions.

INSANITY Update

So today is day 6 of INSANITY.  Everything is going well.  I did day 5 workouts last night.  I did Pure Cardio and Cardio Abs.  Pure cardio was just that.  Cardio, take a break when you need it, but keep pushing.  Cardio abs is very similar.  Ab work for 15+ minutes straight, from the C-Sit postion and plank.  Great stuff!

Barefoot Shoes

I've been a Fivefinger guy for over a year now.  Not sure that these would be the same thing, but they do look interesting.

More Barefoot Shoes

Day 4 of INSANITY

Today's workout was a lighter one.  Cardio Recovery.  Some lighter controlled cardio and core work.  Still work up a sweat and work those muscles, but a great break before things get INSANE again :)

Counting down the days to P90X2, won't be long now and we'll be able to pre-order it.

Day 3 of INSANITY

Day 3 was a great workout.  Cardio power and Resistance.  Cardio, leg, core work.  Great stuff.

If you haven't heard of the beachbody trainers or workouts before, check them out!

Day 2 of INSANITY

The FitTest on day 1 gave me a glimpse of what was to come.  Day 2 was Plyometric Cardio Circuit.  Great workout!

I'm still working on my site, but you can check it out for more information or just ask me!

You can also check out my Facebook page or my Coach page!

Day 1 of INSANITY

So day 1 of INSANITY.  This was the Fit Test.  Know you can understand the warnings prior to workout videos and why they are there.  I was sweaty and humble after this fit test.  Didn't start off too badly, but then as you can see, it trickled off toward the end.

We'll see what the next fit tests have and if I can improve!  Stay tuned!

Move	Fit Test 1 (Day 1)	Fit Test 2 (Day 15)	Fit Test 3 (Day 36)	Fit Test 4 (Day 50)	Fit Test 5 (Day 63)
Switch Kicks	55
Power Jacks	50
Power Knees	80
Power Jumps	15
Globe Jumps	6
Suicide Jumps	6
Push-Up Jacks	15
Low Plank Oblique	20

13.1 Reasons to Run a Half Marathon

Nice article on 13.1 Reasons to Run a Half Marathon on the active.com website.

This comes at a crucial time as I'm trying to figure out if I have enough time to train for the local half that I had my eye on prior to the summer disappearing before my eyes.

It's the first week of December, so there is some time left.  I've looked at a couple training programs, but those all went beyond race day.  So we'll see if I'm able to get something in place in order to accomplish this or not.

Themes

Just a little something I'm working on for my blog space:


MarkxSpot:
Markx Monday
Tuesdays Tip
Training Tuesday
Wacky Wednesday
Thirsty Thursday
Fun Friday


MarkxLife (Still a work in progress):
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday


Just some thoughts about how to give some order to the chaos that is the list of draft posts that I have that is longer than the list of active posts on here.  


I'm still playing around with it when I have time so hopefully you'll see something solid soon.  Also coming close to finishing my Coach site.  More about that later.

Catching up

The one thing about using a watch to track all your workouts is making sure that you remember to have watch, cable and cradle in the same location in order to get the workouts off the watch and on to the computer to use in some fashion.

I happen to have the problem of not having those close at all and just caught myself up yesterday by adding 15 workouts to my Garmin connect account and my Dailymile profile.

I'm still figuring out the best method to track workouts and nutrition.  Currently I'm using Dailymile and Dailyburn.  Now, since I'm taken on the role of Beachbody Coach, I also have those tools to use in order to keep track of things and plan my workouts.  The nice thing about using the Beachbody website is that if your using one of the workout programs they offer, you can just select that workout program and the entire program gets put on your calendar!  Easy.

I'm off to do more work on my site and try to get it up and running in some usable fashion.

Next Phase

Just a quick post to update everyone.

I recently took on the role of Independent Beachbody Coach.  I'm going to try and make sure that I post on here daily as well as my other blog, the new blog I'm creating for Beachbody, Facebook and twitter.  This along with everything else that's going on will be something I will have to work towards achieving.  I'm optimistic and have high hopes that I can accomplish this along with the rest of life (class, family, work, breathing)

That being said, I have started the Shakeology 3 day cleanse today.  Basically you have 3 shakes a day with a salad for dinner and some fruit as a snack for 3 days.  I'll let you know after day 3 how it all went.

Thursday I'm starting the Insanity workout program, and from what I've heard about it so far, this should be an experience.

Incase your curious, here are my Beachbody websites:

http://beachbodycoach.com/markxfitness

http://myshakeology.com/markxfitness

Any other questions, feel free to contact me.

Stay tuned for more posts, video posts and updated sites.

Warrior Dash PA 2011

This past Sunday was the Warrior Dash in Albrightsville PA.  This was my first time doing to the Dash and I must say, it will now be an annual event!  I highly recommend getting to one if your able.

Pre race, nice and clean.

GO!

It was in PA remember.

Junk yard and tires.

Spidermaned it through the mud, so ended up not as muddy as others.

Post race pic at the sign.

Time for a shower.  Man was that water cold!

Wet, cold, happy and showing off the new necklace.

After a cold shower and some dry clothes, just had to put the helmet on :)  Not sure what that funky expression is though.

All in all a great experience and had a blast.  See you next year!

Guitar Logo

Google always has interesting images for their logo, or almost always.  Todays is a special one.  I'm continuing to learn to play the guitar and getting better as time goes on.  Some day I would like to be part of a worship team at church.  So when I hit Googles page today and saw the image (and it's interactive ... Go play!), I thought it was one of the better ones, probably because it's closer to my heart, but it is pretty cool.

It's "That" kind of Friday!

So it hasn't been too often that we've seen the sun this much in the past couple weeks with all the rain that we've had, so I figured it was "That" kind of Friday!

Juneathon 2011 - 2 June pt. 2

Went out for another run after work.  I lead a study going on right now at our church called Run for God.  So we get together with the students so that we can run together as a group and support one another.  Had a running group last night and did a couple laps around a local military museum.  Great day to run with the weather!  Our group did about 2.5 miles in 25 minutes.  It's a 12 week program to get them up to a point that they can run a 5k.  Monday will be the start of week 8 for them, so we're almost there.

2nd run: http://www.runningfreeonline.com/act/565642

I don't know that it makes up for missing the 1st, but have logged two so far.  We'll see if I can keep up now.

Juneathon 2011 - 2 June

So here it is, June 2.  I heard about Juneathon yesterday and didn't leave myself time to do anything so now I'm a day behind.  But here is a link to todays run: http://www.runningfreeonline.com/act/564996

This isn't much of a blog post, but today is pretty busy as well so it will have to do for now.  I'll try and work on this more so they are more wordy :)

Warrior Dash 2011

So the Warrior Dash in coming up soon.  June 11th and 12th.  We are signed up for the 3:30PM wave on June 12th.  This will be the first time that we've been to the WD and it should be a blast!  I've heard nothing but good things about it from people that have been to it before, and it's something that I've been looking forward to.

Warrior Dash

For those that don't know, it's a 3.5 mile obstacle course.  The website shows the different locations and the obstacles at those locations.  You get a shirt, fuzzy viking helmet, medal and a free beer!

Obstacles:

1. So the first obstacle is Crusader's Castle, doesn't sound too hard, navigate your way through, we'll see how easy that is :)
2. Next up is Blackout, looks like a tube with a covering on the end so it's dark.  So, uh, what's in the tube? ;)
3. Teetering Traverse is next, looks like balance beams, but over what? is the question
4. Barricade Breakdown, over top of walls and under barbed wire
5. Tunnels of Terror, nuf said
6. Arachnophobia, tangling ropes
7. Deadweight Drifter, waist high water and up over logs
8. Rio Run, running down a river
9. Slithering Swamp, unknown murky waters
10. Great warrior wall, scale the massive blockade
11. Road rage, scrap yard time
12. Cargo Climb, cargo nets
13. Warrior roast, jump over fire
14. Muddy Mayhem, crawl under barbed wire

So all that water, then you hit the mud at the finish :)  Sounds like fun!

We'll see how it goes and report back with a recap.

Some locals just completed the Tough Mudder, not sure we'll get to that level or not, but may be something to keep in mind.

Ice Cream Sandwich

Ice Cream Sandwich officially announced, coming in Q4 - http://pulsene.ws/1zjE8

Rules to run by

Great article on Runner's World, "A few rules to run by".  There is some great information here for all runners.  There were times I was audibly laughing out loud at some of these.  So here are some of my highlights, in no specific order:

Red lights (page 2)

For Pete's Sake, Stand Still at Red LightsSharks die when they stop moving. Runners do not. Keep this in mind next time you encounter a don't walk sign at a busy intersection. There's no need to jog in place or dance from foot to foot like you have to pee. Just chill. Wait a few moments. Note: If a nonrunner waiting with you at the crosswalk is dancing from foot to foot, he or she may indeed have to pee. Give this person wide berth.

Running rules of thumb (page 2) 

Running Rules of Thumb
1. If you see a porta potty with no line, use it. Even if you don't need to.2. If you have to ask yourself, Does this driver see me? The answer is no.3. If you have to ask yourself, Are these shorts too short? The answer is yes.4. 1 glazed doughnut = 2 miles5. You rarely regret the runs you do; you almost always regret the runs you skip.6. Not everyone who looks fast really is, and not everyone who looks slow really is.7. Nobody has ever watched Chariots of Fire from beginning to end. Not even the people who made it.8. You can never have too many safety pins on your gym bag.9. Running any given route in the rain makes you feel 50 percent more hard-core than covering the same route on a sunny day.10. If you care even a little about being called a jogger versus a runner, you're a runner.

Thank a volunteer (page 3)

Never Miss a Chance To Thank a VolunteerEven if you're running the race of your life, you can still manage a bit of eye contact and a nod as you grab a cup of water from an outstretched hand. Even if it feels like your quads are quite literally on fire, you can manage to sputter a short "thanks" to the course marshal standing in the intersection. It will make the volunteer feel good. And you, too.

Visual history of shoes infographic

Great blog post with a Visual history of shoes infographic.

Looking at the infographic brings back some memories.  You?

1946, the bunny slippers.  I don't know about the rest of you but I happen to have a pair of Mickey Mouse slippers.  Never did the bunny ones, but as the graphic says, Ralphie sported the whole suit!

How about 1989 with the Reebok pump.  Did you have a pair of pumps?  I know I did, to top it off, I'm one of those that had the bright black/red/yellow pairs :) ... oh yeah.

For those people in the IT field, you know how there are names for software that are normally given in beta or at some point?  (Mac OS X has gone through a handful of cats)  So do you think that back in 2006, Vibram named the first pair of FiveFingers "Lucy" :)

2011 Special Olympics Beaver Stadium 5k Run

My first official 5k was yesterday, 2011 Special Olympics Beaver Stadium 5k run.  I have got to say, I HAD A BLAST!  It was cold and windy but we had about 1600 runners (up from about 500+ last year).

Here are my unofficial stats:

The official times haven't been posted on the site yet so I'll have to check back and see what the damage was.


It was an interesting start to the race.  I don't remember what it's called right now but all runners were packed on the road together when we started.  Starting out was pretty slow.  Found myself weaving through people trying to find an open space.  This went on till about mile 1, which I still don't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing yet.  I found myself running faster than I wanted to at times so I could get to an open spot in the crowd.

The course overall was a nice one to run, only two hills for the whole thing.


Here are some first race observations:

1. Pack more clothes incase you were optimistic about the weather forecast
2. Even the runners that don't have headphones on are not looking as they cut you off
3. Most runners with headphones had them turned down enough to hear what was going on around them
4. Try to watch yourself as you run for open space in the crowd so you don't "over do it"
5. Run "your" race, not the teenager that finished in 15 minutes
6. Running hills before the race helped, at least I think so
7. Your adrenaline can get the better of you, good and bad :)
8. Hydrate, fuel and sleep, guess those go without saying
9. No timer chip, it was built into the bib!
10. Komodo Sports were awesome!

I'm sure there were other observations but those are the ones that come to mind right now.

The course took you from one end of the Penn State campus to the other and back again.  The finish line was the 50 yard line of Beaver Stadium.  

Funny thing about running and photos, you don't always get your good side :)  So a little while ago the web site Daily Mile asked for your worst race face photo.  I'm sure I'll have some nice ones to talk about for this one.  The photographer was sitting on the ground 50 yards from the finish.  I'm sure I have a distressed look on my face.  Here's a distant shot of what I can look forward to.

A little post race stretch ...

A little rest time with the goal post ...

My mom joined us in the cold ...

My picture with the State College Little Lion mascot ... (My senior year I was the mascot for State College, good times)

Me and Franco Harris ... (He was the official starter for the race)

Overall it was a great day.  Cold and windy, but a great day.

Up next, Dog Jog 5k April 30!

Disney Marathon

Here's a link to the Disney Marathon.  This would be really cool to run.  I know others that have done this and it would be something to remember.  What more do you need than a post race pic with some of your favorite characters?

Fitness food faceoff

Nice comparison of fitness food with real food.

http://www.menshealth.com/foodfaceoff/protein-bar-turkey-jerky.php

Running companion

Here's a pic of our dog Linde:

She runs every morning with one of us, or most mornings.  She's a golden retriever but from a field breed so she won't get any bigger than she is now.  This was taken on one of our trips to the barn to feed our horses.

White and crusty after a run?

So a while ago I noticed that my forehead was a little white after playing racquetball on a Saturday morning.  I didn't think much about it at the time.  Some time passed and it happened again.  So I started doing some reading and wondering if it was something to worry about or not.  

I'm not worried about it, but now I'm aware of it.  Here's an article at Runner's World that talks about salt intake.

MyFiveFingers.com Year-Long Giveaway

As most of you know by now, I have 3 pairs of VFF's and love them all!  Or as my sister likes to say;

"You wear gloves on your feet".  

My latest pair, Komodo Sports are my favorite so far.

Well, MyFiveFingers.com has a year-long giveaway going on right now!  Check it out:  http://www.myfivefingers.com/win-fivefingers/

They have multiple ways to enter and your entry last all year!  Hey, you can give them to me if you don't want them ;) 

Race update

So I have a race schedule, somewhat, setup.  I'll be looking at some other 5k's to work into the schedule as the spring time draws near and we get into summer.  Really going to try and do the 10k at the Arts Festival but I'm still on the fence at this point.

First race coming up:  
Special Olympics Beaver Stadium 5k Run
Sunday, April 17th 2011
I'm trying to raise $310 for the Special Olympics.  Figured it's a 5k, I don't know enough people to raise $5k ;), but I should be able to raise 3.1.  $3.10 was a little too low, $31 didn't seem right either, so $310.  I'm almost halfway there.  If you'd like to help out you can click here to get to my page.  Thank you for your support.

General Update

So I think the blog situation is finally worked itself out.  I have what I had in mind setup and now I'm working on images for the headers on each.  I did work with one more design that I do like and may end up switching to at some point, but it is what it is for now.

I'm also working on gathering my ideas for posts as well as some weekly posts (Markx Monday, Tuesdays Tip/Training Tuesday, Wacky Wednesday, Thirsty Thursday and Fun Friday, etc.).  I've had those in mind along with some topics and how to organize things (yeah, I'm a neat freak, I know it shouldn't take this long), so I think I'm about ready to jump in!

Blog

I haven't been posting much lately because I'm still working out what I'd like to see on here.  I've been looking through various templates and other blogs and trying to figure out what would work best for me and anyone that would visit.

Some of the things I've been thinking about:

• Sharing links for posts Done
• Footer links, are they needed?  Do I have enough to warrant the need for them? Done
• Layout of information
• Extras for the sidebar, what? why? etc.? Done

So this has been a longer process than I had intended and somewhat of a learning curve is needed for some things.

I appreciate anyone and everyone that stops by to look this over and hope that things will be in place and I'll be sharing what little information I may provide soon.

Thanks

M

Runner/Athlete?

Are you a runner?  Athlete?  Social bug?  Then you have to check out The DailyMile.  This is the best site packed with encouraging people doing the exact same thing as you.  You may be struggling with your workout, no motivation to get out there and put in a mile or 2, but when you start talking with the people on this site, it changes your world!

I've been a member since the end of last year, so just short time.  I was looking for a site that would help me track my milage and workouts.  A friend recommended this site and I've been hooked since.  I didn't put myself out there right away and only had 2 friends that happen to be coworkers.  Then I posted a message on the forum titled "1 month later" and immediately got 3 responses.  Just a simple post to say I was there, no requests or anything.  Since then I have responded to a number of posts and became friends/motivators with 47 people!  I'm not the most popular, nor the most vocal, but these people are amazing, always there, always supportive, always helpful.  Not a day goes by that I don't look forward to posting my workout/run and checking out what other people are doing, or reading the questions and answers in the forums from what to eat, to how to train for a full marathon.

This is a great resource and should be a stopping point and bookmark for all browsers that are active.  It's your chance to join a family that is there for you and will help you through the tough spots.

New VFF's!

So I got my new pair of VFF TrekSports on Friday and used them on my runs in Annapolis over the the weekend. All I can say is, loved'em! Put a little over 9 miles on them. I started out with a pair of KSO's a year ago and really enjoy running and working out in them. I did some more research and ordered TrekSports for trekking, traveling and working out, and Komodo Sports for running. I plan on using my KSO's for water sports now.  Komodo sports should be here toward the end of the month as retailers get them in stock. Highly recommend checking out a pair for whatever your sport is.  

10k Steps a day

So I had this assignment for my health class that we had to wear a pedometer to see how many steps we take a day over 3 days.  I didn't know if I would do 5k a day, let alone 10k a day.  I thought I would be closer to or over 10k on the days that I run before work.  I didn't wear the pedometer on my runs so maybe I'll check that out in the next week or so, but for 3 days:

Day 1: 6545
Day 2: 7314
Day 3: 3873

I wore the pedometer from 6AM to 6PM so my numbers may be a little higher if I were to put it on from the time I got up till the time I went to sleep.  It was an interesting assignment to see how many steps I took in a day.  


Where are you on the scale of 0 to 10k?

Barefoot running

I'm avid about outdoors and activity so it may be no surprise one of the sites that I like to check out is Outside online and just today I came across an article on their site titled "The 8 Essentials of Barefoot Running".  This was interesting to me since I have a pair of VFF KSO's and looking at the Komodo Sport and TrekSport.  It has some good tips and techniques for transitioning from traditional running to barefoot running.

This has been something that I've been interested in since I got my first pair last year.  I started off using them for running, working out and also for water sports.  This peaked my interest in using them more often and looking at some of the other styles.  So here I am a year later and about to venture in to using them more.  I've been looking at more Injinji socks to wear with them, I have two pairs right now, a white pair and a black pair, the black pair is my cold weather wool pair.

So we'll see where this takes me, I'm going to try and keep this more up to date with what's going on and experiences with them rather than waiting another year.

Android Honeycomb

So I just watched a video on the Endgadget website of the Google Android event and I must say, I'll have to look at the pricing for the Motorola Xoom.  The features and functionality of this system are pretty cool. Check it out.

Vibram Five Fingers Update

At one point I had a blog, don't remember where it was that I made a post about getting my first pari of VFF for running, working out and just generally wearing them around.

So it's a year later and I'm looking at a couple different pairs of VFF to add to my collection and I thought I would post an update as to what my experience has been with my first pair.

I had a friend of mine mention that I should "take it easy" when I first got them, and she wasn't crazy.  The first time I tried them out I used the treadmill in our basement.  I did a 40 minute run, 10 minutes heel, 10 minutes forefoot, then repeated this and kept the treadmill on or around 4.  After my test I felt great, thought it went well, and was looking forward to my next run.  Needless to say that was not "taking it easy" and I was walking funny for the next couple days.  It didn't take too long and everything was fine and I would use them every time I went for a run.

I also used them for working out and used them when we went to swim in the creek.  I have the KSO's and absolutely love them.  I did get some funny looks in Wegman's when I was waiting in line, but that was fine.

I looking forward to my next pair and plan to wear them as much as I can, I have a distinct feeling that I'll be living in them over the summer.

Garmin Forerunner 305

I had been looking for something to replace my Nike+ for some time now.  I had started running a couple years ago with an iPod Nano and Nike+ and really enjoyed the ability to track progress.  The audio notifications were nice as well.  This time around I wanted/needed something a little more advanced.  My wife and I are fairly active; hiking, camping, horseback riding, running, working out as well as other things so I wanted something that would help to track everything but also help while camping/hiking/horseback riding to get us back to camp or the car.

In comes the Garmin Forerunner 305.  This was recommended by a couple friends runners and riders for the ability to track and get you home.  I ordered one at the beginning of the new year and have only used it for running, walking the dog and one ride, but it is exactly what I was looking for.  I don't get the audio feedback like I had with the Nike+ so that's the only con for me.  The Garmin does beep when you want it to, certain distance, time, etc. but if I'm plugged in to my iPod I feel like there's a chance of missing the little beep.  We'll see how that goes.

I've only touched or used a few of the features on the Garmin and look forward to getting in to some of the more complex features as the warmer weather comes around.  This was a great purchase, and I'm looking at adding the foot pod and pedal to the mix so that I can use it with the treadmill and when we go for a bike ride.