Family, family, family

One of the things I'm blessed with in life is a wonderful family.  That goes without saying for my immediate family (my wife and children), and my own parents, brother, and his family.  But I'm blessed with an incredible, wonderful extended family as well.  My in-laws, in particular (both sets), as well as Jess's sisters and their families, make up part of this group.  There's not a person among them whom I don't genuinely enjoy, so at last count that's 4 (3 living) parent in-laws, 7 siblings, 4 sibling in-laws, and 3 nieces and nephews.  I've spent so much time with them over the last 10 years and more that they feel like home to me as much as any group of people.  We were just in Maine for a weekend, and had an incredible time with John and Phyllis, one of Jess's sets of parents (grandparents to our kids!).   I could hide and say I'm really glad just for the kids' sakes but I'm glad for my own sake too.

My own more distant relations - grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, were a big part of my life as a young child, but primarily because of geography I haven't seen much of them since.  There was a short period of time when Jess and I lived in Colorado that I was beginning to renew some of those relationships, but we moved away and I have mostly lost touch again.  It strikes me as a loss that I wasn't as close to extended family in my own (later) childhood as I now am.

On a totally different note, I am beginning to get pissed off at myself for failing to get up for morning runs. I've been variably good and not so good at this in the past, but this is a new low.  I've got a busy week at work coming up and I'll give myself a break, but after that I've got to suck it up and run early, especially as the weather is warming up.  As I always try to remind myself, I never regret it when I do it.

Notice in the photo to left my outstanding nutrition plan!

3 days ago: yoga 40 minutes, 13 burpees
2 days ago: run 4 miles / 37:14; PT back exercises, 14 burpees, 10 knees-to-elbows
Yesterday: 15 burpees
Today: PT back exercises, 25 pull ups (15 standard, 10 chinups), 20x3 leg lifts (up on dip-bar apparatus, lift legs to 90 degrees with a hold at the top, each rep of 3 is straight/left/right), 16 burpees

Can't avoid philosophy

I thought I was going to write about my workout today, and avoid philosophy, but I don't think I'll be able to do that.  It was a really fun workout, completed after my final physical therapy session, with a mix and match of core and upper body exercises with a few burpees thrown in.  I am slowly buying into the idea of short intense training, and today was a breakthrough as I abandoned the rule that any run shorter than 4 miles is a waste of time.  I ran for about 14 minutes today (warmup + "tabata" + cooldown).  Tabata is a protocol involving 8 repeats of 20 seconds maximal efforts and 10 seconds rest, introduced to me by my sister-in-law last summer.  It works, at least according to what I've read, and it definitely makes it feel like a workout.  The thing that blows my mind is that it twists specificity of training around on its head.  If I am training to run a fast marathon, shouldn't I be running fast and long distances?  This is in fact what I did 5 years ago or so.  But maybe I'm actually training for dynamic power output and high cardiovascular workload, and a fast marathon will be a side effect.  In any case, it's fun to branch out, and we'll see if it pays off in terms of performance.  It's all a question of goals, and fun is not a bad one.

2 days ago: PT/back exercises, 10 burpees
Yesterday: run 4 m, 11 burpees
Today: PT/back exercises; core (100 twist/leg up situps, 1 minute up-down pushup hold in 10 second intervals; boat pose 3x20 sec; 15 hanging knees-to-elbows, 10 side arm pushups); 20 pullups (10 standard, 10 chinups); tabata treadmill run (~7 min pace at 5% grade) with 5 min warmup and 5 minute cooldown; 12 burpees

Ready for bed

Long day but some great moments in there.  I spent much of the day and evening at work but had a nice time at it; at home I felt full of life and energy as I spent spent time with Jess and the kids.

Physically I feel at a bit of a turning point -- my neck has improved, my last physical therapy visit is this week, and I am feeling ready to (slowly) build back up some of the strength I've lost while sidelined.  Back to running when time permits.  I haven't forgotten about the speed training phase coming up.

Yesterday: PT back exercises, pullups (15), core workout (intense), Burpee War Day 8 (8 burpees)
Today: Yoga 35 minutes, Burpee War Day 9 (9 burpees).

Great evening

Great workout today - I pulled out the old p90x DVDs for a plyometrics workout in the garage, and had an even better post-workout dinner.  It was leftovers night, and I consumed a gourmet feast: chicken risotto, bratwurst, pesto couscous, grean beans, sweet potatoes, homemade mac and cheese, and fruit salad!  Awesome.

The best part was feeding Max while the girls were in bed and Jess was playing soccer.  We both fell asleep, me holding the bottle and he drinking from it.

I forgot to wish my brother a happy birthday on Friday, so Happy Birthday, Brian!

I'm looking forward to a week of speed work, and the continuation of the Burpee contest..

Yesterday: PT back exercises, Burpee War Day 6 (6 burpees)
Today: Plyometrics ~1 hour (lunges, squats, jumps, etc.); Burpee War Day 7 (7 burpees)

Another great evening run!

This one was even better than the last, with purple mountain views in the setting sun, and unbelievably perfect weather.  I turned up the heat early and although I wasn't wearing a watch, this one felt fast...

Yesterday: PT back exercises; Burpee War Day 4 (4 burpees)
Today: ran 4 miles (fast); Burpee War Day 5 (5 burpees)

An evening run

Four o'clock pm has long been my favorite time of day to run.  This extends a few hours in either direction, and although I have enjoyed many a morning, noon, and night run, late afternoon is is when I feel both at my best and that I benefit most from a run.  I haven't been able to run regularly at this time in a while; in fact most of my runs are either early morning or lunch hour runs.  So today, as I got home from work (at about 7:30), I decided to go running.  The sun had just set and the stars came out brilliantly, so I had a view of Orion and a sliver of a crescent moon.  I left the headlamp behind and ran a familiar route, enjoying the feeling of moving through darkness.  It may not have been four, but it sure felt good.

Today: ran 4 miles; Burpee War Day 3 (3 burpees)

Recovery week

58 degrees in the sun and clear blue skies as I drove home from work.  Great running weather, but no run.  I'll go tomorrow morning.  For some reason it feels like a weekend evening even though it's a regular, hectic, week.

Jess and I have started the burpee war with our relatives and friends.  The burpees seem trivial now,  an afterthought to the day, but I wonder how many it will take to supplement and then overwhelm the regular daily workout.  Will we be done at 100?  Any ideas from those experienced in the burpee ways?

Yesterday: Yoga 40 minutes - fairly intense; Burpee war Day 1 (1 burpee)
Today: Core workout & PT back exercises; Burpee war Day 2 (2 burpees)