So, how about you? Will you challenge yourself to do [insert your age] pushups, situps, pullups, chinups, and then walk/run for 65 minutes? You can if you put your mind to it, decide, commit, take the appropriate action (which means eat right and exercise) and train for it.
I encourage you to do your own age challenge and I'd love to hear how it goes for you.
If you have health and fitness goals but haven't had success reaching them before, let's talk. My passion is working with people helping them reach their goals and I'd love to talk with you.
This is Christmas party season! Three this week plus networking events 3 days as well. Having fun AND taking it very easy with desserts. I want to stay on track but allow myself to enjoy the parties - so making choices - like, OK, I'll hold off on the cookies but will try the meatballs! Yeah, life is tough.
Getting ready for Thursday's big challenge day. Today (Tuesday) I did the P90X X Stretch, then a 5K Walk/Run (third best time so far), and then Zumba class. I'm glad I'm doing all three as each adds something special to my workout routine. (And I'm grateful my business allows me to do all this!)
Another running day, another good time. Today was a walk/run day in my 5K series. My time wasn't outstanding, at 35:03, but it was my second best overall time. I have reasons (excuses) for the slower time - it was about 10 degrees colder, plus the delay between my 50 minute P90X stretch was more than a half hour, rather than getting right to it as I did on Tuesday, when I had my best ever (so far) time, but the greatest win for me is that I am consistently getting the 5Ks in my routine and I'm totally enjoying them. After the 5K I also went to a Zumba class and was into it so much someone asked me if I was going to fly out of the room! LOL.
I have a week to go on this Challenge, till the 15th, and I'm really looking forward to hitting ALL the numbers that day.
The 14th day (of 22) of my 65 Challenge was a good one for many reasons. One reason was that my early-ordered copy of P90X2 arrived (I'm starting that program January 1st!). Another pretty cool thing was I had my annual physical yesterday afternoon and my cholesterol, after being off cholesterol meds since May, are better than they were even when I was ON the prescription drugs! My LDL (the good cholesterol is waay up), my ratios are great, and my overall cholesterol is only 128! Right on Shakeology and P90X!
So now to today's walk/run 5K. I had a walking day, and the time was 47:58 - loads more than yesterday's 32:36 when I ran a little more than half the way. That's okay, though, because Thursday I'll run again, unless it's raining, and my time should be under 40 minutes again (if not a new personal best ... of course I'm hoping for that!).
I realized over the past few days that I've been adjusting my P90X workouts in favor of my daily 5K walk/run.
That's not good, not the plan. P90X has been, is, and remains my primary workout regimen and it certainly has cardio, so I'm not lacking that. The walk/run thing is fun and a little variety, but it's not my primary deal.
What I found was I was not pushing quite so hard during P90X workouts, not really "bringing it" because I wanted to save energy for the upcoming walk/run.
So here's how I'm going to change that from now till December 15th (when this Challenge ends). Monday, Wednesday and Friday are my heavy workout strength and muscle building days with P90X, so on those days I'm going to do a fast walk. That's what I did today and my time wasn't all that hot, 45:44, just under a 15 minute mile.
On Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday I'm going to do the P90X Stretch (which is one hour of very active stretching) and then do the Walk/Run working for time by running as much as I can.
On Saturday, which is when I do P90X Kenpo X (a martial arts/boxing cardio workout), I'm also going to walk fast.
Of course on Tuesdays and Thursdays I'll also go to a Zumba class, so that will be a load of fun (I LOVE THAT MY JOB ENABLES ME TO WORK OUT SO MUCH!).
After the 15th I think I'll pretty much stick to the same routine, walking fast on MWFS and walk/running TThSu. Sounds like a great plan to me.
Oh yeah, one more public statement - I am not going to walk/run or even walk/fast in the rain - I just don't enjoy it. At this point I'm also planning that I'll only walk fast, not walk/run, when the outside temp is 35 degrees or lower.
Well today was a beautiful day, and I had my best-yet 5K walk-run. It was 46 degrees (F.) when set out and about 50 when I finished. I didn't actually warm up or stretch much before the 5K, which isn't wise, but I started gradually and walked the first 2/10ths of a mile as sort of a moving warmup. My finish time was 36 minutes and 47 seconds, 2:08 better than my previous best time.
Had a great 5K walk today, but it was mostly a walk because when I started running, I felt a couple things I didn't like. May be overtraining a bit, or maybe a little too much too soon. So except for maybe 100 yards I walked. I moved along pretty fast, though, completing the 5K in 43:06.
So today I didn't wait till the end of the day to take the shot above (or the video below). I captured both immediately after I finished my 5K walk/run.
Mostly walking today, largely because I was on two pretty long phone calls during more than half the distance.
My time suffered, of course, finishing in 43 minutes and 45 seconds, but that's OK, I actually needed to recover a bit from yesterday's run.
Tomorrow I suspect I'll get a better time with more running than walking. I'm looking forward to it.
Another personal best on my 5K Walk/Run today. Maybe it helped that I started with an hour of stretching with Beachbody's P90X X Stretch. Whatever, it was a little chilly, but I just kept my head down and kept going.
Today I didn't stop to take photos with my iPhone or post Facebook Check-ins or read email. I just kept trucking. I finished in 38 minutes and 55 seconds. Since my previous personal best (just yesterday) was 41:18, I'm pretty happy. I shaved 2:23 off my time, which means of course that now I'm going to have to work even harder.
After the 5K I went to a Zumba class and had a blast! I had to hurry because I was running a bit late and didn't stretch right after running, so I stretched just before the class. Not really enough, I suppose, but it was OK. I sure was warmed up for the class!
Can't wait to see what happens tomorrow! My focus right now, of course, is less on weight or body fat, but on speed, performance, and endurance. Nice to switch it up.
OK, so no cart-pushing today, just me walking and running. Even though I had to stop to tighten the laces on a shoe, plus take some photos and upload them in a Facebook Check-in (lol), I still cut 2 seconds off my best time. So I'm pleased.
During the day I noticed that my quads and hamstrings were feeling it a bit, but in a good way, not tight, but just feeling exercised! Cool.
I love that I'm able to incorporate exercise and healthy eating and living in my job. Being a Team Beachbody Coach starts with taking care of yourself and sharing what works with people who care or notice. If you'd like to see how some other TBB Coaches feel about it, check this site www.BeACoachWithUs.com.
I'm a big fan of rain, and I love to walk in the rain in cities and don't mind it when I'm hiking. However, I don't choose to run/walk in the rain, so today I bagged the 5K run/walk.
Instead, I did a P90X stretch workout and then went to a class.
Watch the video to see what kind of class I went to.
I'm really grateful to Marty and John Kosmeh who introduced Marge and I to Team Beachbody. As Team Beachbody Coaches our health and fitness is our business and we get to help lots of other people, too! Love it!
If you'd like info about Coaching with us, go to www.BeACoachWithUs.com to see what some other people like us (and like you?) say about being a Team BeachBody Coach. And then call me!
Well today was pretty funny, actually. After yesterday's successful 5K run/walk, I decided today it would be fun(?) to rig a video camera up to a golf cart (minus golf bag) and push it along in front of me while I ran/walked.
Well, the good news is I did it and now have a video of my run/walk.
The first not-so-good news is that running jarred the camera mount so it wouldn't stay steady. So I walked. Which played havoc with my time. Plus I just had to take some photos of the rig and then of course I had to post them to Facebook, like right off, so that all took more time as well.
The second issue then was my time. I went from 41 minutes 20 seconds yesterday to 50 minutes and 43 seconds today. (ooops).
The third sorta glitch is that the resultant video file is too large to upload to YouTube (it's almost 4GB in size). So I've got to figure out a way to convert it or something - and that of course even assumes anyone would care to watch it.
Hey, it was better! Today I was actually able to run again! And I had my best time yet!
I was concerned a little when I was getting ready to do my 5K this morning because yesterday my shins burned so much and my hamstrings were so tight I literally couldn't run more than a step.
But today I maybe even half the distance. My time was 41:20, my best time yet by 30 seconds, so the pace was 13 minutes 30 seconds average per mile. (And yes, I know that's not to great, but remember, I'm not a runner and doing this as an extra challenge on top of my usual P90X workout.
So I'm a happy camper. Looking forward tomorrow when I'll try to meet or beat today's time.
Today was the 3rd day of my preparation for the 65 Challenge. I'll come right out and fess up that my time was dismal. I took 56 minutes and 20 seconds to do today's 5K. That's just over an average 18 minutes per mile (ouch).
And "ouch" was what I said when I tried to start running today. Clearly I started this little Challenge without enough preparation, I guess. Too much, too soon, too fast for a non-runner. This morning I had painful shins and extremely tight hamstrings from the past two days.
So I just walked the whole thing. I also paused along the way to take some photos with my iPhone and upload them, plus I confess I read a couple of email, too. So it wasn't that I was totally trying for time. I just wanted the movement over distance.
So I got that goal in, finished the 3rd day in a row and had a good time (if you don't count the shins). My hamstrings were so tight (even after a decent warm up and lots of stretching) that the time was pretty bad, but I'll deal with that in the days to come.
Here's a short video (notice I've been working on improving the lighting) recapping the day.
After completing the P90X X Stretch workout, which is a 58 minute stretching routine, I got ready to run again. I headed out and started running and immediately felt it in my shins. Now yesterday, after the first run, I cooled down, stretched for a good while, and then had a recovery drink to replace glycogen and rebuild muscle, but because I've not been a runner for (many) years, this new form of exercise took its toll.
After running for just 2.5 minutes I figured I'd better play it safe so I fast walked the rest of the way. My time was worse then yesterday, but I still finished the 3.1 mile (5K) course in under 50 minutes. Yesterday, when I ran about 1/3 of the way, my time was 41 minutes and 50 seconds (or a 13.46 minute average per mile). Today, with almost all fast walking, my time was 46 minutes and 31 seconds, which corresponds to an average 14.97 mile. So at least I'm (barely) under a 15 minute mile.
Now I know these numbers aren't very good, and likely (right?) I'll see some good improvement in the first week or so and then I'll hit a plateau. Since I'm only doing this for 20 days before the Challenge date on December 15th, I don't expect miracles, and I definitely don't intend to cut back on my morning P90X workouts or the twice weekly Zumba class I like a lot but haven't attended in 3 weeks due to travel and a cold!
I'm having a ball with this challenge and looking forward to how my numbers improve during the next few weeks. I'm also looking forward to my shins not aching. The good news is that my wind is ok, so the cardio I do with P90X and the Zumba classes obviously pays off.
Marge and I were laughing at how tight my hamstrings were this afternoon after the 5K this morning. That will improve, too.
Here's a short video that basically covers the same info. Oh yeah, and I'm still looking for a sponsor for running shoes - I'll trade daily mention in the blog post and video as well an ad in the blog including a live link.
OK, here's what I'm committing to on my 65th birthday on December 15, 2011:
65 pushups
65 situps
65 pullups
65 chinups
65 minutes of running/jogging/walking
(Note that I'm giving myself an out on running for a full 65 minutes. That's what I'd like to do, but I'm not a runner and haven't been for 39 years. So I want to give myself a break if I have knee or back problem. I'll for sure be able to walk and may have to do a combo.)
In preparation for the running I started today doing a 5K I'd previously measured in our neighborhood. I finished it in 41 minutes and 50 seconds, roughly a 13.5 minute mile rate. I was able to run about one quarter of the way (the first half mile and then several shorter bits). I'll keep training daily on the 5K route (it starts just outside front door).
Each day I'm going to post my progress on the running part of this commitment. I'll also create a short YouTube video daily about how the overall training is going.
So, my challenge is personal because I want to commit to health and fitness and by making it public I'm adding a huge accountability factor. This may be a silly idea (I don't think so) but I'm also going to plan on increasing each year - next year it will be 66 pushups, 65 situps, etc.
I'd like to suggest that you consider this commitment as well. More than 2/3 of the adults in our country are overweight or obese, in fact the worst age demographic group is the one I'm a member of, the Baby Boomers - 73% of us are either overweight or obese. Let's reverse that trend, folks.
Here's a short video that covers the same info:
So who's going to join me in this for their birthday or their current age?
And if you're not a Baby Boomer (born between 1946 and 1964) how about you? If you're 21 and can't do 21 of each of the above exercises and run or at least fast walk for 21 minutes, I respectfully suggest you get working. It's good for you.
Oh yeah, and I realized this morning (when I decided to make this commitment) that I don't have decent running shoes (today I ran in some VERY old and worn New Balance cross trainers). So I thought it would also be interesting to test the concept of "social capital." So I'm looking for two sponsors, one for a new pair or running shoes and another for a good heart rate monitor (I have a few models in mind).
Here's what I have in social capital. I have:
3208 Facebook friends
4551 Twitter followers
890 Google+ users who have me in their circles
990 LinkedIn connections
62 subscribers and 155 friends on my YouTube channel.
So each day when I do the update on my blog (www.beingbrucebrown.com, including the YouTube video in the blog post), I'll also post it in all of the above social media services.
If you'd like to sponsor either running shoes or a heart rate monitor, I'll include an ad for your business on my blog and mention you each day in the blog post and on the video. The only limitation (other than legal, good taste, and family-friendly companies) is that the sponsors can't be in competition with my business as a fitness and nutrition coach with Team Beachbody. Otherwise, this is blatant commercialism, I suppose, but I thought it would be interesting to try and a chance for a whole bunch of social media exposure for you. Sporting goods companies, running shoe companies, or fitness or running stores are certainly welcome and appropriate. The best way to contact me is by phone (910) 297-8753 or email at Bruce@BrucetheCoach.com.
I'm having fun with the idea of the challenge and the side concept of getting sponsors via so-called 'social capital' is another interesting factor, for me. I'll report on how that works for me, too, because I know lots of folks wonder about social media with sponsoring and ads and so forth. For sure, btw, I'll include active links to your company in the blog posts daily and in or next to your ad.
Are you ready for the Challenge of (and for) your life?
You are going to be hearing a lot more about this, and not just in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and O Magazine.
How about a no-BS guaranteed program to help you get healthy, get fit, and lose weight?
Lots of people talk this stuff, we have 100's of thousands of people with real world results - not paid celebrities, but real people, like you (and like me).
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Check out this 5 minute video to see what I'm talking about.:
Starting November 15th I'm starting a P90X Challenge and Marge is starting a Slimin6 Challenge. Each is limited to just 5 participants. For more info and to contact us about it, go to www.BrucetheCoach.com.
