Fri., Sat., Sun. March 28-30 Workouts

P90X Legs & Back + Ab Ripper X & Bike Ride (Fri.)
P90X Core Synergistics & Bike (Sat.)
Rest (Sun.)

Added lots of new family pictures @ mclainhome.com -- don't miss them! ;)

So, wow... this is it. Today, Friday, the last full-on workout in Week 11, only some core/rest and then recovery week left. P90X. First run. Nearly over.

Rocked.

I brought it.

EXERCISE HISTORY

First, got down from 230ish to 201 between 1.1.07 and 1.1.08. Power 90, plateu'd for sure, wasn't so great on the diet thing, but... Insane results for 12 months of work, going from flabby no-exercise to, well... doing some/Power 90.

Then, currently, down from 201 to 184 between 1.1.08 and 4.1.08. P90X, all you.

AND followed the Fat Ripper I diet. (Key!) Feeling awesome.

NEW CARDIO LUNCH: BIKING

I have to say -- yesterday's bike ride over lunch? Yikes -- in a good way!

History: Basically, my neighborhood is shaped like an O -- my house is at the bottom of the hill at the bottom of the O.

For the past few weeks/months, it's taken me 10 mins to walk from my house to the top of the development, then 10 more minutes to wrap around the other side and back down to my house. The access road is at the very top.

Simple, 2.2 mi. all the way around twice. Takes about 35 minutes at a brisk pace to make two laps, walking.

On my newly refurb'd bike? Like 3 minutes around. No kidding.

So... what to do. I jog off to the right on my wheels and into GreenBrier next store, another 'hood. Then up to Olive Chapel Road, turn right, and head towards Will's school -- Olive Chapel Elementary. Past that, and onward, down a huge hill, back up, onward... all the way to near the corner of Williams St. and Olive Chapel. MANY miles, then back... and still 10 minutes left before my lunch break is over. Nice burn!

MORNING PAYBACK

This morning... the body payback. Aching back. Hunching over those mountain bike handlebars and pumpin' hard all that way in under an hour took its toll.

So... I really didn't want to get out of bed this morning. But I did, as always, and got right into legs and back, then flowed right into Ab Ripper. At the end? No more soreness.

That's one of the big lessons from this -- skip a workout, any pain and soreness gets worse and persists. Workout and bring it? The soreness and pain gets worked out, covered, and jacked up with natural endorphins and good stretching.

Like it should be. Onward to the recovery week, and the final pictures next week. Nice, nice, nice. Enjoy your weekend!

FRIDAY BIKING UPDATE @ 12:55 p.m.

Today is the first day I've lived in North Carolina.

Well, you know what I mean. It's an amazing 75 degree, sunny Spring day. There's a stiff breeze, everything is in bloom, and there's hardly anyone on the road. I leave Kelly West, head LEFT this time, down Olive Chapel AWAY from the neighborhoods, Will's school, and the stores -- and instead, go a few seconds down the road to horse farms and the country.

I pass first cobblestone and paved driveways of the newcomers, then hit rock and dirt driveways of the long-time Tar Heels. The horses come up to the fence to shake their heads at me, and I carefully hug the roadside going down, down... to the American Tobacco Trail.

BOOM a hard right, and I'm on level, white sandy trails, closed in on both sides by still-naked pine trees, tunnel vision ahead as far as the eye can see. A few ups/downs, and I'm under US 64, then more, to the next road... and I turn around. Back down the path, past clusters of youngsters taking horses for walks, then back onto Olive Chapel Road, hit some high hills, crank down my gears, then back into Kelly West, and home.

10 minutes early.

Hardly any sweat on me -- lots of work and hills and legs humming happily -- and it's back to work.

Today... is the first day I've FULLY lived in North Carolina. Too awesome.