P90X3, April and May Running and Cape Cod Ragnar!!

The months of April and May have been quite busy here.  Springtime means Little League.  Little League means that I am busy almost every night of the week, seriously!    I kept up with my workouts though and I finished up P90X3.  I wasn’t too terrible with my nutrition either.  Ok, I could have been better but I didn’t go off the deep end.   April and May were good running months for me too, despite being busy.  That is what I love about running before everyone is awake.  No matter how busy the rest of the day is, 5:15am is my time.

P90X3 is by far my favorite Beachbody program.  I was such a big P90X fan so I wasn’t sure I could like something more!  It is different from the original in that it doesn’t focus on weight lifting.  Don’t get me wrong – you use weights but the exercises are so varied that weights are just one part of it.  You mostly use your own body weights with burpees/sprawls, pull-ups and push-ups. 

This type of workout makes an excellent compliment to running.  I’ve gotten faster and stronger since doing P90X3.  I’ve been able to increase my monthly mileage easily.  Before I get into my monthly mileage, I should note that I do not consider myself a “runner.”  I run. I lift weights.  I swim. I do INSANITY.  I cross train.    Running, however, is a big part of what I do.  While many of the ladies who I run with are logging 100 miles months, I do not. I couldn’t possibly do that while doing all of the other things I enjoy.

In the month of April I ran 63.9 miles.  That is super compared to 49.4 in March.  This winter has been brutal with cold and ice and it lasted into March.  My average pace was slower in April compared to March but that is because I ran a few times with my 8 year old son and my 9 year old dog!  Great fun!  In May I ran 74.8 miles.  I really do need to look at my mileage before I start my last run of the month.  I really should have gone for 75 miles.  I am so excited about my May mileage.  Not bad.  My average pace was 9’27”.  That is awesome in my book.  Thanks, Tony Horton!

I ramped up my running because I was training for the Cape Cod Ragnar Relay.  What a great race!  If you run, you must consider running one of these.  They have them all over the country.  It is not just a race, it’s an adventure! 

The adventure started on a Thursday evening.  There were 24 women running and 4 drivers.  We had 2 teams (Ragnars typically have teams of 12) this way we had running buddies. This is especially helpful doing the night time run.  We were BAM 1 and BAM 2 – Bad Ass Mamas!   So there were 4 vans heading from NY to MA.  We got to Massachusetts pretty late so we checked in the hotel and went to bed.  I was in Van 1 so we had an early start.  At 7am we needed to be in the van heading to the start(about 45-60 minutes away) for safety instructions and a 9 am start time.

 

 

The way a Ragnar Relay works is typically 12 people split the running (legs) and each runner has 3 legs.  Our van had runners 1-6.  I was runner #4.  At the start we were all super pumped.  We cheered our runners from BAM 1 and BAM 2 and then jumped into the van to get to the first exchange.

 

 

As I said, I was runner #4 and had some time before my leg.  We decorated our van and had lots of fun honking and cheering for all of the runners we saw.  When it was time for me to get ready for my leg, I started to get nervous.  I totally over dressed.  It was cold while we were just standing there waiting for runner #3 but while running I was way too warm!

 

That leg was also full of killer hills.  I had 6.2 miles of hills!  My buddy and I did great.  The run was through a residential area and it was nice to look at the houses but otherwise I could have been anywhere.  My pace was a respectable 9’26”.  Not bad for a 10K full of hills.

My second leg, which was a night run, was at 11:20 pm.  It only totaled 4.09 miles and my pace was 9’03”.  I just wanted to get it over with so I could get to sleep!   When my leg was done, I stayed awake to see the next runner come back and to see runner #6 off.  That was around 1 am! 

From that point on I slept in the van.  I can sleep anywhere.  I sort of remember runner #6 getting back into the van but that is it.  Apparently there was a lot of shuffling in the van – people switching spaces to sleep but I slept through it!  I think I got about 4.5 hours of sleep.  It wasn’t the most comfortable but I was ready to start the day again and get my last leg done!  While we slept, van 2 was running so now it was their turn to rest.  Because of this we never really got to interact with the second part of our team.

My last leg was through a bike trail.  A few hills here and there but overall, it was flat.  It totaled 5.68 miles and my pace was 9’22”.  We stopped 1 mile before the end of the leg and had a Cape Cod Police Officer take our picture.  Gotta have fun, right?!

 

I was tired but it was a blast!  Almost immediately a bunch of us started to talk about the next Ragnar!  I’m signed up for Reach the Beach in New Hampshire in September.  Oh yeah, I’m hooked and I will definitely be training with P90X3!