This is the kind of week I needed! 4 workouts this week! Yes…4! Let’s look at the week day by day…

Monday – Scheduled rest day.

Tuesday – 3 mile run! I was so excited about getting out to run on a week day again! Although, it didn’t come as easy as it should. You see, my refrigerator went bad over the weekend and we had to get our apartment manager to order a new one. That refrigerator came in on Tuesday. So, we had to move our food to my in-laws house for Monday night. Then, I went over to retrieve the items we stored there on Tuesday before getting to run. By the time I got home from my in-laws, I wasn’t sure I was going to run. However, I knew that I needed this run badly. It wasn’t a great run. The pain in my lower back returned in the last 0.2 miles. I was able to finish out the run. However, it was painful. I was glad at the end that my average pace turned out to be a shade over 12 minutes per mile because it could have been worse. I so wanted to quit at the end of the first mile. What got me through the run? Knowing that things would get better with consistency.

See? Happy to be done even with a little bit of pain.

Wednesday – Rest Day…I had hoped to go to the gym on Wednesday. However, on Wednesday, I found out…

Thursday would have me go in for jury duty. I was a little bummed because I had no idea how the day would go. For all I knew, jury duty would mess up my plans for a Thursday run.

Thursday – 3 mile run! Everything worked out okay. I served my day and didn’t get placed on a jury! We were let go at around 3:30pm! That gave me time to get home, eat dinner, and make it out for a second mid-week run! Like I could have predicted, it was a much better run. It wasn’t perfect. I was huffing and puffing pretty good in the second mile. However, I finished faster than Tuesday and with absolutely no pain! Also, my pace dropped to under the 12 minute mile average! After this run, I couldn’t wait until my next one on Saturday!

Friday – Rest Day! It was also a 24 hours to Rock your Disney Side. The above video was filmed on my computer screen from the live web cam at the Magic Kingdom.

Then, immediately after filming this video, I switched it up to the live web cam at Disneyland on Main Street U.S.A.! So, the filming was a consecutive 2 minutes from both coasts. I had fun watching some of the coverage. It was like being in the parks from home!

Saturday – 3 mile run at the Rose Bowl! Even though I could have done my usual 3 mile route around my apartment, I really wanted to get out to the Rose Bowl loop. This was a first for me. It was the first time I ran just one lap of the Rose Bowl loop on a training run. The Rose Bowl loop is a different route from my usual 3 mile loop. On the Rose Bowl loop, the first mile is the hardest. It felt like it. Close to the end of that mile, one of the walkers gave me some encouragement. I think she heard how out of breath I was. I thanked her and got my act together. I knew the first half of this run would be the hardest. I was right. The cool part?

I actually came to the end of the third mile right by the front of the Rose Bowl! On top of that, I finished faster than Thursday! Also, I finished with no pain. It was awesome and I felt great!

After getting a few chores done during the day, Brooke and I had a date night at the Santa Monica Pier!

Can you guess where we had dinner? Yep. Bubba Gump!

I love all the movie memorabilia they have! Also, I spotted Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse!

I’m sorry, but how cool is this? They served the garlic bread on the3 Greenbow County Dispatch!

As we walked along the pier after dinner, we saw this. Someone was planning a proposal. We didn’t say to see it happen. However, it looks like the words were meant to light up.

It was fun being at the pier and by the Pacific Ocean with my wife!

The Santa Monica Pier is pretty cool. They even have an amusement park at the end of it.

The Ferris wheel was lit up with an American flag!

Saturday night was so much fun!

Sunday – Gym Workout – 27 minutes on the Elliptical Machine, Abs, Leg Press, Chin Ups, Dips. The morning, however, began with something I had forgotten about. The Live Ultimate Run was going on and finished outside of Staples Center. My church meets at the LA Live in the Club Nokia. My wife was serving in the children’s ministry and had to arrive early. When we got up to the LA Live area, I saw people wearing their finishers medals. So, I took off to see the finish.

Look who was there….Ryan Hall! He was there to run the 5K and encourage the kiddos who were running. The Live Ultimate Run consisted of a “Quarter Marathon (6.55 miles), 5K, and various kids races.

It was really fun to see Ryan out running with the kids. From what I observed, I’m not sure I’d ever do this race. For one thing, the finish for the quarter marathon, the 5K, and kids races was the same place. However, the they finished running the opposite directions. This created a pretty confusing finishing area for me. Anyways, it was a fun little surprise to begin my Sunday. I didn’t get to stay too long because I had to get up to the Club Nokia for the church service.

The gym workout felt fantastic! I did everything according to plan! What I like about going to the gym during the weekends is how much easier it is to get on the machines I want to use. During the mid-week gym sessions, it’s a little harder and involves some waiting.

All in all, this is a week that needs to be repeated. I’ve had weeks like this one before. They have all been followed by weeks with missed work outs. So, as I head into my 4th week of Dumbo Double Dare training, the focus is on getting in all 4 workouts again. It will be challenging to find the time. On Saturday, I’ve got 6.5 miles to run. I intend to do this in the morning before heading off to Disneyland! The wife and I looked at our calendars this weekend and decided to head of for some fun at the Disneyland Resort this coming Saturday! I am beyond excited!

How did you do this week?