Hey 365-ers, happy Monday!  It is a beautiful one out here in Los Angeles, following an absolutely gorgeous weekend.  I know the Midwest got nailed with snow on Saturday; I sure don’t miss my days living in Wisconsin and having to get up at 5am to shovel.

My best buddy from college came for a visit this weekend, which proved to be a surprisingly great boon to my workout routine.  While our college days were filled with beer, whiskey, and other activities that shall go unmentioned, we’re old men now and can’t tolerate the reckless pastimes of our youth.  Instead we went out and made the most of the 85-degree weekend Los Angeles allotted us.

Our mutual admiration for each other has forged a healthy amount of competitiveness, which acted as a great motivator to push each other harder.  He’s competed in multiple marathons, triathlons, bike races, swim races, you name it and he’s done it.  Right now he is training for one of those Tough Guy challenges where you run and jump through fire pits, barbed wire, smoke bombs, freezing pools of water, electric shocks, and various other nonsense.  I personally think he’s crazy, but there is no denying he’s a tough hombre.

Today we had a nice run along the mighty Pacific Ocean, from the Santa Monica Pier up to Malibu and back.  I’m not entirely sure how many miles we clocked but we were sure tired out when we were done.  When we reached the pier we stripped down to our skivvies and jumped in the ocean.  It was cold but it sure felt great on our tired muscles.

I re-learned this weekend something I’d forgotten over the past few months; it’s always better to work out with someone else.  I find myself getting too lazy and too complacent when it’s just me out there running the same route everyday.  When you’ve got someone else to push you and keep you committed, there’s no room to get lazy or fall into to bad habits.  From now on I’m going to try to get in more workouts with friends.

So strap on those running shoes, toss on your WAO365 dri-fit, grab a buddy and get out there!

See ya next week everybody!  Have a great week!