Days 5-7 - L&B, Kenpo and Rest

I was lazy over the weekend and I apologize to my maybe 5 readers that I didn't update the blog.

Legs & Back was good fun, I haven't done wall sits in years and it was definitely alot of pullups. But overall a real solid workout and legs is something many people overlook. It burns alot, but overall a good setup.

Kenpo X was disappointing. Part of it has to do with I ran a marathon recently and my aerobic fitness is pretty solid, but I found myself turning up intensity during breaks to try and get my heart rate up. I also tried too hard on punches and such and strained my shoulders a bit. In the future I think I'll keep doing Kenpo, but also run a few miles on those days as well.

Rest was nice, Mel came home after running a marathon in Idaho on Saturday and we stocked up on food and got ready for this week. She doesn't have another race for a month, so we'll step up the P90X together.

Overall, solid first week, more acclimated now and not too terribly sore as long as my shoulder does OK on Chest & back today.

Day 4 - Yoga X

Well, I failed. Yoga is unbelievably difficult for someone with no flexibility like me, but I did what i could. The problem is the majority of the time I was trying to figure out what to do, instead of actually doing it....I'd recommend watching the dvd a time or two before doing this DVD.

Quick entry today, working hard and trying to find a new car to buy....I'll update you on legs and back tomorrow.

Day 3 -Shoulders & Arms

Let me preface S&A by saying that I was completely correct....my legs are most certainly more sore 2 days after Plyometrics than the day after. I am not pleased that I was correct.

Shoulders & Arms is definitely one of those "what you put into it" kind've workouts. Of course they all are, but especially with bands you have to make sure you don't slack. I felt like the first half I should've worked harder, but it was still solid. This workout will certainly serve as an impetus to getting the selecttech dumbbells. Some of the exercises are just kind've silly with the bands and hard to do. I also feel like it would be alot easier to push myself using the weights.

That being said, bands work fine, especially if you aren't certain about you're committment or you are broke, because they certainly aren't cheap. The 5-52.5 pound selecttechs go for like 350-400.

Overall, I like S&A, but next time I'll bring it a bit harder. Now for Ab Ripper X I felt good. In an excrutiatingly painful way. I was able to do more exercises and complete the mason twists section, so thats coming along slowly. If things go according to plan and I stop drinking water and take 50 pounds of Hydroxycut maybe my abs will look like the guy on the right in the video after 6 months of this....time will tell.

So far Dan is the only person who really cares to comment and he's on another continent, let's pick it up people.

Day 2 - Plyometrics

Plyo is like Polar Bears, it looks innocent enough....sitting there smiling, drinking coke, looking cute and cuddly, until you get near it and try to play with it and it mauls your face and eats your extremities before you realize what happened. Watching the video it looks simple, but when done in sequence, Plyometrics will mess you up. My legs are sore today, but I can tell it will be even worse tomorrow.

I also found out I need a bigger living room, I'm going to have rearrange all my furniture before doing Plyo next time. Once I'm done with this program I will also probably hate Jump Squats forever, but I liked the workout for being different and it definitely leaves a lot of room for growth.

Diet went well yesterday, but we hit a little speed bump with lack of ingredients for lunches today. I'll have to hit the store tonight and for lunch I might just have a foot long chicken breast with only half the bread from Subway. With Shoulders & Arms tonight, I could probably use a couple extra carbs.

How was everyone else's Plyo experience?

Day 1 - Chest & Bizzle

So, I have a confession to make, which I'm sure you all noticed: I didn't post Day 1 photos. In fact, I didn't even take them, but I will remedy that soon.

Yesterday was Day 1 and we stuck with the diet just fine, only one day, but off to a strong start there and it has continued this morning. The fact that I had done chest & back a couple times prior to yesterday helped me immensely. I'm sore today, but not too bad....the workout itself is still brutal. It feels great, but seriously F*ck Dive Bombers. Especially the last set at the end, I nearly broke my nose falling on my face.

I am also going to start doing Ab Ripper X at lunch instead of right after the strength training. I felt like I was being held back by general fatigue instead of pure abdominal fatigue, so I think the workout would be better if it were spread out. I'm also going to invest in a mat, some of the ab exercises are too hard on the hip and tailbones.

I've heard there is a pile of crap where Mauzy used to be, so his workout seemed to go well, my wife is taking it easy pre-marathon this week, but still did C&B last night as well. Another good friend, Mick, said he was starting tonight, interested to hear how that went. Plyometrics tonight, I'm looking forward to jumping around like an idiot....

Lay your comments on me people.

Into the Rabbit Hole

So the day of judgement is upon us...I tried eating my first P90X meal today and it's official: I can't stomach 12 oz of cottage cheese. The huge omelet and banana fine, but 12 oz of cottage cheese isn't happening, I'm definitely going to find a substitute.

I'm pretty excited to get this thing rolling this evening, Mel will be home late so we won't get started till later, but I'm very interested to see how she reacts to the training. She's run 26 marathons, so she's certainly not a pansy, but she hates strength training and she has a marathon this weekend again, so she might take it easy this week.

The much anticipated Day 1 photos will be taken and added after I get home tonight, Mel is going to take some as well, but sorry guys, Mel's won't be posted online. Also, despite numerous requests from random sources, I will not take requests for specific poses.

Stay tuned for a description of the carnage later tonight.

So....I ran a Marathon.

Marathons are long and they are certainly not easy.  However, I have now run one and I feel pretty good about it.  We finished in a little over 4.5 hours, which isn't great, but not terrible for a first timer.  Few points to make about Marathons:

1) They are very long.

2) Running 26.2 miles and eating nothing but basically sugar will bother your stomach.

3) Having friends and strangers to support you helps significantly.

4) What was I thinking?

I will run a few more marathons before I die I suspect, the next one being Phoenix in January.  But first I have to climb the mountain that is P90X.  Mel and I are already toning down the project slightly.  We wrote down everything we would need to buy for week1 on the meal plan and decided we didn't want to spend 400 dollars a week on food.  So we are going to edit the meals a bit, keep the same general calories and constitution, but use cheaper proteins and ingredients.  Shouldn't affect us a whole lot, but will also cut down on preparation time.

Have another crazy weekend coming up, full of floating on a river without paddling and drinking beer.  If we survive that, the day everyone has been waiting for is on Monday....we start P90X, but more importantly: Day 1 Photos.  Stay tuned.