Day 4- Run

A dollar short and a day late but I did run yesterday. Today however, not so good. Legs and Back, I hate it, plain and simple. I mean to the point that I don't want to do this at all. I don't know, maybe I shouldn't even call this lil journey p90experiment anymore. Maybe Daves "I like to skip work outs that I don't like experiment " sounds better? Oh well, don't wanna think about it tonight. I did lose a few pounds but with a cold and snowed in weekend, they're sure to return.

Thursday's run:

20:00 minutes
1.625 miles
3.7 mph low intensity/6.8 mph high intensity

My short term goal is 2 miles in 20 minutes, "shouldn't" be a problem.

Day 3 - Shoulders & Arms

What I forgot about during my first attempt at this is the soreness you get from that first week and man am I sore! It's to the point that I decided instead of trying to surpass my first weeks numbers that I would just try to match them and I did. Despite my 2 week December hiatus I was able to complete it with relative ease which I guess is a testimony to what kind of condition I'm in even with my mini vacation. Not only that but the soreness has subsided quite a bit, at least for now. 87 more days to go.

Day 2 - Run

Well Tony always talks about modifying but I'm going way of the charts here! We've got this huge treadmill in our bedroom now, right smack in the middle of where I do my cardio routines. I don't know that I would be able to complete the cardio and stretching routines and be able to continue with my running program. So, since I'm planning on entering as many 5k's as possible ( as soon as the weather breaks) I've decided to forgo the cardio aspects in favor of concentrating on my running. I'm still going to do the strength routines on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and I'll probably do the recovery weeks as well.

All this means is that I still won't be able to complete this program as prescribed but I'm ok with that. My end goal is to be in the best shape possible no matter how I get there. My short term goal is to run a 24 minute 5k which means I'll need to shave nearly 4 minutes off my best time, I can do that. As I've described before, I'm doing a 2o minute set of high intensity interval runs which is basically laid out like this:

1. 4 minutes warm up
2. 30 seconds high intensity, 1 minute low intensity
3. 45 seconds high intensity, 1 minute low intensity
4.60 seconds high intensity, 1 minute low intensity
5. 90 seconds high intensity, 1 minute low intensity
6. 60 seconds high intensity, 1 minute low intensity
7. 45 seconds high intensity, 1 minute low intensity
8. 30 seconds high intensity,
9. 4 minutes cool down

I plan on adapting more aggressive programs (i.e. 24-30 minutes with lower rest periods) in the coming weeks but for now I'll just try to best my previous runs.

Today's run:

20:00 minutes
1.534 miles
3.7 mph low intensity/6.7 mph high intensity

Lets see what else, oh, was able to weigh in last night, 217 lbs, my exact starting weight of nearly 3 months ago. Still not considering "dieting" just planning to clean it up some, cut out the garbage and be more responsible with my portions. I was able to get down to 206 last time and my goal this time is an even 200, I know I can do that too!

Day 1 of P90X - Chest & Back

Nice little trip down memory lane. Man, the very first time I did this routine, I got so sick afterwards and that's how I'm feeling now. I'm going to attribute that to all the junk I've consumed this weekend. Unfortunately I was unable to complete the entire routine but I did suffer through a good three quarters of it. Anymore and I surely would have been hugging the toilet just like the first time I did this. Repetitions were up across the board on my push ups, chin up figures are still crap. Overall a decent work out, not discouraged in the least bit. 89 more days to go.

Ready!

Alrighty, night before and it seems as if all is ready. I'm hoping that by being more prepared I'll be more inclined to finish this. The wife picked me up a new trapper folder and I have all my workout charts in there plus the ones I had from my first go at it. I figure if all I do is surpass my reps and/or weight from my first attempt then I should surely see some fantastic results. At least that's the plan. I also remember how big of a pain it was to have to retrieve my weights, chin up bar and my push up bars from the garage, (a now freezing garage at that!) now they're neatly tucked away behind the sofa. P90X can be both physically and mentally draining so hopefully by eliminating some of the pain in the butt aspects, I'll be able to bring it home this time.

Run Forrest RUN!

Not much else to do today but run and a nice run it was. I'm using a pyramid interval system that takes about 20 minutes and I really like it. Even though I've been totally idle and my diets been crap these last couple of weeks, my cardio seems to be acceptable...at this point. Tomorrows going to my preparation day, again. Take my day 1 pictures, again, fitness test, again, humiliation , again! Very anxious to get this on... again!

The New Year

I figured I'd be starting the New Year out this way...hungover!!! That's why I'm not making any resolutions that begin today. Might be the first day of the year but I'm more of a first day of the week kind of person, Monday. That's when I'm getting serious about this again but until then these last few days are gonna be filled with some major gluttony!

I did run a little over 2 miles on the treadmill yesterday making it 3 whole days in a row, WOOHOO! I'm really enjoying that alot and I'm trying to figure out how I wanna incorporate it into my P90X journey. I'm thinking about doing a 20-30 minute HIIT on the three strength training days, somewhat like the doubles routine but we'll see, I'm pretty good a biting off more than I can chew.

Going to take it easy today. More festivities planned for tonight's Rose Bowl (Go Bucks!!!) Would like to thank everyone for following along, here's to a Happy New Year!

2 Days in a row!

Believe it or not, the way things have been that's quite an accomplishment. Surprisingly enough my cardio isn't to bad, I did a 5 minute walk on the treadmill followed by 20 minutes of HIIT and finished off with a 5 minute cool down walk. Worked up a good sweat and it looks like my heart rate peaked at about 172 bpm, a lil to high for my likings. It didn't take long at all for my heart rate to peak while taking what seemed like forever to settle back down, oh well, out of shape I guess. Starting to feel better already though.

Its about time!

Well after falling considerably far off the wagon I figured its time to get up and dust myself off. I can't believe I made it through 75 grueling days of this only to fall short of my goal by 2 stinking weeks! I've blamed it on everything from the holidays, to injuries to minor illnesses. In all reality I was slipping way before then, skipping workouts, not giving it my all and eating whatever I wanted, to the point that I've ballooned up past my original weight of 217 to an all time high of 220 pounds!!!! Which means I've gained 14 pounds since Nov.21st, wow and I feel it! The funny thing is I'm not down at all in fact my resolve is a great as ever.

Unfortunately since I wasn't able to complete the first round I can't call this round 2, fine! It's round 1 day 1 all over again. This time I plan to go about it with a lot more dedication and determination. My goal is to start on Jan.4th and until then I'm going to be doing some High Intensity Interval Training (or HIIT) on the wife's new treadmill and some deep stretching . I finally got a heart rate monitor which should prove to be helpful. I'm very anxious to get this started and this time....I'm finishing it!!!!

Day 75 of P90X - Kenpo X

I'm so far off schedule that I'm pretty much just doing cardio related routines and I need it. Last time I checked I was about 6 pounds heavier than my day 60 update, that kinda sucks but I do feel like I've gained some muscle as well. Not going to kid myself though, one look in the mirror and I can tell, I was just starting to see some abs and now I'm pretty soft, dang! Like I said I know what it is ; FOOD! I have two Christmas parties to go to this weekend and I know there's going to be some good eats and I'm calling it now, I ain't gonna say no! Its all good, going to keep working out, finish out this phase and worry about the diet aspect come New Years. Already getting pumped about round 2! 15 more days to go.

Day 74 of P90X - Cardio X

Well what started out as being Back & Biceps ended up being Cardio X due to an earlier injury. Way back on Dec. 7th I blogged about pulling something on the inside part of my forearm. It's not to bad unless I attempt any kind of curling or pulling motion and then it hurts pretty good, so I gave up on just the 3rd exercise of the day. I was really ticked off but all is not lost. Instead of packing it up and calling it a day, I figured I can always improve my cardio and burn some extra calories and that's just what I did. Kinda stinks cause I think I'm going to have to lay of arms & back for a little while and seeing how I'm coming to the end of this I won't be able to expect any more improvements there.

I really don't think I'm gonna meet my expectations when I wrap this up and it's not the systems fault, it's mine. But I'm okay with it, I've said all along that I'm going to this again when I get finished. Maybe learn from my mistakes, plan things a little better and bring it a little bit harder. It would be all to easy to beat myself up over not giving it my all here recently but I ain't going to. I still feel absolutely amazing as compared to what I felt like before I started this. For me, getting in shape is going to be a lifelong journey, not a 90 day episode. 16 more days to go.

Day 73 of P90X - Kenpo X

Feeling a little better today, getting out of my funk, Kenpo X always helps out there. Lots of sweating, hacking , coughing ...feel like a new person lol! Still not getting much height on my kicks, well sometimes I do but for the most part they're still pretty low. Had another scary bout with shortness of breathe, not as alarming as the other time but still uncomfortable. I'm just gonna attribute it to my recent inactivity and press on. 17 more days to go.

Inspirational quote of the day.

"Change favors the brave"

Day 72 of P90X - Chest, Shoulders & Triceps

Well I've really been slipping up. Today's work out was super tough, as expected. It's so hard to get back in the boat once you've fallen out. Man, I can't believe I came this far only to slack off in epic proportions! All is not lost just yet. Though today was a struggle, I was still able to post some improving numbers and I feel somewhat revitalized now that its over. My diet on the other hand has been absolute crapola. Gonna try and do better these last 18 days, have to!!!

Day 71 of P90X - Shoulders & Arms

Decent work out today. I can't believe that I'm continually sore from this. Some days I feel great but others, man, rough. I seem to always be sore in my lats and chest, especially chest. Sometimes when I'm doing cardio work and I'm jumping around I have to hold my um, boobs, I guess???... because of how sore I am, it helps but its somewhat embarrassing too. Trying to debate which routine I wanna do tomorrow, I'm thinking core, most likely. 19 more days to go.

Day 70 of P90X - Kenpo X

Its actually been awhile since I've done this routine. It seems like more and more I'm using Cardio X as my supplemental work out but I've always felt like I burn more calories with kenpo at least judging by the ole sweat meter. So I'm planning on using this routine more frequently in these closing weeks. I'm also planning on perhaps sneaking in a Core routine if at all possible. 20 more days to go.

Day 69 of P90X - Chest & Back

Pretty decent work out today especially the chest portion, back portion, not so much. First off for chest, I did 177 total push ups of about 6 or 7 varieties. Hoping to top 200 before this rounds over and I have a goal of being able to do 300 total push ups at the end of round 2. The back routine on the other hand, man its tough. Only seeing slight improvements in my chin ups and I've seemed to have pulled something in my right forearm, making pull ups damn near impossible. I wanna try to increase my arm strength by lifting even heavier in round two. Maybe that coupled with some additional weight loss will help me to get my chin up there! 21 more days to go.

Day 68 of P90X - Legs & Back

Ok, I hate it! I dread this routine most of all and I dread it all week long, I hate it! No improvements, robs my cardio and leaves me sore as...as a 40 year old man who dreads doing the P90X leg routine! 22 more days to go.

Day 67 of P90X - Cardio X

A somewhat scary moment today. The plyo segment of this routine is tough and I soon as its over you go right into core synergistics, the first exercise of that is where I experienced problems. 30 reps of x squats, going airborne on the last 10. As soon as I finished it was like someone or something sucked all the oxygen out of the room. I just could not catch my breath for a good 2 minutes, scary stuff, like a slow suffocation. All those years of smoking have no doubt affected my lungs and I'm very curious to see at what level of efficiency they are operating at. I'm so glad I quit but sometimes I look back and shake my head for being so stupid.

One thing about my little hiatus is that I didn't miss the leg routine at all. Guess what tomorrow is? Man, another thing, as posted before, not only do I hate it but its also strangely tough on my cardio....should be a blast. 23 more days to go.

Day 66 od P90X - Back & Biceps

Dang, another tough work out. Struggled again today, reps were down across the board. Really wanted to quit but I wasn't having it, as ugly as it was, I plowed through...remaining positive. I just can't believe how counter productive it was to take a 5 or 6 days off. I was planning on taking 7-10 days off after I finish this and before my 2nd round but I don't know, its rough getting back in the groove. 24 more days to go.

Inspirational quote of the day

"Achievement is largely the product of steadily raising one's levels of aspiration . . and expectation."

Day 65 0f P90X- Cardio X

Still reeling from my little mini vacation. This routine was almost as tough as it was the first time I did it, geez, I can't believe how far I've fallen. Its all good though, hope to be pack on pace by the end of this week. Diet was pretty good today, could be tighter, guess it could always be. Still some what sore from Monday's strength training which should bode well with Wednesday's strength training. Been trying to maintain a more vigorous pace at work maybe help burn off little more calories. 25 more days to go.

Inspirational quote of the day

"Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly."