Monday, April 11, 2011

I think it's time to call this horse dead

Yeah, I'm not even going to pretend anymore, I'm done with P90X.

I just find it immensely boring and sort of a time-waster. True, I'm seeing results. But I also see results from doing shorter HIIT workouts and Crossfit WODs, and those are more fun, and I feel like they build more functional ability rather than just tone muscles and burn fat.

Also, I'm getting more into marathon training and having a lot of fun with it (still not doing really long distances, just working on setting up a weekly habit of mileage runs, hill repeats, and speedwork). And I just don't have the time in my day to squeeze in the hour-plus that P90X requires, when I'm already doing a half hour-ish of marathon training and an hour of yoga.

And I can't keep saying this enough: it's not FUN. Crossfit is fun. Bodyrock is fun. Running is fun. Yoga is both fun and makes my ADD brain quiet down for sixty precious minutes. P90X? Not fun. Boring. Irritating. Effective, but that's not enough of a dealbreaker for me.

SO I'm back to my shorter, more intense workout style, using mostly bodyweight, and sometimes my kettlebell, jumprope, or "medicine box" (jumbo kitty litter jug filled with rice, which I use for medicine ball moves).

Let's talk about the weekend. Saturday I went to class and then did the Crossfit WOD, which thankfully was suited to a speed workout in the marathon-training category:

Run 1600m
Rest 3m
Run 1200m
Rest 2m
Run 800m
Rest 1m
Run 400m

4K total, and my time was 21:12. Really fun. My last 400m was like running on cement legs, but I still pushed it.

Sunday I went over to Arwen's place for some workout/food fun. We went to a local park and did a Crossfit-style workout I pretty much made up. It was:

3 rounds, 40:20 second intervals
Pushups
Kettlebell swings (20lb)
Jump rope (my jump rope fucking sucks and we basically struggled to make it work the whole time)
Chair dips (on a park bench)
Box jumps (again, park bench)

About a minute rest between sets

It was hard, not so hard we were dying or anything, and I feel we could have easily done another round at the end. But it was quite effective. I can feel it in my back and arms today. Including our warmup (a light jog around the park), it took us about 24 minutes. I was pretty happy with my pushups: my sets were 20, 20, 16, and I maxed out each time at around 12. 12 pushups in a row two months ago would have been madness. So, thank you, P90X.

Then we went to Trader Joe's and stocked up on taco ingredients, and came back to the house to make steak and chicken tacos (lettuce wraps, really) with slaw and cheese sauce. I also indulged with a beer and some gluten-free brownies Ar made. As much as I enjoyed Whole30, and feel it did me some real good, it's nice to have the freedom to indulge the 20 to my 80 now. When I know I can let go a little bit on the weekends, my weeks are so strict and good eating-wise and it's not hard to stay on the straight and narrow.

Today will see an easy mileage run, some bodyweight work (I'm thinking I'll work on my prime weaknesses, i.e. pistol squats, clapping pushups, handstands, and pullups), and my overnight shift at the rescue squad. It's supposed to rain tonight, so everyone in Loudoun County, could you please drive carefully so I can get a full night's sleep? That would be amazing. Two weeks in a row would be a phenomenon.

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