Day 47: Legs & Back

Legs this morning went well. I added some weights to lunges (when I before did them without... just to build up my knees, which tend to hurt). Ab ripper was a challenge, but I got through whole sets that I haven't been able to finish without a break before.

Day 46: Yoga

Up for a very humid run this morning. It rained promptly after. Still nice to get out there, even if just for a quick half hour.

Yoga tonight... the idea of an hour and a half of yoga always hangs over my head. I tried to put it off as long as possible, but wanted to be done before midnight! And of course, I enjoyed it while I did it. My arms felt so strong... those vinyasas were a breeze. This must be progress!

Day 45: Back & Biceps

This morning, we ran into another p90x person in the gym. He told us he's started over the program... not sure how long he had gone before he started over. Oh well. We're almost two thirds of the way through. No stopping now!

We have talked about how we need to work harder to eat better. With going out of town and people's birthdays at work, I have been eating cookies, cupcakes and chocolate like woah. I need to reign it back in... I am a sugar monster. Once that stuff gets in my veins, I want more. So I have to resist! (But it's so good).

Abs were not good this morning, though I tried.

Day 44: Plyometrics

Another tough morning. I just can't wake up! But I warmed up and got into it soon enough. Still a challenge, especially on the squats/jumps. Don't want to hurt my knees. But I don't, I control them pretty well.

Day 43: Back, Shoulders, Triceps

I really stumbled out of bed this morning for this one. Working out was the last thing I wanted to do, but I figured I should get it over with. It took me forever to wake up.

Day 42: Rest Day

Mike and I toyed with the idea of doing Kenpo today since we didn't yesterday. But we drove back from Asheville and had a lot of stuff to do and were just tired. So we took the rest day. Ready for this next week.

I did manage to sign up officially for the Asheville Citizen-Times half marathon while downtown this morning for Bele Chere. This will be my first half marathon. I am very excited. It's on September 12th. I plan on raising money for a charity, so stay tuned!

Day 41: A very hilly run

There was a half marathon training run in Asheville this morning. Seven miles of hills! To prepare you for 13.1 miles of hills.

Surprisingly enough, I loved it. About a dozen people showed up at 8 a.m. this morning in a park (I no longer remember the name... Grove Park?). And I was in the middle of the pack. I felt pretty good about that. Even with all the hills, I kept a consistent pace (little less than 10 minute miles). I loved the run. I saw parts of Asheville I have never seen (more residential as opposed to the downtown scene, which I do also love).

The chocolate I'm getting from the Chocolate Fetish is going to taste so good today after this run! I kid you not: they are the best chocolatiers you will find in the southeast.

(Kenpo was supposed to be today... the run took its place for me).

Day 40: Legs & Back

I have really grown to enjoy the legs workout. We did this in the morning since we're off to Asheville after work for a Bruce Hornsby concert at the Biltmore. It's so torturous to do Ab Ripper in the morning when you're starving.

Day 39: Yoga

Mike and I were doing yoga this morning (as he is back now) and he decided he wanted to do it tonight instead. So while I continued, he went to the kitchen to start prep work for our meal tonight (making a yellow squash soup with roasted red peppers to use up the fresh produce we have from Charlotte)... and he took off a chunk of his finger with a very sharp blade. One where you slide your veggie over the blade and it cuts for you. The pad of his finger went along with it. We are curious to see how his fingerprint is effected by this.

Needless to say, I tried to continue through the yoga, but ended up doing a sort of half effort.

Day 38: Back & Biceps

I did this workout in the morning (it's been a lot of mornings lately) because we have tickets for the Club America vs. A.C. Milan this evening. They're touring the U.S. for their pre-season. The game is in the Georgia Dome (haven't been there yet), so I'm really excited!

As always, I really dislike the pull-ups, but I've found a way to make them work for me. No more hanging and pulsing. I position the chair in such a way where I use it for support but my arms do most of the work. Tough!

Ab Ripper felt pretty good... working on that six pack! I hope!

Day 37: Plyometrics

Nothing like the smell of plyometrics in the morning! Another solo workout. I pushed myself really hard with this and feel like I got a lot out of it.

This evening, I made myself some Zucchini and Ginger Muffins. I had to walk to Trader Joe's for the ingredients because Mike took the car keys with him to the beach. That's the second (or third?) time I have been stranded. Anyway, I've made these once before in New York. They are so good. I use them as early morning snacks, when I need some quick carbs and sugar for my runs.

*Note: The actual recipe calls them cupcakes. I don't make the icing and I substitute out some of the olive oil for applesauce and the sugar for agave nectar. Let me know if you are interested in my version of the recipe and I'll be happy to write more about it. But I think I make them a lot healthier.

Day 36: Back, Shoulders, Triceps

Morning run: check.

Mike is still out of town. Thought it's fun to have a workout buddy, I find I enjoy working out by myself, too... less competition or something.

I liked this series tonight, though. It's funny, this girl in the building was in the gym at the same time with her friend. He was working out pretty seriously, but she was just there to support/hang out... but she was using my weight! Once she saw I was actually doing something serious (instead of hanging out in the gym in a bathing suit and flip-flops... ??) she let me have the weights. Yay.

And Ab Ripper. Check.

Day 35: Rest

I started doing X Stretch, but it's already so late and I really want to just read in bed. Maybe I'll stretch tomorrow after my morning run. It's optional anyways.

Day 34: Kenpo X

Another workout where I felt really strong! I attribute my ability to really work hard the whole time to the double espresso shot I had this morning. My parents are visiting for the weekend, so they hit the pool while I punched and kicked. I would love to always have this amount of energy for my workouts. I could have kept going all day long.

Day 33: Legs & Back

I really put my all into this workout. Though it took me a little time to wake up (as always), I was happy to do this this morning (plans to see the Braves game tonight)! My legs worked it hard and I really tried to do the pull-ups using a chair this time. I think that's better than just hanging, which is what I was doing. Ab Ripper X was rough, though. It wore me out!

Day 32: Hello morning run! And yoga

I haven't gotten a run in in almost two weeks! I've just had so much to do in the evenings that I've had to do P90X in the mornings.

I ran my longer morning route, and I think had a better sense of my pace. My legs were pretty heavy from plyometrics, but I still felt pretty strong the whole time.

Tonight was some late-night yoga! I did it solo, as Mike had done it this morning. I really enjoyed doing it in the dark with the lights from the other buildings shining through our big window. But my arms were pretty exhausted tonight.

Day 31: Back & Biceps

Early morning workout. New exercises. More pull-ups, which are my least favorite. But I liked the free weights. I felt pretty strong for Ab Ripper X.

Day 30: Plyometrics

Early morning Plyo. Took me almost half of the workout to wake up, but I sweated my way through it. Mike says he could feel a difference after our "rest week," but I don't think I felt too different... maybe? Hard to tell.

Day 29: Back, Shoulders, Triceps

Week Five!

We have a new program with back, shoulders and triceps. I worked out this evening by myself because Mike went early (I needed more sleep)!!

I liked the workout except it was interrupted halfway by a fire drill in our building. I know they're important, but the timing couldn't have been worse.

So with a huge break in the middle of my workout, I finally finished up and got through Ab Ripper X. At least I look forward to Ab Ripper now. I can't do them all, but I have "graduated" from supporting myself with my hands to being able to put them up in the air... except for the reverse bicycles. I was worn out already by then.

Oh, I almost forgot. We also took photos today to track our progress. I'm not sure if I mentioned it before, but we took photos the first day before starting the workouts. I haven't looked to compare mine yet, but I definitely noticed a difference in Mike's.

Day 28: Rest Day

Perfect timing for this rest day! I am so tired from having a great time in Charlotte for our friends' wedding! It was beautiful!

And we had a lot of fun staying with Mike's family, too. I drove back today with pouring rain once we were almost home, so I really needed to just chill out.

Day 27: Yoga

Yoga was fun this morning because we brought the DVD with us to Charlotte. Mike's cousin likes yoga, so she did it with us... along with Mike's aunt, uncles and grandfather watching! The workout felt really intense today!

Day 26: Core Synergistics

This morning, I did core synergistics solo. Mike got up even earlier and chose to do it downstairs in the weight room. Since I don't need much weight, I opted to stay up here and used cider vinegar bottles for weights! They did the job, though. Just a little bit of tension added a lot to this workout.

Day 24:

Day 23: Core Synergistics

This morning I discovered how disgusting our floor is. It was the first time we did core synergistics, which works out everything using your core as your base. It involved a lot of rolling around on our hardwood floor. I am now covered in grime. It's pretty gross. But the workout was okay.

Day 22: Yoga

This week is a rest week, which doesn't mean much as far as actual resting goes. Mike and I did some late night yoga because it took me about twice as long to make dinner as I'd thought. I made a tomato basil pie, but I hadn't left the pie crust out to defrost... so I we had to wait 45 minutes before I could even start baking! I was just a little too full than I would have liked for an hour and a half of yoga.

I noticed a huge difference tonight. I did all but one of the vinyasas, which is a huge improvement. My arms are so much stronger. I also just felt better in my poses for longer, which I'm attributing to improved endurance.

Day 21: "Rest" Day

I somehow managed to get out of bed at the beach for a long run. I left about an hour and a half later than I'd planned, so it was pretty hot and humid. But that Under Armour shirt got me through! So did my GU and the free ice ice ice cold water some gentlemen outside of a church gave me as I ran by on my second lap of the loop. I think I kept up a pretty consistent pace. I can guess I did at least 8 miles but no more than 9 miles, as my time was 90 minutes (for a 10 minute mile pace, which is what I was shooting for).

After our eight hour drive home in the rain, Mike and I opted to skip X Stretch tonight.

Day 20: Kenpo

Happy Fourth of July! Mike and I did our workout somewhat early this morning so we could continue to enjoy the beach without having to stress out at night about fitting it in.

I had maybe 10 percent of my normal energy for this. It was a pretty poor workout for me. I barely tried. I think the sun and heat just drained me of all energy.

Day 19: Legs & Back

Mike and I arrived at the beach last night for our Fourth of July holiday. I was up this morning for a nice 4-miler that goes across two bridges. It was hot, but my Under Armour shone again (I recently bought two more colors of that same shirt at Dick's).

We fit in our legs and back workout around 9 p.m. tonight. It was tough to get through because I was pretty tired. But we kept on schedule and then enjoyed a yummy dinner of fresh shrimp!

Day 18: Yoga

Tired this morning. My heart wasn't really in yoga the whole time. Again, I got bored during the last half. Still a strong workout, though, so I can't complain there.

Day 17: Shoulders & Arms

Up and out for some speedwork (200 repeats) at the track. Another hot day, but I felt good.

Shoulders and arms went well tonight. Mike and I ran into another couple at our gym who are doing P90X too. They are on Day 40 or so. It was fun to see other people doing this program, though they admitted to only following the program about every other day. 

Abs felt pretty good, too, tonight. I skipped the protein recovery drink since I'd had one this morning after my workout. I hope I'm not too sore tomorrow.