P90X works and makes sense!

So I'm not HEAVY into the P90X right now.. though I hit it HARD over the winter. This is the first time I feel I've seen any change in my musculature.. and it continues to change and improve as I get my nutrition more dialed (so not the case over the last week). I did two rounds of P90X and am finding that with minimal "maintanence" effort I'm able to maintain both strength (I'm not as strong as I was) and definition.

All this is great, but as I'm getting more into my tri training I'm thinking P90X (to a lesser degree than before) needs to make it back into the rotation. 1. It MAKES me do it and 2. Both Core Synergistics (how many times have you heard you NEED TO WORK ON YOUR CORE) and Plyometrics are GREAT additions to a tri program to keep you balanced and strong. Now to just figure out where to fit it in. I KNOW I can find the time because I can do it in my basement instead of watching TV.. or while watching TV w/ P90X on my computer... at this point I only need reminders bc I almost have it memorized.

Here are some photos (taken by my 4 year old so forgive the AWESOME quality and the sweet artwork in the background!). The pic of just my bicep at the bottom in the pink sports bra was taken at the hieght of my P90X training and the others were taken today. Now I swim and do some upper body maybe 2x a week, but more like consistantly 1x a week. I lift heavy (for me) with 10 - 12 reps (to failure). The 'to failure' or the 'last three should be mighty tough' philosophy was brought to me by P90X in that past I would just kinda mess around and never see any results! I also learned to mix it up - Tony is ALL about the muscle confusion - so instead of doing 3 sets of 10 of the same bicep exercise I usually (for example) will do one bicep exercise, one shoulder, one tri and then do the bicep, shoulder, tri sequence again, but do different exercises from the last ones for each muscle. Other days I might do the same approach, but back and biceps so forth and so on. I find it keeps it a bit more interesting, doesn't take as long and uses all the different parts of the muscle.

I feel like P90X gave me a good base on how to do the weight room along w/ the confidence to go in there and do my thing w/o feeling like a scrawny little girl that didn't know what she was doing. I now have some basic workouts memorized with some adjustments by me and have a notebook w/ the actual workout written out if I'm feeling scrappy (which isn't happening a lot with all the tri training).

You can also see how teeny weeny my tri top is in this pic. :) You'll have to wait for photos from Knoxville to see the full effect of the kit! :)

This is the best thing I could find in the 'before' department. Look at those spaghetti arms.

Can you tell a difference between these two pics? I feel like I can. Less bulk, more definition. I likes.

So what's the point? The point is that strength training is important for all athletes - whatever your sport - and non-athletes. P90X will give you direction, confidence AND strength and definition. It's mixed up enough to keep you interested, but the same enough that you can actually learn and grow with it. I love that it has straight up weights/body weights, stretching, yoga and plyo. It also has a 'kick boxing-ish" and a cardio video, but they weren't my favorite and I figured I do enough cardio as it is!

If you are looking for a "program" or something you can do at home for convenience sake this is by far the way to go!!! It's like having a personal trainer come to your house for a fraction of the cost. Or you could fly me to your abode and I'll HOOK YOU UP! :) 

What are you doing for strength training? Do you need a kick in the pants? When do you fit it in? Can I talk you into putting some dorky photos of you flexing on your blog.. it would make me feel much better about my photos. :) ha ha

Time to give up the hard core stregth training?

Shoulder pain mystery solved?

I think I finally put two and two together and figured out what is up w/ my anterior deltoids! I have been swimming for years and never had problems.. okay, to be fair, off and on for years. This past season I swam at most twice a week. Once in open water and once in the pool. Though it was usually just once a week. My first workout at masters swim was GULP 3100 yards or so. I finished it.. I couldn't believe it. The next workout was the same and they have hovered around 2500 yards since. I figured it was the mass amounts of yardage I added, but like I said this pain was new.

Well I'm also coming off almost a year of hitting the weight room pretty hard and I had started lifting pretty heavy and was enjoying seeing some growth and definition in my, um, shoulders. Well since I've been having this pain I've tried a couple of times to hit the weights again.. just lighter and not so intense. And wouldn't you know it... every time I do a weight session my anterior deltoids flair up again.

I'm familiar with both muscle soreness from use/lifting and muscle pain from injury. I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm currently injured, but I would say that my shoulders are putting up the red flags (or maybe white) to let me know they ain't happy and won't tolerate this BS much longer.

So while I do enjoy lifting and lifting heavy I have to go back to my goals for the year. Am I aiming to be all shredded up or am I aiming to be a better triathlete. TRIATHLETE is where I'm at so bye-bye P90X.

I'm now looking for a good program I can do that focuses more on core and hits overall body as well. Thinking pull ups (assisted of course... though I can do TWO by myself.. which will have to suffice for my 2010 goal of doing unassisted pull ups) and push ups.

I was also instructed by the swim coach to do some stretching. Both chest and shoulders. He picked out some things in my stroke that may or may not be contributing to my pain. Things like not reaching enough, not getting enough bend in my elbow for my pull and pulling too early.

And on a side note. I've also been instructed to sit on my feet. When doing kick drills I LITERALLY stop mid lap.. and I would swear I was starting to go backward, but have been promised this is not true. The coach watched my kick and said it wasn't 'too bad', but to try pointing my toes more. I promptly put my foot above water and showed him that this was ALL I GOT. He said, "hmm, you need to sit on your feet your ankles are really tight!" Yes, I have runner's ankles! ;)

So that's that. Hopefully with the stretching, laying off the weights and sleeping on my back (I'm getting there) I'll be good as new soon. In the meantime I just keep swimming.

Is stretching part of your program or do you neglect it like I do because life hits you smack in the face as soon as you walk in the door and it just gets "forgotten"?

Slowly but surely

IF you can see past my silly outfit ... two coats on my waste and inappropriate pants for a trail run I think you'll see that the P90X is starting to work. :) My shoulders have.. GASP.. are those muscles? :D YEAH! Nothing like seeing progress to keep you moving. Only 1.5 weeks left in this month then I'm onto the last month in the first round. Can't wait for round two. THAT'S WHERE THE MONEY IS!

Mothers Day

I will start this post ( or provide a disclaimer ) that I do like being a mom, but damn!

Mother's Day was not the best this year. I started out going to a race that I felt was largely a waste of my time. More on that later. Then came home to kids that didn't really want much to do w/ me and are in a phase where they whine, back talk and fight almost constantly! UGH. Not ideal for me.. on 'my' day. I wasn't really feeling the Mother's Day vibe all week... see above regarding the behavior of my offspring.

Jason is all up in Lily's grill and Lily is wanting some space. BAD BAD BAD combo. I'm thinking they are also still recovering from our trip to Seattle as sleep - or rather going to sleep - has not been going well around these parts.

The race. The Northface Challenge is always well run and the course was great. I got up at ass crack, had some coffee, hoped for the daily you know before race stuff which didn't happen, then made some breakfast and headed out on my 1 hour and 10 minute drive to the race venue. The drive was nice enough. Parked at the designated parking area to be shuttled over. My race started at 9am and the last shuttle left the parking area at 8:15a. I was early... maybe around 7?45a. Then went and stood around in the FREEZING WINDY cold for over an hour. I had originally planned to stash my outer layer w/ the gear check guys, but didn't bring a bag (thought I'd be able to get one??) and didn't want to stand in line w/ everyone else that waited till the last minute to strip off their stuff so I decided to be "that" dork running in a fleece and long (not meant for running trails) boot leg tights over my intended running gear. SAAWWWEEETT! The race photos should be spectacular ... two coats tied around my waste! ha. If there are even any photos of me bc my number was covered on "accident".

I loved loved loved the descents. I figured out how to use my knees and relax my legs and hop down. Great fun. The run overall was well marked. It never did thin out completely (500+ runners), but it opened up enough to run and i was comforted by other people around w/ my tendency to get lost in the woods. My nutrition held up (I know it's just a 10k, but I was worried about my lack of carbs) I think 10k might be my new favorite.. particularly trail.

Moral of the story for this race is I'm only going to do stuff that's 30 mins away for a while.

I got home and the kids basically watched scooby doo mother's day marathon most of the day. I relaxed, made the kids some bracelets, thought about doing laundry and remembered it was Mother's Day and saved it (reminding myself I need to do it today), researched some stuff while watching Scooby (should have napped), Tom cooked a delicious dinner. Then the kids were sassing me and generally just not listening so bad I couldn't take it anymore. Jason was going to get a hair cut, but I took the clippers (which he insisted on opening himself though Tom and I had both asked him not to) and sent him into his bedtime routine. Both kids baulked at this and wouldn't listen and were continuing to back talk so I put them both in their rooms and told them that was it time for bed. Tom and I then stood outside their rooms and kept walking them back to their beds while they screamed and cried in protest! Jason finally gave up and went to bed so I left Tom to finish up w/ Lily.

So HAPPY FING MOTHER'S day mommy. I will get them to submit! I WILL! ha ha

Then there is just crap on TV on Sundays. Must remember to DVR stuff during the week so I have stuff to watch when I really just want to veg and sit in front of the TV.

On a high note.. a friend turned me onto Kefir and it's many benefits. It's also SO easy to make yourself so I have abandoned any thoughts of brewing my own Kombucha and will be making Kefir. I got some starter and made my first batch using coconut water and milk and it's pretty good. I ordered some 'grains' (have no idea why they are called that. they are actually a culture) to be able to make it over and over and over again. I'm pretty excited. I know I'm a dork.

I'm working on doing some more sewing... though I know I should be focused on finishing my priming and painting in the basement. Those of you that know me personally know that I am very easily distracted and prefer to bounce around a couple of projects to avoid boredom.

P90X is still rocking.... about 50 days in now. Can't wait to start my second round as I think that's when people REALLY start to see results.

The Candida Diet thing (basically meat and veg and fermented dairy) is proving slightly difficult to stay on, but I power through. When I crave something 'sweet' I drink herbal tea or have some raw chocolate made w/ cocoa and coconut oil. NO sweetener. The ultimate dark chocolate. Sometimes I'll put some raw almond butter in it to 'sweeten' it a bit.

Here is hoping for a better day today.... though I have a feeling there will be a lot of room time for the kids. Thank God for preschool.

Gotta say.. not LOVING the twin thing at this stage. Four is better, right? RIGHT? Only one more month until their birthday!

Oh, and I'm headed to Madison this weekend for a quick trip! YEAH!!!

The Northface Challenge

This Sunday for Mother's Day I will be running the Northface Challenge 10K!!! I had registered for the half. I was really pained about this now. I ran a half a few weeks ago and it was tough... and it was on the road. I know the NFC is going to be HARD! Off road is hard enough, but the site says it's HILLY and technical. When I registered it sounded all well and good. Aside from the race being challenging for me at this point bc my running has fallen apart I didn't really think much about the time it would take... on MOTHER'S DAY. Over an hour to get there, I'm guessing 2.5 or more hours to run/walk it, then over an hour to get back. So basically all day. As I considered my mother's day this wasn't how I wanted to spend it. I wanted to spend it w/ my family. so w/ those reasons in mind (mostly the time commitment and the potential for suffering) I emailed to see if I could change to the 10k after a prompt from my Sister in Law and I didn't think it would happen, but I got an email today that I'm switched!!! YEAH! This answers all problems. 4 hours away and I'll be back for late lunch / early dinner and some family fun on Mother's day... AFTER getting some quiet me time in the woods. Perfect!

P90X is going great. I'm at it 100% now and not even a week back in and I can feel it already. Things are getting easier. I'm able to lift heavier and can knock out over 10 push ups (real ones) now. (I know not that much, but way better than when I started.) No pull up yet, but I can tell I'm getting stronger. This is yet another reason I didn't want to run the half marathon and thrash my legs. I don't want to have to skip my leg work out or any of the work outs next week b/c I wrecked myself so bad I couldn't do it.

I took some measurements that I will take again in a month.. then each month. I plan to work through the first 90 day series then do it again through the summer and then might see what I can do about a trainer at the gym to spice it up a bit. (Um... maybe a birthday present to me... :D)

And the belly bloating thing... MUCH better. After my trip to Seattle I started thinking that maybe I really do have a problem w/ Candida. I've thought this in the past, but never acted on it bc i didn't feel empowered to do it myself. I did some research and changed my diet DRASTICALLY. Went from all fruits and veggies to NO SUGAR WHATSOEVER... including fruit. And the difference was night and day.. in just a few short days. I do this for a month (I'm 1.5 weeks in) and then I can start adding fruits/carbs back in and see how my body reacts. While I do this I take herbs to kill the yeast overgrowth... then probiotics to rebuild.

The lucky news for me is that this diet goes along w/ Phase 1 of the P90X diet.

Reality Check One, Two, One, Two

So I've been on the endurance train for a while. I took some pit stops here and there and I know I always feel better when I'm on the train, but seriously. Every time I get race photos back I think to myself, (YES THIS IS TOTALLY VEIN) "really I bust my ass and THIS is what I get?" I work out A LOT people. Run run run run and run some more. Now adding swimming and riding (new in the last three years anyway). And while this has certainly helped my pants size (why do people refer to it as dress size.. I mean really, who wears dresses anymore) my 'physique' is still not where I would like it to be.

I mean sure it could be worse, don't get me wrong most days I feel pretty good about the result, but really... it could be better. A lot better.

As most of you know I have been doing some P90X.. now I say some b/c I haven't done the program all out. I've done the weight sessions only and none of the other stuff... b/c well I've been running and riding and swimming. So each session takes under and hour... YES UNDER an hour. I run for at a minimum of 40 mins to an hour... MINIMUM! And my long runs take 1.5 to 2 hours at a minimum.

Anyway... a lot of you have asked... "is it worth it? Does P90X really work?" Well I would definitely say that I am getting stronger... still no pull up unassisted, but it's early. So here's what I'm committing to my dear readers. I will do the program. I'm going to consider myself 30 days in already... even though I didn't do the first 30 days all out. I don't want to start that round all over again b/c I don't want to get bored. I've done that round (half assed) more than once already.

So I'm going to do the program. I'll take photos. I already took my "30 day photos" which, I'm sorry, but I refuse to post until I have something better to look at. Most of you saw the bikini photos on facebook from when I went to Miami. They look about the same. This is where my original "Reality Check, One, Two, One, Two" came from. I took those photos and when I looked at them I immediately wanted to eat a pint of Ben and Jerry's b/c really. I do all this work, I DON'T Eat Ben and Jerry's and I look like THAT! SHIT! SHIT SHIT!!! It's time to do some work! REALLY!

Yes this post is vein. Am I proud of my athletic achievements?? HELLS YES! Am I proud of the way I look in a bikini.. absolutely NOT! So it's time for me to stop whining about it and drowning myself in imaginary ben and jerry's and start building some metabolism boosting muscle.

And just for you my dear readers... starting after my trip to Seattle I will even haul my lazy ass out of bed before the kids get up and get my P90X in so that I still have time during school hours to run ... b/c let's face it... I need it for my mental fortitude really.

PS. Most of you know I have some issues w/ food. (meaning I can't eat like a normal person b/c well my belly rebels!) so I won't be doing their food program, but based on what I've read / heard it's Paleo like.

Feel the love!!

I don't know what happened, but for some reason I stopped getting notice of new comments on the blog. I just logged in to post something and saw that I had 57 comments that needed moderated. I really thought NO ONE was reading this thing anymore. Wow! I was wrong. I want to send a shout out (and apology) to everyone that has been commenting in the last month. I'm sorry that I didn't respond to everyone's great comments... particularly on my not so uplifting blog posts! I was in a slump and WOW you guys stepped up to offer support and encouragement and I totally missed it! Thank you from the bottom of my heart!!!! And KEEP IT coming.

Don't worry... I'm not deleting anyone's blogs (Sonja and Kelly)!! :D I love your blogs. You guys push me to be a better athlete and I love that!

Things on the athletic front are up and going up. I just registered for a local 1/2 marathon that I had forgotten was out there. I had the race bug and was thinking.. hmm I need to find something in April and I met a guy in Spin class today and he mentioned the Danbury 1/2! Oh how things happen. I'm trying REALLY hard to practice the 'law of attraction'... I get what I put out there! All things are possible! I have everything I need to accomplish my goals RIGHT HERE AND RIGHT NOW! And then BAM. I put it out there and not 24 hours later it's given to me! AWESOMENESS!!

Swimming seems to really be coming together... I still can't get to the end of the lane w/ less than about 19 strokes (frustrating), but I feel like I'm getting stronger, my stroke is getting better and I'm feeling more confident... and that's a lot. I am looking forward to swim work outs and that's saying even more!

I feel like I'm starting to connect with more people (even if a lot of them aren't in my same geographic area) and that is helping to give me more spunk and confidence as well. Thanks for the GRRRR Sonja! :D I used it in spin class today!

P90X is back on the schedule. I did legs and back yesterday I'm feeling it today.. in a good way. Spin was a struggle for the legs, but my mind was able to overpower the pain! I'm also trying to concentrate more on my core in all things I do. I know I have a weak core and when I am consistent in working on it I definitely feel it - in a good way - in all athletic endeavors.

Thanks again ladies. It means so much to me. I enjoyed reading each and EVERY comment I received!!!!