Monday, February 13, 2012

Monday February 13, 2012

Workout: P90x Chest/Shoulders/Tris
Avg HR: 111


I think I despise this workout.  I've decided it is the absolute worst of them all - it is so difficult and the people are so boring.  By 3/4 of the way through, my arms are absolute jello and I can barely do any of the moves.  I guess thats a good thing - rather than completely mastering everything and being able to get through it all, its probably better to get to the point of failure.  But man, my arms are toast for the whole day.  I also think this workout has the most ridiculous exercises of all of the workouts: 1 arm pushups, clapping pushups, pike presses, fly pushups.   Ugh.  But I get through it every time - and that is success.


I took Saturday and Sunday as rest days and it felt good.  Right now I'm struggling, though, because I have a weird knee issue going on and I can't figure out how to figure out what it is.  It is not joint related - in other words, the pain is not in the joint.  The pain is in the ligaments next to the knee on the inside of my right leg.  And I don't know how to heal that - it hurts every time I stand or bear weight on that leg.  If I stand too long the outside ligaments hurt too.  I also have this same feeling on the inside of my right elbow.  I'm not sure what to do about it or if anything can be done.

Friday, February 10, 2012

Friday February 10, 2012

Tuesday - p90x core synergistics
Ugh.  I'm better at this and don't hate it as much as the last round, but its still horrible.  I would actually choose plyometrix before this... I really hate working core.  I'm fortunate that I don't carry my weight in my stomach (I carry it in my hips/thighs), so I'm not as worried about core/ab work as many women.  And because of that minor blessing, I don't care if I have a small little pooch... I actually think that it is a very feminine thing to have.  BUT, I do recognize that I'm unusual in this regard.


Wednesday - p90x KenPo
I enjoy this workout, it just doesn't feel like a workout that raises my heart rate enough.  It goes fast and is kind of fun, its just not difficult and doesn't feel like I'm working hard enough.  So I think its a great recovery week workout.


Thursday - run on the treadmill
Ran for 2 miles, which ended up being about 22:00.  I had to fit it in between some stuff, so I ran for 1 episode of Arrested Development, which worked out perfectly to 2 miles.  It was good - I'm so meant to be running slower and working myself up.


Friday - p90x CardioX
The schedule for today was supposed to be yoga, but I did not want to get up at 5:15 to do a 90 minute workout.  We opted for CardioX.  Neither of us have done this workout before - its nice.  It is only 45 minutes, which feels so short compared to all the rest of the workouts.  It was kind of fun - its a mix of all of the non-strength workouts: yoga, kenpo & plyo.  It was definitely enjoyable and went fast.  It was also not terribly difficult, which makes it a great recovery week workout.


My body feels like it needs a break.  I'm considering taking an extra rest day tomorrow.  Either that or I'm going to do yoga...  I just feel sore and fatigued, so i want to rest.  I think, though, that it would feel really good to do all of the yoga, so I'll wait and find out what Dave wants to do.

Monday, February 6, 2012

Monday February 6, 2012

Saturday - Run 6 miles on the treadmill


I swallowed my pride and ran at a slower pace to find out if I could keep my heart rate lower and if so, if running would feel easier for me.  I ran between 5.5-5.8 (11:00 -10:40) and was able to keep my heart rate below 165 the entire time.  I ran while watching Arrested Development on netflix, which meant that I wasn't trying to keep pace with any music.  The run was so much easier than any that I've done recently.  I wasn't laboring or sucking wind, I didn't feel like I needed to mentally keep myself from jumping off throughout the whole thing.  I just ran.  And I enjoyed it.  This is what I need to be doing.


Monday - Recovery week!
YogaX is on the schedule for today, however, I opted to run instead.  I like yoga and all, but it is 90 minutes and it doesn't elevate my heart rate enough for my satisfaction.  So I ran 4 miles while watching Arrested Development again this morning.  I stayed at a 5.5 (11:00) pace for almost the entire time... I think I upped it for the last 3/4 of a mile just to get the 4 miles in on time.  My average HR for today's run was 155.  This was an easily sustainable heart rate and again, I enjoyed it and didn't feel miserable the entire time.  This is definitely what I need to be doing.

Friday, February 3, 2012

Friday February 3, 2012

Wednesday - p90x Shoulders/Arms
I'm gaining a lot of strength and my arms are really defined, but my muscles are gigantic in proportion to the short length they have to fill between joints.  I may start lowering the weights a bit and doing a few more reps.


Thursday - run on the treadmill 3 miles
It was a horrible run.  I quickly needed to fit it in between things and I was hurried and a little stressed.  I jumped off after every song to get a drink of water.  I just wasn't into it.  After reading the most recent Runners World, I'm going to focus more on running at an appropriate heart rate, but for longer.  I'm never going to get my mileage up with a heart rate of 170.  I'm going to have to slow down to probably an 11:00 mile and increase my pace when I can regularly keep my heart rate in the 150's/160's at that pace.  I read many things in this recent issue about not getting hung up on pace, and I totally have - it has become a pride thing.  I used to be able to run faster than a 10:00 mile... I had been running at a 9:40 mile with a 2% incline on the treadmill, but I have not run regularly for over a year and I can't expect myself to be at that pace any more.  If I want to continue running and enjoy it, I need to slow down and keep my heart rate in check.  How many times do I have to excuse my crappy performance by saying: Its just too difficult to sustain a heart rate of 170+ for that long?  I'm smarter than that - I know what I have to do, I just need to get over myself and swallow my pride and slow down. 


Have to decide if I want to do a long, slow run tomorrow or do intervals again.  I want to continue doing intervals every week, but I need to figure out which day I want to do them.


Friday - p90x Back/Legs
I always enjoy this workout.  I'm seeing major strength gains in my pullups.  I did 2 reverse grip chinups without using the chair!  Thats awesome!   And I'm proud of myself!  However, I do need to think about what my goals are with this... I tried on a sleeveless shirt yesterday and I was kind of grossed out by how muscular my arms are... again, the distance between my joints is short and my muscles are big, so my arms don't really look toned and defined, they just look big.  Oh well, not sure what to do about it.


My weight was down to 124.4 this morning.  Loss of 1/2 pound this week.  I was kind of disappointed, but then realized - hey, its still a 1/2 pound!  I'm happy with that.