A work in progress

I still haven't figured this whole P90X thing out yet.

The first week I hit it hard, and I paid for it hard. My arms hurt and my body ached. I continued to hurt for the next three days!

The next week, either I got stronger or I got a lot more timid, because I didn't feel overly sore after any workout. I felt like I worked but I didn't feel beat down.

The third week, I think I became complacent. I barely put effort into the workouts. Once I hit my max rep I stopped. I told myself not to push it too hard and that my body will get stronger naturally. This may be true, but really I think that I just got lazy.

By the fourth week it was recovery time and I screwed up and forgot my workout CDs at home while on vacation. I tried to do my best, and I went for a few aerobic runs but it was a far cry from the pescribed plan.

On the Fifth week, I was at a lost. Do I pretend like I never missed a week and keep going? Do I repeat the recovery week? Or do I start all over again? In the end, I realized that my motivation was slipping and I most likely wouldn't recover from starting over again. This all meant that I shouldn't go back and do the recovery week, so de facto I was moving ahead. Unfortunately, my motivation did not move ahead with me and I rather pathetically tackled the weeks workouts.

It was right about this time that I seriously considered dropping out and beginning another triathlon training schedule. I know these workouts. I know the exhaustion I feel and what they mean. I know what progress is. This was also the time that I decided to blog about P90X. If its out in the open then maybe it'll be harder to abandon.

Now that I am on my sixth week, I still feel undermotivated. I have missed several workouts and feel so far behind that it seems impossible to get ahead. Curiously, this is also the time that I decided to start picking up some cardio exercises too.

Funny enough, that seems to have helped out. With my cardio exercises lined up, I feel more energized to do the P90X. I have a plan and a psuedo schedule. I feel like I can do it.

Which brings me to my latest revelation regarding how to tackle these workouts. It seems to require a change in mentallity. I have been focused on the (long)endurance aspect of training so long that I try to leave a little in the tank, not to exhaust me so much that I can't do another long hard workout the next day. But P90X wants you to go full out. Blow every bit of strength you have on that pull up. Be exhausted after your workout. Because the next workout is going to be something completely different.

I am not sure how this different is different from triathlon different. I mean each day in Tri training is a different focus too. I am also not sure how exhausting myself each workout is going to effect my cardio workout but this is all just a big experiment.

I'm gonna roll with the punches. Drink my protein shakes and nurse my sore muscles.

Wish me luck!