Triathlon Training Day 64 & 65: 5 Mile Run

Well, yesterday we finally reached our vacation destination. The house was are staying in is beautiful and it should be a nice relaxing vacation!

On Sunday I couldn't find time to get in a workout. Catching up with the family, driving and unpacking just tired me out. The good news was that when we got to the house my younger sister was already there and she was looking rather buff! She didn't tell because she wanted it to be a surprise but she did an entire round of P90X! And she looks great. She was 131lbs before she started an after the 90 days she is down to 119 lbs and extremely lean. I was very proud of her!

This morning my sister, Annie and I decided to get up early and go for a run. The community we are in is very quite and hardly any traffic was present! My sister and I ended up running for a total of 5 miles. The plan was to run for 4 miles but we got lost. We passed the same house 3 times before we realized it! It was just like in "European Vacation" when Chevy Chase and family were stuck in the circle and Chevy kept saying, "Look kids, Big Ben - Parliament" .... the good news was that we eventually found our way home and got an extra mile in! Also I almost stepped on a dead snake. At the time I didn't realize it was dead and damn near jumped on my sisters back. It was a big sucker! By HR went from 164bpm to 185bpm in a matter of one second! This is now the second time I have encountered a snake while running. The first time was much more scary because it was a water moccasin and it was alive and pissed off! My 5K split was 25:18. A very nice pace for me.

My plans of open water swimming in the Atlantic Ocean came to a crashing halt today. We went down to the beach and the waves were huge. Biggest waves I have ever seen on the east coast! So instead I took a boggy board out and tried to ride the waves. Didn't do too well but got in a heck of a workout trying!

Not really sure what tomorrow's workout is going to be. We rented some bikes so it might be that but I really enjoyed running with a temperate of 68 degrees!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Triathlon Training Day 30: 1000 yards Swimming

Today is a good day! My company sent my new computer to me and the best news is they just swapped out the hard drive from my old one so I don't have to worry about reinstalling anything!

I had a very cleaning eating day again and am really beginning to feel my supplements kicking in - despite long hours working and training my energy level is solid!

This evening before the 24 season finale I went and got in 40 laps at the pool. I did not work on my swimming drills at all but instead focused on keeping my form and doing laps. At about lap 20 I realized I wasn't rotating with my hips as fluently so I paused and took some deep yoga breathes for about a minute. I had to do it again at about lap 35. Overall, I had a great endurance swim. I'm still not very fast but I am a million times more comfortable compared to day one and my legs felt great when I finished up today. If my legs feel like this on the day of the Triathlon then the bike and run are going to be fun.

Going to do ARX right now and then off to bed!

Not really sure what I have scheduled tomorrow and I am to tired to even click on my google calendar to check!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Triathlon Training Day 15: 3.5 Mile Run

My new Garmin 305 Forerunner absolutely rocks! I took it on my jog today and the instant feedback it provides is so critical to training. This HRM is so much more accurate than the crappy Reebok one I had been using and I love having instant distance feedback while running.

I did something very different today and that was hide my timer feature on the Garmin. I want to train by keeping my HR in the Aerobic zone for the majority of my runs. Lately, I have found myself pushing a little too hard to get a better time and the downside of this is that my HR would jump into the Anaerobic zone as I'd sprint to hit the 1st mile marker or close out the last half mile. I also ran a different route so I wouldn't have any landmarks for distances. The results were that my average HR was 154 BPM and I did the 3.5 miles in 30:49. Not my fastest time but definitely my most efficient!

It was freaking hot today too! The temperature was only 82 degrees but the humidity was excessive. By the time I got back to the house I was drenched. Once we start hitting the brutal temperatures of the SouthEast Texas summers my training is going to have to start during pre-daylight hours! I am not looking forward to this but it is going to be necessary - and my Triathlon starts at 8am so it will be good to get my body used to the early start.

Oh, I officially registered for the Triathlon this weekend. And I signed up for a years membership the the United States Triathlon Association (USTA). So no turning back now!!

Tomorrow is going to be a Total Immersion Swim Day again. I am going to continue to practice my drills and get in as many laps as physically possible!

Also, I am now 6 days away from starting my BSN Supplements again. Really, I cannot wait. I can honestly say I have not done any research to see of Nitrix and NOXplode are used for Triathletes but I can see a big difference in the intensity of my training since I have stopped using them! It will be interesting to see if I notice a difference.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Round 2 Day 82: Legs, Back, ARX and 10-Mile Cycle

Gotta love days off work! Even though I did some work early in the morning it was still technically an off day since my company was closed for Good Friday! So, I got a lot on the mind tonight so this is going to be one of my longer, rambling posts - grab a drink and a comfy seat!

I took full advantage of my free time and got in a double workout today. Around 2pm I did a 10 mile bike ride. I planned on doing 14-miles but around mile 9.5 the rain came a pouring down on me so I hustled my butt home. I tried out my new Triathlon shorts today on the bike ride and they were wonderful ... no butt pain at all after the ride!! I have never been a "tight shorts" type of guy but after the comfort these suckers provide I no longer care about that type of label anymore. That being said, I still will not be walking around the Wal-Mart in these shorts!

Once again it was very windy for my ride. I am beginning to think I moved to Kansas or something because the wind has been outrageous the last couple of weeks. I am actually missing the heat and humidity that Houston is famous for -- can't believe I just typed that! Anyways, despite the wind I averaged around 17 mph today and my top speed was 28 mph. I only had to stop one time at a 4-way as the traffic was almost non-existent today in the neighborhood!

Well. Annie got home from work today and we decided to do Legs, Back, and ARX together. This is my 12th Week of P90X and that means this is my last resistance workout of this round 2! I decided to give this everything I had an leave it all on the (yoga) mat! I took 2 big scoops of NO-Xplode and brought the hell out of it. I told Annie that my goal was to do 200 reps on the pullup bar! There are 8 pullup exercises in this workout and here were my rep counts: 25-25-26-25-25-25-20 & 20 = 190 Reps!! I damn near died on the last two sets. I missed the goal by 10 reps but 190 was the most I have ever done and I can barely type right now because of it. And the leg portion was absolutely brutal because of the cycle today. By the time I got to the calf raises I was dragging big time. I was going to use 25lb dumbbells but my arms were hurting from the pullups so I just grabbed 15's and they still burned like crazy. This is just an awesome workout!

We both grunted through ARX also. I didn't add any extra reps because of exhaustion but still kept up with Tony and the kids. Finally, I nailed the oblique raises today - they have been giving me trouble but I refocused and did them.

Okay so now that I am coming up to the final week of P90X, which is the recovery week, I am going to pretty much modify this final week and start my Triathlon Training. In other words - I am done with this round of P90X - yeah me!

So, I have bought new running shoes, a road bike, a bike computer, all the bike accessories, all the swimming gear and accessories, and a gym membership - they have a pool. I am ready to go!

Now the question is: How is the workout schedule going to look? Well, I don't want to lose any of the muscle I have gained from P90X so I need to incorporate strength training into the training. Also, Triathletes really need to have a strong core so I want to incorporate core training as well. Here is somewhat of a preliminary schedule I have been working on:

Swimming - 2 times/week
Running - 2 times/week
Cycling - 2 times/week

Core Synergistics - 1 times/week
Ab Ripper X - 2 times/week (Alternate in Abs/Core Plus every other week)

Chest & Back and Shoulders & Arms - 1 time each per week every other week
Chest, Shoulders & Triceps and Back & Biceps - 1 time each per week every other week
Yoga - 1 times/week

The Cycling and Running days will probably be my double days since my upper body doesn't get much of a workout doing those. The swimming days will be only swimming days since this is the sport I need the most work on.

Here is an example of what I am thinking:

Monday - Run and Chest & Shoulders
Tuesday - Swim and ARX
Wednesday - Bike and Core Synergistics
Thursday - Swim and Yoga
Friday - Run and Shoulders & Arms
Saturday - Bike and ARX
Sunday - Rest

Now this is not written in stone and I will probably change it a few times. If I am doing well during the double days I might toss in ARX instead of doing it on swim days. If after I begin this schedule and it is too difficult I might take out the Yoga and Core Synergistics workouts, but I really want to get a full six-pack and feel this can be accomplished with all the cardio I am getting ready to start doing!

So, when is this all going to begin? Probably the week of April 19th. I plan on doing biking, swimming and running during the next week to finish out the "recovery week" of P90X and I will continue to post out the remaining 8 days as planned. If I am still feeling beat to hell like I am now then it will start the week of April 26th so I can go into it at 100%.

I am going to keep blogging because this really helps to keep me accountable knowing that others are reading. Instead of just a P90X Blog this will become a P90X slash Triathlon Blog. We all know how good P90X is at losing weight and getting you in shape but now we are going to see just how good it is doing a grueling event like a triathlon. To me this is an interesting perspective and I hope you all will enjoy this new journey as well!

Tomorrow is a 500-meter swim and either tomorrow or Sunday I will take and post my final 2nd round photos. My wife thinks I look pretty ripped but the pictures will surely tell if that is true!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Round 2 Day 78 & 79: C/S/T & Plyo

Sorry I did not post an update yesterday. My butt was dragging like an old tired dog and I chose sleep over blogging! So, today I will do a write up for both days.

Annie did C/S/T with me yesterday. This was her first time doing this workout. She was gripping about all the different type of push-ups Tony makes you do and I was just laughing away! She loved all of the Triceps exercises. I was finally able to break into the double digits on reps during the Plyo Push-ups. These usually hurt the heck out of my shoulders and neck but today I was very strong! And then came my Pike Presses ... I did 17 reps of these bitches!! A great way to finish up my last C/S/T workout!

Today I took down "The Beast", Plyometrics. I was a little concerned that I was going to have a crappy workout because I was tired after working a ton of hours today. But I took my NO Xplode and the energy came back to me two folds! I kicked the snot out of plyo today and I am glad that I will be done with workout for a few months. Bye, Bye Plyo!

Over the last two days my nutrition has been pretty solid. Aside from a couple of light beers last night I was right on with my ratios and my calorie intake. Today at lunch time I went to a restaurant in downtown Houston and had a grilled lemon chicken breast with veggies. It pretty much seemed like the same recipe from the P90X nutrition guide!

On a side note, I am pretty sure I am not going to finish off the last recovery week as written. I am really getting into this Triathlon training and want to mix in the swimming, running and bicycling more and since I am so impatient with everything I do it is going to begin next week!

Off to see if Jack Bauer can kill some bad guys!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Round 2 Day 77: Ab Ripper X & 12 - Mile Ride

Sunday is my normal rest day but since I missed a day on Wednesday when I hurt my foot I was going to do Kenpo today. Yesterday I did a 10 mile cycle and Legs & Back. I figured this morning I would be sore as hell but for some reason my legs felt great! I guess this means P90X has passed the bicycle part of my triathlon training.

So, since I felt so good and it was 75 degrees outside another bike ride was in order. First, I did ARX and brought the hell out of it. Then I jumped on the bike and did a 12-mile ride through the neighborhood. I did it in 49 minutes but I decided I need another place to ride because the amount of stop signs and turns slows me down considerably. However, my legs felt great again after the ride. I burned 410 calories.

Another thing I realized today is that my hypocrisy knows no bounds. I used to be that guy who was driving down the road and would get behind a dude on a bike and get agitated. Now I am the guy on a bike who gets agitated at the people behind me in the cars. And amazingly I have no problem justifying this to myself. Hmmm?

Tomorrow starts week 12 of P90X. This is the last resistance week before I begin the last recovery week. Annie is beginning week 5 so we are doing the same workouts again so it will be nice to have a partner. I plan on hitting it very hard this week so I can finish off this second round in style.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Round 2 Day 75: Yoga

So I just finished Yoga. I made it the entire way through again today. I cannot believe how much that I am now enjoying this workout. For my first 90 days I whined and complained about how long yoga was and how boring it was -- boy was I wrong. This is a great workout, I wore my HRM again and burned 385 calories! Just amazing!

I received my bike computer in the mail today so tomorrow afternoon I am going to go for a ride. It was a little difficult to program and install but I think it is go to go now. My morning is already booked up so I am going to work it in later in the day. Then my plan is to come home and do Legs & Back since I will already be warmed up.

Enjoy your weekend!

Jeff

P90X Round 2 Day 74: Back, Biceps, & ARX

It is nice to be back on track after today's workout!

I mixed things up a little today. I didn't have my first appointment until mid-morning today so I got up and did ARX. I have read other people say they have not always done ARX back-to-back with the primary workout and I always wanted to try it this way. I will admit I had a lot more energy during ARX but it took me a little longer to warm up and feel the so-called "groove".

After work today I came home and did Back & Biceps. This is one of my absolute favorites, except for the corn cobb pullups. I took my NO Xplode and brought the heck out of it today. The other day I moved my workout room to an empty guest bedroom. I used to do my workouts in my upstairs gameroom and as I accumulated more junk that room became rather cluttered. So, I decided to move everything into the guest room. For some reason it is sort of cool to have a change of scenery ... I feel like I need to christen the new workout room or something. Very strange but whatever helps keep it fresh works for me!

As usual I had a solid day eating. It has become habitual to me.

I need to get some things off my chest and if you are the type of person who likes not keeping score at kids soccer games or doesn't believe in things like tough love then you may want to skip this next section.

(Stepping up on Soap Box ......)

I haven't spoke about this much lately, but if you are reading this and are new to P90X or considering doing the program, nutrition is the most important part of the program. If you do not adhere to the nutrition guide your results are only going to be so-so. For 90 days you need to commit to not just getting your butt kicked by Tony Horton but also following his advice on eating.

This is going to sound mean and I might come across as an ass but here we go. Over the 8 + months I have been doing P90X and P90X + I have received a number of emails saying, "I have been doing P90X for (blank number) of days and I am not really seeing that great of results." Then they attach a link to their blog. Sure enough, I go to their blog and see that they are doing the workouts spot on but every couple of posts I see a sentence like this, "I was bad today, I had cake at work and then had a bunch of chicken wings and beer for dinner ... but I've been working hard so I deserve it!!", or "I went on vacation and it was so hard to not eat bad, but it is vacation so I deserve it!!"

The answer to the original question is pretty obvious after you find out what they are eating. You deserve what you earn and if you cheat on the nutrition portion of the program then sub-par results are what you earned. We all talk about how hard the workouts are and how plyo is "the Beast" and how ARX is brutal and blah, blah, blah ... but the bottom line is that the workouts are the sidekick to the nutrition aspect of the program. The workouts are Robin and your diet is Batman. FOLLOW THE NUTRITION GUIDE. And if you choose not to that is fine! But do not come to me and ask why you aren't seeing the results and get pissy with me if I don't help you make BS excuses!

(Stepping down from Soap Box ......)

Feel free to rip me in the comments!

Tomorrow is Yoga.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Round 2 Day 68: Legs, Back and ARX

Last night I did Legs, Back and ARX. I was out on the road all day and got home around 6pm. I had some phone calls to return and some work to finish up so I didn't start the workout until 8PM. That means I didn't eat diner until 9:30PM. I have a rule and that is do not eat for 3 hours before you go to sleep! So, I was up until about 1AM last night. I know this sounds stupid but I am a firm believer that eating before bed time leads to gaining weight. Since I started P90X I have tried to follow this rule and it has been pretty good for me!


The workout was great yesterday. This is the first time to do Legs and Back while taking the pre-workout supplement NO Xplode and I could feel the difference in my performance. I was exploding out of my lunges and squats, with more energy than is normally present on a Friday night! And I did a record 176 pullups as well. I did 32 reps on the first wide grip pullups! I am loving the NO Xplode -- I just wish it wore off a little quicker after the workouts because I am not falling asleep as easy as I am used to!


Saturday is my scheduled Kenpo X day. Annie had to work early today and then we are going to a birthday party this afternoon so she isn't going to have a chance to do Kenpo today. So, I am going to go do a 5k run today just to see if I can and to get a barometer of my conditioning. We will do Kenpo tomorrow instead and then I will start week 11 on Monday as planned!


Thanks for Reading,


Jeff

P90X Round 2 Day 67: Yoga X

I am in the middle of doing taxes (ahem) so this is going to be a short post.

I did Yoga this afternoon and did a pretty good job on it! I burned 310 calories and I feel great right now. I was a little antsy for the first 40 minutes during the poses but still maintained most of my focus. Yoga Belly Seven was its always tough self. I skipped the corpse poses at the end.

Nutrition was spot on again today. One thing to report: My protein bars that I made a couple of days ago were a little disappointing. They taste great but are soft. As in they are more like a dessert than a bar. So, when I am home and have a fork and plate I am eating them but they will not work for me when I'm on the road. Gonna have to find a recipe that allows for baking!

Tomorrow is Leg & Back!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Round 2 Day 66: Shoulders, Arms, & ARX ... and Triathlon Plans

I made up my mind on what to do after finishing this round of P90X! Yep, it is going to be a Sprint Triathlon. Jack's Generic Triathlon, on August 2, 2009 in New Braunfels, TX. The Triathlon will include: a 500 meter swim in a lake, followed by a 13.8 miles bike, and then a 5k run. I have been researching the event and it seems like it is a good Tri for beginners and is really well run. And New Braunfels is a fun little town where we can spend the weekend! I love P90X and now want to test the results and feel this is a pretty cool challenge. Thanks to Boomer, Steve, Glenn, Mike and Ryan for your suggestions. It was much appreciated!

So how am I going to train for this sucker? I am stuck between two programs and am looking for some insight from you guys. I am done with P90X on April 18th. I'd like to take a minimum of 2 weeks off and do just light cardio for maintenance. After my last round of P90X I realized that my body needs some recovery time because it is really beat up! This means I would be starting my next training program on May 3rd -- about 9o days before the Triathlon. I have two options. The first is a 13 Week Sprint Triathlon Training Program. It would end on July 31st - right before the event. I like it because it has two off days and I could work in P90X workouts to maintain the strength and muscle I have worked so hard to gain. The second option is an 8 week Sprint Tri program. It is a little more intense as it does a lot of doubles (swim and run or run and bike) but works in actual strength training into the program which is a plus. For this one I would just start it hardcore 3 weeks later and use the time to ramp up on my swimming. biking and running. So, if you guys don't mind, look them over and let me know what you think would be effective.

Oh, one other problem is I have two vacations scheduled in between. The first is to the Outer Banks with my family. This one will actually be good for training because my family is very active and they all workout and I could swim in the ocean. The second trip is going to be difficult. Me and a couple of buddies are going to Pamplona, Spain for the Running of the Bulls. Chances are the only training there is going to be me hauling ass for 2 minutes in front of some angry bulls! A rest week is called for during the middle of the 13 week program so this may be my out.

Anyways, Annie did the Shoulders, Arms and ARX again with me today. We both had a great workout. I actually burned 480 calories and she burned 320! It is really cool to see how good she is doing. She is at that point where she understands all the moves and is just focusing on form and reps and it is cool to see her grunting, sweating, and working her ass off. Also, I used 35lb or 25lb dumbbells for pretty much every curl and press. My strength has increased tremendously in the last few weeks and I am very psyched about it!

Tomorrow is my new favorite DVD -- Yoga!!! One thing for sure is that I will not take NO Xplode before yoga. I'd go crazy with as slow as yoga is!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Round 2 Day 65: Plyometrics

I made some Protein "bars" today.

The recipe is:

10 tsp of honey

5 scoops of whey protein (23G/scoop)

1 cup of 0% fat free organic milk

1/2 cup of peanut butter

2 cups of oats

Pour them all into a bowl and mix together. This takes a little time because it is pretty thick and sticky. Then spoon onto a baking sheet or brownie dish. Level it out with the back of a spoon and put it in the fridge to set. It has been in the fridge for about 5 hours now and it is still a little soft. Will probably need a couple more hours. When it hardens cut it up into bar sized servings and enjoy! I'd like to tell you they taste awesome but I haven't had one yet! I took the picture on the left so you could see what they look like and to me they look pretty darn good - can't wait to try one tomorrow!

I used vanilla whey protein but I heard that chocolate would work too. The online recipe I found said that if I cut the above dish into 8 bars the nutritional breakdown would be: 25G Protein/25G Carbs/ 10G Fat/ 220 cals. I am not real sure how exact the measurements are but this is probably pretty close. The 5 scoops of Whey were a total of 115 G of Protein, then the oats and peanut butter make up the carbs and fat and a touch more protein. The milk is fat free but adds some calories. So, these measurements are pretty close in my estimation. The fat would be higher if you use skim or 1% milk.

The reason I decided to do this was because I was driving yesterday and started doing some math in my head. Pure Protein Bars cost $6 per box of 6. Between Annie and I we eat 4/day, 28/week, 112/month or $4/day, $28/week, $112/month. Or if we do this for a full year that is $1344 worth of protein bars - ridiculous! That a vacation dammit!

Okay so I did Plyo by myself today because Annie wanted to do a spin class at the gym. I took two scoops of NO Xplode about a 1/2 hr before the workout and it had me ready to go again! I burned 560 calories today and just had a consistently high intensity level throughout the entire workout. Everytime I do Plyo I just appreciate it more and more!

So, I am down to 25 days to go and I will be done with my second round of P90X. I have been kicking some ideas around as to what I want to do when I am done: Another round of P90X/P90X Plus, Chalean Extreme, train for a half marathon, or train for a triathlon (thanks to Boomer at Project Exercise for this idea!). That is the choices I am down to right now. If I do the marathon or triathlon training I will still do all the P90X resistance days and just switch the cardio days out with running, swimming, or biking. My question is to all my fellow P90X buddies out there: What would you do?

Tomorrow is Shoulder, Arms, & ARX.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Round 2 Day 64: Chest & Back

So, today is the beginning of Week 10 and my fitness guide says that I am to start with Chest, Triceps, and Shoulders. Which is basically doing the weeks 5-8 routines again. Normally I like to follow this program as close to the book as possible. But since my wife Annie is in week 3 of P90X I decided to keep week 10 just like the weeks 1-4 routines so we can workout together. She is starting to really get in the groove of the program and it is something we can do together. She begins the recovery week next and I will do the weeks 5-9 routines up until the end and then in my week 12 and her week 5 will be the same again.

We both did good on the Chest & Back workout again. Annie actually doubled a bunch of her pullups and pushups on a couple of exercises. She hates the dive bombers though! I had some struggles with the close grip overhand pullups and the military pushups because my shoulder is still tweaking so I had to withhold a little intensity at the fear of hurting myself again.

The NO Xplode jacked me up big time again! This shit is great. It is giving me the energy to work harder and I am adding more reps and burning more calories so it is doing the job!

More good news - I found a do it yourself Protein Bar recipe online today and we went out and got all the ingredients. I am going to make it tomorrow and I will let you all know how it tastes and if it is any good I'll post the recipe.

Tomorrow is Plyo day!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Thanks for

P90X Round 2 Day 61: Legs, Back, and ARX

Yesterday was my Legs and Back day and I did just okay. I wanted to do it earlier in the day but my wife wanted to do the workout with me. She got stuck in the infamous Houston traffic on the way home and we didn't finish up until about 8pm. We had dinner plans with some friends so we hustled up to get to the restaurant and ended up sitting at the bar waiting over an hour for a table. So, I had a couple of beers and some banana chips while we waited because I famished!

Anyways, I didn't have my normal level of intensity for this workout. Probably partly because it was the end of a long week and partly because I ran out of my preworkout tablets and forgot to buy some more. Still I pushed through the workout and got the work in. Just pushing play is half the battle!

Annie did very good with ARX today she made it through the first 8 moves before she had to pause. I found that to be very good considering this is only her 2nd week! I struggled some with ARX -- the oblique raises just shredded me and I am not sure why. I do okay on my left side but the right side ones are killer for me?

Today is Kenpo X, which I plan on doing it in an hour or so!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Round 2 Day 59: Shoulders, Arms, & Ab Ripper X

Howdy Fellow P90Xers!

Today was the always awesome Shoulder and Arms video. Annie joined me for this workout and we both brought the heck out of it! I absolutely love this workout and was looking forward to it all day. I got home around 5pm and was ready to go but Annie asked me to wait until she got home from work. Of course she stayed an hour late and got home after 7pm! Then she needed to check her facebook before the workout as I was complaining in the background. Then she decided to go get the mail and when she opened the door the puppy pug we are looking after this week bolted out the door. She chased the pug for about a 1/2 mile down the road before the pug tuckered out! It was pretty funny! So, we FINALLY started the workout around 8pm.

And since I was bitter about the late start time, and soon to come late dinner. I pushed her hard tonight and she did really good. I was proud of her because I remember how hard the second week was. She even did awesome in ARX!

Today was another good clean eating day. I got in about 2700 calories and upped my carbs again today to about 50% and kept the fat around 20%. I can really tell the difference in increased energy level by adding in the carbs - I think I am going to keep it up since my weight is so low. My weight is sitting at 160lbs as I have already burned off most of the rodeo weight!

Well, that is all I got today. Tomorrow is Yoga day and I am looking forward to it again. I might get up early and do it.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Round 2 Day 58: Intervals X

Today I was full of energy when I got home from work and really wanted to Bring It! So, i decided to substitute Plyometrics with Intervals X from the P90X PLUS Series.

There comes a point with every P90X video where you have that day were you completely OWN that workout. You are finished and standing over your DVD player and you are thinking to yourself, "I just beat that workout like a rented mule!"

Well, that day has not yet come for me with Intervals X. As I was standing/kneeling/panting/crying over my DVD player today I heard the Intervals X video laugh loudly at me -- True story!

Man, this one is a killer. I mean it just whips me to the point of exhaustion and then continues to kick while I am down. It is 15 exercises and then you repeat these same 15 exercises in reverse order and it is all done in like 38 minutes! By the time I got to the jacks the second time I was running on fumes. Had to clear my head and push forward. I finished but lets just say it wasn't a strong finish -- this video alone makes the whole P90X PLUS series worth the cost -- it is that good!

Nutrition-wise I did good again. I ended up right at 2500 calories and was a little high on carbs (50%carbs/25% Protein/25% fat) because I had two Balance Bars instead of Pure Protein Bars and had an extra 1/2 cup of long grain rice with dinner. However, since I am entering Phase 3 of the program it may actually be time to add in some more carbs and less protein. I am not sure if I am going to do a full out Phase 3 (20% Protein/60% Carbs/20% Fat) or remain in Phase 2 (40% Protein/40% Carbs/20% Fat)? I have noticed my energy level has been a little down lately so the addition of carbs may be the right thing to do.

Anyways, I am off to watch, "The Biggest Loser" on Tivo. I am addicted to this show and may possibly be the only male in my age demographics (28-35) who actually watches this show and I am not afraid to admit it!!

Tomorrow is Shoulders, Arms, and ARX.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Round 2 Day 56 & 57: Yoga + Chest, Back, & Ab Ripper X

Wow ... it is good to be doing the Chest and Back workout again! Since today is the beginning week 9 it is time to revert back to the first 3 weeks schedule: Chest & Back, Plyo, Shoulders & Arms, Yoga, Legs & Back, Kenpo X, and Stretch X.

Today was a good nutrition day because I am starting a new thing. Anytime I am tempted by bad foods, like deep fried Oreos, I am going to stop and ask myself one question: What Would Tony Horton Do? And from now on I will just refer to it as - WWTHD?

An example is: You are at a party and double stuffed cheese pizza is the only thing to eat. Normally you would think to yourself, "I have been working hard maybe just one slice!" Well, from now on that is not going to be acceptable. You must now stop and say out loud, "WWTHD?"

People around you might think you are a little odd with the conversing you are doing with yourself, but they are the ones chowing down on the fatass pizza so they are the ones that are odd!!

But to get back to the point the answer would probably be, "if you know you are going to a party you should eat something healthy ahead of time and put a protein bar in your pocket to eat there!" So that is how it is going to work from now on. I might even make myself a WWTHD wrist band to remind myself.... and yes, I might be crazy!

Now back to my Chest and Back workout. Annie, who is starting her 2nd week of P90X, did the workout with me today. It was a lot of fun to have someone do it with you and we both pushed eachother a little harder. She used the bands and door attachment for the pull-ups while I used the bar. She wanted to do it this way since we didn't start our workout until 8pm and this would speed it up! We both did very well on C&B but ARX was an absolute killer today. I made it through every rep and even did the bonus 10 reps on mason twists. Annie did well too on ARX especially since this is only her 2nd week so she had to listen to her body on a few moves.

Tomorrow is the always fun Plyo - I will be doing it alone because Annie wants to do spinning at the gym instead. She like going to the gym so she will probably do her cardio there and resistance days here. I hate the gym - not really relevant just felt like saying that!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Round 2 Day 54 & 55: Core Synergistics and Rest Day

Friday morning I was able to get up early and get in my Core Synergistics workout. It went very well and I wish I would workout in early am more often!

Since my friends we in on Friday and Saturday I decided to take Saturday as my rest day instead of Sunday.

My real problem this weekend has been my nutrition. I did well on Friday all day until dinner. Then we went to a Mexican restaurant that I love! I had three flour tortillas with grilled chicken and beef. I really try and stay away from all white breads because of the ridiculous amount of simple carbs. They also usually contain high fructose corn syrup and enriched flour which are two of the major contributors to the obesity epidemic in our country. But I had some on Friday and I didn't feel very good about it.

However, Friday was not the problem. It was Saturday! So, every year Houston hosts a rodeo for 3 weeks in March. It is the largest rodeo in the world. I am not a fan of country music or horse riding or bull riding or anything related to farm animals so usually the wife and I do not attend. That being said we didn't realize what we were missing out on and had a great time at the rodeo. The food was just ridiculous. I had some of the best sausage and brisket I have ever had in my life. I am guessing both were pretty high in fat. The food options wee like nothing I have ever seen before! Then I had a sausage on a stick ... which was awesome! I probably had 10 beers ... which was real awesome! Then I had probably the worst thing nutritionally that has ever gone into my body. DEEP FRIED OREO's. Yes, you read that right. They were oreos breaded with something and then deep fried. Picture a corn dog, but instead of a hotdog on the inside it is an oreo. Just to prove how crazy these things were my buddy Mike had a deep fried Twinkie! As bad as this sounds the oreos where absolutely amazing. I wanted to eat like a dozen but limited myself to two! I got on the scale this morning and was 4 lbs heavier than I was on Friday morning.

Now, that I confessed my mis-eatings it is time to move forward. I am going to go do Yoga in a couple of minutes then hit the sack and catch up on some sleep!

Tomorrow begins Week 9 and I get to go back to the Week 1 workout schedule. I enjoy the change-ups that P90X tosses at you and am looking forward to see the progress I have made since I last did this weeks workouts.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Round 2 Day 53: Stretch X

Damn long day today folks!

I woke up and it was cold and raining out ... it always amazes me how the weather effects peoples moods. Everyone I encountered today seemed to be a bit pissy and my only explanation is the weather! I honestly believe this is why people in the south are so much nicer than the people who live in cold climates!

Anyways, even though I was on the road most of the day I did very well eating clean! Protein shakes, balance bars, turkey sandwich on whole wheat, pure protein bar, apple slices, grilled chicken and veggies! Also, I weighed myself this morning and I tipped the scale at 158lbs!! When I began my first round of P90X I weighed 181 lbs. About 6 months before that I was 190lbs. So now I barely recognize myself anymore. And I have no clothes to wear!

I did the Stretch X for about 30 minutes and it really did feel great. I need to do this more on my off days!

My buddy Mike is coming to Houston tomorrow afternoon. I am going to wake up early and do Core Syn before I have to go to the airport.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Round 2 Day 51: Core Synergistics

Nutrition was solid today: Whey protein shake with fat-free organic milk and a whole wheat bagel with a teaspoon of peanut butter on it, a balance bar, turkey sandwich on whole wheat with a handful of nuts, Pure Protein bar and Atkins protein drink, grilled chicken and veggies with whole wheat shells and an apple!

Core Syn is one of my favorite workouts. I know I did a good job when hours later my entire mid-sections feels tight and today it feels tight!

My energy was real low when I got home from work today and I really did not feel like working out. I usually look forward to my workouts but today was a little different. I didn't sleep well last night and was worn out from driving all over the place today. But, I gave myself a quick pep talk and just pushed play! And actually by the time I was done with the warm-ups my energy was back and I was able to really Bring It! You know, it really is a good feeling to know that I got my work in today whenever every part of me was saying to take a day off!

Tomorrow is my Recovery Week Kenpo Day and I might do the Kenpo Cardio Plus video just to mix things up a little!

Thanks for Reading,