Monthly Archives: February 2012

The past couple weeks had me remembering that this “no running” experiment is as much a mental game as it is physical.  While physically, I hope to achieve a higher level of fitness by trying different workouts and especially by PICKING UP THOSE WEIGHTS…mentally I was to try to allow myself a bit more leeway if I couldn’t get a workout in.  Let’s say that part is going to be much harder to master.

It was about 2 weeks ago that my son came down with strep, and since he would be home from school I wasn’t going to be able to get my swims in.  As Sam got better my husband got sick, meaning I needed to weave in my weekend P90X time around Sam’s double hockey schedule and somehow, SOMEHOW get my 2+ hour swim in or else I might I kick down a wall.  It’s this mental anguish when things don’t go according to plan that I need to resolve.

This past weekend I put myself to a little test.  For an early birthday gift my folks paid for me to go visit them in Florida along with my sister for a “girls weekend”.   I knew that with my father around, there would be no shortage of workout opportunities, but I also knew if I missed out on some good thrift-store shopping I’d be more upset!  In the layout of the condo there was no room for the P90X workouts so I’d have to skip a couple days of the program.  I made a deal with myself that this was allowed if I repeated the week & managed to get a long swim on Thursday before I left.  (The main punishment here being a repeat of that damn plyometrics routine.)

I’m happy to report that I made it through the weekend with few leisurely walks and only a 20 minute swim without steam escaping from my ears.  It was all very worth it too, considering the great finds at those stores!  Who can argue with a $12 Lily Pulitzer dress?

This past week I actually started following the P90X routine.  I enjoyed the sore muscles I remembered from the chest & back routine but I was not prepared for the sore glutes.  It felt like I ran a marathon again, but uphill most of the way.  Why have I not been paying attention to all those folks who mentioned squats & lunges?  (Face it, I know why.  Because squats & lunges make me HURT.)   The only routine I skipped was the yoga on Thursday since we’re missing that particular DVD.  I replaced it with a 7000 yard swim.  That seems fair, right?

I’m also becoming a big fan of  Zumba.  I like how my friend Rachel teaches it, and I’ve learned to position myself where I can see what she’s doing but not myself in the mirrors.  I prefer to remain in denial about how off-beat my steps are.

While most of the routines on the P90X set are somewhat easy to follow, the Kenpo one stumped me worse than my first Zumba class.  I can barely pat my head & rub my stomach at the same time and this dude is telling me about where to put my feet, as I twist my hips & throw 4 different punches at an imaginary opponent.  I do not have a large mirror in the room to see how my form is, but when it was down to some martial arts style blocking moves, I caught my reflection in the TV screen.  Now, in my head I looked like the Karate Kid, but what I saw on the screen closer resembled Elane’s dancing on “Seinfeld”.

Of course, regardless of what Tony Horton tells me to do, I still need my cardio fix, so each routine was followed by some hill walking, eliptical or a swim.  And a big lunch.

Move along now.