Tag Archives: P90X Phase 3

P90X Week 11 – Why I Love Workout Buddies

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We just finished Week 11 of P90X – literally. About an hour ago I begrudgingly pushed play and mentally tried to prepare for the P90X Legs and Back DVD. This week has been long, to say the least. I am an accountant, and during the first 15 days of the month, we are busy trying to close the books. This past week I worked several hours of overtime, completed 5 P90X workouts and ran 26 miles, including the longest run of my life, a 14 miler on Saturday.

Accountability Partners

In addition to my normal work and workout-load, I volunteered for a charity event today called Chefs of Del Mar, which was put on by Casa de Amparo, which works to help abused and neglected children in San Diego. I was on my feet for 5 hours straight, setting up and then trying to convince attendees to bid on the auction item I was holding (private 6-course dinner for 10 hosted at your home with wine pairing!). When I got home from this event, Mike was in bed napping and I joined him. At that point, I had given up on doing the workout, justifying not doing Legs and Back because of the upcoming half marathon (this Sunday). However, Mike wouldn’t concede to my suggestions to skip the workout or to do it on Monday, or usual day off. Instead, he insisted we push play at 6 p.m.

I was glad we did. Although I didn’t use weights (except during calf raises), in order to spare my legs which are exhausted from the 14 mile run, I felt great within 15 minutes of the workout. I even was able to do 2 chin-ups), one pull-up, AND my first close-grip pull-up, for a total of 4 unassisted pull-ups in one workout!

Runs This Week

Tuesday we ran the 3 mile round trip, 6.5% grade Torrey Pines twice, just as we had the previous week. This time it didn’t feel nearly as good as last week due to a terrible night of sleep the night before, but I made it up both times without walking and by the end felt pretty good. Thursday I ran an easy 6 mile run along the coast with Allison. And when I say easy, an easy pace, but not an easy run. For some reason Thursday night runs are the hardest for me. This Thursday was particularly difficult because of the very strong winds that were pushing against us for the entire three miles back home. I went to bed that night exhausted and woke up for Yoga the next morning feeling the same.

Saturday I woke up feeling fairly refreshed, although nervous for the longest run of my life. Luckily, the weather turned out absolutely beautiful, despite a prediction of rain. Although next Sunday we are running the La Jolla half marathon, our running coach still had us run 14 miles on a route that included Torrey Pines. Luckily we hit Torrey at mile 3.5 when we were still feeling strong. By the time we reached the aid station at the top, we were feeling great. We finished our 7 miles out and turned around in high spirits. The next 7 miles flew by and before we knew it, we were back at the start, having finished 14 miles in about two hours and sixteen minutes.

After the run on Saturday, Mike and I were euphoric. I felt like I could conquer anything and started plotting out my future adventures, including a competing in my first triathlon, and possibly even going for a half-Ironman. We went to a great breakfast and ate healthy egg dishes but split whole-wheat banana-blackberry pancakes as a reward for our hard work. All we could talk about during breakfast was our future conquests and our personal fitness goals. I feel so lucky to have found someone who shares the passion that I have for fitness. Every day Mike and I are inspiring and motivating one another to achieve our fitness goals.

Workout Buddies

Asia, Jeremy, Mike & I at the Del Mar Mud Run - Nov. 2010

At the end of that Thursday night run, I was very thankful to have such great workout buddies. I realized that I haven’t worked out alone in weeks. Mike and I push play together every morning for P90X and I always run with either with Jen and Miranda (who I met in my running group), Asia, Jeremy, Allison, and/or Mike. It makes completing this rigorous program SO much easier. It also makes the fact that I spend 10 or more hours of the week working out that much more enjoyable, since I can kill two birds with one stone by catching up with friends while I run.

Another great benefit of having workout buddies is that they understand me and motivate me. It’s nice to have a support group that doesn’t think I’m crazy for doing a 1.25 hr P90X workout in the morning and then a 6 mile run at night. These friends also inspire me to do my best. Each of my workout buddies has qualities in them that I admire and that drive me to be a stronger athlete. Mike’s unbelievable strength heading up Torrey Pines hill, Asia’s non-stop energy and ability to do multiple pull-ups and an obscene number of push-ups, Miranda and Jen’s drive to follow the advanced marathon training plan rather than intermediate, Jeremy’s great running improvements, and Allison’s unbelievable strength in the weight room are all admirable. Each of us has our own fitness goals, yet we achieve them together.

All of this is coming from formerly solo gym rat. Before this time last year, my workout schedule consisted primarily of group fitness classes, all of which I mapped out on my own and rarely was accompanied by a friend. One piece of advice I have for anyone embarking on either marathon training or P90X, find a friend to do it with you. I guarantee that you will be more dedicated to your program and also find it much more enjoyable.

Thanks to all my workout buddies! I couldn’t do it without you! :)

P90X Week 10 – I Did a Pull-Up!!

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We just finished the final workout of P90X Week 10 and I think this may have been the most intense week of physical exercise that I’ve ever had in my life. Not only did we complete 5 P90X workouts (we don’t do Kenpo anymore in favor of a long run), I ran a 6 mile  steep hill run on Tuesday, a 6.2 mile rolling hill run on Thursday, and a 13.1 mile rolling hill run on Saturday, for a total of 25.3 miles of HILLS! I had some great moments this week, but there is definitely one that stands out the most – I did an unassisted pull-up!!!

Pull-Up Queen

During an earlier post written on the benefits of pull-ups, I mentioned that I hadn’t done one since elementary school. Well, that all changed this afternoon! Last week during P90X Legs and Back workout I was finally able to do a chin-up (hands facing inward, using more bicep than back). Today, not only did I do TWO chin-ups (not back to back), I finally performed an unassisted pull-up!!!

Other Gains

I also saw some great results during Ab Ripper X this week. I was able to complete all 339 (or whatever) moves during Week 9, but in Week 10 I completed all the advanced versions of the moves (ie arms up during in&outs & bicycles, cross-legged sit ups, no holds during leg climb, bonus 10 mason twists, etc). However, there are days that I don’t feel 100% and I don’t complete all of the moves (like today since it’s particularly difficult to do Ab Ripper to completion after a difficult session of Legs and Back).

Overall, this was the most challenging but also the most rewarding week of the program. I’m still hovering at about a 10 pound weight loss and I’m ok with that. The fact that I am gaining strength tells me that my body fat percentage is going down despite little movement on the scale this week.

Celebrating Our 1 Year Anniversary

A Celebration

We finished off this difficult week with a fabulous meal last night in honor of Mike and my 1 year “official” anniversary. We have recently moved to a new area of San Diego and haven’t had a chance to try a lot of the restaurants near our house because most can’t accommodate our dietary needs when following the P90X nutrition plan. We pass by several restaurants each week during one of our walks and I stare longingly inside. We used Yelp as a guide and picked out the most highly rated Italian restaurant on the block and treated ourselves to a bottle of wine, plenty of bread, an appetizer and an amazing pasta dish. Everything tasted like heaven and it was well deserved after a very long and difficult week.

Week 9 of P90X – Big Gains & a Fast Run!

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We’re just finishing up Week 1 of Phase 3 (that’s week 9 of 13 total) and I must say I’m feeling great. They say that you really see results during Phase 3 and we definitely agree! I reported in my post on Phase 2 results that I had only lost another .6 lbs but a day later I was down another 2 for a total weight loss of 11 lbs!

We did Chest and Back and Shoulders & Arms on Tuesday and Thursday respectively, for the first time since Week 3. It was incredible to see the gains we made!

Chest and Back Gains from Phase 1

Chest and Back was the workout that I saw the most progress. I actually felt that this workout was harder than Week 1 now because I could actually do all of the moves. During Week 3, I recorded 5 push-ups on my feet and 15 on my knees during the first exercise, which is Standard Push-Ups. During Week 9, I was able to do 22 push-ups on my feet!!  Other significant accomplishments include doing 8 Diamond Pushups on my feet before going to my knees as well as doing 12 Dive-Bomber Pushups (which I couldn’t do at all during Week 1). As for pull-ups, I’m still only able to do about ¾ of one. I’m hoping I may be able to do a chin-up tomorrow during Legs & Back since pull-ups are easier on the days that you don’t work your upper-body.

Shoulder & Arms Gains from Phase 1

I also noticed a big change during Shoulders and Arms. During Phase 1 I used mostly 8s, 10s and sometimes 12s for most exercises, but during Phase 3 I was able to curl mostly 12s and 15s and 10s and and 12s for shoulder and tricep exercises. The biggest change that I saw was that I was able to do 20 Side-Tri Rises as compared to 13 during Week 3!

Running Speed

This week was “recovery” week for my running group. Unfortunately it doesn’t coincide with P90X’s recovery week but I think it worked out well. Last week we recovered from weight training and this week we recovered from hard runs. I try to get in 3 runs a week – 2 mid-week runs of 5-6 miles and then the group long run on Saturday. However, this week I only got in a 6 mile run on Tuesday (we intended to run on Thursday but the San Diego State game was on and although we didn’t go there, we are loyal San Diegans and had to watch!).

Since I don’t like to feel like a slacker, Asia (my running buddy and fellow P90X grad) and I decided we would try to run the 8.5 mile long run today at a hard pace. We decided that we’d try to average a 8:59 pace, so that we could claim that we have run a long run in the 8s. We started off VERY fast, at about a 8:35 pace for the first three miles. WE took a GU at mile 3.5 since that was where the aid station was set up and then slowed down a bit. However, we came in at the end sprinting, and finished with an average pace of 8:51 minutes/mile!

 This is a huge accomplishment for me, since my goal for so long was to break 2 hours during my half marathon (a 9:10 pace). I finally achieved that goal in January (barely with a 9:05/pace) so running at ease (we talked nearly the whole way) at 8:51 for 8 ½ miles was very encouraging. Part of me starts setting my sights on PRing again in my next half marathon, but a big part of me has doubts since it is VERY hilly and considered the most difficult course in San Diego. We’ll see. I’m not going to put too much pressure on myself to PR since my real goal is to finish the marathon, not to PR at La Jolla. If anything, I can PR for the America’s Finest City half marathon which I just signed up for. This one takes place in August and is the third race in the San Diego
Triple Crown. This is also the same race that I tried to break 2 hours at last year and failed (2:01:59!) when I hit the hill at mile 12.

Just Keep Pushing Play

I can’t believe how far we’ve come in just 9 weeks. I feel SO much stronger, I run faster, I look better….it’s truly incredible! I have worked out consistently for the majority of my life and have never seen results like I’ve had with P90X. We are in the home stretch now with 4 weeks to go and I am excited to see how my body changes even more over those 4 weeks!  Until then, we’ll keep pushing play (and keep hitting the road for those runs)!