P90X & Marathon Training – My First Double Day

 The VAVI Running Club

As I did for the Carlsbad half marathon,  I joined the VAVI Running Club to train for the La Jolla Half Marathon (April 17) and the Rock n Roll Marathon (June 5).  The VAVI Running Club meets twice a week – once on Tuesdays at 6 p.m. for either an easy, short run or an interval/lactate threshold run, and then again on Saturdays at 7:30 a.m. for the long run. I trained for my 2^nd half marathon (Carlsbad being my 3^rd) with a good friend of mine, Asia, who runs about my pace and was also aiming for that coveted 2 hour half marathon. I found that it was MUCH more enjoyable to run with a friend and that the 2 hour chats we had on our runs brought us even closer. However, Asia would be out of town for the  Carlsbad half and therefore I was faced with the daunting task of running up to 12 miles before the race, all alone. Luckily, I found Vavi, and the rest was history. I met some really awesome people in the Vavi group and haven’t had to run solo since!

Because I liked the Vavi running club so much, I encouraged Asia and her boyfriend Jeremy to sign up with me for the Rock n Roll full marathon. One of the advantages to having a running group is that on the longer runs, there are aid stations set up with a jug of water and a jug of a sports drink. Another advantage is that Vavi sets up our courses for us so that we aren’t running the same ‘ol route every week.

 My First Double Training Day

This Tuesday Mike and I did our P90X Chest and Back workout in the morning and I was able to get to work in time to be able to leave at 5 to get to the first Vavi run of the new season. Although as a Level 1 nutrition plan follower I am only allotted one fruit per day, I “splurged” and an extra piece of fruit an hour before my run to ensure I had enough energy to make it through.

This would be my first run since the half marathon, nine days previous. As it’s the beginning of the running season, we only ran four miles, and luckily, it felt great. We took it easy (about a 9:40 pace) and I was able to catch up with Asia, who had just returned from her trip to Brazil, while we ran. Overall, the run went smoothly and I didn’t feel exhausted the next morning for the Plyometrics workout.

Attempting to Incorporate P90X into the Marathon Training Schedule

 

 

This morning our coach sent out the 18 week marathon training plan. I mapped out the plan on my google calendar and then added my P90X workouts. I have to say it was overwhelming to look at it! And the scariest part is that I didn’t even add the mid-week runs that I’ll have to do on my own to the calendar! The plan right now is to run on top of the normal P90X workouts only two times per week for the first three weeks of training. After three weeks (and when we enter Phase 2 of P90X and get more carbs) I will ramp it up to three runs per week. As of now, the calendar has us doing the Back and Legs workout the day before or the day of our Saturday long runs. Whether or not we’ll continue to work our legs the day so close to our long runs is still up for debate. We are considering swapping Legs and Back for the Chest and Back day in order to ensure that our legs are rested for the long runs. The downside is that this switch would mean we’d be working our legs the day before plyometrics. Ultimately, I think it’s more important to be well rested for long runs than plyo. We can turn off a plyo dvd but we can’t magically finish a nine mile run halfway through. Once the long runs ramp up to 7 or 8 miles, I plan to substitute in my long runs for Kenpo X. Basically, after that point, we’ll only do Kenpo during recovery weeks.

Although the aforementioned workout routine sounds frightening, P90X does have a “doubles” program which incorporates extra cardio three days a week. Someone following the doubles plan would do the regular six workouts each week and then add the Cardio X dvd three times a week. Although Tony Horton P90X guarantees that P90X will get you in the best shape of your life, there is still an option to accelerate results by adding cardio. The mere fact that the creators think that there is a select group out there capable of NINE very intense workouts a week gives me some reassurance that I can train for a half marathon while on P90X, especially with the substitution of the long run for KenpoX.  I’m not trying to break any records at the half in April and we will finish P90X with six weeks left to solely focus on training for a full marathon (I’m sure we’ll sprinkle some P90X dvds in each week). I think if I were truly focused on achieving a personal record in the half marathon, I’d have to take P90X down a notch and running up a notch. However, since I’m looking at the La Jolla half as a training run (albeit a very difficult one – starting at mile 6 there is a 420 foot hill which you later have to run down from miles nine through eleven), I think I’ll be ok.

And of course, I will be eating additional calories on the days that I run, although I do not plan to eat as many calories as I burn (ie not adding 1,300 calories to my day for a 13 mile run). It should be interesting to see how my results pan out if I keep up with this lean diet through the race.

P90X Doubles Forum:

 I found this great forum for questions from P90X users who are planning on doing the doubles program or incorporating running:

http://www.extremebodyworkout.com/blog/2008/07/01/p90x-approaches-doubles-approach/

Last – if any P90X users who are also runners stumble upon my blog, I’d love to hear your experiences.

TAKE IT ONE DAY AT A TIME & KEEP PUSHING PLAY