Balancing P90X and Race Training Isn’t Easy

So if you have been looking at my workout log at all, you’ll notice that I haven’t been getting more than 3 P90X workouts in a week lately. Although we are following the P90X calendar and are technically in Week 2 of Phase 3, we have missed several workouts due to triathlon training, half marathon training and vacation. When we first started P90X again, we were more focused on building muscle and really I was focused on looking great for my Vegas and Dominican Republic trips. However, once I raced in the Solana Beach triathlon, I became more motivated to work on skills that would directly help me improve in races. Unfortuantely this meant that P90X had to get pushed aside a bit.

We have, however, managed to get in both of the upper body workouts each week (plus Ab Ripper) and we’ve managed to do Legs and Back about 5 times (out of the 7 times we were supposed to have done it). We’ve done Plyo about 5 times as well, but our Yoga disc hasn’t hit the DVD player since Recovery Week of Phase 1! I know the importance of yoga but in the end, it is the workout that gets left out. It’s just so long! Another reason why we’ve skipped Yoga is because we spent our recovery week on vacation doing other cross training activites rather than the prescribed Yoga, Kenpo and Core Synergistics.

So, although I still plan to take my after pictures and finally complete the Fit Test, I don’t really think that my results are going to be 100% indicative of someone going through the program. Not to mention that I only follow the nutrition plan about 4 days a week. However, I have seen improvements in my strength during this phase (although since our vacation I haven’t seen any improvements from the previous phases) and I certainly think that it is continuing to improve my running speed.

Is P90X Conducive to Multi-Sport Training?

Although the first time that I did P90X I was training for a marathon simultaneously (and improved my half marathon time by over 5 minutes in 12 weeks!), I don’t think that it is a good idea to do P90X in conjunction with a triathlon training program. A triathlon already involves three very different disciplines and any good training plan incorporates at least two workouts in each area each week. If you add on 6 days of P90x (or 5 in our case since we left out Kenpo), that’s 12 workouts a week. Not an easy feat for anyone. Not to mention that someone like me whose weakness is the bike should probably be biking three times a week or more, not just two. At times I’m torn and want to just continue in one direction and drop the other. I’ve considered just dropping P90X all together since I have an olympic distance triathlon coming up, but in the end, I decided to continue with my crazy dual training plan. I know that I can finish the distance of the olympic triathlon and right now is a great time to work on my strength before I go into full-time Ironman training in December.

In sum, although I believe it is possible and probably beneficial to train for a half marathon and do P9X simulatenously (as long as it’s not your first half marathon and you are in good shape to start with), I don’t think that training for a triathlon or marathon in conjuction with P90X is feasible. Unless perhaps you are unemployed and can sleep between workouts!