Recipe: Korean Food, Tony Horton, Cold, Wind

I have a pretty set routine and like it that way.  Run Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.  Some sort of cross-training Monday and Friday and usually and extra one thrown in on Wednesday if I have time.  Sometimes Friday is a complete rest day.  This structure started when I first started 'training' for that first marathon and I've stuck with it since then.

I also have a pretty big love for workout DVDs.  It started long before I got into this running thing.  Back years ago, when I decided I was ready to lose weight for real, I decided to try the Firm DVDs.  I kind of loved them in all their cheesy glory.  And, well, they worked for me.  I lost over 50 pounds with those suckers.

Eventually, I got tired of them and I discovered Exercise TV on Demand.  That's when I found 30 Day Shred...like so many others.  I actually had no idea who Jillian Michaels was when I started that one.  I'd never watched The Biggest Loser and seem to often be out of the loop on popular culture.  I tried several other non-Jillian workouts and in most cases, they sucked.  They weren't really workouts or had some sort of complicated choreography that I couldn't keep up with.  But, not so with the Jillian workouts.

I've pretty much stuck with all DVDs Jillian since then.  But, then, Pam was offering up her P90X DVDs a few weeks ago and I hopped on them.  Friday, I was in the mood for something a little different, so I decided to do the Legs & Back workout.  I don't have a pull up bar so it was really only Legs and then I threw on Ab Ripper at the end.  During it, I wasn't in love.  The moves felt a little tough but I seemed to be able to keep up.  I like the whole combo of adding in cardio so I get a sweat going.  At the end, I wasn't sweating so I didn't really feel like I did anything.  I wasn't sure these were going to be for me either.

Then, Saturday morning came.  The muscles in my ass were super sore for the previous day.  Nothing in my legs but the ass muscles were definitely feeling the pain.  It was another cold, windy day and after walking all of the dogs, I wussed out and hit the treadmill instead of taking my usual Saturday morning run.  So, I ended up with six easy miles on the treadmill due to sore ass muscles and the cold chill outside.

Sunday morning, the ass muscles were still sore but getting better.  I had planned on meeting up with a group to run about 16 miles on trails in the afternoon.  I had also properly fueled for the trail run by eating massive amounts of Korean food Saturday night and following that up with some cinnamon rolls for dessert.

By the time we started running, I wasn't feeling 100% but figured I'd still be pretty good to go.  It was super cold again but by the time we climbed the first hill, I shed my first layer.  Unfortunately, half our group of 4 decided to cut this one super short due to one person having some knee pain.  I continued on with another friend who was looking to get in 9 miles after already doing 7 in the morning.  Honestly, I was quite relieved.  That 9.30 miles felt long and wore me out.  I was relived when we were back at our vehicles.  I'm not sure I was up for 16 miles on the trails this day!    

It wasn't a great run, but I kinda like that part of it.  I've been stepping it up over the last few weeks and have been feeling pretty strong.  Sometimes it's nice to have one of these days to remember what it's like to work on something you should really be able to complete with little problem.  It helps me appreciate all the good days as well.  Plus, gives me something to work against and realize that maybe I should think about what I'm eating and all that good stuff again.  I think I'll stick with the P90X as well, pretty nice to unearth some unused muscles.