A Finish Line -- Of Sorts

Saturday marked the "official" final day of my P90-X workouts. For the record -- I liked the program. 

                                  

"P90X is a revolutionary system of 12 sweat-inducing, muscle-pumping workouts, designed to transform your body from regular to ripped in just 90 days...The secret behind the P90X system is an advanced training technique called "Muscle Confusion," which accelerates the results process by constantly introducing new moves and routines so your body never plateaus, and you never get bored!...All you really need is some 'grit-your-teeth' commitment."

I can't say that my body was transformed from "regular to ripped," but I did feel like there was good variety which kept my muscles confused (translate to sore) on a somewhat regular basis.

When I first made the commitment to this program, I had great visions of being able to say (upon completion) that I worked out faithfully, for a minimum of 1 hour a day, 6 days a week for 90 days. Unfortunately, as the saying goes: Life gets in the way when you are busy making other plans. It turns out I missed 9 total days....two doctors appointments, 2 cleaning days when company was coming to town (and no - these are not the only two days I've cleaned in the past 3+ months!) 3 days of early morning soccer and 2 days I can't account for off the top of my head. 

(A side note about the soccer days: I REALLY tried. I set the alarm for 6:00 on Saturday morning. For anti-morning me....getting up earlier for soccer than we did on school days...something is wrong with that picture! And, knowing that my day, on those 3 particular Saturdays in May, wouldn't end until about 11pm at night...I just couldn't do it. Sleep won out.)

Phase I went relatively well. I really liked most of the workouts, and, since Greg was still a participant at this point, I even embraced the nutrition aspects. I found myself energized...so much so that I did double workouts most of the days -- following the P90-X with a couple of miles on the treadmill. (Therefore, I am not beating myself up too badly for the 9 missed workouts.)

I even started to see some results by way of lost pounds, increased muscle and energy and body fat loss. (I'll spare you my numbers -- suffice it to say that I've found I have to be grateful for small things.)

We quickly moved to Phase II, adjusted the nutrition requirements and continued to "do our best and forget the rest." Unfortunately, it was about this time that Greg left town for SWAT training...and his P90-X experience was put on "indefinite hold."

Aside from the yoga (sorry, hanging upside for extended periods of time really gives me a headache), I continued to enjoy the workouts. Unfortunately though, by the time I would get on the treadmill, my energy seemed to be waning. The manual warned about this...a sort of hitting the wall kind of feeling. So, thinking it was normal, I pushed on.

But, it seemed my "wall" turned into a mountain. After about three days of feeling like my body was giving out on me, I really wondered what was going on. I felt like I couldn't move. It wasn't the sore muscles that made me want to crawl back under the covers...but the EXTREME fatigue...and the nausea. 

And it was about that time that we found out we are expecting child #5.

As for P90-x...I continued on and completed the program. I really did like it. Although, I must say, some days it was hard enough just to get out of bed....working out in between rounds of nausea and unbelievable fatigue added a whole new dimension to the challenge.

And, since I did the entire thing pregnant, my "results" aren't quite what I had hoped for. I guess I'll just have to commit to doing it again -- hopefully next year at this time.

So, although the P90-X finish line was crossed....I feel like we are just starting a whole new -- and even greater challenge.

BRING IT!