Monday: Much needed rest after the previous night’s debauchery, plus a middle-of-the-night collision with a poorly placed piece of hotel furniture. Instead, we cleaned the house, ran errands, did laundry, and all of that other domesticky stuff.

Tuesday: 3 miles, 27:17. I’m really digging these fast post-work runs. Another week, another class taught in my nasty workout duds.

Wednesday: Non-stop rain resulted in non-stop depression. The evening was thrown off by a post-work appointment. I graded instead of exercising. Oops.

Thursday: Chest & Back almost redeemed this week. It was my first time doing this workout, and the 52 minutes went by in no time flat! That said, I did actually fall on my face at one point, and the different flavors of pushups resulted in hilariously bruised knees. This workout is primarily body weight exercises, which may be why I liked it and also why it was so tough. Looking forward to this one coming around in the rotation again.

Friday: A quick 2 miles home from work before hitting the road to Rockford for the birthday weekend.

Saturday: I didn’t wanna do it. I didn’t wanna get out of bed. I didn’t wanna put my shoes on. I just wanted to sit around and eat all the food, but before doing so, I needed to get in 8 miles – which I did on the Perryville bike path. This was my first time running out there, and I’ll definitely be doing more of it when we’re in Rockford. There’s a bit of a roll to the path, and the lights are at convenient intervals for water breaks. I exchanged smiles and greetings with many other runners and cyclists out enjoying the beautiful day. And then I ate all the pizza and watched the football game with my family and soaked up the love and the post-run endorphins.

Sunday: More good intentions, this time of doing Legs & Back after driving home. Instead, we returned to a freezer left ajar, and I dealt with the mess while Shane got in his belated workout. I did get in a short walk with Mom, Jenn, and Max, but nothing really worth counting.

This week was supposed to be the last phase of P90E. Instead, I think it’s going to be the first phase of the rest of my fitness year – for a few reasons. I had started thinking in this direction after signing up for a kettlebells class through the campus rec center. I ended up dropping it because it was going to be a logistical nightmare and because I will at minimum miss 3 classes because of travel and the half. I was also concerned that this phase of P90X Lean doesn’t include a leg workout, which I need.

The Detroit half is five weeks away. In the next five weeks, my aim is to do three days of strength training (upper, lower, core), two short runs, and one long run. If I have to cut workouts, I’ll cut a short run first, then the core workout. The long run is non-negotiable. I’m going to rotate through the P90 upper body workouts plus Core Synergistics and Legs & Back. I’m going to keep adding my miles. I’m going to kick the half marathon’s butt, and then I’m going to follow that up six days later by running a 5K with my siblings.

I can do this thing. Or, as Tony would say, I can BRING IT. I probably won’t blog it, though, but I will let you know what I’m doing next, or if I have a fantastic run, or when – not ‘if’, ‘when’ – I successfully do a REAL pushup. It’s coming. I can feel it.

Monday: I have a confession to make: I’m a compulsive Groupon shopper.  I don’t buy them indiscriminately, but I do have a hard time passing up Groupons or LivingSocial coupons for body work.  I’ve bought a handful this year, all for $40 and under, and have used them judiciously, most for race recovery.  I find massages tremendously restorative, but I have a hard time justifying the full cost, making me an ideal candidate for Groupon purchases.  Anyway.  Monday was particularly stressful, so I was very thankful that I had a massage scheduled, and also took that as an excuse to not do Core Synergistics.  Instead, I walked to work, then walked to my appointment, then fell asleep in the midst of a particularly vigorous Thai massage.  I guess I needed it.

Tuesday: Core Synergistics.  I admit it: I’m coming to love Core Synergistics.  Maybe it’s just that I love making fun of Tony.  Either way, I brought it.

Wednesday: A lot of walking.  I walked downtown and worked at a coffeeshop before a morning meeting (1.5 miles).  I walked back to my office from that meeting (.6 miles).  I walked home from work (2 miles).  And then, at 8pm, I went on a walk with Shane that turned into a jog (2.3 miles).

Thursday: I meant to do Legs & Back, but my right shoulder has been hurting since Tuesday night – so instead, I did a quick 3 miles while Shane lifted, then we met friends for dinner at Jolly Pumpkin, where I destroyed a salad.

Friday: My shoulder was still iffy, but I brought it to Chest, Shoulders & Triceps.  Shane can vouch for this, as he saw me collapse during at least two of the push-up sequences (even doing them on my knees!) and had to rescue me when I got stuck with a weight behind my head when I hit max reps.

Saturday: We both ran the Can Do Road & Trail Run in Kalamazoo.  Shane did an amazing job – it was his first race, and only his second run this year.  He stuck to his pace and while he was purple in the face when he hit the finish line, he finished strong.  I am SO PROUD of him.  Please note that I am not talking about MY run, however.  I did well for the first 1.5 miles, and then just hit wall after wall after wall.  When I looked at my Garmin data after the race, it showed that I hit 90% of my max heart rate (however that is calculated) at the half mile mark, and just kept going up, hitting 106% of max in the last half mile.  No wonder I felt so terrible.  Oh well – I finished in 45:56, less than a minute off from where I wanted to be, even though I felt terrible and had to walk a couple of 15-30 second stretches.

Sunday: Legs & Back.  Because yesterday’s run wasn’t punishment enough. No taking it easy. Just push push push through the three sets of 15 slow, 10 fast calf raises and the four different forms of pull-downs (since I can’t do pull-ups).  And then think hard about post-workout nutrition while slamming a delicious mushroom and Swiss brat we brought back from New Glarus.

Week 6: In the bag.  One more week and then I get a break.

Monday: I knocked out CORE SYNERGISTICS like it ain’t no thing.  Only minimal groaning, but plenty of making fun of the way Tony talks about Core Synergistics and swoons over Dreya.  Shane was reorganizing the basement while I worked out, and he was so annoyed by Tony that I don’t think he’s going to finish P90X.  He’s also been reading The 4-Hour Body, and I think all the talk of minimum effective dosage and also becoming superhuman has him questioning whether or not he wants to follow the P90X model.  Me? I’m sticking with it.  While I haven’t seen much change in inches, I can definitely tell that I’ve gained core and upper body strength – and that, my friends, is CORE SYNERGISTICS at work.

Tuesday: 2.25 miles in my new shoes, picked up for $45 this weekend at Elite Feet thanks to a Groupon and Groupon credit. Before they fitted me for shoes, they had me run on the treadmill, then had me try running with a metronome in order to shorten my stride, increase my cadence, and generally force me to run further forward on my feet.  I tried to do all of these things in my old shoes on my run home from work.  It wasn’t a fast run, but I certainly felt like I was working very hard and was very sweaty when I got home.

Wednesday: Legs & Back kicked my butt, especially the brutal sequence of 15 slow, 10 fast calf raises in 3 positions: feet wide, feet parallel, feet pigeon-toed.  I upped my weight, though, and am really liking pull-downs with increasing weight as a replacement for the bands.

Thursday: Woke up, ate breakfast, felt weird, and went straight back to bed with miserable abdominal stuff.  By the end of the absolutely gorgeous day, I was feeling stir-crazy but definitely not good enough to run, so I walked downtown and back to do an errand.  Better than nothing, and better than pushing myself when I was already not feeling good.

Friday: Still not feeling 100%, so I worked from the comfort and privacy of my bed, then BROUGHT IT to Chest, Shoulders and Triceps.  Upped my weights on almost every exercise, and only fell on my face once.  That’s right: I fell on my face.  I was feeling cocky and tried a one-arm push-up and then…splat.  I guess the tip of the day from Shoulders and Arms also applies: don’t break your face.

Saturday: Second cheat day since we started on the slow carb diet.  My parents came for the weekend, so we spent most of the day walking around the Henry Ford and generally indulging in things like pistachio-rosewater ice cream at Shatila Bakery and a South Pacific pizza at Jolly Pumpkin.  We took a break from familial togetherness in the afternoon, and I put in a surprisingly fast run: 3.2 miles in 29 minutes flat.  Three years ago, I ran my first 5K in 31:28.  I’m delighted by how far I’ve come.

Sunday: Between the family visit and general crampiness, I didn’t get a long run done this weekend.  That’s OK.  I was going to take today off entirely, but I didn’t feel like I could really enjoy snack dinner – wine, salami, flackers, cheese from Fromagination, and Bittman’s roasted chickpeas – if I hadn’t exercised.  For 2.5 quick miles, I focused on a quick cadence – and am now comfy on the couch, watching The National Parks: America’s Best Idea.

P90E Do Over Week 5: BROUGHT

This week was kind of a wash in terms of fitness.  I spent the week feeling totally exhausted – not sure if that’s an artifact of returning (and restressing) from vacation or of the new diet plan we’ve both started – but suffice to say that it sucks.  When I did manage to work out, I felt extremely fatigued, but pushed myself to finish what I started – that is, when I managed to start in the first place.

Monday: Tired all day and just could not BRING IT, especially not after the onset of a bad headache in the late afternoon.  Instead I ran errands and planned tasty low-carb meals and went to bed at a reasonable hour.

Tuesday: Biked to and from work, then did Core Synergistics.  I can tell that I’m gaining strength, but I struggled to finish.  No Dreya rolls.

Wednesday: Left work early so that I could lie on the heating pad.  No workout.

Thursday: Difficult 4 mile run home from work plus .5 mile cool-down.  My legs felt like lead weights.

Friday: Worked from home in the afternoon, so didn’t get to the gym until 8 with dinner after that.  Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps is so hard!  I swear Tony wants me to fall on my face and break my nose.  By the end of the umpteenth pushup variation, I was shaking with exhaustion, despite feeling pretty good throughout the workout.  I think I’m going to have to switch up the order of the Phase 2 workouts if I want to have any hope of bringing it.

Saturday: 7 mile run first thing in the morning on my first slow carb cheat day.  The cheat day was amazing.  The run? Not so much.  My legs felt like lead weights, especially on the hills in the last third of the run.  I stopped at 5 miles for a gel, and allowed myself to walk the steepest of the hills.  That was the trade-off for finishing.

Sunday: I had good intentions for doing Legs & Back, but instead I cleaned the house for four hours.

An important lesson I’ve learned about diet, fitness, and my emotional state is that I need to remember to be kind to myself.  Gaining or losing a few pounds, missing a workout or two – these are small triumphs and defeats in the grand scheme of things.  One tired week won’t undo months of good effort.  Or, as Tony says, “do your best and forget the rest!”  So that’s what I’m going to do.  The coming week will be a do-over for week 5, and I plan to BRING IT.