Round 2, Weeks 8, 9 & 10

December might not be the best month to do Insanity.  Weeks 8 and 9 didn't go so great and I blame the holidays. It is very hard to follow a diet when you are constantly being force fed Christmas cookies and New Years champagne.  There is also so much less time from trying to get ready for the holidays and actually celebrating them.  I know that I started my first round of Insanity during December and I managed to keep my diet and schedule under control but my life was pretty different in December 2012 when compared to December 2013. Despite all of this, I did manage to keep up on all of the Insanity workouts but did end up skipping a few running ones.

I started week 10 with a new resolve.  A new year and a new opportunity to get back into the swing of the program!  This started great until Friday and Saturday.  I woke up on Friday feeling totally wiped out.  All of my muscles were sore and I was just exhausted so I decided to post pone that workout.  I also skipped my workout on Saturday because I needed to watch the Seahawks beat the Saints.  This means that for the first time in this round, I am behind schedule.  There isn't enough time left to get caught up so I will have to make up those workouts after I finish weeks 11 and 12.

Speaking of 11 and 12, those are the final weeks!  That means that my next post will probably be the last for a while.  I have decided to hold off on posting it until I make up the workouts I missed and complete all the running workouts I skipped.  There are a lot of them.  So, you'll just have to tune in in a few weeks to see how this experiment turns out!

Round 2, Weeks 5 &6

Halfway through!

Halfway if you don't count the skipped workouts, I'm afraid.  I was hoping to go a week without having to skip a workout but that did not happen during these two weeks.  I skipped cardio abs for both weeks.  I might make those up on my rest days but lately I've been having to use my rest days to make up for a previously skipped day!  Does cardio abs really do anything anyway? Other than that I skipped a running workout on week 5 and two Core Cardio and Balance workouts for week 6.  Those are all workouts that I consider skip-able so I am still on track with all the main Insanity workouts.

I bought a large foam roller today.  I am about to go use it and do not think the experience will be a pleasurable one.

I have now completed all the month one workouts.  Next week we start the Maximum workouts!

Round 2, Week 4

Oh cool, I'm a third of the way through!  Actually I'm not sure if that's good or bad.  I'm already feeling a little burned out and it's been pretty hard starting the workouts when I get home from work.  Despite this, week 4 went pretty well.  I didn't have to skip any workouts, even with Thanksgiving.  My diet has been pretty shitty, though.  I'll work on that! This week was a straight Insanity week but I replaced the fit test and the recovery day with running workouts.

Let us venture forth!  Weeks 5 and 6 await!  These are running/Insanity weeks so hopefully more variety will get me out of my funk.

Round 2!

Hello again!

In the time since I last finished the Insanity program, I did a lot of training for a half marathon in April followed by a full marathon a month ago.  I was planning on relaxing for a month and then starting my second round of Insanity at the beginning of December.  That wasn't really working for me, though.  I tend to become very, very unhealthy when I'm not working towards a workout goal.  Therefore I decided to start round 2 a month early!

Things are going to be a little different this time.  Here's what's changing:

1. The biggest change is going to be with the actual workout schedule.  I have trained very hard to become the mediocre runner that I am today and I really don't want to lose that. I modified the program to create a running/Insanity hybrid schedule.  It looks something like this:

If you are familiar with the program then you might be able to pick up what I actually did.  First, I got rid of the recovery days on Thursdays because I hated them.  I replaced all those with an easy run.  I also got rid of the fit test because I hate those as well and don't give a shit if I improve my reps. I'm in the best shape of my life and I don't really need any evidence of getting in even better shape.  The proof will be in the before and after pics (I hope!).  I then alternate between running and Insanity for every other week of the original insanity schedule.  That changed this beast into a 3 month program instead of 2 but that actually works better with my longer term plans of starting training for my next marathon.  Oh, this might help: PCC=Plyometric Cardio Circuit, CPR=Cardio Power and Resistance, PC= Pure Cardio, Run=Run (DUH!), Abs=Cardio Abs, MIC=Max Interval Circuit, MIP=Max Interval Plyo, MCC=Max Cardio Conditioning, CCB=Core Cardio and Balance.  I think that's what all the workouts are called.  I don't feel like grabbing the Insanity workout calendar to check.

2. I won't be doing daily updates this time. Daily blogging was important to me during the first round to keep me honest and accountable.  Life was different back then and I had time to do that.  I'm a busy dude these days so updates will be far less frequent.  Maybe I'll shoot for a check-in on the Off days.

3. No shoes! I learned from Shaun T's blog that he doesn't wear shoes when he does Insanity at home. I gave it a shot back when I was doing Insanity workouts alongside my marathon training and it really helps with the form and landing softly. It will also be better on my poor carpet.

I believe that's it.  I think I actually lost a fair amount of fat during my marathon training so my goal with this round of Insanity is to get some more definition.  I do not want to bulk up because I am still a runner and don't need that added weight.

I did a nice and easy 3 mile run today.  Tomorrow is Plyometric Cardio Circuit! I'm excited!