Week 1 - Complete

Quick update after the first week of my intense workout program.  (intense for me)

I successfully completed everything I planned. Each morning Monday through Friday I completed 3 miles on the treadmill. This included a .25 mile warm up walk, 2.5 mile jog/run, .25 mile cool down walk. This proved to be easier than I expected. By day 4, I was waking up before my alarm went off at 5.  Of course, I waited until 5 to get up but it didn't take long to train myself mentally.

I also completed week 1 of P90x, completing those workouts each afternoon. I was not doing these with the intensity that I probably could have, but I didn't want to exhaust myself or get so sore I couldn't do it the next day. I was happy with my effort and my overall ability. If I had waited another month or two before starting P90x, I feel like I would have been in trouble.  At this point, I am not in great shape but am in good enough shape to not hate every workout.

Observations

1. I enjoyed the morning runs. It was a great start to every day. I would listen to an EntreLeadership podcast so they really helped start my day off both physically and mentally.

2. P90X is a big time commitment. Each afternoon / evening you have to set aside 1.5 hours to complete the workouts. Fortunately, I have  a flexible schedule but as life gets more demanding (it goes in cycles) the time commitment will get harder and harder.

3. In past experience, week 2 and 3 of P90x can be the hardest. My muscles tend to be fatigued from the constant workouts and with adding morning runs, I don't know how that will factor in this time around.

4. The key for me is to set my goal at the beginning of the week and commit myself. If I tell myself that I will decide in the morning, I likely won't do it. But if I say I HAVE to do it and am GOING to do it, the decision is already made. On Saturday, I felt very happy with my efforts all week and knew I was going to play soccer on Sunday. Sunday is a day of rest in P90X so I wanted to let myself off and skip the Saturday workout. I came close but in the end, I wouldn't let myself off the hook. And I felt great after completing the workout. I was so glad that I didn't get lazy.

I'm writing this after my Monday morning run. It was hard to get up, which is no surprise since the weekend included some late nights and sleeping in. It will take a day or two to get used to 5 am again. But I WILL!