Waking Up the Neighbours

TRAINING REPORT:

I never run on back to back days.  Since yesterday was a run (Intervals) today was intended to be cross-training day.  When I'm at home, I have predictable gym schedule for cross training and it's hard to get the same quality of workout on the road.  The fitness centers often either lack suitable equipment or are so crowded that workouts become an exercise in futility.

My BFF Deb is psycho-rabid BeachBody fiend and I knew she had Shaun T "Insanity" DVD series sitting under the stack of P90X and Chalean Turbo Kick/Jam/Fire/Pump/etc. workouts, so I asked to borrow the series.  I'd seen the infomercials and was intrigued by the concept.  If you haven't seen the infomercial, the link above had a surprisingly-low-quality video showing the gist of the program.

Frankly, the workouts looked beyond my ability (or at least beyond what I was willing to commit to).  But I needed something for The Road and Insanity runs on the belief that your body is your gym equipment.  With my marathon training in fully swing, I'm not looking to do the whole program, but the style of the workout seems suited to what I need to be doing for cross trainings.  The starting point of the program is a "Fit Test" that consists of eight one-minute exercises with around a minute of break in between.  You count the reps for each exercise, write them down, and then, if you follow the program, you repeat the test every few weeks.

The test itself, with its warm-up and cool down runs about 25 minutes and, if done at maximum intensity, is a pretty solid workout in and of itself.  Since one of me goals for my marathon training plan is to maintain my overall level of fitness through training, the Fit Test seemed like a good place to start to set a baseline and also get a feel for the Insanity program.  These are the exercises that comprise the Fit Test:

(the Globe Jump is jumping back, right, forward, left as one rep)

My results were:

1. Switch Kicks: 70 (realizing I may want to ask for a ground-floor room next time.  Whomever was underneath me must have wondered what the HELL was going on above them -- good thing I wasn't doing this at midnight!)
2. Power Jacks: 64 (feeling good at this point, heartrate is up)
3. Power Knees: 74 (my glute started cramping at this point)
4. Power Jumps: 35 (I became acutely aware that I had quadriceps and that they were becoming angry)
5. Globe Jumps: 8 (toward the end, more energy was focused on getting both feet under me and not crumpling into the bed, desk, couch, or window when landing).
6. Suicide Jumps: 20 (I've done these enough in the gym that I don't mind them, but I was definitely ready to not jump any more!  I sure the person in the room beneath me shared that sentiment.)
7. Push-up Jacks: 35? (I started listening to the DVD and lost my place in counting near the end.  35 is pretty close)
8. Low Plank Obliques: 53 (good exercise, breathing hard, but definitely should have done better here)

That may not look like a lot (only 8 minutes of work-out, right?) but my calves (already displeased from the 4x800 sprints yesterday) were sore for the rest of the night with my quads feeling fatigued.  Walking down the stairs of the hotel to dinner hurt.  I like workouts that make me sore (and they're getting harder to find!), so this could be up my alley for a travel burn-out!  Maybe post-marathon I'll try the program as part of my training for the Race to the Top of Vermont and the 100 on 100 Relay.

FEB-16-2011 Diet Log