Calm Water, Month 1 of P90X and Training Reflections
Jun
21Calm Water, Month 1 of P90X and Training Reflections
Posted by Kevin Doak on Sunday at: 5:22am (June 21st, 2009)
It's been a busy few days but I've been keeping up with training both in and out of the water. Both Friday and Saturday were VERY rough practices for me, I was in survival mode. I was so broken down and I was just trying to make it through alive. Both days were Short Course Yards due to a large diving meet occupying the deep end of the pool. It was actually sort of nice to have some new sights to look at in the pool area, just a good change of pace.
On Friday night I completed my first 1/3rd of the P90X program! I celebrated by taking myself out to a very fancy lunch at Panera Bread, I know you're jealous. It's been a rough training month, the P90X program dictates that you do one practice a day for 90 days. I just couldn't keep up with all the other training I'm doing. It took me 49 days to do 30 days of training. I'm disappointed I couldn't keep up with the pace of the program, but I've accomplished quite a bit in a month and a half of training.
Due to a crazy work schedule, I needed to do my Yoga at 5:00am on Saturday. The program takes 1.5 hours, so it finished just in time to leave at 6:30am for a 7:00am swim practice. Unfortunately only 2 out of 50 swimmers showed up on Saturday. It was just me and a high school swimmer from Livonia. When her swim cap ripped midway through practice, she briefly got out to get a new one. I made a point to complain that I still had to swim while half the practice squad was out of the water. With only two swimmers in the water, it was so refreshing to swim in calm water. I usually swim with ~50 other swimmers in the pool which makes for some choppy water conditions.
Training Reflections:
I'm really proud that I've stuck with this summer workout group for 2 months now. By swimming 6 days a week and doing some form of dryland training 6 days a week, I think I've made vast improvements on endurance, strength and flexibility! I will admit, it seems quite silly, but tomorrow I will take my "1 month picture" which I'll file away to compare to my "Beginning Picture" before I started training this summer. The P90X program dictates to do this, but since I feel like my body never really changes no matter what I do, I'm more than interested to see if I make any visible progress. I definitely feel stronger but I only wish I could say my muscle definition is improved. My goal is only to be faster in the water, I don't want to "bulk up" whatsoever but I think we can all admit we wish we looked a little more fit.
If I had to come up with some areas that might have improved, I would say my upper arms, chest and abs have gained some visible definition. As always, this might just be an illusion since I've worked so hard, my mind might just expect these changes and therefore sees them. Not that it really matters, I feel great in the water and I'm dropping time week after week.
I've either lost weight or I've once again fluctuated downward. When I started training 2 months ago I was 175lbs in a swim suit. 2 Months later I'm 168lbs soaking wet. It's not a huge drop, but 7 pounds with my body type is at least a little significant. I often think the 170lb range is a good area for me to be in. I swam my fastest in this range so I'm glad to be down under 170 again, although I'm not actively trying to lose weight.
I'm eating constantly. I eat lots of pasta, fresh blueberries, bananas and pears daily along with my champion PB+J's! I find I eat about 5 meals a day on average along with frequent snacking along the way. I'm hungry right after I eat and I feel like I grocery shop every other day. I look forward to the day I have time to meet with a dietitian and get some professional advice on my food intake.
That's about it for now, thanks for reading!
On Friday night I completed my first 1/3rd of the P90X program! I celebrated by taking myself out to a very fancy lunch at Panera Bread, I know you're jealous. It's been a rough training month, the P90X program dictates that you do one practice a day for 90 days. I just couldn't keep up with all the other training I'm doing. It took me 49 days to do 30 days of training. I'm disappointed I couldn't keep up with the pace of the program, but I've accomplished quite a bit in a month and a half of training.
Due to a crazy work schedule, I needed to do my Yoga at 5:00am on Saturday. The program takes 1.5 hours, so it finished just in time to leave at 6:30am for a 7:00am swim practice. Unfortunately only 2 out of 50 swimmers showed up on Saturday. It was just me and a high school swimmer from Livonia. When her swim cap ripped midway through practice, she briefly got out to get a new one. I made a point to complain that I still had to swim while half the practice squad was out of the water. With only two swimmers in the water, it was so refreshing to swim in calm water. I usually swim with ~50 other swimmers in the pool which makes for some choppy water conditions.
Training Reflections:
I'm really proud that I've stuck with this summer workout group for 2 months now. By swimming 6 days a week and doing some form of dryland training 6 days a week, I think I've made vast improvements on endurance, strength and flexibility! I will admit, it seems quite silly, but tomorrow I will take my "1 month picture" which I'll file away to compare to my "Beginning Picture" before I started training this summer. The P90X program dictates to do this, but since I feel like my body never really changes no matter what I do, I'm more than interested to see if I make any visible progress. I definitely feel stronger but I only wish I could say my muscle definition is improved. My goal is only to be faster in the water, I don't want to "bulk up" whatsoever but I think we can all admit we wish we looked a little more fit.
If I had to come up with some areas that might have improved, I would say my upper arms, chest and abs have gained some visible definition. As always, this might just be an illusion since I've worked so hard, my mind might just expect these changes and therefore sees them. Not that it really matters, I feel great in the water and I'm dropping time week after week.
I've either lost weight or I've once again fluctuated downward. When I started training 2 months ago I was 175lbs in a swim suit. 2 Months later I'm 168lbs soaking wet. It's not a huge drop, but 7 pounds with my body type is at least a little significant. I often think the 170lb range is a good area for me to be in. I swam my fastest in this range so I'm glad to be down under 170 again, although I'm not actively trying to lose weight.
I'm eating constantly. I eat lots of pasta, fresh blueberries, bananas and pears daily along with my champion PB+J's! I find I eat about 5 meals a day on average along with frequent snacking along the way. I'm hungry right after I eat and I feel like I grocery shop every other day. I look forward to the day I have time to meet with a dietitian and get some professional advice on my food intake.
That's about it for now, thanks for reading!