Take It To The Bridge - Round 2 (Rock 'n Sole Recap)

Two weeks ago I rolled out of bed after a measly 4 hours of sleep, looked out the window, and swore loudly before stumbling first to the coffee pot and then the shower.  Why the cussing?  Because not only was it 55 degrees outside, but a Seattle-esque mist was falling from the sky - and I was due to run a half marathon in approximately two and a half hours.  I love running in cool weather, but I despise running in the rain.  Still, the rain/mist was better than running in heat and humidity.

After a quick shower, I slipped into my revised race-day outfit (added a long-sleeve shirt over my singlet), poured myself a microscopic cup of coffee, kissed a still-sleeping Mr. R&R goodbye, and headed downtown. On the way, I managed to force down most of my usual Clif Bar while sipping on a little coffee, and tried to pump myself up with loud music.  The mist seemed to ease up a little bit as I drove, which greatly improved my mood, and it improved further when I scored a free parking spot on the street about 3/4 mile from the start line.  Not paying $10 to be .25 miles closer suited me just fine.  I took my time locking up the car, trying to decide if I really needed the long sleeved shirt or if I was just being a big baby.  One stiff blast of wind off of Lake Michigan made that decision easy.  I was keeping the shirt on.  I tucked my car key, a couple dollars, and my id into my newly-acquired SpiBelt (more on that another time), clipped it on under my singlet so it was resting against my lower back, and started walking toward the Start Line Village.

The scene at the Start Line Village was about what I expected - lots of cold-looking runners milling around and hanging onto their outer layers as long as possible!  I plopped myself down on a reasonably dry curb and started stretching. About 20 minutes before the gun went off, I dropped my stuff (fleece jacket and an extra water bottle for after the race) off and made my way to the Start Corrals.  Once I was in the corral, the mist came back as I finished stretching and focused on calming my nerves and staying warm!  At 7AM sharp, the gun went off (along with a brief rain shower) and the corrals surged forward.  It took about 1:45 for my corral to get to the Start Line, I hit go on my Garmin and started running.

I honestly had no real goals for this race other than to 'do better than I did last year' and keep the 2:!5 pace team behind me (see last year's #YouHadOneJob).  Rock 'n Sole is NOT a PR course due to the long climb onto the Hoan Bridge and the monstrous hill just past the 10k mark and I only trained for 8 weeks(instead of the usual 12), so I had no illusions of breaking my PR here.

The first few miles went by pretty comfortably.  I was breathing well and actually had to remind myself repeatedly not to pick up the pace if I didn't want to crash and burn later.  I hit the 5k mark in just under 31 minutes, which would annoy the hell out of me in a stand alone 5k, but felt just about right.  I grabbed a quick drink at a water station before beginning the long climb up the Hoan.  My pace kind of tanked on the bridge, but I expected it, so it didn't bother me much.  I slowed at the water station at the top of the bridge, knocked back a Roctane, and let the wonderful combination of sugar, caffeine, and gravity do their job on the way down.  Imagine my surprise when I realized that I was ahead of the 2:10 pace group. I was feeling really good and a tiny part of me started wondering if I might actually end up PR-ing.  Mile 6 brought lots of loud spectators (I heard several shouts of 'Go TriWIS!) and lots of cute little kids looking for high fives.  I was nearly euphoric when I hit the 10k mark, looked at my watch, and realized that I had a new, albeit unofficial, 10k PR (1:01:47).  The euphoria was short lived as I reminded myself that I still had 7 miles to go and the monster hill was coming up fast.

Oh that hill...that mother-effing hill...

I made it about 3/4 of the way up before dropping to a power walk.  This was actually a tactical decision since I knew that hill destroyed me last year and I wasted far too much time last year trying to recover from pushing too hard up it.  I got to the top feeling pretty decent and started anticipating the portion of the course that winds through Lake Park.  Mile 7 was reasonable, but then the wheels started to come off.  My stomach started acting up and I slowed down trying to get it to settle.  Miles 8 and 9 sucked.  I knocked back another Roctane around Mile 8 (right as the 2:10 pace group passed me) and hoped that it would kick in soon and not completely screw my stomach.  Mile 9 was torture as my stomach threatened a full on rebellion. Then the Roctane kicked in, I felt like a million bucks, and Mile 10 was my fastest mile of the entire race.  Of course, the good feeling didn't last and Mile 11 was an absolute train wreck.  I was reduced to an evil run/walk combination dictated entirely by my stomach threatening a full scale rebellion.  When I was able to run, I was pacing between 8:50-9:30/mile, punctuated by near-crawling walks whenever my stomach demanded it - which was often.  I was pissed off at my body and was starting to get really sick of being wet from the non-stop mist, and my shoes were starting to squish a bit. I tried to distract myself by watching the very back of the pack still heading toward the evil hill.

I slammed another GU at the last water station, hoping that it would work the same miracle as the last one.  No dice.  Around Mile 12, I suddenly got really hot - like burning hot, want to jump in the freezing cold lake hot.  I pulled over long enough to peel off my wet long sleeve and tie it around my waist and got back to the business of running fast for a little while and then being hobbled by my stupid stomach.  I regretted that choice as soon as I got out onto Lakeshore State Park (an island with nothing to block the wind).  I. Was. Freezing.  Ugh.  I did my best to haul ass off the island as fast as possible. Coming around the back of the Marcus Amphitheater, I chatted for a few minutes with another TriWI member who was using the race as part of her training for her third Ironman and she was struggling too. We commiserated about feeling pretty crappy for about a quarter of a mile before she had to peel off and puke.  I kept going, knowing the finish line was close - and just like last year, my watch was showing that the race course was about .17 miles longer than it should have been. Grrr.

I took the final turn and the finish line was in front of me at long last. I picked up my pace a little and focused on being done.  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a girl in a blue tank top (who looked to be about my age)  picking up speed and trying to pass me and my only thought was "Oh no you don't!".  I started sprinting.  The finish line announcer saw us and said something like, "They're coming in hot!".  I kicked a little harder and Miss Blue Tank Top couldn't match me...I got her by a couple of seconds.  It was finally over and I had achieved both of my goals.  My official finish time was 2 seconds faster than last year.

Official Time: 2:14:01 (10:13/mile)
Garmin Time: 2:14:05 (10:06/mile) The course was .17 miles over the official 13.1 distance!

Much like last year, the finishing chute was a bit of a disappointment - really disorganized, lousy snack options, and it took forever to get a damned bottle of water.  I collected said water, a somewhat under-ripe banana, and my medal and made my way over to say hello to YadaYada who was scarfing his banana and waiting for Texas to finish - and looking like he'd barely broken a sweat.

As the post race soreness started to set in, I hobbled my way over to bag and tag to retrieve my fleece and then hobbled another mile or so back to the car - all the while racing another clock.  You see, Mr. R&R was slated to leave on a business trip to India that morning and his car to the airport was scheduled to arrive at 10AM sharp.  I was bound and determined to make it home in time to say goodbye in person!  I'm pleased to report that I made it...with 6 minutes to spare.

After Mr. R&R left, I collapsed in a heap on the couch and cowered under a blanket for a while as post-race chills made me down right miserable.  I had hoped to be able to meet my dad, Little Bro, and dad's dog at Fido Fest down in the village in time for lunch, but between the chills and my stomach finally launching it's full scale revolt, I had to cancel.  Instead, I finally took a much needed, scalding hot shower, to finally get rid of the chills and spent the rest of the day alternating between napping and watching bad tv with Walter and Spot.

In closing, it may not have been the greatest race I've ever run, but I'm really proud of how well the first 7 miles went and I'm happy to report that although the Bull$#!% Voice told me to give up when I started feeling sick, I squashed it down and did the best I could despite a less than ideal situation.   On to the next!!!!!!

Where The Wild Things Are

I promised you that things were about to get a whole lot sweatier around here - and I didn't lie.


Monday, May 11:
When I woke up this morning, it was gray, foggy, and chilly - and I was irritated.  It was only 6:45am, but the bull$#!t voice was already hard at work making up reasons why running just wasn't going to happen tonight.  As the day wore on, the fog turned to pouring rain and the bull$#!t voice went into overdrive.  The voice did a whole lot of work for nothing, because by 6:30pm, it was overcast and windy, but there was no rain.  I got home, put on my running shoes and headed out for four miles.  The first mile was pretty uneventful, other than seeing a great blue heron taking flight over a retention pond.

I had just made it into the parkway when I spotted a wild turkey!.  I remember hearing somewhere that those things are mean, so I moved to the other side of the road and watched as he strutted along.  Somewhere between the turkey and Mile 2 I saw my first bunny of the run (I don't know if I've ever mentioned it, but I tend to keep a 'bun count' on my runs as a means of occupying my mind.)  I hit the bottom of my least favorite hill in the world, turned around, and headed back up.  Just before Mile 3, I spotted a little deer peeking out of the woods.  It wasn't a fawn, but it definitely wasn't full grown either.  A little later I spotted 4 more bunnies, bringing the total up to a 5 Bun Run.

Around Mile 3.5, things got super interesting.  I was running up a path through an office park when I spotted a mama deer with her little fawn grazing on the other side of a little drainage creek.  We stared at each other for a moment before they went back to eating and I kept running.  Less than a quarter mile later, I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw a HUGE coyote standing right in the middle of the path!  I stopped my watch long enough to make an unexpected climb up a muddy hill followed by a cross country run (watch running again at this point) until I was well past the coyote and then scrambled back down to the path.  The remaining bit of my run was, fortunately, free of wild life.

Tuesday, May 12:
My bike has been doing nothing but collecting dust for months but that changed on Tuesday night.  After doing a little rearranging in The Cave, pumping my tires, and remembering how to clip-in/clip-out, I hopped on for a nice, easy 45 minute spin.  My speed was better than I expected and I passed the time watching the beginning of a movie, and I was nice and sweaty (and starving!) when I was done.

Wednesday, May 13:
Groundhog workout time! I needed to run 8x400 and since the track was likely occupied by high school track teams, I decided to do my intervals on the road.  I programmed the desired workout into my 910xt (the VivoActive doesn't have the capacity for these kinds of workouts - yet) and set off in the general direction of my mom's house.  After a brief warmup, it was Groundhog Time and I was really pleased with my split paces!  I ran .25 miles for each one with a minute and a half of rest in between.

Final Verdict:
Split 1: 8:45/mile
Split 2: 8:37/mile
Split 3: 8:26/mile
Split 4: 8:36/mile
Split 5: 8:24/mile
Split 6: 8:34/mile
Split 7: 8:47/mile
Split 8: 8:21/mile

After all the intervals were done, I jogged the remaining quarter mile or so to my mom's house as a cool down and hitched a ride back home along with a healthy does of doggy kisses from Puppy Girl - who really loves sweaty runners!

Thursday, May 14:
I wanted to run.  I really wanted to run, but Mother Nature (and my hatred of sopping wet shoes) had other plans.  I'd just finished changing into running clothes when the sky opened up and showed no signs of stopping any time soon.  Grrrr.  I hauled myself back upstairs and switched to bike clothes.  I got myself situated to ride, flipped my movie from Tuesday on, and hopped on the bike.  OW!!!!!  My booty is not used to the abuse of riding yet and putting any weight on it hurt like a beast.  Fortunately after about 10 minutes, my bum went numb and I was able to get a decent 45 minute ride in - and faster than the one from Tuesday.

Friday, May 15:
I really wanted a beer by the time I left work on Friday, but instead I got a 3.5m pace run.  Pace runs are just what they sound like - every mile run at or near goal race pace.  At this point in the season, I'm not sure exactly what my goal race pace is going to be, so I decided to shoot for 'somewhere around  9:30/mile'.  That pace would be more than enough to beat my half marathon PR, so it seemed like a reasonable goal.  NAILED IT!!!!!

Saturday, May 16:
The original plan called for today to be a rest day, but the forecast called for severe thunderstorms on Sunday.  Looks like my 8 miler was happening today.  I was a little sore and wiped out from the last few days and it was pretty hot and steamy out by the time Mr. R&R and I left the house, so there were no real pace goals - just to run 8 miles.  We ended up running 9.5 miles at about an 11:00/mile pace.  Normally, I'd be absolutely furious at that pace, but I've been doing some research and it's actually recommended to do long runs at a pace 60-90 seconds slower than what you're hoping to do on race day.  For my first 1/2 of the season, I'd be more than happy to run a 9:30-10:00 pace, so it worked.  I chased the run with a less than healthy snack of gummy bears on the walk home - and sugar never tasted so good.

Sunday, May 17:
Rest Day and not a bad choice because those thunderstorms came true!

Weekly Totals:
Bike:   25.49 miles (1 hour, 30 minutes)
Run:    20.22 miles (3 hours, 28 minutes)
Total:   45.71 miles (4 hours, 58 minutes)

How was your week?  What did you do that made you proud of yourself?

Where I've Been and Where I'm Going

It's been a while.  Again.  Sorry to keep pulling a disappearing act, but something always has to fall below the Suck Line (I really love her for this post) and it seems like my blog is usually one of the first things to get pushed below the line.  As usual, I'll try to be better about it, but I'm not making any promises.

So, where've I been?  Well...

In mid-April, Mr. R&R and I jetted off to Puerto Rico for 5 days of pure relaxation, fun in the sun, and to celebrate his birthday!

I could tell you all about it, but I think the pictures say more than I ever could.

View From Our Room

Blue Skies and Palm Trees...All Day. Every Day.

Lunchtime Libations

The Rice Alone is Worth The Trip

When we got back, I started running again because just like every year. around this time..it's training season.  If you're ready to follow me through the ups and downs of another training cycle, stick around.  It's going to get sweaty around here, because I really want to add to my collection of race bling!

Walter & Spot Day 2015

Hi everyone, Walter and Spot here.  We're doing our annual takeover of our mom's blog on our favorite day of the year: Walter and Spot Day!  Yes, we know that lots of humans think that today is a holiday called Easter, but we know better.  It's all about us today!

We started our day with breakfast and a good snuggle under our favorite box and watched tv (mom says that our favorite show, the one about fishing, will be back on again soon) while mom and dad did chores.

A little while later Grandma Naner came over and brought us a super creative present.  See...we told you that this is an awesome day!

We loved the carrots and the parsley, but the coolest part was the wrapping.

We got a new doormat for our house!

While mom and Grandma Naner ate lunch (we got some basil leaves from whatever mom was cooking), we hung out in our house admiring our new doormat and then they came back in the living room to pet and play with us and to give us bites of banana for dessert!

See what we mean?  Best. Day. Ever.  Now we're gonna go crash.  It's been a busy day for us!

Have a Happy Walter and Spot Day...see ya next time!

Insanity Week 7.2: Do It Better The Second Time Around

Week 7.1 was, for all intents and purposes, a train wreck.  I was lazy. I made stupid choices.  Time to fix it.  I knew going into this week that there were going to be 3 challenging meals (1 breakfast meeting, 1 dinner out with a vendor, and an epic German feast to celebrate my dad's 60th birthday) and 1 night where working out was not going to be possible (vendor dinner and event) because I wasn't going to be home at a reasonable hour.  I was bound and determined not to let these things completely derail my do over week.

Day 43.2:
My do-over week started with a breakfast meeting.  There was no way to get out of it, so I settled for making the best choices I could under the circumstances (2 eggs and dry wheat toast).  The food didn't sit well (that restaurant's food never does sit well with me), but by 1:30pm I managed to down my chicken avocado wrap and then proceeded to get so wrapped up in work that I forgot about my apple walnut yogurt mess until about 6pm.  By then it was too close to my workout to eat, so I chalked it up as "one less thing to prep for tomorrow".  Tonight's workout was Max Cardio Conditioning and I could definitely feel that I'd taken a few too many days off in a row.  It was a good wake up call and by the time it was over, I was actually hungry for dinner (chicken, baked potato w/ spicy brown mustard, and asparagus).  Nothing gets the appetite going like an ass-beating of a workout!

Day 44.2:
Today was much better on the food front. I got to eat all my own food and my body definitely thanked me for it.  My rematch with Max Cardio Intervals went well enough and I slept like a baby.

Day 45.2:
What is it with me and Wednesdays?  Last week it was a trip to Dr. Beast and Mexican food.  This week it was a vendor dinner and event.  My boss and I met the vendors for dinner immediately after work.  I did the best I could with the available menu (light beer, plain grilled chicken sandwich, side of fruit) and then proceeded to spend the rest of the evening attempting to be sociable. I was fading fast and did my best to hide it (it's really hard to stifle yawns!), got home as soon as possible, and crashed hard.

Day 46.2:
I could definitely tell that I was out too late last night.  I was slow and sluggish all day long, but I knocked a couple of annoying items off my to do list and headed home for Max Interval Plyo.  I still think it should be called Max Pushups.  My arms and chest were screaming by the time I was finished, but I pulled off 15 of the 16 pushups in the first round of Level 3 drills, so I was a little proud of myself.

Day 47.2:
What I should have done after work: Max Recovery.  What I actually did: Ordered dinner from Mekong Cafe,  a Thai/Laotian/Cambodian restaurant, after one of my coworkers raved about it and watched Iron Man and Iron Man 2 with Mr. R&R and the bunnies.

We ordered a bunch of different things and basically had a tasting menu for dinner.  First up was an assortment of appetizers.

We sampled (clockwise from the top): crab rangoon, temple tofu, a crispy spring roll, and chicken satay.  The chicken satay was the unanimous favorite and the crab rangoon was really good too.  The crispy spring roll was good, but nothing special.  Neither of us cared for the temple tofu.  It was just a lump of fried tofu - and the thing that makes tofu awesome is seasoning since it acts like a sponge for all the flavors around it.  This lacked any sort of seasoning so the two bites I took were akin to chewing on a fried kitchen sponge.

We also tried the fresh spring roll.  It was absolutely beautiful to look at and came accompanied by three different dipping sauces (peanut, sweet sour, and rice vinegar).  It was good, but it wasn't any different than other spring rolls I've had.  The peanut sauce, however, was awesome and we practically licked the little container clean!

Our next course was Pork Pho.  Both Mr. R&R and I are huge fans of Anthony Bourdain and have been dying to try pho since we re-watched the Vietnam episode of Parts Unknown.  The soup came with a variety of add-ins like lettuce, bean sprouts, holy basil, and rice noodles and we loaded up our bowls.  It was really pretty to look at, but the broth was a little on the bland side and from what Bourdain has described, the soup should have been bursting with flavors.  I think we're going to have to try pho from some other local establishments before passing final judgement on the dish.

Our final course was a spicy red chicken curry.  It was really good, but it didn't photograph well at all (kind of resembled cat sick on the plate)!  The curry was a fantastic mixture of sweet from the coconut milk base and heat from an array of chilis.  I would definitely order it again.

Day 48.2:
We slept late, got a bunch of stuff done around the house, and meant to squeeze in Max Cardio Conditioning and Cardio Abs before my dad's birthday dinner.  Well...all of a sudden it was 5:30pm and we needed to leave the house in 20 minutes!  I dove into the shower, wielded a blowdryer in one hand while slapping on some makeup with the other, threw on a dress and some cute boots, and hauled ass downtown (20 minutes away) to meet the family.  We made it with less than a minute to spare!  For the first time in a long time, I didn't think about what the "healthiest/least unhealthy" option was. I ordered one of my favorites and another glass of cabernet.  The food was good and my dad definitely seemed to enjoy himself, so I'd deem the evening a success.

Day 49.2:
Damn you wine...3 glasses and I end up sleeping until 10am!  Mr. R&R and I enjoyed a leisurely morning complete with a late brunch (eggs, southwest roasted potatoes, and fresh fruit) and watching Ironman 3 before doing battle with Fit Test #4.

I kind of expected to have a poor showing on this one because the last two weeks haven't been the best in the food and fitness departments.  I ended up surprising myself - and feeling like I was going to puke.

I think I may have expended a little too much energy on the early moves (particularly the Switch Kicks) because by the time I got to Low Plank Obliques I was totally gassed out.  If I'd had any energy left, I probably would have had a minor tantrum, but instead I was laying facedown on the basement floor and gasping for air.  I guess you can't win 'em all.

There are two weeks left in my Insanity Workout Challenge and I'm starting to look forward to wrapping it up.

How was your week?  Any favorite asian dishes to recommend?

Insanity Week 7: Too Much Crap. Not Enough Exercise.

This week started off really well - and then it all kind of went to crap.

Day 43:
I actually got home from work at a somewhat reasonable hour and went another round with Max Cardio Conditioning.  I still couldn't do everything, but there was definite improvement over last week and I was excited to make it through the full minute of plank punches.

Day 44:
Getting out of bed hurt, but in a good way.  I got a lot done at the office and felt ready to take on Max Cardio Intervals when I got home.  I still hate the Pedal, but I kicked the crap out of the full body drills.  I did all of them - without stopping - even when sweat started running in my eyes.

Day 45:
I may have felt good yesterday, but today hurt.  I was in a fog and sore as hell all day and to top it all off, Walter and Spot had their annual appointment with Dr. Beast.  I left work early, Mr. R&R and I loaded them into their carrier, and we headed out into rush hour traffic.  We were at Dr. Beast's office for almost 2 hours, but both bunnies are the picture of good health, so it was worth it.

Plus Walter got to spend some quality time with his favorite vet tech getting the wax cores removed from his ears, his nails clipped, and his tummy cleaned up.  Seriously, you should see him when she walks into the room - he gets all excited and practically jumps into her arms!  Spot, on the other hand,  hates going to the vet.  Maybe he's jealous of all the attention Walter gets?

By the time we made it home, we gave up on squeezing in a workout and walked over to a local Mexican joint.  Big mistake.  I'm so used to eating multiple small meals that one large meal sat like a rock in my stomach and made me nauseous all night.  Lesson learned.

Day 46:
Due to a new office policy, it looks like I'll be working very late every third Thursday from now on.  I barely managed to eat breakfast and lunch, ended up skipping both of my snacks, and didn't come crawling home until after 7pm.  To top it all off, I was super stressed about a work issue that absolutely had to be resolved before morning - even though it looked almost impossible.  I took another shot at resolving it when I got home and then dragged myself down to The Cave to do battle with the Max Interval Plyo workout I should have done yesterday.  I was really distracted through most of the warm up and stretch, but managed to forget my work issues during the intervals themselves.  Unfortunately, it came crashing back during every 30 second break.  Not cool.

I made one more last ditch effort to resolve the problem when I got back upstairs and then spent the rest of the night waking up every 30 minutes or so, freaking out.  Needless to say, I was a zombie by Friday morning.

Day 47:

I walked into work on Friday morning fully prepared to have my ass chewed (or possibly worse) if my last ditch effort didn't work.  Good news: it worked!  Bad news: By the time I got home, I was pretty much running on fumes and the only things in the world I felt physically, mentally, or emotionally capable of doing were laying on the couch, eating pizza, and drinking a bunch of wine; so that's exactly what I did.  I had no regrets.

Day 48:
I woke up after 9+ hours of sleep feeling much better on all fronts.  Mr. R&R and I headed out to do some shopping and by the time we got back, we were both so hungry that we schlepped up the street to a new-ish bar/restaurant and over-indulged in greasy goodness and a couple of beers.  Apparently I didn't learn my lesson on Wednesday night, because I felt icky all night and the workout did not happen.

Somewhat Over Indulgent

Day 49:
After much discussion, Mr. R&R and I decided that Week 7 was pretty much a food and workout fail and that our best bet was to repeat Week 7's workouts.  We spent the day getting ourselves back in order, reading, and hanging out with Walter and Spot.  Week 7.2 (as I'll be calling it) is going to have its own unique set of challenges (2 work events that require going out to eat and a milestone birthday dinner for my dad on Saturday), but I think with some careful planning and smart decision-making, it'll still be better than Week 7.1.

Insanity Week 6: I'm Pretty Sure He's Trying To Kill Me

I finished Week 5 feeling good and ready to take on the final phase of Insanity.  As it turns out, I felt like a complete novice all week.  The workouts didn't just ramp up in time, but in intensity as well.  In fact, they ramped up so much that I was reduced back to the 'quivering on the floor and trying not to die' experience of the first week. Long story short: I'm pretty convinced that Shaun T was trying to kill me.

The combination of workouts that left me more sore than running 20 miles with a harsh week at work and generally feeling beaten down from every direction made me consider throwing in the towel on the whole thing - more than once.  However, I've come this far and I want to see how it ends, so I kept going.

Day 36:
The first workout of Month 2 was Max Interval Circuit.  Right from the warm up I could tell I was in for a beating.  The jogging, straight arm jacks, and 1-2-3 heismans were all familiar from Month 1, but then came a side-to-side jump roping move, high knees, switch kicks and a little something called side-to-side floor hops (SS Floor Hops).  This basically involved starting in high plank, but with your butt in the air and then using your abs to hop your legs from side to side.   This warm up sequence was repeated 3x, with each time being more intense than the last.  By the time we got to stretching, I'd already shed my shirt and was using it to mop the sweat off my face.  The actual workout was brutal.  It started with my nemesis, The Pedal, and then added things like a combination of ski abs/push up jacks/in and out abs/ oblique push ups.  The second circuit was a lot of jumping and punching followed by floor switch kicks - think doing switch kicks while in a crab-walk position.  The third circuit was, far and away, the worst.  There were full body drills (drop down, float your legs back to plank, floor sprint for a count of 8, 4 moving push ups, wide floor sprint for a count of 8, float legs in, return to standing, rinse, repeat) and plank punches (holding high plank while alternating punching one arm into the air without rocking back and forth too much).  I was already sore by the time I made it out of The Cave.

Day 37:
If I thought I was hurting when I went to bed on Monday, Tuesday came as a really rude awakening and was followed by the second workout of Month 2 - Max Interval Plyo.   A more accurate name for would be 'Max Pushups with Some Other Stuff Thrown In For Max Pain'.  It was the standard warm up and then $#!% got real: switch jumps, squat push ups, in and out abs, power jumps, one-legged v push ups, level 3 drills, diamond jumps, balance push ups - you get the idea.  My upper body and abs were pissed off by the time it was over.  The jumping was manageable.  The first few types of push ups were tolerable.  Then it went off the rails.  Mr. R&R and I agreed that the workout demanded lots of upper body strength and that was definitely not something that was developed in Month 1.  Hopefully by the end of Month 2, the requisite upper body strength will come.

Day 38:
Everything I did today hurt.  Getting out of bed = pain.  Washing/styling my hair = worse.  Sneezing = unbearable.  My arms and abs hurt like a mother and Max Cardio Conditioning was on the calendar when I got home.  I was hoping for something a little less painful, but you know what they say about holding hope in one hand...   The warmup wasn't bad.  The actual workout was a nonstop cardio sufferfest of squats, jumps, push ups, and ab work.  I spent the first 15 seconds of each 30 second break laying on the floor, letting the cold concrete chill my burning muscles.  I was so gross and sweaty that I literally had a river of sweat running down my spine and into my capris!

Day 39:
I woke up hurting worse than I had all week.  Usually the soreness is worse in the morning and then lets up a little during the day.  Not this time. Moving hurt.  Laying down hurt.  And on top of it, I was pretty much ready to cry and couldn't wrap my head around my crappy performances over the previous 3 days.  Mr. R&R wasn't faring much better. After some discussion, we realized that the pain , lethargy, and general malaise was our bodies' way of SCREAMING for rest.  We gave in and couched ourselves for the night, went to bed early, and hoped to feel better the next day.

Day 40:
Max Recovery my ass. I liked Cardio Recovery in Month 1.  This freaking sucked.  I was still so sore that my legs started cramping up during the warmup.  From there is was lunges, hip openers, plank work, oblique work, and oh yeah...more f-ing push ups.  It was not Mr. R&R's or my idea of recovery.  We were so burnt out and in so much pain that we could barely get through it.  It left us both cursing Insanity and ready to quit. There was some serious rage in the Rabbits&Runs house that night. Neither of us are strangers to working out hard, hurting a little, and pushing the limit, but this was just ridiculous.  I think from here on, we'll be waging war on our minds as well as our bodies.

Day 41:
Saturday brought another round of Max Interval Circuit.  I don't know if it was having a better idea of how to pace myself or a stubborn refusal not to quit, but Max Interval Circuit went better this time.  I was still a sore, disgustingly sweaty mess, but I got through it better this time.  There were fewer unscheduled rests to gulp water and I actually found myself laughing when Mr. R&R started chanting "F**k you, Shaun T" during the floor switch kicks.  Word of advice: Laughing and Floor Switch Kicks don't really go well together.  I ended up falling on my ass because I was laughing so hard!

We also watched the 2015 Live Action Oscar short films (2014 was much better) and Whiplash.  All I can say is "wow".  J.K. Simmons definitely earned his Oscar this year.

Day 42:
We probably should have done Max Plyo Circuit since we took Thursday as a rest day, but neither of us could work up the urge, so we spent the day catching up on laundry, general house cleaning, and some reading.  I finished my 16th book of 2015 (Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn)!

Have you ever found yourself angry at a workout?  What did you do about it? Read or watched anything good lately?