Today I am experiencing a pain of a very different kind than I did on Tuesday. That was emotional pain. Today it is physical pain. It’s not debilitating, but it is a little reminder of how out of shape I am. Last night I did my first day of P90x. I’ve been feeling pretty good about myself lately, a major change from the awkward, self-conscious kid I was growing up. Still, I felt like I should be doing something to get in better shape, and help insure that I’m healthy and able to have energy to keep up with the kids. This led me to be more willing to start running last spring. Several friends who grade the AP Statistics exam with me had planned to run a 5k in Daytona while we were down there grading the exams. We did it, and my training paid off somewhat, it was hot and humid even at 8:00 at night, and that killed me. I’ve still been running some, but I wanted to do something other than just cardio-vascular.

I’d heard a lot about P90x from a couple of friends who had tried it, and it seemed like the kind of thing that would really challenge me. I borrowed a copy from a friend, and decided I would give it a try. The only problem was the time committment. The workouts are generally about an hour long (longer on days you are supposed to do ab work). The expectation is also that you do 90 days, in a row. It’s not really a start and stop kind of program, from what I have gathered. I kept putting it off, realizing that there were things within 90 days that would interrupt my workout schedule. Also, when could I do it? Doing it in the morning at home would likely wake the kids. I couldn’t do it while the kids are awake, given the inevitable distraction that they would become. The only time would be after the kids are in bed. The kids are usually tucked in bed a little before 9:00, but there is usually a little time required to actually fall asleep enough for me to start.

Thus, it was just after 10:00 last night that I started my first workout. Around 11:00 I wrapped up the first part, then started the ab workout. By the time that was done, it was almost 11:30. Then I rested a little, and headed up for my shower (which Joy had declared mandatory about half-way through the first part of the workout). I didn’t end up getting into bed until 12:45 or so. Getting up this morning wasn’t too bad, though I could tell early on that my triceps were hurting when I bent my elbows much past 90 degrees. This killed my motivation to get out of bed. The pain is a good kind of pain though, it tells me that I did challenge myself, and the muscles are telling me that. I’m ok with that. I don’t want to bulk up and get “huge”, I just want to be more fit and toned.

The lesson for me seems to be that I should probably try to start a little earlier, especially on days that include the ab workout. I’m excited to see where this takes me. Now that I’ve posted this, I guess I have to follow through. That’s one good thing about a blog, I guess: built-in accountability! I probably won’t be able to keep this up for the 90 days straight, something is bound to come up (my sister-in-laws wedding, homecoming at Messiah, etc.). But I will get back on track, and see how much better I feel. As I said, the goal is better health, energy for time with Joy and the kids, and taking better care of myself. The journey has begun … and though it hurts physically, it feels great mentally. That’s a trade-off from Tuesday that I can live with.