P10X: Only NINE days and SUNSHINE …. (good day sunshine.)

Wow. I can’t believe how beautiful it is outside on November 1! Gorgeous. And to celebrate the wonderful weather I hurried and did my arms video and then headed to the streets for a run.

Let it be known that while P90X incorporates a lot of cardio, it does not help maintain your lungs for running. I mean, I haven’t been dedicated to running in a long time, and it showed today. But that’s actually OK. P90X is more about burning calories and building strength, not building on your breathing and preparing you for marathons. So, needless to say, I ran/walked about two and a half miles … decent taking into account my lack of hitting the pavement for the past four months.

Only nine more little days! And just eight more till I turn 29. Yikes. I’m hoping to make this upcoming year of life better than 28 was. Don’t get me wrong, 28 was great, but now that I’ve been working out, I want to continue losing weight and trimming down. This is just the beginning. Oh and finding a non-bartending job is also on the agenda. 🙂

Instead of wasting more hours on here or in the apartment I’m going to wrap this up so I can shower and then head to Jewel for dinner ingredients. I’m thinking a turkey meatloaf is in our near future. Still up in the air. Hopefully we can head back outside tonight into the semi-warm air to walk off our meal. Get out there too and enjoy the sun!

P11X: Thriller (cuz there’s just 10 days left)

Pug Teen Wolf.

What a day. Bartending was busier than anticipated which was good, as rent is obviously due. After work I headed to my second piano lesson, where my teacher was impressed by my knowledge of the bass clef. And I have real homework to do this week! Exciting, exciting stuff.

So upon my arrival home, I popped on P90X. Today I decided to try and tackle Kenpo Cardio +, which I believe is the sister or next phase to the normal workout. This cardio workout felt really good, it had some great new moves, and it flew by! This video has the Gladiator and a High Punch Knee Kick Burnout, which gets the old heart really pumping. If you can get your hands on this workout, it’s a great change of pace to the norm. Highly suggested.

After today only 10 more installments of P90X!!! Awesome. I’m just itching to get onto something else. But don’t let that make you feel like P90X is boring. It took a good 70 ish days to really start feeling the redundancy.

Tomorrow means a day off, which I plan to use practicing piano after sweating through tomorrow’s exercising. Tonight after tacos and a hot shower, I’m gonna take it easy on the couch with a glass of wine. Hope your Monday rocked. Happy Halloween.

P12X: Easy like Sunday Morning (and evening)

Stretch. It. Out.

Ah. Days after bartending on Saturdays are basically a wash. I’m tired for the majority of my waking hours, and even though I have an entire day to take on the world, I have about as much energy as a fart. So this morning was unproductive for a bit, but then we went and got some sushi (with a Groupon) and did some light shopping on North Ave. A nice little Sunday, if you will.

Today’s P90X was just P90Stretch, a welcome break from cardio or weightlifting or anything else of that sort. Tomorrow I’ll be hitting it hard to wrap up the last 11 days of this nonsense. 🙂 I need a freaking change!

I hope everyone’s Halloween shenanigans were great last night. The Curragh wasn’t as busy as we’d hoped it would be, but nothing we can really do about that. However, my costume went over great, it just took 15 minutes to wash all the makeup off when I got home. Thanks for visiting all night with me, Danny and Katie and Ashleigh! Great company.

Tonight’s it’s just relaxing and the Walking Dead and a glass of wine. Tomorrow it’s work and my second piano lesson! Unfortunately, my lesson book hasn’t arrived, but my teacher says to come in anyway. Probably because I’m such a quick learner. 🙂

I hope your night caps off your weekend perfectly. Catch you on the flip side.

P13X: They did the Mash. They did the Monster Mash.

 

No one's going to save you from the beast about to strike.

Happy Halloween (celebration day!) I know it isn’t the real holiday but today is the day when all the dressed up drinkers will be celebrating, right? Including myself. Although I’ll be pouring more drinks than I’ll be drinking. Boo (pun.)

Today after I dropped Wes off at work I had to hurry to Jewel for makeup and then rush home so that I could BARELY fit in Core Synergistics. I mean, it’s a tight squeeze here. Even as I’m typing, the ears to my zebra costume are (hopefully) drying and I still have work to do! My makeup is going to be a project in itself. I can’t wait to see what the rest of you hooligans are going to be. This is easily one of my favorite times of year!

As I said before, and I’m not happy about it, I will also have to do P90X tomorrow because I skipped it earlier this week due to a debilitating headache. Good news? There’s no Bears game to miss! So I’m hoping to not sleep in too much and savor what’s left of my day tomorrow after exercising.

I wish you all a scary good time tonight. And if you find yourself in Edison Park at all, stop by and see me! I’ll be the black and white mess behind the bar. I hope everything stays in place. This costume was crafting marathon. 🙂 The P90X of fabric painting, if you will.

P14X: Take me out to the ball game

So I can’t write much tonight and I won’t include a link to a song. Or a picture. And I apologize. But we have guests over from out of town and the world series is on! I mean come on!

Today I came home and did the most painful hour of Kenpo X of my life. After doing the legs video yesterday (and having a looooong hiatus from it) I could barely walk today. Seriously. My ass and quads hurt. Bad!

Tomorrow I have a lot to do. P90X, costume, work marathon. Whew! So I’m off for now. Happy Halloween lovers!

P15X: Back in the Saddle Again

Giddyup.

Today I’m back on track after last night’s major headache and overall blah feeling. Today I kicked the Legs and Back video’s ass. And it felt good. It had been a while since I’d blasted through this workout, but it’s a really good one. Even though it focuses mostly on leg muscles and pull-ups, you still end up sweating a whole bunch. One of the worst moves it the 45 calf raise reps you are required to do toward the end of the workout. You don’t realize how much it hurts until you stop. Then BAM … pain. 🙂

I have a ton to do today, including practicing piano and making my Halloween costume. The piano stuff is mostly key recognition, which is harder than I thought. My brain just keeps focusing on C, when there are so many other notes on the keyboard. Urgh. I’m excited to learn new things next Monday … and I’ll have my new lesson book to bring by then!

Only 14 days of P90X left, which will equal just over two weeks if you factor in my one remaining Rest Day. I must say, I’m ready for a change of pace, because Tony Horton’s jokes and eyebrow raises and adages are all burned into my brain. I basically just talk through the scripts with him. Bring on the next challenge.

It’s time for me to shower, clean up and head out to Michael’s for some fabric paint. Only two days until Halloween Saturday! Seriously, if you’re bored, come to the Curragh. I’ll be working and I believe there’s a prize for best costume. And since I work there I can’t win. Even though I probably should. 😉

P90Rest: Under Pressure (my head. it hurts.)

Ouchy.

So you might be confused about my blog title today. And yes, that’s because it should say P14X. But I have some bad news. I have had a migraine since I left work and I cannot make it through a workout this evening. I even ate some dinner and still feel like crapola. But fear not my dedicated readers. I’m replacing today with my weekly Rest Day. So for me it’s good  … because I get to relax and hope this headache subsides. And it’s bad … because I’ll have to workout on Sunday after a loooooong night of bartending. C’est la vie.

Tomorrow I will be sleeping in and then doing P90X followed by some piano practice and hopefully painting some of my Halloween costume. I still got a bit o’ work to do for that. And Saturday is fast approaching.

Typing and concentrating isn’t really helping my headache so I’m going to sign off for now. Don’t lose faith in me though! I’m not really skipping a day, but instead changing the date of the Rest Day. If I attempted an intense workout right now, I think I’d ralph.

I hope you feel better than me. 🙂 See you tomorrow … right back on track.

P16X: Sixteeeeen Workouts … Make a Lovely Sight

Don't be a baby. Get your workout in.

I should probably shower right after my workouts, because now as I write my blog, I’m sweating like a monster. But I figure it’s best to get my thoughts down immediately after the video, so I can attempt to come up with a fitting title and I can add in details while they are fresh in my head. 

The exercise combo of today’s Cardio X is pretty awesome. You get to do minimal and easy Yoga, then it’s on to Kenpo moves (my fave,) followed by a Plyometrics block and wrapped up with Core. It sounds like a lot, but this video goes by quick while still delivering the sweat and pain. In a good way. And, this is an ideal workout to do in the morning because it really gets your blood pumping and makes you want to tackle the day and get shit done.

Only 15 more days to go and I can’t believe how time and just flown by. Three months is almost come and gone in the blink of an eye. I’m antsy and terrified of what Insanity has in store. Even doing the full Plyometrics video last week was rough, and Insanity is like Plyo on steroids. And cocaine. Well that’s what I hear anyway.

I’m off for now to shower and go out into the city to cross off a few items on the to-do list. Andy Avalos said it would be 70 today, so if that’s true, I hope you enjoy every second of the unseasonably warm breezes blowing through Chicago. Kisses!

P17X: Put Your Head on my Shoulder (and then feel those arms!)

Clearly a P90X grad. (He don't monkey around.)

What a productive day this has been!

Although, to be honest, I slept in a TON this morning. Until almost 9 a.m. to be exact. But after that, I got down to business.

Work was super slow today, but it worked out fine because I had Michaela to work with. (Have fun going back to Ireland you wanker!) From the Curragh, I headed out to my very first piano lesson – which went along with flying colors. I now have my first assignment with my keyboard and I found out I’ll need to purchase a bench and a lesson book. Pretty sure my teacher was impressed that I knew the Every Good Boy Does Fine and FACE secrets.

So, when I finally arrived home to the apartment, I cooked up some chicken for salad, let that hang out and got my P90X DONE. Today was Shoulders and Arms and I’m finding that I really do love this workout. It isn’t scary or intimidating, it has a fantastic variety of moves, and I even integrated 12 pound weights today (my heaviest yet.) Not quite sure which workout tomorrow has for me, but I’m hoping for Cardio X. I’m promising myself an early start so I can blow through P90X and then move onto my errands for the day. Which I hope includes a hair trim and a gathering of a few more Halloween costume pieces. For those of you with nothing planned this Saturday, you might want to consider visiting me at the Curragh. I’ll be the one rockin’ the zebra get up.

Enough of this blog for now. I’ve got a glass of wine to finish and some relaxing to do. TTFN my internet friends!

P18X: 18 and Life You Got It … 18 and Life Let’s Go!

Cartoon Robbie Gould.

Ah, the teens feel fantastic, and thank you Katie Dunne for the constant support!

Today I did P90X probably the latest I’ve ever done it. I didn’t arrive home from work until almost 4 a.m. which meant I slept in for awhile and spent the day recovering on the couch. And watching the Bears. Watching the Bears WIN. Boom.

After grocery shopping and then finishing up viewing the Packers game, and starting my Halloween costume, I blasted through Kenpo X. Actually didn’t finish until about 9 p.m. I’m so glad the end of the week workouts are never very hard. If I had had to do Yoga today, I may have skipped it altogether. Well probably not, but I would have been a total squatch about it.

I loved the weather today, but I’m sad that these welcome warm surprises are on their way out. Still, walking to Jewel was breezy and lovely … can’t complain about that.

Not sure what tomorrow’s workout is, but I’ll be finishing it up in the morning. After bartending, I get to go to my very first piano lesson! I’m excited/nervous … but mostly excited. Hell, I’d be happy to play anything that sounded good. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star anyone?

Walking Dead is on, which will be followed immediately by Dexter, so I’m going to sign off. Thank you family for a fantastic weekend in McHenry!

May your week ahead be full of wonderfullness. 🙂