Posing for the Cover of Down Dog Magazine

Oooops, where did this week go? Although I've been slacking a bit with the blog, I have not been slacking with the P90X work-outs. Today ended Week 7 which means we start our second recovery week on Saturday. This whole thing has been going by faster than I expected. We are more than half done and I already feel great. Nothing feels greater than watching myself improve and get stronger. I am noticing so many areas where I improved. For instance, I'm ready to "pose for the cover of Down Dog magazine." That line of Tony's cracks me up every time I hear it. I've been doing yoga for over 6 years and never did Down Dog feel as good as it does now. I feel as though my body is made of steel. My heels are planted squarely on the ground and my arms feel strong enough to hold me there all day. LOVE IT.

I also want to mention Ab Ripper X. In a blog posting a few weeks ago, I made a comment that I'll never be able to do all the exercises in that routine. Well, I was wrong. This week I did it. Still challenging, no doubt, but I did it! And today my abs feel hard as a rock. As a matter of fact, I never really felt them engage so much during Kenpo X. I'm on my way to the '6 pack.'

I was talking to somebody today that mentioned that I seem to enjoy the 'high' of taking on a big challenge and then soaking in the sense of accomplishment. He was referring to a big project that I'm in the middle of, and he has no idea how much he nailed me. When I think back to the decision to start P90X, that was exactly what I was after. I even explained to a friend, "I want the challenge of having a difficult goal - just to see if I can do it." My motivation wasn't to lose weight or even to get into great shape. I just wanted to torture myself to see if I could take it. Then, at the end, feel that sense of accomplishment. My friend didn't get it. She suggested I stick bamboo under my fingertips for torture, commenting that, "At least that wouldn't take an hour per day."

I'm sure there are lots of people reading this that can understand my quest for accomplishment. I think most of the reason I cycle long distances is for that feeling. I've had some great rides in my life, but then again, I've also had many dreadful ones. In telling stories about the dreadful ones, people always question, "Why do you do it?" Why do you climb Mt. Everest? Because it's there, I suppose. And if I wasn't such a cold weather wimp and didn't think the climb would kill me, I would probably want to do that too. But for now, I'm just happy tackling P90X.