Are You Ready for a Challenge?

Wow. Last week I accomplished a HUGE goal that I set for myself in April 2010 after I completed my first round of P90X. I ran a half-marathon! My goal was simply to finish but I managed to eek out a pretty respectable time for my first half: 2:08:51. My sister and I were blessed with perfect weather and I can’t wait to do it again!

You can read more about my experience and see me crossing the finish line here: My Couch to Half-Marathon Journey.

Now that I’ve accomplished one goal I’m ready to set another one! I don’t think I’m quite ready for a full-marathon just yet (those last 3 miles were TOUGH!) so I’ve set my sights on a half-marathon time of less than 2 hours. I’m not sure when my next race is going to be, but I’ve decided to start Insanity on November 1st in the hopes that it will help increase my cardio endurance! I haven’t done the entire 60 day program yet. I’ve only used some of the workouts as subs for Cardio X when I did P90X Doubles.

If you’re interested in joining the virtual workout group I’m putting together please let me know! If you don’t own Insanity yet, NOW is the perfect time to buy because Beachbody is giving all customers who purchase Insanity through Team Beachbody a FREE bonus workout–Fast and Furious.

For more information be sure to watch THIS VIDEO.

When I start Insanity next month I’m looking forward to focusing even more on my nutrition. I’ve already made some big changes to my diet so it should be much easier to stick with it after two rounds of P90X. I no longer drink soda, the cookies stay at the grocery store, sweet potatoes have substituted fries, etc. But I know I still have to make some adjustments. I have a sweet tooth that still gets me from time to time (although Shakeology has helped A LOT with that!). Red candy (Twizzlers, Swedish Fish, etc.) is my weakness, but so are all the goodies we get donated at work, including all the homemade cakes and pies that we will see more and more of during the next couple of months. UGH!

Recently I’ve been inspired by a number of people who have done 30 day challenges. Challenges such as 30 days of no sugar, 30 days of no caffeine, no gluten and vegan diet, 30 days of Bikram yoga, etc. I KNOW I need to pick my challenge and get started on it.

Some of my friends and co-workers already think I’m crazy for starting Insanity on November 1st (it will take me through the peak of the holiday stuff-your-face season). But hey–I can still eat turkey, steamed veggies and a baked sweet potato and keep the stuffing and breads to a minimum! With my weakness being sweets I’m considering making my first 30 days absolutely NO SWEETS–no candy, cakes, pies, etc. It’s only 30 days, not for the rest of my life and I’m very excited to see what changes I encounter in energy levels, fitness levels, etc.

Here are some other 30 days challenges you might want to consider:

• no dairy
• no alcohol
• waking up at the same time every day
• sleeping 7-8 hours everyday
• no sweets
• no butter
• no white foods: white bread, white flour, white sugar, etc. (I would keep the egg whites)
• vegan or vegetarian diet for 30 days
• keeping track of everything you eat for 30 days
• no red meat
• no television
• no caffeine
• no high fructose corn syrup
• no smoking
• no Internet, Facebook, Twitter, etc. (GASP!)

The list could go on and on! Pick something that sounds good (or not so good!). I would love to hear if you plan on taking up one of these challenges. Let me know how it goes. Remember, it could just be for 30 days, if you miss your old lifestyle you can always go back, but you might not want to! If you are a P90Xer you know Tony Horton always tells us we can do anything for 30 seconds during Plyometrics. Well, I feel the same way about this challenge, we CAN do any of these for 30 days!

Until next time, keep pressing play!