My 18 Week Fitness Journey

Hello fellow fitness enthusiasts!  My name is Asia, and I’m a 27-year-old female living in San Diego, California.   I’m excited to share my fitness journey with you!  My current 18 week plan is two-fold: full marathon training and P90X!  Can you say Type A?  Here’s how I got there…I’ve always loved running but have recently gotten more into endurance training as a new challenge.  I’ve completed two half marathons, but this will be my first full…Yikes!  I completed the P90X program in November 2010 and had such amazing results that I’m going to do the full 90 day cycle AGAIN.  I will modify it slightly to incorporate the full marathon training.  Needless to say, these are going to be an intense 18 weeks!  Afterward, I’m sure I will come up with additional fitness goals for myself.  I never want to stop training!  There’s nothing wrong with wanting to stay hot and healthy, right?

Ringing in the new year!

Marathon Training
The San Diego Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon is June 5, 2011, and I’ll be following an 18 week training program (that also includes a half marathon) to get there.  My boyfriend, Jeremy, and two of our close friends are also doing the marathon. We all signed up for the VAVi running club to help keep us on track and prepared for the ridiculous long runs of up to 20 miles at a time.  Our biggest training week is 40 miles total!  At the very least, I’m sure we’ll be grateful for the aid stations our group provides – I’m trying to avoid purchasing one of those ugly water belts if I can help it!  One of my friends just used VAVi for the Carlsbad Half and got her PR (personal record), and I’m ready for mine too!

America's Finest City Half Marathon, Aug 2010

P90X
P90X is an intense exercise program based on muscle confusion.  It has recently gotten a lot of publicity but has been around for several years.  Just catch a late night infomercial!  Tony Horton is the creator and celebrity behind the program.  There are three phases of workouts that map to three phases of nutrition planning – Fat Shredder, Energy Booster, and Endurance Maximizer.  My boyfriend and I followed the entire workout regimen and nutrition plan last year and saw great results.  I became much stronger now and almost achieved a cute 6-pack!  We are doing the nutrition plan again, but will incorporate more calories on the days we have double workouts (running and P90X), and won’t stay on the Fat Shredder phase as long since we don’t want to lose weight.  It’s important to have the proper amount of calories to stay fueled for these workouts.  You definitely don’t want to be calorie deficient because your performance will suffer!  I’ll dedicate more time to nutrition later, but you can learn more about the P90X program here:

www.Beachbody.com/P90X.

 

Before P90X

After P90X

I’m not an expert by any means, but I do plan to learn a lot about endurance running, P90X, proper nutrition, and how all three of these elements fit together.  I’m curious to see how my body responds to all of this!  Hopefully you will learn something new too and share additional insights.

As Tony Horton, founder of P90X would say, BRING IT!