So about that idea to do Insanity… Don’t get me wrong, I’m sticking with it, but OUCH. The workout itself wasn’t actually as bad as I thought it would be, perhaps because it was plyo and I’ve done plyo workouts in the past and my cardio is already pretty great from running. So no breaks needed and I did all the moves at full speed throughout. So I thought all was great but then I woke up this morning and oh my goodness my entire lower half is screaming. I don’t even remember doing moves that should make my obliques and lower back muscles sore but sore they are. And my glutes hurt SO badly. Today’s run will be more of a concrete shuffle. But it’s great because obviously I have a LOT of strengthening to do if some jumping and bodyweight exercises made me this sore. So I’m really excited about the progress I’ll have made at the end of the 60 day program 🙂 In the meantime though, ouch, and hopefully I’ll be far less sore the next time. Today though, is the upper body portion and I will probably do more pushups than I ever have in my life.
Both dogs harassed me the entire time I was doing the workout, then proceeded to pass out afterward. Gee, thanks 😉 She thinks she’s a person, if you couldn’t tell.
Recovery pizza was necessary obviously, but a healthier homemade version loaded with veggies instead.
Last night I was sitting around reading two old issues of Runner’s World and found this gem:
This is from Lauren Fleshman, amazing 5k pro runner, and she’s talking about when she was tested for performance capacity as an outstanding youth athlete and she has accomplished more than they ever thought she would. I’ve not been tested for performance capacity or anything of the sort but I did try going out for track and field as a high school senior because I decided to stop swimming. Without getting to know anything about me, the coach threw me in the team as a 100m runner. HA! I was terrible. 7th or 8th in every meet in the B or C races and man, I was miserable…both racing and in practices where all I did was run repeats. I did just that one season, skipped outdoor because I thought I just hated running. It never occurred to me to try running again until I was about 21, when I joined a friend for a run. I ran 5 miles and it was sort of great. I was surprised enough to keep going every day and kept loving it. I certainly didn’t think I could be any good at it because I was SO BAD in track. Turns out, I was meant to be a distance runner and the more I ran and the further I ran, the better I got. I placed in a local race only a few months after starting running and surprised myself. That coach not only made me think I was a terrible runner (and likely thought it himself), but made me hate running, and for that I am sad. I wish I could go back in time and force him to let me run distance and see where I would be after all this time had I been running and training for distance since the age of 17 and with a real coach, but that’s not an option. What IS an option, is to keep believing I can be better than I am now and that I’m capable of amazing things to come. Unsolicited advice: be like Lauren Fleshman, do what you love and don’t let anyone tell you you can’t be better than your best.
Run For The Pizza 
plyo workouts are definitely my favourite, the most “bang for your buck” and by buck I mean time;) Running would definitely help with those! Your pizza looks delicious, now I’m wanting some:)
They’re vicious but they work SO well!
Thanks for posting the update on Insanity! I hear you on the high school track thing…I was lucky enough to have a coach that really cared about everyone on the team, not just the great runners. I started out running cross-country (and I was so bad at long distance) and went on to do winter and spring track for two years. I had no idea what would be my specialty. My track coach had me try everything under the sun, and after doing really well in a sprint relay, they figured out what my specialty was.
Ah you’re so lucky to have a good coach! I literally showed up on day 1 and having never seen me run, he just put me in sprints. I actually hated it so much I’m surprised I ever gave running another chance haha.
it’s so great how you came back to running. it’s discouraging that happened to you in hs and you didn’t have the opportunity to reach your potential but now you are here and can appreciate it all the more!
I get upset about it now and again because I’d hope I’d be a stronger runner today but I tell myself I’m going to work hard and reach the same potential anyway, I’ll just be a lot older when I do it 😉
That is frustrating when someone just throws you into an event without any sort of testing to see where you’d be best placed. At least you found you love to run now!
I’ve never done Insanity but when I first started to do circuits and explosive strength this fall, I could barely move without wincing from glute and quad soreness!
It’s so brutal! Have you noticed your running improve since you started explosive training?
I loved running high school track, even though I normally came in last or next to last in the slowest heat. I went for the social time, as did most of our track team. 🙂
I’m too competitive for my own good, I really really hated coming in last and I couldn’t even enjoy the social aspect when I was so busy losing haha. I’m much better about channeling the competitive nature now so I think I could appreciate it for what it was, but 17 year old me was far too intense for that I guess. But a friend I made at track introduced me to my husband! So if I had never done track…
Pizza looks amazing!
I love Lauren Fleshman too! She’s a clever writer…such a multi-talented lady. 🙂