Womp Womp

Well, my 30 day challenge lasted a total of 10 days.. And ended a while ago. I just haven't had the courage to write about my failing of this challenge. Whoops!

I knew by the end of the first week that this challenge was not something I could maintain. I know that 30 days is nothing in the grand scheme of things, however it became something that was not enjoyable and not just because it was a workout.

I'm the type of person that believes a workout should be hard work, make you push yourself past limits and be something you enjoy. Running does that for me.

But I can't lose fat and gain muscle by cardio alone. That's where strength training comes in. Strength training is where I'm going to lose inches and gain muscle. Strength training is where I'm going to become stronger, leaner, healthier and happier. And, for the most part, strength training is something I enjoy.

So, once I realized that the strength training routine I had planned out was over the top I knew I needed to stop being stubborn and just call it what it was. A failed challenge. To be honest, I'm not that sad about it. I wasn't enjoying it and I know that pushing myself would have made things worse. I wouldn't have put my all into it and my form would have suffered. Bad form = bad news.

I could sit here and give excuses as to why I stopped. Good excuses too. Knee pain type of excuses. Knee pain is not a good thing when you enjoy running and are signed up for a ton of races for the coming year.

So... What now?

Well, I actually really enjoyed the majority of the exercises in this workout, but felt burnt out by the second set of each. The 40+ minutes a day was a lot to commit to, however going through the workout once seemed to work well. It was quick enough to add in at any point of the day, but intense enough to be a good workout.

So the change is simple. Instead of repeating each circuit I will only go through each one once. I don't want to put too much pressure on myself, however the idea of a 30 day challenge is enticing and I know deep down that I can accomplish it. It just isn't the right time to do 30 days in a row.

The plan is to make it through the month of March doing the workout as follows- three days on one day off. Meaning I will be strength training three days in a row, taking a rest day and repeating throughout the rest of the month. I will be strength training a total of 24 days out of the month. I think that's a good trade off and should be easy to maintain for the whole month. It may not seem like much, especially with the number of repetitions for each workout, but it is something I can maintain and right now I need that "win".

Of course we now probably all know how well I maintain a training schedule, however here is my hopes for the month of March:

March 2014

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
						1
						Training Run- 5 miles NMTZ Challenge
2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Streak NMTZ Challenge	Streak NMTZ Challenge	Streak	Streak NMTZ Challenge	Streak NMTZ Challenge Cross Training	Streak NMTZ Challenge	Streak
9	10	11	12	13	14	15
San Diego Half Marathon NMTZ Challenge	Streak NMTZ Challenge	Streak NMTZ Challenge	Streak	Streak NMTZ Challenge Cross Training	Streak NMTZ Challenge	Hope4Kids 5K NMTZ Challenge
16	17	18	19	20	21	22
Streak	Streak NMTZ Challenge	Streak NMTZ Challenge	Streak NMTZ Challenge	Streak Cross Training	Streak NMTZ Challenge	Training Run- 8 miles
23	24	25	26	27	28	29
Streak NMTZ Challenge	Streak	Streak NMTZ Challenge	Streak NMTZ Challenge	Streak NMTZ Challenge Cross Training	Streak	Training Run- 5 miles NMTZ Challenge
30	31
Streak NMTZ Challenge	Streak NMTZ Challenge

The challenge will be the following exercises:
Squat with shoulder press- 10
Backward lunge with shoulder raise- 10 each side
Chair squat with anterior raise- 10
Press outs- 10
Chest press with crunch- 15
Chest fly/reverse crunch- 10
Bicycle crunch- 15
Squirms- 10
Push ups- 10
Dead lifts with hammer curl- 10
Static squat with concentration curl- 10 each side
Alternating lunges with wide grip curl- 10 each side
Side lunge with bicep curl- 5 each side
Chair pose tricep kickbacks- 15
Sumo squat- 10
Crescent tricep kickbacks- 15 each side
Double crunch- 15
Twisting plank- 10
Toe taps- 10 each side
Windshield wipers- 10
Plank rows- 10
Superman- 10
Hollow man scissor kicks- 10
Pelvic thrust- 15 each side
Side plank left- 10
Foot raises left- 15
Inner thigh raises left- 15
Side plank right- 10
Foot raises right- 15
Inner thigh raises right- 15
Donkey kick- 15 each side
Fire hydrant with side kick- 15 each side

I added cross training once a week for now. I need to get back to the gym that I am paying for and not using. Thursday is a great day for me to get to the gym for a quick session after work and I can easily get in a solid 30-40 minutes on the bike. What's nice is that I am able to read while on the stationary bike while still keeping the RPMs up in the 90s and sometimes over 100. Meaning, I'm still working hard even though I am doing two things at once.

After March is over and I finish this challenge of 24/31 days strength training I plan on continuing the 3 on/1 off idea doing strength training, cross training, strength training, rest and repeat. While, of course running every day.

March is going to be my month. I can feel it. I'm getting a solid start now in regards to eating and continuing my streak so that when March comes I will be prepared. I need to be prepared for March because we have seven birthdays to celebrate. Pretty close together as well. 13th, 14th, 15th, 19th, 25th, 27th and 28th. That's a lot of yummy food and delicious cake. But I will be ready!