Paul (above) brought up a good point that I have failed to emphasize in posting these Beachbody/Running Hybrids. Many of the workouts I planned list two workouts on the same day. For example, in my hybrids you may see Asylum: Strength with Insanity: Pure Cardio. Another example is how I like to have a lifting workout (e.g., Chest and Back) paired with a short run (e.g., 3 mile run). Personally, you have a few options when it comes to these workouts: 1) Do them back to back (the hardest choice), 2) do one in the AM and the other in the PM (easier depending on your schedule), or 3) just do one of them.

In doing these hybrids, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you successfully complete the beachbody workout that is involved in the hybrid before trying the hybrids. For example, I suggest you finish Asylum and/or Insanity and P90X2 before you attempt the Asylum/P90X2/Insanity/running hybrid. After all, if you made it through all of that you can survive anything. This is a suggestion; but I know many of you are extreme, so just be careful.

Just remember what both Shaun T and Tony say, “Its about getting fit, not getting hurt”. So if you get to one of those days where the plan calls for you to do double duty, don’t feel like you are cheating if you have to modify or if you have to skip one completely. Do what you have to do, to make it to your goal. So if your goal is a marathon, half marathon, or a 10K, don’t risk injuring yourself just because my plan says do “x, y, or z”

My first time through my own hybrid I had to ‘cheat’ a few times; but eventually I got to the point where I could do it as described in the plan. So, moral of the story, just do your best!

Make sure your training gets you to Your finish line!

Its been a long time since I have posted about the progress of my fitness goals. Lately I have been focusing a lot training for a series of half marathons and two, maybe three marathons in the late summer or early fall. Since I started using hybrid workout programs that combine running, P90X, P90X2, Insanity, and Insanity: the Asylum I have been making some significant improvements in speed.

Before my first hybrid program, I was running a 7:40 and 8:00 min/mile paces for my 6 mile and 10+ mile runs respectively. Currently I am running at a ~7:00 and ~7:20 min/mile pace for my  6 and 10+ mile runs. In the interest of clarity, these are all on fairly flat courses, which is a rarity here in southern California. In the last two half marathons I posted a 7:20 and 7:17 min/mile overall pace in races that contained some significant hills. One of them had a ~400 foot climb in the last mile (ouch, see my post about the Hollywood Half Marathon). Before my hybrids my best race time had a 7:27 pace. This may not seem like a significant increase; but considering this was on a flat course and my two recent races contained significant hills….I consider this a big improvement. More evidence for this lies in the increase in speed that I have seen on my training runs as mentioned above.

So, this means that my hybrids are working! I also was met with a pleasant surprise when I was digging in my closet and found an old pair of jeans that feel huge on my now.

So when I started getting back into fitness and healthy eating I was wearing size 36 pants; but today I’m down between 28-31 depending on the designer. In the transition from the midwest to SoCal, I’ve had some hiccups on my diet; but no major deviations.

In the future, I’m going to stick with my latest running/P90X2/Asylum/Insanity hybrid for the next few half marathons and then I’ll be working on the new full marathon hybrid. One thing that has really helped has been foam rolling (Its helped so much, I am planning on posting a series of blogs on the effectiveness and proper use of foam/rumble rollers). Its all thanks to my good friend BriAnn Williams and the infamous Tony Horton. BriAnn has been doing marathons for a while and used to always tell me to foam roll; but being a stubborn guy I never started until I injured myself a few times. But since I have started foam rolling, I haven’t had any cramps, aches, or joint pains during my training or racing. So for those of you out there who have had constant problems with achy/sore muscles, I highly recommend foam rolling.