I Downward Dog Dare You To Try Yoga!

At 40+ years of age and over 20 years in multisport training there is little I have not tried in my training. You name it - I've probably given it a try during the last 2 decades. However, with that said it's been quite awhile, at least 10 years, since I've actually done anything in my training that has been new or really challenging outside the normal swim, bike and run routine. Well - you can teach an old dog new tricks.

As of February 1 my training buddy and longtime teammate, Randy Lehrer, dared me to take on the P90X Challenge with him. At first glance I thought this would be a joke and I felt it would be of little benefit to me. P90X is composed of weight lifting, Kick Boxing, Plyometrics, and Yoga. OK - no problem doing the weights and the plyometrics but come on - Yoga? Kick Boxing? The main principle behind P90X is muscle confusion with lots of variety in the 6 day a week routine.

I reluctantly popped in that first DVD (Chest and Back) on that early Monday morning and joked to myself as "Tony" warmed us up with what seemed like an almost silly, if not useless warm-up. I wanted to get going, get my heart rate up and start feeling the burn like most workouts. The first set started off with 4 different types of pushups and 4 different types of pullups. Talk about humbling - after the first set of pushups my chest was throbbing and my arms were shaking. What? Are you kidding me? How have I left myself get this weak? I must sadly report that set #3 and #4 I was doing girl pushups and I was totally unable to do the pullups. Randy was right! This workout is tough and certainly is going to be beneficial for the triathlon season.

The remaining week was totally brutal and I had soreness in places I'd never been sore before. Then came the 90 minutes of Yoga at the end of the week. All I can say is I'm glad my friends could not see me! I was stretched out in ways I've never been stretched before along with holding complicated Yoga poses (in poses I'm still too embarrassed to describe) that had my entire body shaking and covered in sweat. After getting through the final downward dog pose and finishing up in baby's pose I felt awesome. I had an incredible post Yoga buzz - not like my normal endorphin buzz from swimming, biking and running but something completely new. A Yoga buzz - I really liked it!

If prior to your next race you attend you see someone in the corner of the transition with a contorted face desperately trying to maintain his balance - don't worry - it's just HFP Man trying to perfect the Warrior pose before heading to the swim start.

Bring it!

HFP Man

P.S. It's now been 3 weeks and the soreness is mostly gone and I'm no longer doing girl pushups and I can complete most of the workouts without hitting the "pause button".