P90X+

On Sunday, I was supposed to participate in my last big organized ride of the year, the Good Sam Bike Jam.  This ride consists of a 100-mile, two 62-mile routes, a 45, 32 and 20 mile ride.  I was going to be doing the 100-mile ride with a bunch of people from my office, and a few others were going to be doing some of the shorter routes.  After a great time at last year's event, we were all looking forward to another great ride this year.

But Mother Nature had other plans.  As I'm sure you've heard, much of central and eastern Colorado has been slammed by massive rainstorms over the past week, causing unprecedented flooding throughout the region.  In addition to flooding, the rain has caused mudslides, rockslides, extensive road damage, power outages and more.  The devastation is really beyond description.  Roads have been washed away, making some towns completely inaccessible.  The Denver Post has a really good photo gallery.

Much of the damage from these floods has occurred in areas that the Bike Jam was supposed to ride through.  Initially, the organizers canceled the longer rides, leaving the 45 mile and shorter rides in place.  But after driving the route on Friday, they decided they needed to cancel the ride altogether.  While I'm disappointed since I was really looking forward to it, I completely understand.  There's not really any place to ride if the roads don't exist any more.

On Saturday, we had a little break from the rain, but the kids sports were all canceled.  So, I was able  to squeeze in a short ride.  This consisted of a 10 mile ride up north, a 10-mile time trial loop, and 10 more miles back home.  The time trial loop is pretty nice, but I got slowed or stopped at a couple stop signs, which was disappointing. I did the same route a couple weeks ago, 40 seconds faster.  I need to step it up a little bit next time.


With bike season slowing down, I don't need to focus as much on bike training, and decided to shift focus a little bit.  I plan to keep riding, just for cardio and general fitness.  And for fun, of course.  But I want to improve all around, so I decided to start a round of P90X+.  I did a full 12 weeks of P90X a couple years ago, and really liked it.  I mean, it gets a little boring after a while, but it's a fantastic program.  This time around, I decided to try the P90X+ videos instead.

P90X+ is a similar routine to the original P90X.  Three months.  Three weeks of one routine, followed by a "rest" week each month.  Each week includes some strength work, abs/core work, some cardio work, and some yoga.  Like the original P90X, there is a "classic" routine, with a mix of strength and cardio, a "lean" routine focused more on cardio, and a "doubles" routine that includes both a morning workout and an evening workout.

My plan is to do the "classic" P90X+ routine every evening after the kids go to bed.  Not the ideal time for a workout, but that's all I've got.  I also plan to supplement these workouts with cycling whenever possible, including bike commuting.  I'm not sure about the status of my usual bike commute at this time, so I need to figure that out before I start planning to ride to work regularly again.

Tonight was Upper Body Plus, followed by Abs/Core Plus.  Upper Body Plus is a series of exercises focused on chest, shoulders, back, biceps and triceps.  Rather than the individual moves in some of original P90X workouts, these seem to be more combination-type moves, working on a few different muscles at once.  And moving from one exercise to the next is faster than P90X, with less explanation of each move.  For the first time through, that meant a little extra time for me to watch and figure out what was going on before I actually starting the exercises.  I'm sure I'll get the hang of it in the next couple workouts.

After Upper Body Plus comes Abs/Core Plus.  This kind of takes the place of Ab Ripper X from the original P90X.  It's a 20-minute ab/core routine that you do after one of the other longer workouts.  While Ab Ripper X consisted of basically sitting on a yoga mat the whole time, Abs/Core Plus has a lot of variety.  Some yoga mat stuff, some pull-up bar stuff, some weight stuff.  The variety is nice, but moving quickly from one setup to the next is kind of tough, especially in a small space.  Once I get the routine figured out, I'm sure it will get easier.

Tomorrow is Interval X Plus, a cardio type of workout, along with another round of Abs / Core Plus.  Wish me luck.

I hope to get back on the bike again this week, but I need to drive to work tomorrow.  Maybe Wednesday.  We'll see.