Well, I did it again. I switched workouts. Because I switched the rest day with Vertical Plyo, that would have put Vertical Plyo and Speed and Agility back to back. That's just too much for me. So, today I did Strength. Much more doable (but not easy by any means..)
(Also, I've decided to start using Italics..)
As I mentioned in the video, I'm doing a race on Monday. I signed up for the 10K, in hilly downtown Nashville. I probably won't be up to an Asylum workout along with the 6 miles, so I will just skip to the next day.
So, the 30 days of Asylum may be more like 35. I am training for a half marathon, after all..
Will you try Asylum? Don't make me go through this alone...
You can get it here.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Friday, July 1, 2011
Insanity: The Asylum, Day 5/30: Shaun T loses his ever-loving mind.
I switched Day 4 and Day 5, and I'm glad I did, because my body needed to recover a little bit. But after Day 5's Vertical Plyo workout, I realized I have to do Speed and Agility on Day 6, and I'm scared.
I'll do a full review of this workout later, but let me just say some of the thoughts that were going through my head:
- Running is easy compared to this.
- I'm a wuss.
- How are these people doing this?
- I'm 10 minutes into the workout and I think I'm going to quit and do Turbofire.
- I hate you Shaun T.
- Shaun T. is crazy.
- Shaun T.- remember how I hugged you when I met you. I totally take that back. You're killing me.
- I ain't ever doing this **** again...
There are more, but they're pretty much the same theme.
But, like I said in the video and above, running is getting so much easier compared to this!
Let's see if this helps:
Not much.
(Okay, maybe a little).
High Five 5 Question Friday!
Oh Hooray! It's Friday again! Fun, fun, fun, fun...
Here's your High Five!
It's a new month! Anything can happen! Oh, and a 3 day weekend! I just can't control my happiness!
Speaking of Day 1 of a new month, this month I'm participating in Chalene Johnson's 30 Day Push Challenge. I started it in January and dropped out. So, here I am in July, determined to complete it. I've heard amazing stories of organization and productivity people have from participating... and I'm all about that. Try it!
I'm participating in the following hops today:


So, if you're a new follower, welcome! I'm so glad you're here! Post in the comments so I can follow you back!
And now, for some questions: 1. What does the weekend have in store for you? I have a special "Mommy-Son-Playdate" with my special guy tomorrow. We're going to the park. He's been talking about it all week. Also, on Monday (Independence Day), I'll be running a very hilly 10K in downtown Nashville :-)
2. What was your last workout? Friday morning I did Insanity: Asylum Vertical Plyo. I'm going to do a separate post about it, but let's just say.... it was unbelievably hard. Yep.
3. What goal would you like to reach by the end of the summer? I want to be at my goal weight/size, and be certified and teaching a Turbokick class AND a Hip Hop class.
4. What is the funniest thing you've heard/seen/done lately? My son randomly started singing along to Jay Z's "H to the Izzo". Later he was still doing it, so I videoed him:
5. What's for dinner tonight?
I'm making an interesting "Paleo" Shepherd's Pie. I told my husband we were having Paleo Shepherd's Pie, and he asked, "Are you cooking it outside on the fire with rocks?" He's funny, my husband...
Have a great weekend, folks! (And please come "Like" Sarah Fitness!)
Here's your High Five!
and a bonus SMH:
It's a new month! Anything can happen! Oh, and a 3 day weekend! I just can't control my happiness!
Speaking of Day 1 of a new month, this month I'm participating in Chalene Johnson's 30 Day Push Challenge. I started it in January and dropped out. So, here I am in July, determined to complete it. I've heard amazing stories of organization and productivity people have from participating... and I'm all about that. Try it!
I'm participating in the following hops today:
5. What's for dinner tonight?
I'm making an interesting "Paleo" Shepherd's Pie. I told my husband we were having Paleo Shepherd's Pie, and he asked, "Are you cooking it outside on the fire with rocks?" He's funny, my husband...
Have a great weekend, folks! (And please come "Like" Sarah Fitness!)
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Insanity: The Asylum, Day 4/30... kind of...
So, Day 4 is supposed to be Vertical Plyo. This is supposed to be one of the most challenging workouts EVER. I've seen hard core athletes brought to their knees by this one. These same people were able to complete Speed and Agility, while I spent most of my time gazing, open-mouthed at the tv, wondering how they were doing it...
Needless to say, I was a little afraid.
Besides that, I woke up with more pain in my feet, my calves, my hips, my abs, my side.. so I made a choice. I switched Day 5's rest day and did it on Day 4.
I spent some time with my man Eoin Finn and did some yoga. Despite the fact that I look incredibly tired in the video, my body felt a ton better..
And, this way, I can do my running and Vertical Plyo on Friday, and that way my rest day can be a proper rest day.
Just makin' it work.
By the way, if you haven't yet, stop by Sarah Fitness and click "Like". We have fun over there. We motivate, encourage and inspire each other.
Needless to say, I was a little afraid.
Besides that, I woke up with more pain in my feet, my calves, my hips, my abs, my side.. so I made a choice. I switched Day 5's rest day and did it on Day 4.
I spent some time with my man Eoin Finn and did some yoga. Despite the fact that I look incredibly tired in the video, my body felt a ton better..
And, this way, I can do my running and Vertical Plyo on Friday, and that way my rest day can be a proper rest day.
Just makin' it work.
By the way, if you haven't yet, stop by Sarah Fitness and click "Like". We have fun over there. We motivate, encourage and inspire each other.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Insanity: The Asylum, Day 3/30.. with another special guest.
Whoa.
I woke up on Day 3 with the following:
- Sore feet.
- Less sleep than I would have liked.
- Sore lats.
- Less time to workout and get ready due to oversleeping *just a little*...
- A baby who was wide awake and wanted to play.
Isn't my daughter cute? I mean, really.
Seriously, I love having my kids see me workout. I hope it's rubbing off on them.
I liked this workout. I have to admit, I'm terribly nervous about tomorrow's workout. It's supposed to be ridiculously hard.
But so far, I'm having fun.
I woke up on Day 3 with the following:
- Sore feet.
- Less sleep than I would have liked.
- Sore lats.
- Less time to workout and get ready due to oversleeping *just a little*...
- A baby who was wide awake and wanted to play.
Isn't my daughter cute? I mean, really.
Seriously, I love having my kids see me workout. I hope it's rubbing off on them.
I liked this workout. I have to admit, I'm terribly nervous about tomorrow's workout. It's supposed to be ridiculously hard.
But so far, I'm having fun.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Insanity: The Asylum, Day 2/30.. with a special guest.
Day 2.... (insert ominous music here):
Today's workout was "Strength".
I gotta tell you.... I woke up this morning in PAIN. OUCH! My traps and shoulders were ridiculously sore. My hip flexors were sore. I didn't really feel like doing the workout...
But I did.
About 2 minutes into the warmup, the very loud thunderstorm woke up my 3 year old. It took a little negotiating to get him to watch TV in bed so I could work out some more.
Then the baby woke up.
There were a few breaks, but honestly, I was glad.
Here's the post-workout video...
Is my hair cool or what? I'm all about keepin' it real...
I'll post an indepth review of this workout later. But, here's a shot of what I looked like at the end of it during one of last week's workouts:
Today's workout was "Strength".
I gotta tell you.... I woke up this morning in PAIN. OUCH! My traps and shoulders were ridiculously sore. My hip flexors were sore. I didn't really feel like doing the workout...
But I did.
About 2 minutes into the warmup, the very loud thunderstorm woke up my 3 year old. It took a little negotiating to get him to watch TV in bed so I could work out some more.
Then the baby woke up.
There were a few breaks, but honestly, I was glad.
Here's the post-workout video...
Is my hair cool or what? I'm all about keepin' it real...
I'll post an indepth review of this workout later. But, here's a shot of what I looked like at the end of it during one of last week's workouts:
Insanity, The Asylum: Speed and Agility
Holy moly.
Day 1 of Insanity: The Asylum. The workout is called "Speed and Agility". It uses the Agility Ladder and the Speed Rope (both come with the program, seen here:)
So, this workout taught me that I am neither Speedy nor Agile. I mean, really.
I watched the video ahead of time, and it looked kind of fun. It looks like you're just kind of playing with the ladder. Like a kid at recess.
Actually doing the workout? A different story.
1. I needed more room around the ladder. I kept having to move it. (I placed it on my yoga mat). You basically need space all around it.
2. I felt like I was hardly doing anything compared to the folks on the video.
3. I felt incredibly uncoordinated the whole time, and kept tripping over the ladder.
So here's a general breakdown of the workout:
Total workout time: 45 minutes
Warm Up
- Jump Rope Drills: Luckily, a couple of the cast members show it without a rope. There was no way I could do it (first sign there is colossal room for improvement). High knees, criss cross, etc.
- Agility Heisman: Using the Agility Ladder going side to side (this is hard to explain).
Repeat that, with a few variations. For 10 minutes.
Stretch (very short).
Drills that never end:
(I'm just going to list some of the big ones here. I lost track after while, and starting to forget there was life outside of this workout about 25 minutes in...)
Mountain climber progressions: You are in plank over the ladder, then you jump both feet in together to the first rung of the ladder. 20 seconds into it you can move up to doing it into the 2nd rung, then 20 more seconds, the 3rd rung. Right... (Compared to the cast I was doing this in slow motion).
Bear Crawl: All fours, crawl to the top of the ladder, then jump both feet into the square- all the way back then put the hands in the square (a variation of that move involves doing V-shoulder pushups and Tricep pushups in place of the hands in the square).(Oh my).
Shoulder Tap Plank Side to Side (This may not be the right name..): This is one of those moves that looks really cool and fun when you're watching the video, but in reality, it makes you kind of want to cry a little.
Squat thing: (This is terrible how I can't remember the names...): You jump with your feet outside of the ladder, then squat down and tap, then move to the next rung. I really liked this one, despite the fact that I couldn't remember the name.
I had to take a few breaks. My daughter kept throwing her bottle down, and every time I was so happy to have an excuse to stop so I could pick it up for her.
Oh, and at the end, Shaun suggests starting over and doing the whole thing again. I can't even express how hilarious and unlikely that is... if I ever *do* get to the point where I can do that, I will be a superhero and expect everyone to bow in my presence...
Shaun T.: WTF?
Shaun T. gets a little mean in this workout. I've never seen him like this.
"I don't want to see you standing around! Move!"
"Come on, you can move faster than that!"
" I bet you couldn't get away with moving that slow when you were in the army!"
"It only counts if you're tired!"
He lightens up a little later and does say you can take breaks and work at your own level... but for a while there, I was saying some nasty things back to him.
Overall, I've got TONS of room to grow with this workout, and that's a good thing, right?
This picture kind of says it all:
Day 1 of Insanity: The Asylum. The workout is called "Speed and Agility". It uses the Agility Ladder and the Speed Rope (both come with the program, seen here:)
You can also see the Agility ladder here:
![]() |
| My daughter is doing some agility drills. |
I watched the video ahead of time, and it looked kind of fun. It looks like you're just kind of playing with the ladder. Like a kid at recess.
Actually doing the workout? A different story.
1. I needed more room around the ladder. I kept having to move it. (I placed it on my yoga mat). You basically need space all around it.
2. I felt like I was hardly doing anything compared to the folks on the video.
3. I felt incredibly uncoordinated the whole time, and kept tripping over the ladder.
So here's a general breakdown of the workout:
Total workout time: 45 minutes
Warm Up
- Jump Rope Drills: Luckily, a couple of the cast members show it without a rope. There was no way I could do it (first sign there is colossal room for improvement). High knees, criss cross, etc.
- Agility Heisman: Using the Agility Ladder going side to side (this is hard to explain).
Repeat that, with a few variations. For 10 minutes.
Stretch (very short).
Drills that never end:
(I'm just going to list some of the big ones here. I lost track after while, and starting to forget there was life outside of this workout about 25 minutes in...)
Mountain climber progressions: You are in plank over the ladder, then you jump both feet in together to the first rung of the ladder. 20 seconds into it you can move up to doing it into the 2nd rung, then 20 more seconds, the 3rd rung. Right... (Compared to the cast I was doing this in slow motion).
Bear Crawl: All fours, crawl to the top of the ladder, then jump both feet into the square- all the way back then put the hands in the square (a variation of that move involves doing V-shoulder pushups and Tricep pushups in place of the hands in the square).(Oh my).
Shoulder Tap Plank Side to Side (This may not be the right name..): This is one of those moves that looks really cool and fun when you're watching the video, but in reality, it makes you kind of want to cry a little.
Squat thing: (This is terrible how I can't remember the names...): You jump with your feet outside of the ladder, then squat down and tap, then move to the next rung. I really liked this one, despite the fact that I couldn't remember the name.
I had to take a few breaks. My daughter kept throwing her bottle down, and every time I was so happy to have an excuse to stop so I could pick it up for her.
Oh, and at the end, Shaun suggests starting over and doing the whole thing again. I can't even express how hilarious and unlikely that is... if I ever *do* get to the point where I can do that, I will be a superhero and expect everyone to bow in my presence...
Shaun T.: WTF?
Shaun T. gets a little mean in this workout. I've never seen him like this.
"I don't want to see you standing around! Move!"
"Come on, you can move faster than that!"
" I bet you couldn't get away with moving that slow when you were in the army!"
"It only counts if you're tired!"
He lightens up a little later and does say you can take breaks and work at your own level... but for a while there, I was saying some nasty things back to him.
Overall, I've got TONS of room to grow with this workout, and that's a good thing, right?
This picture kind of says it all:
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