Yoga is HARD!

Oh how I used to think yoga was something that only stay-at-home moms did after they got their kids on the bus and headed over to the gym to "work out".  I imagined them joining up with their friends at the local YMCA, having their morning coffee and then sauntering into the yoga studio to do some stretching and meditating, maybe throwing in some breathing exercises as well for good measure.  Of course they would finished it all up by walking gracefully from the studio feeling refreshed and proceed to head off to sit in the steam room before showering up and getting home before the kids got off the school bus.

Well, last night was my first foray into the world of yoga, courtesy of Tony Horton and P90X.  I should start out by saying that before I did the yoga work out, I put in a solid 45 minutes on my trainer.  I wasn't about to go out and run in the torrential down pour.  So, after my ride, I threw in disc #5 of P90X and got down with yoga, assuming that it would be a nice recovery from my ride.  I was wrong.

Yeah the first five minutes or so were very mellow and I was considering just packing it in because there was no challenge.  Slowly the moves started to increase in difficulty and quickly I began to feel the strain that it was putting on my muscles.  Truth be told, I only made it through about a half hour of poses before I called a night.  I couldn't do anymore, I was dripping with sweat, my arms were shaking (thre remnants of Tuesday's Chest & Back work out and the yoga), and my legs were screaming (Wednesday soccer + 45 min ride + yoga = PAIN). The poses all sounded nice, but there were a bitch: Plank, upward facing dog, downward dog, Warrior (then Warrior II and Reverse Warrior), triangle, chair, all caused me to strain every muscle in my body.  I was wrong, everything I though about yoga was wrong. 

I sit here typing knowing that I have a long way to go before I get into superiour shape.  Last night was very humbling and I like that this whole P90X thing is difficult.  I can see why so many people get discourage by how difficult it is and pack it in.  Honestly, by just looking at the website, seeing the infomercials, and watching Tony Horton do the exercises, you would have to assume that it can't be all that hard.  Well, let me tell you that I have done a total of one and a third DVDs and it is a killer.  I am going to stick it out and finish this damn program.  I am also going to do my best to stick to my half marathon training schedule as well.  I am in for a long three months, but in the end it should all be worth it.

So in sumation:

• Yoga is very HARD
• P90X is very HARD
• If I finish the program, I will be in amazing shape

Peace out!