Round 3: Day 119 - That'll Do, Pig.

I'm bringing Round 3: With A Vengeance to a close, a couple of days before scheduled. This round has been tough. It was a little aimless, undisciplined, and mentally draining. If I don't do the workouts in the morning, which I don't, I really struggle to do a workout in the evenings. The last two weeks have been especially tough for some reason. I am feeling aimless myself, not able to find enjoyment in anything. Interest in my job is way down. I'm at a loss with what to do about William, who is getting more and more caught up in his own world and losing touch with people. Joseph is endlessly sick, coughing and crying. My wife has become a person I have lived with for a really long time, and not much more. I dread weekends, and on weekdays my day is repeated over and over again, to the smallest detail. I am in the best shape of my life, but my enthusiasm for life has gone.
So this slump on the endless roller coaster of culture shock, sleep deprivation, a boring job, no sex ever, living in the stalest society in the world, the relentlessly brutal weather, whatever the cause of this particular bleh period is, something has to change. If I can change it before my subconscious butts in and does something silly that would be great. And if I can change it without losing my wife or my children, that would be fantastic.
Having said that, the next round starts on Moday. Round 4: No Retreat, No Surrender. I have split the P90X workouts in half. No routine is over 40 minutes long. I'm going to bring it, just not as long. And I'm throwing in a Crossfit Workout Of The Day once a week, just to mix shit up, 'cause I is crazy like dat. The Crossfit WODs that I can do are limited because I don't have a barbell or rings, but I think that this is the way I want to go next year. Crossfit looks wicked, and is definitely the future. Oh yea, and there's a P90X sequel in the works, called P90X: MC2. MC stands for "muscle confusion", though the title is a play on Einstein's formula for energy. That'll come out next year. No shortage of stuff to do, but at the moment, with Summer here, and my motivation in critical condition, just getting in the room and doing the thing is the main objective. Knowing that I'll be done in less time that a normal episode of TV is a huge bonus.
So, just to do something positive, as round 3 draws to a close, I thought I would run through my own personal highlights of P90X, little moments that make me chuckle or give me a little motivation every time I see them.
1. Chest & Back
"Too many people, when they exercise, stop way before they should," says Tony. Every time I hear that I know he's talking about me. This workout isn't the same anymore since I saw the girl Marin in this video in a hard-core porn clip.
2. Plyometrics
"Jesus. I mean Jeepers."
3. Shoulder & Arms
Nothing about this workout is memorable. It's a solid workout though.
4. Yoga X
I don't do this workout, I do Fountain of Youth Yoga from the One on One series. Whenever Tony says "I love it here in Santa Monica California", I wish that I lived in Santa Monica California.
5. Legs & Back.
A lot of memorable moments in this one.
The controversial "off the charts, like chicklets" moment, when it is clear that the video has been edited to fit that comment in, solely because someone thought it was worth putting in. I don't even know what chicklets are.
Dreya doing chair pose and groucho walk. Is there something wrong with her ass?
Sophia letting go of the bands to fist bump Tony, letting the handles hit him in the face.
6. Kenpo X
I haven't done this for ages, but just watching whatshisname the Kenpo guy dogging it the whole workout is awesome.
7. X Stretch
Just Phil trying to do neck rolls. His neck isn't very flexible.
8. Core Synergistics
Adam saying he did 18 Prison Cell Pushups. Giving him the benefit of the doubt because he's not on the screen the whole time, the absolute most he did was 14. Why lie about that?
9. Chest, Shoulders and Triceps
"La Machina! That's Spanish."
10. Back & Biceps
The Arnold scream at the 38:10 mark.
11. Cardio X
Haven't done this one much recently. Can't remember much about it.
12. Ab Ripper X
Nothing funny about this.
This year's British Open was the most. Boring. Tournament. Ever. I didn't bother staying up to watch the last round because it was clear that nothing was going to happen. And nothing did. Some guy from South Africa won it. I've never heard of him, and now he's the British Open champion. It was just like the US Open when whatshisface won it. Golf is in all sorts of trouble. That's what happens when you put all your eggs in one basket, and those eggs turn out to be the rottenest eggs ever laid.
Speaking of Tiger, another embarrassing performance. Playing well, putting bad, ho hum, swearing, throwing clubs around. Don't take it out on golf, Tiger. It's the only thing you've got left.
My highlight of the week? This question Tiger was asked before the tournament. "Tom Watson has said you need to clean up your image on the golf course. Many of us have heard you use the 'F' word, we've seen you spit, we've seen you throw tantrums like chucking your clubs. Are you willing to cut out all those tantrums and respect the home of golf?" Brilliant. Didn't matter what the answer was. It was "I'm trying to become a better player and a better person" BTW. His fall back line this week. And he couldn't cut it out, apparently.
The best golfer when I started playing golf was Seve Ballesteros. What a story. Grew up hitting stones with sticks on the beach near his house in Spain, a physical genius. He dominated golf for ten years, 79 - 89, culminating in one of the best British Opens ever in '88, which my mum wouldn't let me stay up and watch, and which I wouldn't see until three years later when I finally got my hands on the video that was going around the golf club. I remember rushing home to watch it. He has been struggling with brain tumours for a few years now, and has had many operations. He's really frail, and a bit different now, very emotional. They wanted him to come to St. Andrews this year to celebrate 150 years of the Open, but he couldn't. They did a really nice interview at his house though, and he kind of chokes up about his life and his destiny. He was an awesome golfer, scarily talented, famous for his touch around the greens and his freakish shots out of trouble. Man I wish there was someone like him playing now.
Apparently rainy season ended on Saturday. Something about saying a season finishes on a particular day rubs me the wrong way, but it does seem to be true. A couple of weeks of nice warm weather, then BANG! Heat like you wouldn't believe. I hope to get my bike back from the shop soon so I can go for a ride or two.
I've started watching Dexter. The great shows keep on coming. Definately the golden age of American TV. Even though he's a textbook psychopath, I totally get this character, though I wonder how it'll go after a few more episodes. It's hard to feel for a character that doesn't feel, don't you think? If the writers are good enough they'll be able to do it, I think. I do love the way his foster father raised him, not trying to change him but more teaching him how to function. It's an interesting approach.
Anyway, I feel like this blog has served it's purpose. It has helped me stop smoking and kept me motivated to do exercise, and I'll probably post every know and then. I'll keep in touch with the friends I've made through it. I'll keep working out. But I need to work on other stuff now, which is probably obvious.