Entering Another Asylum

I've been saying I would do it when it got closer to the start of my indoor track meets and the first one is only about a week away. So this week I started Insanity: The Asylum Volume 2. Here are some initial impressions and advice.

On the very first disc is an Agility Tutorial which teaches you the steps that are used throughout the workouts with the Agility Ladder. These are more complicated than Volume 1 so I highly recommend going through that tutorial ahead of time. Maybe even a couple of times. Shaun T mentions in the Power Legs workout that when you have to think about what you are doing, you're not thinking about how tired you are. That's true. However I found myself having to stop and rewind a few times to figure out what I was supposed to be doing. I guess it does leave some room for improvement because you can't master the moves on the first time through.

The first workout is called X Trainer and it involves a lot of the Agility Ladder moves that you learn in the Agility Tutorial. It's pretty similar to Asylum Volume 1 workouts in that it's a lot of quick, total body training.

The next two days break up into upper body and lower body with Upper Elite and Power Legs. If you're a fan of push-ups you'll love Upper Elite. Both workouts also incorporate weights. Most of what you do is high reps and limited breaks so it's wise to pick a weight you can stick with even if it seems too light at the beginning.

This will be what I will use for my training to prepare for the first indoor track meet this weekend. My key focus will be on improving my endurance over these next few weeks. I would like to see if I can kick things off with a much lower 400 time than I started with last year. I guess goal #2 will be to do that without any injuries.

The quote for this week is something Shaun T says in almost all of the Asylum workouts - "The work doesn't start until you get tired."

Have a great Thanksgiving weekend.

All Will Be Well

There are times when life can get you down. You feel overwhelmed with everything going on and just plain beat up. I guess this is one of those times for me right now.

It probably happens to everyone and the best thing to do is find ways to cope. I find that having a focus for my training and finding things to do that I enjoy are important. There are some upcoming indoor track meets that I will take part in so now is the time to start preparing for those through my training and nutrition. I'll also be working in some new Asylum Volume 2 workouts.

Since tomorrow is Thanksgiving I should probably think of what I am thankful for. I am thankful for my health and my family's health most of all.

I'm also thankful that when I broke out my winter coat, there was $25 cash in the pocket from last year. Score.

Instead of just a quote this week, I thought I would put the lyrics to a song that I like to play to remind myself that everything will be alright. I've been playing it a lot this week. It's a song that I first heard from Tonic Sol Fa during their holiday concert. It's probably better known from the Gabe Dixon Band, although I prefer the Tonic Sol Fa version.

All Will Be Well 

The new day dawnsAnd I am practicing my purpose once againIt is fresh and it is fruitful if I winBut if I lose
Ooh, I don't knowI'll be tired but I will turn and I will goOnly guessing till I get there then I'll knowOh, I will know
And all the children walking home past the factoriesCan see the light that's shining in my window as I write this song to youAnd all the cars running fast along the interstateCan feel that love that radiates, illuminating what I know is true 

All will be wellEven after all the promises you've broken to yourselfAll will be wellYou can ask me how but only time will tell 

The winter's coldBut the snow still lightly settles on the treesAnd a mess is still a moment I can seizeUntil I know 

That all will be wellEven though sometimes this is hard to tellAnd the fight is just as frustrating as hellAll will be well 

And all the children walking home past the factoriesCan see the light that's shining in my window as I write this song to youAll the cars running fast along the interstateCan feel that love that radiates, illuminating what I know is true 

All will be wellEven after all the promises you've broken to yourselfAll will be wellYou can ask me how but only time will tell 

You got to keep it up and don't give upAnd chase your dreams and you will findAll in time 

That all will be wellEven after all the promises you've broken to yourselfAll will be wellYou can ask me how but only time will tell
All will be wellEven after all the promises you've broken to yourselfAll will be wellYou can ask me how but only time will tellYou can ask me how but only time will tell

Marion Jones - Press Pause

Recently, former NBA basketball player Chris Herren was in the area talking to kids at the local high schools about his struggles with drug addiction. I saw a story on his visit and the way that he interacted with the students and was very impressed with the way he has turned his life around. Now he uses his story to try to keep others from following the same path.

I decided to watch the 30 for 30 documentary that ESPN Films put together about his story called Unguarded. I started watching one evening and ended up finishing it on a Saturday morning. My kids were around and started watching it as well. It's always interesting to see things through a child's perspective. They had a lot of questions. The one that my son has been asking me for a while is, "Why would anyone even take drugs?"  It's not an easy question to answer, but I usually tell him that it is because there is something in the drug that the person wants to benefit from. I also explain that not all drugs are bad, but in the case of how they refer to drugs in school, most of those drugs illegal or "bad".

The other night my wife had to work late so it was just me and the kids. I asked if they wanted to watch another one of the documentaries about a girl who won a bunch of Olympic medals and had to give them back for cheating. They both said they wanted to watch it (which is a miracle for them to agree on something) so I found it on Netflix and we started to watch. 

I won't go into it too much, but Marion Jones: Press Pause is about the aftermath of Marion Jones admitting that she took steroids. She had to return her five Olympic medals and spend six months in prison for lying to federal investigators about her involvement with BALCO (Bay Area Lab Co-op) and a check fraud scam. The documentary was directed by John Singleton (Boys in the Hood) so I thought it would be pretty good. They didn't really go into too much detail about Jones' track career and the steroid use. It was mainly focused on her jailtime and how she was trying to get back to a normal life.

I don't think this documentary was really all that well done, but it did lead to some good discussion with the kids. It makes you ask the question about how far you would go to gain an edge if you don't think that anyone will find out. The message that I hope the kids got from it is that the the short-term gains are not worth the long-term consequences. Marion Jones won five Olympic medals, which probably felt great to her at the time. Now all of that is gone and her reputation is ruined. She will go down in history as a cheater, much the same as what Lance Armstrong is going through right now.

Integrity is not a conditional word. It doesn't blow in the wind or change with the weather. It is your inner image of yourself, and if you look in there and see a man who won't cheat, then you know he never will.  

       - John D. MacDonald