Day 19 - No Injury

Well, this time I made it through Day 19 without an injury during the "Cardio Power & Resistance" session. When I finish the "Plyometric Cardio Circuit" tomorrow, I will be 1/3 of the way through the Insanity Challenge.

- - - Notes from Day 19 - - -

• I need to start the workout before 10:30 pm. It will take forever to cool off enough for sleep.
• There is a whole lot of jumping on this particular DVD.
• Kristy claims that I made a funny noise. It must have been my thoughts because I couldn't have said anything -- I didn't have enough breathe.
• I am starting to think that if you aren't REALLY sweating and hurting a little, then you probably aren't doing enough to lose weight.
• I also think that doing ANY workout for 55 out of 63 days will cause you to be in much better shape, but Insanity is good for those who have an athletic/competitive background.

Day 18 - Curing Soreness

Day 18 of the Insanity Challenge is a "Cardio Recovery" session. After the Pure Cardio and ab work yesterday, I had a lot of delayed onset muscle soreness. The session tonight got my blood pumping enough to make me feel a little better. Tomorrow is a "Cardio Power & Resistance" session. I am hoping to be fully recovered from my soreness.

- - - Notes on Day 18 - - -

• I don't find myself flat on the floor begging for mercy at the end of the Cardio Recovery. I was definitely there last night.
• Based on the sessions, it is clear that my overall muscle strength level has not declined near as much as the cardio health over the years. I was more consistent with strength work compared to any other type of exercise.

~ ~ ~

On a funny note, the first email in the hopper this morning was that I had a "Message on Facebook that was urgent." It turns out that the urgent message was about the logos and color schemes of the hats of the Hendrix Warrior baseball team from 1993-1996. I guess the definition of urgent varies from North Carolina to Arkansas - right, Jaybird?

Day 17 - Pure Hatred, Uhh, I Mean Cardio

Day 17 of the Insanity Challenge is the day that I felt the initial tweak in my calf 2 weeks ago. It has come and gone again with nothing happening this time. So, I don't think I can blame the DVD anymore.

- - - Notes on Day 17 - - -

• I still want to punch Shaun T every time he says, "I am not trying to hurt you, just trying to make you better."
• If you ever hear me say, "I think I am going to relax and do a Pure Cardio session," then I have either lost my mind or started doing some sort of illicit drugs (or both).
• I think Josh has a point when he commented that "Stupidity" might be a better name for the workout series, but it probably wouldn't sell as many copies.
• I always look forward to the "Cardio Recovery" session that is coming up tomorrow.

Have a good evening!

Day 16 - Toil & Plyometric Trouble

After yesterday's reset, I was feeling pretty good about my chances of cranking right back into the Insanity challenge without skipping a beat. It turns out that it was a false hope. While my cardio fitness stayed with me to a reasonable degree, the stamina that I thought I was gaining in Monterey faded quite a bit.

Day 16 of the challenge is a"Plyometric Cardio Circuit" session. After getting both girls in bed at a respectable parenting hour, I started up the DVD. Midway through the warm-up, I was again hoping that a IXII phone call would not be necessary (sorry, I couldn't help throwing in that Roman numeral pun that I heard last weekend on the drive to Hot Springs). My fitness level is greatly improved from Day 1, but I am still only able complete about 3.5 of the 6 circuits with any real gusto. That leaves a lot of room for improvement over the last 75% of the challenge.

[Once again, I can say...] Now that Day 16 is complete, I am officially over 25% through the 60 (63) day Insanity Challenge. Tomorrow is a "Pure Cardio" plus "Cardio Abs" day. It is my least favorite day as I have mentioned on other occasions. Which leads me to wonder, "does it get worse during a Max Cardio session?" I guess I can answer that in about 3 weeks.

Day 15 - Time Machine Test

If you are playing along with my Insanity challenge, you already know that I had to take a week (really 9 days) off to recover from a pretty substantial calf injury. As of Saturday, I was walking around with no pain and felt pretty much back to normal. In order to keep the integrity of the challenge, I decided to rewind back a week to account for the week away. It also works out that I start with a test to see where I fell back during the siesta. So, I am going to pretend that the last 2 weeks didn't exist from the challenge standpoint (except that you will see the "real" day 15 results in parentheses below).

Day 15 of the Insanity challenge is a "Fit Test" session to determine if you have made any progress in the last 2 weeks. Here are the results from today's Fit Test workout along with the results from Day 1 (and real Day 15) for comparison:

Exercise	Day 1 Reps	Day 15 Reps
Switch Kicks	35	38 (38)
Power Jacks	26	45 (40)
Power Knees	53	75 (73)
Power Jumps	22	27 (25)
Globe Jumps	6	7 (8)
Suicide Jumps	8	13 (13)
Push-Up Jacks	11	18 (17)
Low Plank Oblique	22	32 (30)

So, based on these results, the rewind plan looks legit. Once again, the numbers in the table give me some sense of accomplishment and fortifies my resolve to keep going. Tomorrow (Day 16) is a "Plyometric Cardio Circuit" session.

Injury Update - Rewind Plan

A few days ago I mentioned that I had a possible overuse injury in my right calf. As it turns out, it is a real injury instead of a possible injury. The treatment plan for this type of injury is basically rest from whatever caused the insult. If you been following along, you know that the Insanity Challenge has caused the insult. Actually, it is likely the 10 years of mostly inactivity, but who is really counting this stuff? (10 years of sloth versus 3 weeks of high intensity exercise -- it must be the 3 weeks, right?)

So, my tentative plan is to rest from Insanity for this week (it would have been Week #4 of the challenge) and rewind back to the start of Week #3. I am going to try stretching the calf muscle, walking quite a bit, and maybe some time on the stationary bike to maintain my cardio fitness level. I am hoping that this doesn't disqualify me from the free T-shirt.

This plan lets me redo the Fit Test to see the damage done by the week of rest and get back into the swing of things from where I left off. I was very happy that I was able to maintain my workout on the road. That has always been a real challenge for me. I would have continued on Saturday if I didn't have that weird swelling in my lower leg. Also, the pain in that calf muscle makes it quite clear that any more Insanity would be a bad idea right now. I would rather take a short break than to tear the muscle and force a really long break. Sometimes the no pain, no gain cliche is just wrong -- This is one of those times.

Day 19 - Injured

Well, stretching and ibuprofen did the job to get me to the workout, but the butt kicks during the workout reinforced that I did have a problem with my right calf. I slogged my way through the Day 19 - Cardio Power & Resistance session, but I ended up limping around at the conference committee close-out dinner. I have made so much progress since that first week that I am reluctant to stop, but I am worried that if I continue that the calf muscle will tear. (Is that a compound sentence or a run-on?)

There was plenty of sweat during the session, but I am managing my heart rate and effort pretty well. Tomorrow is a long travel day (Monterey -> LAX -> DFW -> XNA -> Fayetteville), but I am scheduled for a Plyometric Cardio Circuit session. Depending on the state of my calf, I may swap the Sunday OFF for this workout.  Have a great weekend!

Day 18 - Ibuprofen & Cardio Recovery

Today, I skipped hanging out with all the scientists and engineers to take my box lunch in my room AFTER I did the "Cardio Recovery" session of Insanity series during the lunch break. My calf muscle is still a little sore, but the gentle stretching, ibuprofen, and recovery exercises helped out a great deal. I am hoping to be at least at 95% for my "Cardio Power & Resistance" session on Day 19.

I have been thinking about doing a study of the total weight differential between the beginning and end of a conference. I am certain that the weight gain on snacks and meals is astronomical. I have more trouble on conference weeks than over the holidays.

The reason I participate on conference committees was reinforced tonight when I spent quite a bit of time talking with Mark Derzon (from Sandia). We talked about lots of things that will likely make my career at Sandia National Labs even more productive than it has been the last 10 years. He also offered to either mentor me (or find someone to mentor me) in writing proposals for the Laboratory-Directed Research & Development program.

Anyway, I have stayed with my Insanity challenge while on the road while making the right connections and getting my committee responsibilities completed -- that's a pretty good week. I am really missing my girls, and I am ready to be home. I get to jet out of here Saturday at 6 am.

Day 17 - Overuse Injury?

I continued my Insanity Challenge road trip with a "Pure Cardio" plus "Cardio Abs" session on this Day 17 morning. As I finished the Pure Cardio segment, I felt a tweak in my right calf muscle. I know it is not torn  because I can still walk without pain, but it seemed to be something between a cramp and a strain. I was able to finish that section and cool down.

The warm-up for Cardio Abs has some pretty decent jump sets in it. The calf muscle refused to play along with that game, but I did the rest of the ab workout. The muscle problem has me a little worried about it being an overuse injury. I am hoping that the full day between the next workout plus the fact that it is a "Cardio Recovery" session tomorrow will give me the opportunity to rest the calf muscle. I will also try to find some milk to get extra calcium in case it is a cramp.

The good thing about this issue is that I am complaining about it rather than the hellish workout that it is Pure Cardio. "I am not trying to hurt you, just trying to make you better" - Shaun T. Every time I hear him say that on the video, I want to punch him. I am just glad that I don't see that workout again until next week.

Day 16 - Plyometric Road Game

I decided to switch back to morning workouts for Week #3 of the Insanity Challenge because the HEART Conference has evening events all during the week (Monday - Registration/Reception, Tuesday - Conference Social, Wednesday - Industrial Exhibits, and Thursday - Open Meeting). That means finding the time and energy to workout afterwards would be difficult.

In any case, after a 5:00 am wake-up call and a Day 16 "Plyometric Cardio Circuit" session, I am now dripping sweat all over the desk area of my room. Yesterday's Fit Test results gave me motivation to continue, but the phone ringing at the time in the morning really makes me want to just go back to sleep. I am completing more and more of the workouts (fewer unplanned breaks), but I feel I am held back a little because of the hotel location. I have lost my home field advantage. I am not completely sure that I am not disturbing my neighbors. They didn't bang on the wall, but I don't know how far those rumbling landings of the jumps carry.

Now that Day 16 is complete, I am officially over 25% through the 60 (63) day Insanity Challenge. Tomorrow is a "Pure Cardio" plus "Cardio Abs" day. It is my least favorite day as I have mentioned on other occasions. I have about an hour to get ready for the conference. I hope that is enough time to shut down the crazy HEAT PUMP of my body. There is nothing more fun than sweating through a nice suit with 350 of your colleagues looking on.

Day 15 - Retest

Day 15 of the Insanity challenge is a "Fit Test" session to determine if you have made any progress in the last 2 weeks. Before getting to the results, let's just say "WOW!" I knew that I was changing my fitness level, but I didn't really understand the difference. On Saturday night before my OFF day, I did a weekly weigh - 189 lbs. That weight means that I am down 4 lbs from the start, AND I am certain that it is an actual loss of at least a couple of lbs rather than the 1-2 lbs variation that I usually see.

Here are the results from today's Fit Test workout along with the results from Day 1 for comparison:

Exercise	Day 1 Reps	Day 15 Reps
Switch Kicks	35	38
Power Jacks	26	40
Power Knees	53	73
Power Jumps	22	25
Globe Jumps	6	8
Suicide Jumps	8	13
Push-Up Jacks	11	17
Low Plank Oblique	22	30

Since I did this workout on the 2nd floor of a building of the Hyatt Regency Monterey, I was hesitant to go all out on the Power Jumps and Globe Jumps. After the workout, I toured the hotel below and found that the rooms below me are storage and utility rooms. So, I will not worry about disturbing anyone below me during the rest of the week.

As I mentioned on Day 1, the Switch Kick number was an estimate. I am pretty sure that I over-estimated by quite a few because I know that I did much better today. The numbers in the table give me some sense of accomplishment and fortifies my resolve to keep going. Tomorrow (Day 16) is a "Plyometric Cardio Circuit" session.

Day 13 - Pure Cardio With a Side Of Stomach Pain

I just completed Day 13 of the Insanity Challenge. It was my least favorite session, "Pure Cardio," with the "Cardio Abs" done after that. I don't think that I got as much out of the abs routines as I would have without the initial session. At the end of that session, I was again flat out on the floor wiped out.

I got a text from my college friend and current pastor at the Grove Church (cloften) earlier this evening, "Sometimes as a fitness professional I wonder why I do the things that I do." That is a Shaun T quote from the "Pure Cardio" disc. The next text told me that he had burned 1050 calories during a session similar to mine. If my caloric output was similar, I can have that ChocoTaco that's waiting in the freezer for me.

Now that I finished that workout and since tomorrow is OFF, I am 2/9 or 22.22222...% of the way through the challenge. I won't post tomorrow because of travel, but Monday is a repeat of Day #1. I will see if I have improved since 2 weeks ago.  

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Today, we celebrated my little Cupcake's 1st birthday with a party. She demolished her individual cupcake. I think she is going to have a sweet tooth like her big sister. The party was more for Sophie than Eliza. EK really liked both of the toys that she got to open. On the other hand, Kristy and I were ready to hit the sauce pretty hard after the kids went home. I think that they were probably more exhausting than that workout.

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We lose an hour tonight. I HATE switching back and forth from daylight savings time. We should just pick one (I don't care which), and then freaking leave it alone.

Day 12 - CPR

Well, that workout really sucked. Day 12 of the Insanity challenge is a "Cardio Power & Resistance (CPR)" session. I have described this workout before (here), but today it seemed like my body just didn't respond when I asked it to go. Instead, I kept thinking, "I hope Kristy remembers her CPR training because she's going to need it in about 20 seconds." I made through another day and I am ready for this week to end.

Tomorrow is the final workout of Week #2 - "Pure Cardio" with the addition of "Cardio Abs" for the first time. Sunday is a rest day which is great because I will be on the road to Monterey, California for the Hardened Electronic And Radiation Technology (HEART) Conference. It will be a real challenge to push myself to stay with the Insanity program while in a hotel. At conferences, there is always someone that wants to go to lunch or dinner, and the meals go on and on and on. It is difficult to break away from all the socialization (that should get a chuckle from those that really know me) to go sweat and beg for the workout to end.

Have a great weekend!

Day 11 - Recovery?

Day 11 of the Insanity challenge is a "Cardio Recovery" session. This is only the 2nd of these sessions, but I can honestly tell you that it is a very nice change of pace. There are some strength and balance exercises in this session, but it seems more like a work out the sore places kind of stretch day. I think it is probably included so that the "OFF" word doesn't show up too many times on the 60-day calendar. It is geared to getting you in the habit of a daily workout regardless of how intense the workout is.

I don't know if I have recovered because my left knee feels pretty sore most of the day. My body feels alright for the stress I have been putting it through. I was expecting a lot more delayed onset muscle soreness than I have experienced so far. I will probably regret putting that in writing in a couple of weeks.

Tomorrow is going to be a busy day - I have work. Eliza and I are going to a baseball game. Sophie has a "50's themed elementary school dance, and Day 12 of the Insanity challenge is another "Cardio Power & Resistance" session.

Day 10 - What Is That Last Exercise?

I just finished Day 10 of Insanity which is a "Plyometric Cardio Circuit" session. By finished, I mean that I was lying on the floor in the fetal position asking, "What drill are we doing now." Now that Day 10 is over, I am just over 15% through the 9 week Insanity Challenge. Looking at the "60-Day Workout Calendar" (which actually has 63 days on it), I see that there are workouts scheduled for all but 8 days. I guess even Shaun T believes in a Sabbath rest.

Here is the key feature of today's workout. Kristy entered the room at the end of the warm-up, saw that I was dripping with sweat, and assumed the workout was almost over. That's when I got to tell her that the warm-up was just ending. She looked mortified or scared for me or something and left the room.

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In other news, today was Eliza Kate's 1st birthday. It is hard to believe that it has been a year. Kristy is the real writer in the family, and she tells little Cupcake's story very well on her blog today (Tales from the Krit). Happy Birthday, EK!

Day 9 - Why Am I Doing This Again?

Alright. Day 9 of Insanity is in the books. Thankfully, I will have 3 other workouts before I see the "Pure Cardio" workout again. It's not that the other workouts are a walk in the park. I just prefer them to this pure unending cardio hell. I found myself asking the question, "Why? Why? Why am I doing this again?"  The answer is basically that I paid for this @!%#!

I have this significant problem. The problem that I have is that the Insanity workout series wasn't cheap, but I am. After shelling out the dough to get the workouts, I feel pretty much obligated to make my way through them. So, I guess I keep going and find out if the T-shirt is waiting for me at the end of this mess. A free t-shirt would add to my invested value (I told you that I was cheap).

Eventually, if I ever get to the point where the warm-up doesn't seem like a full blown workout, I will see a benefit to this. Rumor has it that the first 3 weeks are really just laying a cardio and strength foundation to build upon. I guess if I make it through those weeks, then we will see. Tomorrow, Day 10, is a "Plyometric Cardio Circuit" session.

Day 7 and Day 8 Summaries - A Twofer

Day 7

• Jerry: "So, has the summer of George begun? Or are you still decomposing?
• George: "Decompressing!"

Day 7 in the Insanity workout motivation/goal poster says "OFF." I looked at that and decided that I could do that routine pretty well. Actually, I am a professional at OFF when it comes to working out. That's kind of the reason that I am suffering so much. I have been so good at OFF that my body almost forgot that there was an ON.

Anyway, I took Soph to the Grove Church in the morning. It was pretty much standing room only at the 10 o'clock service. We probably should look into the 8:30 service. All in all, it was a restful day except for the runaway kite episode. Let's just summarize by saying that I met a neighbor by asking him if I could climb up on his roof. That is probably not the best way to meet people in the neighborhood.

The Sunday night weigh-in resulted in a 192 on the electronic scale. That means that I haven't really lost anything yet. I am going to try not to be discouraged by that after working my tail off last week. I decided to let Eliza determine whether I would work out morning or evening. She woke up for feeding at a time that meant I was going to postpone the workout until Monday evening.

Day 8

Day 8 of Insanity takes us to the "Cardio Power & Resistance" routine again. I am handling the workload a little better, but my feet feel as if I am wearing cement sneakers. When I was playing basketball, we would call this "dead legs." It happens when your body isn't getting enough time to recover between workouts or games. I am pushing through in the hopes that I will eventually get to the point of normalcy with my knees and ankles.

I started the workout at 6 pm which was a mistake. I will wait until the kiddos are in bed from now on. Sophie is going to struggle as a coach until she can encourage someone to keep going. Instead, I got this from her, "Dad, it looks like you are struggling. Why don't you just quit?" The problem with her question is that I really wanted to quit, but I couldn't explain it to her why I kept going. That was our discussion during our nightly prayer and tuck-in time.

I am still on the Insanity train. Tomorrow, Shaun T is asking for the workout that haunts my dreams, "Pure Cardio." I will try not to think about until about 9 pm tomorrow.

Day 6 - The Remix

Well, I think I finally made it to a point where I can't find appropriate Seinfeld material for my Insanity workout. That is saying something. Day 6 of Insanity brings us back around to the first real workout, "Plyometric Cardio Circuit." The workout went about the same as Day 2. I made it farther into the warm-up before having to back off on the intensity.

During the last 2 circuits (lots of arms and core), I still found myself, to paraphrase my old friend Nick Callaway, -- Down on my knees, begging Mama for buttermilk. I never understood that expression, but I think it conveys how much I wanted the video to end. My arms and back are still twitching from the workout. I hope that ends before the day is over.

I know that these workouts have a lot of after-burn to them because 2 to 3 hours later I am still pumping out heat and sweating. I know that I burned all the glycogen out of my legs (and likely my arms too) during the workout, so the excess heat is probably related to replenishing those stores. I don't know enough about exercise physiology to really be sure though.

If I make it through the rest day tomorrow, then I will completed the first week. I may start doing the workouts in the evening for week 2. I am completely exhausted before we get the kiddos in bed because I have been getting up so early. It is almost like we have a new born again. My post tomorrow will probably just be a weigh-in. Have a good weekend!

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Postscript: The Insanity workout goes much smoother without having a 7-year-old heckling that this isn't so hard while jogging in place. I think I got plenty of Sophie's peanut gallery commentary.

"I am speechless. I am without speech" - Day 5

• Kramer: "Jerry, I'm fried!"
• Jerry: "Technically, you're sauteed"

I don't know whether the title or the conversation above is more accurate. Day 5 of Insanity is a "Pure Cardio" workout. It started innocently enough with a pretty standard warm-up and stretch. I can feel I am already in a little better condition because I only had to stop completely once during the warm-up. It is good that I stopped because my heart rate was about 165 bpm (90% max). In the last minute of the stretches, the heart rate was down in the low 130's, so that wasn't bad. During the last minute, Shaun T started talking about how "scared" he was about the workout coming up. I started thinking, "Well, that's not going to be good for anyone."

The main body of the workout consist of 15 drills performed for 1 minute each with no breaks built in to the video. The other videos have you going hard for 2-3 minutes, and then you get a break. Not so on this one, my friend.  Here is my workout summary:

• Suicide drills
• Ok, these remind of basketball defense drills.
• My heart rate climbed above 160 and stayed there for the next 15 minutes (even during the recoveries).
• Switch kicks
• This exercise is hard for me. It is the coordination of landing and kicking that makes it difficult. I guess we are working on becoming the next karate kid.
• Wide football sprints
• This is quick feet with a coach giving the direction to move followed by sprinting in place.
• I had my first stop to check my heart rate here -- 172 bpm (94% max).
• Stance jacks
• This is a cross between a squat and a jumping jack.
• I spent most of my time from here on out avoiding the heart rate red line because I am having to relearn my limits.  I am not 16, 26, or even 36 anymore.
• Pedal
• I don't even know how to describe this one.
• Hooks & jump rope
• We are training to be boxers in this exercise.
• I had to take about half this exercise off to recover.
• Power jacks
•  Shaun T said at this point, "It's ok to take a break and gets some water. Check your heart rate monitor."
• Level 2 drills
• A combination of push-ups, floor sprints, and vertical jumps
• "This is about the time Shaun T needs to take a break." - Shaun T speaking in the 3rd person.
• Frog jumps
• This is just what it sounds like.
• Power knees
• At this point, people on the video are falling off to take breaks.
• Shaun T has to remove his shirt.
• Mountain climbers
• This is high knees with an added twist.
• I was ready to flat out quit here, but I kept going.
• I ended up getting a little bit of a "2nd wind."
• Ski down
• This is jumping side-to-side while using arms for power.
• That 2nd wind was a mirage, and no 3rd wind ever showed up.
• Shaun T sends one of the guys off to the side to cool down because he knows he is about to pass out.
• Scissor runs
• This exercise is another tough coordination move for me.
• Shaun T calls this a "slight recovery" exercise.  I am going to call BS on this one.
• Suicide jumps
• These are a combination push-up, core work, and vertical jump.
• Everyone on the video including Shaun T is about to pass out. They were most definitively as deeply fried as I was at this point.
• Push-up jacks
• You are trying to do a push-up while hopping off the feet to do a jumping jack at the same time.
• I spent most of my time lying on the floor begging for the workout to be over.

It finally ended with my heart rate at 174 bpm (~95% max). We got a 1 minute water break before a long cool down. My heart rate was around 140 bpm (70% max) when the cool down ended. It took 40 minutes after the workout to get it under 100 bpm.

I am happy about 3 things right now: (1) That I didn't do this workout yesterday (I would have quit the whole thing - no joke); (2) Today's workout is over; and (3) Only 1 more workout day in this first week of Insanity. Tomorrow, we do the first repeat of a video. The "Plyometric Cardio Circuit" from Day 2 returns, and after what I just went through, I think I prefer it to today's workout. Imagine that -- preferring a workout that I HATED 3 days ago.

"I Feel Reborn. I'm Like a Phoenix Rising from Arizona" - Day 4

• Frank Costanza: "I have been performing feats of strength all morning."

The Day 4 routine (Cardio Recovery) of Insanity is not a break but it almost feels like one as you are really working on core strength and overall flexibility rather than hammering your cardiovascular system. The video is the shortest one so far -- just 33 minutes. Most of the video is stretching and the heart rate never really climbs. I did break a little sweat from the core work, but nothing like the pools dripping under me from the last 3 days.

This recovery session comes at a good time because I am afraid another dose of high intensity cardio and power would cause most people (including me) to quit before the first week was over. I really needed the stretching to make those tight and sore muscles loosen up without generating any more lactic acid.

The stretches really do require a lot of balance to keep from falling. I had to try getting into the proper positions several times as I lost my balance. Last night as I previewed the session, Kristy told me that she wanted to watch me do the "Plie Yoga Stretch." I promise you that it wasn't pretty, but I can take it if she can. By the way, she wasn't watching me at 5:45, so I think that was a bluff.

Anyway, I feel ready to go again tomorrow with "Pure Cardio." It seems that recovery is going to be short and sweet.