Day 36: MAX INTERVAL CIRCUIT

!!!!!

I went into this with few expectations, and it's a good thing. Remember, you are supposed to suck at this on the first day of month 2, otherwise there's nowhere to go. To back up, I've unfortunately had a bit of a digestive virus the last couple of days, and I went into this with a lot of pain my lower belly. I don't know how much it affected my level of lameness, but I'm sure it did. It hurts a little more now.

For the most part, I enjoyed the circuits, at least in theory. I found I did 2 for every 4 of theirs on things like the oblique pushups, the side suicide drills (careful! These have a lot of potential for injury, and so do the floor switch kicks [knee hyperextension]). I took extra rests, and had to modify the twisting high knees to low impact because I felt like I was going to injure my knees. And I STILL had to take a break during those.

In fact, I modified quite a bit. It's good that he points out repeatedly in this workout that you need to slow down and that you'll still work at your max if you do. It passed quicker than I expected, and I noticed on the counter when I passed the times for Pure Cardio, Cardio Power and Resistance, and Plyo Cardio Circuit. But I was just completely out of life. By the last circuit, my legs just would not cooperate. I added juice to my water bottle and it didn't help. I didn't feel like I was going to puke like I did on Day 3, but there were times I felt faint and had to stop for a breather before I started to "white out."

I pushed through but let me put it this way -- when I reached the stretch, I was so exhausted I literally did not have the strength to hold myself in the stretches. My legs and arms were shaking even trying to stretch my hamstrings. I'm shivering now, too. (?!) My knees feel OK -- I wore the wrap on my left knee -- although I know pain doesn't show up until later... not while the body is so warm and flowing with adrenaline.

Some observations:
1. The warmup is much harder, and the stretch is shorter. It's less than 5 minutes (to the 7+ in month 1).
2. In the first round of each circuit, you get 15 to 20 seconds of extra rest while he demonstrates the next move.
3. Only one of the circuits has the tacked-on "bonus" moves at the end of the third round.
4. This isn't nearly as high-impact as I expected, as it seemed like each circuit had one or two plyo moves and the rest were low impact or down on your hands. That sure didn't make it any easier, though.

I'm going to start out with 12 ounces of my recovery drink this morning and see how I feel. Right now, I can't even think about it -- the thought of eating or drinking makes me sick. I know that I'm likely to be exhausted today no matter what I drink, though, until my body adjusts. And I have to teach class tonight! Do you think they'll notice if I teach from a chair?