I love a little sarcasm, especially in my novels. So today my featured blogger is Bane of Anubis. Not only is he sarcastic, but he shares his name with the Egyptian god of the dead so he’s a rockstar. And the other day he posted about P90X which was Twilight Zone-ish because I’ve been thinking of this post since Thanksgiving.
You see, my husband and I are both a tad competitive. He had mentioned this killer workout series called P90X and then one of our friends mentioned how hard it was and how it incorporated a lot of yoga. After struggling to find a sport I don’t suck at, I finally discovered yoga in high school and I’ve been doing it for almost 12 years now. I’m a yoga superstar. (Not very Zen of me to brag, but whatever.) I’ve had my nose broken by a soccer ball, but I can hold Firefly until the cows come home.
So the night before Thanksgiving my husband mentions that he’s been doing this P90X ab workout and it’s a killer. Yada, yada, yada. Then he says it’s only 15 minutes. So I say I bet I could do it. He scoffs.
Dude, I gave birth to our daughter naturally, no drugs. I can handle 15 minutes of pain. I tell him so and he just shakes his head with that obnoxious little smile that says, “I don’t think so.” So I make a bet with him that if I could do every single rep I could buy whatever I wanted on Black Friday.
Did I do every rep? Darn straight! So I bought myself a couple artsy shirts and a piece of stained glass from this nifty boutique I found on Black Friday, sans guilt.
I have one of those personalities where if someone tells me I can’t do something I’m going to do everything in my power to prove them wrong, no matter how much it kills me. What? You say publishing is hard and trying to get my book printed is going to crush my soul? Bring it on, baby!
What about you? Do you rise to the occasion when challenged?
It depends. Like in your case, stakes help. I I remember doing 6000 m erg tests and quitting halfway through b/c I knew I couldn't maintain my ideal (whereas, were it a real race, I would have gone "balls to the wall")
I'm quite impressed by your ab ripper prowess. I just finished legs and back (week 11) — and after about week 5, decided to place ab ripper after Kempo b/c I could only do about 70% of the ab-workout afterward.
And, yeah, ab ripper's frickin' hard (I've completed every rep all of like 3 times, so I'm quite impressed by your fortitude).
Of all the workouts, I hate yoga the most — it's too darn freakin' long (90 minutes and I can't balance worth a damn, though I can now manage to do wheel for all of 10 seconds :)…
Bane- I've only done the Ab Ripper because my husband has borrowed it from his friend at work. He's in the process of getting the rest of them so I'm looking forward to checking the rest out. I think doing Pilates for five years has helped with the workout- a lot of the moves are similar and it took me forever to get them down when I first started Pilates.
90 minutes of yoga? Bring it on! But I'm scared if there's an arm one- I suck at arms!
I just love your attitude, Stephanie! I seriously doubt I could manage the ab ripper, but I'm willing to tackle this publishing challenge of ours. 🙂
Sheesh … you two with your athleticism and exercise and everything is making me feel even more like a schulb.
I'll stick with publishing as my challenge, thank you very much. 🙂
Of course I rise to the challenge! I don't think we'd be writers if we didn't/couldn't/weren't up for it. Thanks for the motivation.
You are my new hero.
Yes, I'm like you…tell me I can't and you just ensured my victory. lol Love these lines, "What? You say publishing is hard and trying to get my book printed is going to crush my soul? Bring it on, baby!"
A tad competitive? Me too! When we bought our house a previous owner had filled half of the back yard with rocks to cut down on the mowing. I hated those rocks. I wanted a grassy yard! I told my husband and my family I wanted to get rid of them. My husband told me to leave them. My brother told me not to call him when I got tired.
After a lot of time and sore muscles, I now have a grassy back yard – no mechanized equipment needed.
Who says you can't do something when you set your mind to it?
I'm with Matt. Grueling workouts are not for me. Publishing, though, is a challenge I'll take head on.
Stephanie – lots of arms, but your pilates/yoga background will serve you well. By the end, though, you will hate Tony Horton 🙂
I need to workout more. Like, REALLY need to work out more. Maybe I'll look into these things… they sound right up my alley!
I am competitive too. And so is my boyfriend. We are making bets and challenging each other all the time and it's so much fun when I win, hee hee!
Love your attitude 🙂
Oh, totally! I'm in PT right now for a recurring miniscus injury (soccer player for 10+ years) and the therapists have to tell me to stop pushing, therapy is not a sport. I hear you! But how would we make it in the publishing world without this attitude?
That being said, I am not cutthroat. I don't believe my book should (or has to) make it at the expense of others. I am happy and excited to help other writers rise to the top with me or even ahead of me. This is an exciting community of writing we have here, and I want to keep that through all the steps of publishing.
Thanks for a new link and new insight into your personality! Go Ab Ripper!
Michele
SouthernCityMysteries
Michele- I agree that we don't need to be cutthroat. That's just not cool. I love my blogging buddies because we help each other out. That's how it should be.
L.T.- My husband and I make bets, but neither of us are very gracious losers. I need to work on that.
Susan & Matt- I think publishing is way harder than P90X. At least it's taking longer!
JenE- I'm all about visualization. When I'm working out I visualize a tasty treat I get when I'm done. For publishing I imagine walking into Barnes & Noble and seeing my book on the shelf.
Renee- Thanks! Do I get a cape? I've always wanted a cape.
Bethany- Glad you liked that line. I felt tough writing it.
Steph & Shannon- This is a huge challenge, but I think it's one we can all be successful in. At least I hope so!
Bane- I already kind of hate Tony. I hate it when he stops working out to point out other people. That's just cheating.
I am very competitive and when someone tells me something is impossible, I do my very best to show them that nothing is impossible.
I am a huge believer in conquering the impossible.
You're awesome. 🙂
It depends what it is. If it's something that's in my heart (like writing), heck yeah.
Maybe I should think more about yoga. I need to start small, though, like Easy-Peezy Yoga Class 101.
Wow, I'm still trying to get past the whole childbirth without drugs thing! Yowza.
I soooo want to try P90X, I have no doubt I can do it but I don't have the home discipline. I need my trainer or my boxing coach to tell me what to do. BTW…that is the only time someone can tell me what to do, when I pay them. Let me know how your rock hard abs turn out! Take before and after photos, not that I am requesting you post them but I wish I would have done that six months ago when I transformed myself.
I love talking fitness. It's like dirty talk, love it.