90 Days of Insanity (Or What Cairo Heat Does To Your Frontal Lobe)

Heat makes you crazy. And I'm no exception. How do I know this? Ever heard of P90X? It's "Extreme Home Fitness." Sounded like a contradiction of terms to me, but P90X is no joke. It's no Kathy Smith aerobics...I just finished Day 1 of the 90 day period of torture, and I am already sore. According to reviews I've read, that's what I've got to look forward to for the next 89 days. Yay.

Why such ridiculousness? In a word, heat. Working out is essential to sanity in Cairo, but the summertime temperature climbs to such intense heights that exercising outdoors, even in the early morning (6 am), becomes hazardous to one's health. My friend Abi and I have been running along the Nile in the mornings, but the pollution makes it dangerous to exercise too intensely, and its getting toasty over here. Besides we wanted something new, something challenging. Joining a gym would get us out of the heat and give a variety of options for working out, but there are some drawbacks to that as well. I joined for six months back in January, but getting to the gym on a daily basis can be a struggle thanks to location, transportation, and scheduling, and here in Cairo, gyms are flat out expensive. Enter P90X. A couple of weeks ago, our friend Scott was passionately discussing his favorite topic, Crossfit, and Abi and I were a bit intrigued. After checking out Crossfit and deciding it wasn't for us (its a super intense workout that does require some gym equipment and was created for military men...) we settled on P90X. And that my friends is the story of how I lost my mind. I'll let you know what I think next week after I've finished the first week of workouts.