'X' marks the ..., uh, end

Pre-workout fuel: Two whole-wheat waffles with 1 cup mixed berries and 1/3 cup vanilla Chobiani and coffee before the walk
Workout: 2.3-mile walk with dog, 30 minutes "Explosive Cardio" with Kendell Hogan courtesy Comcast OnDemand

Courtesy of a kind and generous co-worker, the copy of P90X Ab Ripper was just what I was wishing for.

Or what I thought I was wishing for.

The 15-minute ab routine is not your average ab routine you find tacked on at the end of a workout. You don't get to ease in with a basic crunch or a plank. And why should it be? This is, after all, P90X. Grrr.

The workout has 11 exercises, and you do 25 reps of each exercise. I like that the video shows how many seconds are left for each move because I wanted to die after just a few reps. Not just because my abs suck - which they do - but because these exercises incorporate leg work, and my legs were in a serious sore state. Thank you, 5-mile run (yesterday), Jillian Michaels (yesterday) and Kendell Hogan (today).

I managed to make it through - sort of - the "In & Outs," "Bicycle" and "Seated Crunchy Frog" before I decided midway through the "Crossed Leg Wide Leg Sit Up" that I should make my tuna salad for work. Nice excuse ... right?

I'm thinking that I might need to make this a challenge, per se. Three days a week of Ab Ripper X for a month or 6 weeks and a reward will be mine. A reward beyond better abs, mind you.

Do you reward yourself for workouts?