I am destroying my soymilk breakfast this morning. In these 4am mornings, I get up and grab my iPhone; set up the gym; work out; hit the shower; give some love to my beard; and THEN rehydrate and fuel. It's likely a schedule I won't maintain come the summer, but for now, I only get one side of my shirt wet.

It's a Legs & Abs day for me. I went off the beaten track from the Jumanji workout by only including a couple of exercises from that routine. A few things motivated me: 1) it seems most leg exercises just require machines; 2) I've had a Bill atop my shoulders for years now and I'm guessing I've got a pair of powerful wheels—plenty of torque; 3) finally, I just didn't want to rob Peter to pay Paul against my cardio program. Again, I'm managing motivation. It's for the same reason why I don't record my cardio times (I like breaking records) and why I haven't installed a HIIT (in due time). Yes, I'll fire through those in the beginning, but a couple weeks later, dread builds. I'm by far more interested in maintaining the program, not breaking personal bests. Overall, the only record I want to beat is on that scale, and that's still over 4 weeks away.

Jumanji has ab training as a pre-workout a few times a week, but I thought I'd make it official. So, in creating my regimen, I gave it a shot:

• Cue the 1998 alternative from Chicago's Q101
• 5-min bike warmup
• Chon-Ji: 10 reps
• Sidekick: 4×20
• Single-leg Leg Extensions: 3×20
• Barbell Glute Bridges (hold last rep 10 secs): 4×12
• Russian Twist: 4×20...and no...I nearly dumped over the brewery trying. I'll put this one back into the tool chest for later.
• Situps: 4×20...turned into 20-20-12-3...I just didn't have it in me to avoid muscle failure.
• Leg Lifts: 4×20...turned it just 3 which conjured up out of the sweaty mist a 19-year-old Taekwondo AND Karate Bill who belted me in the gut. It's not that I didn't try, I just suddenly lost the capacity for it.
• 30-min on the treadmill
• 20-min bike to cycle through 6am

In this exploratory, first week, I'm gauging my range and likes. It will likely take a few weeks to get it hammered out. And as these things go, as soon as I figure it out and reach a rhythm with it, I'll switch to something else. But that's all part of the chase, no?