So this past week I travelled to New Jersey and Pennsylvania to visit family. And while I haven't been the happiest with how much of a fatty I have been, nothing quite food you can get in Jersey, so I make sure to eat things I can't get here. Friday night we started with Spanish food at Spanish Tavern as there are no Spanish/Portugese restaurants that I know of around here. I had paella which could be a meal for two or more, but took a bunch home and ate leftovers for the rest of the weekend. Throughout the rest of the weekend, I also had carrot cake my grandmother made in honor of my visit (though she told me not to eat too much), half a pizza pie, belgian waffle at a diner, and egg and chese on mish mosh bagels. Then I got to my stepsister's house, where their motto is paleo schmaleo. I usually fill up on my pb&j fix while I am there as they always have it because of the children. I ate my fair share of pasta, and also made smore cupcakes which were pretty good. I did no sort of workouts aside from helping my nephew be a spider monkey, and tickle fights, but magically came back a pound lighter.
Yesterday was my rude awakening back to workouts. I decided to head to crossfit, cause I missed it, and the wod was only strength work which I enjoy. We did press 5 sets of one, push press 5 sets of 3s, and push jerk 5 of 5s. I failed some on my presses, so I kept it conservative for the rest of the workout, but got to 78 on press (former pr 90), stayed at 83 for push press and jerk. I hate sets of 5s and dropping the bar on my chest.
Last night I also went for master classes at my friend Deez' new studio. I was excited as I don't remember the last time I have gotten to take dance classes, which is on my list of things to do in the new year. I had the perfect well rounded line up of jazz, contemporary and hip hop and was ready to go! I started in jazz class, and the warmup still felt good, but some strength work I struggled with. The combination was to a ke$ha song which was super cute, and I had fun with it, though picking up choreography is hard if you haven't done it in a while. We practiced a few times, and then while walking through (not even dancing) i took a wrong step, over extended my knee and heard a snap. Yes a snap. gross. I walked through the rest of the routine and class careful not to bend my knee, but somehting was not right. I even took the next class which was more of a struggle as the warm up was largely technique based, which requires a straight leg and pointed toes. I also walked through across the floor and tore skin on my foot (I may be too old for this), and some of the routine, which in hindsight was most likely a huge mistake. I sat out the hip hop class, hung out for a bit and then drove the 2 hours home. I got back to my house and found that my leg stiffened during the drive.
I don't know what this is, but it is ill-timed. I am hoping that a couple days of rice will help it out, and it will be nothing. I have heard that people injure knees all the time and keep walking on them unknowingly injured. This hurts bad, but in my 27 years this is my first structural inury. I am hoping for nothing, as I have goals and dreams for the new year, and cute heels to wear, and pies to bake....
Friday, December 24, 2010
Thursday, December 16, 2010
it's been a while...again...
So part of my lack of posting is not having worked out, the other part is laziness. Saturday I competed...or shall I say participated in the Carolina Fitness Challenge... I really enjoyed cheering for all my friends, my performance was another story. The first wod, 12 min amrap 12 burpees, 12 kb snatches (35#) farmers walk 100 m with kb in each hand. Looking at this it seemed manageable, burpees I thought with the competitive mindset would go by okay, I am medium with kb snatches, and farmers walk is what it is. When it came to game time it was super cold...like super ridiculously cold, which I don't enjoy, so I bundled up. This seemed to work to my detriment. John and I have decided that my hands freaked out about being so cold while the rest of me was so so warm... and I could not push through, and straight up lost that event. :( The next event was a 3rm front squat, which is right in my wheelhouse. Front squat is one of my favorite lifts but this was not one of my better days. After being in the cold for so long, it was a challenge to warm up. I procrastinated a bit, and then went to do some warm up sets, but the bars were all taken. When I did find one available, the plates to make my warm up weights were not available, people didn't want to move out of my way, I was overwhelmed. I knew I needed to make up a bunch of ground, but I don't do that great with squats under pressure and that is all I could think of. I decided to start at a lower weight, than originally planned (135 instead of 145). 135 was easy peasy. A cfdurham member was volunteering and said that looked too easy, and I should go up by 20. That seemed reasonable. First rep I thought was a bit too high, so second rep I got lower...and got a no rep. I stood up, cursed a bit, and got defeated, and couldn't imagine doing two more reps... Said cfdurham member came up to me after and said that I was cheated, and I felt he was speaking the truth as he is not easily riled, and we are not best best friends, and looking at photos after I noticed someone seemingly staring at my crotch...and it was the head judge. My day ended there, which I was not the happiest with, but was okay with my performance kinda but not really.
The next day as I didn't do too much exercising I went to workout for a hopper deck workout. I made a disclaimer that I would not run or do anything outside, but it was in my favor that nothing pulled went outside. We did in fact pull a card that was air squats and muscle ups. Stew made the mistake of telling us that it was muscle ups, as then an argument ensued, he then changed it to chest to bar pull ups. I used a blue band, and trucked a long, took me twice as long as my fast friend Paul, but I finished, yet couldn't walk for then next couple days without the threat of leg lock.
We traveled for the next couple days so missed workouts. Today I came back to one of my least favorites, filthy fifty. I had a plan to finish within 30 minutes, with 2 minutes for the first four exercises, 3 minutes for the long exercises. That plan didn't work after the first exercise but I still had high hopes. When I got to kb swings and couldn't do more than 10 unbroken, and started freaking out my breathing, I just hoped to finish. I did just shy of an hour, mopped myself up, and got a fat burger with fries for lunch.
My diet has been out of control lately, as I just eat whatever I want. I will be starting the whole 30 plan on December 29, and until then, or at least this weekend, I am carbing out. I am traveling to the home of glorious bagels and pizza, and plan to take advantage, but then I need to get it together. Eating poorly is hindering my athletic performance, and everything else, I don't sleep that great, my joints don't move as well, I don't heal as fast, and I am fatter than I need to be. I have a closet full of wonderful clothes to wear, some brand new, I just need to get into them. I am bringing a jump rope, but am not making any promises that things will get done.
The next day as I didn't do too much exercising I went to workout for a hopper deck workout. I made a disclaimer that I would not run or do anything outside, but it was in my favor that nothing pulled went outside. We did in fact pull a card that was air squats and muscle ups. Stew made the mistake of telling us that it was muscle ups, as then an argument ensued, he then changed it to chest to bar pull ups. I used a blue band, and trucked a long, took me twice as long as my fast friend Paul, but I finished, yet couldn't walk for then next couple days without the threat of leg lock.
We traveled for the next couple days so missed workouts. Today I came back to one of my least favorites, filthy fifty. I had a plan to finish within 30 minutes, with 2 minutes for the first four exercises, 3 minutes for the long exercises. That plan didn't work after the first exercise but I still had high hopes. When I got to kb swings and couldn't do more than 10 unbroken, and started freaking out my breathing, I just hoped to finish. I did just shy of an hour, mopped myself up, and got a fat burger with fries for lunch.
My diet has been out of control lately, as I just eat whatever I want. I will be starting the whole 30 plan on December 29, and until then, or at least this weekend, I am carbing out. I am traveling to the home of glorious bagels and pizza, and plan to take advantage, but then I need to get it together. Eating poorly is hindering my athletic performance, and everything else, I don't sleep that great, my joints don't move as well, I don't heal as fast, and I am fatter than I need to be. I have a closet full of wonderful clothes to wear, some brand new, I just need to get into them. I am bringing a jump rope, but am not making any promises that things will get done.
Monday, December 6, 2010
that trick helen
Friday I woke up feeling like I got run over. After my yoga/workout back to back on Thursday I went home and then went to the endurance wod. It was 3 rounds run 1000 m rest two minutes. I went hoping to row, but there were many of us and I didn't feel like throwing bows. It was a bit chilly out, and I am not really a fan of running in the cold. Allison didn't keep track of our times as there were many of us and she timed rest for each one of us, but she told me my last round was completed in 6:46, which is slow, so hopefully my first two rounds were much quicker. :/
Friday I started my day with yoga again, hoping to do back to back workouts. I however forgot a towel, and didn't think it fair to my fellow crossfitters to go as sweaty as I get in yoga, so I just went home. I took a glorious glorious nap, and then was considering skipping as the wod was my nemesis, helen. John however called and wanted to go workout. He had to take care of some work stuff and we ended up tardy to class, so I wasn't as warmed up as is ideal, we started with clean and jerks which I was not feeling, and therefore only worked up to 80#. Then came the wod, we did it in two heats as to not fight over pull up stations, and of course I opted for second heat. My run is slower than most, so I ended up behind, but still managed to eek out a pr as my last two helens were ridiculously slow. I was happy that I got all the kettlebell swings unbroken, but my pull ups were broken in to many sets. It was not quite the sub 15 minutes i was going for, but a pr is a pr...at 17:01.
I took Saturday and Sunday off as the wods were outside, and we did things that I wanted to look presentable for (so Bikram was out as it does my hair no good. Today we worked on back squats for strength, with 3 sets of 5. 5s for me are the worst. I worked up to 125, for depth's sake, and maybe could have gone higher, but the last set my shoulders couldnt' make the best shelf so I stopped. The wod was also a leg burner, 3 rounds of 25 box jumps and 25 overhead lunges with 35. It was rough...but I did it.
Now I am off to yoga!
Friday I started my day with yoga again, hoping to do back to back workouts. I however forgot a towel, and didn't think it fair to my fellow crossfitters to go as sweaty as I get in yoga, so I just went home. I took a glorious glorious nap, and then was considering skipping as the wod was my nemesis, helen. John however called and wanted to go workout. He had to take care of some work stuff and we ended up tardy to class, so I wasn't as warmed up as is ideal, we started with clean and jerks which I was not feeling, and therefore only worked up to 80#. Then came the wod, we did it in two heats as to not fight over pull up stations, and of course I opted for second heat. My run is slower than most, so I ended up behind, but still managed to eek out a pr as my last two helens were ridiculously slow. I was happy that I got all the kettlebell swings unbroken, but my pull ups were broken in to many sets. It was not quite the sub 15 minutes i was going for, but a pr is a pr...at 17:01.
I took Saturday and Sunday off as the wods were outside, and we did things that I wanted to look presentable for (so Bikram was out as it does my hair no good. Today we worked on back squats for strength, with 3 sets of 5. 5s for me are the worst. I worked up to 125, for depth's sake, and maybe could have gone higher, but the last set my shoulders couldnt' make the best shelf so I stopped. The wod was also a leg burner, 3 rounds of 25 box jumps and 25 overhead lunges with 35. It was rough...but I did it.
Now I am off to yoga!
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Car pushes... for time.
I had a fitnessy morning today. I woke up, hydrated and then headed off to bikram. I have decided that mornings work better for me, because I don't have to fight off hunger to make myself not eat, and it seems to be less humid in the room. I managed to make it through all poses today in some form or fashion (YAY ME!) The one I struggle with, and tend just to sit out, (fixed firm pose) involves moving your legs and knees out of the way to make way for the hips (for me that is wide) and then laying back on the ground. The sitting part alone hurts bad, and then forget trying to lay back. The instructor came over to help me modify, and my pose is just sitting, with my knees out way wide and I am okay with that. On the other hand my standing bow was pretty excellent in my opinion, I got my leg over my head, just don't think you are supposed to cheat the hips like I do. I showered quickly then headed over to crossfit.
We started out chatting about gyms and jobs etc. Dave and I both happened to look out the window, and saw what I thought was a car pulling out. Dave yells "oh s#*@*!" and runs outside. It takes a couple seconds for me to realize what I saw, and I yell "My CAR!" and run out to find Dave holding the runaway car. We take over for him, and he runs inside to find the owner. It was one of the more eventful days, and goes to show that there is something to this preparing for the unknowable.
Today we worked on snatches. I felt really really warm today which felt good, but I wasn't quite able to get back to my pr. I worked up and failed on 83 kinda. I was able to power snatch it (not sure how I ended up in that position) and then overhead squat it, but couldn't get it together. The wod was 21-15-9 dumbbell thrusters and burpees. I used 15 instead of the prescribed 25 just cause. It still took me a while.
We started out chatting about gyms and jobs etc. Dave and I both happened to look out the window, and saw what I thought was a car pulling out. Dave yells "oh s#*@*!" and runs outside. It takes a couple seconds for me to realize what I saw, and I yell "My CAR!" and run out to find Dave holding the runaway car. We take over for him, and he runs inside to find the owner. It was one of the more eventful days, and goes to show that there is something to this preparing for the unknowable.
Today we worked on snatches. I felt really really warm today which felt good, but I wasn't quite able to get back to my pr. I worked up and failed on 83 kinda. I was able to power snatch it (not sure how I ended up in that position) and then overhead squat it, but couldn't get it together. The wod was 21-15-9 dumbbell thrusters and burpees. I used 15 instead of the prescribed 25 just cause. It still took me a while.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
i should be working out right?
I started at Crossfit Durham in the early days. There were often times in the beginning when I was the only one in class, due to my unpopular class time preference and the fact that there weren't that many of us to begin with. Now that our community has grown so much, our classes are usually pretty big. Monday's class we had the rare luxury of a tiny class, as there were three of us. So Coach Ashley was able to give everyone extra special attention in class, (which she is good at even with a big class). Our skill work was overhead squats. I was excited to work on these, as last week I snatched my previous overhead squat max.
Ashley told me to work especially on getting to full depth, and we worked on getting the bar position right. With feeling uncomfortable I worked up to 65 pounds... We then did the snatch test, 10 minutes one armed kettlebell snatches. I tried this during one open gym and got 75 so I was working for 100, and fell shy at only 77, as form on my right hand was poor.
Tuesday we did a ridiculous warm up, then worked on weighted pullups. For me that meant working on dead hangs. I used a skinny band for a lot, and then managed maybe 3 unassisted. Jarrod had a great idea to put the little weights in his pockets to get one, I look forward to being able to add any weight at all.... The wod was then a 15 minute amrap of 7 deadlifts and 7 box jumps. I tried a dead at 95 pounds and felt pain shoot down my leg, so Ashley had me sub back squats, and amazingly picked the perfect weight to keep me moving. I used 75 pounds and ended up with 11 rounds and 7 back squats. Today I woke up with sore legs, which I don't remember feeling in a while. I gave myself a rest day because I couldn't get it together, but will do day one of our 30 day handstand pushup challenge. :)
Ashley told me to work especially on getting to full depth, and we worked on getting the bar position right. With feeling uncomfortable I worked up to 65 pounds... We then did the snatch test, 10 minutes one armed kettlebell snatches. I tried this during one open gym and got 75 so I was working for 100, and fell shy at only 77, as form on my right hand was poor.
Tuesday we did a ridiculous warm up, then worked on weighted pullups. For me that meant working on dead hangs. I used a skinny band for a lot, and then managed maybe 3 unassisted. Jarrod had a great idea to put the little weights in his pockets to get one, I look forward to being able to add any weight at all.... The wod was then a 15 minute amrap of 7 deadlifts and 7 box jumps. I tried a dead at 95 pounds and felt pain shoot down my leg, so Ashley had me sub back squats, and amazingly picked the perfect weight to keep me moving. I used 75 pounds and ended up with 11 rounds and 7 back squats. Today I woke up with sore legs, which I don't remember feeling in a while. I gave myself a rest day because I couldn't get it together, but will do day one of our 30 day handstand pushup challenge. :)
Sunday, November 28, 2010
and again
I have been feeling...meh lately...I haven't been as excited about the results of my workouts or where I am with fitness or nutrition, and though I have more free time lately, I have been slow with the blogging. I had a good Thanksgiving, we went down to Uncle Bo's house in Red Springs (nope I can't point it out on a map). I didn't go too crazy, John went back for seconds, and I just ate all his extra broccoli salad, so I wasn't terrible, but did have a nice little sampler dessert platter. Friday morning we did a hopper deck workout at crossfit (so we pulled a random workout from a deck of cards) In the 10 am class we pulled tabata something else, so 8 rounds of 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off each of pull ups, push ups, sit ups and squats. Pull ups I struggled a bit with, but didn't feel alone in my struggles, and push ups were a joke, everything else was fine. I went home and had a leftover plate (the best part of holidays) and maybe ate too much.
I then went to bikram class in the afternoon. I was a bit worried, as when I stepped in the room it felt warmer than the last class... (Reminder first class I almost died, second class I did much better, this is class #3). There are 26 poses in total. With my back issues, there are two I just was planning to sit out anyway. There is one, that I know I am flexible enough for, I just feel too sweaty to get a good grip, and two that involve tucking your foot into the crook of your hip, which I am both too sweaty and unflexible for. I made it through the first 5 poses the warming poses, then got lightheaded. Then we got to the balance poses which I enjoy, but when I would lose my balance, I would get dizzy to stand still. I sat out for a bit, then my knees started to ache, so I layed down (as I was told my options were to sit on my knees or lay down). The instructor came over, and seemed very concerned, but I was doing better than the girl who started crying I guess... Once we got to the poses on the ground I did much much better and got through all the postures with the exception of those I planned to sit out. Again I am not sure how I feel about this, while I do believe the heat has amazing flexibility benefits (I noticed an improved half moon after my first class), I don't feel that great about how my body feels in the heat. This does however make me more conscious of the amount of water I drink which is a plus, and handling the heat can only improve fitness no? I don't however get the "yoga high" I have experienced in other classes, probably because I am so stressed about staying alive in class, so while I do like to supplement crossfit with yoga, I might do better with a different yoga discipline I have 12 more classes to figure it out.
Saturday I was more sore than expected in the glute area... We warmed up with spiderman walks and walking lunges which hurt a bit more than expected... The lift was clean and jerks. For some reason, my back gets irritated with cleans, where it doesn't feel as bad with snatches. I have switched my set up for snatch so wonder if my clean needs some tweaking... I worked up to 105, but then ran out of time. I was dreading the wod, 21-15-9 dumbbell cleans, and 50-40-30 double unders. I think there is nothing worse than dumbbell anything. The rxd weight was 25, I barely looked for a second set of 25s and then decided I could scale to 15s as this would keep me moving moreso than a heavier weight. This took me a while cause I had to fight off the Idontwannas while I did it.
My back. Is doing funky tight things that I worry may just be a result of my sleeping position or mattress or pillow. I foam roll daily and could ice a bit more. I tried to get in with the chiro but he didn't return my text messages, so I will try calling the office this week to make sure I can get in for an appointment. I need to get this resolved before the challenge as I would dnf for sure if deads were involved.
I then went to bikram class in the afternoon. I was a bit worried, as when I stepped in the room it felt warmer than the last class... (Reminder first class I almost died, second class I did much better, this is class #3). There are 26 poses in total. With my back issues, there are two I just was planning to sit out anyway. There is one, that I know I am flexible enough for, I just feel too sweaty to get a good grip, and two that involve tucking your foot into the crook of your hip, which I am both too sweaty and unflexible for. I made it through the first 5 poses the warming poses, then got lightheaded. Then we got to the balance poses which I enjoy, but when I would lose my balance, I would get dizzy to stand still. I sat out for a bit, then my knees started to ache, so I layed down (as I was told my options were to sit on my knees or lay down). The instructor came over, and seemed very concerned, but I was doing better than the girl who started crying I guess... Once we got to the poses on the ground I did much much better and got through all the postures with the exception of those I planned to sit out. Again I am not sure how I feel about this, while I do believe the heat has amazing flexibility benefits (I noticed an improved half moon after my first class), I don't feel that great about how my body feels in the heat. This does however make me more conscious of the amount of water I drink which is a plus, and handling the heat can only improve fitness no? I don't however get the "yoga high" I have experienced in other classes, probably because I am so stressed about staying alive in class, so while I do like to supplement crossfit with yoga, I might do better with a different yoga discipline I have 12 more classes to figure it out.
Saturday I was more sore than expected in the glute area... We warmed up with spiderman walks and walking lunges which hurt a bit more than expected... The lift was clean and jerks. For some reason, my back gets irritated with cleans, where it doesn't feel as bad with snatches. I have switched my set up for snatch so wonder if my clean needs some tweaking... I worked up to 105, but then ran out of time. I was dreading the wod, 21-15-9 dumbbell cleans, and 50-40-30 double unders. I think there is nothing worse than dumbbell anything. The rxd weight was 25, I barely looked for a second set of 25s and then decided I could scale to 15s as this would keep me moving moreso than a heavier weight. This took me a while cause I had to fight off the Idontwannas while I did it.
My back. Is doing funky tight things that I worry may just be a result of my sleeping position or mattress or pillow. I foam roll daily and could ice a bit more. I tried to get in with the chiro but he didn't return my text messages, so I will try calling the office this week to make sure I can get in for an appointment. I need to get this resolved before the challenge as I would dnf for sure if deads were involved.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
o hello again...
It has been a while again...but this time I am just slow in posting, but not actually working out. I will try and catch up some...but will spare you unimportant details.
11/17 Got a snatch pr of 95 whooo hooo!!! It wasn't that pretty, but I did it. I was feeling a bit down about being able to accomplish any of the goals I set for this year, but only 5 pounds to go and I got that one! The wod was dumbbell push press and burpees (which mean slow for me) at least I did it rx with not that much rest.
11/18 I had a fitness modeling gig...(I like saying that) A guy is partnering with crossfit durham to put together a rubberband system to use for traveling wods...we did a ton of squats presses and such, I was hoping to go to 615 and wod, but I didn't make it.
We went to the beach for the weekend, and while I brought workout clothing, no actual working out aside from jumping photos took place.
11/21 Front squats were pretty terrible, I stayed conservative in weight because I still had some funky things going on with my back, (and my crazy chiropractor didn't return my texts). The wod was 6 rounds, 8 kb snatches, 8 burpees. I used 25 pounds, but kept it moving the whole time.
11/22 Worked on snatches which did not go that well, stayed at 75 for the most part. The wod: 5 rounds, 5 deadlifts, 10 toes to bar. Deadlifts were supposed to be 75% of your 1 rep max, which would be 191 based on my 1RM of 255...which hasn't happened since. I was thinking about 155...but my back told me to do 155. (geez I pray for no deads in the challenge). You would also think that since toes to bar caused me to dnf last year in the challenge I would have those (and handstand pushups from the charlottesville challenge) down... but oh well, I got a good number of them but can't say that they were all rx...the last one took me three attempts...and finished in a solid 12:56, 3 minutes behind everyone else.
11/17 Got a snatch pr of 95 whooo hooo!!! It wasn't that pretty, but I did it. I was feeling a bit down about being able to accomplish any of the goals I set for this year, but only 5 pounds to go and I got that one! The wod was dumbbell push press and burpees (which mean slow for me) at least I did it rx with not that much rest.
11/18 I had a fitness modeling gig...(I like saying that) A guy is partnering with crossfit durham to put together a rubberband system to use for traveling wods...we did a ton of squats presses and such, I was hoping to go to 615 and wod, but I didn't make it.
We went to the beach for the weekend, and while I brought workout clothing, no actual working out aside from jumping photos took place.
11/21 Front squats were pretty terrible, I stayed conservative in weight because I still had some funky things going on with my back, (and my crazy chiropractor didn't return my texts). The wod was 6 rounds, 8 kb snatches, 8 burpees. I used 25 pounds, but kept it moving the whole time.
11/22 Worked on snatches which did not go that well, stayed at 75 for the most part. The wod: 5 rounds, 5 deadlifts, 10 toes to bar. Deadlifts were supposed to be 75% of your 1 rep max, which would be 191 based on my 1RM of 255...which hasn't happened since. I was thinking about 155...but my back told me to do 155. (geez I pray for no deads in the challenge). You would also think that since toes to bar caused me to dnf last year in the challenge I would have those (and handstand pushups from the charlottesville challenge) down... but oh well, I got a good number of them but can't say that they were all rx...the last one took me three attempts...and finished in a solid 12:56, 3 minutes behind everyone else.
FAIL
So this morning I set my alarm at 5:30 and 7:00 so I could give myself the option of 615 or 830...and guess which I chose. I actually did get out of bed at 7 am though, and did some productive things. As I was moving around I had a little lower back tightness, but shrugged it off. In the car I felt it more, and thought about turning around to head home and be more productive, but I trudged on. Ashley led us through a rough kettlebell warm up with lunges and swings and pulls. We then worked on clean and jerk. I was working pretty slowly, so only got to 95 by the time we got cut off, but didn't feel like I could max out today anyway, so I was okay with it. The wod I wasn't too excited about, as I watched crazy Navy diver Eric complete the first round of it in 2 something without resting...and he did it harder. It was 30 Kettlebell swings (I dropped in weight for back's purposes), 25 wall balls (gross) and 20 pull ups, 3 rounds. Theo and I talked beforehand about me not taking too much time, and I told him the pull ups would slow me down...he said something like baloney, and then we left it at that. When we started the wod, I broke the first set of kettlebell swings into two, and the wall balls into a lot...then the pull ups took a long time... then the second round I broke even more. Everyone else was finishing up...so I stopped. It took me longer than most people did three rounds, and I just was not in the mood to truck through a round by myself...not my day.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
run lift!
Yesterday I came up with an exercise and diet plan for the week...and day 1 is going well so far. We are going to the beach this weekend, so I would like to be able to work out each day until then so I don't have to worry about it over the weekend. This morning that meant waking up at 6:15. This is typically hard for me, as I don't like to give myself tough love, and if I wake up and don't feel like coming, I let myself sleep in. Some way I figured out that no one likes to wake up this early so I just need to suck it up and go.
I woke up without the alarm this morning aka I don't sleep well and this was just one waking up point during the night. I layed in bed for a while thinking about not going, but ultimately got my fatty out of bed. I was a bit tardy, but made it in by 6:20 (baby steps here). We worked on hand stand push ups. I worked mostly from the box but did a few from the wall at Lori's suggestion. I like to kick up to the wall (cause it is fun) but cannot get my head to the ground, so I tried working from the box, but I can't do that very well either. But Lori's head gets almost to the floor working from the wall so I will do whatever she says.... The wod was then as many rounds as possible in 15 minutes of run 400m and 5 deadlifts. The rx weight was 85% of your 1RM which for me is about 216. I would have probably used 185/195, but today my back was tight, in a bad bad way, so I used 95 after starting to warm up with Lori. We decided that I should do 10 reps instead of 5 because I was working lighter, but with my back, 5 was plenty. I got through 4 rounds, and then made it out the door with 50 seconds to go to run my last round, and was able to finish a 200m. Slightly a pr?
I woke up without the alarm this morning aka I don't sleep well and this was just one waking up point during the night. I layed in bed for a while thinking about not going, but ultimately got my fatty out of bed. I was a bit tardy, but made it in by 6:20 (baby steps here). We worked on hand stand push ups. I worked mostly from the box but did a few from the wall at Lori's suggestion. I like to kick up to the wall (cause it is fun) but cannot get my head to the ground, so I tried working from the box, but I can't do that very well either. But Lori's head gets almost to the floor working from the wall so I will do whatever she says.... The wod was then as many rounds as possible in 15 minutes of run 400m and 5 deadlifts. The rx weight was 85% of your 1RM which for me is about 216. I would have probably used 185/195, but today my back was tight, in a bad bad way, so I used 95 after starting to warm up with Lori. We decided that I should do 10 reps instead of 5 because I was working lighter, but with my back, 5 was plenty. I got through 4 rounds, and then made it out the door with 50 seconds to go to run my last round, and was able to finish a 200m. Slightly a pr?
Saturday, November 13, 2010
and I am still alive
I left off with not wanting to runrowrun on Thursday. My plan before knowing the workout was to hit up 6:15 am, as I had a meeting in Raleigh, then do the endurance wod that evening. With the endurance wod cancelled, and my poor sleep the night before, I skipped 615 with plans to go in the evening. (What I should have done is gone to 615 then Body Jammed in the evening but that is another story). That morning I decided that Dunkin Donuts was the appropriate way to start off my day with two doughnuts, but yet coffee black. We had training from 9:30 until 1, when we got lunch. I did pretty well there, steamed veggies and fish, but then ate a nice fat slice of chocolate cake, I don't know why maybe because it was free? By the time I got back to Durham I had a nice little sugar induced headache. I took a little nappy, with plans to runrowrun at 5. Sleep monster hit me hard, and then finally I woke up with time to make it to 6pm. I battled myself for a bit, still had a headache, but knew working out would make it go away, it was dark so I didn't want to run outside, but I wouldn't be alone. Finally I made myself go. I decided that the best route was 8 200m runs, it just seemed easiest, but really the turning around slows you down. I had a goal of finishing sub 30minutes. The first mile I got in just shy of my 10 minute goal at 10:03, the row I finished in a little over 10 minutes, and then the last run took me a while as my total time was somewhere around 33:10. The second mile I split up into 2 400s and 4 200s. The last stretch down the hill I was able to sprint, which I know is a mental thing of feeling done, but I have yet to figure out how to use some of that stored energy earlier.
Friday again I did not sleep that great, and woke up early for 615, took a little snooze and then ended up letting myself sleep until 8:30. I decided to check out Bikram again, and this time made sure to be super hydrated. I don't know if it was me, or how hydrated I was, or the fact that there were less people in the room, but it didn't seem as warm as me even stepping into the room. I set up my mat closer to the door so I could sneak out if I wanted, but it also put me in eye line of the instructor, so she was able to see me to correct my mistakes, and offer suggestions when I couldn't quite get into a pose. This class went much better as I made it through 24 or so out of 26 poses. I don't think this is something I will want to do everyday, but maybe a once a week. I was planning to still go to crossfit that evening, but hubsters didn't want to, and I wanted to hang out with him. I also found out that he has a Friday afternoon ritual at Nantucket Grill, he gets a chicken sandwich, cheese fries and a slice of cake (usually a half slice for himself). We normally eat a regular dinner on Friday nights as well, so I don't know how he is not obese but I am admittedly a bit jealous.
Friday again I did not sleep that great, and woke up early for 615, took a little snooze and then ended up letting myself sleep until 8:30. I decided to check out Bikram again, and this time made sure to be super hydrated. I don't know if it was me, or how hydrated I was, or the fact that there were less people in the room, but it didn't seem as warm as me even stepping into the room. I set up my mat closer to the door so I could sneak out if I wanted, but it also put me in eye line of the instructor, so she was able to see me to correct my mistakes, and offer suggestions when I couldn't quite get into a pose. This class went much better as I made it through 24 or so out of 26 poses. I don't think this is something I will want to do everyday, but maybe a once a week. I was planning to still go to crossfit that evening, but hubsters didn't want to, and I wanted to hang out with him. I also found out that he has a Friday afternoon ritual at Nantucket Grill, he gets a chicken sandwich, cheese fries and a slice of cake (usually a half slice for himself). We normally eat a regular dinner on Friday nights as well, so I don't know how he is not obese but I am admittedly a bit jealous.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
hi.
So I have had one heck of a fitness weekend. Saturday I came in for the Lumberjack wod, which honors the soldiers killed at Fort Hood so you know it is rough...
Lumberjack wod
20 Deadlift (275/185)
Run 400m
20 Kettlebell swings (70/52)
run 400m
20 overhead squats (115/75)
run 400 m
20 burpees
run 400m
20 chest to bar pull ups
run 400m
20 box jumps
run 400m
20 dumbbell squat cleans
run 400m
The last time I did this wod, it was cold and rainy (December 5 2009). Again this time it was cold and rainy, and I had a bit of a sniffle. The last time I managed Rx weights for everything, but did it in 58:15. This time I did it in 42.30 but couldn't manage rx nothin... I did deads with 165, KB I think I had a 35, I just used the kettlebell that was out from the class before, OHS I had to drop to 65, I couldn't pull my chest to the bar except with a band and I dropped to 200 m runs...I wasn't too proud of this performance...but at least I did it.
Sunday's wod involved wall balls and double unders. I was super slow on that wod as well. Theo gave me a talking to beforehand about how I should be killing this wod, and I thought I could but I had no wind. Part of it was mental, part was the lack of wind...I tried to make up the front squats I missed after, but wasn't feeling it.
Then I decided to try my Bikram class... I am not really sure what I was expecting...but really you are doing yoga in a sauna, and I hate saunas. Out of 26 poses I think I managed maybe 10... I was waiting for the poses on the ground, but then it was stomach poses and thought I might puke. It was a bit embarrassing as people that looked to be less healthy than me were managing I paid for 15 classes, so I will try one or two more times but will strategically place my mat close to the door so if I need to leave I can. I also found that people were not as nice there as crossfitters, or even the globo gym where I work. No one seemed to care when I laid on the locker room floor to prevent passing out or vomiting, or when I sat on the floor in the lobby for 15 minutes before leaving, but what can you expect. I was out of commission for the rest of the night.
Monday we did turkish get ups and "chopped up fran". I weighed myself that morning and was still down the two pounds of water weight I lost the previous day, so knew I wasn't hydrated much. Turkish get ups were fine, I stayed relatively light, I had a little kettlebell, but it was unmarked, so I hope it was 20 lbs, but don't know that it was. The wod was 5 rounds of 9 thrusters and 9 pull ups with 2 minutes rest between. My fastest round was 1:11, which was the first round. After that I freaked myself out and couldn't string together pull ups or keep it together and my slowest round was 2 minutes. All in all, my total fran time would have been 7 something, which is still faster than my actual fran time, so I guess I am happy?
Today's strength work was cleans. I am in need of a chiropractic adjustment, and my back is super super tight. I was hoping to pr my clean, but with my back issues, I stayed at 85 for my working weight. The wod was 21-15-9 power cleans and knees to elbows. I used 65 because of my back, and switched to hang cleans on the 15 round. I couldn't manage any knees to elbows today...none...my knees not once touched. I decided I need to do a "BODYWEIGHT BONANZA" between now and the challenge, as that and my wind make a large percentage of my weaknesses. I haven't quite decided how it will happen, but I am focusing on lowering bodyweight, and then improving bodyweight exercises...going for ring dips, pull ups, push ups, knees to elbow, toes to bar etc...
I thought it hilarious as I talk about improving my wind and such, and though I was hoping to go to 615 tomorrow morning and come back for endurance that evening, I contemplated skipping after seeing tomorrows wod. Run 1 mile, row 2000m run 1 mile. This is about my worst nightmare. No part of me wants to do this, but I guess I need to suck it up.
argh.
Lumberjack wod
20 Deadlift (275/185)
Run 400m
20 Kettlebell swings (70/52)
run 400m
20 overhead squats (115/75)
run 400 m
20 burpees
run 400m
20 chest to bar pull ups
run 400m
20 box jumps
run 400m
20 dumbbell squat cleans
run 400m
The last time I did this wod, it was cold and rainy (December 5 2009). Again this time it was cold and rainy, and I had a bit of a sniffle. The last time I managed Rx weights for everything, but did it in 58:15. This time I did it in 42.30 but couldn't manage rx nothin... I did deads with 165, KB I think I had a 35, I just used the kettlebell that was out from the class before, OHS I had to drop to 65, I couldn't pull my chest to the bar except with a band and I dropped to 200 m runs...I wasn't too proud of this performance...but at least I did it.
Sunday's wod involved wall balls and double unders. I was super slow on that wod as well. Theo gave me a talking to beforehand about how I should be killing this wod, and I thought I could but I had no wind. Part of it was mental, part was the lack of wind...I tried to make up the front squats I missed after, but wasn't feeling it.
Then I decided to try my Bikram class... I am not really sure what I was expecting...but really you are doing yoga in a sauna, and I hate saunas. Out of 26 poses I think I managed maybe 10... I was waiting for the poses on the ground, but then it was stomach poses and thought I might puke. It was a bit embarrassing as people that looked to be less healthy than me were managing I paid for 15 classes, so I will try one or two more times but will strategically place my mat close to the door so if I need to leave I can. I also found that people were not as nice there as crossfitters, or even the globo gym where I work. No one seemed to care when I laid on the locker room floor to prevent passing out or vomiting, or when I sat on the floor in the lobby for 15 minutes before leaving, but what can you expect. I was out of commission for the rest of the night.
Monday we did turkish get ups and "chopped up fran". I weighed myself that morning and was still down the two pounds of water weight I lost the previous day, so knew I wasn't hydrated much. Turkish get ups were fine, I stayed relatively light, I had a little kettlebell, but it was unmarked, so I hope it was 20 lbs, but don't know that it was. The wod was 5 rounds of 9 thrusters and 9 pull ups with 2 minutes rest between. My fastest round was 1:11, which was the first round. After that I freaked myself out and couldn't string together pull ups or keep it together and my slowest round was 2 minutes. All in all, my total fran time would have been 7 something, which is still faster than my actual fran time, so I guess I am happy?
Today's strength work was cleans. I am in need of a chiropractic adjustment, and my back is super super tight. I was hoping to pr my clean, but with my back issues, I stayed at 85 for my working weight. The wod was 21-15-9 power cleans and knees to elbows. I used 65 because of my back, and switched to hang cleans on the 15 round. I couldn't manage any knees to elbows today...none...my knees not once touched. I decided I need to do a "BODYWEIGHT BONANZA" between now and the challenge, as that and my wind make a large percentage of my weaknesses. I haven't quite decided how it will happen, but I am focusing on lowering bodyweight, and then improving bodyweight exercises...going for ring dips, pull ups, push ups, knees to elbow, toes to bar etc...
I thought it hilarious as I talk about improving my wind and such, and though I was hoping to go to 615 tomorrow morning and come back for endurance that evening, I contemplated skipping after seeing tomorrows wod. Run 1 mile, row 2000m run 1 mile. This is about my worst nightmare. No part of me wants to do this, but I guess I need to suck it up.
argh.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
reallly November??
So the beginning of November has not gone exactly as planned in terms of being all gung-ho and "in training". Monday I most certainly had a case of them, and when the alarm went off to go to crossfit at 8:30, I decided I needed more sleep. I did however do running tabata intervals on the treadmill at a slightly faster than normal pace, and then got my bottom handed to me in power yoga. When I walked in I was told it was an ashtanga class...which to me means nothing, but in reality it was a continuous flow involving several down dogs which killed my shoulders, chatarangas which I resorted to knees, and then strechy things in directions my body no longer goes.
Tuesday I started on the path to crossfit, but then was so embarrassed about how late I was, that I turned around and went home. I intended then to be productive, but then watched episodes of the office until it was time for work. I also decided to reward myself for voting by going to Five Guys (yes my inner fat girl works that way).
Wednesday's CrossfitDurham workout involved bodyweight stuff...in all its glory. I decided to check out Local, as they were doing Isabel, and snatch 1RM. This was actually a good workout day. I wish it was a good eating day as well, as I decided BLTs were in order, and thought it should be the day I discover Moon Pies. I got a 2 # PR at 85 cause I used a 45# bar instead of the 33... (hooray me). We then did Isabel which was a pr just cause I have never done it. It is 30 snatches (power). I completed the workout in 3:10, with 65#. Hope to soon make my way up to the Rx 95 but that is not in my near future.
This morning I woke up with sore traps and an overwhelming desire to skip and watch the office in the rain...but I went. We worked on clean and jerks which I did conservatively and foam rolled in the middle. The wod involved 8 rounds of 30 sledgehammer swings. The hardest part was getting into a rhythm with the swing, once I did that, it was fun just to swing it and hit the tire hard. I completed all my reps and avoided the "bonus burpees".
I (finally) have a weekend off, so I plan to work out, do my running, and possibly start the bikram classes I bought through one of those sites, we shall see what gets done.
Tuesday I started on the path to crossfit, but then was so embarrassed about how late I was, that I turned around and went home. I intended then to be productive, but then watched episodes of the office until it was time for work. I also decided to reward myself for voting by going to Five Guys (yes my inner fat girl works that way).
Wednesday's CrossfitDurham workout involved bodyweight stuff...in all its glory. I decided to check out Local, as they were doing Isabel, and snatch 1RM. This was actually a good workout day. I wish it was a good eating day as well, as I decided BLTs were in order, and thought it should be the day I discover Moon Pies. I got a 2 # PR at 85 cause I used a 45# bar instead of the 33... (hooray me). We then did Isabel which was a pr just cause I have never done it. It is 30 snatches (power). I completed the workout in 3:10, with 65#. Hope to soon make my way up to the Rx 95 but that is not in my near future.
This morning I woke up with sore traps and an overwhelming desire to skip and watch the office in the rain...but I went. We worked on clean and jerks which I did conservatively and foam rolled in the middle. The wod involved 8 rounds of 30 sledgehammer swings. The hardest part was getting into a rhythm with the swing, once I did that, it was fun just to swing it and hit the tire hard. I completed all my reps and avoided the "bonus burpees".
I (finally) have a weekend off, so I plan to work out, do my running, and possibly start the bikram classes I bought through one of those sites, we shall see what gets done.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
sad face
Just as I suspected, close out has gotten the better of me. I had plans to go to the endurance wod Thursday evening, then got called in to work. Friday I was going to go to 615 and then do my running, but sleep monster was no where to be found, and I got maybe one solid hour of sleep. When I eat crap that sleep monster likes to hide out somewhere, Friday night I was doing well until the neighbors banged on the door at 3am. I have been working 10-12 hours a day since then, so have not had the time I would like to work out. After today's shift I am attempting to return to normalcy with eating habits, and hydrating today in preparation for tomorrows workouts...after all I have one month and 11 days officially till the challenge, with a beach trip, and Thanksgiving thrown in there...so in other words, I am behind.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
ask me about my running!
So my running was embarrassingly slow today...like I wouldn't let Dave write my score on the board...like if John wasn't with me, tears would have ensued. It is now very very very uncomfortable to be this slow. So we have an action plan for me to run 3 days a week in addition to my crossfit. This should build up my wind so lifting should get easier as well, I just need to stretch a bunch as the past two days of running have left me wrecked. I had it in my brain that I need to do endurance the 3 hours after/before crossfit, but with my schedule and the fact that it gets dark early, I am just going to do it right after or before crossfit depending on what time I go. I tell you so you can ask me how my running is going. In the event of rain it may be rowing. (cause that sucks too) I rowed 2k on Sunday, and thought I PRd, but it was not the case.
To track my progress...here are my November running goals:
10 minute mile (yes I am that slow)
2:00 400m which I know is manageable as the last time I ran 400m repeats I got them to 1:47...but lately in wods my 400s have been 2:30 plus... so 2:15 in wods.
There is also a 5K the day after the challenge...it is a terrible day to run, in addition to it being a hilly 5K, but if I run it I don't have to work it...so I would like to run that one sub 30.
To track my progress...here are my November running goals:
10 minute mile (yes I am that slow)
2:00 400m which I know is manageable as the last time I ran 400m repeats I got them to 1:47...but lately in wods my 400s have been 2:30 plus... so 2:15 in wods.
There is also a 5K the day after the challenge...it is a terrible day to run, in addition to it being a hilly 5K, but if I run it I don't have to work it...so I would like to run that one sub 30.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
lulu doesn't make you faster...
This week at Crossfit Durham is coaches week, meaning each coach gets to make up their own torture. Monday I was a hot mess when I woke up. I was pretty tired and thought back to last week when I felt this way and had a terrible workout, and decided to let myself sleep in as we were taking flo yoga at work, and thought I could do some skill work before class. I forgot several things and had to run up and down stairs and in and out of rooms several times and ended up arriving just in time for class, so no skill work for me. Yoga was pretty good though, it was a slower paced class, so while we didn't get to work on sun salutation or standing lunges etc, I did get a good stretch. Yesterday I was planning to take body flow with a friend, but that fell through. I wasn't feeling quite 100% so I opted to take a nap rather than go experience the torture that was bodyblasters. It combined my slowest exercises, burpees, pull ups and knees to elbows, and I imagine that would take me almost forever.
Today we had a vicious little workout from coach Ashley, who is the sweetest little thing, but has an evil torturous streak when it comes to workouts. It was 8 rounds of 3 overhead squats, 3 back squats, 3 push press, and 3 front squats followed by 200 m run with 95lbs for boys 65 for ladies. So if you thought that out it is a mile of running, with a lot of squats. The lifting part I enjoyed, I got through most rounds, the last round I didn't brace properly and bailed on an overhead squat. The running made this just out of my wheel house. I need to work on my running and this was a helpful reminder. I ended up walking some because I simply could not breathe, I am pretty sure I let myself get worked out and forget about breathing, and then panic and have a crazy breathing pattern. And as you can see from the title, my new lulu pants did not help me in any way. They are said to "reduce bounce" which just means theyre tight...but they are super cute, so I hope I at least looked stylish trudging up and down that hill. So from what I hear we have some more hellacious workouts coming up, so I am gearing up for this week.
Today we had a vicious little workout from coach Ashley, who is the sweetest little thing, but has an evil torturous streak when it comes to workouts. It was 8 rounds of 3 overhead squats, 3 back squats, 3 push press, and 3 front squats followed by 200 m run with 95lbs for boys 65 for ladies. So if you thought that out it is a mile of running, with a lot of squats. The lifting part I enjoyed, I got through most rounds, the last round I didn't brace properly and bailed on an overhead squat. The running made this just out of my wheel house. I need to work on my running and this was a helpful reminder. I ended up walking some because I simply could not breathe, I am pretty sure I let myself get worked out and forget about breathing, and then panic and have a crazy breathing pattern. And as you can see from the title, my new lulu pants did not help me in any way. They are said to "reduce bounce" which just means theyre tight...but they are super cute, so I hope I at least looked stylish trudging up and down that hill. So from what I hear we have some more hellacious workouts coming up, so I am gearing up for this week.
Friday, October 22, 2010
#WIN!
Small victory...I tried on and purchased a dress thinking it was a large....got home and it was a 4!!!!
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This past week...
Oh geez it's been a while. This week felt crazy, though it was a short work week technically, but I just got yesterday off so I recharged and am preparing myself to work basically the rest of this month. Last month with close out, I worked 12 hour days the last week of the month, and diet and exercise fell off, but I won't let myself do that this month, I prepped food that will last me at least through the weekend, and then will go from there with next week's meals. I am finding it very necessary this week to eat clean as I have put on a few lbs...(which also makes pull ups/push ups etc harder) and have had very low energy. After my day off I feel a bit recharged, so we shall see how the week goes.
This week felt good in terms of workouts. The beginning of the week we were gung ho about getting all the group exercise classes at work done. We took Body Step on Saturday. I am not a step person, not because I am uncoordinated, I just dislike it, but the instructor was great so she made it almost fun. We took Total Body Conditioning Monday, which was more my speed, there were 12 stations, and we did 3 rounds of a minute at each station. I may make another appearance there just to switch things up. We did Body Flow on Tuesday which is a fusion of yoga pilates and tai chi. I forgot how much I actually enjoy that class, it is a nice stretch combined with some flowy almost dancey things, and have plans to take it again with another coworker.
I am enjoying crossfit a lot this week. They hosted the Pendlay Olympic lifting seminar on Saturday which I was sorry to miss, but this week and for the next six weeks we have been focusing on oly lifts a lot. I went on Sunday and the lift was front squats and then we did the most miserable amrap that involved squat cleans which made me want to vom after all the heavy front squats we did so I sucked it up, but I was impressed that after the long day I had Saturday that ended with 2am hot dogs in Raleigh I was even up and at em enough for class.
Wednesday we worked on snatches for the lift which I worked on comfortably at 53# for 20 reps. The workout after that was 21-15-9 overhead squats, pull ups and push ups. None of that was working for me, so I probably should have stayed in bed like I wanted to but oh well.
Yesterday we worked on split jerks, which are just unnatural to me. I worked up to 95 and stayed there. I can complete regular jerks comfortably there, but we figured out that I was jumping forward rather than just down, so working on that, and then followed with front squats and worked up to 150. The wod was 5 rounds of 15 hang power cleans and burpees. Goodness I hate burpees, but I was able to complete the last round unbroken. I asked John if it was normal to have a bruise from the cleans, he said yes, but when I showed him it was only on one leg we figured my form needs a little evaluation.
Today we worked on snatches again. I started with 53, and then a boy asked me to switch bars with him. I normally use a women's bar (33#) for snatches because I can build with real plates from a lower starting weight, but when I switched I jumped to 65#. He told me to brag about lifting more than a boy...so here you go. Working at 65 was a little wierd because the bar is a bit thicker than I ever use, but I finally got it after a little bit. My landing was a bit wobbly so Stew had me focus on catching my balance and then squatting, then putting the movements together, and working on never looking down, not even to put your hands on the bar, which was harder. I got a few more solid ones and then stopped at a pretty good one. The wod was a 12 minute amrap of pull ups, push ups and double unders. The first round I did amazingly then promptly slowed down, so I just need to work on pacing. I probably could have worked a bit quicker, just a mental thing/my arms didn't want to work all the time. I may have miscounted, but I counted 6 rounds (I'm just confused because I thought I was a round behind Renee who had 6, but she did too many double unders). I took the most glorious nap ever, and then made it to work. I will be at work all weekend, so will miss the workouts, but have big plans to do some endurance stuff.
Can I also mention how excited I am about the opportunity to wear my sweater dresses (though I don't like the cold weather). I am not so excited about pants but maybe some clean eating with perk me up about that.
This week felt good in terms of workouts. The beginning of the week we were gung ho about getting all the group exercise classes at work done. We took Body Step on Saturday. I am not a step person, not because I am uncoordinated, I just dislike it, but the instructor was great so she made it almost fun. We took Total Body Conditioning Monday, which was more my speed, there were 12 stations, and we did 3 rounds of a minute at each station. I may make another appearance there just to switch things up. We did Body Flow on Tuesday which is a fusion of yoga pilates and tai chi. I forgot how much I actually enjoy that class, it is a nice stretch combined with some flowy almost dancey things, and have plans to take it again with another coworker.
I am enjoying crossfit a lot this week. They hosted the Pendlay Olympic lifting seminar on Saturday which I was sorry to miss, but this week and for the next six weeks we have been focusing on oly lifts a lot. I went on Sunday and the lift was front squats and then we did the most miserable amrap that involved squat cleans which made me want to vom after all the heavy front squats we did so I sucked it up, but I was impressed that after the long day I had Saturday that ended with 2am hot dogs in Raleigh I was even up and at em enough for class.
Wednesday we worked on snatches for the lift which I worked on comfortably at 53# for 20 reps. The workout after that was 21-15-9 overhead squats, pull ups and push ups. None of that was working for me, so I probably should have stayed in bed like I wanted to but oh well.
Yesterday we worked on split jerks, which are just unnatural to me. I worked up to 95 and stayed there. I can complete regular jerks comfortably there, but we figured out that I was jumping forward rather than just down, so working on that, and then followed with front squats and worked up to 150. The wod was 5 rounds of 15 hang power cleans and burpees. Goodness I hate burpees, but I was able to complete the last round unbroken. I asked John if it was normal to have a bruise from the cleans, he said yes, but when I showed him it was only on one leg we figured my form needs a little evaluation.
Today we worked on snatches again. I started with 53, and then a boy asked me to switch bars with him. I normally use a women's bar (33#) for snatches because I can build with real plates from a lower starting weight, but when I switched I jumped to 65#. He told me to brag about lifting more than a boy...so here you go. Working at 65 was a little wierd because the bar is a bit thicker than I ever use, but I finally got it after a little bit. My landing was a bit wobbly so Stew had me focus on catching my balance and then squatting, then putting the movements together, and working on never looking down, not even to put your hands on the bar, which was harder. I got a few more solid ones and then stopped at a pretty good one. The wod was a 12 minute amrap of pull ups, push ups and double unders. The first round I did amazingly then promptly slowed down, so I just need to work on pacing. I probably could have worked a bit quicker, just a mental thing/my arms didn't want to work all the time. I may have miscounted, but I counted 6 rounds (I'm just confused because I thought I was a round behind Renee who had 6, but she did too many double unders). I took the most glorious nap ever, and then made it to work. I will be at work all weekend, so will miss the workouts, but have big plans to do some endurance stuff.
Can I also mention how excited I am about the opportunity to wear my sweater dresses (though I don't like the cold weather). I am not so excited about pants but maybe some clean eating with perk me up about that.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
JOY!
I have started several different posts about this week, but I am in a little bit of a funk. Crossfit has been going okay, but at work we have to take all the classes on our group fitness schedule by the end of the month, which means 18 classes in 18 days. The part I struggle with is the fact that I am not "in shape" enough to breeze through all of them, and even though I have been taking exercising twice daily all week, I am still 2 pounds heavier than my most recent "heavy" weight. So instead of wallowing in it, I am finding joy in the little things.
-I was able to snatch 83 pounds. It was a pr, and just made me happy to think about throwing elementary school Lindsay in the air, and catching her over my head in a full squat. That is awesome if you ask me.
-I really like workouts with cleans in them, I didn't think they were my best lift, but maybe. I feel strong when I can rep them out. My working weight in them seems to be a higher percentage of my 1RM, or maybe I have a ridiculous 1RM I have yet to find.
-Yesterday Ron and I ended up at the same crossfit class. We are both friends with John (my husband), who is strong and fast and awesome. He can eat whatever he wants and lose weight. Ron and I don't have that luxury, (though he is strong and fast and awesome as well). Ron is also a hard worker, and his own hype man, so when we got to ring dips at the same time and repped them out it was fun, as before that I was splitting them up, but with Ron counting, I knew I couldn't stop.
-Today we get to take zumba, which I am fit and coordinated enough for, it is pretty wrong that I am excited to see the boys outside of their comfort zone.
I will find more. (cause I am awesome)
-I was able to snatch 83 pounds. It was a pr, and just made me happy to think about throwing elementary school Lindsay in the air, and catching her over my head in a full squat. That is awesome if you ask me.
-I really like workouts with cleans in them, I didn't think they were my best lift, but maybe. I feel strong when I can rep them out. My working weight in them seems to be a higher percentage of my 1RM, or maybe I have a ridiculous 1RM I have yet to find.
-Yesterday Ron and I ended up at the same crossfit class. We are both friends with John (my husband), who is strong and fast and awesome. He can eat whatever he wants and lose weight. Ron and I don't have that luxury, (though he is strong and fast and awesome as well). Ron is also a hard worker, and his own hype man, so when we got to ring dips at the same time and repped them out it was fun, as before that I was splitting them up, but with Ron counting, I knew I couldn't stop.
-Today we get to take zumba, which I am fit and coordinated enough for, it is pretty wrong that I am excited to see the boys outside of their comfort zone.
I will find more. (cause I am awesome)
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Hi.
If you knew all the things going through my head during a wod, you would wonder how I even finished in the time it takes me. I come from a dance background where you think about the music and the story and just living through the music, even with dance team competitions you think about where you need to attack and breathe and lines and spacing (and face). This is nothing like how you need to prepare for crossfit. Today during my workout I was thinking about how much my back hurt, how much I couldn't breathe, and how slow I was going.
Today's strength work was deadlifts. I like deadlifts normally. Today wasn't that day, I miscalculated in my warm up sets (I am sensing a trend) and then had to make up ground to get to my working sets. Once I got there I had to drop back down. I am not sure where I finished, I dropped from 195, so I think I was working around 175, though it felt much heavier than the warm up I did at 165, so who knows. The workout was 21-15-9 deadlifts at 50% 1RM, and box jumps. I used 125 for the workout, as my previous 1rep max was 255. Dave said this workout should feel something like Fran (21-15-9 thrusters and pull ups) with nothing left in the tank at the end. I paused in the first set of deadlifts twice, the second set twice, and the third set once. My box jumps were nothing like consecutive, and while I was spent at the end, I know there was a bit left in the tank. Dave said I just need to get my mind right because I am able to do more (did I mention I took a water break), but for some reason, when I am in the middle of a workout I feel like I can't keep going cause I can't breathe or my back hurts, or my hands hurt or whatever excuse I can come up with.
I'm giving myself the two months till the challenge to quit the negative thoughts. I'm thinking I might start working out only to the Rocky IV soundtrack so I think about Rocky running through snow and carrying logs, which makes 45 deadlifts seem like nothing. I am also applying this focus to my diet as it has been poor the past few days. I am pretty bored with my usual spaghetti squash with sauce and need to think up new options. I am out of town this weekend, so this was my last workout of this week, but next week I am back at it better than ever!
Today's strength work was deadlifts. I like deadlifts normally. Today wasn't that day, I miscalculated in my warm up sets (I am sensing a trend) and then had to make up ground to get to my working sets. Once I got there I had to drop back down. I am not sure where I finished, I dropped from 195, so I think I was working around 175, though it felt much heavier than the warm up I did at 165, so who knows. The workout was 21-15-9 deadlifts at 50% 1RM, and box jumps. I used 125 for the workout, as my previous 1rep max was 255. Dave said this workout should feel something like Fran (21-15-9 thrusters and pull ups) with nothing left in the tank at the end. I paused in the first set of deadlifts twice, the second set twice, and the third set once. My box jumps were nothing like consecutive, and while I was spent at the end, I know there was a bit left in the tank. Dave said I just need to get my mind right because I am able to do more (did I mention I took a water break), but for some reason, when I am in the middle of a workout I feel like I can't keep going cause I can't breathe or my back hurts, or my hands hurt or whatever excuse I can come up with.
I'm giving myself the two months till the challenge to quit the negative thoughts. I'm thinking I might start working out only to the Rocky IV soundtrack so I think about Rocky running through snow and carrying logs, which makes 45 deadlifts seem like nothing. I am also applying this focus to my diet as it has been poor the past few days. I am pretty bored with my usual spaghetti squash with sauce and need to think up new options. I am out of town this weekend, so this was my last workout of this week, but next week I am back at it better than ever!
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
are you gonna swing that?
Monday's workout brought front squats, kettlebell swings and running. On Sunday night I overhear John making plans to ride with Ron to 8:30 crossfit (which he knows is my class of choice). I told him we could ride together, but then when he didn't wake up on time on Monday morning, I regretted that decision. We arrived a bit tardy with the class already warming up. I jumped in (literally, for double unders) and then tried to do a little bit more. I am usually the last one lifting, probably cause I like to take long breaks, so I don't like to start too late. The strength work was finding a new 1 RM in front squats. I worked pretty well through the warm up sets of 3 and then got to my onesies. I was having trouble with my math, but had a goal of 180 as a new 1RM. I did sets of one at what I thought was 150 but was really 140. I got a little worked up and worried about 165, but hit that, but by then everyone was setting up for the wod. I only really had time for one more lift. Ideally I would have done 175 and then 180, but picked up the 180, got scared, screamed and put the weight down. Sigh...I guess next time. It is frustrating because it is all mental, for some reason it is scary to me to fail on them, but it is just about the failure, not a fear of getting hurt, because I know I won't get stuck under the bar (like I have in back squats)
The metcon was 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 heavy kettlebell swings and running 50 meters (though the 50 meter mark was half way to the 200 meter mark). Prescribed swings were 52. I felt like I could do it, one of the new guys looked at my kettlebell and asked if I was gonna swing that, so then I knew I could do it. But on the 8 round, I had to drop it, so I dropped to an unmarked kettlebell, which we are thinking was probably 44, but then I went back up on the 5 round. Next time all 52. My hip and back have been out of whack lately. I have been getting adjustments, icing and foam rolling but I guess not enough, so things like KB swings, wall balls, and olympic lifts aggravate it. I am thinking adding more core work will help but we shall see. I also had trouble breathing through this. While I am not a strong runner, I think this may be cold related. I have been developing something that won't turn in to a full fledged sickness, but have a headache that won't quit, and sore throat. It is not enough to take medicine, just feel a bit crappy. I took this morning off in favor of more sleep, so hopefully I can kick it by tomorrow.
The metcon was 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 heavy kettlebell swings and running 50 meters (though the 50 meter mark was half way to the 200 meter mark). Prescribed swings were 52. I felt like I could do it, one of the new guys looked at my kettlebell and asked if I was gonna swing that, so then I knew I could do it. But on the 8 round, I had to drop it, so I dropped to an unmarked kettlebell, which we are thinking was probably 44, but then I went back up on the 5 round. Next time all 52. My hip and back have been out of whack lately. I have been getting adjustments, icing and foam rolling but I guess not enough, so things like KB swings, wall balls, and olympic lifts aggravate it. I am thinking adding more core work will help but we shall see. I also had trouble breathing through this. While I am not a strong runner, I think this may be cold related. I have been developing something that won't turn in to a full fledged sickness, but have a headache that won't quit, and sore throat. It is not enough to take medicine, just feel a bit crappy. I took this morning off in favor of more sleep, so hopefully I can kick it by tomorrow.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
that trick Cindy...
This morning I woke up feeling like I got run over. Just about every muscle in my upper body is sore, my lower body is kinda sore, and my throat was also sore. The muscle pain I know for sure is from that trick Cindy. That workout is as many rounds as possible (AMRAP) in 20 minutes of 5 pull ups, 10 push ups, 15 squats. I am not a fan of bodyweight exercises as I feel I have more of it to move. My PR on the board for Cindy was 7 rounds, because I couldn't get consecutive pull ups. My goal for yesterday was 10 rounds, and I came up just shy at 9 rounds and 5 pull ups. My pull ups felt great, I did at least the first set unbroken. Push ups were ugly, but I did them, they certainly took up the most time for me and were my limiting factor today. Squats are squats, I hate them but can do them okay. After the wod I also worked on overhead squats, so I am not really sure the cause of my soreness, could even be Friday's work for all I know.
I woke up late on Saturday to workout because Friday I went to bed late, and as a result ate probably the worst preworkout meal ever (pasta in a sort of creamy sauce) which always makes me think of Michael Scott eating fettucine alfredo and then running a 5k and almost dying. So I figured the rest of the day would be my last hurrah for crappy eating. I got some nachos, and John and I went to Shiki for dinner for some amazing sushi. John is still medium about sushi (but he loves me so he took me) so we got more tempura rolls and those always seem to have more spicy mayo which my stomach does not like (but boy is it good). This morning I am pretty sure I felt the effects of that, but at least the need for it is out of my system. I did my prep work for healthy eating this week, so I will be on track with it, with no excuses.
I actually signed up for the challenge yesterday, and am oddly getting excited. I certainly have a lot of work to do, but I am looking forward to it. My goal this year is to complete all the workouts (last year I DNFd on one because it took me longer than the allotted time period). But it gives me focus, and something to work up to.
Later gators!
I woke up late on Saturday to workout because Friday I went to bed late, and as a result ate probably the worst preworkout meal ever (pasta in a sort of creamy sauce) which always makes me think of Michael Scott eating fettucine alfredo and then running a 5k and almost dying. So I figured the rest of the day would be my last hurrah for crappy eating. I got some nachos, and John and I went to Shiki for dinner for some amazing sushi. John is still medium about sushi (but he loves me so he took me) so we got more tempura rolls and those always seem to have more spicy mayo which my stomach does not like (but boy is it good). This morning I am pretty sure I felt the effects of that, but at least the need for it is out of my system. I did my prep work for healthy eating this week, so I will be on track with it, with no excuses.
I actually signed up for the challenge yesterday, and am oddly getting excited. I certainly have a lot of work to do, but I am looking forward to it. My goal this year is to complete all the workouts (last year I DNFd on one because it took me longer than the allotted time period). But it gives me focus, and something to work up to.
Later gators!
Friday, October 1, 2010
...and I'm back!!
After my fight gone bad fiasco, John suggested I take a week off, I thought he was a bit off on that, but 4 consecutive 12 hour days did not make waking up at 5:30 am easier to get there at 6:15. But today was the day, the start of a new month is always a little more motiviating.
This morning I was a tad tardier than I like to be, so I only got through a few push ups before Stew announced group warm up. We did some med ball drills (dislike) and then were ready to work. Today's strength work was the snatch. With snatch I don't always follow the prescribed sets (not gonna lie) but I was pretty close today, we did sets of 3 reps at 40, 50, 60 and 75, and then 5 reps at 90% of 1RM. My recorded 1RM is 78. I did a few reps with the 33# bar, then added tens to start my sets at 53. Everytime I start these I am reminded that I need to work on my overhead squat, but after a few attempts I felt more comfortable and got my stride. I completed my 5 reps at 73, and they felt okay, so I was happy. What was to be my 5th rep got shaky so I did another and finished on a good note. The wod was Annie, 50-40-30-20-10 of double unders and situps. I did okay, I was shooting for sub 10 but got 10:17 which I believe is still a pr for me. Double unders were not so bad, though sit ups were slow. I enjoy the 6:15 class because there are more people to keep pace with, if only it meant getting more sleep.
I have also decided to do the Carolina Crossfit Challenge in December. I'm not doing this because I think I will beat everyone, but because it is a good time. Last year I competed and did clean and jerks for the first time with 95 pounds, and toes to bar for the first time in a wod. It was a good time and after I felt more motivated and encouraged. This year I hope to just complete the wods, and give myself something to work toward. The days when I don't feel encouraged to eat clean I can think about that and have a little bit of a push.
This morning I was a tad tardier than I like to be, so I only got through a few push ups before Stew announced group warm up. We did some med ball drills (dislike) and then were ready to work. Today's strength work was the snatch. With snatch I don't always follow the prescribed sets (not gonna lie) but I was pretty close today, we did sets of 3 reps at 40, 50, 60 and 75, and then 5 reps at 90% of 1RM. My recorded 1RM is 78. I did a few reps with the 33# bar, then added tens to start my sets at 53. Everytime I start these I am reminded that I need to work on my overhead squat, but after a few attempts I felt more comfortable and got my stride. I completed my 5 reps at 73, and they felt okay, so I was happy. What was to be my 5th rep got shaky so I did another and finished on a good note. The wod was Annie, 50-40-30-20-10 of double unders and situps. I did okay, I was shooting for sub 10 but got 10:17 which I believe is still a pr for me. Double unders were not so bad, though sit ups were slow. I enjoy the 6:15 class because there are more people to keep pace with, if only it meant getting more sleep.
I have also decided to do the Carolina Crossfit Challenge in December. I'm not doing this because I think I will beat everyone, but because it is a good time. Last year I competed and did clean and jerks for the first time with 95 pounds, and toes to bar for the first time in a wod. It was a good time and after I felt more motivated and encouraged. This year I hope to just complete the wods, and give myself something to work toward. The days when I don't feel encouraged to eat clean I can think about that and have a little bit of a push.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
my fight gone [very] bad
So today was fight gone bad. My two year anniversary if you will as this was my first bench mark. We didn't have issued notebooks then but I remember thinking I could remember everything I've done so I remember my score of 197 vividly cause I thought about it often. I also remember the day cause its the day after my friend Denise's birthday and we talked about it at dinner that night....
But today. I've been thinking about it often as it is reasonable to think of this benchmark as my true benchmark and judge my progress on this one wod. But having completed this wod with the poor score of 191 I am over the initial shock of my fail and beginning to rationalize with myself. I had two things going for me...1. I have had a pretty good week at crossfit, pullups felt good, I wasn't last every day and I was just feeling better in general, 2. I enjoyed my outfit today. But several signs pointed to poor performance... 1. Nutrition this week has been poor. Ice cream and pasta have both made appearances and I have not been properly hydrating. 2. I kept either procrastinating or getting bumped from heats so it was maybe a couple hours from having warmed up to actually working out. 3. This is what john thinks is my biggest issue today but I went in to it with a poor attitude. After waiting so long I was over it. I didn't want to do it and kept saying so throughout the wod. I had no drive to pushed through and was the queen of breaktaking all over. It was rough. But it is motivating to get my diet back on track and work on my self talk and positive thinking. I hope my bathroom sink can support my weight cause I am hopping right on up there to tell myself how awesome I am!
But today. I've been thinking about it often as it is reasonable to think of this benchmark as my true benchmark and judge my progress on this one wod. But having completed this wod with the poor score of 191 I am over the initial shock of my fail and beginning to rationalize with myself. I had two things going for me...1. I have had a pretty good week at crossfit, pullups felt good, I wasn't last every day and I was just feeling better in general, 2. I enjoyed my outfit today. But several signs pointed to poor performance... 1. Nutrition this week has been poor. Ice cream and pasta have both made appearances and I have not been properly hydrating. 2. I kept either procrastinating or getting bumped from heats so it was maybe a couple hours from having warmed up to actually working out. 3. This is what john thinks is my biggest issue today but I went in to it with a poor attitude. After waiting so long I was over it. I didn't want to do it and kept saying so throughout the wod. I had no drive to pushed through and was the queen of breaktaking all over. It was rough. But it is motivating to get my diet back on track and work on my self talk and positive thinking. I hope my bathroom sink can support my weight cause I am hopping right on up there to tell myself how awesome I am!
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Friday, September 24, 2010
to catch up...
Since last week's fiasco, I have been taking it easy. I took a rest day the next day, and then Friday just went to open gym to work on pull ups which didn't work out so well for me. I spent time this weekend with family in Pennsylvania, which meant that diet went out the window as my family is not exactly pro paleo, and no workouts got done.
Started back on Tuesday, and we had front squats for strength work, and double unders and push ups for the wod. Back in April, I PRd my front squat at 175, but haven't been able to get back to that since, I have been working off 165, and Tuesday was the first day I was able to finish all of my sets at the proper percentages for 165. I finished with 5 sets at 150 and was happy with that. The wod, was tiring, as push ups kill your arms and then you are unable to use them for double unders, but I made it with 7 rounds.
Wednesday, I went in the afternoon and the strength work was clean and jerks. Somehow I always miss cleans for strength days, always. My previous max on clean and jerks was 115, my jerk is 130, and the last time my limiting factor was the clean, I need to get some open gym time on that, but am only reminded of that when we work on clean and jerks, or cleans in a wod. I was able to get 120 up, though it was shaky. I stopped there as I didn't think form was too great and didn't want to injure myself. The wod was an every minute on the minute three dumbbell cleans, and three split jerks. I completed it as RXd.
I was reminded to write by looking at the lovely scabs on my forearms from rubbing against the ropes on the rings. We worked on weighted dips, of which I was able to do negatives and some banded work. The wod from yesterday was 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 heavy KB swings and ring dips. I used a 44# bell, as my back was tight from clean and jerks, and didn't want to pop my hip out again (RX was 52), and a blue band. I finished in 8:02.
Tomorrow is exciting as it is what I consider my 2 year anniversary.(with crossfit)
Started back on Tuesday, and we had front squats for strength work, and double unders and push ups for the wod. Back in April, I PRd my front squat at 175, but haven't been able to get back to that since, I have been working off 165, and Tuesday was the first day I was able to finish all of my sets at the proper percentages for 165. I finished with 5 sets at 150 and was happy with that. The wod, was tiring, as push ups kill your arms and then you are unable to use them for double unders, but I made it with 7 rounds.
Wednesday, I went in the afternoon and the strength work was clean and jerks. Somehow I always miss cleans for strength days, always. My previous max on clean and jerks was 115, my jerk is 130, and the last time my limiting factor was the clean, I need to get some open gym time on that, but am only reminded of that when we work on clean and jerks, or cleans in a wod. I was able to get 120 up, though it was shaky. I stopped there as I didn't think form was too great and didn't want to injure myself. The wod was an every minute on the minute three dumbbell cleans, and three split jerks. I completed it as RXd.
I was reminded to write by looking at the lovely scabs on my forearms from rubbing against the ropes on the rings. We worked on weighted dips, of which I was able to do negatives and some banded work. The wod from yesterday was 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 heavy KB swings and ring dips. I used a 44# bell, as my back was tight from clean and jerks, and didn't want to pop my hip out again (RX was 52), and a blue band. I finished in 8:02.
Tomorrow is exciting as it is what I consider my 2 year anniversary.(with crossfit)
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
First Post!
I am approaching my two year anniversary with crossfit...and today I had what felt like my worst workout ever. And by worst, I mean tears (crocodile ones), hyperventilating, long break taking, and oddly enough an ear that kept popping.
The workout, though terrible, seemed manageable enough. Coach Ashley reminded us to think only about the exercise we were on, and not what was left to accomplish... easy enough, no?
Nutts:
10 Handstand Pushups
15 deadlifts (prescribed weight 185, I did 95 due to injury)
25 tall box jumps, I used a shorter one for some of them to keep it moving
50 pull ups (where things started to fall apart...I couldn't manage many consecutive pull ups so went to the band, which made me sad)
100 wall balls (with hip issues I couldn't manage a full squat, so I just did partials)
200 double unders
400 m run with plate.
The pull ups took forever. The wall balls as expected took awhile, but toward the end of not going into a full squat, (my hip has been acting out, due to overzealousness in performing splits in yoga) I felt like I was just cheating. The double unders caused things to get crazy. I think I am pretty good at them, my cardiovascular endurance is another story. When I am fresh they come fine, when tired they are few and far between. I got through them in maybe 10-15 sets...maybe, and then the "run". I walked, couldn't get comfortable with my plate, thought more and more about how pitiful I was, and then came the waterworks.
I am thankful Ashley was there to talk to, cause I was a hot mess! It is amazing how one single workout, can make you feel like you are in the worst shape of your life. I felt like I would be further along in my two years of crossfitting than I am, but am working on embracing my accomplishments, and working toward my goals. We talked about giving myself a chance to hit the restart. I am going to assess where I am now, set some goals for 2010, and do work! I signed up for crossfit because it is fun, and need not let it stress me out. My blog will serve as a means to me to chronicle goals (writing them down is the first step) and progress (the actual work), vent frustrations to prevent tears, and shout my accomplishments from the rooftops!
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