Just when I was getting back into running, they pull me back out. And by "they", I mean my legs. I am trying a different approach though, and hope to be back on the pathways soon, like in 2-4 weeks. This has been rough, but at least I can still do crossfit, as long as I don't jump. Drat, no burpees for me. I am so sad. No, really!
Had a great last week at Crossfit, strangely loving every WOD. From pull-ups to wall balls, box step-ups, rowing, cleans, snatches and all the other "they sound dirty, but they're really fun" workouts, I am having a blast. I can only get stronger, and that will help my legs. David, my RMT, is also a crossfit coach, so he's doing his best to a) heal me, and b) teach me how to do these things properly so I don't fight the same injury down the road. Sweet...because I want to keep being a Box-Rat, and I have about 12 races in the immediate future!!!
Yes, every year I say I'm going to cut back, and every year I get excited and sucked in and sign up! I did sell my Hypo bib because I knew I was too injured to run it. The lady I sold it to is awesome, and had a really strong race. After scoring a bib from someone else, I did make it in to have brunch with everyone. What an awesome, and awe-inspiring crowd. Speaking of...when people ask why I run, I will now answer with this: today was a new 8k race called Chase the Chicks, and while I didn't register, I did know some people running it. While out for my walk down at Eau Claire (I really don't know what to do with myself on Sunday mornings other than show up at Eau Claire to run/walk/crawl), I came across the race route in time to cheer on the runners, so I stood with the marshal and we cheered, handed out high-fives and chatted about racing and such. Along came a lone runner, near the back, and she was limping pretty good. We both asked if she was okay and needed help, and she said no thanks. You see, 2 years ago she was in a race and was hit by a truck. After spending 5 weeks in a coma, and having since relearned how to walk...talk...swallow...and generally live, she decided she had to get back to racing and thought this would be a great start!! I will never bitch about my legs again...tears were shed, hugs were handed out and I have immense respect for a lady I don't even know. So strong is she.
So, between March 17th and October 14th, I have 1 10k, 5 Halfs, 3 marathons, 1 Ultra (50k), 1 29k trail race and 2 5k obstacle races. And people are still trying to talk me into other events. And let's face it...I'm rather easy when it comes right down to it!! Poor David has his work cut out for him, but he knows how stubborn I can be.
Okay...I have to do my homework for physio, and then to bed. Where did the weekend go???
Keep moving!
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Improvement and challenges
Another week of great WODs in the books. I am seriously addicted to Crossfit. Seriously...
Monday: Intervals...after warm-up and practice, we got into the WOD. A simple 10 minute exercise, with 1 minute on, 1 minute off, 2 rounds, add up total reps = 228 for me. KBS 18#, Push-press 40#, jumping lunges, hand release push-ups and squats. Needed this after a seriously crappy day at work...took a lot of self control not to get up and walk out. Happy to see my chiro, as my left knee is fine but now my right hip is acting up (over compensating, I guess) - love the shooting pain down my leg, but Tyler did an awesome job and beat it back into submission. And I really think the squats helped.
Tuesday: first class of the Half clinic. Currently 73 signed up, with more signing up every day. Take that every Running Room across Canada!! Eau Claire rocks! I'm pacing the 2:30 to finish group, which is HUGE. Got to figure out my pace and how I'm going to handle them all. Did a 4.5k Tempo run, to get everyone into the swing of things. Before running though, I went and had my physiograph at Crossfit (in preparation for Saturday's weight challenge). While the # on the scale didn't surprise me, nor the fat pounds/%, I was pleasantly surprised/pleased with my pounds of muscle. Higher than normal, thank you very much! Long and short of it is 1400 calories a day, with one "cheat" day a week. Let's see what I can do with those 98 lbs of fat!
Wednesday: run club Tempo run. Same as Tuesday, but slightly better as we all knew what to do this time around. Enjoyed my pint and chicken tacos, and was very pleased to see that they still fit in my new calorie plan! Sweet!!
Thursday: still crabby at work, but just breathe...but once again, tonight's WOD helped me rid some frustrations. It was a throw-back to the Open, which I now really respect those athletes. In 12 minutes, get as far as you can: 150 wall balls (started with 10#, but after 30 I had to drop to 8#), 90 double-unders (or 270 single skips!) and 40 muscle ups (or 3 pull-ups/3 dips for each). I managed, in the 12 minutes to do 123 wall balls. Period. Good lord...Went home exhausted!!
Friday: 12 minutes of Power Snatches (I know I'm a Crossfitter when I can say this without giggling...mmph...she said "snatch"...) and OH squats (1 each, per minute). Seems easy, but by minute 10, I was getting very tired. And then, for time, a good old 21-15-9. KTEs followed by box jumps (16"). Almost tripped over the box once (caught a toe, but recovered) and my knees actually moved towards my elbows...improvement!!!
Saturday: weight challenge meeting at 8am. Buddied up, talked planning, water and what to expect over the next 8 weeks. I am pumped. Then 9am class: Team WOD - I really like these...they are fun and hard and did I mention fun? We did (teams of 5) relay races of bear crawls around the box, followed by thrusters (2 members working, other 3 holding plank) till 5 minutes is up, then relay races of 10 burpees each, then KBS while the rest of the group hung from the pull-up bar. You couldn't just drop off either...you had to arrange to swap off with a team-mate. This was a very hard 5 minutes!! Next 5 minutes had us do a farmer's walk (carrying kettlebells in each hand around the box), followed by MB sit-ups, while the others held MB overhead. Last 5 minute portion started with relay wheelbarrow, followed by MB cleans while the team skipped. It was "only" 20 minutes, but we were all gasping for air by the end. Went for breakfast with J. & M., as we were all heading back for the PR Challenge tune-up at noon. This was awesome as Coach went through every move of the PR challenge and broke it down for us, to help us with form, speed and improving our overall times. I even got off the box at the pull-up bars! Right now I need 2 bands, but still a huge improvement over jumping pull-ups. Feeling them today, let me tell you though!!
This morning was LSD Sunday (sounds so bad, but it just means long, slow distance) with 7k on the schedule for the group. Of course, the temps plummeted over night, and we woke up to -18c. I, for marathon training, should be running 13k, so planned on meeting a friend at 7:15. run an hour, grab the group at 8:30 like normal and finish the 7k run. However, 7:15 bailed, so I ran with the group and then planned on another 6k after. Made a mistake by coming inside with the group, so when I went back outside (just a minute or two later), I was frozen and tired and turned around almost immediately. Oh well...next week, I just won't stop!!
Picked up lots of fresh veggies, fruit and meat at the grocery store this afternoon. Going to dabble in Paleo...not completely sold but am keeping an open mind. Heck, something's gotta work to shake things up around here. It is an interesting visit to the store when you don't pick up anything in the dairy, cereal, bakery, pasta, Mexican or Asian aisles!! Did find coconut oil though, so I'm anxious to try it. Cooked up my chicken breast for lunch tomorrow - yes, breakfast, snacks and lunch are packed and ready to roll! Sweet!
Time for bed, as yet another week of work beckons. Be still, my heart. But it also means a week of new WODs to look forward to!!
Monday: Intervals...after warm-up and practice, we got into the WOD. A simple 10 minute exercise, with 1 minute on, 1 minute off, 2 rounds, add up total reps = 228 for me. KBS 18#, Push-press 40#, jumping lunges, hand release push-ups and squats. Needed this after a seriously crappy day at work...took a lot of self control not to get up and walk out. Happy to see my chiro, as my left knee is fine but now my right hip is acting up (over compensating, I guess) - love the shooting pain down my leg, but Tyler did an awesome job and beat it back into submission. And I really think the squats helped.
Tuesday: first class of the Half clinic. Currently 73 signed up, with more signing up every day. Take that every Running Room across Canada!! Eau Claire rocks! I'm pacing the 2:30 to finish group, which is HUGE. Got to figure out my pace and how I'm going to handle them all. Did a 4.5k Tempo run, to get everyone into the swing of things. Before running though, I went and had my physiograph at Crossfit (in preparation for Saturday's weight challenge). While the # on the scale didn't surprise me, nor the fat pounds/%, I was pleasantly surprised/pleased with my pounds of muscle. Higher than normal, thank you very much! Long and short of it is 1400 calories a day, with one "cheat" day a week. Let's see what I can do with those 98 lbs of fat!
Wednesday: run club Tempo run. Same as Tuesday, but slightly better as we all knew what to do this time around. Enjoyed my pint and chicken tacos, and was very pleased to see that they still fit in my new calorie plan! Sweet!!
Thursday: still crabby at work, but just breathe...but once again, tonight's WOD helped me rid some frustrations. It was a throw-back to the Open, which I now really respect those athletes. In 12 minutes, get as far as you can: 150 wall balls (started with 10#, but after 30 I had to drop to 8#), 90 double-unders (or 270 single skips!) and 40 muscle ups (or 3 pull-ups/3 dips for each). I managed, in the 12 minutes to do 123 wall balls. Period. Good lord...Went home exhausted!!
Friday: 12 minutes of Power Snatches (I know I'm a Crossfitter when I can say this without giggling...mmph...she said "snatch"...) and OH squats (1 each, per minute). Seems easy, but by minute 10, I was getting very tired. And then, for time, a good old 21-15-9. KTEs followed by box jumps (16"). Almost tripped over the box once (caught a toe, but recovered) and my knees actually moved towards my elbows...improvement!!!
Saturday: weight challenge meeting at 8am. Buddied up, talked planning, water and what to expect over the next 8 weeks. I am pumped. Then 9am class: Team WOD - I really like these...they are fun and hard and did I mention fun? We did (teams of 5) relay races of bear crawls around the box, followed by thrusters (2 members working, other 3 holding plank) till 5 minutes is up, then relay races of 10 burpees each, then KBS while the rest of the group hung from the pull-up bar. You couldn't just drop off either...you had to arrange to swap off with a team-mate. This was a very hard 5 minutes!! Next 5 minutes had us do a farmer's walk (carrying kettlebells in each hand around the box), followed by MB sit-ups, while the others held MB overhead. Last 5 minute portion started with relay wheelbarrow, followed by MB cleans while the team skipped. It was "only" 20 minutes, but we were all gasping for air by the end. Went for breakfast with J. & M., as we were all heading back for the PR Challenge tune-up at noon. This was awesome as Coach went through every move of the PR challenge and broke it down for us, to help us with form, speed and improving our overall times. I even got off the box at the pull-up bars! Right now I need 2 bands, but still a huge improvement over jumping pull-ups. Feeling them today, let me tell you though!!
This morning was LSD Sunday (sounds so bad, but it just means long, slow distance) with 7k on the schedule for the group. Of course, the temps plummeted over night, and we woke up to -18c. I, for marathon training, should be running 13k, so planned on meeting a friend at 7:15. run an hour, grab the group at 8:30 like normal and finish the 7k run. However, 7:15 bailed, so I ran with the group and then planned on another 6k after. Made a mistake by coming inside with the group, so when I went back outside (just a minute or two later), I was frozen and tired and turned around almost immediately. Oh well...next week, I just won't stop!!
Picked up lots of fresh veggies, fruit and meat at the grocery store this afternoon. Going to dabble in Paleo...not completely sold but am keeping an open mind. Heck, something's gotta work to shake things up around here. It is an interesting visit to the store when you don't pick up anything in the dairy, cereal, bakery, pasta, Mexican or Asian aisles!! Did find coconut oil though, so I'm anxious to try it. Cooked up my chicken breast for lunch tomorrow - yes, breakfast, snacks and lunch are packed and ready to roll! Sweet!
Time for bed, as yet another week of work beckons. Be still, my heart. But it also means a week of new WODs to look forward to!!
Sunday, January 13, 2013
WOD a week
It's been a really fun week at crossfit. I know, I know...not a lot of people use the words "fun" and "crossfit" in the same sentence, but I'm going to. I honestly enjoy almost everything we do (burpees are still Satan!) and I can sense my improvement in both form and strength, and it doesn't hurt to hear that from Coach and others in the group.
Monday: Super Intro: for time. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this one. Seriously hard but seriously fun. The normal intro is 500/40/30/20/10, but the super is amped up and doubled!
- row 750m
- 60 squats
- 45 sit-ups
- 30 push-ups (knees)
- 15 pull-ups (jumping)
rest for 3 minutes and repeat. My time, with my 3 minute rest, came to just over 25 minutes. But my squats are getting lower, and my pull-ups seem a little easier. Just need to work on kipping and moving up to a band before the next PR challenge in February.
Tuesday: came today, because of Blue Rodeo on Thursday. Today was Death by Push Press. After a lesson on kipping and pull-ups, we did a 2 minute AMRAP of pull-ups, followed by 1 minute intervals of push press. ie: minute 1 = 1 push press, minute 2 = 2 push press, till failure. Once you fail on push press, back on the bars for as many unbroken pull-ups as you can do. I managed 37 jumping pull-ups in my 2 minutes and then got half way through minute 12 (12 reps) of a 40 lb press before failure. Then I think I got all the way up to 8 jumping pull-ups. Shoulders took a beating (nothing Dr. Jay couldn't snap back into place on Wednesday!) but I left with a smile on my face.
Wednesday was run club, so I did a little steady run of just under 5km before a pint and chicken tacos with the gang. Clinic starts on Tuesday, so my running will increase over the next few months leading up to Funcouver in May.
Thursday - weigh-in (down 3), followed by a heavy snowfall in Calgary, and Blue Rodeo. BEST.CONCERT.EVER! So nice that after 25 years, the boys can still sing and laugh and enjoy what they do for a living. Seriously, best.concert.ever. EVER. Okay, maybe the Eagles were a little...nope, like the boys of Blue better! Sweet dreams of Jim singing Try and After the Rain stayed with me all night.
Friday: thankfully my co-worker/tenant decided to help me out by shovelling the walks on Thursday, as I wasn't going to get to them till late tonight. Even getting home from work at 4, I still only managed a brief area before heading off to crossfit. I'll tackle them in earnest on Saturday, since I don't get to "shovel" but have to scrape! Tonight we spent 15 minutes working on our box-jumps. These things are totally mental and if you get in your head, you're doomed!! For probably 5 minutes I stood and stared at the little 12" box but could not get my feet to move off Mother Earth!! Shaking it off (and needing Coach to tell me to get out of my head) I managed to jump 12". Then I added a flat weight for another couple of inches, and worked on that for a bit. Finally another weight, for a total of 16". Tried yet another, but freaked out halfway up and landed with my feet on either side of the box...kind of wish there was video, because the sight of me landing like that while saying NOPE out loud seems pretty damn funny in my head! But I'll take 16", thank you and slowly work my way up to the standard of 20". It was crazy watching one guy jump 51". Yes, FIFTY-ONE INCHES, straight up. I'll be pleased with my 20". After this, we moved on to RFT (reps for time) of 10 front squats (holding said barbell in on your shoulders and full squat) followed by 50 double-unders, which I still cannot do to save my life, so 150 skips for me. Times 3 rounds. My front squats involved a 55 pound bar, which I am proud to say I squatted well with. 30 squats and 450 skips later, and I was done in 8:02. Yay me. And again, a WOD I actually enjoyed doing. Must be the endorphins.
Saturday morning was a team WOD. Did I mention I'm up to 4x a week? Did I mention I love this? Teams of 4 must row a total of 5 km for time, while also doing various workouts to help reduce the time. So, 1 member rows, 2 members do another workout (chose at least 3 of the following: 15 burpee box-jumps (hell no!), 25 medicine ball cleans, 25 KB swings, 20 pull-ups, 100 double-unders (um...no!) or 15 push press), while the fourth member rests. For every 5 or 10 reps OVER the targeted numbers, you earned time to take off your rowing time. So, for example my team finished the 5km in 24 minutes, but with all our push-press (55 lbs), MB cleans and KB swings, we ended up with a finish time of just over 17 minutes. It was great fun, as we worked together to encourage each other and push each other to press just one more or row faster. I love to row, so did 3 rounds of 500m in total, and managed to press about 40 times in total, loads of KB swings (all in the hips) and MB cleans as well. Again, left with a huge smile on my face. It was a great week!
Coffee with some friends followed by an hour on the sidewalks to get rid of the snow and ice, followed by an hour walk to pick up a package at UPS and go to the bank. Came home and had a little nap (I was tired by now) before heading down to see Les Mis (yes, AGAIN, and yay for Anne Hathaway and Hugh Jackman). Still love it, still cried!!! If you haven't seen it yet, go. If you have...go again.
Decided to sleep in today, since it'll my last Sunday to do that until May, with the clinic starting on Tuesday. I toyed with going snow-shoeing with a friend, but maybe next time. My hip is out and bugging me (again, yay for Dr. Jay tomorrow) and I just wanted a lazy day at home. Did go for an hour walk, so I got some fresh air and steps in.
Okay...time to wind down and head to bed. Another week of fun awaits (had a peek at tomorrow's WOD...we're in for more good times. Jumping lunges?!?! Clapping push-ups...AROOO!!).
Monday: Super Intro: for time. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this one. Seriously hard but seriously fun. The normal intro is 500/40/30/20/10, but the super is amped up and doubled!
- row 750m
- 60 squats
- 45 sit-ups
- 30 push-ups (knees)
- 15 pull-ups (jumping)
rest for 3 minutes and repeat. My time, with my 3 minute rest, came to just over 25 minutes. But my squats are getting lower, and my pull-ups seem a little easier. Just need to work on kipping and moving up to a band before the next PR challenge in February.
Tuesday: came today, because of Blue Rodeo on Thursday. Today was Death by Push Press. After a lesson on kipping and pull-ups, we did a 2 minute AMRAP of pull-ups, followed by 1 minute intervals of push press. ie: minute 1 = 1 push press, minute 2 = 2 push press, till failure. Once you fail on push press, back on the bars for as many unbroken pull-ups as you can do. I managed 37 jumping pull-ups in my 2 minutes and then got half way through minute 12 (12 reps) of a 40 lb press before failure. Then I think I got all the way up to 8 jumping pull-ups. Shoulders took a beating (nothing Dr. Jay couldn't snap back into place on Wednesday!) but I left with a smile on my face.
Wednesday was run club, so I did a little steady run of just under 5km before a pint and chicken tacos with the gang. Clinic starts on Tuesday, so my running will increase over the next few months leading up to Funcouver in May.
Thursday - weigh-in (down 3), followed by a heavy snowfall in Calgary, and Blue Rodeo. BEST.CONCERT.EVER! So nice that after 25 years, the boys can still sing and laugh and enjoy what they do for a living. Seriously, best.concert.ever. EVER. Okay, maybe the Eagles were a little...nope, like the boys of Blue better! Sweet dreams of Jim singing Try and After the Rain stayed with me all night.
Friday: thankfully my co-worker/tenant decided to help me out by shovelling the walks on Thursday, as I wasn't going to get to them till late tonight. Even getting home from work at 4, I still only managed a brief area before heading off to crossfit. I'll tackle them in earnest on Saturday, since I don't get to "shovel" but have to scrape! Tonight we spent 15 minutes working on our box-jumps. These things are totally mental and if you get in your head, you're doomed!! For probably 5 minutes I stood and stared at the little 12" box but could not get my feet to move off Mother Earth!! Shaking it off (and needing Coach to tell me to get out of my head) I managed to jump 12". Then I added a flat weight for another couple of inches, and worked on that for a bit. Finally another weight, for a total of 16". Tried yet another, but freaked out halfway up and landed with my feet on either side of the box...kind of wish there was video, because the sight of me landing like that while saying NOPE out loud seems pretty damn funny in my head! But I'll take 16", thank you and slowly work my way up to the standard of 20". It was crazy watching one guy jump 51". Yes, FIFTY-ONE INCHES, straight up. I'll be pleased with my 20". After this, we moved on to RFT (reps for time) of 10 front squats (holding said barbell in on your shoulders and full squat) followed by 50 double-unders, which I still cannot do to save my life, so 150 skips for me. Times 3 rounds. My front squats involved a 55 pound bar, which I am proud to say I squatted well with. 30 squats and 450 skips later, and I was done in 8:02. Yay me. And again, a WOD I actually enjoyed doing. Must be the endorphins.
Saturday morning was a team WOD. Did I mention I'm up to 4x a week? Did I mention I love this? Teams of 4 must row a total of 5 km for time, while also doing various workouts to help reduce the time. So, 1 member rows, 2 members do another workout (chose at least 3 of the following: 15 burpee box-jumps (hell no!), 25 medicine ball cleans, 25 KB swings, 20 pull-ups, 100 double-unders (um...no!) or 15 push press), while the fourth member rests. For every 5 or 10 reps OVER the targeted numbers, you earned time to take off your rowing time. So, for example my team finished the 5km in 24 minutes, but with all our push-press (55 lbs), MB cleans and KB swings, we ended up with a finish time of just over 17 minutes. It was great fun, as we worked together to encourage each other and push each other to press just one more or row faster. I love to row, so did 3 rounds of 500m in total, and managed to press about 40 times in total, loads of KB swings (all in the hips) and MB cleans as well. Again, left with a huge smile on my face. It was a great week!
Coffee with some friends followed by an hour on the sidewalks to get rid of the snow and ice, followed by an hour walk to pick up a package at UPS and go to the bank. Came home and had a little nap (I was tired by now) before heading down to see Les Mis (yes, AGAIN, and yay for Anne Hathaway and Hugh Jackman). Still love it, still cried!!! If you haven't seen it yet, go. If you have...go again.
Decided to sleep in today, since it'll my last Sunday to do that until May, with the clinic starting on Tuesday. I toyed with going snow-shoeing with a friend, but maybe next time. My hip is out and bugging me (again, yay for Dr. Jay tomorrow) and I just wanted a lazy day at home. Did go for an hour walk, so I got some fresh air and steps in.
Okay...time to wind down and head to bed. Another week of fun awaits (had a peek at tomorrow's WOD...we're in for more good times. Jumping lunges?!?! Clapping push-ups...AROOO!!).
Monday, January 7, 2013
Hello 2013
My apologies for being AWOL again...but I have been busy.
How has the first week of 2013 been? Much sweatier than 2012, thank you very much.
I rang in the New Year with 220 some strangers, celebrating the marriage of two friends. I went solo, which probably wasn't the best of ideas, when it turns out that I knew all of 6 people, and two were the bride and groom! But I enjoyed a lovely dinner, hung out till midnight and avoided the battle for a cab by staying at the hotel where the reception was. While I was debating how much more to drink, fate stepped in, with a message from Coach Eric, stating if anyone was interested, he would be at the Box during the day for a workout. Wine glass down, water glass up! I skipped the wedding day brunch and checked out, came home, changed and was at the Box in time to get my a$$ handed to me!!! I knew I was in for a kicking when I walked in, and it was Coach, his wife, mother-in-law (who puts us all to shame!) and another pretty fit cross-fitter ..tried to back out before they saw me, but too late!!! But what better way to greet a new year than with a Filthy Fifty?!
50 reps of each, before moving on. For time:
-box jumps
-jumping pull-ups
-KBS (kettlebell swings) (18 lbs)
-walking lunges (25 each leg)
-KTE (knees to elbows _ HARD)
-push press (35 lbs)
-good mornings (35 lbs)
-wall balls (8 lbs)
-burpees (SATAN!!)
-DUs (double-unders, or in my case, 3 x single skips).
-collapse on ground and gasp for air! Took me just over 37 minutes, but I stuck with it, and am proud that I showed up. Couldn't move for a few days, but proud!
Back to work on Wednesday, and a short steady 4.5 km run after. I need to work on my running, as I'll be pacing for the upcoming Half clinic in a week. While the goal race is Calgary, I'll be running the Vancouver marathon earlier, so will adjust my Sunday training accordingly. Dinner of Guinness and chicken tacos...it was nice to be back at Barley Mill, given we were out for most of December (darn parties...).
Thursday was a late night at work (Day 2) but I still made it to Crossfit...I am hooked. Thursday involved learning a new move (TGU - Turkish Get-Ups) and then a Triple for time...5 deadlifts (75 lbs), 10 ring dips and 35 squats, all times 3. A friend joined up this night...haven't seen her since. Hope she's okay!! I went back to work, and rather grudgingly worked until 10:30. The pizza the others saved for me helped a bit. Not totally...but a bit.
Yes, I went Friday night BEFORE going to the bar! It's official...I'm addicted. Friday was Snatch day...sounds dirty but it's not. We practised Hang Squat Snatch before the WOD of 5 rounds for time:
10/10/10
- toes to bar
- power snatch (35 lbs)
- wall balls (8 lbs)
Guinness has never tasted so good! Had fun with friends, celebrating their engagement (at least I know I'll know a lot at this wedding!!) but I was till at home before 10:30, as Crossfit was at 9 am!!
A partner Hero WOD: these are fun but deceiving...you think, hey, partners...only have to do half the work, and then you add up what exactly you did. Yikes! For time: 50/40/30/20/10, so my share was 25/20/15/10/5 of each move (75 of each), before moving on to the next.
-wall balls (8 lbs)
-box jumps (stepped up 20")
-KBS (18 lbs)
Coffee with friends, grabbed some groceries, checked up on Mom, dinner with H-woman and her mom, a tour of Zoolights (last night) and then home, since run club was at 8:30. By the way, I will never get to sleep in again, ever. Kind of sad about that.
Ran just over 5km, before heading back towards home to meet up with the girls for coffee (sense a theme here?). I will admit to a glorious nap yesterday, before getting ready for another work week. Although this week is going to be long, given I'll have to work FIVE.WHOLE.DAYS! IN.A.ROW!!!!
Things to work on...box jumps (freaked myself out, so I have to get back to actually jumping), DUs (I am determined to do at least one!), TGUs (those are freaking HARD!) and, yes, burpees. And blogging.
Happy 2013! Aroo!!!
How has the first week of 2013 been? Much sweatier than 2012, thank you very much.
I rang in the New Year with 220 some strangers, celebrating the marriage of two friends. I went solo, which probably wasn't the best of ideas, when it turns out that I knew all of 6 people, and two were the bride and groom! But I enjoyed a lovely dinner, hung out till midnight and avoided the battle for a cab by staying at the hotel where the reception was. While I was debating how much more to drink, fate stepped in, with a message from Coach Eric, stating if anyone was interested, he would be at the Box during the day for a workout. Wine glass down, water glass up! I skipped the wedding day brunch and checked out, came home, changed and was at the Box in time to get my a$$ handed to me!!! I knew I was in for a kicking when I walked in, and it was Coach, his wife, mother-in-law (who puts us all to shame!) and another pretty fit cross-fitter ..tried to back out before they saw me, but too late!!! But what better way to greet a new year than with a Filthy Fifty?!
50 reps of each, before moving on. For time:
-box jumps
-jumping pull-ups
-KBS (kettlebell swings) (18 lbs)
-walking lunges (25 each leg)
-KTE (knees to elbows _ HARD)
-push press (35 lbs)
-good mornings (35 lbs)
-wall balls (8 lbs)
-burpees (SATAN!!)
-DUs (double-unders, or in my case, 3 x single skips).
-collapse on ground and gasp for air! Took me just over 37 minutes, but I stuck with it, and am proud that I showed up. Couldn't move for a few days, but proud!
Back to work on Wednesday, and a short steady 4.5 km run after. I need to work on my running, as I'll be pacing for the upcoming Half clinic in a week. While the goal race is Calgary, I'll be running the Vancouver marathon earlier, so will adjust my Sunday training accordingly. Dinner of Guinness and chicken tacos...it was nice to be back at Barley Mill, given we were out for most of December (darn parties...).
Thursday was a late night at work (Day 2) but I still made it to Crossfit...I am hooked. Thursday involved learning a new move (TGU - Turkish Get-Ups) and then a Triple for time...5 deadlifts (75 lbs), 10 ring dips and 35 squats, all times 3. A friend joined up this night...haven't seen her since. Hope she's okay!! I went back to work, and rather grudgingly worked until 10:30. The pizza the others saved for me helped a bit. Not totally...but a bit.
Yes, I went Friday night BEFORE going to the bar! It's official...I'm addicted. Friday was Snatch day...sounds dirty but it's not. We practised Hang Squat Snatch before the WOD of 5 rounds for time:
10/10/10
- toes to bar
- power snatch (35 lbs)
- wall balls (8 lbs)
Guinness has never tasted so good! Had fun with friends, celebrating their engagement (at least I know I'll know a lot at this wedding!!) but I was till at home before 10:30, as Crossfit was at 9 am!!
A partner Hero WOD: these are fun but deceiving...you think, hey, partners...only have to do half the work, and then you add up what exactly you did. Yikes! For time: 50/40/30/20/10, so my share was 25/20/15/10/5 of each move (75 of each), before moving on to the next.
-wall balls (8 lbs)
-box jumps (stepped up 20")
-KBS (18 lbs)
Coffee with friends, grabbed some groceries, checked up on Mom, dinner with H-woman and her mom, a tour of Zoolights (last night) and then home, since run club was at 8:30. By the way, I will never get to sleep in again, ever. Kind of sad about that.
Ran just over 5km, before heading back towards home to meet up with the girls for coffee (sense a theme here?). I will admit to a glorious nap yesterday, before getting ready for another work week. Although this week is going to be long, given I'll have to work FIVE.WHOLE.DAYS! IN.A.ROW!!!!
Things to work on...box jumps (freaked myself out, so I have to get back to actually jumping), DUs (I am determined to do at least one!), TGUs (those are freaking HARD!) and, yes, burpees. And blogging.
Happy 2013! Aroo!!!
Monday, December 10, 2012
WOD the hell??
Woke up yesterday, quite surprised that I could move at all, after Saturday's competition. I looked at the temp outside (-17C with a -26C windchill) and thought I was warm and sleepy, so stayed in bed.
But my mile a day beckoned, so after a quick breakfast and some puttering on the computer, I thought now or never. And luckily, the Sunday WOD emailed to be by the ever thoughtful Coach E (that was sarcasm, btw) involved some running, so I took off for Talisman, to work out inside.
For time:
- 25 sit-ups
- run 800m (1/2 mile)
- 25 squats (oh, holy heaven!)
- run 800m
- 25 squats (are you serious?!?)
- run 800m
- 25 squats (crying out loud now)
- 25 sit-ups
Took me just over 24 minutes to complete this, and I was pleased that I got in my mile and a WOD, and my legs cooperated somewhat.
Today's WOD though was another story...Saturday's workout was slowly settling in to every muscle on my body, and combined with yesterday's squat-a-thon, my quads were not happy! I don't think my chiro was happy, as he dug at my knee, quad, calf, hamstring and every other tendon and muscle on my left leg for about 15 minutes solid today. It's going to be such a pretty colour of purple tomorrow... But after that, I rushed home, changed and dutifully made my way to Crossfit! I am such a sucker!!
It was a good thing I got there with enough time to run first...seriously don't know if I would have been able to afterwards. But I squeaked out 1 lone mile (that's all I need!) and went inside just as class was starting. After a warm-up of lunges, inchworms, bear crawls, crab walks, burpees and ring rows (yes, that was the WARM UP!), we then spent 5 minutes on our hands and heads. Okay, so everyone else in the class did handstands, and hs push-ups and walked on their hands, blah, blah, blah...I attempted to put my knees on my elbows without blacking out from cutting off my air supply! I am the only person I know that did not do cartwheels as a child, let alone handstands, flips, etc. Heck, I could barely do a somersault! But I'll keep at it...may very well post a pic here one day of me all upside down and all!!! But back to the WOD...
For time, 3 rounds:
- 25 push-ups
- 30 sit-ups
- 40 squats (oh, all that is holy!!!)
- 50 double-unders...if you can't do those, then 150 single skips.
Yes, you're reading that correctly...tonight, in 19:21, I managed to do 75 push-ups, 90 sit-ups, 120 squats and jumped rope 450 times!!! I "may" have completely undone all the hard work Tyler did at chiro today...sad face.
Home to a quick dinner of soup and a sandwich (needed to deal with plumbers (no heat) and burned out lights) but dinner is prepped to plug in tomorrow morning. Beef stew with carrots and celery, and to which I'll add baby potatoes and peas last minute before I eat. Smelled good as I was searing the beef. Can't wait after it burbles all day long. Yum.
Today I am grateful for my stubborn streak. It keeps me going long after many would have sulked away.
Smiling,
But my mile a day beckoned, so after a quick breakfast and some puttering on the computer, I thought now or never. And luckily, the Sunday WOD emailed to be by the ever thoughtful Coach E (that was sarcasm, btw) involved some running, so I took off for Talisman, to work out inside.
For time:
- 25 sit-ups
- run 800m (1/2 mile)
- 25 squats (oh, holy heaven!)
- run 800m
- 25 squats (are you serious?!?)
- run 800m
- 25 squats (crying out loud now)
- 25 sit-ups
Took me just over 24 minutes to complete this, and I was pleased that I got in my mile and a WOD, and my legs cooperated somewhat.
Today's WOD though was another story...Saturday's workout was slowly settling in to every muscle on my body, and combined with yesterday's squat-a-thon, my quads were not happy! I don't think my chiro was happy, as he dug at my knee, quad, calf, hamstring and every other tendon and muscle on my left leg for about 15 minutes solid today. It's going to be such a pretty colour of purple tomorrow... But after that, I rushed home, changed and dutifully made my way to Crossfit! I am such a sucker!!
It was a good thing I got there with enough time to run first...seriously don't know if I would have been able to afterwards. But I squeaked out 1 lone mile (that's all I need!) and went inside just as class was starting. After a warm-up of lunges, inchworms, bear crawls, crab walks, burpees and ring rows (yes, that was the WARM UP!), we then spent 5 minutes on our hands and heads. Okay, so everyone else in the class did handstands, and hs push-ups and walked on their hands, blah, blah, blah...I attempted to put my knees on my elbows without blacking out from cutting off my air supply! I am the only person I know that did not do cartwheels as a child, let alone handstands, flips, etc. Heck, I could barely do a somersault! But I'll keep at it...may very well post a pic here one day of me all upside down and all!!! But back to the WOD...
For time, 3 rounds:
- 25 push-ups
- 30 sit-ups
- 40 squats (oh, all that is holy!!!)
- 50 double-unders...if you can't do those, then 150 single skips.
Yes, you're reading that correctly...tonight, in 19:21, I managed to do 75 push-ups, 90 sit-ups, 120 squats and jumped rope 450 times!!! I "may" have completely undone all the hard work Tyler did at chiro today...sad face.
Home to a quick dinner of soup and a sandwich (needed to deal with plumbers (no heat) and burned out lights) but dinner is prepped to plug in tomorrow morning. Beef stew with carrots and celery, and to which I'll add baby potatoes and peas last minute before I eat. Smelled good as I was searing the beef. Can't wait after it burbles all day long. Yum.
Today I am grateful for my stubborn streak. It keeps me going long after many would have sulked away.
Smiling,
Sunday, December 9, 2012
PR Competition and meeting Fran
Today was a competition at Crossfit. We each paid an entry fee, and had our butts handed to us in return!! No, actually today is to be used as a benchmark, to see how we can improve, whether in time or effort or both. The day was broken up into two WODs, and there were about 20 or so of us competing. What's great is I didn't once feel like I didn't belong there. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE cheered for everyone, whether it was someone doing RX (recommended weights) or modified (like me), and it was encouraging, inspiring and motivating.
WOD 1 was an Intro WOD...basically the core of Crossfit. Four of us competed in each round, and we were either in RX (so cool to watch the "pros") or modified groups, and each of us had a judge, to ensure we were meeting Crossfit standards (aka, chest touching ground in the push-ups, full squats, etc). No cheating today, let me tell you. I was at 10 am with friends J., K., and C. To start we had to row 500m (LOVE rowing!), then jump off the machine and immediately launch into 40 squats. After the 40 squats, we dropped down for 30 sit-ups (again, crunches are for crackers...this is a full sit-up from shoulders on the ground to hands to the feet) and then flipped over for 20 push-ups. Did I mention that chests must touch the ground in order for it to count?! After that, we took to the bars and did 10 pull-ups.
My modifications involved push-ups from the knees (goal is toes, obviously) and jumping from the box for the pull-ups. Again, a goal is to get to using the band by February. Heck, I rather be kipping it (no assistance) but I know to take these things slowly to get them right. I'll be happy with the band. All in all my time was 6:48, which I am stoked about.
Cheered on some of the RXers, before deciding I had to get my mile in before I got too wiped out by Crossfit, so I layered up (-15C BEFORE the windchill) and took off down the road of Currie Barracks. I did my mile (1.11) although my legs tired quickly today, for whatever reason, and came back in to the Box, to cheer on the final athletes. After clearing up, we all prepared for WOD #2 (yes, TWO today), named Fran.
Now, I don't get why the WOD is referred to as Fran, but according to Coach, it's like how gym-rats refer to "how much do you press?" for cross-fitters. As in, how long is your Fran? How much did you Fran? So, who is this be-otch, and what did she plan for us??? 21-15-9...thrusters (oh boy, more squats, WITH weight), followed by pull-ups (again!!).
I decided on 35 lbs, as I wanted to finish this and again, it's important to start somewhere and have goals...I'll RX this by February (75 lbs). With the lower weight and modified jumping pull-ups, I managed to finish this WOD in 6:17. I feel so bad-a$$, with chalk all over my hands!
Not going to lie or sugar-coat it...EVERYTHING hurts and is slowly locking up. Even my fingers, for crying out loud! Tomorrow's run should be interesting. Haven't yet decided how far I'll go...I think I'll wait to see the temp in the morning (and if I am even able to get out of bed and stand upright!). Off to take a whack of vitamin I and crawl into bed. Today I am very most grateful for ibuprofen!!!
Smiling (and kissing the guns goodnight)...
WOD 1 was an Intro WOD...basically the core of Crossfit. Four of us competed in each round, and we were either in RX (so cool to watch the "pros") or modified groups, and each of us had a judge, to ensure we were meeting Crossfit standards (aka, chest touching ground in the push-ups, full squats, etc). No cheating today, let me tell you. I was at 10 am with friends J., K., and C. To start we had to row 500m (LOVE rowing!), then jump off the machine and immediately launch into 40 squats. After the 40 squats, we dropped down for 30 sit-ups (again, crunches are for crackers...this is a full sit-up from shoulders on the ground to hands to the feet) and then flipped over for 20 push-ups. Did I mention that chests must touch the ground in order for it to count?! After that, we took to the bars and did 10 pull-ups.
My modifications involved push-ups from the knees (goal is toes, obviously) and jumping from the box for the pull-ups. Again, a goal is to get to using the band by February. Heck, I rather be kipping it (no assistance) but I know to take these things slowly to get them right. I'll be happy with the band. All in all my time was 6:48, which I am stoked about.
Cheered on some of the RXers, before deciding I had to get my mile in before I got too wiped out by Crossfit, so I layered up (-15C BEFORE the windchill) and took off down the road of Currie Barracks. I did my mile (1.11) although my legs tired quickly today, for whatever reason, and came back in to the Box, to cheer on the final athletes. After clearing up, we all prepared for WOD #2 (yes, TWO today), named Fran.
Now, I don't get why the WOD is referred to as Fran, but according to Coach, it's like how gym-rats refer to "how much do you press?" for cross-fitters. As in, how long is your Fran? How much did you Fran? So, who is this be-otch, and what did she plan for us??? 21-15-9...thrusters (oh boy, more squats, WITH weight), followed by pull-ups (again!!).
I decided on 35 lbs, as I wanted to finish this and again, it's important to start somewhere and have goals...I'll RX this by February (75 lbs). With the lower weight and modified jumping pull-ups, I managed to finish this WOD in 6:17. I feel so bad-a$$, with chalk all over my hands!
Not going to lie or sugar-coat it...EVERYTHING hurts and is slowly locking up. Even my fingers, for crying out loud! Tomorrow's run should be interesting. Haven't yet decided how far I'll go...I think I'll wait to see the temp in the morning (and if I am even able to get out of bed and stand upright!). Off to take a whack of vitamin I and crawl into bed. Today I am very most grateful for ibuprofen!!!
Smiling (and kissing the guns goodnight)...
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Going Overhead
It seemed fitting, so I thought I'd blatantly steal the title of today's WOD.
Itis, um was, day 2 at work. In accountant-speak, that means deadlines, pressure and for me, usually a very late night. I packed all my gear and took it to work with me, with the intention of hitting up Crossfit (there's a competition of sorts on Saturday, so no regular classes) and returning to the office. All was going well until someone did something that seems to have messed everything up. Just happy it wasn't me, and I didn't have to go back to the office, as I would be unable to do anything anyway. As it was, I still didn't leave till 6 (gotta love 11 hour days) and barely made it to class in time. Okay, so I missed most of the warm-up, but was there for the WOD.
5 reps...2 minute rest between reps (this is new!!)
- 3 shoulder press:
yeah, my arms totally look like this!
- 2 push press:
It
5 reps...2 minute rest between reps (this is new!!)
- 3 shoulder press:
- 2 push press:
- 1 jerk press: no photos, but basically a push press with a little "hop" or jerk to get underneath the weight and really push it up.
Sounds simple enough, except that weight gets really heavy by the 5th round...and it doesn't help that Coach is standing there, saying things like "you can handle more weight"...uh-oh! Started the 1st round with 45 pounds. After the 2nd round, we upped to 50 lbs...then, for rounds 4 and 5, 55 pounds! Boo-yah! I concentrated on form and can really feel it in my shoulders and chest already. Yikes. But wait, there's more...didn't think we'd get off that easy, did you?? No, no...after the 5th round, we were to do ME UB pull-ups. That is maximum effort, unbroken pull-ups. I am not good at the pull-ups...let's face it...I'm trying to haul up 213 lbs of me on my two little arms!!! But I did manage (off the box, of course...will try a band next week, but after class...need to practice away from the public glare) to do 14 unbroken. Just need to work on getting my darn chin OVER the bar, not just gazing up at it! One day...
After class, I still had to get my mile a day done as well (StridesRunStreak), so I took off for a run through Currie Barracks. It was a little slicker than yesterday, as there was a nice melt today, and then cooled off enough to freeze over. Took it easy, and ended up with a 1.26 mile loop in 17 minutes. Home to leftover turkey & vegetable chili, and a catch-up of Criminal Minds. I like to counter-attack the nightmares of the scary stories with the delicious dual hunkiness of Thomas Gibson and Shemar Moore. I am grateful for them both...and with that, good night and very sweet dreams!
Most definitely smiling...
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