Run, Run, Run!

Today: http://beyondthewhiteboard.com/workout_sessions/1137963

4 rounds @ 15:22

400m Runs

Squats

(Makeup for Monday 23/3 workout) ... yikes!!! Big eyes ... little bitty gas tank! The runs felt good, but the squats were sooooo slooooooowwww ... lost most of my time struggling through them. During last round of squats, I felt my lungs close up - had to stop and use inhaler. Nothing like a little asthma attack to stop you dead in your tracks.

Post WOD of 100 situps: check! broke them into 20’s. I’m not particularly fast, but I’m steady and I was mentally doing TTB (I prefer those).

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Sleep: 7hrs

Stress: 5ish

Mental Energy: 7ish

Physical energy: 8-9 (feel good, but body is not doing what I’m telling it to! Booooo!)

Diet: 6 (which means improved, but definitely room to improve)

Health: 75% (shoulder/rib joint still irritated and minor asthma attack?! Back again?! Seriously?! WTF?!)

Beyond the WhiteBoard Log: http://beyondthewhiteboard.com/members/12929

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Mentally? I’m all there! Light snow, 35f Degrees, and kinda grey out - PERFECT! Kinda stoked to run too!

Physically? Not so much. Laziness and crappy diet have taken their toll these months off! I can make excuses all I want, but at the end of the day, it’s my own fault and my own well-deserved suffering for letting things go for so long. Blah blah blah.

So all this means is that I need to be more consistent, get back on a regular schedule, and get a few personal things in order. There’s a lot going on right now. But I’m confident that performance improvement will be there - still benchmarking and plugging away when I can... now if I can just get my shoulder to stop bothering me...

Mon 3/14 - Fri 3/18

ok - Matt and I have a subscription to BTWB and it’s pretty good at tracking. I’m going to stick with it since he renewed our membership and it helps me measure my output (and laziness - ha!). I’ll also keep blogging... but it’s too much to post to the CFC blog, this one, and BTWB so I’ll try to post daily on BTWB, post once weekly here, and hope for the best. Here’s the link: http://beyondthewhiteboard.com/members/12929


Diet

all of my intake has been paleo this week except for my cheat day on thursday, although I still need to structure it better (measure, caloric tracking, time, etc) as well as minimize the sugar I’m consuming.

cheat day consisted of D&D holes, croissant with bacon/cheese/egg, has browns, a scoop of ice cream, and a quarter pounder meal. it wasn’t as epic as other days, but certainly made me feel sick later and is probably clogging the hell out of my arteries... ugh

ok, so I have an addiction to dried cherries (among other things), but now that I’m up to 135# and am struggling to jerk 22% less than my PR,  my inner athlete isn’t tolerating my inner lazy ass any more... plus my little pooch, although funny after being too skinny all summer, isn’t that funny any more... I’m also afraid of what my cholesterol looks like after 6 months of inconsistent eating.


Mon 3/14
4 Rounds
A1 – 5 deadhang pull-ups

WOD: 5 Rounds  of (12 min cap)
10 Deadlifts (45% of 1RM @ 125#)
15 Wall Balls (14#)
20 Box Jumps (21”)

tweaked my shoulder during warmup and pullups, so i did ashtanga yoga today instead (about 90 min). looks like great fun so I will try to makeup on friday.


Tue 3/15
Jerk 1-1-1-1-1
Then 1 mile @ 8:12

Which is only :15 faster than my 5k PR pace?!? It felt ok, but I’m not convinced I really pushed myself? (or I’m just SLOW!) Well, at least I’m consistent? :) Should add that to my growing suck-list.
Will makeup Jerks in the morning so Matt can watch. shoulder is still annoying


Wed 3/16
Jerk 1-1-1-1-1 (makeup)
@ home this morning: 95-105-115-125-135

love love love jerks, but still need to work work work on getting under the bar faster. wanted to keep going and am roughly 22% away from my PR, but i still have 14.5 months

CrossFit Games Open 11.1 @ 4.4 rounds
10:00 AMRAP
30 Double-unders
15 Power snatches @ 55# (Rx'd)

OMG. That hurt. Doubleunders totally saved me - broke 1-2x max per round. Power snatches were slow, but steady + consistent. Last round, I mixed up the order. Good stuff - I rate it level 2 fun.


Thu 3/17
ashtanga yoga (90 min). full primary series.

yesterday’s WOD hard-boiled my shoulder - it now has radiating/shooting pain down the arm. very knotty just below the left scapula and uncomfortable. the pain definitely showed in my ROM during some of my more advanced standing and inversion postures but I was able to breathe through most of it. (and for those of you interested, I practise ujjayi breathing techniques. michael grady wrote a good article about it here: http://www.himalayaninstitute.org/yi/Article.aspx?id=550 and here’s a decent definition of it at wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ujjayi_breath)


Fri 3/18
ashtanga yoga (90 min). abbreviated primary series.

pain pain pain. shoulder still has distal pain radiation in left arm. ROLLING rolling golf ball helps, but I need to see chiro asap. yoga helped but I think I’ll just exasperate whatever this is if I try to makeup monday’s WOD. kinda pissed because it looks like good fun and my head seems to be getting back in the game.

Gonna re-work my training plan too. I didn’t think about recovery or incorporate yoga into it at all. I take yoga for granted because I practise almost daily and treat it as more of a personal prayer/meditation activity than a physically therapeutic application... if not for yoga, I wouldn’t be able to do a myriad of CF movements like l-sits, handstands, shoulderstands, etc...

does hauling moving

does hauling moving boxes, books, and assorted climbing gear for 4 hours constitute a workout? i'm sore.

Naughty naughty monkey

Mr Airdyne, I hate you. Thought I’d put it out there:

:20 ballsout cycling

2:40 rest

5 rollercoaster rounds of cardiac quad ripping @

8-10-10-10-9 cal thingys

Oh yeah, I thought, “This shouldn’t be too tough. I should be ok.”.

Um. No. Not so much. A few of us mused that Rudy MUST have programmed this cause it was yet another jedi-mind trick that messed with our heads (and egos). He and Bryce are not just sadistic, but genius too. I love them. My Quads were cramping all over the place and all I could think around round 3 was, “OMGOMGOMG” mixed in with assorted pain-filled curses. You know, the usual.

I feel like I suffer more during these kinds of workouts because I always trained like, performed as, and am built like like a slow-twitch type gal. Throw a heavy pack on me, point me to camp a few miles up the mountain, and the train has left the station ... like any pack mule in South America, I have been bred to be a porter, not a sprinter ... I have basic coordination and am on the slower end, but I’m strong and steady. So these sprinty, explosive things really mess with me. Don’t get me wrong, I love it and welcome changes that will allow me to physically perform better, recover faster, or extend my shelf-life. I’m just saying that I’m not used to it - which is to say that change is a great thing and doing the same thing over and over expecting different results is the definition of stupidity. blah blah blah.

Anyway, coach was right. (he usually is... ok fine, he always is.) I have been flip-flopping between CFC and mainsite workouts. Not ideal ... and after so much needless suffering this week and a complete inability to do today’s RX’d WOD ... not good either. The constantly varied mantra is loud and clear - so I have to respect the method to the crossfit madness ... as well as the investments we’ve made into it. I’m going to heed his advice and stick to CFC programming - not only will I be able to enjoy the sadistic creativity alongside my beloved crew whenever I can get in, but the coaches know me, my strengths, and my limitations.

Post-wod brunch with the girls was awesome ... they make every moment of suffering worth it. No drinking for me later, tho. Really bad for the complexion and my other genetic disposition.

I also wanted to eat more, but last night's binge with Matt is still giving me nightmares and I'm still aching from it. I ate only 1 of the 6 cupcakes you see above. I have hidden them and pray Matt doesn’t find them.

Diet: -12

Sleep: 5 (maaaaattttttt!)

Mental energy: 7-8

Physical energy: 8, but sore

Stress: 6ish

Health: 90%

Bitch, Bitch, Bitch!

Matt found my good twin on the mainsite today - I think there's a photo of me that looks just like this too somewhere ... kinda funny!

Today's WOD was fun, but frustrating because

I'm not as strong as my ego thinks I am.

There, I said it. I had to put it out there and own up to it. I took way too much time off, got lazy, and got distracted. I have no one to blame except myself. Having said that...

Pull-up Ladder @ 4 pull-ups at round 10
(49 total ... I wanna add the other 4 Matt wouldn't count, though! Hmmmph!)
With a continuously running clock do one pull-up the first minute, two pull-ups the second minute, three pull-ups the third minute... progressively continuing as long as you are able.

Ok, I loved this because my pullups don't suck too much and I can string them 4-5 in a row ... Matt even said they were very nice and fluid (yay!) ... but I still need to build up my strength so I can string 10-15.

Yeah, so I also wanted to kill Matt for taking so many pull-ups away from my count (which tired me out and slowed me down even more), but I know that he's trying to help me improve and get my movement right. I also know that there are some battles not worth fighting and today's WOD was not one of them.

I'm trying!!

Side note: I will now work on deadhangs each day because I can only squeeze out 4 unlike my 9 personal best ... pulling 18lbs less bodyweight at that too. Good news is that we built a v-v-nice pullup bar in our garage so I can really get to it now. The same goes for pushups.

Lastly, I got the work done on my oh-so-late training plan. I think I have a decent draft going - I have the tendency to overthink things but I also hope it's solid enough to get coach's seal of approval (or at least not get thrown out of his office). Maybe I can work on it some more while I wait for him to get back to me :)

Day 10:
I didn't measure food/calories for the past week, but I am eating a little cleaner at least. I'm not used to starting training for a climb this far out, I've developed some bad ch-eating habits, and I have SO MANY distractions in my personal life.

We have limited time, focus, and resources ... and it sucks. Priorities are kept in mind, but it kills me to say that expedition training 15 months out can't compete too well with (1) a wedding in 8 months, (2) research for the next 6, and (3) renovations for the next 5, possibly more.

Something has to give and we have to be realistic. Its bad enough that I had to put school on hold, but no climbs for 2011 too?!?!?!

Seriously, not being able to even ice climb for more than a year is REALLY, REALLY, REALLY hard on me. Climbing is the whole reason why I decided to go back to school for a health profession, why I bother to train and diet, and why we live as spartan as we do.

If it weren't for our wilderness pursuits, I'd be just another chick eating chocolate croissants by the dozen, being little Mrs Housewife for Matt, and spending my savings at the mall instead of rogue, garage-world, and black diamond. Don't get me wrong, I love flipping those tires and hauling that sled, but I've also developed a taste for flipping myself cheeseburgers in the past 6 months and I'm too lazy to even be vain about my looks for our wedding.

Right... done bitching. It's annoying and counter-productive. Back to work.

Out of 10...
diet: 7
mental energy: 7
physical energy: 8
stress: 7.5 (see rant above)
sleep: 5 (omg snoring!!)
health: 75% ("girlfriend" still in town. ugh.)

Oh yeah. Good news...? Matt found all my cheat stashes, ate them while I was asleep this morning, got sick, and blamed me when I finally caught him. While it prevents me from going crazy with the brownie bites, sour creme & onion chips, popeyes, and ice cream, it's also annoying because my doppelganger wants to indulge. Back to my jerky mix and omelettes, I guess.

PS: I love everyone who's been so supportive, but you still suck XOXO

Yoga, not yogurt

Ashtanga Yoga (approximately 90 min)

Full primary series. I have mixed feelings including this in my "workout/training" log given that I do this primarily for prayer... but the full primary series is physically rigourous so there you have it...

Today, out of 10...

mental energy: 7

physical energy: 7ish

sleep: 7 (nap!)

stress: 4

health: 75% (ugh, you-know-what in town)

memories

Oh man, there are so many ... but there is 1 consistent theme: Bryce rolling his eyes and shaking his head as I regain post-wod consciousness. Yeah, everyone knows that smirk!

Seriously though, I think my most memorable moments were when Ben showed me how to do double-unders, when Rudy forced me to graduate from the baby-box-jump to the standard, and when Sarah taught me how to integrate power 10s into a long row. It's meant a lot to me especially because I started out as Little Miss sport-specific, "I'm a mountaineer, I don't jump". Ha!

I love the fact that CF changed more than my body,  but my whole view of performance and training.

Back then, I had nescience as an excuse. Now I only have laziness.

Metcon (home): 4 rounds ... barely

5 Power cleans (205/135)

50 Double-unders
Checked my ego and scaled down to 120# in the hopes of keeping movement solid. From the video, I NOW UNDERSTAND what the coaches are talking about. WOW! Its AWFUL! I look like I have a strong neutral spine in the beginning, start my pull, go right into that turtle-back thing, but then straighten out when the bar gets just above the knee. I correct myself, but man-oh-man, the light when on when I saw what I was doing! (as soon as I can reduce the size of the video, I'll upload it). I also bought myself another jump rope. 

For today, out of 10...

mental energy: 8

physical energy: 8

sleep: 6
(OMG, matt is killing me with the snoring)

stress: 7.5
(research, wedding planning, job hunting, and renovations are fun, but overwhelming)

health: 75%
(My "girlfriend" is in town so I've got lower back soreness, cramps, and PMS. I even cried watching saving private ryan ... I never cry ... well, except after a chipper)

diet: 6
(5 solid paleo meals and post/pre WOD endurance shakes ... i take off 4 for snacking on too many dried cherries today and popping 3 chocolate/bacon samples @ whole foods. i'm giving up the chocolate because matt managed to find and eat all of my chocolate stashes, but i think i have a serious dried cherry problem. they are tery-crack.)

and today...

press: 3x for 7 rounds
video of the last 4 rounds... it wasn't pretty... but i didn't give up and i need to set benchmarks.

yes, that was me squawking on the last rep. matt didn't count it (quel surprise!)

but, he did notice my failure points were where i held the bar at the bottom - (1) the bar was too far forward so i wasn't able to get under it for a solid press up and (2) i was too slow at the bottom trying to control it instead of exploding from the bottom and build upward momentum.

rather weak now, but pretty good movement

1RM is 105, so i need to get to work and get more consistent to make up the 20% loss

So out of 10...

mental energy: 8

physical energy: 8

sleep: 6 (see below)

stress: 7 (oh, the list goes on and on)

health: 75% (can't feel good when you're lazy ad eat bad)

diet: -3 (it was strict paleo all day until the pizza and ice cream showed up. matt is evil but i can only blame myself)