2010 01 15: To Recover or Push, That is the Question!

Pesky teenagers at school! They don't cover their faces when they sneeze and cough ... they may have the immune systems to match the vivacity of youth, but I don't. Looks are deceiving my friends, I'm discovering that my 39.5yr old body just doesn't recover as quickly or smoothly as I did when I was 10, 15, 20 years younger. It's a f'ing physiological fact that I'm being slapped around with.

With that said (and the fact that I have 113 days left before the expedition), I have to take another approach in my training ... one that incorporates more recovery time, better nutrition, and discipline.

Today was day 5 of my Paleo Challenge diet - I'll post meals separately so that they aren't buried in all my rhetoric. Needless to say, I'm starting to think of food as just fuel because my meals are bulk-prepared, simple, and to the point ... not a lot of time for the fancies I had these past few months. The financial burden of my med education and this condo coupled with my crazy schedule and health setbacks, I can ill-afford the culinary lifestyle I once enjoyed. Bryce said this was going to be work and he is spot on.

Physical training was a hard decision for me today... I went home after school, cleaned up a bit, and went to sleep for about 6hrs. I simply have to face the fact that I can't train as often when I'm weak and recovering - my body just can't bounce back like it did 10 years ago.

Case in point, I tried training 4 weeks ago during my little flu, but then relapsed into a low-grade pneumonia. Had it not been for Rudy chewing me out and Anjali prescribing me 2 rounds of antibiotics, I might be much worse off. Facing your limits and mortality is a very tough thing to do ... and humbling.

Speaking of denial, I thought being scared of my workouts was tough ... not even close. Not being able to train hard when you have big goals and lots of motivation is what's really scary. I LOVE the challenge ... I CRAVE the challenge ... but I'm not super-girl. So I'm learning to work with what I've got and make the most of it. That's not to say that I'm giving up - I'm just learning how to take another approach and be more efficient with what I've got.

So I'll cry, I'll puke, I'll stumble, I'll crawl, I'll even bitch and complain ... but I will not stop. I cannot stop ... unless, of course, I'm sleeping ;)

On a scale of 1-10,

• Stress levels: 6-7
• Mental Health: 8
• Physical Health: 3
• Diet/Nutrition: 5
• Sleep: 10hrs, 4-6 hour increments

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Today's posted WOD at CFC below - I'll makeup this tomorrow or Sunday. I'll probably need to taper myself by 15-20% since I'm still recovering and will be at altitude (returning to Ouray for the weekend for avy/ice/rescue training - gotta love those 8,000ft/+ WODs with the folks at Crossfit Hypoxia! Go Alan and Mel!).

Strength: Press 5-3-1 or more (75%-85%-95%)

Gymnastics:

• 2x max deadhang pull up 1 min rest
• 1 max kipping pull up (stay on bar)

Metcon: 25-20-15-10-5

• KBS (Heavy)
• Box Jump (24"/20")
• Wall ball