In CrossFit we Thrust...

Hi...my name is Carol and I am a terrible home-owner.  I meant to cut my grass, I really did.  And pull the weeds that are taking over my yard and house.  Honest.  Pulled the mower/weed-whacker combo thingie out of the garage, along with the rake, and popped inside for a quick bite before heading back out in the jungle.  Then this woke me up (okay, never, ever, lay your head on the pillow while watching the news, or food channel, or whatever it was I was absorbed in)...

Hail, huge winds and lots of rain.  LOTS of rain...guessing the lawn needs a day or two to dry out.  Sadly, woke up to more rain yesterday morning, but at least this made an appearance afterwards.

I'm hopeful that our dry spell holds out till Friday.  I'll go to CrossFit and then home and immediately cut everything, as I'll already be changed.  That's the plan, thus far.  Let's see if Mama Nature chooses to play along.

Last night was yet another Thruster-a-thon...is it odd that I miss kettlebells, wall balls and box jumps??

 I did manage to hit 60# with my clean & jerks.  And the wrist was not complaining too much about the push-ups, which are still from my knees.  Until I can do a perfect "from the toes", I'm not even to attempt hand-stands.  But I also tried to "hang upside down" in a bear pose, to mimic the HSPU.  And see how much strain the wrist was willing to take.  Pull-ups are still ring rows as well, but I have to say I felt a difference last night, and think that in the next few weeks, I'll try some from the bar with a band.  It'll be good to get back to that.

Then we loaded up our bars (40# for me) and hauled them outside to the track across from the Box.  I decided to try running, although the word "sprint" was not in my vocabulary.  I concentrated on awesome thrusters, and didn't have to have Coach tell me to move my knees out or get lower, which is great.  The running part was nasty.  Downright nasty.  But I did it.  I had a 15 minute time-cap and I finished my last sprint at 14:54.  And some of the ladies that finished earlier ran the last 100m with me, just so I didn't have to do it by myself.  Leave no man behind...

Cleaned up, changed and got ready to head to the Barley Mill to meet up with the running crew...it is Wednesday, after all, and I do love my pint of Guinness on Wednesdays.  This is "cleaned up".  Holy sweatfest!!

Still need to work on my nutrition, and will take a good, hard look at my weight loss goals/timelines this weekend.  I'm going to try the 21-Day challenge (a friend is a coach) and really commit to a plan of crossfit, rowing and the DVDs for the 21 days.  I need to shake things up (or off), as I am tired of the same old seesaw at Weight Watchers.  Up another 2 lbs this week.  So, if I'm so tired of starting over, why do I keep stopping?!?  That is the question of the week, people, and one I hope to have a grasp on by Monday.

Off to see Queen and Adam Lambert tonight...squee!!!  And then a sort-of long weekend of unpacking, organizing and gardening.  Silly Tuesday holidays.  

Hope everyone is having a fabulous week.  Now go lift something!!

All for Squat

It's been a squat-a-thon type of week at the Box lately, which is not a bad thing.  It is, after all, yet another move/mobility issue that I need to work on, so suck it up and do it!

Friday was truly squat hell.  Good thing I had my Olys with me.

Not remembering what my max rep back or front squats even are, I decided to start small and work my way up in the weight.  I started at 35# for each, concentrated heavily on form (I do have a tendency to collapse in on myself - aka tight hips) and managed to make my way up to 65# for the back squats (which would work out to a 93# max) and 60# for the front squat (86# max).  My back squats have always been stronger...nice that the legs are good at something!  Then we got into the Thruster AMRAP.  Theory is that you would get through the 90 thrusters and then just as many as possible at the high weigh till the 10 minutes were up.  To that I say bwahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!  Snort, giggle, seriously?!  Just for reference: a thruster is a full front squat followed by a push press, all in smooth movement.  I managed the first 30 at 35#, broken up into groups of 5.  I did this with the 35# bar with wooden "weights" on the end.  These wood discs are the same size as the standard weights, so that you can clean or lift from the correct height.  You just can't drop the weight, like the rubber ones.  That would be bad.  I then added 5#, and started into the second group of 30, squeezing in 18 before the clock ran out.  All in all, a good day.

Saturday was spent back at the Box for a team PR challenge, at which I cheered and judged.  This was part 2, and the times posted since the last one 8 weeks ago were amazeballs!  One team took almost 6 minutes off their previous time.  That is HUGE!  And everyone had so much fun, with silly costumes, and stand-ins (Coach Em is in Boston, receiving special coaching for the Crossfit Games that she'll be competing in, come July) and much encouragement all around.

Wrapped up with the usual BBQ (surprising how many crossfit boxes have bbqs on site) and beers, but I had to rush off to the salon for my "kill the grey and make it stop touching my ears" visit.  All prettied up, and it was back to hang with the gang, as two of our members are heading to the States for work/school, so they were sent off in style.  Photo-booth, videos, Facetime with Coach Em, etc.  Tears, laughter and many hugs later, and I was finally home.

Meant to stay there all day Sunday, but it was another friend's birthday, and she was giving me some plants from her garden, so I can start working on mine.  Six hours (and some wine) later, I finally made it home again.  Needless to say, I accomplished NOTHING.  Oh well, that's what "next weekend" is for.

Back to the Box last night, and more back/front squats.  I added 10# to my end weight for each (yahoo!), and then attempted the 20 minutes of sunshine and butterflies...that's what I was calling it, anyway.

Rather than run 400m (Coach saw my warm-up, and decided I should row...what?!), I rowed 500m and did regular push-ups, concentrating on form, followed by a 20 second bear hold (basically a downward dog).  I am happy to report my wrist can almost support my weight again, with just a couple of twinges.  That is HUGE news!!  Row again, followed by 20 ring rows, row and 20 T2B, lying on the ground.  However, Coach still wants us to work on our shoulder strength, so also had to hang from the bar and at least swing the legs around.  Managed to do a few that actually felt like my feet left the ground.  Again, baby steps.  Back on the rower for the last 500m, but sadly time ran out before I could start my burpees.  Boo-urns.  Snicker...

Got home and collapsed on the couch.  I had leftover Chinese from Friday, so I tossed the noodles and mixed veggies into a pan and added some fresh shrimp.  It was delish, and loads for lunch today as well.  Goal for today is get my grass cut, weeds whacked and the plants from Sunday into the ground.  It looks nice out, but windy, and hoping the rain holds off till I'm done.  Fingers crossed.

Happy Tuesday, everyone.  No go lift something!

Shakey Shoulders

After wisely skipping Monday's WOD (too many DUs for an ankle just off a trail run), I went and saw Dr. Dave for my usual ART work-over.  The good news is everything held up pretty well, considering I hadn't been running in quite some time.  The right ankle was a little locked up, but nothing some good twists couldn't fix.  The left leg and IT were in great shape, as was my right wrist - again, just a little locked up.  My left shoulder got the bulk of the attention, as it was it's usual whiny self.  The pain is somewhere near where the deltoid and pecs meet up, and feels like it's deep inside.  Feels like I want to "pop" the joint, and sometimes restrict when I'm doing overhead lifts.  But had a good ART session and am going to be a rebel and go a whole THREE weeks without, just to see how the body holds up under pressure.  I know he's only a phone call away should something horrible happen!!

I did make it to crossfit on Wednesday, where we worked on pull-ups, box jumps, squat clean & jerks and toes to bar.  Everything I need to work on.

We started with a few minutes of just hanging from the bar.  The goal here was to engage your lats, and practice kipping for the T2B.  I can barely even last 2 seconds hanging from the bar.  Nothing wants to engage!!  But I kept climbing back up there, and even tried "hanging" with my feet resting on a base, just to take the pressure off.  Slowly but surely I will get my strength back.

On to the 10 minute EMOM (every minute on the minute) - I like these, as it's usually a few of an exercise and then you have the rest of the minute to rest, regroup, add weights, etc.  This one has us doing 3 strict pull-ups (no kipping or butterfly) on the odd minutes and 5 MR box jumps, rebounding if possible, on the even minutes.  For my pull-ups, I stuck with ring rows, although I did my best to hang really well, so I was pulling up most of my body weight.  Working on strength and form.  Box jumps is something I have never done well.  I freak myself out, imagining my very ungraceful self landing splat on or over the box.  So I start with weights stacked on the floor.  I did actually try to jump from weights to the box, but Coach Bradford didn't like that I could step off funny, so he suggested just jumping on stacked weights for now.  For future knowledge, 2 45# plates (the rubber ones) stacked is about 8".  I did manage to get up to 2 x 45# + 1 x 35#, or about 11" before I freaked out and couldn't jump any more.  Man, must get out of my head!!!

After that, we picked a weight to do squat C&Js, our box height and a bar for T2B.  I do my T2B on the floor, as again, I'm just working on form and rebuilding the strength.  Besides, I find my big belly helps with resistance!!  I settled on 55# for the C&Js, although mine weren't maybe as smooth as some.  And the two stacked plates, for 8" box jumps.  This was an 18 minute AMRAP (as many reps/rounds as possible), where we did 5 squat C&Js, 10 T2B and 15 box jumps.  I ended up cleaning the bar and then squatting (again, focused on form!), finally rising to do a jerk - or in my case, I found myself push-pressing more.  But I got the bar off of the ground and into the air with success, so I'm happy!!  I managed 3 full rounds plus 2 more C&Js.  Baby steps.  What I love is no one at my Box judges me, and all are more than encouraging.  And I still got my sweat on!!  Have I mentioned that I take lousy selfies?!

Sort of looking forward to tonight's WOD - sort of - it's all about the squat tonight, as we work on back-squats, front squats and thrusters.  Oh so many thrusters!!  At least I don't have a race tomorrow that I must worry about seizing up my legs, so it's game on.  And the weekend looks nice enough to work in my new little yard, buy a propane tank for my BBQ and maybe cook in the great outdoors!!!  

Happy "almost first day of" Summer!  Now go lift something!!

Happy Trails

View outside my friend's townhome in Canmore, at the base of the Sisters (Range is known as the Three Sisters, for those who don't know the Alberta mountains well).  Weather seemed nice, although I did pack along a light coat in case of rain (was forecast).

Got up to the Canmore Nordic Centre and decided after 3 steps from my car that the coat was not needed.  Tank top and shorts and compression socks.  I was set.

I do not take good selfies...  Met quite a few fellow runners I know, who were doing either the Sport (8k - only 1 large loop) or the Enduro (12k, both loops).  I vowed to all to be last and asked that at least one wait for me...and save me a cookie!  It was a tad chilly, so was happy for the free sleeves handed out at bib pick-up.  Figured I'd have them ripped off by the time I really got moving, but they stayed on the whole race.  Weather was perfect.

At least being last allows for some photo ops.  The course was extremely hilly.  Okay, so it was in the mountains, and what did I expect, but it did still seem to be an awful lot of climbing and not so much running back down hill.  About a mile in I had the continuous thought of "gee...I should try training for the next one!"  My asthma held up, although at one point I thought my heart was going to beat out of my chest.  The legs, and more importantly, the ankle, also held up well, even when I fell.  Granted, I was trying to step out of the way of the runners coming up behind me (the Enduros, done their extra loop) and slipped on the loose moss.  Didn't really turn my ankle but it argued with me for a few steps afterwards.  Luckily no animal sightings, other than a rather cheeky squirrel, which is good.  Not sure if I could have even outrun the squirrel!!  At least we didn't have this to contend with...I would have shat myself!!!

http://youtu.be/LlB0FqQ0DlQ (if the link doesn't work, google "Pawzing Workout Resuming Workout")

I kept telling myself I'd be happy with 2 hours, but will admit to losing all track of time and distance.  I didn't want to look at Mr. Garmin, since I could barely remember how to use it!!  It was getting a little lonely, and the other runners had run over the markers, so at one point I was feeling a little lost, but then caught sight of the finish line.  Finally!!!  I tried running, but by this point had nothing left in the tank.  Although, once the announcer saw me, and told the crowd (they were doing awards at the time) that one more runner was coming in, I could hear all my friends screaming my name.  Hard to run while crying, I might add.  But I finally crossed, and at 2:03:19 - not so much off my mark and officially last.

After a cookie and some fruit, and watching a few of my friends win 2nd place awards for age group/distance, I went back to the townhouse to wait for my friend from Calgary to join me.  Showered and moved ever so slowly down the stairs (hmmmm...3 level townhouse after trail run may not have been such a good idea), we went into Canmore for a late lunch (Alberta Flatbread Co - BEST.PIZZA.EVER!), wandered up and down Main St and then back to the townhouse for wine and TV.  Very relaxing day.  Woke up to the Sisters playing peek-a-boo on Sunday, so happy to have the race over with.

Happy with the race, and the fact that I didn't break myself further.  Next one in July is in Calgary (well, just outside of the limits at the Glenbow Ranch), so hopefully I'll get a couple more runs in by then.  Should be a bit more rolling than Canmore but I've run there before...it's not the flat prairies by any stretch!

Back to Crossfit tonight (gave my ankles a break on Monday, as it was a DU-a-thon) and working on the food plans.  I will admit to not feeling my best while running on Saturday, and I am the only one that can do something about it.

Happy Hump Day!  Now go lift something!

What have I gotten myself into?

No rowing or squats or sit-ups last night, as the stomach still wasn't 100% happy by the end of the day.  I wish I would just get sick already, instead of this feeling off all day.  Oh, and the bloat...LOVE the bloat.  Had some wor wonton to say I ate, and then laid on the couch, wondering if it was staying put.  More ginger ale, and even more today, which I hope finally kicks this thing through.  I am done.  Have to pick up my usual asthma supplies later at the pharmacy, so I'll see what stomach remedies they recommend.

Picked up my bear spray yesterday.  The enormity of it all has not hit me yet, although looking at the map makes me think "gulp".  And what happened to my Short 5k distance??  Eight km suddenly sound daunting, whereas 5km was like "I can walk that".  Hope there isn't a time limit...this could get ugly.

If I'm understanding the 'structions correctly, we go up and around the outer loop, then one round of the inner loop, back to the outer loop and home.  The Enduro (longer distances) get to do the inner loop twice, guessing because it's so much fun to do even once!  I'll take my phone for photos...fingers crossed that none look like this though...

{source}

I do make light of this, but make no mistake: I will be running in THEIR backyard, and will respect them enough to stay far away.  Just hope they share the same respect.  Hoping there will be enough people and noise that the bears (and cougars and coyotes and rabbits, oh my) all say a resounding "hell no" and high-tail for safer ground.

Making my list of things to take up, as I'm staying in Canmore for the weekend.  A friend has a townhouse, where I'll be staying, with another friend who's driving up tomorrow.  She's not a runner, so will come out after I'm done.  Providing I finish.  Teehee.  Hoping the rain ceases tomorrow, so we can BBQ and drink wine and enjoy the mountains for what they are.  Heaven.

Happy Friday everyone...now go lift something heavy!

This was supposed to be the start of something...

As predicted, Monday's WOD was hard.  I was beat by the end of it, considering it was "only" 2 minute bursts of work, followed by 1 minute of rest.  I mean, I can do anything for TWO minutes, right?!?  Ugh...

The row was fun.  I actually enjoy rowing...a lot.  So much so that a Concept 2 now takes up real estate in my little house.  The previous owner had the basement set up as a gym, so it's only fitting that it remains that way.  I can't do a lot of overhead stuff down there...the joy of 101 year old homes is that they don't tend to have basements, and if they do, they were built for very short people.  I would say the ceiling height is about 7', but that's not enough for all 5'10" of me to do any sort of jumping around or the likes.  But the floor is rubber mat and there's mirrors on the walls.  I've set up my TV, PVR and DVD player down there, along with the rower, some free weights, foam roller and other assorted "work out" stuff I find while unpacking.  Once I've got it set up the way I want, I'll post a pic of my "home gym".  Anyway, lurv rowing, although the belly (and depleted cardio) has gotten in the way of my speed.  I did manage to row 24 calories in the 2 minutes, so we'll see how that improves over the next few months.

Next on the list were pull-ups.  Again, the upper body strength is gone, and combine that with trying to pull up a rather large mass of weight (I'll go as far as saying the number starts with a "2"), my pull-ups are non-existent right now.  I did ring rows (plant feet, hang back from rings and pull your body up) and again, managed 21 in the 2 minutes.

Then we had front squats.  I was really concentrating on my hip crease passing the knees, and keeping my knees out, ankles straight, etc.  I did clean and squat 50#, but only 11 times.

Using that 50# bar, we then moved on to shoulders to overhead (STOH), which means push press, press, jerk...what ever it takes to get the bar up.  While I had RMd (1 round, max rep) at 60# earlier, I didn't want to push things and walk away injured.  I dropped the weight to 50# for a reason, and churned out 13 push press.

Lastly, double-unders.  I just don't get these.  Maybe it's because of my very un-girly-like childhood, where I didn't skip rope or do double-dutch or any of that, but I just can't get my feet up high enough, or my rope moving fast enough or what have you, to do these.  So I spent 2 minutes whipping myself in the ass, thighs and calves.  Sigh.

Anyway, finished the class, got home and rowed another 10 minutes (1921m, 106 cal) and cranked out the necessary squats, sit-ups, crunches, leg raises and planks to get caught up with the 30 day challenges I'm doing (missed them on the weekend due to a wedding, and really not wanting to!  HAH!).  So just because I'm a sucker, that meant 85 squats (added to the 11 front squats), 85 sit-ups, 50 crunches, 50 leg raises and 1:05 plank.  Then inhaled a lovely dinner of greens, smoked salmon, rapini, cucumber, capers and EVOO dressing.  It was simple, high in protein and delicious, but a tad high in WW points (15).  Can work on that, I suppose.  But it was GOOD.

Was looking forward to a quiet evening of rowing and ab work on Tuesday, but after a lunch with coworkers at Moxie's earlier in the afternoon, I have to say I just did not feel good.  Not sure if it was the Salmon Banh Mi - which they should mention on the menu that it's a deep fried salmon patty, and not a healthy grilled piece of fish - which sat in my gut all afternoon, or a case of the stomach flu, which is going around.  Needless to say, dinner was nothing on Tuesday, and the icky feeling carried on through the night and all day Wednesday.  Lunch yesterday was a bowl of beef barley soup and some ginger ale, while dinner consisted of chicken broth with little noodles in it.  No WODing for me.  Boo.  And no ab work, no rowing, nothing.  Double boo.

Finally feeling better today, although I did have more ginger ale at lunch and a rather "plain" salad.  No crossfit on my schedule for tonight, so I'll fire up the rower when I get home, and get caught up (again) with the squats and abs (not liking that I suddenly have 160 squats to crank out!).  That should help me get a nice sweat on for the day.  I was down at WW this morning (thank you, stomach), and I want to keep that momentum going!  Have to swing by MEC on the way home, as I need bear spray for Saturday's trail race.  A little concerned that I am "running" a race on Saturday, but it will mean a weekend in the mountains, which I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE.  Deets to follow.

Happy Thursday...now go lift something!

Hi, my name is Carol, and I like to lift stuff.

At least that's what I tell myself when I look in the mirror these days.  Not necessarily fond of what is staring back at me, but 2014 hasn't been the best of years thus far.  BUT that is all going to change and for the better.

How you ask?  Commitment.  Commitment to going to the Box at least 3 times a week, and doing the WODs to the best of my (current) ability.  Tonight should be interesting as it is meant to be a benchmark.  That'll be a good thing, as I can work on improving EVERYTHING!

My biggest moves to work on are:
- squats, especially overhead.  I collapse all over myself and it's just plain hard.
- double-unders.  I just want to do one.  ONE.  Whip the dickens out of myself trying, but I can't seem to make the hands, feet and brain to all work together.
- pull-ups.  I lost all upper body strength with my time off, so have been regulated to ring rows until I gain some back.
- push-ups.  With the arthritis (or whatever the heck "it" is) in my wrist, I haven't been able to put any pressure or weight on it.  I have held onto a dumbbell while doing push-ups, but again, with no upper body strength, they're from the knees and rather loosey-goosey looking.

Really need to focus on what's going in the body as well.  Not at all pleased with the fact that I am within spitting distance of my start weight at Weight Watchers, combined with the fact that it's been a long, long, long time going.  I won't say how long, just "results are not typical".  I have signed up to try the 21-Day Beachbody challenge, if for nothing else than for the kick in the pants I need.

So that's it for today.  I'm going to try and blog daily, to keep myself accountable to the changes I want in my life.  Hope you come along for the ride!

Thanks, and yay for fitness.

Now go lift something!
Carol