April 9 (Day 216) – erg – erg!

Posted on by Sandy

Ok so yesterday I had a ton of stuff to do (today, too actually), so I didn’t get to the box. I went to my chiropractor and the only time he could see me was right in the sweet spot of when I could work out. Luckily, he’s right down the road from the box, so after my appointment I went over and just did some pull up practice (with the black band), “hanging” practice (from chin above bar to straight arm), and then just “skipping rope fast” (not double under, just practicing single unders, but fast).

The black band is such that when I use it, I’m still lifting 100 pounds of “me.” No I will not tell you what the black band represents 😉 You can figure it out 😉

I did set up another set of chiropractor appointments for every other week (WHY do I ever stop – ?!?! I feel SO MUCH better after!) – so now I just have to contact my masseuse. I buy “packages” from them – and I have some to use! (Again, WHY do I stop? I ask you…)

So last night, we went out with some friends to use an auction “win” that they’d gotten of a wine/dinner at Il Fornaio. We drank TOO MUCH great wine. Even had dessert. (Yes I stayed gluten-free – found out my friend is also g-f, also because of Hashimoto’s.) We haven’t seen them in like – lord – has to be at least 5 years, and I’d forgotten how much fun it is. Best part is the guys got on fabulously.

This morning I was feelin’ every glass of that wine but went to the box anyway – funniest part was that 3 of the OTHER girls were in the same boat. Apparently there’d been a school fundraiser that all of them had been to and “though the food was terrible” the wine was flowing – so it was maybe even WORSE than my situation – they’d been “wining it up” but NOT eating!

The WOD today was:
Part A: 10 Rounds For Max Cal On Rower (20 Sec On 40 Sec Off)

Part B: For Time
20-18-16-14-12-10-8-6-4-2 – KBS 1P
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10 – Toes 2 Bar

There weren’t enough rowers, so Mikaela and I buddied up. This meant that we finished way later than everyone else (we did our last 3 sets side-by-side to save some time) – so when it got to Part B, none of the orange (0.75 pood) kettlebells were left. So I used a yellow (0.50) because I couldn’t do that WOD with the red (full 1 pood).

AH, you ask, what is a “pood”? According to Wikipedia:

A Pood (Russian: пуд, pud), is a unit of mass equal to 40 funt (фунт, Russian pound). It is approximately 16.38 kilograms (36.11 pounds) and is used in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.

(So there).

Since our bars, weights, and kettlebells are all metric (and the kettlebells are in “poods”), the “red-taped kettlebell” is about 36 pounds, meaning the orange is about 27, the yellow is about 18. (Hey, I know you were wondering.)

I wrote down how many calories I got on the row, and also how long the Part B took me – but I managed to lose the paper. I suck at this “logging” thing, obviously. I want to say that Part A was 63 calories. That sounds about right. Rowing for 20 seconds is like NO TIME AT ALL.

In Part B, I was doing “knees up hangs” and as I mentioned, scaled to 0.5 pood. Tracy-the-tennis-gal was back (YAY!) and she had an orange and a yellow next to her – so I stood by her side, and when she swapped down to the yellow (at the 12), I took her orange and swapped up. (Such a stud, am I LOL). She can do toes to bar like a champ, which was quite amazing, since she and I are pretty evenly matched in running, erg, weights, etc. But DANG she just whipped them out.

Because of the pull up/hang practice yesterday, my forearms were SHOT, and the hang/knees up were killing me. By the end I was sort of doing an “ally-oop” of one knee up to ‘get’ the other knee up. Yes, I do it from the floor, I just couldn’t do it from a full hang or I would have had to do them one at a time. My hands definitely were feeling it, so I came home and ordered The Natural Grip – the last thing I want is to start ripping.

Karen, one of our box athletes going to Regionals, came up to me when I left the erg to “yell at me” about my form. She is not as tall as I am, but close (I bet she’s about 5’10”) and she said I was “wasting” my leg length on the erg.

I KNOW that this is true. When I was rowing at Georgetown, we didn’t do much (read: any) erg work, so I know the cues and dynamic on how to get the most power out, but in general, it’s for “real” rowing. I do okay, but H always smokes me on the erg (which of course pisses me off – hey, what can I say!).

So Karen took time after the WOD to actually sit me down (her on the erg) and walking me through EVERY part of it. She had someone waiting for her, so this was AMAZINGLY nice. (Remember, she was the one who was yelling at me when I was doing the Open WOD with the row in it – this is what, I think, raised me to her “attention” considering she does the WOD with the other Regionals-going athletes designed for them, and I’m over the corner doing scaled stuff 😉 Trying not to get in anyone’s way 🙂 )

When I was rowing in Part A, we had the ergs outside facing the mountain, and everyone was laughing because each time I would pull the erg literally shimmied an inch forward. (At about round 3 Coach Anthony came and rolled the tractor tire in front of the erg to stop it – Makaela and I were laughing so hard, it was bad, ESPECIALLY as I was laughing and rowing!)

So here’s the cues:
1. I have always “stomped” my feet but K really talked me through that. At the most “squatted” portion of the row, the heels of your shoes need to really be in the cups of the shoe holder (and strapped down tight), so you can LIFT YOUR HEELS as HIGH AS YOU CAN at the “most squatted” position. Then, as you push, you stomp your HEELS down hard. This will sort of “raise your toes,” but they are strapped in across the widest part of the toebox of your shoes, which holds them in. So the “stomp” is NOT ONLY stomping the heels, but you are also sort of “lifting your toes” up from the cup (though they don’t actually lift, because they are strapped down).

2. Pull the handle back to just below your breasts – basically where the bottom of a jogbra would be. You can pull it anywhere, but this is where you want to pull it. Just do it.

3. Arms stay straight until legs are straight, then arms bend to bring the handle up to the jogbra.

4. Then WAIT TWO BEATS. The erg is “still moving” at this point, don’t start back, this is your rest. In “real rowing” this is the “glide” portion of the row, right before you feather and return. Do NOT LEAVE THIS OUT.

5. Your BODY STAYS STRAIGHT. Karen says this is the one thing you will see that’s the biggest difference between men and women. Your head should stay “level” through the whole pull. If you’re tall, there is NO NEED to reach your arms “forward” (as a very short girl will need to do, as she can’t “push back” as long with her legs). So don’t hunch, don’t bring your head down, don’t collapse your chest, STAY STRAIGHT. (You will to some extent “tip forward” when your arms go forward, but don’t “reach” forward, there is no need if your legs are long.)

6. Your body should be VERY STILL. We all know that the erg is a “leg thing” not an “arm thing,” but it is not a “body thing” either. It’s really just legs – squatting with heels up, pushing heels down and legs going straight, then sliding back.

7. Though you can get SOME extra power “pulling back” against the straps (which I’ve been taught), it’s better to “relax” back to the starting position. Don’t think about it until you get REALLY good at all the rest. However, the straps DO need to be tight, because that will be integral to keeping the power going backwards in the push back (see above).

8. Practice S-L-O-W-L-Y and at a LOW number on the erg until form is perfect. Think: STOMP (push/stomp) until legs straight, PULL (Handle to jogbra bottom), 1-2 (WAIT with handle up at jogbra – e.g. the “glide” to get the power out of the erg before you go back), RELAX (back to start – head EVEN, body STILL).

9. Trying to move FASTER is not important. It’s getting all the power “out of” the erg, and understanding how it works. If you start back before you’ve done the “glide,” you are NOT getting any more cals/meters “out of” the erg on the “return.” That’s why you want the “glide” – the erg is still moving in a direction that will give you more cals/meters. This is something I hadn’t really thought about, but that was a “lightbulb moment.” If you’re returning “too soon” the handle goes back, and you haven’t “tapped out” the power that the erg could “give you” for the pull that you just did. Again – think about when you really row. It’s pull-feather-GLIDE-push back-oars in, pull-feather-GLIDE-push back-oars in. Duh!

So I think I have to start going like 15 minutes early and work on this. I also think I have to just not run when running is programmed, and row instead. (This is what H has done for the last while – as running hurts his knee but rowing doesn’t – and I think that’s one reason that he’s surpassed me in rowing. Practice.) As Karen said – start with the erg REALLY low numbers, and go slowly.

Also spoke with Sera – we’re going to work on my 1 rep maxes in 2 privates, starting next week.

So there you go.
 

April 7 (Day 214) – ouch.

Posted on by Sandy

So, the WOD for today was:

Part A: 8 minutes straight of “kipping practice.”

Part B: Front squats, 8 x (20 secs on 40 sec rest)

Part C: Helen = 3 x (400 run, 21 KBS @ 1 pood, 12 pullups)

I wound up being late because not only did I hit the “crazy SUV mommies” at the grade school at the bottom of the hill, but JUST as I turned into the complex the box is in, a DUMP TRUCK backed up to block the driveway. Oy! Okay also my stars must be in “messed up” mode because I had  all sorts of mini-disasters just getting out of the house (including quite the classic “slip on the rug bringing H a cup of coffee while he’s on an open conference call, then wiping up the mess with my socks before putting on my shoes to go to Crossfit” moment).

Part A: The funniest part about “kipping” is that we were SO NOT ALLOWED to do this when I was in the Marines. I wonder if someone else has ever written about this? So the whole thing always makes me have this drill sergeant way-way back in my head going “SHEPARD!!!!” (laugh). Anyway – so as we all know, I’m about as strong as a feather, and I’m also lifting over 180 pounds. I did the swing back and forth, but and when I got to the “knees up” in the front (and lifting up at the shoulders in the back) I could get a tiny bit of lift. In fact, I made Coach Bill watch me to be sure I wasn’t just making it up. I also “get” how people rip their hands. Lord! When I do pullups in the WOD, I do them straight (with a band, or jumping, depending on if it’s a strength WOD or a speed WOD), so I don’t get the “hand” thing – and never go it in the Marines. Now I get why it happens – it’s the kip. Ouch.

Part B: I did this down to the smallest box (21″), with the orange bar (10 kg). It was supposed to be with 30 kg – I could have done the red bar (15 kg) but there weren’t any left. All girls doing this WOD and I wasn’t quick enough! I should have grabbed a couple of plates, but there were so many people (plus the folks doing their own programming, practicing for Regionals) that it was sort of madness. I got 63 reps. Didn’t have a problem not sitting on the box, which was good, made me feel good. I don’t have a lot of “issues” with front squats because I can get my elbows almost straight forward, and I don’t have a problem smashing the bar into my neck (laugh). Just reminds me of the yoga poses that do that.

Part C: This was funny – I knew I couldn’t do the red kettlebell (1 pood) without injuring myself, but there were no orange (0.75 pood) kettlebells left! Then I saw that Susannah had stashed one behind her “in case.” She handed me the red one and I just gave her the stink eye. (She gave me the orange!) Coach Bill said to do jumping pullups versus banded, because Helen is a “speed” working on the pullup side, not a “strength” workout. So with the 0.75 pood and the jumping pullups, I did it in 12:21. Still last, even of all the scalers. Sometimes this is just depressing.

Going backwards, this weekend was glorious, and so we did a lot of gardening. We went to the Berkeley Women’s Club for dinner on Saturday before going to hear “Celli” (a 12 cello concerto I’d Kickstarter-funded) at the UCB Film/Art Institute. Friday evening was the party at the Silver Peso for the Open, which was fun, a LOT of folks showed up. I smuggled in 3 bottles of GOOD wine (theirs is SO AWFUL and gives you a TERRIBLE headache) and avoided getting bounced out while I surreptitiously poured for about 5 of us. I made them go buy a glass, then dump it in the bathroom so we had “glasses on the table.” H came and got me then we went down to get dinner – he had had a hard day, so he was in super grumpy mode when he showed up at the Peso. I realized I had to do the “drop everything and dash” but it was just as Coaches Bo and Amanda had come in – and glad I stayed because I wound up getting the “Spirit of the Games” award – for my 150 points (total) – laugh! A pair of “Bad Ass” socks with an arrow pointing up. As I’m known for having CRAZY socks at the box (my claim to fame) they were perfect. Walking down the street with Mr. Grumpy to get him a cocktail before dinner, I was throwing away each of the 3 bottles in a garbage can as we went along – he’s all “How much did you DRINK in there?!?!?!” I started laughing…”Um, this was NOT all ME….”

So that’s my check-in for today. Somewhere along the line (probably gardening then doing the kettlebell swings today, that’s when I started to feel it) I tweaked an area between my ribs in my back (right side) so I went STRAIGHT to Chappy’s office and made an appointment for tomorrow morning. Now after I pound this out, I’m going to call his office and also Kristina’s office, and book out some chirorpractic AND massages! I still have like 8 on my package with Kristina, but I have to buy another with Chappy.

And that’s all she wrote – for now!

 

April 4 (Day 211) – Update on yesterday . . .

Posted on by Sandy

FRIDAY WOD (today):

Part A: 10 Min EMOM
3 Back Squat 120/85KG – no can do this weight. I back squat to a box, think I can do 10k (orange bar) MAYBE 15k (red)
4 Burpee

Part B: “Jack”
20 Min AMRAP
10 Push Press 52/35KG – this is 15k for me
10 KBS 1.5/1P – 1P is the red kettlebell, I would be doing I want to say .75 pood, but the orange nevertheless
10 Box Jump 24/20″ – I’ll add a 5k plate in between the 2 big ones as I said I would do.

I don’t know what Roger is doing this week but there are a lot of burpees and a lot of shoulder things . . . I swear that “Jack” looks suspiciously like what we did just a couple days ago, wasn’t that squat clean, KBS, box jump???

UPDATE on yesterday:

So, yeah, I always overestimate what I can do. I also managed to give myself Fran Lung. 2x in a month, after never having it before – yeah just like any virgin I just keep coming back . . . (oops, going to Hell now . . . )

So the new whiteboard only has the last 2 days on it (I forgot) instead of the old blackboard which kept a week. So I only could get the day before yesterday’s “actual” times/reps, and of course yesterday. I had done 39 burpees (that one I knew), the 800s were 4.21, 4.20, and 4.16 – not bad.

Yesterday in the warmup we had a new nasty little number called a “Body Weight Lift.” How you do this (Rx) is hold onto a stanchion, legs out straight, top of head on the stanchion. Then lift your toes up and over your head, so that ultimately you are in a shoulder stand, toes/legs on stanchion, neck tucked. Then lower back down the same way.

The only way any of us (except Coach Bo of course who had that little smile on every time he would demonstrate a perfect one) could do this was “piking” up – e.g., breaking at the waist, getting your toes to the stanchion, then pushing your butt “up” so that you ultimately were in the right position. This is one where I wish there was a mirror, because everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, was . piking up but then never getting their body straight at the top. I tried really hard, but I’m not sure I did it. It reminded me of “Rabbit” in Bikram, in that you wound up with your neck in a REALLY “squished thyroid” position. But I THINK I got myself up totally straight, and I THINK that they weren’t because of this “uncomfortable neck” thing. I measured where my toes were going up the stanchion and I think I did it – but if it comes up again I’m going to have Bo actually push my butt up if I really was NOT getting the position. Coming down, I had to pike, not a chance I could do it “straight.” Everyone else was piking too, because they hadn’t gotten UP straight so there was really no way out except a pike.

I kind of liked this, because it reminded me of an advanced move in pole dancing. In that, you hold onto the pole behind your head (elbows facing out in front of you), and you kick your legs up so that at the end, you’re in a head-down leg hold to a reverse climb. We practiced these in pole dancing similar to the move that we were doing at Crossfit – by lying on the floor and kicking up. I got this move ONCE from standing before I quit – it was SO COOL though! And I NEVER got the “down” out of the move – just never had that kind of ab strength (VERY COOL MOVE, you can see it HERE – though note she’s doing a split leg move down, so she’s not doing the full straight body “down” out. That’s how I used to be able to do it, too.).

So, as I mentioned yesterday, the WOD was 3 parts. First part was:

10 Min EMOM
8 DB Snatch 70/45lb

The funny part was on Tuesday (H’s first day back) we were talking about “moves that were one-sided” (we were discussing his back issues) and he said that he couldn’t think of one in Crossfit that was. I told him no, a snatch was, but “Bo didn’t program them much” – then of course it shows up on Thursday!

Ha ha ha thinking I could do this  at Rx. HELLO have you SEEN a 45lb dumbbell???? I took a 20 lb and a 15 lb to my “corner” – the first 4 rounds I did it with the 20, but then Bo came over to fix my form (always a problem LOL). I don’t “drop under” in the snatch – basically what I was doing was breaking the “straight” part of my arm too early/not using my shoulders, and then instead of using the hips/drop under, just using the hips and up. (Hard to explain.) The problem was, every time I tried to “drop under” it felt SUPER unstable on my shoulder. SO I dropped down to 15 lbs and kept trying it – I just don’t have this move. I think it comes back to my un-squatty-ness. It was frustrating.

A few times when I’d get to 5 (I did 5 on the left, 3 on the right, my right being my “worser” shoulder) I could feel the shoulder start to dislocate and I’d have to swing the weight back forward. I hate that feeling.

There’s gotta be something about having to get the weight “all the way up there” from the floor – if I’m 6’2″, what’s the height with my hand extended, like 7′? – but now that that new guy is in our class and he’s not only over 50 but also like, geez, 6’7″, I just watch him scarecrow up weights and marvel. (His wife is shorter, maybe like 5’7″, but WOW he is tall and skinnnnn-nnnnny!)

Then we did the Tabata shoulder presses. I had my Tabata songs and we did it to that, which was great because I know them all so I KNEW when the 3-2-1-GO was going to come. I could get 1 off before anyone had even realized they had to have the bar back up (LOL). I thought I could use the red bar (Rx/15kg) but I tried it – no dice. So I did the orange bar (10kg). Hey at least it wasn’t the swirly bar (10lb)! I ripped off 12 in the first set and it was downhill from there LOL! I wound up getting 56. That was right in line with everyone else, but they were doing it at Rx.

Oh yeah, then the row sprints. I was exhausted by this time. Ridiculous. H and I shared a rower, and I keep marveling at his technique. I have NO IDEA how he got so good on a rower. He’s rowing at a pace like I used to row when I rowed! Then again, because of his knee, for the past couple months when the WOD has had runs in it, he’s rowed. I think I have to consider doing that, just to work on getting my time down. I just basically ran out of juice. I did the first 1000m sprint at 4:34.4 which is just not that good – he did it in 3:30 which is like ROCK STAR. Then when I did the 2nd sprint, the song was something I could row on the beat if I didn’t push all the way back (or, if of course I’d pushed/pulled FASTER which I didn’t have in me) – think it was Michael Jackson “Billy Jean.” Anyway, I came in at 4:51.5 which SUCKS, and Coach Bo came over and “schooled” me on rowing all the way to straight legs/handle to chest or stomach for a beat, then pull back with the feet – I wasn’t getting to straight knees. I told him that I was rowing to the beat and of course got the patented Coach Bo Stink Eye. Be that as it may, yes, I think I really do have to just add in erg work somehow, maybe before the WOD.

I haven’t been doing ANYTHING but exactly what’s programmed (scaled, of course). I’ve been really tired. I think part of it is that, after those two workshops in a row, my Achilles were KILLING me – which was of course right after 14.3, my poisoning/hospital stay/etc. So during the week of 14.4 and the week of 14.5, I did do the WODs probably 1-2 times/week (besides the Open WOD), but I mainly went and used the roller and cheered people on.

Speaking of the Open, a LOT of our gang made it to Regionals!!! Coach Amanda came in 38th in our Region, which doesn’t surprise anyone of course. The thing that was really sad was that Coach Bo tweaked his back (BoManda is our best competitive team), and so he didn’t even try 14.3 because he just “knew” he would “destroy himself.” So he didn’t even have a full score for the finals. Karen and Rich L both made it (yay!), Coach Bill B., Martin (of course), small Mark (of course), trying to think of who else. I think Ashley isn’t going by like ONE POINT which is SO tragic!! She apparently screwed up in 14.1 (double unders, her nemesis) – which was when I was in Hawaii – but OMG I saw her in all the other WODs and – especially in 14.5 – she has always been a beast but she’s turned into a machine! I felt SO sad about that because of course she, Shari M. and Karen all work out together. Now, granted, of the above (except Amanda), all are Masters (even Ashley) but apparently Ashley is in the “younger Masters” class so she just missed, whereas if she had been a bit older she would have been in. Shari didn’t make it but she’s in the regular group. Bo told me 8 people, so the others are from classes I don’t take. SO exciting!

I asked Rich L about it, and he said that Masters has an extra “in between” sort of “semi-Regionals” that they have to do on tape, BEFORE the Regionals. I found that interesting – apparently there are SO many in the Masters class that they have to do some “in-between” Regional before the Regional to winnow them down more. I think he said that it was going to be “somewhere around the 17th” which would SUCK if it is going to be the 18th to 20th, as H and I are going to be in Calistoga. I promised I would come and shout at them all (except Rich, I’d never shout at Rich, he scares me though he’s NEVER been anything but nice to me). I am REALLY hoping that they have to “do it on” the 17th, then I could be there.

That’s my check in for now. WOD in 50 minutes. And I’m lying on the couch drinking my Bulletproof coffee, in my bathrobe. My shoulder already hurts just thinking about it 😉 If I can get my act together and I don’t have billable work, I’m going to try to get to yoga today – likely the 1:30 bikram, though I MIGHT try to get to the 12:00 Power Yoga since “Coach Joy” mentioned it on GGW as a real body-changer. I’m so sick of my big belly and extra 30 pounds of back fat, thigh fat, etc. that it makes me weep. I’d take a photo, but I don’t want that out in the blog-o-sphere. Endocrinologist DID change up my meds, so I’m going to see whether that affects things. (I have to go and change them out in my “pill holder” – yeah, I’m working towards gramma stage, with my supplements from my nutritionist and the meds, I have to have a “pill holder” for morning AND evening now!)

Aaaaaaaand….I just decided NOT to go to Crossfit! (laugh!) I’m really tired from yesterday, I have a ton of “busywork” (not billable, but LOTS of busywork) to do, and if I’m going to try to go to Power Yoga AND (just remembered) the Post-Open-Party at 4:00 at Silver Peso – I gotta not go. So, so much for that! I HAVE TO START my GiveIt100.com videos again – of course, it’s raining. But that’s what I will put on the list today. That’s Double-Under practice, Tabata situps, Rope Climb work, Handstand work. I can do all but the rope climbs inside if H goes off to breakfast. No ceiling high enough to practice jumping rope except in the living room, where his desk is, where he is doing back-to-back conference calls. Speaking of which, I better get him some coffee 😉

April 3 (Day 210) – feeling better . . .

Posted on by Sandy

Okay, SO!

I’ve discovered (duh) that the deal with me is that I get all “beat up on myself” when I haven’t been able to get out there and work out. Which is REALLY ridiculous to even TYPE (for me) since I (as per my last blog post) really AM the girl who had her father write doctor’s notes so she wouldn’t “have to” do gym class.

I’m back at Crossfit this week – and feel a lot better about “stuff.” Yeah, fine, I’m still heavy. And I can’t do much in Crossfit. But I’m better than I was, so there you go.

I finally got my “gut biome” kit, and you have to keep a 7 day food/exercise log before they will “let you” send in your kit for analysis, so I’m on that . . . and as I surmised, every time that H has an awful day at work, yeah, here we are splitting a bottle of champagne to “take the edge off.” And, sure, I could say “No’ but if I do that, he’ll say no, and he REALLY needs to take that edge off. So there you go.

As a sidebar, yesterday in the MIDDLE of doing dinner, the lights went out (after serious hailstorm the other day) – posted some Instagram photos of it which cracks me up. Coleman is your friend!

But back to what I was talking about . . .

I’ve got a friend who is going to help me “remotely” with Crossfit stuff, which rocks. It’s always a little intimidating to listen to Barbell Shrugged, Girls Gone WOD, reading blogs/tweets/etc., knowing that SQUATTING is still something I can’t do. I can totally SEE if someone is doing something incorrectly, but I personally No Can Do.

That said – I’m doing SO MUCH BETTER than I ever was! And twice this week, Coach Bo even mentioned it to me. (Coach Bo, who is the stoic type and doesn’t say much to anyone.)

Here were the workouts so far this week:
MONDAY: Monday SUCKED . . . I was on my way to 9:00 Crossfit and M called me and said SHE wasn’t going to go, but wanted to meet with me to discuss a new idea she needed to hash out (legal/strategic work, though unbillable). So there I was all dressed for Crossfit, meeting her at a coffee shop, and hey, it was GREAT, but I didn’t get a workout in. THEN, Monday is grocery day, so I was shopping until I BOOKED home, knowing I had some billable work to get out . . . and it took longer than I thought it would – so I wasn’t able to do Bikram. Grrrrrr. (I was done by 1:45 when class starts at 1:30). Then there I was doing my yoga work trade 2:30-5:00 that “pays for” free yoga all week, and I didn’t do yoga (and now it’s Thursday and I haven’t done any ONCE AGAIN). I have in the back of my mind – because Girls Gone WOD mentioned that Power Yoga is a really great way to “change your body” – to try Power Yoga, but I don’t think it will be this week. Maybe next. I’ve always avoided Power Yoga because it has a LOT of moves I can’t do, and the moves change . . . versus Bikram which is the same moves the same way each time (which appeals to me mightily . . . and I can at least GET INTO all the moves).

TUESDAY: This is the day M and I were “supposed” to meet, so I actually DID get to Crossfit because she had to go do something with her daughter (hence her buttonholing me at Crossfit the day before)

WOD:
part A: 6 Min EMOM
10 Box Jump 24/20″ – I did this on 2 25k plates and nailed them so I have to add a 5k in between’em
10 KBS 1.5/1P I did the orange kettlebell which is one below the red, which is 1 pood.

-My average was having about 18 seconds rest each one – it went from 20′ to 17′. I never reached the “didn’t rest” part. Coach Bo commented that I was not “bounce jumping” (where you take a little hop to get up on the box?) any more which he had coached me to stop – he also said I had a good “end” (e.g., the whole “hip pop” part).

part B: For Time
Run 400M
30 DB Squat Clean 35/25lb ea hand – ok yeah, sure, more on this below
50 Pull Up – did this with the black (85 pound) helper band so that meant I was lifting 100 pounds.
30 DB Squat Clean – like I said….see below
400M Run

-So as for the Squat/Cleans . . . yeah. I tried to do it with 2 10lb DBs, and I couldn’t do it. (I actually brought 2 15 pounders over to my “corner” – ha bloody ha.) I’m now squatting “down to” the corner of the lowest box (what is that, 21″?), but with 20 lbs I kept actually “sitting” on the box. So Coach Bo stopped me, took one away, so I had to “clean” the one 10 lb DB (not from the ground, but like from my thighs) holding on the ends, then squat down “to” the box but just touching it, and back up. O-M-G this was SO HARD. But Coach Bo actually took me aside at the end of the WOD and said how GREAT I was doing – especially given where I started (squatting to the highest box). In fact, I’m actually curious if I was getting close to either horizontal thighs, or maybe even below. (I”m going to have to go measure my calves to see if they are “taller” than 21″). This was pretty embarrassing in a way (though I was over in “my corner”) – because there I am with a 10 pound DB where the other girls have 2 25s, and I’m squatting down to a box, and I’m like grunting . . . oy.

-As for the Pull Ups, gosh it is still SO HARD even with the dang black band. Bo said I could change up my grip – so I was doing it with the pull up grip, the chin up grip, one forward one back . . . yeah, I was doing it all (laugh). The GOOD thing is that I’m on a band now instead of doing “jump up” pull ups from a box – at LEAST.

Yeah don’t forget how long this took, meant to remember but I don’t. If I remember I’ll look at the board tonight.

WEDNESDAY:

part A: 4 Rounds Max Reps
90 Sec Burpees
90 Sec Rest

– This was actually fun because we did it in a HUGE circle. This was NOT fun because my total was 39, which is, on average, about what all the OTHER girls in the “circle” were getting each 90 seconds. (Well, not really, but it was, on average, 25. I got one of those “sinker” feelings when Coach Anthony came around on the 4th round and was telling everyone “what number they needed to hit” – at the time my chalk said “29” which was my TOTAL for the first 3 – so he says to me “way to go, you gotta get to 25” and I’m thinking . . . sh*t I am SUCH a LOSER, he thinks that’s been my total per ROUND not my TOTAL-TOTAL! In fact when I told him “39” at the end, he looks at me and says “139?” and I’m all . . . “39 . . . ” S*I*G*H*.) HOWEVER, on the OTHER side of this, Coach Bo was there on the side doing a private and he said to me “Since WHEN are you doing REAL burpees?!?!?” Because of course my doctor said I could NOT do pushups, burpees, and a cast of other things because of my shoulder. I finally got cleared like…well, right before the Games so whenever that was – the Monday of that week. So THAT made me feel good!

part B: For Time – aim to keep times within a second or descending
Run 800M – 4:20
Rest 3 Min
Run 800M – 4:19
Rest 3 Min
Run 800M – 4:17

-So “as usual” I was FAR behind everyone else on the dang 800s, but I have LEARNED that the way to do this is to run the OTHER DIRECTION than everyone else around the buildings. I know that sounds so so stupid, but this way I don’t get “emotional” that I’m just watching their butts go around the 2nd building when I am not even to the end of the 1st. This is SUPER fast for me – once again, Coach Anthony (I love him! Seriously!!) was all “well, you want to be doing this at like 95%” when he was coaching me when I came in on the first one and I, panting, say “Anthony, that was 110% . . . so I guess I slow down, eh?” (he looked a little chagrined – I guess because I did 5 marathons last year I’m supposed to be, um, faster? Yeah well someone has to bring up the BACK of the marathon, too . . .) The good part was I was SUPER steady on the time, which I did anticipate. On my “usual pace” (which is about 12 minutes per mile in a marathon) I am always RIGHT ON my pace from beginning to end in a marathon – which is the reason Vienna was a little scary for me because if I’d been “right on my pace” I would have been chipped. Because I do run/walk, usually 5/2, I had to cut my walk back to 1 minute on the Vienna Marathon to get over the line in time. Because – as I said – my run is always just spot on 12 minutes/mile, regardless. So, Coach Anthony’s comment notwithstanding, I felt I was SMOKIN’ the 800s as that’s like 8-1/2 minutes a mile! (Pat, pat myself on the back.)

part C: Good Mornings
3 x 10

-I did the first set with the orange bar (so that’s 10kg), the second with the red bar (15kg) and the last with the men’s bar (20kg). I have to look at the video online for this because Coach Anthony was talking to Heather about “what should be exercising” in the Good Morning and he was saying quads plus hamstrings, but I thought it was just supposed to be hamstrings, straight back. He was having her bend her knees, and I was doing it straight knees to NOT use quads. So I have to look this up.

THURSDAY (today) – I’ll be going with H during the 6:30pm WOD which will be:

Part A:
10 Min EMOM
8 DB Snatch 70/45lb

Part B: Tabata Shoulder Press 20/15KG – so that’s the red bar, I can do that. Um, I think. (I can PUSH press it for sure . . . )
Part C: Row Sprints
2 x 1000M

OK first of all I gotta bring my iTouch because I have the Tabata Songs on it, which for some reason none of the Coaches have. I think I can do part B at Rx but not sure I can snatch a 45lb. dumbbell. (That’s a bit over 20kg, which might be a pood? As in a red kettlebell? Hm. I might be able to do it)

FRIDAY (tomorrow) – if I don’t have any billable work, I’ll do the 9:00 a.m. Crossfit, then I’d LIKE to try to go to the 1:30 bikram. Then this weekend is “the weekend” meaning – no workout, mostly Honey Do.

 

April 1 (Day 208) – feeling kinda low . . .

Posted on by Sandy

So, as you (the mythical you, since “you” really means “me”) can see, I haven’t blogged in a while.

I find that I’m often spinning plates – and then all the plates crash to the ground. H calls me a “gadget freak” and that’s somewhat true. Have you seen the movie Tin Cup? In it, Kevin Costner plays a washed-up golf pro. In one of his lessons, a gal walks up and has every single golf bit of “paraphernalia” basically hanging off her body. It’s hilarious – she looks almost like a one-man band with all the things that she’s “using” to “help her to hit straight.”

Sometimes I feel like that. (I’m SURE that H thinks I am like that! In fact, Tin Cup will never, ever be in our Netflix queue…)

For me, it’s not just cooking or other gadgets (being addicted to Kickstarter and Indiegogo….yeah…I gots some of them), I have online “gadgets” – and lots of them. Here are some of the online things that I am trying to keep up:

EveryMove: This is tied into the fitbit device I wear, but it also gives you “perqs” if you log in and say what you’ve done every day. Steps, workouts, things like that. It shouldn’t be that hard, since it ties to Facebook, Twitter, BodyMedia (my device), etc. But while the device downloads to it, you have to “fill in” what you did. I was good for like a month, then have totally fallen off the wagon recently (more on that later).

GiveIt100: I love this website. I love the idea of doing something EVERY day, taking a little video of it, being accountable. Except – I haven’t been. I’ll post something today, because I was going to go to the 9:00 a.m. Crossfit WOD but I’ve convinced H to start up again (it’s been a month) so we’re going to do 6:30 p.m. So suddenly I have more “day” to catch up.

this blog: Sometimes I just don’t have the time or inclination. Probably because I haven’t moved myself forward in my goals, so I just ignore writing that down. (Looking up at the ceiling…whistle….whistle whistle….) I do, however, generally post something to Facebook every day and usually I do Tweet every day. I wish there was a quick and easy way for those to show up here – I know you can do it “vice versa” (your blog posts showing up as tweets/Facebook posts – probably LinkedIn too).

EverPlans: OK this isn’t a workout thing, but a GREAT website where you can log all the things that you are doing/have to do/have done related to basically “end of life” decisions. I know – sort of morbid – but it’s FANTASTIC. And, free. I started it – gotta keep at it. One thing it made me do is hit up my trusts/estates attorney AGAIN to finish our work. I paid her already – always a bad idea – and she hasn’t finished getting our properties into the trust and all that jazz.

There are also a NUMBER and I mean a NUMBER of things I’ve “subscribed to” that I WANT to keep on top of – but haven’t. I have PAID to be part of something that a number of “gurus” have done – and then, I do nothing with those things! Shame on me.

I have more books, articles, etc. sitting by my bedside than is really safe. (smile) No, seriously. H threw his back out this weekend, so I had to get into my bedside table (I have an industrial massager that I needed to use to unlock his muscles, and it’s stored in there) – and when I “knocked” the pile I realized that the “torn out magazine article” part of that pile is HONESTLY (no, not joking) 10″ thick. This isn’t magazines, this is TORN OUT articles. Well, now it’s 10″ um…”not so thick” since I knocked it over, so there is a fan of paper that goes from the bed to the wall.

One that I’m exceedingly “unhappy” that I don’t keep up is a “meal tracker” that I subscribed to through JillianMichaels.com. I probably need to just bite the bullet and discontinue it – it’s not inexpensive. My BodyMedia is also through JillianMichaels.com, but I can get that for $6/month just to download, and the JM costs me $52 per quarter. I could do a similar thing on MyFitnessPal or some such – IF I were to do it.

I know, I know, “tracking calories” is SO 2012 (smile). The thing is, that my doctors have decided that I eat too much, so that’s why I’m such an enormous thang. My nutritionist thinks that one of my thyroid meds needs to be boosted, the doctors say that I’m “in the normal range” and that it’s that I eat too much. For a female over 50. (I think I posted the email from my endocrinologist a few posts ago).

So here’s the thing. I don’t really LIKE to exercise. I was the kid who hid in her bed reading under the covers with a flashlight, but would try to get her (doctor) dad to write doctor’s notes so that she wouldn’t have to go to gym. Yes, really. Back then, I was a skinny, coltish, shy girl, head and shoulders (literally) taller than anyone else – I was smart but lazy (“unchallenged” I guess they’d say now).

I remember doing a “women’s retreat” a decade or so ago in Sayulita, Mexico – I’d already agreed to be the sous chef for all the other women to get the retreat for half price before I found out the “program” was “re-introducing yourself to and integrating your inner child.” I told the therapist running the program that this was NOT something I was interested in – that in college, I’d spent all of freshman year copying a gal who was super nice, popular and NOT a “Mean Girl” because I wanted to have, oh, some friends (smile). She said that I had to “play the game” – then I got “called out” when I sat on a rock reading a book when all the other women exercising their “inner child” were skipping and cavorting in the sand. When “chastized” I explained that this WAS my inner child – that IS who I was until college, and my “personal makeover/transformation by copying.” Of course, that didn’t fit the mold – but I did play the game.

(And hated it.)

Anyway – so I’m 30 pounds heavier than my “heavy but healthy” weight. (40 pounds heavier than my “slim but healthy” weight.)  All my doctors – gyno, GP, endo – say that I should “just face it” that “that’s what happens” when you’re over 50, to “deal with it” and cut portions and work out like a demon. The endo even put me into a “Health By Kaiser” thing…I dutifully filled out the survey, and get back that I should be eating 4 portions of grains a day, etc. – !!! Ah yes, the dreaded Food Pyramid.

That said – I’m sure they’re right to some extent. But GOSH DARN IT! – for the last 3 months, I have been GOLDEN in my eating. No alcohol, sweets (sugar/sugar substitutes), lactose (milk/cheese/etc.), gluten, fruit, starchy carbs (even down to sweet potatoes), etc. I have eaten meat, eggs, fat (“good” fat a la coconut oil, butter, mac nut oil, MCT oil), non-starchy veggies, PERIOD. And my weight is still 30 pounds heavy (min.) and my body fat over 30%. WTF?

These past couple weeks, I was just “done” with it all. I’ve had friends in town, H and I went out, H had stressful work stuff going on, so I had a cocktail or a glass of wine most days, I split a dessert with one friend who was in town, 2 weeks ago when my grandboy was in town, I ate a sourdough bread bowl of clam chowder at Fisherman’s Wharf because “one does.” And my face is still broken out – gluten is REALLY off my list, I’m too vain for that.

I do know that I need something to be “accountable to” – but H is not so good in that he shows up with a martini or a glass of wine, and I have no “No.” 🙂

Why am I writing this? Because today is another Fresh Start Day. I am sick and tired of how I look – and summer is coming on. I have gained TWENTY pounds since September – something is up hormonally, because the fact that I could gain so much and then NOT lose it with being so strict means my body is holding onto calories in a very meaningful way.

So today’s the day to go back to all the FollowupThen.com’s that keep showing up in my box – tied to MindValley things I have paid to be subscribed to, Dr. Sara Gottfried (paid) subscription, The Low-Carb Guy (paid) subscription, Mark Sisson (paid) subscription, etc. If throwing $ at the problem would solve it, I’d be so, so healthy and slim right now…

Because LET’S JUST SAY that The Amazing Race called us TODAY. I already know this isn’t like when I was in my 20s – cut back a little and drop 10 pounds in a few weeks. No, we’ve proven that’s not the case! The thing is, that as the time goes on, it’s harder and harder to use that as a “stick” to push me forward. And let’s face it – I’m ill equipped for what is happening “to” my body. In my 20s and 30s and even most of my 40s, I was the girl folks hated – thigh gap and all. Oh sure, I couldn’t have run 2 blocks or deadlifted more than my cat . . . but I could cut back a tiny bit on what I was eating and be completely happy with how I looked and felt.

BTW – since I mentioned The Amazing Race – one thing I DID learn when I was doing some random web surfing the other day is that when you are chosen, you have to get all the visas for where you “might go” – they give you a list, and it includes the real places you’ll go that require visas, PLUS a few extra thrown in. That explains one thing that I’ve been curious about – why the teams seem to know “Please, Thank you, Fast, Race” in CRAZY languages. Three weeks ago they were in Borneo and even the “stupidest” team knew how to say “Thank you” to the folks there, which was a mystery to me. Now I get it – as there are at least a dozen countries that you go to – some of which do NOT require Visas, like for example Europe – as a team you could split the countries that you’re required to get Visas for, and learn a few phrases for each. My supposition is that Borneo requires a Visa. Also, apparently you have to get a litany of shots, that cover all the places that you “might go,” and some extras. This makes Pinky (from last season)’s comment about having to “do all the work” for her and her partner (hence their 60/40 split) make more sense.

Okay, time to go start ramping back up on all those things I’ve been ignoring for so long . . . and today starts being seriously back at Crossfit again. (As I said above, after the back-to-back weekend clinics, I have had Achilles issues plus a back “thing” – so I’ve been doing the Open workouts but otherwise basically going to the WOD but just doing stretching and rolling.)

 

March 19 (Day 195) – what a week I had . . .

Posted on by Sandy

It’s been a week since I wrote – wow! That’s crazy.

So what happened in this past week? Well – 14.3 was announced – Deadlifts and Box Jumps. That was right in my wheelhouse. I quite like Deadlifts. Why? Because they don’t involve squatting! And the box jumps could be step ups, so I was back in the Rx camp.

Because the WOD was ascending deadlift weights and reps (the box jumps stayed as a “palate cleanser” of 15 in between), I spent the evening before figuring out how to do it with Kilogram plates, which is what we have at the box. Then, when I got in to do it at 9:00 on Friday, I wrote it on the groundin chalk.

NASCAR Kilogram-plate progression. Vrrrooom Vrrrooom!
NASCAR Kilogram-plate progression. Vrrrooom Vrrrooom!

You may not be able to see it in this picture, so I’ll explain how it works:

The very top of the chart is a barbell that says “20” on it and L (for left) and R (for right). The 20 kg bar is the men’s blue bar. For some reason, I had just made up in my head that the bigger (red) women’s bar was 20k – in fact, orange is 10k, red is 15k. (Just typing this now, I know I KNOW that, but of course we all have our delusions when doing pound-to-kilogram conversions…)

The first set was at 43k. So that meant I loaded 10kg plates on L and R, then 2 1-k plates on the L and 1 1-k on the R for a total of 43. Yes, that meant that I was “unbalanced” by 1 kg, but as I generally pull harder on the left, I figured that was okay – and it’s only 2.2 pounds anyway.

You had to do 10 at that weight, then the 15 box jumps. Tracy (tennis playing Tracy) was my judge, which was great. She was really supportive and it was fun. She wasn’t doing the WOD herself, because her back and her elbow are bad – she actually did box jumps and then weighted lunges.

I lifted the bar a few times before 3-2-1-GO, and was trying to figure out “Why it felt so heavy” when in my “perception” as I looked down on the bar, it “only had” 2 10-kg plates. on it. The 1 kg plates are small so you can’t see them when you’re lifting – they are the red ones in the picture above – so it looked like a bar with 2 measly 10-kg plates. Then of course I remembered I was on the men’s bar – right there a 11.5 pound differential from when I am “usually” lifting a bar with 2 10-kg plates on it. Oops!

The second round was 61k. So that meant I had to take all 3 kg weights off, slam on a 10 kg plate on each side, then slide 1 kg plate back on, on the left. This was where it got funny. Sheri (one of our Really Good athletes) was judging right next to me, squatting basically over the 10 kg plate I had set up and needed. I slammed the 2 kgs off onto the ground and just about upended her to get to the 10k plate, which surprised her and made Tracy laugh out loud. (That’s when the NASCAR tire changing comments started.) I was focused on “not messing up,” especially as the gal from Diablo Crossfit had messed up on TV doing the weight change the night before at the Announcement in NOLA! (She actually wound up winning anyway – Go Diablo! Carol Wu’s box.)

I got the 15 reps out on the 61kg, but it was getting heavy. Anthony kept sharking over and reminding me to keep my back straight and to lift by pushing down on my heels. Then I had the 15 step up “palate cleanser,” then the next round.

This one was 70 kg, so I just had to take the 1 kg plate off and slam on 2 5s. I had a minute to go, but 70 kg is my 1 rep max. I got it up, but really dropped it. As I wasn’t using clips, Tracy actually clipped the weights on while I rested. It was obvious I wasn’t going to add any more weight! I wanted to get to 3 – I got to 3 and still had 30 seconds. I went for 4, and wound up “roaring” the weight up, just as the music went silent – so there I am, “RAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWR” over in my corner of the box. Karen (one of our Superstars) looks up from all the way across the box and yells (I can hear the laugh in her voice as she’s yelling) “GO Sandy!” I got 5 total that that weight, for a score of 60, which I thought was fabulous.

Most of the folks that were doing the first go were doing some form of Scaling – I was the only Rx. I think that’s why both Sheri and Karen were surprised, Sheri by my NASCAR tire changes and Karen by my “roar lifting.” 🙂 Karen gave me a High 5 afterwards, and she said she’d looked over and seen how much weight I had on, then realizing that though I was doing it with the Scalers I was doing the Rx. I felt proud to be noticed 😉

I “judged” Tracy, then was about to leave, but Mikaela came up to me. She’d been looking at my chart on the floor, and wanted me to walk her through it. Then, she asked if I would stay and coach her through the round, because she hadn’t thought to map them out the night before. She smoked all the way through to the 84kg set – where she had to add 5 more on each side and the 2 kgs back on each side. Because she’d arrived late, she was doing it outside of the actual “rounds” so we got a bunch of comments about my “NASCAR weight change routine.” (The folks who are going for Regionals seriously actually all brought their own pound weights, and did it that way. I think it was easier, frankly, to do the kg weights because you never had to take anything big off and then put something else on – which was where the Diablo gal went wrong on TV.)

Saturday was a POSE run clinic. I did that one with the other Tracy (runner Tracy). We spent 4 hours learning how everything we were doing to run was basically wrong (laugh). But it was amazing, honestly amazing. The biggest take-aways involved running with a metronome app (180 minimum), lifting your knees up but your sole facing backwards (as if you are kicking not your butt, but where your hamstring attaches) so that you are making a smooth ROUND motion under you not reaching forward or back with your foot (oval), leaning forward from the hips not the shoulders, “triangle arms,” etc. As an exercise to get the “lean,” we had to hold each other back like sled dogs with a jump rope at the hips until the person was REALLY leaning/trusting us (they would fall if we let go), then they started walking, then running (with us still giving resistance) until we ultimately would let go and let them “fly.”

One interesting take away was that when you’re running to the metronome, the beat should be when your knee comes UP not your foot goes DOWN (or you “pound the ground,” which wastes energy).

Sunday was a double under clinic. I woke up and my calves were KILLING me from the run clinic – but off I went. I learned a bunch of new stuff, but I confirmed that my hands and arms were in a good place. Just have to keep at it. The double under guy made me work on looking out on the horizon instead of on the floor – also really jumping higher, but straight up (being “bouncy like a pogo stick”). The POSE running guy had suggested that we do single-leg (as in, running in place) rope work to work on getting our knees up, and the double under guy suggested that as well.

During the clinic, every time I would get a double under I would stop (the shock, you know). He helped me practice doing two slower single jumps, just to “ease out” of the double under – then we started putting those together. In other words, 2 singles, double, 2 singles, double. We did an Rx test at the end, and I got 7 in a minute, which is fabulous if you ask me. He told me to keep at it, work towards a single, double, single, double, then stringing the doubles together. We did them in the warm up today, and I got a few, but I’m STILL super sore (it’s Wednesday as I type this!)

At home, I’ve still been working on my rope climbs (mainly my hands, since I moved it to the back deck I can’t do the foot lock), double unders, situps, and handstands – all in sort of a round-robin Tabata. I’m posting those on GiveIt100 – the film is pretty funny. Today as part of the warmup we had rope climbs, and I was able to get the foot lock right away, which felt great. I didn’t actually go anywhere (laugh), but I did get the lock and push up.

Oh – almost forgot – Friday night I managed to poison myself (yes, really) with peanuts. So for the first time in probably 20 years I was off to the hospital in extremis. It was the worst one ever. The funniest part (if you can call any of this funny) is that on my 2nd date with H, I had thought I’d ingested some peanuts, and made him come home with me just in case I had a shock reaction. He, of course, always thought I just wanted to get him home with me! (Yes, really.) Back then, the offending food was a bite of apple pie where the “secret ingredient” in the crust (which was very VERY yummy, I concede!) was peanut butter. So once I could breathe and the intubation was done, etc. at the hospital, the first thing I said to H was “remember the apple pie?” He said back, “Yes, and it’s a good thing I didn’t really know how bad this was for you, because I’m not sure we would have made it on a 3rd date!” He has never in all our years together seen this happen. At least now he knows how it goes – the worst part is that it affects my brain, so I can’t make rational decisions. After throwing up quite badly, I went to bed…MISTAKE! I was upstairs, H was downstairs watching TV, and I started not being able to breathe, then had to come BACK downstairs to get him to take me to the hospital. I remember standing at the top of the stairs thinking “I am not quite sure this is possible”…. I did make him run red lights to get me there, and that was funny in its own right. Trying to make an Austrian break the law is like trying to defy gravity. At the first one, when there was NO TRAFFIC and I knew I was getting to the point where I might lose consciousness, I was gasping “Run it! Run it!” and I could see it in his face, “Break A Rule….Lose The Wife… Break A Rule….” 😉 When we got to the hospital there was no parking, so he put my driver’s license and Kaiser card in my hand and basically pushed me through the door. I went up to the receptionist who was playing Solitaire, and gasped out “Annnn…a….pha….lax….sis….” – you’ve never seen a team of people jump so fast 😉

my sexy fighter pilot look in the hospital after the anaphylaxis...
my sexy fighter pilot look in the hospital after the anaphylaxis…

So this was Friday night – right? I woke up Saturday and wasn’t sure I could make it to the clinic, but I felt TOTALLY FINE. In fact, when I woke up, I thought “Did I even DO 14.3 yesterday?” Because I had NO pain in my back…no pain ANYWHERE. So then I’m lying there in bed thinking…”Has CROSSFIT just been a huge dream??” Because since I started doing Crossfit I don’t think ONE day has gone past where I didn’t have some ache or pain, somewhere. I mentioned it to H as I was getting ready to go to the clinic, and he said “Um, hello?! You were pumped full of steroids intravenously and through an atomizer, given Valium, and all sorts of other stuff last night, did you forget this? Of COURSE you feel no pain!”

Ohhhhhhh thaaaaaaat…..

Suffice it to say it all came slamming down on me on Saturday night – I teased H, asking him if he knew any professional baseball players or Lance Armstrong I could call…

I was pretty proud of myself for dragging my fully un-steroid-ed self to the double under clinic on Sunday!

Monday I did the WOD, plus bikram – but I could really honestly barely walk. I can still feel my Achilles’ “clicking” when I do some moves. Yesterday I did my “home WOD” of handstand/situps/etc. plus went for a VERY brisk walk with a friend out in Tennessee Valley because it was GORGEOUS (It’s in the 70s – crazy weather). Tonight Leann and Cody get here (YAY!) and so though I did the WOD today, I won’t tomorrow. I am giving him a private Parkour lesson for his birthday which will be tomorrow, plus we’ll meet Mom at the Farmer’s Market. I’ll do 14.4 on Friday, whatever it is, but then we’re going to take him to Alcatraz – and on Saturday to the USS Hornet.

I did watch TAR and have some comments about that, but I think that’s enough for now. Today’s WOD was hang-squat-clean-thrusters (did that over the corner of the 20″ box with 10 lb barbells – squats are my Waterloo…), a 4 x 400 run (used the metronome, couldn’t keep up the form from POSE), some L-hangs, and I’m sure some other things. It wasn’t a particularly long WOD, but there were a TON of us there. It makes SUCH a difference the way that they re-organized the iron in there – it’s amazing how many people can work out now.

March 12 (day 188) – Welcome to Tabata…Are you ready…? 3-2-1-GO!

Posted on by Sandy

SOME day, I’m going to have to re-do my Categories . . . not looking forward to that! (I am trying to file these posts under Categories, but some are nested under others . . . oy. Never mind)

Anyway – so today I decided to do 3 of the 4 GiveIt100.com workouts I’m doing as Tabatas. To get the workouts into the 10 second video clip required, I had to speed up the video. They look so silly that I had to share:

Tabata Situps: I did 83, but as you can see, assisted (holding onto the back of my legs). I did the first 2 or 3 and realized that was about it for “regular” situps (for now). Here’s the link (can’t figure out how to get the Media Player to just insert it here, sorry 🙁 )

Tabata Rope Climbs: I did 21 (with going down and standing back up counting as “1”) – sometimes I would be “down” when he called Stop, so I’d just lie there and finish that number when the count started again. I got to 21. Here’s the link. Be sure you watch to the end LOL.

Tabata Jump Rope: Since double unders have gone the way of the dodo bird for me, I figure I’ll just work on cardio. So I jumped during the “Go” periods – couldn’t make a full one without tripping, though did do one with only one trip! Here’s the link.

and while I’m at it . . .

Here’s my other Project for GiveIt100 (though not a Tabata) – trying to get into a Handstand. This is the closest to upright I’ve gotten, and when I tried at first to have my hands closer, it just felt too “tip over backwards,” so I went back down to what was comfortable. Easy does it, as the saying goes – I could hold it for 30 seconds.

I’ve got that barking cough today, so didn’t go to Crossfit. Can’t make this a habit – that’s 3 weekdays (and of course 2 weekend days) off, which is not good. Granted one of the weekend days I was doing the Bay Swim stuff, but I gotta go tomorrow whatever it takes. Hopefully H will want to go with me – he hasn’t been since before he went to Basel!

 

AmericanGut.org

Posted on by Sandy

gutI was listening to the America’s Test Kitchen Radio yesterday, and I heard of a project that I think the word must be spread about.

It’s AmericanGut.org.

What’s it about? From their website:

“The Human Microbiome Project and other microbiome projects worldwide have laid an important foundation for understanding the trillions of microbes that inhabits each of our bodies. However, opportunities for the public to get involved in such research has been limited. Now, American Gut gives you an opportunity to participate and to compare the microbes in your gut to those in the guts of thousands of other people in the US and around the world. American Gut is a project built on open-source, open-access principles. Our data are for the good of understanding and will be shared both with participants and with other scientists. Our experience has been that our best ideas and work come when we involve people in as many steps of our work as possible, be they scientists, educators, roofers, ultra-marathon runners or corporate leaders. Everyone has something to offer, whether their sample, their hypotheses, their analyses or their dog (yes, their dog, we will get back to that). The more we can understand the complex microbial ecosystems on which we depend, the more everyone will benefit.”
genome

HERE is a PDF with more from the American Academy of Microbiology.

Basically – we’ve all heard about DNA sequencing and the “Human Genome” project. The problem is that it’s VERY hard to affect your DNA. However, many people still don’t know that our bodies (as creepy as this sounds) are basically 37 trillion human (skin, blood, muscle) cells – the “human genome” – and three times that in microbes – the “human microbiome.”

And we can affect microbes.

vennMicrobes are on our skin, in our gut, etc. And you can affect those microbes immediately by what you “do to them.”

Hence, the “Microbe Genome” project.

Example: We’ve all heard that if we take antibiotics, we can “wipe out” not only the bad bacteria that’s making us sick, but also good bacteria. That “good bacteria” then has to reCOLONize in our body – yes, emphasis on “colon.”

What happens if what we’re eating and doing means that we wipe them out – then we can’t get all the good ones back? What we eat “feeds” them – so there is a dramatic, immediate way to affect our own health and performance by investigating what we have, and what we don’t have, growing inside us.

This project even postulates that they might get diets down to about 8 different ones – depending on what you seem to “host best” (yes, we are just all hosts for these microbes!). Eat what feeds your “good bacteria” best, have an immediate and lasting affect on your performance, life, mental and physical health. Really.

Just about everyone now knows about seratonin. It’s a neurotransmitter tied to learning, memory, aging, sleep, sexual function, mood (it’s called the “happiness hormone” because you need it to experience the feeling of  “well being”). And it’s made in the gut. What if your gut doesn’t have the right bacteria to help you out? No seratonin – no good. Depression and misery! And that’s just one of the many, many things that are tied intimately to your gut.

microbesI just purchased one kit for myself, and one for my grandboy. He’s been having terrible health issues that the doctors have just thrown up their hands about. We’re talking about screaming pain, throwing up, inability even to go to school or Boy Scouts. For months and months. This is a normal, social boy, and it’s just killing us. It’s been going on for forever and it’s wearing him down. Who knows? Maybe once we send in for his microbe test, we’ll find he’s “over colonized” by some bacteria, or is missing another. I’m super excited about the possibilities.

As for me, I am a confirmed biohacker, and my change to eating gluten-free and attacking “leaky gut” issues was a choice designed to address thyroid and other hormone issues that are wreaking havoc in my life. I joined the “Citizen Scientist” human genome project – but, as their website says, you can have a FAR more immediate affect on yourself if you work on yourself from the microbe level.

You should check this out! I think it’s important! Again – you can still be a part of it!!! AmericanGut.org.

Amazing Race tips from 24-3

Posted on by Sandy

Amazing Race tips from 24-3!

1. One team (guy and girl) the girl is only wearing a Camelbak, the guy has the pack. We’ve discussed having one pack – that’s an even better idea.

2.  The cowboy rappelled down the waterfall, and was only looking one direction, so missed the clue! Look both ways! (Wonder if they could have seen the yellow clues up the waterfall by looking before “leaping” as it were?)

3.  OMG I SO WANT TO GO to Borneo! OMG OMG Beautiful beautiful!

4.  We really gotta figure out knots and such. They had to put a raft together, and that was a HUGE part of it. KNOTS CLASS!

5. “We’re like Huck Finn and Oliver Twist” (the Country Singers) – OMG laugh out loud!!! In Love with the Harlem Globetrotters – missed the year they were on, and really enjoying them and their attitude.

6.  Keep the clue available! Digging through their pockets, Dave and Conner missed where they had to drop off the food!

7. I am SO PROUD of the Afghanimals!!!! They actually helped out the Cowboys when asked. They realized that being the “liars” last time didn’t serve them well (and likely is what put them into 4th place – SO CLOSE to the final 3). NICE! Be NICE! Help if you’re asked…though there is a real balance to it – when making the kiddie cars, one team helped the other and except for a mistake made by another team, it would have made them race for last place. That’s a tough one – I guess, NEVER LIE, but you might not want to actually, physically HELP.

8.  Did I mention knots? OMG, Must. Know. Knots.

9.  John Wayne is one of the Country Singers’ grampa?? How’d I miss that last time! (She mentions it because she totally KNOCKS down the bird with a blow dart!)

10. MAKE YOUR TAXI WAIT, don’t pay it off! Especially – Es-pec-ially if you’re in the middle of no-freakin’-where. OMG.

 

March 11 (day 187) – I’ve caught the evil BaselVirus

Posted on by Sandy

I think I mentioned that Sunday I got up at 0-dark-00 to help the LLS Team In Training tribabies on their first Open Water triathlon. It was “Spring Forward” day, and my husband just laughed himself silly that I was getting up so early, as he snuggled himself back down in bed…

The current was BRUTAL where I was stationed to stay – so much so that I couldn’t hold the board in place with just my arms. I tried putting my feet against the buoy I was stationed at (they did 3 rounds around buoys in Paradise Park/S.F. Bay), and I couldn’t even hold it that way. So I spent a couple hours (maybe not that long, but longer than an hour) holding onto the board if folks needed a breather, and kicking like a maniac against the rip.

At one point (first round, when folks havent settled down yet) I had three gals hanging onto the board – I couldn’t keep us in place so I said if they were going to hang out, they had to kick, too! Funny – so much for letting them rest…

I think that being in the not-so-warm Bay, with my thinner “shortie” wetsuit set me up. I have to wear the less warm wetsuit, because right now my warmer wetsuit fits me like a sausage casing, so there would have been NO WAY I could have gotten on the board – can’t maneuver my legs in it. (Fine for swimming, not so fine for getting on a surfboard.)

Anyway, I got home and slept until 6:30 p.m., got up, made dinner, then went back to bed. And then yesterday, I must have touched some doorknob or counter or another that H had touched when he came back from Basel with that AWFUL dog-bark-cough virus – because now, I’ve got it. Just as H is cold/virus free, after having it in Hawaii, too! Dang it!

Yesterday I did go to Bikram, and did the work with a different perspective. I’ve been thinking a lot about squats and the fact I don’t “have” about 3/4 of the range of motion required for one. So yesterday, I sat out some of the moves (I really wasn’t feeling all that great), but the ones that I did, I did with an aim at stretching my abilities/paying attention to my abilities in the “squat arena.” I’m also paying attention walking up the innumerable stairs up to and in our house – I can feel I don’t climb stairs in a way that even uses my glutes or hamstrings, it’s all quads, so working on that.

After Bikram, I did what I said I would do – I stayed after and worked on the move that the founder/coach at Crossfit Pohaku gave me for better mobility in squats.  “All” it entails is putting your feet flat on the wall, as far apart as you can spread them, with your tailbone against the wall, knees tracking over feet. Then you put your elbows on the inside of your knees, and “press out” (hands together).

The best way to think about it is it’s as if you are deep squatting, but that wall is the floor.

As I’d said yesterday, I held this for 4 minutes (the length of a Tabata workout). Oh My Living God. By the end I was panting, and I wasn’t actually able to stand up out of it – I had to put my legs up straight on the wall (so, tailbone still against the wall, but now legs up straight on the wall) by MOVING my legs with my HANDS into that position…then after a little while, I was able to roll on my side, and get up.

So there you go – I’m going to record a video of that position and post it onto GiveIt100 today (for yesterday), then I will do the Tabata situps today. Here’s the workout for today:

3/11…
Pull Up 5 x 2

Shoulder Press 5 x 3

7 Min AMRAP
7 Thruster 43/30KG
7 Box Jump 30/24″

CONDITIONING
4 Rounds
2 Min AMRAP
200M Run
ME Pull Up

Immediately Following
4 Rounds
2 Min AMRAP
200M Run
ME Shoulder Press 50/35KG

same as reg. part C

H is feeling well enough to go at 6:30 p.m., so I’ll be seeing how much of the Conditioning workout I can do with him then.

UPDATE: H didn’t feel like going – so I didn’t go. Can’t stop coughing. Harrumph.