Crossfit, packing, SHOES!I

Tuesday (Day 27), Wednesday (Day 28), Thursday (Day 29)….

I’m having my resident WordPress guru work on my ability to  be able to “add media” and spruce up these posts with photos, but for now I’m stuck with just text and linking out to websites.

Hm. So Tuesday I had a much-needed appointment with my chiropractor, who unjammed my pinkie finger from an ill-caught Crossfit “wall ball” (he’s pretty flexible…maybe I could pack him …), three law-related meetings, then Crossfit with Bo (and Herbert) in The Cave. There was also a “new guy” there – big black dude, probably late 50s, definitely had the “old pro football player” vibe going. I didn’t get his name. (He did ask me at the end how long I’d been doing this, and I told him – he said “And..?” and I said “It still sucks” and he broke out laughing and said “HEY you’re supposed to say ‘it gets easier!’ ” which was pretty funny as I was standing there trying not to puke…)

We did whatever the warmup was, then we were supposed to do:

8 RFT
400M Run
10 Thruster 45/30KG

A “thruster” is when you bring the barbell up to your neck/resting on your shoulders in a squat, then as you come up “out” of the squat, you push the bar up over your head.

I tried to do it with the 10 lb. bar and was unable to. So I picked up the PVC pipe to do it with that – to which H made snarky comments – and then remember what I’d said obviously the LAST time he’d made snarky comments and shut up (smart boy).

Bo told football-guy and H that they would do 25 minutes, as many as they could instead of the 8 RFT. I could do what I wanted. He also gave me 2 5 lb. dumbbells, and I had to put them up at my shoulders while squatting (palms facing in), and then as I came up out of the squat push and press them up over my head (palms still in). I could do that, so that is what I did for “thrusters.”

I wound up doing the whole thing in 25:36, which make me feel good. I think the “boys” did 6 rounds. It was SUPER DUPER windy outside, and so I told H when I passed him on one of the 400s that he had to run the other direction – otherwise when you came down on the “long side” of the building you were pushing hard against the wind. The warmup had included a 800 meter, where I’d been running the “usual” direction and ran smack into that wind and decided that was a BAD idea for the RFT!

Tuesday night after the workout I got the chills and really REALLY felt like crap, also likely to do with a virus I’m dealing with and I didn’t have the meds for (got them Wednesday morning). I took a jug of protein drink to bed, and then H made me chicken soup and rice, the sweetie.

Tuesday late my law school had contacted me that they had had 2 people “bail” (turned out ultimately to be 3!) for a transactional law panel and they were “hoping against hope” I could do it. Luckily, I could, and that also put me in the city to do the Team In Training/Wednesday evening workout. (Funny part of that is that I changed out of my “lawyer duds” before going to the workout but I still had my makeup on, earrings, hair up – I must have had 5 people go “Whoa, what’s the model look, sis?”)

Wednesday morning Crossfit was a bit odd because I drove up and none of the garage doors were open – I thought I’d “missed a memo” – but it was because of the wind. Bo was there, not Anthony.

We did whatever the warmup was (you probably are wondering why I can’t remember, especially because the warmups are always at least 20 minutes and involve things like pushups, etc. It’s because The Cave actually LISTS the actual WODs on their website, but not the warmups. So I can cheat and look at the WODs, but I have to remember the warmups).

Then the WOD was 21 minutes AMRAP

400 m run, 20 box jumps, 50 foot “worm.”

OK so on the box jumps, I did it on the gym mats folded up as I had before, and Bo said that “soon” we were “going to have to get me onto a real box.” Which was a nice thing to say since I suck at practically everything. Margo – one of the gals – commented that I “sure have a lot of race Tshirts that I wear,” and I said well, they give them to you at the end of the race and they’re technical shirts, so pretty much all I have in my closet. She was DUMBFOUNDED (kinda funny) and said – “WAIT, you’ve DONE all those races?!?” And I laughed and said – um, yeah, that’s why I have the shirts…?!?!? I think because I TOTALLY and COMPLETELY SUCK at Crossfit she – and perhaps all the other participants (I’m really the only newbie in the morning) – thought I’d … um… bought them? Anyway I assured her that I was slow, so it’s not like I WON any of these races….

And – The Worm. Lord. What that means is that you start out in “Downward Dog” position (butt up, piked). Then you walk your hands out as far as you can. The super people could walk them out even farther than their heads. (Arms and legs have to stay straight.) I could get mine to “plank” position (straight under my shoulders). Then, you walk your feet up to your hands. Then you walk your hands back out. For 50 feet.

If your ankles, calves and hip flexors are stiff or completely locked (like, for example, mine) you basically are trying to slide your feet little baby inches up towards your hands in the 2nd 1/2. The “arms back out” isn’t so bad – just tiring – but the feet up is AWFUL. (Go ahead, try it. I’ll wait. Just go across the room. No, no worries – I’ll wait….)

My worm sort of looked like this: (a) put my hands on the floor at the line. Walk my hands out until they were under my shoulders – so I’m in “plank” on my palms and the tips of my shoes. (Arms and legs must move separately, and must remain straight.) (b) rest a bit in plank, elbows locked. (c) sweat. (d) stare at floor. (e) pike up to downward dog. (This was essential. Everyone else just started walking their feet forward from their flat-out position. No could do.) (f) slide each foot forward about 4″ at a time, until feet were close enough to hands so that if I went forward any more, I’d have to take my hands off the ground (another no-no). (g) rest a bit. (h) sweat. (i) groan. (j) repeat.

I could see a little evil number like this being in TAR. I wonder how soon – now that CrossFit has become SUCH a big deal internationally – it’s going to be before TAR heads to a CrossFit in, like, Australia. I can totally see it. They did the muscle pose-down, why not something like a worm race? (NOT LIKE I’M SUGGESTING ANYTHING HERE!)

So, how many did I get? Three rounds. It was 20 minutes when I hit the end of the third round, so Margo and I headed out for one more run “before time was up” – she made it in, I got in in 21:12 though Bo let me keep it. (I was just about ready to throw up, that’s for sure – that last run did me in but I needed to do it, because I needed to prove I was “game.” Even the super-duper fit blonde, whose name I still don’t know, who was out on the rower when Margo and I headed back out shouted “Go Margo!” and then “Go Sandy!” which felt WONDERFUL. No one else went out for a final round.)

Everyone else did like 5-6. Yeah, well, so sue me, what can I tell you. Doing that last run was important to me. I also TRIED to catch Margo, and on the backside she literally just sprinted away from me. I didn’t have any more gas in my tank at all.

The thing that this is totally teaching me (besides humility…) is the truth of an old adage. The old adage is that you basically are going to be as “X” as the 10 people you hang out with the most. So you’re going to be as wealthy, as smart, as fit, as “X.” Well, the 10 people I hang out with the most are not that particularly healthy. I mean – H and I both know it – and have “complained” about it – for years. I spend 85% of my time with him – and not only does he hate to exercise, but he hates to “eat right” and all that jazz. Sure, once he gets on a bike, or on a hike, he really does like doing it (same as me), but he HATES to “stay in shape” and will do just about anything to avoid it.

Heck, look at my background! I mean – EVERY year in grammar school I’d try to convince my dad – at some point or another – that I was “too sick” or “too injured” to do gym class and to “write me a doctor’s note.” And I went to a Catholic school – so we’re NOT talking “regular gym and recess” here. It was low level to start. (However, the “main” gym was gymnastics and swimming. And I was SO allergic to those that they would give me panic attacks at the grand old age of like 8. So though the swimming itself was fine, I still cannot dive into a pool, and I can’t even do a rudimentary movement that is gymnastic. Granted I was always 2 heads taller and a lot gawkier/clumsier than the other girls, but to this day anything that smacks of “balancing” or “putting my feet over my head” or my “blood rushing to my head” pushes me into Fear Factor.

ANYWAY – H grew up in Europe and didn’t HAVE gym at all – and all the better for him to be in the library (yeah, that sounds familiar).

So back to that adage. I would have to say of the people that I see regularly, Trish is DEFINITELY in better shape than I am – though mainly because she’s kept training hard since we first met (Lavaman run-up last year), whereas I did my usual “fall off” from training. It’s interesting, because I actually beat her in, when we did Lavaman, because she ran out of gas on the run – but now she’s 10x more fit than I am. (And that there shows to go ya’ that you CAN do it if you just keep at it…) But other than Trish, I don’t think, really, that ANYONE I hang with is even “fit-ish.” Oh – Kat – but she’s a new friend (and it’s her fault I’m in Crossfit.)

And that’s been the problem. Since I’m probably (not meant in ANY sort of bragging way!) the “fittest of the bunch” I’ve kinda started thinking of myself that way.

Until now.

Which, I have to say, is GOOD. I don’t think I REALLY realized JUST how dramatically sucky my fitness was, because I was congratulating myself that Hell, I can run a marathon and touch my toes, and no one AROUND me can do that, and they all think I’m the bomb, so I must be.

Ha Ha Hardee Har Har.

Oh – so the workout today – which I WILL GO TO (she says . . . H just bailed, but he said he’d go tomorrow) is:

15 RFT
100M Run
6 DB Hang Squat Clean 40/25lb
8 V-up

A V-up is a situp where you touch your toes and your hands together, so you sit up in a “V” (so your toes wind up – legs straight – sort of over your stomach – I know you can imagine it… you start from flat). Don’t know what a hang/squat/clean is.

SO, one thing I just realized I’d forgotten is that I DID run with the Team yesterday – but I was exhausted, and I wasn’t really able to do the core workout. And when I got home, which was late, I just dragged my sorry ass up to bed.

And now I’m thinking – I think I might NOT go to Crossfit tonight (in an hour). Why? Because I think that I need to make H a nice dinner tonight, since it’s been since, like, SUNDAY. (Yikes.)

Now, mind you, the housecleaner comes in like 10 minutes – which means I need to clear out. I think I will go for a hike or a run. And bring a podcast to listen to.

Then H and I will go to Crossfit tomorrow morning.

AND ABOUT THE SHOES:
R and I have been going back and forth on email about “packing things.” We both realized we have to bring reading glasses (or we won’t be able to read the directions – classic – we’d be just standing at the pole waiting for someone to read where we have to go <snark>).

Then she was asking about hikers – I really discovered this past weekend that lighter “sneaker/hikers” work – and will be run-able but also give traction, and not be too heavy. Mine are Vasques, and though they do have the potential to make my big toes smash on the front (versus my big hiking boots which are ankle-high so hold my toes “back”), tying the shoelace behind my ankle seemed to help this past weekend. Then I said that I thought we should get some flat black, fold up, ballerina shoes (a la Tieks) and also have a “balls up to nothing” little black dress “just in case” – and then have some Keen’s – like the gals have at the swim pull-out at Ironman Louisville – they give you traction, can go in/out of water, and have a heel and also a toe cover so you can’t “stub your toe” like you can with something like Tiva’s. These (and hiker/sneakers) DO need to be broken in – the Keen’s especially broken in FIRST with socks, THEN in bare feet (if planning to wear in the water).

We also discussed having swim goggles ;-) I said we’d also need at least one special pair of scorpion-plucking gloves between us, but R sent the following email:

Maybe we can use those ballerina flats for picking up scorpions. Fold them in half and use them like tongs.

BEST EMAIL EVER!

I also mentioned that in re hiking sneakers and snow and such, that gaiters would be the best idea in my opinion, R said that she agreed and had been reading this: http://friends.backcountry.net/m_factor/footwear.html

Now I must scurry out of my “was shopping at the farmer’s market then sat down on the couch for the past eight hours on my sorry *ss to wade through email) Jam’s World sundress, get into some walking/jogging/podcast-listening clothing, and jet!