Machines are for Sissies

Back in town, and with a new toy!

2008-05-22T18:37:00.005-06:00

I was out of town for a while for work, but now I'm back. I got a couple runs in while I was traveling, and one circuit workout with weights.

I bought myself a new toy.

Its awesome. I love it. We have it set up in a spare bedroom in the basement. I also got some giganitic rubber bands, so I use those for a little assistance with pullups and dips.

Yesterday I ran 3 miles through my neighborhood, which is definitely a nice, hilly route. Then I did a circuit of assisted pullups, dips, leg raises on the new toy, pushups on the pushup bars, and pushups on a med ball. Then I was cleaning around the house, and between each chore, I did another set of assisted pullups.

Today I ran a mile and a quarter. Then I did a prison workout with just thrusters (squat and shoulder press) and deadlifts. I used 2x30lb dumbbells on the thrusters and only about 100 lbs for the deadlifts. I decided to go light on those because I was tired and wanted to be able to workout hard tomorrow too.

Be strong!

Gorgeous

2008-05-07T15:38:00.002-06:00

The weather here, I mean. I try to take BBG's advice to heart and be beautiful but I pale in comparison to the Shenandoah Valley.

Yesterday, I did a 45 minute run (approx 10 min mile pace) along a gravel road outside of town. The hills were intense, but so were the views. And as the sun was going down, the Appalacian mountains were shades of purple/blue that were stunning. It was fabulous.

Today, I am getting set to do a workout I saw on the MBG website and liked the looks of (I modified a bit):
4 sets of each
10 handstand hipslaps, ea. side
10 chinup hipslaps, ea. side
10 squats w/60# D ball
150 Jump rope F/B

Stay strong ladies!

Oooh. Made myself sore.

2008-04-29T19:37:00.003-06:00

Today: 10 min on treadmill (legs were SORE!!!)

Circuit of shoulder presses with dumbbells, pushups, lat pull downs, divebomber pushups and a half-mile run on the treadmill. Then after all that I did there sets of body rows on a bar and some rotational shoulder things with 3 lb dumbbells.

Yesterday: 10 minute warm up on the treadmill, then circuits of treadmill, back squats, stability ball curls, and dumbbell deadlifts. I tried to do low rep sets of heavy weight. So 120 to 140 with the squats, 2x70 lb for the deadlifts. Then at the end I did some lunges with 2x30 lbs. I also threw in a couple sets of front squats holding the 24 kg KB.

Sunday: No workout, but I did go shooting for several hours.

Saturday: Off

Friday: 1 mile warm up on an indoor track. Then alternating sets of lat pull downs and weighted pushups. I think I did a ton of those and that was it.

End of vacation!

2008-04-25T18:25:00.002-06:00

Hey tuff chicks! I'm glad we are posting again. I haven't been nearly as active as before, and I don't have a new hot sh** job to blame for it either. Basically, I've just had a really depressing winter, with a lot of related job stress, and oh yeah, did I mention, I was really depressed! Anyway, I'm doing better, more sunshine, and working out again and trying not to get down on myself for loss of fitness. Mostly, my workouts have involved running and jumprope. Yesterday, I went for an easy run of about 4 miles. I had to walk part of the time, which was o.k. I don't mean to be too negative. I was in an aerial dance show that went really well and took up a lot of my time, late nights etc. So, in spite of being / feeling heavier and slower, I'm still able to pull my sorry carcass up onto the ropes. Tomorrow, I'll try a pyramid workout and I'll be sure to share an update of how it goes. Be strong, or at least, be beautiful!

Run through the neighborhood

2008-04-24T21:21:00.002-06:00

I did another run through the neighborhood tonight for about 32 to 33 minutes. Its a 3 mile route with some decent hills. I guess my overall pace was pretty slow, but I was feeling pretty tired too.

Tried the "boot camp" class

2008-04-23T22:21:00.002-06:00

So I tried the 5 am bootcamp class. It was OK. Not spectacular, but not bad. We started by running laps around the room. Then we did a bunch of ab exercises - don't remember what all of them are. Then we did this thing where we did a pushup, then we got up on our knees and did a empty-handed shoulder press and then a wave, kind of like the arm action in a jumping jack. Then two pushups, two presses, two waves, etc. all the way up to ten. We then did a timed circuit workout of box jumps, pull-overs (lying on your back, with straight arms, pull a KB from over your head to your hip and back up - didn't think it was a very useful exercise), curls with KBs (very disappointed in the use of KBs by this point), tricep pushups on a med ball, v-ups holding a bar, and exercise bike. 30 sec at each station the first round and 60 seconds the second round. We ran laps again and when the instructor said "down" we did pushups and when he said "back" we did flutter kicks. Then we did a prison countdown of the pushup/press/wave from 10 to 1 on one side of the room, v-ups with a bar on the other side of the room (except 10 each set - no prison count down) and running in between.

So yeah, it was OK. I was happy with the amount of pushups incorporated, but disappointed in the use of the KB's.

Not sure if I'll go back to that class again or not. There's a local Krav Maga school that is offering free classes in May, so I'll try that. Then there's a new crossfit group starting up soon, so I might check them out.

Tired and busy

2008-04-22T19:24:00.003-06:00

Saturday was the last time I worked out...tried a gym recommended by a coworker. They have a big open room with lots of toys in there, including rings, plyo boxes, and LIFELINE KBs!!!

I did a 10 minute warm up on the treadmill, then 5 times through a circuit of:
10 body rows
10 box jumps
10 stability ball hamstring curls
agility ladder down and back

Then I did twice through of:
10 touchbacks
10 tucks
20 bicycle crunches
10 pushups
10 leg levers

Too busy and tired Sun/Mon/and today, but planning to get up early and try the 5 am bootcamp class at that gym...we'll see how it is...

playground

2008-04-19T12:32:00.002-06:00

Usually on my way home, I think up a workout. I know, I don't give it much planning, but its better than nothing. Other days, I can't get a plan made (brain gets fried by the end of 15 hours, for example). Those days, I do whatever comes to mind.

Yesterday: 50 reps of each
burpees
skaters
pushups
russian twists
cable punch
mountain climbers
swimmers
situps

Then 2 minutes of plank (not in a row).

As an aside, the weather here has been delightful. Today: Mid 70's and enough breeze to be comfortable. I'm pretty sure the weather here is among the best in the country overall. It still does not make me miss WI any less though!! Guns, you said in an earlier post that it was the start of spring there . . . its been spring here for about a month. I have worked out outdoors much more often than I ever did in WI. The neighbors only stare a little when I'm throwing Dballs around and sprinting up and down the lawn :)

Long Week

2008-04-18T21:40:00.002-06:00

I've been working out inside the last couple days because its been rainy out, and its nice to workout at the office around my coworkers sometimes.

Today: 1o minute warm up on the treadmill

5 rounds of:
10 90-degree assisted chins
10 thrusters (squat and overhead press) with 2x25lb dumbbells
10 pushups
30 situps
0.3 miles on treadmill

Yesterday (quick workout b/c I had limited time)
10 min on treadmill
3 rounds of:
25 pushups
10 lat pulldowns
10 min on treadmill

Wednesday:
35 minute run through my neighborhood

Name Change

2008-04-16T14:36:00.001-06:00

Goin2thegunshow changed her name to Tough Chick :)

Prison!

2008-04-16T14:30:00.002-06:00

Spring is FINALLY here!

Yesterday I biked for an hour outside, yay

Today I did a 7-1 Prison Workout of Push-ups, 90 deg asst chins, Frt Squats, and Power Wheel Leg Curls.

Also did a 20,15,10, 5 of Power Wheel Rollouts and then 10 Alt. Pauses.

Then rode exercise bike for 20 minutes with 10 minutes of Indian Clubs for cool down.

It was a 4 star workout that was fun, felt good and I was done in an hour!

oh, the irony

2008-04-15T14:17:00.002-06:00

I was just sweating through a workout (which I'm feeling today big-time) and I thought that I'd love to share. I was going to email it, but then K-smash sent out that email telling us the blog was back alive!

Anyhow, yesterday was clean-squat-presses (pyramid-style):
30 reps with 20#
20 reps with 40#
10 reps with 60#
(lie on floor panting for several minutes)
10 reps with 60#
20 reps with 40#
30 reps with 20#

The light reps gave me a chance to do faster sets. The 20# was a perfect warmup/cooldown. I did no other warmup and felt great. The heavier sets really hurt!

Now, to bring you up to speed on my (lack of) condition:
still working 80hrs/wk average. last week logged 100hours at work. phew! So I do not workout every day, and sometimes all I do is a little light jog, or walk/jog combo. Depends on my energy level, etc. I rarely spend more than 30-45 minutes on a workout. My core strength and balance need mucho help. You would not recognize my weakling self . . . its sad really, but I try not to think about how far I've fallen.

Run in the sun

2008-04-14T21:17:00.003-06:00

Saturday: warm up on the treadmill (it was SNOWING outside! Grrr!)
Several sets of lat pull-downs and weighted pushups, back and forth. Then barbell cleans with 95 lbs. A little more running at the end.

Sunday: Ran about a mile to warm up, then several sets of squats and deadlifts, and topped off by weighted situps on an incline.

Today: about 4 miles with two of my coworkers on a nice, hilly, urban course.

My most important goal right now: I need to nail pullups. I NEED to nail my pullups. I am SOOOO close.

Be strong, and be safe!

Catching Up

2008-04-12T22:16:00.002-06:00

Yuppers - we're back!!

So I worked out today. I think I am going to be sooooo sore tomorrow! I warmed up with a run on the treadmill because it was pretty crappy weather outside. Then I did several sets of lat pull-downs, weighted pushups, and shoulder presses with dumbbells.

Thursday I did sets of running, regular pushups, KB snatches, KB swings.

Earlier this week DH and I went running twice.

Now that I'm out of training and back in the real world, I definitely want to try and keep myself motivated to train hard, so this should help. Be strong!

Tough Chicks are Back!

2008-04-07T10:34:00.004-06:00

Hey Everyone!

I just talked to K-Smash and it inspired me to write a post and start blogging again!

I injured my shoulder last summer and had to tone down my training a bit!

I am doing the AIDS ride this summer and have been training for that. Saturday I went for a bike ride and yesterday I did an easy 5x5 with the 16ks. Bent over rows and presses. I also went for a long walk.

I have been swinging Indian Clubs to rehab my shoulder and I really like them!

Okay, more later!

Anyone out there?

2008-01-17T11:35:00.000-06:00

Hey!

I've been out of sorts, not working out, for months! I won't go into details, but sometimes I need to stop in order to go forward, so stop was what I did. I'm back into dancing again, trapeze, again, and discovering that I didn't lose as much strength as I had expected, so that was a pleasant surprise. I have gained weight, so my challenge these next few months is to get that off! I don't know if I'll post here or not each day. I think I may. Hope you're all enjoying winter!

Getting ready to leave

2007-10-20T20:31:00.000-06:00

Well, its been a while. I'm leaving for several months of training on Monday. The last couple months, its been a struggle balancing work, training, and family/friends. I've been working out with K regularly, which has been GREAT. This week, being my last week at the gym and the last week I'll be able to work out with K, I did two workouts a day every day except Thursday.

Here are some of the workouts I did this week:

Variation pushups
Pullups
Overhead squats
Snatches
Row 400 m
Three times through

21 deadlifts with 115 lbs
Run 320 m
Five times through

Alternate between KB cleans and barbell cleans
Sets of 5
Barbell presses, sets of 5
Alternate between tricep pushups and tricep presses with the jungle gym

As many rounds as possible in 10 minutes of 20 box jumps and 15 medball cleans
As many rounds as possible in 10 minutes of 20 pushups and 320 m run

K and I also played around one day with a long nylon strap that she bought at REI. Neither of our gyms have a place for a climbing rope, so we threw it over a squat cage and did those hand-over-hand body row/rope climb things. Then we used it with KBs for swings. We also tied all the KBs with it and pulled them in, across the room. That was fun, except I cut up my hands with the strap. Ouch.

I've been trying to increase my volume of running, but I don't think I've been doing nearly as many pushups and situps as I should. I'll definitely be increasing those while in training. :)

Well, I have no idea what's ahead of me, but I'll try to post my workouts every once in a while. :) Take care, stay in touch, and BE STRONG!

Happy Weekend!

2007-09-22T06:11:00.000-06:00

Still getting over my cold most of the week, but did manage to get in a couple bikerides, and on Friday morning, had an awesome workout... 15/15 for 5 jump rope 1 minute rest 1 minute 4 times alternating between cleans and presses. I used 2 12K kettlebells and did alternating cleans and alternating presses (I saw J doing these Wed. night and had to try it!). I couldn't stay on the time, but did keep up reps of 6 each side, and worked as fast as possible while I did the reps--I guess that's the point with doing alternates.

I'm planning on a FIT workout this weekend and lots of bike riding. It's so pretty out!

Light workout

2007-09-19T15:47:00.000-06:00

I did a VERY light workout today. Low reps of:
-Body rows
-One-arm open-up body rows (60 degree)
-One arm pullups (90 degree)
-Dips on bench
-Ring pushups

A little HEY: down dog and thinker.

I woke up feeling tired and with some drainage in the throat. Apparently most people's allergies are out of control right now, so it might be something like that... Be strong!

Whooo-hoooo! I passed!

2007-09-18T19:43:00.000-06:00

I passed my test! Everything is moving along smoothly now. Today I got stuck full of needles...ok, it was only two shots in each arm....but they hurt.

So between being tired and all my shots, I took today off. Tomorrow I should be meeting with K, so I'll go light.

Be strong!

Test anxiety

2007-09-15T11:04:00.000-06:00

Well, the time has come to test again. I am testing Monday morning. I KNOW I can pass, but I am still very nervous. Why can't I just be calm? I just want this over with!

So here's what I've done to prepare this past week:

Monday: Ran through test at the track at night. I was tired and dehydrated, it was late, and the track was pretty crowded. I also ate too close to testing. But I still got 4 points over what I need to pass. Good deal. 33 consecutive pushups. Only 52 situps in the time allowance, and I think that was because I still had too much food in my stomach.

Tuesday: Over an hour of HEY with K. Every client of mine canceled that day (weird!) which was actually good for me. I also did 100 pushups, ran 4 miles, and a bunch of situps (can't remember how many exactly).

Wednesday: Went running at Town Lake. I did intervals: 4 minutes of running alternating with 2 minutes of walking; covered a total of 4 miles. I did some pushups, and some situps, but not a huge amount.

Thursday: rest

Friday: 3 sets of 30 situps, 100 pushups (in sets of 10 or 15), short run (about 2.5 miles), one sprint across a football field. This was a "dress rehearsal" workout. I wanted to wear what I plan to wear to the test to make sure its comfortable.

Today and tomorrow: rest.

Monday morning...have courage and try to do my best.

I wish I could say that I am calm and confident, but I keep finding myself going over all the possible variables and scenarios that would make this test go wrong. I know its not constructive to do that. But then I spend some time in prayer, and I feel calmer. I need to keep myself in that frame of mind...surrendering myself to prayer.

Here's the one dilemma that I haven't figured out yet. Its hot, so I'm going to wear my comfy running shorts. However, when I do situps in my running shorts, they creep all the way down my legs to my hips. I am going to have a male tester, so he'll be holding my feet down. I'm wondering if I should wear my workout pants over my shorts for the situps and then take them off for the other events? Or just try to not think about it and just wear my shorts?

I'm going to go try to be calm.... :)

Be strong!

Edit: I solved the shorts problem. I got the most comfortable, awesomest compression shorts and soccer shorts today. Totally comfy and full coverage. :)

Giving myself a chance...

2007-09-12T12:05:00.000-06:00

That's my new motto these days. Had a long weekend in New York and got back yesterday. It was very hot and humid there, and down in the subway it was...hell. I couldn't drink enough water. Even so, had a great time, I looked normal, everyone looked normal, but underneath we were poached. Did the Centure Bikeride around the city on Sunday. My friends and I signed up for the 55 mile ride. We rode 15 miles to the first station in Brooklyn, took a break to have a delicious brunch, caught up with the pack and headed over to Queens and back to Manhattan for about 40 miles. The path was marked on the streets, but streets were not closed. It was not so bad early on, but later in the day there was a lot of traffic. We had fun!!!! New York is beautiful!

Today's workout was 4 x 6 of:

1 arm clean-squat-push press (6 each side) with 20K
regular swings with 36 k

Power wheel rollout alternates.

I did the PW first. I could really feel my core working on the squat and push-presses. We finished with 1 minute holds of:

Incline plane
Prone Mountain
Forward flexion (I used standing rather than wide-angle and thought about seated L while I looked at my feet)
Supine bridge

Feels good! I really mean it about giving myself a chance without trying to force something to happen. It feels nice, light. Of course, I'm no longer distracted by my internal rantings from the fact that I have no control over what happens apart from my own actions. That doesn't feel so easy. But, it helps to workout!

Good workout

2007-09-06T19:35:00.000-06:00

I had a good workout day today...perfect for preparing for the fitness test.

K and I took turns doing pullups - I did singles, and she did sets of 2 or 3. I had to start with my feet on a box, and I am doing the narrow grip with my hands facing each other. I still can't come close with the overhand grip. Then I did a set of weighted pushups with 25 or 35 lbs on my back, and then we'd run a lap together. We did this circuit 4 times...then I did an extra set of pushups, and we did some HEY. I LOVE having someone to do HEY with!

By the end of the workout, I had done 20 pushups with 25 lbs on my back, and 30 pushups with 35 lbs, probably about 20 pullups, and ran 5 laps.

Later in the day, I went for a 20 minute run, followed by one set of 60 situps, and two sets of 30 situps.

I'm still a little stressed about whether or not I am ready for the test. I keep bashing myself and telling myself that I should've worked harder over the past year. I know its ridiculous. I know I can do it... I need to practice being positive and mentally strong too.

Be strong!

Freaking out

2007-09-05T21:50:00.000-06:00

Yesterday: workout with K

3 rounds of:
6 turkish getups each side
6 windmills each side
6 pistols each side

And, of course, more HEY.

Today: no workout - I was planning on it but didn't feel so great, so I thought it might be better to take an extra day of rest and workout hard tomorrow.

I may have to retake the fitness test in a little less than two weeks. I'm freaking out about it. I am really nervous. I am trying to convince myself that I am totally fitter and stronger than I was in 05 when I failed it, and I know I am, but the whole thing still makes me nervous.

Meeting K for another workout tomorrow. Also planning on weighted pushups and tons of situps on my own...maybe a short run too.

5 X 5 for 3

2007-09-05T09:38:00.000-06:00

That was this morning's workout... I woke up super early, had b-fast, dropped off some videos, got to the gym, did 5 sets of 5 reps of:

Chin ups
Push-ups (feet on high (mid thigh) box)
step ups (onto same high box).

Not too heavy. Felt good.
Went for a easy walk/run last night just to unwind and cool off so I didn't want to over do it this morning. Usually 5 x 5 is a hard workout, so I'm glad I took it light on this one.

Went home to clean out my gutters. With all the rain we had, I know they were blocked up, but I didn't want to climb up there this last weekend, I just couldn't make myself do it, but quick and easy right before getting ready for work was fine.

That's all I got! Don't waste your pretty being weak!

Back to work...

2007-09-04T10:01:00.001-06:00

Had a good weekend. Friday was toasted and started to workout then left. Saturday had a terrific workout FIT, of Prison countdown from 10 to 1 on:

lunges
sit n reach
sprints (count lengths of floor)
burpees

Then yoga. Road my bike to and from the gym, so that added a little more activity as well. I was done.

Sunday took a long bike ride early in the morning. It was beautiful!

Took Monday off.

Today, went in for FIT and did a j-rope workout by myself:

2000, the 50 sit ups holding a 16 k over my chest (this one's for you K-smash!).

Be mighty! Be strong!

Happy Labor Day

2007-09-03T16:30:00.000-06:00

Yesterday - went for a 2 or 3 mile jog with DH. We stopped at the pullup bar in the park to do a few pullups too.

Today - went to the track to run some sprints and a couple hill runs. I kept putting off eating because I was planning on sprinting, but then I didn't realize how much time had passed before I actually got to the track...so I was STARVING. My sprints went OK, but I only did 100s and 200s. It was a little frustrating. Well, actually,at the time I was there, I was really frustrated. I think it was because I was so hungry.

That's for today. :)

Beautiful day

2007-09-01T15:49:00.000-06:00

Today I went for a 4 mile run, broken into 5 or 6 intervals. Between intervals I walked in circles. Right before my last interval, I stopped at the incline bench in the park for 100 situps (6x15 + 10). Its 87 degrees out, but it felt really nice. When I got home, I did 100 pushups: 25 each of wide feet + wide hands, wide feet + narrow hands, incline (feet on chair), and standard. The wide feet + narrow hands were by far the toughest. If I didn't bring my hands in right under my chest, I could feel my right rotator cuff start to complain a bit. Otherwise, they all felt OK.

Yesterday I took the day off, except for a 45 minute yoga session with my new training partner, K.

Thursday I ran about 3 miles (and I was SUPER sore from that KB workout on Wednesday).

Today is DH's and my seventh wedding anniversary, so we're probably going to go out for dinner tonight. Have a fun and safe weekend! Be strong!

Rebound!

2007-08-30T08:57:00.001-06:00

Well, had a nice walk/run last night and then did a FIT workout this morning: Jump rope again 100s f and b X 10. Did a little crawling but my wrists and hands were hurting in a bad way. I think the j-rope from the other day, and more time at a computer, is stressing my wrists and hands in a different way. Anyway, it was good to notice that. I finished the workout with 50 sit ups and then a few HEY poses just to cool down and reset my alignment. Feels good!! And, I finally slept well for the first time in almost a week. Sleep!! It's my favorite medicine, next to pedialyte and water!

New training partner

2007-08-29T20:38:00.000-06:00

So I met with that trainer today - the one that lives in Austin and went to the CNT course at the Monkey Bar. It was really fun working out together, and WOW, it is so great to do HEY and get FEEDBACK!

So we did 12 sets of 3 reps of a kettlebell complex: pushup on the KBs, renegade row on both sides, jump feet in, stand up and clean, and press. It was pretty intense. I used the 16s.

Then we did about 45 minutes to an hour of yoga. We're going to meet again on Friday. I am totally excited. This is great. Be strong!

Afternoon FIT

2007-08-29T08:05:00.000-06:00

Was able to get to the gym for FIT yesterday afternoon. It was a running workout, but because I don't bring shoes and had blisters on my feet (my own fault, why do I have to be so vain?!!), I stayed indoors, barefoot and did a jump rope workout. 10 sets of 100 forward and backward in 25 minutes. It felt so good!! Then we did 20 minutes of Turkish get ups with partners. One would do one get up, then rest while the other did theirs. I used a 16 K. I don't feel it as much this morning as I did a week ago when I did them for the first time in a long while. I'll probably go for a run tonight, provided it isn't raining.

Nutrition is good. Not really cooking much with the heat and humidity when I get home. Looking forward to this weekend!!

Lunar Eclipse

2007-08-28T20:18:00.000-06:00

Saw the lunar eclipse this morning on the way in to work. Very cool.

Today's workout: warm up with 800m run.
60 situps as fast as possible, a few sets of 24kg KB snatches, and 10 pushups with 25lbs on my back.

Then several rounds of:
10 pushups with 35lb plate on my back
30 situps with 25lb plate on my chest
10 assisted pullups (overhand grip)

I think I did about 5 rounds. I was going to sprint tonight but I didn't get done with work until 8 pm, and I need to be back at work at 6 am, so I decided to come home instead. Be strong!

End of summer...

2007-08-28T08:23:00.000-06:00

I'm really feeling the change of season, even though it's really hot and humid today. I guess almost two weeks of clouds and rain will do that, along with less daylight. Yesterday's BP workout was a 5 X 5 for four exercises:

Push ups--off low box
Chins---no resistance
Front squats---used 20Ks
Deadlifts---2 sets with 40ks, then dropped to just 1 40K.

Really worked on form for my push-ups, and I tried to get back to not touching the floor between chins, but I'm not there yet. The front squats felt good. I think I could have gone heavier, but I want to feel confident about cleaning the 20s before I do that. Now, I do it, but it's not pretty. For the deadlifts, I've used the 40s before, so I thought with the low reps I would again, but the front squats were intense, and I had to struggle too much on the form so I dropped down and really worked with a good range of motion with only the 40 k for resistance.

Last night my sister called to see if she could come for two weekends in september to get some personal training to prep for a Taekwondo black belt test in October. I'm thinking we'll do an intense workout in the morning, and a long HEY session in the afternoon on both days. We'll walk a lot too. Wanted to go in for a FIT workout this morning, but couldn't fall asleep last night, so gave myself a break this morning. I'll probably go for a run tonight. Be strong!!!

Too hot to handle...

2007-08-26T19:41:00.000-06:00

Today DH and I headed over to the track to run through my test. He decided that he'd run through it too. That turned out to be a very bad idea. More on that in a bit.

I went into the practice test today knowing that I would not be going at it 100% because I was still sore, still a bit tired, and it was SCORCHING hot on the track. I still scored well. Plenty of points to pass, plus a significant cushion. So I feel more confident than I have been.

DH did the situps, pushups, and the sprint, and then decided to call it quits, which I thought was a good idea. I started the run, and was almost finished with one lap to go, when I saw DH kneeling on the ground, bent over. I cut my run short one lap to get him out of the heat... Luckily DH felt much better once I got him home and got some fluids in him. Whew!

Be strong!

To train or not to train....

2007-08-25T13:26:00.000-06:00

....that is the question for the day. I was ready to force myself out on my favorite 4 mile route, but DH convinced me that I need another day of rest. I was super sore yesterday (no workout yesterday), and woke up this morning feeling better, but still a bit tender in my quads, upper hammies, and glutes...and I felt a bit cranky, which has turned out to be my telltale sign of over-training.

Tomorrow morning, DH and I are going to drag ourselves out of bed and head to the track for an early morning workout with one of the guys from the gym. We're going to the track, so I'm going to run through my test, and then run some flat sprints and some hill sprints, and do some extra situps and pushups.

So yesterday another trainer from Austin stopped by the gym to meet me. She got my info from Jon when she went to the CNT cert course earlier this month. It turns out that we work a couple blocks away from each other, so we're going to start getting together for workouts, and especially to do HEY together! WHOOOOO-HOOOOO! She seems VERY cool, and I am excited to do some partner work.

I hope you are having a great weekend! Be strong!

Did someone say FBI workout?

2007-08-24T08:54:00.000-06:00

That's what we did this a.m. As many sets as possible in 30 minutes of:

Push-ups (20 reps, no resistance)
Chin ups (20 reps, no resistance)
Sit-n-reach (4 k med ball)
Jump rope 100 f and b

I made it through 3 times, did jump chins instead of full. Actually the jump rope would have been better as a run around the building, but it's so wet outside, and I never bring shoes, so jump rope it was.

I can really feel my abs from the turkish get ups yesterday. Haven't slept very well the last week. I keep waking up really early. I know they season change, loss of daylight always affects me, and I've been using a SAD lamp in the mornings. Maybe I should add some St. John's Wort to my routine. Work has been sort of stressful, but no more than it's been for the last 6 months, so I'm thinking it's a sort of physical/anxiety reaction to the season. Stay strong!!

Good times!

2007-08-23T18:22:00.000-06:00

Still taking it easy and and at stability/strength level.
Wed. workout:
4 X 6
One armed clean-squat-press (16 K)
Swings (38 k)
Body rows

Felt good.

Thurs: Jump n get up.
6 X
Jump rope 100 f and b
2 turkish get ups each side.

I didnt' do the jump rope. Instead I did the stability version of box step ups 50 total, switch leading leg after 25. Used a higher box (just over knee level).

Wednesday night I subbed yoga. It is so good to direct my energy that way. I like to believe that it helps people feel better not just in a physical way, but also mentally more ready to accept their bodies and lives as they are. Beautiful...Oh yes. And brilliant.

Up to the challenge

2007-08-23T15:54:00.000-06:00

So I accepted Adam's challenge. He told me to use a 15 lb med ball and try to beat his time (he used a 20 lb ball). He did 150 wall ball in 8:30 yesterday, and today I did 150 in 8:16. He said he'll do it again next week and shave a minute off his time. I'm sure he can, but not so sure that I could keep up with that pace. I'm going to have to do 150 burpees again sometime soon and set a time for him to beat.

Anyway, after my 150 wall ball, I did single clean-and-presses with the 24 kg KB. I don't have any idea how many I did...probably around 10. Not that many.

I'm freaking out about whether or not I would be able to pass the PFT right now, if they called and wanted me to take it again. Hopefully, if that happens, it won't be for another couple weeks. I think I should definitely be ready by my self-imposed deadline of October, but I'm nervous that they'll call for me to take it earlier than that.

Alrighty....be strong!

HOT!!!!

2007-08-22T19:26:00.000-06:00

Jeez! I went for a four mile run today and it was HOT! I went about 2 pm, because that was the only time that would fit in my schedule and I needed to get it in. It was in the lower 90's, but the humidity was about 55% and the sun was BLAZING!!! I had to take a couple breaks to walk circles in the shade, and when I was near a water fountain, I splashed water all over myself. I decided to weight myself before and after the run to see how much water I would lose...the difference was 1.7 lbs. I also took my temperature when I got home...my temperature is normally about 97.6, but when I got back it was up to 99.6. I felt much better after a cold shower...

Anyway, that's it for today. Adam challenged me to try to beat his 150 wall ball time, so I may try that tomorrow. He also wants me to set a time for 150 burpees for him to try and beat. What a nut. Be strong!

6 week countdown began Monday

2007-08-21T09:49:00.000-06:00

No, I don't have a date yet...but I am forcing myself to be ready in 6 weeks, which is the first possible date. If a spot opens up, I want to be able to say, "Of course I'm ready to go!"

Yesterday I did three rounds of 10 barbell cleans (95 lbs), 10 barbell snatches (65 lbs), and 10 overhead squats (75 lbs). I also rowed for 5 sets of 30/30 each round. I think that was it. I can't remember exactly.

Today I did five rounds of: 10 pushups with 15 lbs on my back, 10 pushups with no added weight, 10 90-degree pullups (but using an overhand grip on a stationary bar instead of the rings), and a whole bunch of situps each round. I did about 30 un-anchored situps with my hands behind my head, and then 10 to 20 with a 12kg KB on my chest, and then 10 with a 5 or 10lb plate held behind my head. By the end I probably did about 200 situps. After my first round, I also did a set of flutter kicks, and after my last round, I did a set of a pilates exercise I learned from Adam.

Sunday I took off. I was going to go for a run in the evening, but DH said I should take another recovery day, so I did. Good thing I did - I'm already tired and its only Tuesday! Luckily I get to go into work an hour later tomorrow morning, so that should help. I could go in at my normal time and participate in the workout, but maybe an extra hour of sleep would be better. Be strong!

Tanked!!

2007-08-18T08:53:00.000-06:00

I knew I should have stayed in bed this morning. I wanted to start a routine of testing myself every Saturday morning, and maybe meeting other people at the track to train and run through the test. Well, this morning, I tanked! I could tell that I was exhausted by the end of the week because I was getting really cranky last night, and I was cranky this morning.

I ran through some agility ladder stuff and felt like a big sand bag. Then I ran a quarter mile to warm up. Then I did 80 situps, and then the 300 m sprint. Then I did 20 pushups, got even more ticked off, and left the track.

I think I need to talk to my boss about my schedule. I work about 6 hours a day, but the sessions are scattered between 6 am and 6:30 p.m. Its not working. Not when I have to train for my PFT too. Ugh. Something has to change. I need to figure out a way to make this work. Well, have a great weekend!

Cool workout

2007-08-17T13:02:00.000-06:00

So my boss has hired another person to start leading some of the Crossfit classes. His background is in boxing and BJJ, so he threw a little boxing into the mix as well. The class was split up into two groups, so first we did a circuit of wall ball, burpees, and running (320m). The second half of the class, we did 3 sets of 1 minute rounds of pushups, KB swings, and punching a heavy bag. It was a great workout. The warmup consisted of various random exercises, and we got some pushups and burpees in there, along with a bunch of ab work.

Last night I did a very short workout. I warmed up with the jump rope, then did 10 minutes of 30/30 on the rowing machine. Then I messed around with the KB's and did cleans and front squats. I threw in a few swings and renegade rows, and finished with a couple sets of knees to elbows and pike-ups on a belt run through the rings.

Feeling pretty tired right now...planning on another track workout tomorrow morning if its not storming. I hurt my shoulder this week...not working out, but running into a wall in the dark. Long story, but it had to do with a Persian rug and a puking cat. You can imagine. Be strong!

Morning run

2007-08-15T14:17:00.001-06:00

I got my run out of the way this morning when I had an hour free between sessions. It sure was nice getting it out of the way early in the day. I ran for about 30 minutes: 15 minutes out from the gym, then turned around and headed back. It was hard, but it felt good. Be strong!

I'm feeling hot, hot, hot!

2007-08-14T08:42:00.000-06:00

Texas summer is here! Hittin' the century mark! I am spiking my water with unflavored Pedialyte, and I definitely feel a difference.

This morning I did a very short jump rope warmup, then 2x400 m on the rower, 2x60 situps, 3x5 pushups with 25lbs on my back, 3x5 pushups with 35lbs on my back, and a few pathetic attempts at pullups. Bleh! I can't decide if that was a sufficient workout for today or not. I would've done more but I ran out of time. I may or may not do a few more pushups, pullups, and situps this afternoon between sessions.

Be strong!

I'll Just Say It...

2007-08-14T07:55:00.000-06:00

I'm in a bad mood. PMS. Too sore to workout this morning, but will take a bikeride tonight. Yesterday's workout was intense...

4 sets of 15 reps, as fast as possible.

Clean, squat, press (16 ks.)
Kip ups
Jump rope (100s f and b)

I made it through 3 times in about 35 minutes. Finished with 4 sets of 10 reps PW rollouts.

It would be fun to do the FIT class today. 30/30 circuit workout, which I haven't done in ages. I like those. But, I need to maintain a little balance, so I'll proabably bikeride.

Nutrition has been pretty good, but right now I'm eating shrek sized peanut m&ms. For medicinal purposes only. The comments about the gym, how wonderful it is and how lucky I am to be able to benefit from it are dead on. But I'm still in an evil mood. So, I don't feel it in my heart right now. Be strong! Don't hit anyone!

I'll just say it.

2007-08-14T07:51:00.001-06:00

PMS. I'm in an evil mood. BP yesterday was intense. 4 sets, 15 reps each of:

clean, squat, press

Kip ups

Jump rope (100s f and b).

I only made it through 3 sets and then stopped. Did 4 sets of 10 reps PW rollouts. I'm really feeling it today. Will probably just bikeride tonight instead of FIT which is a 30/30 circuit workout.

I read your comments about how wonderful the gym is, and I feel so lucky (in my head) but I'm in such a bad mood I don't feel it in my heart today. Be strong! Don't hit anybody!

Training without the Monkey Bar STINKS!!!!!!

2007-08-11T09:25:00.000-06:00

I like the gym I'm at...Adam's a great trainer, and the people there are super cool. But when its time to dig deep and see what I can pull out of myself, I still really miss the Monkey Bar.

Anyway, I'm coming along. Today's workout kicked my butt. I met up with our newest trainer at a local track. We did our own thing most of the time, but it was still motivating to work out with another trainer. There was a hill there - not as big as Elver. Still respectable, but more manageable. Today is my test day. I decided to run through the events for quality and not freak myself out with time, so I didn't even bring my stop watch. I warmed up with a half mile jog. Then I did 60 situps. Then J and I did a 300 m sprint together. Then we did 120 yards of 10 traveling burpees and 10 crawling steps alternating. Back to our own thing - I did pushups (30 in a row!!) and a 1.5 mile run. Last I did 3 sprints up the hill.

Yesterday morning: 30 minutes of 20 pushups, 10-15 90 degree chins, 20 situps, 400 m run. J was leading class so most of the 400's he made me finish with a sprint. Very nice.

Yesterday afternoon: short and sweet KB workout: cleans, squats, presses, snatches, renegade rows, and a few sots presses. Started light and worked up to my maxes. Nothing too intense, low reps, just getting back into the KB stuff again.

Thursday: I took the day off.

Wednesday: I ran a bit under 4 miles. The last third of the run was super difficult.

Feeling good right now, although a bit tired...I have a feeling I will be sore tomorrow. Here's a little gecko that I caught in the gym. Once it got used to me, I got it to actually sit in my hand...and then when I took it outside, it didn't want to leave my hand!

Time to get serious...again

2007-08-08T09:38:00.000-06:00

Well, I heard from my future employer this week and it looks like I will find out my start date soon. The earliest I could start would be in 7 weeks, so I need to be prepared.

This is my plan:
1. Train specifically for my PFT every week.
2. Commit myself to getting 8 hours of sleep a night.
3. Go back to a very strict nutrient-rich diet balanced between protein, carbs, and fats...I'll allow myself a beer on the weekend if I have accomplished all my weekly goals...
4. Take a vitamin and an iron supplement every day.

My weekly training plan, for now is:
Mondays: Cross train (any combo of exercises not related to the PFT)
Tuesday: Pushups, situps, pullups, run.
Wednesday: Run
Thursday: Cross train
Friday: Pushups, situps, pullups, run.
Saturday and Sunday: Rest one day, and the other day run through the test and afterwards do a few extra sprints.

I need to work some long runs in too, but I'm not sure where I'm going to do that.

So far this week:
Monday:
4 x 20 wall ball with the 20lb med ball
4 x 20 burpees
2 x 320 m run
2 x 400m row

Tuesday:
7 x 5 pushups with 25 lbs on my back
4 pullups from my tip-toes
3 x 60 situps
4 x 400 m row

Today the plan is to run in the evening when I get home for about 30 to 40 minutes. Hopefully it will be cooler by then. Then I need to go to bed by 9. I went to bed about 9 on Monday, and at 10 last night.

If you have any suggestions about my training, let me know. I need to be ready by October!

Be strong!

Re-entry is hard!

2007-08-07T15:04:00.000-06:00

Back to work yesterday and today. Ugh. Had a good workout Monday morning and it was the best part of my day...

2 sets of 20 reps:

push-ups
renegade rows (10 each side w/ 16 ks)
foot up lunges (10 each side w/ 16 ks)
box step ups (no resistance, 20 each side)
PW pike ups
PW leg curls

Lots of meetings today, need to take a bike ride or a run after work...Be strong!

Re-entry sucks

2007-08-07T12:48:00.001-06:00

Hard day back yesterday...Had a good workout in the morning... Went through 2 x 20 reps each set:

push-ups
renegade rows (10 each side) (16 ks)
foot-up lunges (10 each side) (16 ks)
step ups (10 each side) (no resistance)
pike ups
leg curls

It was the best part of my day.

Made a delicious rattaouille with fresh tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, chick peas, green olives, and garlic. Soooo good.

Vacation over...

2007-08-05T18:09:00.000-06:00

Hey! I'm back to work tomorrow, and back to the gym in the morning. I worked out Friday and that was fun---a prison workout starting with 10s of:

D-ball clean, walking lunges or front squats, push-presses. I used the 55# d-ball and felt pretty good by the end. Did some power wheel rollouts for core at the end.

Saturday I did the fit class which was 100s of:

mountain climbers
skaters
hindus
chest-pass
snowboarders
burpees
touchdowns

I broke it into 4 sets of 25 which worked for everything except the burpees on the last two sets. So, those I split with around the touchdowns.

Then had yoga class after that, and it was the BEST yoga class I have ever had. Ali is such a good teacher! And I'm becoming a better student. I'm really working with not forcing any pose and really paying attention to the feeling of where I'm in contact with the floor and working from there. I was really worn out the rest of the day, and am taking today off. I've been eating a lot of food I normally don't permit myself (e.g., cake and pasta). But it's been delicious and I feel like that itch has been scratched. That's about it...I hope I get to see you in class soon, Burpees! Be strong!

Whatever!

2007-08-03T06:59:00.000-06:00

So, the day after my last post, all sunny and upbeat, I went for a bikeride and had a collision with a bee. It got trapped between the strap of my bike helmet and my jaw. Much stinging and swearing ensued. Oh, I was flying down a hill, so at the bottom, I was able to brake and rip off my helmet and gently find and remove the stinger. Remember what I said about my allergies last year being so much worse? Good thing I take all those antihistamines! I usually don't have an immediate reaction to bee stings (I've been stung twice before). Instead, wherever I've been stung hurts like hell for about 12 hours, then begins to itch, and then about a day and a half to 2 days later, heaving swelling sets in. By the end of the day on Tuesday the rights side of my face from the top of my cheek to 1/3 of my neck was swollen and itched like crazy. Yes, I was using ice. Yes, I was taking every antihistamine I had a prescription for including the ones I had been able to stop months ago. Finally a couple hits of prednisone and I'm out of the freakishly deformed face zone and back in the puffy but presentable zone. The main swelling happened on the anniversary of my divorce (2 years and counting) so I'm just assuming that stress had something to do with the reaction. I need to start doing yoga daily, not just for my overall fitness, but because I need some way of processing the stress that journaling, talking, breathing, doesn't seem to get to.

On the bright side, I've had a few lovely, easygoing workouts this past week made up of bike rides without bee stings and a slow run for about 4 miles. Today I'm going to the noon workout and I'll let you know how it went. Be strong ladies!!!

On Vacation

2007-07-29T18:29:00.000-06:00

Taking this week, and the previous few days off. It's been good. Last year at this time, I felt awful with allergies and asthma kicking up. This year, it's all well managed. I still have some emotional stress (it's the anniversary of my divorce in a few days and my old wedding anniversary in a month) which I'm doing my best to manage, hence my vacation. Don't want to be around a lot of people so I'm mostly working in my yard and riding my bike. Every time I take a ride I'm grateful for all the trails around Madison. It's so good to not have to deal with traffic. That's all I have! Keep strong and beautiful, ladies!

When it rains, it pours

2007-07-27T07:26:00.000-06:00

We are having a record summer as far as low temperatures and amount of rain. Honestly, I feel like I live in Wisconsin again. It won't stop raining!! And with the aquifers maxed out and the hard clay soil, every time it rains, it floods everywhere.

Its pouring in my life right now too. We had some serious issues with SIL over the last week or so that have created an immense amount of stress for DH and I. I'm very, very angry and hurt, and I don't think that things will be the same after this. Also, on top of everything else I've been dealing with in the last week, our 2006 Toyota decided yesterday to commit suicide...so after its attempted suicide, I took it to the dealership. (That put an interesting twist in my workout of the day...more on that below). Its still under warranty, so hopefully we'll get it back soon. My parents are arriving tonight for a week long visit. At least that will be wonderful! I can't wait to see them!

Last week on Thursday, I did 45 reps of clean, squat, and press with the barbell. I started with 5 reps of 65 and then did 40 reps with 75 lbs. Friday I think I did circuits of jump rope, pullups, situps, and pushups. I took the weekend off. Monday I did a really light workout with a lot of HEY and a few pushups and body rows and stuff, focusing on form and alignment. Tuesday, I just don't remember. Wednesday I worked out with my afternoon Crossfit class, and we did a card deck of pushups, burpees, v-ups, and squat jumps. Yesterday I messed around with the kettlebells and the barbell for a little while. Oh yeah, and the fun part of the workout - I ran, FAST, 1 mile from the Toyota dealership to the Park and Ride where our other car was. I had to get back to the gym AND I was racing a thunderstorm to the car....JUST made it. :)

That's what I can remember. Not sure what I'm going to do today - I have one break in the afternoon - probably need to focus on pushups, situps, and pullups. I'll throw some rows, jump rope, or running in there too. Be strong. :)

gosh its been awhile

2007-07-26T16:43:00.001-06:00

Hi ladies! I've been so busy that I haven't been posting my workouts. Not that they're all that exciting anyhow.

I did a day working on olympic lifts, 5 min per lift. I did OH squats, cleans, jerks, snatches, and deadlifts. Mostly with light weight (45-105#).

The next day I did a 40 minute run. It was a slow run, and I walked for a bit halfway through. I felt energetic though.

I did a workout similar to BBG's posted WOD, with 80's of: jump chins, hip slaps, broad jumps, lateral jumps over 18" hurdle, and PW pikeups. That one made me tired, and my legs are sore today, probably from all that jumping.

Then I did an agility ladder workout, pretty free form, just going through all the exercises I could think of. I have no idea how long the workout was, probably 20 min, but I was sweating by the end, and that's what counts.

That's as far back as I can remember. I'm still sticking to the 30 minute routine, and although I'm losing fitness, I'm trying not to feel bad about it. I try to be satisfied that I work out at all, since none of the residents I talk to even try to work out. Maybe during my upcoming vacation I'll get a little further back into the swing of things, but I doubt it!

Staying with the program

2007-07-23T13:38:00.001-06:00

So, had a lovely weekend. Bike ride on Friday (about 20 miles) another of the same on Sunday, and this morning dragged myself to body power. The set workout was:

80 reps total of:

Assisted chins, jump chins, or kips
Hip taps

lateral jumps (over a cable)
broad jumps (using resistance from a cable bolted to wall and belt).

PW pike-ups

I scaled way down to 40s of:

Jump chins, hip taps, walking lunges (no resistance but lots of focus on form), and leg curls. I felt good afterwards and that was the goal. Be strong!!

A new attitude

2007-07-19T09:34:00.000-06:00

Well, have not been working out much the last week, but have been doing a re-evaluation of my approach to and motivation for training. I realize now that over time, I've loaded a lot of emotional baggage onto my training with the result that I have developed a pattern of overtraining until I'm too sore to do anything, bag out for a few days, come back for a few days, repeat the cycle. I'm tired of beating myself up. I'm tired of judging my body all the time---too big, too fat, too hungry, too weak. With those thoughts, no wonder I punished myself with those workouts! So, I'm letting it all go. I'm only going to workout for the sensation of strong, life-affirming energy. I'm letting go of the need to judge my body like I have and I'm just going to trust that my positive attitude, energy, attention will provide me with the guidance I need to stay healthy and strong. It's already working. Even though I walked out of the house without any makeup on, rode my bike to work, need to get a hair cut, haven't lost any weight over the last 2 months and may have even gained a couple pounds, I look GORGEOUS! And I feel so good! Love yourselves!

Picking up

2007-07-17T13:44:00.000-06:00

So I think I am slowly but surely picking myself up again.

Yesterday evening I did a prison workout starting at 10 reps and working down to 1 rep of pushups, thrusters (squat and press), swings, and burpees. I used two 20 lb dumbbells for thrusters and a 20 kg kettlebell for swings. The idea was to do a workout that would push me, but not kill me. So I started with 10 reps instead of 12, and chose those weights to work with so that it would be a medium workout. Felt pretty good. I finished in just over 20 minutes.

Today I went for a 3 mile run at Town Lake. It was difficult because it was SO muggy out, which made me feel more tired. It was during a break between rain storms, so it was pretty steamy. I was struggling with beating myself up over not running faster and harder, and trying to keep myself at a pace that would promote increased energy instead of breaking me down. In the end, I think I did fairly well at running at a pace that made my legs feel light most of the time. I felt happy about it when I was finished.

Be strong! :)

Staying light...

2007-07-17T09:18:00.000-06:00

Well, had a nice workout yesterday, stayed at strength/stability level for the morning workout. It was a circuit of 20 reps for: alligator push-ups, pull-ups, step ups (20 each leg), full extensions with cables, leg curls, and runners with the jungle gym. I went through twice. I'll be doing a bike ride tonight. Other than that, nutrition has been o.k. I'm really working at staying positive. Be strong!

Sore!!!

2007-07-14T22:11:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I worked out with my afternoon Crossfit class.

Three times through:

12 dumbbell snatches on each arm
Alligator pushups across the room
Walking lunges for about 50 yards (really not sure on the distance)
320 m run

After that we did incline plane, touchdowns, touchbacks, and situpnreach.

I am super tired today, and I'm getting more sore as the day goes on.

Back to it!

2007-07-13T09:19:00.001-06:00

So, took Wednesday and Thursday off. Today I'm heading back for the noon workout, keeping in mind that the whole pattern of over-doing it always sets me back, no matter how strong it helps me feel in the moment. I'm committing to staying at stability level for this workout. I almost wrote strength, but corrected...In fact, I think I'll stay at stability/strength for the rest of the month, and see where I'm at. Same with FIT classes. Otherwise, finally feel better, over the soreness of the last two days. Be strong and wise ladies!

Tired

2007-07-12T19:40:00.000-06:00

What is the deal? I think I really overtrained at the beginning of May, and its been hard coming back from that. I am SOOOO tired!

Monday: A whole ton of house cleaning and apartment cleaning (rest day).

Tuesday: warmed up with 5 sets of 100 fwd + 100 bkwd with the jump rope. Beaded rope for the first three sets, green rope for the last two sets.
Then 3 sets of slow body rows and slow pushups, 8 reps per set. Slow 5 count up and 5 count down. Next 3 sets of slow front squats with 2x12kg KBs, and 115 lb deadlifts. The deadlifts were slow, but not as much as the other exercises.

Wednesday evening: went for a jog - about 2 to 3 miles. I had a slight headache, achy joints, and felt slightly nauseous. I'm a stubborn idiot - should've just taken a rest day, but I forced myself to run, and because I was tired, I tripped and fell, landing both palms and both kneecaps on the concrete. Ouchie. I'm fine, just embarrassed.

Today: I just messed around and did random sets of jump rope, KB swings, snatches, presses, double front squats, and barbell overhead squats.

I haven't been doing too well getting a solid 7-8 hours sleep every night, however its been a very slow week at work, so I've made it a priority to take a substantial nap between sessions to accumulate my 8 hours. I managed that every day except today.

My goal for this weekend is to sit down and write out my training plan for the rest of July. :) I think I need to treat myself like a client to get my ego out of the way and make some real progress. Be strong!

Too much...

2007-07-11T08:22:00.001-06:00

So, I was off for about a week and a half. Rode my bike quite a bit during that time. When I got back to the gym last weekend, I had a great workout

Saturday: 5X5 of chins, dips, lunges, swings. Used 15# resistance on the dips, 2x16K for the lunges, and 38K for the swings. It felt great!

Then a bikeride Sunday.

Then Monday was a 15/15 that I did on my own with 5 reps per set 10 sets of: Dive Bombers, Chins, Swings, and jumped split squats (no resistance).

Tuesday FIT was a kind of prison workout starting at sets of 15 and working down to 1 cycling through sit-n-reach, lunges, PW rollouts, box jumps. I did jump lunges with a 25 d-ball at my chest and box jumps using a knee high box. I didn't make it through the whole workout in time but I finished my sets of 6 reps.

This morning, I went in, dragged myself in, and couldn't do the workout. It looked good and I hope to do it some other time: 4 laps (1 lap = 30 yards) then 3 laps, then 2 then 1 of:

D-ball overhead carry
D-ball rack carry
Lunges (again!)
Broad Jumps

I couldn't get past two laps of carrying the 16 Ks over my head. Too tired and sore, so I did some yoga, cleaned up, and headed to work. I guess today will be a rest day. Take it easy, especially when it's hard!!!

My new favorite drink...

2007-07-10T10:13:00.000-06:00

Pedialyte. Have had a busy week and a half. Got some good workouts in, and some good rides. Last Saturday I went out to Blue Mounds for an off-rode biking event that involved riders going around a circuit (I guess it was about 8 or 9 miles) as many times as possible in 12, 6, or 3 hours. It was 90 degrees that day. And humid. I didn't ride but my boyfriend did, and when I got there at 4:30 in the afternoon, he was in his 6th lap. He'd been riding since 8 a.m. He didn't return until a little after 5:00 and he was a mess. My brother who does the firefighter combat challenges had told me that the best thing when training hard in adverse conditions is pedialyte---better than any of the sports drinks or anything, so that's what I had. I'm so glad I had it too, because DB was drenched with sweat, shaking, and kept starting to fall asleep. Lesson learned----just because I'm sweating doesn't mean I'm not heading for trouble. I went out the next day for a bike ride (another humid 90 degree day but I went around 7:00 p.m.). I took a bottle filled with pedialyte and diluted with water (70/30) and I can't tell you how much less stressed my system felt! I rode my usual circuit which is about 35 miles. I'm hooked! Try sipping it instead of straight water especially now that you all are living in such hot climates.

Heading to the gym for FIT this afternoon. Stay strong!

Busy week

2007-07-08T18:28:00.000-06:00

Today I went for a run - somewhere around 3 miles...maybe a bit more than that.

Yesterday I was working around the house all day and just didn't work out.

Friday I did a random workout. I did some overhead squats, 5 or 6 sets of 5 pushups with the PPU, KB cleans and snatches, some situps, a 400 m row...can't remember what else.

I did a short workout on Tuesday with the kettlebells, but don't remember exactly what I did.

That's about all for this week. I've been busy with finishing up moving, getting the house in order, and cleaning the apartment. The apartment still needs a good final cleaning.

This week the goal is to sleep 7-8 hours a night, and get 5 workouts in. :)

week in review

2007-07-07T14:25:00.000-06:00

It looks like everyone else has been as busy as I have! I've been working out, but not having enough time to post. Here's the week in review:

Monday: clean/squat/press. 30 with 60#, 40 with 40#, and finally 50 with 20# Dball. I tried to stick to 15/15 style until finished, and each set took between 4.5 and 6 minutes.

Tuesday: 30 min. run

Wed: Off! Had a BBQ at a co-resident's place, with plenty of hot dogs and corn and beer. I love cookouts :)

Thurs: simple circuit, 20 reps of each. Made it through 2.5 times in 30 min: pushups with PPU, chins, squats with 60#, deadlifts with 115#, PW pikeup

Fri: 30/30 circuit, 5X through: cable punch, run in place, up downs, burpees, russian twist, hindu squats

Sat (today): Yoga warmup, then hold workout. 3 min. total of each hold: handstand, chinup, wall sit, pushup @ bottom, PW curl, thinker, L-seat.

All in all, a good week. Sometimes I feel like I'm not working out hard enough, but then I remind myself its better than not working out at all.

Checking in...

2007-06-30T22:40:00.000-06:00

I don't think I worked out this week. I haven't had any free time. We are moved into the new house - only need to pick up a few things from the apartment (including the cats!) and clean it up. The move took about two hours. Six friends came and everyone had an SUV or truck, so it went really fast. One of our friends brought some awesome homemade breakfast tacos - they were amazing! Yum!!!

I'll be posting pictures soon. I am so sleep-deprived, but I knew this week would be insane. My boss was out of town, so I was on my own at work. We closed on the house on Wednesday, and had to finish packing before everyone came to help us move today.

We have a spiny orb weaver spider in our front bushes. Its a fascinating spider, and apparently eats lots of mosquitoes. I'm going to try and get some good pictures of that thing too.

Hopefully this week I will get a lot more sleep and be able to start training again. :)

A little down time...

2007-06-28T08:01:00.000-06:00

So, no workout yesterday, took it very easy and ate light. Have company coming into town today, so I'll probably not have any workout for the next few days. Maybe I'll go to the noon workout tomorrow, if it seems reasonable... I'm already missing it! Be strong!

hothothot

2007-06-26T19:16:00.000-06:00

I finally got some discipline and made out 10 workouts, 5 FIT and 5 body power. That's because when I came home from work, if I was at all tired, it was impossible to plan and do a workout. So I took the hard part out of it!

And my workouts have gone from an hour a day to 30 minutes a day. I just don't have time for more. Which is working out fine, I can do the bulk of a workout in that time. I just shorten or skip the warmup (or do my first set or two light), and don't add core. That will be a full workout by itself every once in awhile instead.

Yesterday: 3o min AMAP of 1) 15 JR doubles, 2) 15 burpees, 3) 15 situps, and 4) 15 jump squats. It was very tough, and halfway through I really just wanted to stop, but I made myself finish. I'm not sure how many sets I did, my guess is 11-13.

Today: card deck with pushups, body rows, deck squats with 20#, and hip slaps (thanks for the inspiration BBG!). Also hard to complete, but not as bad. Pushups and body rows felt very strong, the hardest part was hip slaps. I kept coming down too fast onto my right hand, which hurt my shoulder. But I finished them, and feel okay so far. I'll be interested to see if my shoulder hurts tomorrow though!

I can't figure out if these workouts are appropriately hard, if I'm just tired after work, or if its the heat. I hope its the first one. At any rate, I'm sleeping like a log, and my energy is decent given the hours (which are kept under 80, thankfully :)

Toasted Shoulders

2007-06-26T08:29:00.000-06:00

Between the hindus and chins yesterday, trapeze on Sunday, and all those hip slaps on Friday, I only did half of the set workout for this morning. Wannahearit?Hereitis!

30 minutes: 300 yards crawling and 3000 jump rope.

I went for 30 minutes and made it to 150 yards crawling and 1500 jump rope. Could have gotten a lot more crawling in, but I really struggled with the jump rope. I used a heavy green one. Why? Because I'm an idiot. So, stopped when I realized that finishing for my ego would ruin my week. Have a good one! Hope your new house is coming together for you K-smash! Hope you are remembering to take care of yourself Burpees! Remember, only 80 hours!

Happy Monday!

2007-06-25T13:48:00.001-06:00

Well, had a wonderful time yesterday at trapeze. Didn't do any other activity besides that. Today, did the posted workout---15/15 for 10 minutes alternating between two exercises:

Hindus or Divebombers-----Feet on box Chin-ups or Chin-ups to bar with feet (I don't know what that means)

Swings ----- split squats

I did hindus and chins with feet on box 5 reps per set for 10 sets not really noting time same for swings and split squats: (I used 32 K resistance for those). I was toasted by the end.

No other news except it's very hot and humid today. Hard to sleep! Be strong!

Recovering

2007-06-24T11:45:00.000-06:00

I was so sore yesterday! But fully recovered today. Taught yoga yesterday morning and that was a good way of working out the stiffness from Friday. I can't decide whether to clean my house, weed my yard, go to trapeze, or take a bikeride. So, I'm sitting here typing. I have a really long week ahead of me, so I'm feeling like I just want to enjoy these few hours off while I have them. It's supposed to get very hot too, which makes me think yardwork or a clean house might make my life more comfortable over the next few days. O.K. That helped narrow it down. Then if I'm antsy I'll take a bikeride or go for a run... My diet has been very bad the last few days, but not as bad as it could have been, so I'm giving myself a D instead of an F. And besides, nobody asks for my transcripts anymore anyway, so I just can't work myself up to feeling very badly. I know I'm healthy most of the time. Bon Courage!

The weekend! Finally!

2007-06-23T12:52:00.000-06:00

Wow, I get SO toasted by the end of the week, it takes everything I have left to drag myself home, take a shower, eat something, and crawl into bed on Friday nights. This 5 hours of sleep a night thing is not working. Not at all. Its really taking a toll. I keep asking DH if he would consider going to work earlier and coming home earlier, but it doesn't happen. Its not his fault that I don't sleep more, but it certainly doesn't help when he's getting home at 9 or 10 every night, and staying up until midnight or later.

Anyway, Wednesday I ran 3 miles. Thursday I was going to work out after my last client, but I started to warm up and decided that my body was just too tired to benefit from working out, so I gave up and went home. Yesterday, I worked out with my afternoon class. We did a 10 minute warm-up on the agility ladders, and then did a card deck of burpees, pushups, swings (used the 24kg), and touch-backs.

I was so exhausted last night, that I ate some cereal, honeydew melon, and not-so-healthy trail mix. I'm frustrated with myself. Anyway, after eating I fell asleep on the sofa, then moved to the bed and slept for about 12 hours. I still feel tired today. Not sure if I am going to workout today. If I do, I think I'll run 3 miles again. I've totally fallen off my goal of following CF all month. Oh well. I feel that this week I need to get a couple good runs, and a couple good KB workouts in.

Be strong, ladies! Keep posting - you're keeping me going!

Woo Hoo Noon Workout!

2007-06-22T14:26:00.001-06:00

I love the Friday noon workouts at MBG! Met up with Malibu Barbie Teri and did the card deck with all those strong beasts. Exercises were:

Hip slaps (facing the wall)
Lunges (jump with arms crossed across chest)
Body rows
Swings (24 K)

I could have used the 28K for the swings. Hell. Let's face it. I could have used the 32 if I reallly wanted to massacre myself. But I needed one exercise that was lighter because those other 3 really kicked! Hip slaps were new to me. You go into almost vertical handstand position and shift weight from hand to hand so that you can bring each hand up to tap your hip---count them like lunges. It was a good core workout too, because I learned that I could only get through them by really working my leg each side and stabilizing my core to keep my spine nice and light. Love them! I'm toasted now. Burpees, I've seen you do these at the power level version: facing out from the wall. It's an intense workout! Have fun!!!

Happy Friday

2007-06-22T10:24:00.000-06:00

Hey Everyone!

Hope you are all well! Things are great in WI. I bought a motorcycle about a month ago and love that it gets 70 MPG, but need to ride my bicycle more :)

I worked out with one of my private clients on Wednesday. Here is what I did:

15/15 workout

10 minutes of cleans with the 28k's (3 per set)
*This was the first time I was able to clean the 28's consistently. It kicked my butt and I had to drop down to the 24k's for the last 3 minutes.

10 minutes of 1-arm presses alternating with one arm snatches w/the 24k
I was able to get in 3 presses per set and 4 snatches per set-it was the first time I snatched the 24 and was really scared, but I did it :)

Yesterday I got a boxing lesson from Jess. I have been learning how to do bag work and it is one hell of a cardio workout!

My diet has been great, I had to start eating meat again and have been really pushing protein. I am trying to get really lean and it is working well!

Here is a typical day:

Breakfast: Rice, hemp or soy/pea protein powder (alternating), 1/2 cup of berries / water / flax oil / 1 cup of kale or spinach

Lunch: either a turkey or tofu wrap on wheat with veggies or salad with salmon or tuna steak or hummus pita with veggies and tofu or meat

snack: another protein shake similar to breakfast

Dinner: Burrito w/ veggies or salad w/ fish or chicken breast / or sometimes salad and another protein shake depending on if I had a snack or not!

This diet is working really well and I am able to switch up the veggies that I am eating. I have been only eating low glycemic fruits and have been limiting my starchy veggies and breads to 1-2 small servings a day!

I found out that I am allergic to eggs and dairy and since I have cut them out, I have been dropping weight and feel ALOT better!

Be Strong

Happy Solstice You Witches!

2007-06-21T08:35:00.001-06:00

What a beautiful morning to begin the longest day of the year! It's turning ugly and stormy out now, but the sunrise was pretty and I had a great FIT workout at 6:30. Wanna hear it here it goes...

10 minute warm-up with agility ladder

Line drills workout: 5 x through each line drill followed by 4 30 on 30 off in place exercise:

1. High Knees ---- Hindu squats
2. Lateral slides---- Skaters
3. Butt Kickers----- Mt. Climbers
4. Cariocas (sp?)---- Jumping Jacks
5. Crawling----- Sprint in Place

6. Core: 2X Inch Worms----- 2 X Touch backs

It was lovely! Be strong!

Its a roller coaster!

2007-06-19T20:00:00.001-06:00

Holy cats! Hot and humid is back! Although from looking at the weather online, it doesn't look like its much better in WI either.

I ended up taking three days off, and today, no pain in my leg! Yay!

I totally fell off the CF program, but I'll try to find the time to fit in a run tomorrow and try to pick up the missed workouts before the end of the month.

Today I did my own workout which I will also count towards the CF pullup workout from yesterday. My pullups are still quite lacking, so this felt like a great alternative. I did 5 circuits of: 1 underhand pullup from full extension with the tips of my toes resting on the ground; 20 pushups; 30 situps. (Warm-up was a slow 1000 m row and playing with jump ropes).

My diet is still F- in my book - too much "I'm too tired to make food." I'm trying. At 5:30 a.m. this morning, before work and after dumping coffee ALL OVER my kitchen, I had a granola bar, and after my morning sessions I had some oatmeal. Then before going back to work this afternoon, I ran out of time and resorted to a protein bar and a peach. I broke down and bought a salad for lunch on my break (I am against buying prepared food right now for financial and health reasons - more financial). I ate some trail mix (not healthy trail mix) and fruit as a snack, and I am going to make baked chicken, steamed broccoli, and salad for dinner. If I could eliminate the processed crap and replace it all with whole foods, I would feel better about it. No more cereal or bars...whole foods. That's the goal. Get back to what makes me feel awesome.

Anyway, that's what's up. Hope you are all having a great week and some kickin' workouts!

busy week

2007-06-19T04:38:00.000-06:00

That'll probably be every week from now on. I did lots of certification courses this week, and met and hung out with my class. We tried to go out to dinner/drinks/etc a lot this past week, so my workouts suffered a bit.

Yesterday's workout was a pyramid of the following exercises: sitouts, skaters, russian twists, mountain climbers, hindu squats, and cable punches. You'd think it would be an easy workout, but because of the humidity I was dripping by the end. Felt good though. I need to fit in a run this week sometime.

Crazy fun!

2007-06-18T16:46:00.000-06:00

Hey! Had a great weekend of activity! Saturday dancing was fun, really wore me out though. Slept a long time on Saturday night. Great bike ride on Sunday, 2 hours of trapeze, and a light run on Sunday. Why? Because it's freakin' hot and I don't have airconditioning! Taking a rest today. Nutrition has been good... Want to get some wonton wrapers to make my own fresh spring roll wraps with carrots, cucumbers, greens, and shrimp or chicken. Cool and delicious!

Hey Everyone

2007-06-17T20:00:00.000-06:00

I hope you are all doing well! I am still super busy, but doing pretty well.

I have been working out with J and J at the MBG everyday at 1 and am getting stronger then ever. Here is a summary: I have worked up to double cleaning the 28k's, pressing the 2ok's. Snatching the 24k. Renegade rows with the 24 k's. Knee high box jumps. I have been using the 70lb D-Ball and even cleaned the 80 4 times in a row last week :)

I have also been working with Dr. Chad and Traci at the Natural Path Health Center to learn better eating habits. I have lost 7 pounds so far. Anyway. Will try to post more often.

Be Strong!

It's ALWAYS something!!

2007-06-17T15:18:00.000-06:00

So I've been feeling tired yet lately...I think that it is definitely due to inadequate sleep, so this weekend I gave myself permission to sleep as much as I like. I definitely feel better, except that I felt a slight twinge of leg pain (lower left leg) start Friday night when I was cleaning. Saturday I felt it a little, but not a lot, so I didn't really pay attention to it. Last night it woke me up a few times, because any time I shifted in my sleep, it started to hurt. It doesn't feel like its in the muscle...its feels deeper, and it only hurts when I move it. Its very difficult to pinpoint exactly where the pain is, except that it is not in the major muscles, and its not in the knee, but it is associated with straightening the leg. I think its underneath my calf, but I'm not sure. It seems to be in a broad area. Anyway, it hurts, and because of that, I ended up making today another rest day. I hope it feels better tomorrow. If not, I'll be forced to do one-leg pushups, and a lot of KB work (oh no!). :)

Thursday workout:
Warmed up with jumprope and line drills. Three times through of: 15 double-unders (I'm finally starting to get them! yay!), 15 burpees, 15 box jumps, and 15 body rows. Then I did another set of double unders, and some pushups and other random things. Felt SUPER tired that day.

Friday:
Warm up with JR (practicing double unders again), situps, back extensions, pushups.
Workout: 7 sets of 3 overhead squats. Two sets at 75 lbs, three sets at 85 lbs, and 2 sets at 95 lbs. Felt pretty good.

Saturday: Rest
Sunday: Rest (was intending to workout, but its a no-go with my leg hurting)

My diet has been sucking lately. When I get really, really tired, I have NO energy to prepare food for myself, so I either don't eat, or I eat something super easy, which too often means stealing some of DH's cereal. Not good. I can tell. I've also been indulging in a little too much beer. More than two beers a week has a negative effect on my energy levels. I really need to get myself back on track. Sigh.

Alrighty, I hope you ladies are having a wonderful weekend! I love reading your posts!! Stay strong! Miss you!

Dancin' fool

2007-06-16T08:43:00.000-06:00

Had a great workout yesterday w/MBG staff. I love how strong people are at that place! Warm-up was a mile run (I didn't bring shoes to run so jumped rope instead). Then workout was decending resistance increasing reps kettle bell clean and press. I started with 2 reps of the 20 ks. We were supposed to go for 2.5 minutes, alternating with a partner until each did 5 sets. (the timing thing threw me off. I couldn't get all my sets in in time). So, I did 4 sets. Then 5 sets with 16 ks for 3 reps per set. Then 5 sets with 12 ks for 4 reps per set. Then 5 sets of 5 reps with 8 ks. Anyway, I liked it for the reps, got messed up with the time. We finished with 5 sets of 5 PW rollouts with alternate leg extentions.

The workout for the noon class, which I watched part of, was really cool too, and I want to try it sometime. With two kettlebells, start in push-up position, do a renegade row each side (kettlebell comes back toward the hip), then do a push-up, then jump feet forward to forward flexion position, clean the kettle bells, push-press, then lower and repeat. Do about 2 to 3 reps per set alternating with a partner for 15 minutes. It looked like it kicked! I would like to try it with the 16 ks.

I'm off to dance this afternoon. It will be hot but fun!

Need a massage...

2007-06-14T09:52:00.000-06:00

Had a good workout yesterday afternoon... Because my shoulders are still sore from the sit outs, I did down dog push-ups instead of hindus, 90 degree chin ups, and jumped rope (200 forward and backward) instead of running around the gym (this wasn't because of shoulder stuff, but because I had ridden my bike to the gym and needed to safe some energy for the ride home). I got through three sets of 20 reps in 30 minutes.

I know I need to start taking the time to make good, healthy, delicious meals for myself. But instead of doing that, I went home and took the healthy but easy route. As I result, I had a smoothie for dinner. Not just any smoothie, but something I would have thought up to sicken myself 10 years ago... Soy milk, blue berries, kale, and flax seed. Oh, and my blender is old, so I had big chunks of kale sort of globbed together. God help me. It tasted good. But I know that if I ate something like that everyday, I would start to feel like I was being punished. Why? Maybe I have some sort of health food prejudice that I need to get over.

This morning I made it to the 7:30 FIT. It was an endurance workout: 60 sec. on, 30 sec. rest. 4 times through 4 exercises: chest pass, swings, swimmers, and box step ups. I used a 24 k for the first two sets of swings and 16 k for the last two. I used a 3 k medicine ball for 2 sets and a 4 k for two sets of chest pass. Yellow cables for two sets of swimmers and maroon for two sets. Big green box for step ups. We did core: 30 sec. on 15 sec. rest (2x through for me, I think they went 4 times through but I left early). Plank, side-plank (right and left) and supine thinker. Tonight I finally get a massage! Carpe Diem!

indecision

2007-06-13T14:02:00.000-06:00

Originally I was going to do a card deck, but flipping cards sounded like too much work, so I decided to do 100's AFAP. Then, watching a clock sounded like a lot of work, so I just did 100 total, broken into sets of 10 for the most part. I guess I was having an indecisive day!

warmup: jump rope play, working on crossovers forward and back, doubles, and direction changes for about 7 minutes.

workout: 100's of each
pushups (first 30 done with PPU)
body rows (90 deg. under chinup bar)
squats (butt touching 4k med ball on floor in 'down' position)
burpees
stability ball curls

I've noticed that body rows are much harder for me on a bar than they were on a jungle gym. I'm not sure why that is. Maybe because I can't use wrist rotation as leverage?

A little sore...

2007-06-13T12:49:00.000-06:00

My shoulders are still feeling those sit outs from Saturday! Feel pretty good though. Did a bike ride yesterday. Today I'm working out with a friend at the gym. We'll be doing 20 hindus, 20 chin ups, run around the building, 20 pw rollouts. I'll be barefoot, so will probably jump rope or do vertical jumps instead of run around the building... It's getting hotter and more humid this week. Not like Austin, but still. Still biking! Still loving it! Be strong!

Busy!!!

2007-06-12T10:20:00.000-06:00

Sounds like you girls are having some great workouts and enjoying life! Excellent! Keep that energy up!

Let's see...I've been busy, so I have a couple decent workouts to post.

Saturday:
Warm-up: agility ladder with DH

Workout: 21-15-9 Deadlifts and down-dog pushups off a 20" box. I think I started with 135 lbs for 10, then cut back to 125 lbs to work on form, then back to 135 lbs. I think my last set of 9 I did at 145, but I can't remember now.

Sunday I was supposed to run, but I ran out of time instead of out the door. :) I should have gone earlier in the day, and then once it gets over 90 degrees out, my motivation evaporates.

Monday - ran 3 miles in the morning (it was already warm!), and later did another workout. Three rounds of jumprope (50 revs), 15 pushups, 4 pullups (not quite full, but almost), 15 situps, 10 back extensions, and 10 overhead squats with a pvc pipe. Then after all that, I did 7 sets of 3 back squats, starting at 95 lbs for the first set, 105 for the second set, and 115 for all the other sets.

With these last couple workouts, I felt that I could definitely go a bit heavier on the deadlifts and the squats, but I really wanted to work on form too. I haven't done a lot of those exercises lately, so I wanted to make sure I could move the following day too. :)

Today is a rest day, thank goodness! I only got 4-5 hours of sleep last night.

Be strong!

I feel good (insert music here!)

2007-06-11T08:35:00.000-06:00

Hey! Beautiful weekend. Had a fun workout Saturday morning at the gym. Pyramid of 10-15-20-25--25-20-15-10. The exercises were: burpees, skaters, sit-outs, mountain climbers. Then crawling, which I did all at the end. (the reps total 140 so the crawling was for yards). It felt good, and it wiped me out, and I rode my bike so there was no rest until I got home. Sunday, took a bike ride (Cap. Cit. trail with the monona lake loop added in). It's about 36 miles, but always takes me a little longer because I always get lost in Monona. Did the a.m. workout this morning. Three sets of decending reps for each exercise: 20s-15s-10s

Split squats alternate with kb swings and alligators alternate with pole crawl. I used 16kx2 for the split squats and the 32k for the swings. Biked in and home again, need to take the rest of the day easy. As I was biking home from the workout, I was passing all the biking commuters. Almost everyone was smiling. Just riding and smiling, like we're all still kids. Isn't that sweet!

blah

2007-06-10T20:06:00.000-06:00

That's what I felt like today. It was a beautiful day outside, but I just couldn't get in the mood to do anything. I wanted to do some yardwork, so I cut the lawn and tried to plan some landscaping. I'm having a LOT of trouble figuring out what low-maintenance plants to put in. This is not as easy as I imagined at all.

My workout was similarly uninspired. I did a 5X5 of:
handstand pushups
chins
pistols
deadlifts with 155#
PW rollouts. I went until my nose hit the floor; they were HARD!

After the workout, I crashed big-time; I felt so tired. So I've been sitting around and looking online for gardening ideas. I think I'm more than ready to start work!

getting hot

2007-06-09T15:41:00.000-06:00

Yesterday hit 95 degrees, and I was highly unmotivated to work out. So except for some HEY poses, I called it a rest day.

Today was much cooler at 85, and I did a FIT workout from the MBG page (with modifications):
10 minute blocks of:
1. Jump Rope 30/30
2. resisted running with magenta bands (2)
3. PW crawl

Feeling pretty good overall still, diet has been slipping somewhat but sleep is still excellent (until Tues. when I start work anyhow!)

Good rest=Good workout

2007-06-08T08:42:00.001-06:00

Have been going to bed amazingly early this week. Just fried after sitting in a workshop all day. I overdid my training yesterday, as I already noted. Went to bed around 7:30 (yes, it was still light out but I was ready to sleep!). Did the a.m. workout this morning. The workout was:
As many times through as possible in 30 minutes.
20 push-ups (high box)
20 chin-ups
20 box jumps (high box)
20 pw roll-outs
20 cable cleans (green band)
then run around the building

Because yesterday ended up being such a blow-out exercise and nutrition wise, I decided to halve the reps for each set. I didn't run around the building either because I was working out barefoot, but I did do 5 minutes of jump rope after I went through the circuit twice. It felt really good. MBG has these very stiff foam gymnastic mats that can be used as boxes (one is about mid thigh. Because they are bigger and have a very slight give, they are great for box jumps. No mental freak out about the box moving or tipping. I used one that came up to mid thigh. I haven't felt safe to try jumping that high for a long time. It was fun! Riding my bike to work still. I love that! Be strong! Go fast! Smile pretty!

Tired and sore, but in a good way

2007-06-08T08:23:00.000-06:00

I did NOT want to work out yesterday, but I did...and I'm starting to feel a little more normal. I decided for the rest of June, I am going to follow Crossfit's WOD and see how it compares to me designing my own workouts. Then in July I may do the MBG WODs, or I might design my own program again. Because of the facilities I have access to, its actually easier to do the Crossfit WODs than the MBG WODs right now.

Anyway, yesterday I did an adaptation of the workout because I was tired and felt that that was all I could do. I did five rounds of our 400 m route (which is actually 320 m) and 30 thrusters (squat and press) with 45lbs. I didn't bother timing myself, but I will say that I think my time was pathetically slow. I guess the protocol with thrusters is to squat until your thighs are parallel to the ground. I went down into a deep squat for most of them.

Last night I got home from work about 8:30 and managed to get myself into bed by 9:30...but I had to be up at 5:00 this morning, so I still don't feel like its enough. Tonight I'll probably get home around 9 or 10, and I'll try to go to bed right away. Tomorrow, I might sleep in until 8 or so.

Today is a rest day! Yay! Be strong!

2007-06-07T16:31:00.000-06:00

Tuesday:
4-hour hike in Shenandoah nat'l forest. Very hilly hike, and beautiful weather, sunny but shady in the forest obviously, and mid 70's. Tired me out more than I anticipated!

Yesterday:
30 min jogging tour of the neighborhood (its so cute!)
ab card deck: situps, PW rollout, leg lifts (low reps done hanging, high reps done on floor), and touchdowns with 5k.

Today:
40's of: Dball clean and press with 60#, Dball snatch with 40#, foot up lunge with 40#, one leg stability ball curls, one leg full extensions with magenta cable
Then 4 minutes of thinker in each direction (prone and sides, that is). Done as 1-minute blocks, 2 minutes total on each side.

Overall I'm feeling pretty good. Getting at least 8 hours of sleep, which feels amazing. The only complaint I have is that there's not enough to do in the day! I start work next Tuesday, which I'm looking forward to. My diet is pretty good; including veggies with every meal, but we did go out and get pizza last night from this semi-world-famous place in Crozet. Still doing a smoothie or juice+ bagel with peanut butter for breakfast.

Finally back to gym

2007-06-07T15:34:00.000-06:00

Have been in a workshop all week, after visiting with a friend from out of town for half of the previous week. I have been biking to work since Memorial day. Found a used Mt. bike, it's pretty, with fenders and a basket for riding around. I love it! Rode in to the gym this morning. Workout was: 300 yds., crawling, 3000 jump rope or 3 mile run, split up however you want. I did all the crawling: half regular, half with a power wheel. I made it through 2 of the three miles. Then had to clean up, jump on the bike, and then roll into work. I didn't get enough protein in my breakfast and lunch, ended up really sort of crashing, light headed, really hungry, during a walk with my friend after lunch. To be clear, lunch was not even a real meal. More like a snack of raw veggies during a networking/information gathering "function." I hate it when that happens. Hoping to make it back in for tomorrow morning's workout. I miss you guys! I love how the gym is such a little "home." Be strong!

Still tired, but improving

2007-06-06T22:14:00.000-06:00

JR with the green rope to warm up.

10x10 pushups
4x25 situps
4x25 squats (no weight, fast)
~85 pullups - 15 of which were underhand with arms fully extended and toes just touching the ground....the rest were like 90-degree assisted, but done overhand on a bar instead of with a jungle gym.

I need more sleep. More disciple...more sleep...I should really have been in bed an hour ago...

Be strong!

Jacked up shoulders

2007-06-05T21:09:00.000-06:00

So today's workout was three rounds of 10-15 overhead squats with a PVC pipe (no weight), 10-15 situps (still sore from Saturday!), 15 pushups, 10 ring dips (with my feet on the ground - those HURT my shoulders a ton), 10 90-degree chins, and 10-15 back extensions.

Then I played around with barbell snatches.

Then I asked Adam if he thought my shoulders should be rotated back from where they are, and he said that they look pretty messed up to him. Not in those words, obviously. I knew it though...I can tell when I stand up straight that they are internally rotated forward. So Adam spent about half an hour with me trying to get them to straighten out. It helped a little, but I'm going to have to work on them every day if I want them to eventually straighten out. Ugh. Its so frustrating. My right shoulder is significantly worse than my left shoulder. I am wondering if its because I've always carried my backpack on my right shoulder...

Well, anyway, I really need to get to bed. Be strong!

my workout room

2007-06-05T12:09:00.001-06:00

Finally I got some sunlight and some good pics! The first one is of the bulk of my stuff (Dballs, med balls, oly bar and plates, stability ball, power wheel, plus jump ropes and PPU and agility ladder and others on the wall. The second pic is my chinup bar and my new train station (installed by the BF this morning!) . The only thing left to make is jump boxes, which are hopefully coming soon. Its no monkey bar but its the best I've got for now :) Until the Monkey Bar C'ville has its grand opening, that is!

coming back is hard

2007-06-05T06:11:00.000-06:00

Coming back to working out I mean. Its amazing all the muscles that have gone away in a few short days.

Sunday I did a gauntlet workout reminiscent of Power 60 class, but easier:
20 jump lunge
JR 100 F/B
20 pushup
JR
20 PW curl
JR
20 body row
JR
20 PW pike
JR

Twice through that and I was toast. It was hard to jump rope on my carpet, so that made things harder and me more tired. I'll probably get used to that with time.

Monday I did another basic workout, this time a card deck:
pushups
chins
squats with 40#
good mornings

Today my arms are so sore! Its ridiculous, actually, because just a few weeks ago those workouts wouldn't have made me blink. Its either the time off, or the weather here, or both. Either way I'm glad to be a little sore and glad to be at it again!

I'll send pics of my cute little workout space when I have a sunny day to take pics of it. Right now its a little cloudy, so its pretty dark in here (no lights in that room yet!)
Stay strong ladies!

Fighting my way back

2007-06-02T19:37:00.000-06:00

I am still feeling super freakin' tired all the time. I really do not think I got enough sleep this week though, so that probably is a big part of it. Yesterday I started feeling sicker again - a little headachey, slight sore through, coughing more...so I picked up some of that Airborne stuff and have been using that. I feel a lot better today. Maybe it was from getting more sleep, or from that Airborne, either way, I'm glad I feel a little better.

So DH and I did a workout inspired by one of Burpees' workouts. We ran 3 miles, taking breaks to do pullups, pushups, situps, and burpees. I did 4 sets of 15 pushups, 3 sets of 20 situps on an incline bench in the park, 2 sets of 10 burpees, and 6 sets of 2 pullups (with assistance). Felt good, but VERY tiring.

Be strong!

My brother and sister-in-laws new kitties

2007-06-01T10:07:00.001-06:00

I still haven't worked out since Monday. I've been SO freakin' sore. Yesterday was exhausting (8 sessions, the first being at 6 a.m. and the last starting at 6:30 p.m.), and I absent-mindedly got dehydrated, so I woke up in the middle of the night with some awful leg cramps. I am feeling a little better, but still really tired, and still with a lingering cough. I'm going to try to work out this afternoon. I'll post again later if I manage to get a workout in.

My brother and his lovely wife have adopted two new kittens (bringing their animal tally up to four cats, a St. Bernard, a bunch of ferrets, and a partridge in a pear tree).

Ouch!

2007-05-28T21:05:00.000-06:00

DH and I did a pretty intense workout tonight with the Crossfit class.

Three rounds of:

30 dumbbell snatches (15 on each arm)
30 walking lunges
30 dumbbell swings
Row or run 400 m

I started out using the 35 lb dumbbell for snatches and swings and 2x16kg KBs for the lunges. I had to lighten up a bit for the last round, because I felt like my hamstrings had really had enough. I rowed twice and skipped one round of rowing/running because I was leading class... I like KBs way better than DBs for snatches and swings, but its good to mix it up once in a while. Be strong!