Anyone out there?

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

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!

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

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!

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

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...

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

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

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

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...

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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...

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...

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....

....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!