7.30.11 "Jackie"

Got over enough shoulder pain to get back to working out. In the mean time I've been reading the foundations of CrossFit article and learning alot. Have "re-decided" to use significantly less weight until I develop the flexibility and ability to do the exercises (especially weightlifting exercises) as prescribed.

WOD: "Jackie": 1000 meter row; 50 45-lb thrusters; 30 pull-ups.

I did: 100x 45 lb. Sumo High Dead Lifts; 50 45-lb thrusters; 30 pull-ups with 69.5 lb assist.
Working especially on flexibility. Did the sumo's to a medicine ball since no weights on the end to keep the bar up off the ground. Did the thrusters to an exercise ball so that I could approximate full hip flexion.

7.24.11

Started off the day with a 3 mile interval run. 4 minutes running with 1-2 minute rests between. Because of the heat 88º w/ 70% humidity, this was a good work out. Then off to church. Mid-afternoon went to the gym, because I just couldn't miss this WOD, I was really looking forward to it:

WOD: Weighted Dips: 3-2-2-2-1-1-1-1-1.

I did:
Assisted Dips:
44x3 - 35.5x2 - 33x2 - 29x2 - 24.5x1 - 20.5x1 - 14x1 - 6x1 - 0x1(fail)

7.23.11 "Helen"

Getting back to it after a couple days to relieve aches, pain, etc.

WOD: "Helen":
Three rounds for time:
Run 400 meters (I did on treadmill at 7.6 mph or 7:43/mi)
1 1/2 pood Kettlebell x21 swings (I used 45 lb. plate)
12 Pull-Ups (I used 61 lbs. assist)

Time: 23:00
Result: jogged home and it's very hot and humid. Couldn't hardly breath even at a slow jog. By the time I got home, stiff and sore. Still need to mow the lawn. Let's face it. It's just plain HARD to do this... but that doesn't mean I'm gonna quit.

Update Measurements

Weights and Measures: From 5/7/11 to 7/21/11 (about 10 weeks of CrossFitting)

Some measurements have increased. But then, so has my weight. I can't run as far, or as fast, but can still pound out a 5-miler at will so that's not too bad considering the drastic change in training regimen. My shape is changing, I think more than is reflected in the measurements. I'm starting to have at least a little bit of a V-shape when looking straight-on n the mirror -- of course with the belly sucked in and chest expanded. But beyond that, you can see my rib cage now, where before it was hidden beneath, well, you know what. Legs are getting bigger. Chest bigger, Arms not much but I think I have lost fat and gained muscle so maybe those are canceling each other out. I am definitely harder, stronger, more able to do things around the house and yard when i need some lifting power. So that's good. Hurting every day, all day, and all night, however is not so good. Watched a CrossFit video tonight where they interviewed a 50 year old man and 64 year old woman and noted that they started slow and built up to where they are now. And of course do not do all the things the 20 year olds are doing. So, keep it in perspective. Keep trying. Let myself rest, even a couple days at a time, which my body needs. Switching to a CrossFit workout every other day and a good running interval or tempo workout in-between seems to be a good balance. And I must remember to take rest or active rest days where I only do a 2-3 mile jog, walk, or hike. Regarding Nutrition: I've been frustrated so overate the last couple days. The reason for my frustration? FitDay.com. They say I should be able to eat 3,600 kcal/day and if I eat 468/day less than that, i can lose 42 pounds in 10 months. However, I have generally been eating about 2,000 kcal per day, and working out -- hard. So total balance of maybe 1,000 kcal some days and 2,000 kcal on others -- and have gained all this weight. Of course, with the wedding and stress, etc. there has been plenty to "celebrate" and we seem to "celebrate" in this family about twice a week. I'll plan to get in touch with the dietician at work and get some more input from her. That will be my goal over the next couple months, and see where it takes me. And keep working out. Even if I'm fat, I can be fit.

Measurements: 

Neck: 15.125" - 15.785 (+.375); 

Rt Bicep: 14.5"; - 14.875 (+.375)

Rt Forearm: 11.75"; - 11.875 (+.125)

Chest (Nipples) Expanded: 48" - 49.5 (+1.5)

Belly (Navel) Sucked-In: 41.5" - 43.5 (+2)

Mid-Thigh: 21.25 - 22.5 (+1.25)

Mid-Calf: 15" - 15.25  (+.25)

Wt: 226.4 - 235 (+9)

7.18.11

WOD: 3 rounds for time:
10x 135 lb. Overhead Squats
50x Double-Unders

I did: (18 minutes)
135 lb. Back Squats (I can't do overhead squats yet with any weight because of flexibility. Will keep working on it.)
50x Tuck Jumps

The squats were a little awkward because of the weight and flexibility, but I tried hard to get down into a full squat, but must confess sometimes it was about 3/4 squat. The tuck jumps are surprisingly difficult and did 10x with 30 second rests to complete the set of 50. Will keep working on the jump rope and try to get double unders.

7.17.11

Running day. Did a "Speed" workout: 4 miles. 2x1mi@8:13 w/ .5 mi jogs. Didn't handle it as well as a few months ago when I was only running and doing a little strength training. Still glad to be able to run 4-5 miles at a shot though and can work up from here. Weird though. My max heart rate seems to be dropping. At the end of the second "fast" mile felt like my cardiac was the restraining part, and my heart rate was only 144. A few months ago I could run for 30-45 minutes with a heart rate of 154 or more. Hmmmm.

7.16.11

"Barbara" 5 rounds for time: 20 Pull-Ups, 30 Push Ups, 40 Sit-Ups, 50 Squats.

I did: all of the above. Started with 69.5 lbs assist on first set up pull-ups and had to move up to 78 lbs assist. :<    Very sore afterwards. But completed it, and now I have a time on a "girl workout" to compare for future reference!

7.14.14

An "Off CrossFit" night because of the tough workout last night.

Had planned on "Active Recovery" with an easy jog of 3 or 4 miles.
At 9:00 it was still 90ºF with 74% humidity. Could barely keep my legs going and had to take a couple rest breaks. Ended-up going an extra mile to "punish" myself for the walk breaks (which was stupid), and now am really feeling it. I'm sore, stiff, and it will be worse tomorrow. Better take tomorrow off. Recovery is important, too.

7.13.11

This blog is about "Optimizing My Life", not just working out. So one thing Carolyn and I did with our small group from church to "Optimize My Life" and the life of others was serve dinner to homeless folks at Matt  Talbot  Kitchen. It was a great experience that I'd like to do from time-to-time.

WOD:
Pull-Ups / Handstand Push-Ups 21-18-15-12-9-6-3

I Did:
Pull-ups (65 lb. assist) broken up as 7-7-7 to get the first 21, and
Shoulder Presses (push-presses when I was tired), the same way.
Did all of the rounds.
It took about 45 minutes. I got a late start (about 8:45 tonight) because of being at Matt Talbot. I definitely think I'm going to pay for it in pain over the next couple days, because I'm still really quite stiff and sore from Monday night's WOD.

Last night I just walked a couple miles and stretched. That was enough. It was about all I COULD do.

7.11.11

Oooowwwwwwwww. CrossFit you bugger.

WOD: 5 rounds for time:
400 meter run. 145 lb. Deadlift, 20 reps. 20 Push-ups. 145 lb. Deadlift, 10 reps. 10 push-ups.

I did:
4 founds in about 50-55 minutes.
400 meter run (2 minutes). 135 lb. Deadlifts, 20 reps. 20 Push-ups. 135 lb. Deadlifts, 10 reps, 10 pushups.
Couldn't do the last round. Didn't even want to try. had to walk for about 10 minutes afterward trying to shake this one off. Pain for sure tomorrow.

Amazing that I did it.
Wondered if I was going to meet Pukie the Clown for the first time.
Am going to pay a heck of a price tomorrow and the next day.

7.10.11

An off day for CrossFitting so:

5 mi Tempo Run (3 mi. at 8:49)

Trying to eat well with mostly vegetables, fruits, lean meats and "good" oils. However, for lunch I had a can of Tamale's form the store. (690 calories, 18g protein, No saturated fat, 20g fat, 9g fiber). So not great, but not the worst either, when you look at it. I'm sure it's way short of micronutrients, and all the other good stuff, and wasn't very filling -- but honestly, this is not as bad as eating a Burger King Wopper and Fries and Diet Coke. Am making another good supper for Carolyn who has been working all day -- Curry with lean chicken breasts, chick peas and cauliflower over brown rice, and 1 piece of Naan. Had a small handful of nuts this afternoon, mixed some bing cherries in my protein shake. Skipped breakfast which is a bad deal, but wasn't hungry at all.

7.9.11

WOD: Weighted Pull-Ups (yeah, sure) 1-1-1-1-1-1-1

I did:
Jogged to gym (1.3 miles)
Assisted Pull-ups as: 52.5 - 50 - 48- 46 - 44 (previous best) - 41.5 - 39.5
That was my seven reps, but wanted to see how much I can do right now so continued:
35.5 - 31 (successful) - 27 (failed x2).
So my new personal best is 31 lbs. assist. I weighed 232.4 this morning, so I guess I can pull-up 201 lbs.
Which begs the questions: Which will happen first? 1. I will lose enough weight to do an unassisted pull-up. 2. I will get strong enough to lift my weight. -- I'm guessing it will be a combination of the two.
Then I added in 50 kettle-bell swings with a 45 lb. plate, jogged home, and did 50 jumps on my 8" back step ... and mowed the lawn : (

Started drinking a protein shake after my work outs. Travis was telling me that if you don't get enough protein, your body catabolizes itself to repair the muscles that are "damaged" during the workout. Thus you retain fat and don't get the most out of your workouts.
So I had 1 scoop of whey protein powder in 1 cup of skim milk and a handful of ice. For flavor I mixed in to ripe peaches: 36g protein, 330 calories (40 each/peach, 90 skim milk, 160 protein mix). This is my "second" breakfast.

7.7.11

Yesterday: Ended up doing a mile jog warm-up, then 2 miles of 2 minute-intervals running/walking. By the last mile (4 total) I could only jog 1 minute/walk 1 minute because of the heat/humidity 88/74. But got a good hard work out in. 

In the evening, Andrew and I cancelled our overnight camping at Indian Caves State Park because of expected thunderstorms during the night. Instead, we went to Schramm Park State Recreation Area and cooked supper, walked the trails in the near dark/dark, and called it a night. Home before the thunder and lightning. He really liked the food. I butterflied and grilled a marinated chicken (canola oil, garlic, lemon zest, thyme, salt so it was really pretty healthy without the skin), and stir fried sugar snap peas with slivered almonds, made with olive oil. I was happy to have something delicious, simple, healthy rather than the ribeye steak and potato originally considered.

Today:

Wod: 5 rounds for time:

155 lb. Deadlifts, 15 reps (I used 135 lbs)

155 lb. Hang Power Clean, 9 reps (I used 95 lbs.)

155 lb. Push Jerks, 6 reps (I used 95 lbs.)

-- OK, so I didn't use a ton of weights. however, I felt like this was a good weight to be able to maintain pretty good form, did not feel like I was risking my back (as when I used 185 on the deadlifts), and still got a great workout. My heart was pounding and my lungs burning. The deadlifts had to be broken down to 8-7 because I just could breathe. In fact, on the last set I did 11-4, and after the 11 I was quite dizzy, heart pounding, and being alone at the gym I figured it was foolish to try to go any harder than that. I had to take 1-2 minutes breaks between exercises, so the entire work out took about 35 minutes. So this takes less time than a running work out, strengthens and adds flexibility to my entire body, gives my cardio and respiratory a hard workout. That's pretty good. 

Tomorrow will either be an off day, or an easy jog. I've done three days in a row, and although I want to keep going daily, I must always be careful to give me self some recovery/rest days. On those days I should always incorporate catching up on fluids and lots of stretching/flexibility.

7.6.11

Today: I will go for a 4 mile run of either intervals or jogging depending on how my legs feel after last night's workout. Later, am going camping (probably in thunderstorms) with Andrew and we'll hike around Indian Cave Park. He really wanted to try camping and hiking once before he moves to L.A. It's great to be fit enough to do what I want to do and not be giving up on things at 50 (way to young to start packing it in -- wish I could convince others of the same).

It was good to see some of my nieces and nephews on the 4th.

Haven't been keeping up on the posts -- and now I can't even remember exactly what I did.

Last night I worked out in my own garage for the first time. Partly because my gym doesn't have room or the equipment to do the WOD and my garage had some form of everything I needed.

WOD:
50-40-30-20-10
20 lb. Wall Balls
24" Box Jumps
1.5 pood Kettlebell swings

I did:
50-40-30-20-10
24 lb. Wall balls (that's what my homemade ball weighs)
8" Box Jumps (just using the step in my garage, seemed meager and would have liked to find a way to make it 16" or more)
35 lb. Kettlebell swings (using my 35# dumbbell, wold rather have used a 45# plate at the gym)

on 7/4: it was my holiday to work and then with the 4th of July, I didn't get a work out in.

7/3: Ran 4 miles on the Murdock Trail. I basically worked from 8 a.m. Friday until 5 p.m. Tuesday as I was on call for the weekend and holiday and just plain stressed and busy. I am finding that, sometimes I don't want to add the physical stress of CrossFit when I am already having other stress. Maybe this is an indication that I should cut down the intensity or whatever of the workouts so that it is still a good had workout (like last night) but not so painful or stressful that I avoid doing it. I will still be making gains or at least maintaining strength -- but more slowly. Paid my $25 for a CrossFit subscription last night and read the article about Underloading, so that shows me that progress can still be made, and sometimes even greater progress, by moderating rather than going full intensity all the time. However, that's not what one would generally hear around a gym.