Monday WOD: "Jackie"

"Jackie"
1000M row
50 Thrusters (35lbs)
30 Pull ups
One round for time.

I was last again but I didn't care. I did care that I felt like crying halfway through it. The row was hard and felt never ending. But the thrusters were what did me in. I wasn't even halfway through the thrusters when everyone else had moved on to the pull ups. Ugh. It just felt really hard. My wrists were hurting and my legs were burning from the row. I really felt like giving up. It just seemed like I'd never finish. But at some point I realized I could make up time in the pull ups. I got past halfway and started thinking of the reps in smaller increments to make it seem more doable. That helped. When I got to 36 done, Ali, our coach said, "2 sets of 7 to go!" and I knocked them out. Whew! I rested briefly while walking over to the pull up bar. I used 3 bands like I had in the past and pulled off 15 in a row! Wow! I finished in 16:45 just under a minute behind the next to last person.

I think it might be time to drop to two bands for my pull up assist. :-)

The view from CrossFit Roots. :-)

Frozen Foot 5K

They weren't kidding! The timing seems about right for a race named the Frozen Foot 5K. Blizzard conditions. We probably shouldn't have been driving in it. But, it was quite fun to walk/run in it. I thought for sure we'd win some prizes but no such luck. Here are a few photos from the day. I didn't take very many because it was snowing so much. I didn't want to get my iPhone soaked.

I finally got to wear my screw shoes! That was fun. :-)

Friday's CrossFit WOD was Lumberjack 20, a tribute to troops lost at Ft. Hood.
20 dead lifts (45lbs), 200M run
20 kettle bell swings (12lbs), 200M run
20 over head squats (15lbs), 200M run
20 burpees, 200M run
20 pullups (3 bands), 200M run
20 box jumps (18"), 200M run
20 dumbbell squat clean (10lb dumbbells), 200M run
I finished in 28:10.

Next week I begin my road to the half marathon.

Oh, my back

So, dead lifts made me feel badass on Wednesday. Not so much Thursday and Friday. Holy smokes is my back sore! I wonder what will be in store for us today... Yes, I'm going back for more.

I realized something this morning. Since starting the CrossFit workouts, I am much more relaxed at work. And it's easier to go to work knowing I have CF waiting for me. :-)

Sunday is the Frozen Foot 5K on campus at CU. This is my 3rd one I think. It's supposed to snow. :-)

Oh, that reminds me, I need to update my race pages for 2013!

It's good to be back!

I returned to CrossFit today after missing the last two classes. Two classes doesn't seem like a lot but it was a Friday and a Monday so it was 5 whole days of not working out. Well, I did do a slow walk (2.5mph) on the treadmill for 30 minutes on Monday but I'd hardly call that a workout. Anyway, it was great to be back! I was kind of nervous after being gone so long. And then I remembered, missing two workouts or 5 days isn't long. Missing months at a time is long. Which is where I was at the beginning of the year. And that made me feel very proud of myself! And I smiled out loud. Yes, it's good to be back!

Today's WOD

Today was a "heavy lift day". Heavy, as you know, is a relative term. Note my weight is the least heavy out of all my WOD-mates. I still felt like a strong badass at the end of it. Oh yeah. And that's why I like CrossFit. At the end of it I feel like pure badassery. I often say to myself, I just did that! I still say that to myself at the end of a half marathon too. :-)

Speaking of....

My half marathon training officially begins next week. I've put together my training plan using the "Half Marathon: You Can Do It" book by Jeff Galloway. I'm starting easy and not putting any pressure on myself. No time goals, no race specific goals, just build miles and be ready for whatever is on the calendar after August. I'm focusing on doing it right. CrossFit will build my strength base and confidence and core. I just need to put in the time on the running. 30 minutes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Long run on Sundays. I'm trying not to over think it. I figure the long (30 week) training plan gives me time to miss a few days for whatever reason. (I seem to be sick a lot lately.) We also have some travel plans this summer. That gives me a lot of wiggle room. I'll be adding to my long run in half mile increments each week. That gives me some wiggle room too.

We shall see what this season has in store. :-)

Norovirus is no joke!

My household is recovering from a GI attack. Ugh. 2 days down for each of us. It moved in quickly and fortunately, moved out as quickly as well. Wow. I missed one Crossfit workout because of it and two and a half days of work. I'm not so worried about missing work though. I did miss going to crossfit. I have been resting and trying to recover my appetite since Friday. It's slowly coming back. I haven't done any walking on the treadmill either. I wanted to today but couldn't make myself do it. Maybe my body still needed rest. Yeah. I'm going with that.

I shall crossfit on Monday. :-)

Box Jumps & a 5K

On Friday, part of our workout of the day (WOD) included box jumps. The prescribed height, turns out, was the height I was jumping. It was not terribly difficult for me, but the exercise followed a 400M run and preceded 15 wall balls (with an 8 lb medicine ball). We were doing 5 rounds for time. In my fourth round, I relaxed for just a second while doing the box jumps, thinking about how close I was to being done. That's when I missed the box jump.

Oh my! That was pain like I hadn't felt in a very long time, if ever. I finished the set of box jumps, on a smaller box, and on one leg. But, I was done. There was no way I was going to run after that. I didn't even think I could squat for the wall ball set. Done. CrossFit won that day. It bled for a while. I iced it much of the rest of the day which helped a lot. It didn't even bruise heavily. I felt bruised but didn't become discolored.

I recovered well enough by Sunday to walk the last 5K in the winter series with my sister. It was a cold cold morning but the snow that had been predicted didn't materialize. A few flakes were barely falling at the start. Even though we walked almost the whole way, we ended up finishing it faster than the previous one. And, we each won a box of Girl Scout Cookies at the end! That was good way to end the series and a good way to begin the next round. We are registered for another 5K on the 24th. Trying to keep that momentum going. :-)

Feeling the burn...

I'm getting fit... CrossFit! Oh and do I feel the burn?! Oh my.

1 Feb 2013

I forgot to take a photo of the board on Wednesday. I'll have to ask someone if it was documented. Friday's workout was 15 minutes AMRAP - as many rounds as possible. We found our heavy power clean weight. Mine was 45lbs. And then did the workout with a little less than that. Mine was 35lbs. The exercises were:
5 power cleans
10 toes to bar
15 over head lunges
I couldn't do the toes to bar. And doing the knees to chest from the bar made my shoulder unhappy. So, the modification for me was sit ups with knees to chest (since I couldn't do V-ups.) I was good with that. Good gravy my abs are sore. I can barely sit up straight. And my triceps are really painfully sore. My right elbow hurts too. Probably from the power clean position. I enjoyed learning that move and getting it right. It's nice when you can tell the difference between a good rep and a bad rep.

I'm doing the Monday, Wednesday, Friday shift for the Women Only class. It's a small class, so far. And the ladies are all very friendly but not too chatty. One woman has had a knee replacement! That's pretty crazy that she's doing this crossfit stuff on an artificial knee. She rocks!

I am really enjoying this class. The trainers are very cool. I hope my job holds up so I can keep going. :-)