Crossfit is Sinking In

The latest Women Only On Ramp class has ended which means we have new classmates. Which also means, I am officially not the new girl anymore. Woo hoo!! Maybe that had something to do with my confidence on Friday. Or maybe it was just that I was familiar enough with all the exercises. At any rate, something seemed to click for me on Friday. It was a long WOD, 30 minutes, but I was able to stay focused and get through everything confidently.

The WOD:

We had 6 minutes to complete each exercise. When it was completed, we had the remaining 6 minutes to rest before starting the next one. My effort went like this...

500M row took about two and a half minutes. We all finished about the same time. With the remaining time I took a potty break and got my water bottle.

The 400M run I completed in about 2 minutes. I finished about 3rd to last, finishing strong.

I was most excited about the pullups. I'd had a dream earlier in the week about being able to do pullups. We had 2:30 to complete as many pullups as we could. I was using two green bands for my assist. Also, on the warm up, Ali (our coach) made the suggestion that folks could watch my pullups if they wanted to see proper form. That made me feel very good and confident! I was able to complete 45 pullups! I was super excited about that.

Then came the kettlebell swings. On Wednesday, we'd don't both kettlebell swings and thrusters so I felt confident in my ability to do them and do them well, but I was pretty sore and my shoulder was pretty tired. It took me all 6 minutes to finish the kettlebell swings. And I was using the lightest weight I could, 8lbs. Ugh. For a while I wasn't sure I was even going to finish. Ugh. It was hard but I kept going and pushed through to get it done. Woot.

Because I finished last and without any rest time, the rest of the class started their 30 dumbbell thrusters right on time. I had to rest before starting my set. I think I rested for a full minute before I started. I knew that I'd probably be last at that point but it didn't matter. I think everyone finished when I hit 20 reps. I was trying to do sets of 5 but couldn't manage more than two really. Ali asked if my shoulder was bothering me, which it was. She suggested I only go overhead with one dumbbell. (I think she was kidding but I'm not sure.) I asked if I should drop to 10lbs in my left and keep the 15lb in my right. She said that would be weird but I could switch to the 10lbs if I wanted to (since everyone else was done). So, that's what I did. Two sets of 5 and done.

I really liked this work out. It was hard and it was long but I could do all the exercises without modifying at all. I had my usual assists but that is ok.

My shoulder has been bothering me a bit more. I've done three weeks of PT but have slacked off a bit with my stretches and prescribed exercises. I need to get back on track with that. And maybe ice more after these long or heavy shoulder exercises. I am still very sore even two days after Friday's WOD. And not just my shoulder, but my pullup effort is also what I'm feeling.

Can't wait for Monday. :-)

For Boston

I worked from home today because of the weather. And because I wanted to run. I wanted to run for Boston. My sister and I were (are) registered for four 5K races in the Boulder res Dash & Dine series. Last week was postponed because of the snow that never came. So, that took away the one rain delay date. This week, it's very snowy and supposed to snow more this evening but the race is going on. I'm sure some of it has to do with yesterday's events as well. I'm sure people just feel the need to run. I know I did. But, my sister and I decided we didn't want to make the drive if the weather was bad but would get some miles in on our own. I decided that the treadmill wasn't going to cut it. I felt the need to be outside, breathe the cold air and not have anything to distract me like a television or music at the Y. So, I ran at Van Bibber.

It was overcast and cold enough for me to see my breath but not too cold to breathe. I had on enough layers not to be distracted by the temperature.

I felt good considering I haven't been running much at all these days. I started out at a comfortably slow pace. There were only a couple of other people out walking their dogs. I could meditate a bit on why I was there and what I wanted to do. As I thought about it it occurred to me that I should run a significant number of miles. In CrossFit we often do hero WODs that have reps or rounds or a time that is a number of significance. I thought I would do 3 miles for the 3 people who died yesterday. But, I didn't want the run to only be about dying. So, I decided I would run 3.262 miles. The .262 would represent the marathon distance.

As it turns out, my Garmin only goes to two decimal places so I ended up going 3.27 miles instead. That kind of bummed me out a bit. But then, I looked at my stats. It also recorded the time I began the run. It was 3:26.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/299049468

I may never run a full marathon. But, I think I know that triumphant feeling. I felt it crossing the finish line of my first half marathon. Joy, triumph, invincibility. I have felt it at all of the half marathons since that one, even the Platte when I was in so much pain. For me it's the "I-can't-believe-I-just-did-that!" feeling. Yesterday, so many runners were robbed of that feeling, that opportunity to finish strong. I hope they get that back. I don't want the bad guys to win. So, I will keep running.

Peace and Love everyone. Don't let them win.

Boston

I have no words. :-(

Technique

Last week one of the lifts we did was the hang power clean. I seem to have a hard time staying in my heels. Not just for this particular move but for most of them. So, sometimes I review the moves on you tube and on the CrossFit HQ page. I found this You Tube video for the hang power clean that gave me a bit of insight. She talks about trying to push the bar with your hips to gain more power and maintain form. I'm going to try to remember that the next time we do them.

The next step for me on this fitness journey is to change my diet. It will be difficult to do since there are multiple people living in my house. But, lately, I've become the chef at home. That used to be my hubby's domain. So, after our vacation, I'm planning to make a few changes. Nothing too dramatic at first. And there are a lot of meals that are solo meals for me. Breakfast and lunch are two meals I eat alone. Those are under my total control. And that morning chai... well, it will have to go. More water in my diet would be good. Water used to be all I drank. Then I became bored I suppose. And became an adult who could afford beer. :-)  I do like beer. I won't be giving that up any time soon.

Nearly all of the paleo diet plans say to give it 30 days. This one, for example. I think I can do that. It should be a fair attempt for my household as well. Hubby can eat whatever he wants when he's out and about during work. This won't be an all or nothing thing for everyone. But, I want to give it a try for me.

And that running thing.... I still need to find my motivation for that.

This Week's WODs

Monday
5 rounds for time
21 deadlifts, 400M run
I lifted 60lbs. After the 2nd round, my back started to spasm on the run so, Ali switched me to the rower for a 500M row. This kind of sucked. But, I finished and didn't cry. (I need to figure out what's up with my back. This is the 2nd time this has happened.)

Wednesday
"Nasty Girls"
3 rounds for time
50 air squats, 7 muscle ups, 10 hang power clean
I used a medicine ball for a target on my squats, we all modified the MUs but I still got blisters on my wrist from the false grip, and I lifted 45lbs. This wasn't so bad. It was hard for sure and my wrists didn't like it at all. I didn't mark my time. :-/

Thursday my sister and I did our first Adventure Run. I think we got in about 2 miles of mostly walking. We also got free beer but didn't win any raffle prizes. Oh well, maybe next time.

Friday
12 minute AMRAP
40' dumbbell lunge, 7 burpees, 40' dumbbell lunge, 14 situps
I managed 3 complete rounds. I carried 15 lb dumbbells on each shoulder (a high carry). Burpees are really really hard after lunges. Ugh. You know the workout is hard if you are thinking the whole time, I can't wait for the situps so I can rest my legs. As hard as this one was, I really liked it. It was very challenging mentally to stay focused and keep moving. I need to work on pushing through and not resting as much on these "short" WODs.

Up Coming Races

Here is what I'm currently registered for:

4 Dash & Dine 5K evening runs in Boulder, April 16, 23, May 14 & 21.
Adventure Run at Westminster Road Runner Sports this week.
Cherry Creek Sneak 5K on April 28th.
Westminster Women's Classic 5K on May 12th.

There are some others on my radar but I am not really looking very far ahead. My running training is returning slowly. There's a new half marathon in Arvada in September. Just sayin'. :-) The half is still on my mind and one of my goals.