"What Did We Do Wednesday?", "Thank God for Rest" Thursday, and Feet-A-Flyin' Friday

Holy cats -- where has this week gone?!? Amidst all of the things I have (or haven't) had going on, I've completely forgotten to check in here on the blog! Let's get down to it...

Wednesday, 11 NOV 09

WOD: "Tabata This" -- exercises include ring dips, windshield wipers, handstand push ups, burpees
Challenge: Five rounds of 20 ab mat sit ups and 15 KTE

Tabatas as a general rule don't bother me at all. Twenty seconds of movement followed by ten seconds of rest for eight rounds per exercise really isn't the end of the world. Except for when your arms are so sore that you had trouble getting dressed that day and almost had to come to the gym without a bra on. You know, little things.

None of us are able to do ring dips, so we substituted this with doing dips off the side of the tractor tire with our feet up on boxes. We also had to modify the HSPUs by doing them off the side of the tire. Both of these were excruciating and terrible. Normally I can crank out dips with no problem, but those kettlebell swings from Monday were still wreaking havoc on my deltoids. The modified HSPUs weren't really bad until the last three rounds, which sucked at an unreasonable level. Burpees pretty much suck no matter what. You suffer through them like a yearly physical -- you know you have to do them, and sooner or later they'll be over with and you can go back to the rest of your day.

I will say, however, that I enjoyed the windshield wipers. OK, envision holding a 45# bar by one end, and the other end is resting at an angle on the center opening of a 45# bumper weight. The bar doesn't actually go into the center; it just pivots there. The goal here was to bring the bar down on one side of your body to approximately hip height, then twist your body to the other side as you bring the bar back up and over to the other hip. Repeat this a kajillion times, and you've got a windshield wiper.

Next, true to form, just because we had done a WOD didn't necessarily mean that we were done. As if a tabata for core wasn't enough, we did five more rounds of core, not keeping our time. Ab mat sit ups aren't that big a deal, and thankfully neither are KTE anymore. I was able to rep several out at a time but still need to work on that.

Tabata scores: (keep in mind that the score you have to keep is the lowest number you did)

Modified ring dips: 8
Windshield wipers: 19
Modified HSPUs: 5
Burpees: 8

Thursday, 12 NOV 09

REST DAY!!! HALLELUJAH!!!

On a serious note, I really wanted to get up to the gym to do the CF Football "Grace" and had something come up for my daughter that needed to take priority over my gym time. That being said, I was really glad on Friday morning that I had taken another rest day to let my arms recover. I can always do this WOD at another time or on my own. In fact, I need to figure out something to do Saturday morning, and this might be a fun option.

A side note about rest: there is a time when you push through a little stiffness or soreness, and there is also a time when you listen to your body and rest. It's different for each person, but there are times when I know that every cell in my body is crying out to simply be still. There is a such thing as overtraining, and when you reach that point, you are really running yourself down. Personally I would rather take another day to rest and be able to come out of the gate hard the following day than be sucking it up during the warm up, much less the WOD. You just have to listen to your body and discern when it really does need rest and when it's just being whiny.

Friday, 13 NOV 09

"I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights." -- Habbakuk 3:18-19

WOD: Seven rounds of: 200m sprint, 10 air squats, 10 burpees

Speaking of feet like a deer...

It was damp and chilly out when we started, but by the time we finished I was ready to strip down and roll in the cold, wet grass. We headed over to the middle school football practice field (so the stripping down would be HIGHLY discouraged here, haha!) and did our WOD over there. I don't think I have had to run on wet grass early in the morning since I was in co-ed P.E. in middle school, come to think of it. I forgot how messy it can be but how good the grass smells, too.

I think I have figured out the point at which running for me stops being a sprint and transitions into a longer distance. I was out of the gate fast on the first 100m of the run for at least the first five rounds, but there was just something different about coming back across the field. I felt heavier and slower, and even the breeze I created by running seemed to be resistance I was working against on that last 100m.

I am SOOOO proud to report that I was able to do all 70 air squats without a SINGLE BIT of knee pain! It was amazing. I couldn't believe it as I was flying through those suckers at how good my knees felt and how fast I was able to move. THIS is how air squats should always be. Awesome!

Burpees... well, that's a different story. Remember how I compared them to a yearly physical on Wednesday? Yeah, well, my sentiments about these has not changed. Still don't like 'em, still have to do 'em. Oh well. What are you gonna do?!?

In closing, I'm not sure why, but we didn't time this WOD. And when it was all said and done, none of us could really venture an accurate guess on how long it took. All I know is that we left that wet, grassy field exhausted but proud of our efforts, which is worth all the burpees in the world to me.

Ten Rounds of Torture

Warm up: 400m run, double unders, 10 buddy pull ups
WOD: Team relay -- 10 rounds for time of: Sprint 30m, 10 box jumps, sprint 30m, 15 kettlebell swings
Challenge: Tabata core -- sit ups, supermans, plank, hip pockets

After a weekend of being out of town and not watching what I ate, I really wasn't feeling extremely fit but knew I needed to get into the gym. Hard. I just needed a little extra self-punishment -- lucky me! That was just what was on the board for the WOD.

We had an unusually large group this morning. Some of the early morning gals were there, and we had a guy that puts up with our girly conversation long enough to workout with us some days. It was nice that it worked out to have some extra people there this morning since we were doing the WOD as team relays.

Once again, I finished last. This is getting to be a bit of a pattern for me, one that I don't like and with which I am not comfortable. However, I know I pushed myself hard this morning and didn't slack off, so I can't be too disappointed. I could've sprinted faster on the second sprint of each round, but I used the highest box for the box jumps and completed the range of motion correctly each time. I also kept moving during the kettlebell swings, my least favorite part of the WOD. At one point during the kettlebell swings, I noticed how my abs were engaging during the swinging and lifting motion, so I know my body was working hard.

My partner was one of the girls that I "chase" during most WODs. It cracks me up: she has this endearing personality and warm laugh, but you give her a "3-2-1-GO!" and she turns into a machine! This girl makes really hard moves look easy. She is really strong and fast, and her endurance is off the charts. She gives me something to work toward for sure, but I also just enjoy chatting with her and the other girls at the end of the WOD.

Someone -- I don't know who -- got a bright idea of doing a Tabata core WOD, so five of us got down and did Tabata sit ups, supermans, plank (which technically is sphinx), and hip pockets. I was a little tired during the sit ups, but I maintained consistency during the Tabata stuff. (Everyone else got at least two or three minutes of recovery at the end of their WOD that I didn't have before starting the second one, since I finished last.) While I couldn't believe at the time that I actually sat down to do the Tabata, I was glad when I finished that I had taken the time.

I'm really having to look at myself and stay focused on just myself these days. Everyone is working at their own levels, and in CrossFit, you are competing against yourself and no one else. That's hard to remember as you are starting off a WOD and you are having lots of knee pain and having to start off slowly instead of coming hard out of the gate like everyone else. As my boyfriend pointed out last night, the person I was two years ago likely couldn't hang with the person I am now, athletically speaking. I may never be as fast as some people in the class, and I'll never deadlift the same as most of the guys, but the most I can do is my personal best. That has got to be success.

Posted time: 31:08

You Say "Ta-bay-ta", I Say "Ta-bah-ta"...

Warm up: muscle-up progressions, playtime on the rings
WOD: Tabata sit-ups, superman lifts, flutter kicks, planks
Challenge: KTE (knees to elbows)

First of all, let me just say that my quads were thankful that there was no mention of squats on the board for today's WOD. My quads were unhappy enough about the flutter kicks toward the end, but I'll get to that.

Muscle-ups are one of three CrossFit exercises that I could just live without. (Subsequently, the other two are burpees and thrusters, but I'll blog about those as they come along.) Even doing these assisted with my legs on the ground was hard and proof-positive that I'm nowhere near bad-ass level quite yet. The rings in general are quite challenging because of all the muscle groups that come into play. There is balance, core strength, shoulders, traps, and arms, not to mention the mental focus you need to pull this off. It's a butt-kicker to be sure.

We also spent a few minutes "playing," by which I mean doing things that feel like playground fun. We did "skin the cat" but in stead of flipping all the way through, you come back over. The biggest problem I have is getting my legs up there, but once they're up, this one is fun. I can also get my legs up over my head to invert straight up and down, but I think I scared my coach because it looked to him like my grip was slipping, so I won't do that until I can tighten my grip better.

We actually had a couple of guys show up to our class today. It just kills me to watch men do CF because they can just crank this stuff out like it's nothing, especially anything involving the pull-up bar. But one of these days, boys and girls, I vow to be one of those women who can get out there and crank out a bunch of kipping pull-ups that make the guys stop in their tracks. :) One day...

Tabata (actually pronounced "ta-bah-tuh") WODs go for 8 rounds, 20 seconds each, with 10 seconds of planned rest between each round. Depending on which exercises you're doing, this may sound deceivingly easy, like today. Although nothing I've done so far was as hard as "Murph," I still thought to myself later the same day that I love doing CF but as I'm doing it, I'm really hating life! But hating it in such a good way.

I love doing ab mat sit-ups. The mat supports my lower back, and I feel like I could just crank those suckers out forever. I stayed consistent around 10 or 11 per round. My goal through each exercise was to remain consistent or improve in my reps and never to start falling off. That was true for each one. As I said, sit-ups stayed around 10 or 11, superman lifts averaged 16, flutter kicks averaged 10 (based on a military-style four-count), and for plank, the requirement was to stay elevated on the elbows and toes. (For those in pilates or yoga, this move is frequently called sphinx.)

The challenge was akin to the muscle-ups. KTE, or knees-to-elbows, is a "goat" for me. I know I have the core strength to do this one, but there is something going on with mechanics that I can't quite figure out, so I'm getting my knees up but not elevating them up to my elbows and bowing my body. Very confusing. Going to take a lot of practice, unfortunately. Tall, skinny Army boy got up there and cranked out 24 of them. Yeah, thanks. I needed that. :)

I left there thinking, Wow, today was the easiest day I've had so far. Later in the day my entire core was feeling it but not really sore, so I know I did some good. That's what I love about CF. Some days make you feel like you're gonna collapse; other days seem easy but your body lets you know you really were doing work and engaging muscles properly.

I'm looking forward to overhead squats next week!