Weekly workout recap – running and squatting and rope climbs, oh my!

Hello!!

Happy Saturday!! 🙂

It’s definitely been a tough week as far as workouts are concerned but I did get some running in so I’m not complaining.

My big news of the week is that I registered for a 10k on November 23rd!

I’m super excited – it’ll be my first race since my injury and I definitely have time to get ready. Plus, it’s local and I don’t have to drive very far to get there! #bonus

I’ve got about one more week of easing back into the running and then, I think I’m going to start back with CrossFit Endurance.

I mean, I’ll still slowly add mileage because that’s the safe thing to do but I won’t necessarily have to run just 3 days a week, taking at least a day break between runs.

I’m totally looking forward to getting back to a set schedule and making gains and improvements. 🙂

Monday

AM run

Wow, that’s so nice to say that!

I had planned on running at least 2 ½ miles. I know I ran over 2 but I don’t know exactly how far because …. My knuckle lights were really dim, I encountered an unknown “something” in the middle of the road in the dark area between street lights and I quietly backed up and went the other direction and, at some point during this event, I hit a button on my Garmin and it stopped recording my run.

I’m not sure the lack of distance really matters because my heart rate increased substantially after I backtracked from the “something” and a bird decided to freak out in a wooded area and, thus, freaked me out! Pretty sure all that adrenaline burned some extra calories. And, I’m pretty sure I looked ridiculous as I was trying to “sneak away” from whatever was in the road (honestly, it could have been a trash can but because my knuckle lights were lacking in power, I’ll never know) while simultaneously trying to get away from the crazy bird in the woods. The only thing that would have been more perfect would be if I’d run through a spider web at some point. Picture that craziness. Yep.

Tuesday

6pm CrossFit

Man, oh man, I did NOT eat enough today.

I felt okay throughout the day but I discovered I was really hungry on the way to CrossFit and my protein bar didn’t quite cut it.

I made it through the warm-up and had to grab a Chia bar from my purse. That’s NOT a good sign.

This is what we had on the schedule today:

It was a really big class – surprising for a Tuesday at 6pm – and my group didn’t make it through all the push jerks. I did 65# (10x) – 75# (10x) – 85# (8x) – 95# (8x) … we didn’t do the 6 – 6.

I finished up the 85# and Coach came over to talk about my form and I realized that I was absolutely STARVING. I mean, I was literally shaking. I grabbed some almonds from my purse and tried not to inhale those.

I never eat at CrossFit and now I’ve just eaten twice?! In less than an hour?! So not good.

I managed the 95# but was thankful we ran out of time because I knew I didn’t have the energy to do more and then try to do the WOD.

For the WOD, I scaled the weight down to 65#. Normally, I would have had that at about 80-85# but I knew my body wasn’t fueled enough for all that. I also grabbed the 12 inch box because I’m still getting back into this jumping business and I knew I’d never make it over a 20 inch box. Not even if I was fueled properly.

I managed 5 rounds (don’t ask me how) and felt like I was going to die the entire time. I was so thankful to be done!

I went home and had 2 bowls of chili (thank goodness for crockpots!!) and made plans to NOT eat too little during the day. I’m not sure what happened. Generally, I make sure to eat enough.

Wednesday

6pm CrossFit

Got to the gym and was signing myself in and one of the Coaches was heading to the grocery store. He asked the other coaches if they needed anything – they said no. He made his way to leave and then came back and asked me if I needed anything. LOL! I told him I ate plenty today so I was all good. I’m glad he asked, though. That was really cool. 🙂

I was sort of looking forward to this workout because it had running but I was also a little nervous about this workout because of the rope climbs and the pistols.

I didn’t realize that I needed to be nervous about the warm-up!

Coach had us do 3 rounds, not for time, of run 200m, 10 leg raises, and 10 kick outs.

Those leg raises. Not toes to bar but leg raises. We basically hung from the pull-up bars with the vertical bar at our back to prevent swinging. Then, we had to lift our legs to parallel with the ground. So NOT easy.

This isn’t exactly it but it’s the closest video representation I could find.

Then, the kick outs. Basically, we got into the bottom of a squat and then we were to alternate legs and kick out to a pistol squat. Coach wanted us to do them without holding on to anything. Yeah, right! I had to hold onto the bar otherwise I would just be sitting. Haha

For the WOD, it was supposed to be a 400m sprint but I just ran. I’m not quite at the point of sprinting yet so I didn’t want to push it. Of course, I was the last one to finish but I don’t care. 🙂 For the pistols, I had to use box assistance because it’s been so long since I’ve done them that I lost the little progress I had made.

Basically like these except I used a 24” box and went into a full pistol. The goal was to not touch the floor.

And then, the rope climbs. Ugh. It’s also been some time since I climbed the ropes – a little hard to do that in a boot. 😉

I completed everything in the first 2 rounds with barely any time to rest. I was definitely the last one climbing. Then, the last 2 rounds, I only managed 1 in the 3^rd round and 1 ½ in the 4^th round. I was trying!

Thursday

I thought briefly about getting up and running but decided against it because of the running last night and tonight’s WOD also had running.

I didn’t want to push it with my foot.

And, I don’t know what it was but my shoulders were SORE from yesterday! I think it was those leg raises combined with the rope climbs. Even woke me up when I shifted in my sleep!

6pm CrossFit

I was actually pretty stoked about this workout!

It’s been a while since I was able to do heavy back squats because of the boot. I was looking forward to throwing on some weight and seeing what I could do!

I warmed up with just the bar (10 squats), then we threw 85# on there. Knocked out 5 of those and got down to business. I was sharing a rack with 2 other people and we were all at different levels so we kept pulling plates off and putting plates on. I did 3 at 105# and then did 3 at 115#. I know I could probably go higher but we ran out of time. I’m cool with 115# though – especially since I was so beat up from yesterday’s WOD.

Then, it was time for the WOD. I was definitely looking forward to the running but not the 200 air squats. Finished in 16:31 on jello legs. 🙂

Friday

REST DAY!!!!!

Saturday

Running!!!

I’m up to 3 miles in my rebuilding so I decided to knock out a 5k.

It felt so good to be out running and my miles got progressively faster – 9:29, 8:58, 8:40.

For some reason, my Garmin didn’t record the run.

This isn’t the first time that it’s failed me and I’m starting to get really frustrated by it. I just don’t get it. It’s not like it’s a new watch and I don’t know how to use it.

And, it’s not like the data bank is full because, once it reaches so many runs recorded, it starts deleting the oldest when you save a new one. There’s no way for me to erase all recorded runs without doing them one by one and I just don’t have the time for that.

Regardless, it was a beautiful morning and I got to watch the sun rise. #winning

 

Talk to me: How was your week of workouts? Did you do anything new or difficult? Did you remember to fuel yourself properly?

– jennifer

Weekly workout recap – the one where I picked up heavy rocks

Hello!

I know this is coming to you a little later in the day but I had a small road trip to take.

I’m currently hanging out with my folks and my grandma. 🙂

There’s lots to do so I’ll get right to it.

This week of workouts was pretty awesome!

Monday

It was a holiday. And I didn’t have to work. And Thing 2 was getting her teeth extracted the next day. So,

I took a rest day and hung out with her and went out for Indian food.

Tuesday

AM Garage workout

Started my morning off with a 1 mile run. Yep, that’s right. A RUN!

I know I ran last week but this was my first morning run. It was blissful! And short. And my Garmin didn’t

record it, for some reason. But still, I ran!!

Then, I hopped on the elliptical for a 30 minute workout.

Thing 2 is getting her wisdom teeth out today and I’m definitely nervous for her.  I know it’ll be fine – people get their wisdom teeth taken out every day but still. She’s my baby – even if she’s not so little anymore.

No CrossFit today because I was making sure she had everything she needed.

Wednesday

6pm CrossFit

 Man, I don’t think I ate enough today! Or, maybe it’s because I hadn’t been at the box in 5 days.

Whatever it was, this workout kicked my booty!

Coach had us play a little game on the rower as a warm-up. We had to try to row exactly 100m. If you’ve

ever rowed before, you know that’s no easy task. I got close each time (102, 102, 101, 102) but no cigar.

There was mention of “punishment” (read: burpees) for however much you went over/under (my total

was +7) but thankfully, nothing came of it. Phew!

Then, we got down to business.

There aren’t enough rowers so we had to split up the class. I started with the rower group while the

others started on the double unders.

Man, this part really kicked my butt! By the time round 3 came along, I was giving serious consideration

to stepping over the rower rather than jumping it. My legs were like lead!! But, I still jumped. I finished a

full 3 rounds and was on the 5th burpee in the 4th round when time was called.

That 5 minute rest was the best thing ever!

Next up were the double unders.

Man, I haven’t jumped since before the boot and I didn’t have double unders then at all. Coach wanted

attempts but I quickly realized that it would take me all day. So, I did 60 singles instead.

Apparently, I need work on my singles – or – I was a little afraid to do too much jumping because I

missed a little more frequently than normal. It’s fine. I’ll get back there. #patiencegrasshopper

I squeaked out 4 complete rounds and was 4 toes-to-bar into the 5th

I was so glad when this workout was over!

Thursday

AM workout

2 MILE RUN!!!

It felt really good and the weather was just perfect! I even managed to zone out a little and didn’t see

the person walking her dog. Ooops!

Then, I was blessed to see this on my way to CrossFit.

I love where I live!!

6pm CrossFit

I love workouts that are just body-weight movements!

But, I didn’t really love this one.

Just kidding. Actually, it was kinda fun for as much as it sucked!

It was a 20 minute AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) of an ascending ladder of pull ups, sit ups, and

push ups – 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, …. etc

Basically, you do 3 pull ups, 3 sit ups, 3 push ups, then 6 pull ups, 6 sit ups, 6 push ups, 9 pull ups, 9 sit

ups, 9 push ups, etc until the 20 minutes is up. Your score is whatever number you actually completed. I

got through 21.

Barely.

I was seriously pushing out my last few push ups as the clock was counting down!

I kipped ALL the pull ups!

Which, if you’re interested, totaled 84.

Yep, 84 pull ups, 84 sit ups, and 84 push ups.

I did about a third of the push ups regular and the rest I did on my knees because I was seriously losing

form.

Hey, what can I say? I was working my muscles pretty hard!

Friday

6pm CrossFit

We did Atlas Stone skill work to start.

I’ve never worked with the Atlas Stones.

Basically, we’re just picking up heavy rocks. Haha!

The lighter stones didn’t have weights written on them but I think the one I worked with was about 50# or so.

I tried to pick up the one in between that one and the one that was marked 110# but I couldn’t even lift it off the ground.

Which, honestly, kinda boggled me. Because I can deadlift 200#. Why couldn’t I pick up that stupid stone?!?! lol

It was kinda fun, though. 🙂

Then, the WOD.

Holy. Rowing. Hell.

20 Minute EMOM (every minute on the minute) row for distance with a partner.

Basically, it was a sprint row.

Spring for 1 minute and switch. For 20 minutes.

I normally enjoy rowing but this sucked bad.

I reached the “I’m going to die” feeling right before coach yelled “10 seconds” each time. So Hard!!

My partner and I rowed 4514m.

Saturday

I had originally planned on sleeping in.

Because I was tired.

But, I got up and ran anyway.

2 miles.

The draw of the road was too much. 🙂

 Talk to me: How was your week? Do any new workouts?

– jennifer

Weekly workout recap – or that week I got to run again!

Hello!

Another week of workouts in the books!

This week was actually pretty difficult but pretty awesome at the same time. 🙂

Monday

I had originally planned on hopping on the treadmill in the morning but when my alarm went off, I just wasn’t feeling it. My nose was all runny and my eyes were itchy and I was cold. So, I reset my alarm and got a few more Zs.

Blew my nose pretty much all day long and considered taking a nap at one point. Pretty sure that would have been frowned upon at my office. So, I took some Emergen-C instead. 🙂

6pm CrossFit

Holy. Cow.

Whoever programmed this WOD was out for punishment.

It looks pretty unassuming on the surface.

But, when you’re actually doing it? Well, that’s a whole different story.

Thank goodness I took that Emergen-C!

I set up my bar with 165# for the deadlifts. There were quite a few of us so we were sharing rings and bands (used a thin red band) and wall balls (14#).

That’s where I started. Wall balls.

You know what? 30 minutes is a looooonnnnnggg time.

30 minutes of 40 deadlifts, 80 ring dips, and 120 wall balls.

Those wall balls were making me lightheaded and the 165# deadlifts did not get any lighter and I’m pretty sure the minutes got shorter.

Relieved would be a good word to describe how I felt when time was called. Exhausted would be a GREAT word to describe how that WOD made me feel.

Tuesday

Again considered getting up for an AM elliptical workout but decided against it. I only felt like a tiny little slacker so I’m pretty sure I needed to stay in bed.

Thank goodness I did.

6pm CrossFit

Seriously, people. 2 ridiculous workouts in as many days?!

I was still pretty sore from Monday – my triceps were sore, my hamstrings were sore, my whole body was sore.

We did burpees and air squats as our warm-up and those were plenty difficult.

CrossFit – where the warm-up can be as difficult as the workout. Haha!

I really, really, really wanted to run the 400s but chickened out and opted for the row instead. Seriously, runners have it easy sometimes. Running and rowing are so NOT the same thing!

So, for this WOD, you had to do 3 rounds of Cindy in each round. But, you couldn’t just knock out the 15 pull ups, 30 push ups, and 45 air squats all at one time. Nope, you had to go in order – 5, 10, 15, 5, 10, 15, 5, 10, 15. Honestly, I think that’s the best way to break that up anyway.

I kipped every single one of my pull ups. That’s 75!!! I was able to consistently string together the first 3 and then the next 2. Sometimes, I got 4 in a row. I think I might have gotten all 5 in a row one time during that first round.

I did every single push up on my knees. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to do them all Rx and my triceps were hurting anyway. I decided to go for good form over Rx with bad form.

I finished in 40:22 and I was a big ole sweaty mess. Holy cow what a burner!

These past two workouts have really tested my mental strength – kinda like a long run does. I was tired, both physically and mentally (end of a long work day) and I wanted to stop and just curl up into a ball but I didn’t. I pushed through it. The reward was on the other side – a sense of accomplishment and knowledge that I worked hard. 🙂

Wednesday

AM Garage workout

I did it!! I made it out of bed for a spin on my elliptical!

Man, were my legs sore, though!

I opted for a slightly less strenuous workout – just something to get the blood flowing and help stretch my legs. I did a basic 30 minute workout but bumped the incline up to 20%.

Felt pretty good when I was done although I was still a little stiff when I was stretching.

I need to run. I want to run. I think I’m ready to run.

Interestingly enough, tonight’s WOD includes running……hmmmm…….

6pm CrossFit

We started off with strength – 5 rounds of 5 reps of Pendlay Rows.

I’ve never done Pendlay Rows before. Heck, I’d never ever heard of them so I YouTubed it.

They were interesting. And definitely not easy!

Then, the WOD.

5 minutes of hell Burpees and then a mile run for time.

Yep, a RUN! Not a ROW!

I decided to run!! OMG, I was so excited!!!

I was so excited about the running that I didn’t even CARE about the burpees!

Of which I did 50, btw.

5 minutes of burpees is a long time and a LOT of burpees.

Then, we headed out the door for the run.

BLISS!

It is possible that I ran a little faster than I should have (7:55) but I felt like I had a good, smooth, easy, steady pace. Yes, I probably should have run slower but I felt like I was going so slowly already! And my foot felt pretty good!

I was definitely a happy girl. 😀

I plan on resting my foot on Thursday and doing nothing. There’s running in the WOD on Friday and I’m going to play it by ear.

Thursday

Rest day

Ginny had to go to the vet in the morning for her comprehensive exam and that’s a drop off appointment. So, I’ll be picking her up after work which leaves out CrossFit. Plus, I had to leave earlier to get her there and still make it on time to work so, no morning garage workout for me!

But, that’s okay. I need to rest my foot.

Now, let’s talk about my foot.

I’m not sure. My foot feels a little stiff (I guess that’s the best word) but it doesn’t really hurt. Maybe it’s a tiny bit achey but maybe I’m just focusing too much on it. Maybe I’m just stressed out about it. Maybe I shouldn’t have run a 7:55. I don’t know.

It’s not swollen and it doesn’t hurt. I’m probably just over-sensitive and worried. Definitely glad I’m resting it today and I may row instead of run in tomorrow’s WOD, just to be safe. We’ll see.

Friday

6pm CrossFit

This workout…

that whole “not for time” business makes it seem easier and more laid back….

but, yeah, this one was something else.

Tough.

Snuck up on you.

Basically, it was bench press, row, spot your partner, bench press, row, spot your partner, bench press, row, spot your partner…..etc

I started with 75# but failed at rep 8 in my first round, went and did my row, and then came back to spot my partner.

I decided to drop my weight down to 70# even though the board said to pick a weight and stick with it. I didn’t intentionally pick too heavy a weight – I wasn’t sure what I could do and just started with 75#.

I finished out the whole workout at 70#.

As the bench press reps got smaller, the row got harder and harder.

This one was a surprising lung burner!

Then, we did the 400m run for time.

Everyone else sprinted, I just ran.

My time didn’t matter to me, the actual act of running was what made me happy. 🙂

And, my foot felt pretty good. The stiffness that I felt on Wednesday/early Thursday went away.

I’m definitely going to take it easy getting back into running but I really loved the little bits of running I had this week. 🙂

Saturday

Rest day.

Because of all the cardio and the running yesterday.

Okay, honestly, my iPod wasn’t charged and I didn’t want to elliptical without music.

That’s pretty bad, isn’t it? #dontjudgeme

Talk to me: What did your week of workouts look like? Have any surprisingly tough workouts? Did you do anything that made you blissfully happy?

– jennifer