Gym, running, life

My muscles are feelin it, yo

Thursday ended up being this rando full body workout I made up on the spot. I was 5 minutes late for bootcamp and their rule is if you miss the 5 minute warm up jog you can't do class. Oh well, that just meant some creative thinking on my part. How could I get some cardio and lifting done on the weights side of the gym? It went something like this

Power cleans #75 -  5 sets of 10 (ooof)
Turkish get ups

Then I loaded up #65 for 10 of each, 3 sets
Deadlift
RDL
Row
Squat
Press
Good morning

Then -
Kettlebell swings
Burpees
Jump rope

That was enough to get me tired.

Stretching buddies

This morning I got a 2.5 mile run in, and a few steps in I realized I forgot my watch. I could have gone like 20 feet back into my house to get it but I was like nahh... I'll go without this time and see what happens. Some people say it's better to run "naked" because you can just dial in to your natural pace and not worry so much about what the clock says. At the end of my run I had some idea of how fast I went because of my Milestone pod, and as it turns out I was somehow a little faster than normal today. I was struggling though - 80 and humid, I didn't have any real pain but my legs were just sort of fatigued this morning. During the first half of my run I noticed a really strong cologne smell that was just lingering around the air. Even without my watch I have a good idea of mile markers on my usual running route. How about this.. I seriously didn't pass the guy until 1/4 mile later that's how strong this stuff was. When I was actually near him I was coughing and practically choking from the stuff, it was so potent and disgusting. It's bad enough that the hot humid air is already trying to choke me to death. Yay, Columbia residents!

Today we got rained out of our climbing trip again but instead we're going to go play some racquetball. My husband got into it while he was stationed in Korea and now we're finally gonna play together

I'm going to be watching some of the Olympics, especially weightlifting. This is the first year I've really been excited about it, maybe because I was never active myself until 2012. Somehow this year I have a better appreciation for the talent of the athletes.

When I'm too hard on myself

It's Thursday, and I'm finally getting back to normal. It took me about a week to get back into the gym due to being ill last week - then on top of that, over the weekend I had girl troubles and also ran out of my blood pressure meds. I felt like shit on Sunday and had to go 3 more days without my meds. Seems like everything falls apart at once sometimes.

Yesterday was my first time back in the gym and it happened to be a deadlift day. We had 1 hour to work with because I missed last week, so at the end we worked on pull ups and some other accessory stuff.

Ever look back on yourself and say "Wow, I was really acting like a douche!" Well that was me yesterday. I was really down on myself in the gym and made alot of comments about how all this stuff was wrong with me right now, how I need to lose weight to get back to where I used to be with pull ups, and while we were doing some lunges my knee started to hurt so that launched a discussion about the various "broken" parts of my body. I felt so tired - my heart was racing and I thought it was about to pop out of my chest. Not having my meds was taking a huge toll. I felt like a weakling struggling to get through this workout which wasn't even anything too crazy challenging aside from the deads. After I left the gym I realized what a whiny little bitch I must have sounded like. I guess it's easy to be your own worst enemy when life doesn't go smoothly. And I am particularly hard on myself, my entire life I have struggled with self esteem issues and as my husband puts it "kicked my own ass before I even started the fight". Yesterday I realized something. No, I may not be lifting as heavy as I want to right now, but I am back where I was 1 year ago when this picture below was taken - I had just gotten my first big PR of 185.

That gym had tiny ass bumper plates but yes, it's 185

Yesterday I did it 3 times and probably could have gone another set - my limiting factor was grip because a week of not doing anything caused my calluses to peel off. This weight was challenging but doable. And best of all, I am having no pain at my injury site. I am feeling it in all the right places as opposed to before when my form was all wrong. Yes, I may be too hard on myself, but I'm making progress. Could I pull 205 on my birthday again this year? Yes, and I'll probably try for 215 at least. 230 is possible with time and training. And while I feel like I've been stuck in the same place forever, I am still pretty strong. When I feel like I'm overweight people always remind me I'm in decent shape. This week I had THREE people ask what my sport was because I looked "strong" or in "good shape" and one person asked me if I was a swimmer - yes, I used to be!

I just realized I gotta cut this short and get over to the gym for bootcamp... so until next time ....

Highs and Lows

This week started off awesome..

Monday morning I hit the gym and it was a feisty one. I like to call it Kettlehell

These were my buddies for a brutal 35 minutes.

(with the 2 pink bells)
Overhead presses
Squats
Swings (with Blue there cause it was easier to just handle the 1 heavier bell)
Rows
RDL's

10 reps of each, no rest between sets until the end of the circuit which was about 40s rest. I did it 12 times.

This was apparently enough to attract the attention of the other girl that was in there at the time, she came up to me afterward and was like "I was wondering if you were ever gonna stop!" Well I seriously thought about it... those last few sets were all mental, I had to just make my mind take control of the situation and force the body to do the movement.

And it was a warm 87 degrees outside - my gym has little to no air conditioning

It was gloriously exhausting. I was so tired on Monday, but I felt like I had gotten a great start to the week and planned on following up with - a run, deadlifts/pull, push, a bootcamp class, and a special adventure on Saturday!

But then I fell ill on Tuesday. It's kind of a TMI situation, but right now I can't go to work or exercise. And blam, there goes my awesome start to the week.

Oh well, it happens. I'm using the time to get caught up on some life stuff - and non life stuff by binge watching Team Ninja Warrior - my husband has a few interviews and we're hearing rumors that they need butts in seats and a move could possibly happen within 2 weeks? Cuh-Razy!!! 2 weeks is actually a bit terrifying because I would have so much to do and we're still in the process of selling our house/then we'll have to find a new house and stay in a hotel for a long ass time. I am traveling to VA to see my parents and then I'm going to Augusta at the end of the month (if we're not already living down there by then!) so there's gonna be alot of LIFE happening. I am gonna stay on it though because during the last move I did nothing and lost SO much fitness. Building myself back up from nothing sucked and I'm not doing that again. If a move happens I'll likely find a gym/Crossfit box and just start going immediately. And run the canal/FATS.

So I get to rest for a few days, I am hoping I can do bootcamp tomorrow but it's looking unlikely. But Saturday is my 6th wedding anniversary and regardless of how things are with my body, we are going to the Sandy Spring Adventure park! It's one of those tree climbing/obstacle park things! I have wanted to do one forever and I'm super excited to play around in the trees.

Busy week

Man, what a week.

Last Saturday we sold our house and bought a car on the same day! We now have 2 Jeeps, my husband got this crazy fully loaded Wrangler (and I still have my Patriot) and he totally loves it. I am not so crazy about the price but he has worked his ass off so he wanted to treat himself.

And in new developments, we once again might be moving back to GA! My husband is interviewing with other companies since he isnt' 100% happy with his and they don't have any positions down there. He has 2 interviews so far with possibly more on the way, there are a shit ton of positions open so we're cautiously optimistic that this will happen.

I kinda took a few days off from exercise, I guess I was tired and just needed to sleep in. But now I'm back full force

- Got my pull/deadlift day, those heavy deads wore me out. I didn't eat much the night before and I felt the consequences. Last week my injury site hurt a bit after deadlift day, but this week I have no problems. The morning after my glutes were even just the slightest bit sore - it's nearly impossible to make mine feel sore, the only exercise I have found that does is single leg squats.

- Ran yesterday morning and sprinted at the end
- Got a double because my husband wanted to go to the gym that afternoon. I just did a bunch of full body stuff, 5 sets of clean/press, and also Turkish get ups, snatches, burpees, and jump rope.

- I am about to go do my leg and push day!

I am SUPER tired. On top of being busy with life stuff/exercise I also just survived 5 incredibly busy days at work.

After the gym/errands/shoe clinic at work, I will probably come home, eat Chipotle, watch Spartan Team Challenge and pass out on the couch :)

2 weeks

I have been at it for a couple weeks now - watching what I eat and restricting calories for fat loss.

I'm down 9 lbs and 1% body fat (sitting at 26%). I dig it... thinking I'd like to see 24 or below.

So far I'm doing alright with food, I eat "bad" every now and then but I try not to go overboard with portions, and I don't give in to every single solitary craving like I used to. Some days I feel more "fat" than others, but one of the coaches at the gym made a comment about how he's already noticed me getting leaner :)

This week so far it's been bootcamp, 2 mile run, and lifting this morning. We're deadlifting on Wednesdays now, today it was 3 sets of 175x5. We upped the reps by 2 and it's challenging at this weight, but next week we're moving up to 185. Also did some other back/pull exercises before heading off to a tech session at work. Tomorrow I will run another 2 miles and then do some sprints at the end.

I'm in somewhat less pain than last week. For some reason everything was acting up at the same time, but I must have slept real good last night cause today I woke up and the hamstring was much better. Feet, knee, and shoulders are ok. The right ankle and shin are a bit sore, but I think it's cause I ran yesterday and today I just felt it when jumping rope and such.

Some days it feels like I'm not progressing at all, but today's body fat results and progress pics gave me relief and showed me I am seeing some improvement. And I have to keep reminding myself that I've been through all this before and that it's a really slow process. Change comes in time :)

Can I just get new legs?

Sigh.

On top of dealing with my on again off again hamstring problems with the left leg, my right leg apparently wants to join the party too.

The right leg has historically had problems with running. I used to have hip pain and a chronic knot in that calf. These are all problems that only happen when I run and not when I lift. The hip doesn't always hurt, but with enough miles/use the calf thing is a given and I have to massage it constantly. Today things were bad. I did wear my compression sleeves because I knew it would be sore, but I still ended up with pain all over my right leg. Hip, calf, medial shin, and ankle today! What the heck is going on? The good thing is I didn't notice much pain during running, but the instant I stopped I was actually limping because of it! When I got home I spent a good while massaging the calf and it feels much better now which is a very good sign. I know this is all muscular, and it probably has to do with a tight hip and the fact that the right ankle overpronates pretty bad. I know all these things are connected, and it'll just be a matter of getting back my running strength and figuring out which tight muscles are the problem. 

I had a good run until I stopped. And tomorrow I have a massage scheduled which is gonna be much needed. I have put myself through it lately, active 6x a week WHILE on a calorie restricted diet for fat loss. I guess it's no wonder things hurt a little. I will roll out and rest up for tomorrow, and possibly tape up the hamstring for my super barbell complex which will likely leave me on the floor. It's so good though. 

Even if stuff hurts, I'd rather be doing what I do than doing nothing at all.

Resetting

It's now been a week and a half since I started restricting calories to lose some extra blub. While on vacation I realized clothes fit differently than last summer, I looked different in pictures, and when I got back I stepped on the scale and I did not like it at all...

Since the initial weigh in I have lost about 8 lbs. I think most of it is bloat but hey, it's 8 lbs. I also measured myself one week ago and then again today. I've always had a pot belly so the largest part of my belly is a measurement I'm tracking, and in a week I have lost .5 inches off there.

My diet is better now, and I've stuck to it for the most part. I'm surprisingly not as hungry as I thought I'd be, there was really only one day when I was super hungry and kinda fell off the rails a bit. But I've been down this road before and I know stuff like that is going to happen. I don't have to be perfect 100% of the time, but as long as I do the right things most of the time the change will occur.

Lifting hasn't changed a whole lot, I'm just not going crazy heavy all the time right now aside from the deadlift. I am hitting reps with 175 there and not having any problems. Yesterday in fact I felt pretty strong with it. I'm doing bootcamp twice a week and running 1-2 times a week. Certain muscles are cranky, the bad hamstring is acting up right now but I'm stretching/massaging and it helps. The calves are also angry but they will get used to running again. As far as bootcamp goes, I wore my watch the last 2 times and was a little underwhelmed at the result. It shows calories burned around 380 for both classes. I thought it would be like 500+. Oh well, that's why I got the watch... now I know not to overeat. I am going to experiment with the watch a bit though, because both times I left it running the whole time and there are parts where we rest and where the coach walks us through each station. I wonder if pausing it during rest will give a different result. We shall see.