30

Well here I am, 30 years old.

I have come a long way from where I once was. I was once alot more sheltered, introverted, and self conscious. Over the years I have worked in alot of different professions and environments, met all kinds of different people, traveled to and lived in new places. Each experience helped form who I am today. Running, lifting, and obstacle racing have been huge parts of that. 

I have been alot of things over the years. I never thought "athlete" would be one of them. It started with running, which led me to run road races, trail races, and eventually even obstacle course races. Then almost 2 years ago I went to the gym. I started walking into the weight room more. At first the goal was to supplement my obstacle racing and running goals. My training had no real rhyme or reason. Then over time I started picking up heavier weights. And I liked it - A LOT. Lifting made me feel like a badass, and that feeling translated to the outside of the gym as well as I became more confident in myself. My body changed - for the first time in my life I didn't have a pancake ass and my legs became tree trunks. This has taken some getting used to because I got bigger - but also stronger. After awhile my training became more focused around lifting heavy and challenging myself physically. Changing gyms happened about a year ago when I found a functional fitness gym that catered to my needs better and had the most amazing "family" who inspired me to push even harder. And here I am now, training 4 times a week and just doing whatever I can to improve myself.

Running has fallen by the wayside and so has racing. I am just not into it like I used to be. Sometimes I feel bad about abandoning running, the thing that first shaped me into an athlete. But I can't let myself feel guilty for pursuing a passion. Weightlifting gives me that feeling that running once did. As a taller, larger woman I have never been agile or fast. Team sports were never my thing, and there was that one time my mom signed me up for gymnastics... yeah. With running I got ok, but I knew I wasn't cut out for endurance running. As a child I was good at swimming and even then had alot of upper body strength. I have muscle power and endurance. I can crush weights in the gym for HOURS. It's like this sport was meant for me. 

I am a weightlifter. What direction I will go with it, I'm not really sure. I will probably attempt a powerlifting competition and when I move I will probably end up at a Crossfit box. As long as I can lift heavy shit and feel awesome.

Tired gym face

And to help celebrate my birthday yesterday - I got 30 started off right with some PR attempts! I slept in, ate some good fuel, and got into the gym to discover it empty aside from trainer Sean. He was benching heavy so I asked if he could spot me for this PR attempt. But first it was time to squat. 

My old PR from April was 205. Goal - anything over 205. I did my warm up sets, belted and braced up for my attempt at 215. I got a good explosive push out of the squat which meant it was TOO EASY! Loaded 225 and fought to get that bar up which means yep, that's my max! 

This could be 2 big plates on each side!

Ok, feeling pretty damn awesome! Time to bench. I needed to beat 125 which I did 3 months ago or something. Goal - 130. I called in my awesome spotter Sean and got to work on that 130. WAY too easy. I put 140 on the bar. I was kind of in disbelief, like can I really lift this thing? The first attempt I had my grip too wide and I didn't really get it, so I corrected it and went in for attempt 2. That was one ugly lift and I had a teensy bit of help from Sean, but I bench pressed 140 lbs. 

And this could be 1 big plate + on each side!

I had NO IDEA I would do that well. Sean was like "well you must be stronger than you think you are!" I guess, god damn. Having no one to compare myself to, I did some research and I am OVER the standard for a (not even) 2-year old weightlifter. I am really happy with how well I did. Now the pressure is on to get a 225+ lb deadlift because theoretically you're supposed to deadlift MORE than your squat, but it is my worst lift and I have had to build myself back up after injury. But tomorrow I'm gonna get it, even if I have to use straps to deal with grip strength. 

30 will be my strongest year yet. 

Confidently strong

It's Thursday morning... a rest day! I am enjoying it after 3 days in a row of crushing it in the gym

I am so happy to have my binder. Why didn't I make one sooner? I am logging every exercise I do - how much weight and every rep. In 3 weeks I can see where my gains are happening. Furthermore, if I am really tired and want to cut corners this helps me do all my reps - because if I write them down and didn't actually do all of them I'll feel like I cheated. 

#175 with squats was a bit too easy last week. #50's for dumbbell bench. Heavy Turkish Get Ups were done too. I am also making huge improvements with push ups and pull ups now that I am doing them twice a week. Yesterday I got 11, 9, 7, 6 with pull ups and that's the best yet. I think when I can do 4 sets of 10 I will start using the purple band. I got some heavy pulling done with #120 too. The gains are real!!

The Black Hats are starting to notice me more too. Jason kept making comments about how inspiring I am and how he'd love to have me on the MMA side. And that was cool, because anyone can do MMA as long as they sign up/pay for it, but it was almost like a personal invitation. There's a new trainer and I think his name is Sean, we talked for a good while on Monday and then on Tuesday I saw him messing around with the grip trainer. It's these little metal cylinders that hang down off the top of our racks and you can grab them and hold on, do pull ups, etc. to improve your grip. I messed around on these things with my husband like 3 months ago and I couldn't even really grab onto them. So this guy is like "Come on over and try it!" I put a box up to it so I could step up and see how many pull ups I could do. I honestly had no idea what to expect - could I even do 1 at all? Got 2! They ain't easy, I could feel my back working so much harder to pull myself up while hanging on to the unstable grips. Then I took the box away and jumped for the grips. I had my hands on them and let go. He was like "Why did you let go?" I said I dunno, I didn't think I was actually gonna make it. He said "Maybe that's what happened right there" So I tried again, jumped up and got a perfect grip then pulled myself up for 1 jumping pull up. I wasn't expecting to do any of this today and I had no idea I was capable of it. Last time I tried was so abysmal and today I rocked out 3 pull ups on it. Yes I have gotten stronger since then but so much of it is mental. Like if you watch American Ninja Warrior and see someone who looks afraid they usually end up failing because they psych themselves out. If you're confident and trust your body to do what it knows how to do, you're much more likely to succeed. Sean decided to use the bars that affix the rack to the wall and swing across them. They are really far apart so they can't be monkey barred, you have to get a big swing and use momentum to reach the next bar. There are like 10 of these and during one of his attempts he almost made it all the way across. It was cool to watch and cheer him on. No way am I ready for that though, especially not with stacks of weights and foam rollers and shit underneath me!

This week I definitely turned some heads while deadlifting and doing sprints on the turf. I don't really know why, all I do is work hard in the gym.

Oh, I got my deadlifts at #195 for sets yesterday. Next Wednesday is the last session I have with Daniel. It happens to be my birthday, so we are maxing out to celebrate. Can I get 210? 215? 225? We will find out!

Feeling my age

Again it's been a little bit since I posted here. The main reason is my computer's motherboard went down so I was without a PC for several days.

In the last 2 weeks I have doubled my training. A heavy push day, heavy pull, then 2 more days of lighter lifting or whatever other stuff I want to do. I've also been trying to walk/run with my husband but this past week it only happened once cause life got in the way.

Already I'm noticing physical changes and strength gains! But man is it taking a toll. I woke up on Wednesday and every single historical injury site/nagging pain was flared up at the same time. Left heel, pulled my left hamstring Tuesday, lower back injury site from almost a year ago, and right shoulder. What is happening!!! Now I know it's probably my body adjusting to double the training. And now on Saturday I am feeling a little better. I tried not to let it slow me down, but I did listen to my body and skipped heavy deadlifts this week and just did lighter ones instead. I squatted heavy yesterday with knee braces on and today I actually feel better than I did before. In the last year I have learned to keep moving as long as it doesn't hurt, but don't be a hero and try to go heavy if my body is having an off day.

Oh, and on top of all these various pains I strained my neck last night just by getting off the couch wrong! It's like my body knows it'll be 30 in a couple weeks and it's laughing at me!

Well laugh all you want! I got #120 on my cable pulldowns and rows, moved up to the purple kettlebell for swings, and brought the #50's to the bench press party..

Sup 50's? It's good to see you above my head...

I am foam rolling, stretching, and epsom-salting the crap out of myself. I also learned to elevate the arms or legs and breathe deep right after a workout to help the lymphatic system drain and reduce soreness. I also got a new supplement from Legion called Recharge and it is legit! I am ALWAYS deathly sore after heavy squats and today I hardly feel a thing!

This week has been a challenge but I love it. I know in time I will adjust and as long as I keep working on rehabbing everything and listening to my body it'll be alright...

The hands that lift

Phew.. I am tired after a long day of appointments and errands. It all started at 7am with the gym though... Heavy deads, some sets of 185 and then 195 until I couldn't go anymore. I did really well with pull ups today and hit some new weights - 100lbs on pulldown, 35 face pulls, and used the 44 lb kettlebell for swings today. I had quite a strong morning I'd say!

My hands paid for it though, ripped open my left hand AGAIN! My calluses keep peeling off and tearing. I don't want to pick at them but I can't very well leave them hanging there either. So I did some research into this and ordered a hand balm that should help with this. I also learned that filing down the rough edges should help protect them from peeling and tears. I also should be moisturizing more, I do this already but I guess it's not enough. 

Left hand damage :(

I got a filer thingy that has a pumice stone on it and some hand scrub from Lush, used both today and it seems to have helped. I can't touch the open area with the filer yet but in a few days I'll sand down all the rough edges and hopefully end these problems!

We had a nice run/walk today, and I say run first because my husband ran 2 entire laps around the lake! He normally does 1/2 a lap before he has to stop. I wore my Garmin today and was happy to see my pace in the 10's and sub 10's. During our walk on Monday something crazy happened... we saw these 3 guys on bicycles and a fourth guy lying down off the path. We ran over because we knew something was wrong. Turns out the 3 bikers found this guy passed out on the path and during this moment the ambulance sirens could be heard and we ran up the path to direct the EMT's to the scene. This kid couldn't have been older than 18-20 and he was passed out, pale as a ghost, and not moving. A needle was found at the scene so this was obviously an OD. We watched the EMT's do their work from a distance and they eventually got him out of there and told us he'd survive. It was a crazy thing to see, I had never experienced anything like that aside from seeing people in the hospital where you expect to see them sick anyway, but seeing a body not moving and pale as death was very sad. I only hope this kid has a family who loves him and will help him get better. 

Anyway, enough for tonight. I am very tired and tomorrow will be another action packed day

Back to reality

I'm back from my little mini trip to Augusta. It may very well be my last visit. We are still hopeful we can move back there, or at the very least move to San Antonio. I'm tired of my astronomically high rent for a house in a place we don't love. It was nice to be back in a town that feels like home to me, even if the reason was to sell our house. It made me a little sad but it needed to be done. Now we'll be able to save our money for wherever it is we settle in to.

So now I'm back, my stomach is feeling all the food I've eaten this week but it'll get back to normal over the next day or so. I went to the gym yesterday and I am hella sore. I think ring rows are what did it, somehow they are much more challenging than TRX rows. My last set of deadlifts was 195 and it was tough. My official goal is now to hit 225 on my 30th birthday. On my last birthday I got 205 and that still holds as my PR because the injury happened about a month later. At the rate I'm going it looks like I'm gonna smash that. And it'll be cool because it will be 2 45# plates on each side, it may seem dorky but that feels like a huge step to me.

I have my notebook so I can now track my progress in the gym. I think this is really gonna help me evaluate things especially now that I am going 4 days a week. I also experimented with waking up a little earlier and just showering at home so I can make myself a meal. I needed some post workout protein and carbs and it's coming to me in the form of an egg and cheese bagel. This will also help me feel less hungry at work. In the past few weeks I found myself stopping at Starbucks for a breakfast sandwich for my post workout/pre work shift, and while they aren't so terrible for you at 300 some calories, the money adds up and I get tempted to get lattes and stuff.

One more exciting thing! That Crossfit clinic at work yielded me these!

My very own Nano 6! I'm kind of in love with it. 

It joins my family of Nanos

My old beloved teal Nano 4 (and an insole), it was my main gym shoe for the last 1.5 years and this thing has been through hell and back. I also have a blue one with yellow laces that is newer.

Nano 5, Murica edition. I love the way they look but I don't love the Nano 5. The heel doesn't fit my foot right and the Kevlar makes it so when the shoe bends at the toe area it digs into the top of my foot. I could straight up lift in it but I can't do any running, lunging, sleds, or anything that isn't just standing around. It's still cute though and I wear it for patriotic purposes sometimes.

The 6 is awesome so far. I don't have the problem where the Kevlar digs into my toes like the 5 did, the fit is maybe slightly narrow on the 6 but I can deal with it and it will get better with wear. The heel is perfect, it even feels firmer than previous Nanos, almost sort of like a Metcon - and I like it. The upper and lining feel great. It's comfortable and functional and I think it's gonna be a great shoe for me no matter what I do in the gym.


Well, I am off to the gym shortly for some heavy legs/upper body push. Also some shopping, house work, and just a relaxing day at home with my husband

Come back strong

Today is Saturday. I am actually working later today, I normally don't but it's a favor to a coworker who asked me to. Here is my week in review .....

Sunday night/monday morning my stomach was upset. The kind where it's just grumbly, bloated, and it feels like someone is driving a knife into you. It's not enough to bar me from going to work so I go but I'm miserable. I started feeling muscle soreness all over my body, the kind that usually happens when I have a fever. My boss wouldn't let me go home because he needed time to train the asst manager on something. Great. I suffered through the day, got home and sure enough I had a fever. I got in bed and ate my crackers and apple sauce. By this point I was so cold it actually hurt. I took Tylenol and went to sleep. Luckily the next day I had off but there was a Crossfit clinic at work. I was so excited about this for the last 2 weeks and I knew I wouldn't be able to work out. Tuesday morning I actually felt alot better and my fever was gone, but I was still feeling icky and I knew I couldn't work out. I went to the clinic to learn about the Nano 6 and just spectate. The clinic ended up being alot more informal than I thought it would be. The Reebok rep just explained Crossfit and the history of the Nano/what's new with the 6. I got a free towel and a Nano 6 but unfortunately my shoe was a 9 instead of 9.5 so I have to wait until sometime after the 1st to get the correct size. The workout was super simple and was just Tabatas with squats. 4 people did it in sets of 2 and I helped count their on/off periods and cheer on my partner Cass. I am the only serious weightlifter so most of them were not used to doing all these squats and you could see the pain on their faces. It was fun to be there for even if I was just watching.

I didn't lift on Wednesday either, that was really the last day for the residual "ick" to clear my system and I started to add normal food back in.

Thursday I went to the gym. I still wasn't feeling awesome but I had to move my body and keep my muscles from going soft on me. I just went full hog, heavy deadlifts and all my usual pull stuff.

185 on here, increasing weight next week!

Yesterday morning I did my push day so that meant heavy squat/bench/shoulder press and a bunch of other stuff. I am now lifting heavy for real again, I backed off for awhile and tried to change it up to moderate weight/reps but I just get so bored with that. I LIKE lifting heavy, to me it feels the most challenging and satisfying. On both days I did a run/walk with my husband.

So from being sick and doing nothing for 3 days to 2 a days of heavy lifting and 1 hour run/walk. I am tired in the best possible way :)

I am going to Augusta next week. We are selling our house. Even if we ever do move back (which right now doesn't look likely) we weren't gonna stay in that house long term so we'd end up finding something different. I did love it though. Being back in town will be nice, but it may be the last time we go and that's kinda sad. When I get back I'm organizing my training so it makes more sense. I will now lift 4 times a week (2 push/2 pull, 1 workout might be heavy lifts and the other might be lower weight with some HIIT/conditioning stuff?), then walk for an hour with my husband in the afternoons. So 2 a days. Then probably run on my own once/twice a week and do bootcamp class as time allows. I am also thinking about how to get the right post workout nutrition to fuel all this activity and make me not starving at work. My plan is to go to the gym earlier and come back home, shower there and eat a bagel/egg/cheese sandwich for some post workout carbs and protein.

That about sums it up for now.. coming up, another long break from the gym due to traveling and then back to it again

3 year comparison

I'm back from a little weekend mini trip to see my parents. It's always interesting visiting them, they are a crazy bunch for sure. I had a good time though, didn't eat horrible and got quite a bit of activity in. My mom wanted to take a walk every 5 minutes and normally I'm down for that but - it was HOT, yo. Like 97 degrees every day. One day we got a long walk in before 10am then hung out at the botanical garden for awhile and I was just dying in that hot sun. We walked downtown alot too and even saw a crafts festival. My dad and I toured the naval base on boat which was cool. We also watchd the Olympics on and off while I was there.

Now that I'm back I am trying to buckle down again on my eating habits. I was doing good for awhile then fell off track a little bit. I didn't really gain any weight though so that's good.

This summer I am really noticing my composition changing due to lifting. And honestly I've kind of struggled with it a little. I have put on some fat compared to where I was 3 years ago, because my weight back then was incredibly hard to maintain. I was running alot and pretty much starving myself so I didn't stay that thin for very long. And over 3 years I've slowly slipped on diet and gained weight.

The left is me at the Army Ball in Augusta 2013, the right is me last weekend

I have mixed feelings. I have never had big legs or a big ass and now I have these tree trunk legs. I do love my strong legs, they are all muscle aside from my inner thighs. My whole lower body is just bigger than it's been in my whole life and it's very different from what I am used to. My upper body has always been big and now it's bigger. Up close you can tell I have muscle, but when I stand relaxed my arm fat tends to hide it. The reason I'm comparing these pictures is to help me figure it out in my head, and I think now I know that I want to be kind of a mix of these two. I was way too skinny 3 years ago, my head is way too big for the rest of my body and it doesn't look right. 155 lbs on my 5'8 large frame looks awkward. This was only maintainable for like 2 months anyway. But now I am more pudgy than I'd like. The quads and booty can stay, but the belly has got to get a little smaller. I am hovering around 180 right now. I am thinking a muscular 170-165 is where I wanna be. And you know what - I have gotten more compliments than ever in the last 6 months. "What sport do you play?/what do you do?/you're in such good shape!" so I think if I can just trim a few pounds I'll really notice a difference in my pull ups and running and be in even better shape!

I had an awesome morning in the gym, I don't know if it was my massage last week, some time off, or a little bit of extra food, but I absolutely crushed it. My watch said I burned 500 calories and that's ALOT for a lifting session. I also ran/walked with my husband, he has been doing it every day for the last couple weeks and I join him when I can.

And there's a whole nother week crammed into a post. Until next time ..