Hard Work and Celebration

It's Saturday - but that doesn't mean I slack off! Quite the opposite actually - some of my hardest work is done on Saturdays. Long runs, races, big crazy workouts, whatever.

Today was no exception - no long run for me, but hard work was done none the less.

From time to time I'll do the Spartan WOD's (the ones where you sign up and they email them to you every day) This was one I did a couple months back and really enjoyed so I decided to do it again today.

THE ELEMENTS

"Simplify, simplify"

Henry David Thoreau

With just a few basics you can go far. If you can run, burpee, pull up, and work on your core, no obstacles will stand in your way.

Warm up

Jump rope 5 minutes

Dynamic warm up - skip, high knee, jog, lateral lunge, back pedal

Main set

.5 mile run

10 burpees

5 pull ups

15 crunches

30 second plank

Sprint - 2x

Super - 4x

Beast - 6x

Stretch

The first time I did this workout I did the Super level and it kicked my ass. I struggled to complete it. Today I did it 5 times - so not quite up to Beast level, but I added in a bucket carry at the end to make up for it. It kicked my ass, but not quite as badly as last time. And it was a super hot sunny day. I took less breaks (maybe 5 seconds max between the burpees and the pull ups, just to catch my breath), the burpees were easier, my pull ups were MUCH better and more controlled, and this time I didn't collapse on the floor in exhaustion at the end! It seems my fitness level has improved quite a bit in 2 months which makes me very happy!

After the fifth set I took this buddy out for a cruise around the perimeter of my backyard

I have never run a Spartan Race that had a bucket carry, and I'm almost positive there will be one at my Beast. So I better get familiar with this thing. Holding it is weird and not comfortable. I need to add more sand to it because it was too light (Really? That's my problem?) and then I'll take it out a couple more times for practice before my Beast.

Speaking of which, I got my hotel for the Beast/Super. Staying in Blytheville which isn't too far from the race and has a couple food spots around. Less than 2 months to go!

Finally, we have cake.

My husband just got out of the Army. It's been a wild ride full of ups and downs, but his medical separation is complete and he's now taking the last of his leave. The transition is kind of weird, I don't think it's fully hit me yet (maybe because I still have a military ID for awhile longer?) Anyway, he landed a GREAT job doing exactly what he wants to do and making good $$$. And we don't have to move! So we're celebrating this weekend with some cake!

Tomorrow will be a yoga day I think. It's been a minute since I've done yoga and my muscles are way too tight. 

Busy Week

It's Friday!

Holy crap, I've been so busy lately it's ridiculous.

These days I'm always busy - between work, gym, running, 1-2 hours of studying, chores, and the ever so little amounts of me/husband time!

My week went something like this...

Monday - Gym with K. We did a killer legs/biceps/back day - well let me rephrase, SHE did legs while I watched. I was still feeling the half marathon I ran the day before so I skipped the legs. I also skipped my rope climbing practice that day, as I was dealing with a nasty blister on the palm of my hand and I didn't think it would be climb-able. But at the very end of our workout this guy attempted to scramble his way up the unknotted rope using only his arms. And he did get very close to the top this way. My brain wanted to scream at him to use his legs... but really all this made me want to do was climb it. I couldn't help it! So I climbed the rope and shared some pointers with the guy, such as how to wrap the rope and pinch it between your feet. He was just like I used to be - the wrap really confused him and he had some trouble applying the technique. I told him to just get comfortable with the wrap and just pull up once/come back down a few times. The thing about the ropes is you get better really quickly. It only took me a couple weeks to get all the way up. I kinda felt bad for showing him up in front of his friend/the entire gym, but to be quite honest I really just wanted to climb it after I watched him do it.

Tuesday - Studying and a rest day. My legs were almost completely better, which is a big deal I think. After running my first half I was pretty much limping around for like 4 days. But this time I was sore Monday, then just slightly sore in certain areas on Tuesday. This definitely says something about my improved fitness. Still I thought it was better to rest my legs another day.

Wednesday - More gym with K. Triceps, shoulders, chest. We actually used barbells to bench for the first time which was pretty cool. We felt silly because she could only bench using the bar, and I could only put 10 lb plates on it and do about 6 reps at a time. But you gotta realize- the bars weigh 45 lbs! I normally bench with 20lb dumbbells. And my chest is still sore.

Thursday - Crossfit with Team RWB at Underbox! This is the second workout of the 9/11 workout series.

9/11 workout part 2!

Today's WOD was a different style than last week's. While last week was 5 rounds as many reps as possible - very high intensity, this week's was more about learning new skills - specifically - Power Lifting!

Excited about rowing!

Warming up included the row machine! I use this thing all the time so it was perfect. Then we worked on the Power Clean and the Thruster. These are a little intimidating and complex to someone like me who has never done Crossfit, but I practiced these alot because being able to do them would be really awesome! I have trouble keeping the bar close to my body and keeping my elbows up while holding the bar, so I know what I need to work on at least. We practiced this for awhile before moving onto the WOD itself - Power Clean/Thruster, then Knees to Elbows or Feet to Shoulders on the pullup bar. It was 21 reps, then 15, then 9. I did not put any weights on my bar because I am just learning. The Knees to Elbows is tough to control because your body swings back and forth from the momentum. But the coach said I could probably get my feet up to my shoulders, and I was able to a few times. But I just couldn't stop myself from rocking back and forth! You have to engage your back and butt to stop yourself from swinging. The pros were good at it - me, not so much.

It was definitely a different style WOD than last week but it was awesome. Once I get more comfortable with this stuff I wanna add some weights!

Today - Errands and much studying.

Tomorrow .... Total body workout!

Wildwood Games Half Marathon

Some weeks ago I signed up for the Wildwood Games Half Marathon which was scheduled for today. A couple RWB friends signed up as well.

Over the past couple days I grappled with the decision of whether or not I should run it. I've been experiencing some hamstring tightness which made running difficult. However I had no issues during a short test run yesterday so I felt like I didn't really have an excuse to not at least TRY it.

The first annual Wildwood Games was put on by Columbia County, GA (the county I live in!) and it is named for the park it took place at - Wildwood Park, right along the lake in Appling. Saturday was a mountain bike race and today were the trail races of various distances. I wanted this to be my second half marathon and first ever trail half marathon.

So I got up at a ridiculous hour to make the 6am packet pick up and 645 am start time. My morning was rushed and hectic, but I made it to the start line all in one piece and met Jasmine and James - my RWB running buddies for the day. All 3 of us wanted to take it slow and easy for various reasons. 

We all had time for a picture. 3 of us ran, the rest volunteered

Jas at the finish line!

We started on a fairly wide gravel trail road for awhile before turning on to your typical single track wooded trail. The trails were very peaceful and relaxing. Jasmine drank way too much water this morning and she kept having to pee. I think she peed 3 times within the first few miles! So James and I would run ahead for a bit and then she'd catch up. This part of the trail was an out and back so there was alot of overlapping of runners on a very narrow trail. Shortly after we turned back James said he wanted to take a breather and Jasmine had to pee again, so they told me to go on ahead. That was the last I saw of them for a long time. It was at this point I knew I'd be fine. Wasn't having any issues with my leg, it felt a little tight but it wasn't causing me any discomfort or altering my form. I knew that as long as I took it easy and didn't run too fast up the hills I'd be ok. I ran at what I call my "forever pace", where I could just keep going forever and ever and not be fatigued. I passed through the central area of the park, ran on some more gravel road for a bit, then around mile 4 is where the 10k runners turned around and the half marathon runners forked off to the right. Back on the single track wooded trails again. 

James with the flag

Around mile 4.5 I suddenly felt a sharp sting under my right arm. It was so unexpected and painful I actually yelled out loud. Something obviously stung me, and shortly after I approached a road crossing with 2 volunteers stationed at it. They saw me rubbing my arm and asked if I was ok. I told them a bee stung me and they said "Oh yeah there's alot of yellowjackets back there!" Yes, I know! The sting hurt but it wasn't enough to really hinder me so I kept on moving. At mile 5 I ate some Honey Stingers - hmm, irony? The trails started to get slightly hillier here. There were no huge hills on this course but there were several smaller hills and dips. Around mile 7 I started to see people coming back, so I had figured the turn around point was somewhere around mile 8. A woman came up behind me and ran with me a bit, we chatted for awhile and she told me this was her first trail run ever. A half marathon, seriously? But she was doing great and was enjoying being out on the trails, so why the heck not! Sure enough around mile 8 I approached the Team RWB manned aid station. They were so kind enough to snap this picture of me

Mile 8

They had all kinds of food - I don't really like to eat a bunch of snacks when I run (and I don't run long enough distances for that) but I saw some orange slices and grabbed one of those. It was the most heavenly orange ever! I quickly got right back at it and turned back towards the park center. This whole time I had been wondering where Jasmine and James were, I passed Jasmine first and she was doing good. James was further back, he was running at a slower pace just taking it easy, still holding the flag high. I tripped over a root and nearly face planted pretty hard, but I practically used every muscle in my body to stop myself from falling forward. I'm sure it must have looked hilarious.

By mile 10 I was pretty tired. I noticed myself "shuffling" more as my legs got heavier and heavier. I started counting down the miles. When I got back to the 2 volunteers at the road I asked them if anyone else got stung by the bees. Apparently everyone got stung and they went in there and sprayed. Wow. At least I'm not that one special person who got stung while no one else did. I passed through bee hell one more time and came out unscathed. Reached the 10k turnaround point, back on the gravel road. About a mile to go. I ran a little faster knowing the finish line was near. I finished in 2:42 - not a glorious time, but all things considered I'm not too disappointed.

I waited for Jas and James to finish, they came in together about 20 minutes later. We all made it!

Finish line!

I was tired, drenched in sweat, and so happy to have run this race. The trails were beautiful. It was a great experience with friends and fellow runners in my community. I can't believe I almost didn't do it.

I love the shirt and the medal. You can't really tell in the picture but the medal is made of wood! This medal isn't like any other medal I have - very outdoorsy, reminds me of going camping or something. Fitting for a trail race. The 3 of us got some celebratory BBQ at Shane's Rib Shack, then we parted ways. Until next time...

Half Marathon - The Decision

So. It's the eve of what is to be my second half marathon.

I was training (not specifically for this half, but to be able to run that distance in general) for the past 3 months.

Then. Hamstring injury.

Today, in a last ditch effort to assess my ability to run without tightness, I went out for a quick run in this hot ass Georgia weather. And it went much much better than Monday's run. On Monday I got tight after 1 mile and my running form was affected by it. Today I took it slow and didn't really have any issues. There were times when I could definitely feel it, but it was very minor and my running form was not affected at all.

I have done some thinking and I am having a hard time justifying NOT running the race. I feel like this isn't really enough to hold me back. So to hell with it - I am going to TRY to run it. I'm gonna take it easy, and if things start getting bad I can always pull myself from the race. It's better than me not even trying. Time to Spartan the Fk. Up.

Wildwood Games - I'm coming for you

Crossfit for the First Time Ever

My friends, it has finally happened.

I have completed my first ever Crossfit workout.

Crossfit is something I've been curious about for some time, I just can't afford it. Team RWB of Augusta is holding a special 9/11 Rememberance series of workouts. During the next 4 Thursdays we will be training, leading up to a final workout on 9/11 followed by a BBQ. And it's FREE! So I get to try new workouts, meet some of the local team members, and it's free. Heck yeah!

I didn't really know what to expect today. I knew it was at a Crossfit box, but the description said "functional fitness" so I wasn't exactly sure what all we'd be doing. Yeah. it was definitely a Crossfit workout.

Team RWB - 9/11 Rememberance workout, The Underbox

Wall sitting for the picture. I'm right there in the middle. I didn't know anyone except Jasmine, unfortunately she couldn't do today's workout as she is also struggling with a hamstring injury. Hers seems pretty bad so she just watched and took pictures.

So we did a quick warm up, part of which consisted of "Musical Bear Crawls". That's the best way I can describe these. We put medicine balls in a circle and removed one ball after each round, bear crawled around the circle, then when the music stopped we had to scramble to sit on a ball. I actually came in second place for this.. amazingly enough. So it was me and this other girl bear crawling in circles around this one lonely medicine ball. But she was too quick for me in the end and claimed bear crawl victory.

The crawling gave me a blister on my right palm. So now I had to do the entire workout with a raw blister. It was a nuisance but I'm so used to blisters, cuts, scrapes, and bruises at this point that I just didn't even let it phase me.

So the workout was a typical Crossfit style WOD. I don't know enough about Crossfit to understand how all the numbers work. They told us to just write down how many reps we did for each thing, but I have no idea what this Crossfit math means. I assume it's the total reps for each exercise, for each round?

I am ignorant in the ways of Crossfit math.

The WOD - 1 minute of each exercise - Burpees, Box Jumps, Kettlebell Swings, Squats. Then 1 minute of rest. Repeat this sequence 5 times. I lost count after the first round, my brain just wasn't even in that mode where you know, it knows what numbers are. Next time I'll make an effort to actually count.

We did this in stations and I ended up being with another girl starting at the squat station, the easiest one by far. For the box jumps I modified because of my hamstring injury, I did step ups instead. The KB swings were the worst for me. They use heavier kettlebells than I normally use, plus their version is more of a hip thrust and less of a squat. I squat pretty low and use the momentum from when I come out of the squat to do my swing. Here the power was all in the hips - my crappy, small hips. By the third round I was losing steam. I was starting to have to take breaks. Rounds 4 and 5 were absolutely brutal. My legs felt like lead, sweat pouring, heart pounding, sucking in air. I was taking more mini-breaks. My limits were reaching their end. But then it was time for the last round of KB swings and I was done. It was far from perfect but I did the best I could. And for it being my first ever Crossfit session, of course it's not gonna be perfect.

Did I mention we were in a garage with no air conditioning, on a 100 degree Georgia day? Yes it was 100 degrees here today. We were sweating before the workout even started.

I had a great time. Crossfit definitely kicks your ass. I can already see how it will make me stronger and improve my athletic performance in anything I do. The movements are explosive and use your whole body - a little more leg heavy than upper body today, but you're using multiple muscles to execute powerful movements. It's hard work and it's good for you! It's one of those things where it's like, you might THINK you're in good shape, and then it just completely humbles you. And that's good. I like to know what I need to work on.

Now I know what I'm in for on the next 3 Thursdays. I know for the next 2 days I probably won't be able to walk!

Injured, again.

For as long as I have been running, I have only ran 1 half marathon. Crazy, right? Well I thought it was high time to change all that, so I went and signed up for the Wildwood Games. It's a local trail race here in my county and I'm running it with Team RWB! 

I've really been looking forward to running another half. Especially because I was injured when I ran my first half.

Well...

I've gone and done it again.

For a long time now my left knee has been... funky. Rarely hurts but gets stiff and clicky. I thought it was runners' knee at first even though I never get kneecap pain, it's always on  both sides of my knee. I ruled out the IT band because the symptoms just don't match up. Now I'm pretty sure I know what it is. 

My hamstring is either way tight or strained. It's the bottom of the hamstring/behind the knee. There is no bruising. It just feels very tight and I'm finding it hard to fully extend my leg without bending my knee. Up until Monday I wasn't having hamstring issues, just the weird clicky knee. I did speed work on Monday and during/after that run is when my hamstring started to feel tight. Guess it just had enough? 

Of course this happens 2 weeks before my half marathon! 

I haven't run since Monday, I'm using ice, moist heat, my Stick, compression wrap, and today I am just now getting into some light stretching. I stretch my hamstrings after every run and do plenty of leg strength work. This is probably an overuse injury, and there's probably a reason why it's my left leg only. It's not really THAT bad. I think it will be better soon.

As much as I hate the timing of all this, I'm not totally devastated about not being able to run. Since I've started lifting weights more I don't feel totally helpless when I can't run. If this had happened 6 months ago I'd feel utterly doomed. But now I am able to look at it with a more realistic and laid back view. I will run again soon. The world is not ending! I can go kill it in the gym, get a great workout and feel awesome. 

Not really sure how this is gonna go for me next weekend. But I'm gonna try my best to run this race and not be injured!

A Day of Firsts

Hello!

Just thought I'd share my Tuesday night gym experience. K wasn't there, poor girl has the stomach flu. So I just went after my biceps, back, and legs.

Yesterday was a really good day because I experienced a few "firsts" ever at the gym.

- Got to the top of the UN-knotted rope! This was only my third attempt on it, the past 2 times were me getting a feel for the technique. I use the wrap technique - wrap the rope around my right leg and put my left foot on top of my right with the rope pinched between both feet. The last few times I was only comfortable with going up halfway. But yesterday I started climbing, looked up and realized "oh, it's not too much farther to the top, might as well get on up!" And I did! The descent can be tough. I didn't want to slide down and burn my right leg and hands, so I attempted to keep my wrap and let the rope gently slide through/redo my wrap if necessary. Going down takes alot of work and control. I got all the way up and down without falling and minimal rope burn. I know I have improvements to make on my technique but for right now I'm just glad I did it. Climbing this rope is alot harder than climbing the rope with knots in it, so it took alot of energy out of me. I only had enough climbing juice for 1 trip up the knotted rope. The great thing about this is if I keep it up I should have no problem climbing the ropes at the Spartan Super/Beast... even if I'll be exhausted and covered in mud!

I also used the Smith machine (squat rack) for the first time. I had been doing squats on the premade barbells but those only go up to 60 lbs. So I figured if I want to squat more I should probably start getting familiar with the squat rack. It's easy enough to use - the only part that got me was adjusting the height. The bar setting I ended up having to use is lower than where it would sit on my shoulders, but you want to make sure the bar is not set above your neck, otherwise you can't use it. I did a few squats with just the bar to get a feel for the machine, got used to the flipping motion used to lock/unlock the bar, etc. Then I just loaded 50 lbs on there for starters. Next time I'll try a higher weight.

Then I tried out the scary cable machine. You don't see a varied group of people using this machine. It's usually guys, most of which look like they've been lifting for a long time. I totally get why not alot of people use this thing. It's kind of intimidating.

But this thing is pretty awesome. I used it for some bicep curls and rows, but I also plan on using it for squats, crossovers, and woodchops. Just pull out the pins on the pulleys to adjust them, move them to your desired height, and off you go! Ours also has a few different attachments - variously shaped bars and a rope. You can google "cable machine" and get tons of ideas for workouts on this thing.

I love trying new workouts and new machines in the gym. Sure you might wind up looking silly if you try to use something without knowing how it works, but that's why I always use Google/watch videos if I'm ever unsure of something. Not only do I not want to look stupid, I also don't want to use bad form and injure myself. And now I know how to do things! Knowledge is strength.

Another first - seeing someone wearing a McDonald's shirt in the gym. I didn't even know they made tshirts? And seriously, I hope that was her only clean shirt. Because, wtf.