crlgrl’s BodyBlog

Todays Crossfit WOD DU (double unders) and sit ups: 50, 40, 30, 20 and 10. I still am not real great with DU’s and haven’t bought another jump rope since my broke a few weeks ago. A "friend" of mine and I use that term very loosely, DOCDRU, mentioned that he has been doing WOD’s off of CrossFit Coronado’s home page. WHY DOC? Why would you do that to us? You know we’re gooing to look at it. And you know if we look at it we’re stoopid and krazy enough to do it!! (: Today’s CFC was tabata’s, which are pronounced HELL!!! A tabata is 20 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest doing a series of 8 without rest. The exercises today were 135# DL (deadlift) for the ladies followed by HSPU (hand stand push ups). After a little warm up, I got the 135# bar ready and did a few reps and realized, it was just too much to be able to expect any real work at that weight. I dropped down to 115#. I strapped my stop watch onto the bar, since I don’t have a partner it’s the best I could come up with, and got started. The first few rounds were good, def. got the heart pumping and I got 8, 9, 9, 9. Then things went to crap! My lower back was burning and my forearms and hands were going numb, still got 6, 6. And then my grip just totally failed!!! I dropped the weight at 3 and jumped back to avoid smashing the toes. I guess when I did, I yelped a little which caused the rubber band at the back of my braces to break and rocket into the back of my throat. I just said, "The hell with it!" And swallowed the stupid thing. I only got 2 on the last round.): YIPEE! Halfway done. On to HSPU’s, I can do a few of these without subbing but I couldn’t figure out a good place to put my stopwatch and I guess I’m not the greatest upside down watch reader. I just did the closest I could. The first couple of rounds I got 6 or 7 and then I put a foam block under my head after 4. These kill my right wrist and elbow!!! This was a hellacious workout! Anybody looking for some real work…..outta tabata!!! (:

I caught on a WOD from last week today 15 pull ups, 15 ring push ups, 15 back extensions and 15 GHD sit ups as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes. I don’t have access to any rings so I just did regular push ups. You wouldn’t think it but this one really started to get to my core after a few rounds!! I use upper abs in pull ups, abs to keep myself in a plank for push ups, and then the other 2 are alot of core. After I finished I did some bench press just to see how many I could do at 60% of my BW. The Pump and Run at the Arnold takes time off of your 5K depending on how much you can bench press. Then I did clean and presses. I felt pretty good considering I ran 10 miles yesterday, the only part of me that is really sore are my calves.

So today was the big 10 mile day!!! I remember way back in the begining of this 16 week running program when I knew there was NO WAY I could ever run 10 miles! My friend FrogPrincess said "no problem, when the day comes, if you can’t do it I’ll run it for you." Being that she is a runner and has already trained for and kicked @ss in an Ironman triathalon, she probably knew that if I put in the work, I’d be able to do the ten. But FP is no ordinary friend!! People can "tell" me all day long that they support me but FP put it into action and that is my kind of gal!! She got up and ran the 10 miles with me in the pouring rain before going to work!!!! Sonja, you are a great friend and I can’t wait to meet you at the Arnold!!! Thank for ALWAYS being down for me!

Alright now, on to the run. I get to the trail and notice there is another vehicle parked a 1/2 mile down or so, which is a little unusual because I think I have seen maybe 3 people in all the months I have been running this trail. I text Sonja and take off. About a mile into the trail I see the other person and their dog, no big deal, right? Until I get close enough to see that it is a Doberman with no leash and a guy with a big machette strapped to his leg. I always run with a knife but in the game of rock, paper, scissors..machette always trumps. So, I just take a picture of his truck and plates and text it to my son and keep running. The first few miles of a run are always tough for me to settle into and today was no different. By 2 miles I had stripped off a layer and was starting to relax. "Relax your jaw, relax your shoulders, run tall, run fluid" One of the things I tell myself over and over when I need to get in the zone. My trail is a point to point trail, so with the longer runs I need to carry a camel pak, which is a real pain. But my water, pedialyte, SuperPump cocktail was worth carrying the stupid thing!! I reached mile 3 at about 27 minutes, which isn’t bad considering my 5K time is around 24. By mile 4 the camel pak had to go and was really relaxed into the run, miles 4-6 felt GR8!!! I got to run alongside goats @ mile 6, cows @ mile 7 and horses @ mile 8. I was still feeling pretty good with 2 miles today go, got my drink on and texted a picture of the time to Sonja, who told me "Stay in the zone". And I did for another 1/2 mile, until my left shin started hurting. Every step down hurt. Then the inside of my arms started hurting from all the friction of my tank top. And finally, the old piriformis injury started up! I just kept thinking "I’m coming Sonja!" Because she always finishes first and finally it was over!!! I ran 10 miles! It feels really good to say that because I earned it!! Thanks to my family and friends for all the support! I have 2 days left on the training program and then who knows??? What else do I think I can’t do?? (:

Alot of people have been asking me lately how much weight I’ve lost. At our family thanksgiving dinner I heard alot of comments about how skinny I was or how I should eat more…blah, blah, blah. So the answer to the weight question is that I really haven’t lost any weight lately maybe a few (2-3) pounds. I have however, traded some fat for muscle. I’ve noticed changes in the way my jeans fit around my upper thighs and the way my shirts fit across my shoulders. The loss in the thighs I’d contribute to the cardio of Crossfit and running 3 days a week. The increased width in my back and shoulders is ALL Crossfit esp. pull ups!! So I went to a gym in a nearby town yesterday and did my easy 2 mile run and a CF WOD and had my fat checked with calipers. I haven’t had it checked in several years and it was 15-18%…..yesterday it was 11%. I was suprised and pleased! the gym employees asked me when my competition was…ha ha…."never"!! Am I on a strict diet?? Again..hahahaha…I eat enough to fuel my work outs and basically healthy but "no, no strict diet for me." My main goal with my healthy lifestyle is a feeling of well being, being functional, being athletic and just fun!! It’s what I do for FUN! The way it makes my body look is a by product….a good by product, but not my main reason for doing it!!

I hate to call a workout a "crossfit" workout if it hasn’t actually been put out by CF, so I’ll just say it was crossfit-ISH. I worked the last 3 days so I didn’t lift or run, It is tough to get in a workout when you go to work when it’s dark and you come home 12-14 hours later and it’s dark again!! The work itself is physically, as well as, mentally taxing; some days I came home and think did I sit down today? Did I eat more than once? Anyway, enough of that!! I went in to the gym this AM and did 5 pull ups, 10 push ups and 15 shoulder press with 25# bar for as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes. I did 8 and change. I could tell I was really tired so it is a good thing my SuperPump came in Monday and I was pumped!!! My arms were really tight towards the end!! This afternoon I get to run 8 miles with a warm up and 4×1600 meters @ 10:42 pace with 800 meter jogs between and a cool down. I hope the temp. cracks the 40’s by then!!!