A Merry Fitmas

Each year, my employer closes for the week between Christmas and New Year's. Even though I'm required to burn some vacation days for it, I do like the tradition. Most years, I'll spoil myself by sleeping in and going to CrossFit later in the morning. Or even at noon, how scandalous! 

But in this week off in 2022, I was just starting to feel better after weeks of being too ill to go work out. I wanted to prepare myself to be ready to keep the fitness going when I went back to work on the 3rd of January. I went to four 5 am classes that I did not strictly have to go to, and the first class of the day when the schedule was flexed for holidays. 

It was a great week for working out. I got sore, and I started to feel like I was building up my strength again. Heck, I even got a PR (personal record), though, to be fair, it was on a 3 rep hang clean and jerk. We don't do that very often (I only had one other recorded, and most of the people in the class didn't have any). 

But once the New Year hit, I started feeling ill again. I did work out on the 2nd, but skipped on the 3rd because I wasn't feeling well. A combination of abdominal pains and a bit of a cold. The abdominal pain makes me not want to move in the ways that CrossFit requires, and if I've actually got a cold, I'd feel bad bringing that into the gym. 

I know I will eventually stop being sick every other week, but I really hope it's soon. I want to do well in the CrossFit Open this year, which, for me, means being able to Rx at least one workout and maybe beat myself if there's a repeat. And in order to do that, I need to get some consistency in my workouts! No more taking days off at a time. One day off if needed, then back to it!

Gaining with Loss

Yesterday, we did the CrossFit Total workout at Arbor. That workout is all weight lifting, with the goal of setting 1 rep maxes for 3 different lifts: Back Squat, Shoulder Press and Deadlift. You only get 3 attempts at each lift, and you need to hit each of the lifts one at a time within a 30 minute window. 

Since the class wasn't crowded, we all went in order. But before the clock got started, we warmed up our back squats to where we wanted to start - a good thing, because while 30 minutes to do 9 single reps seems like a lot of time, it really isn't. It goes a lot faster than you'd think. 

In early 2020, I was starting to really get stronger, but the pandemic interrupted my gains and I'm now struggling to get back to those heavier (for me) lifts. So I wasn't expecting to lift very much on this day, but just see how I felt. 

For the Back Squat, I did my first 1 rep at 135 pounds, then went to 145 pounds, and finally 150 pounds. I probably could have hit 155 pounds, but I decided to play it safe. Turns out, I did the same thing last time we did this workout on 12/7/2021. Looking at just the weights, I've not made any progress in those 4 months. 

But I also need to look at my weight, because I started calorie counting for weight loss in December. When I hit 150 pounds for my Back Squat on 12/7, I weighed 151.4 pounds. When I hit it yesterday, I weighed 142.4 pounds. So my lift stayed the same, but my body weight was down 9 pounds. That's a total win! 

Which also puts my Shoulder Press and Deadlifts in the win column; I basically did the exact same weights on 12/7 as I did yesterday for both of those as well. Okay, technically, I lifted more on my Shoulder Press - in December I only did 70 pounds and yesterday I hit 75. But both deadlifts were 175. 

I've also been working on my pull ups since I started my calorie counting for weight loss. Back in December and January, it was one pull up attempt at the end of class; sometimes I got it, sometimes not. February and March, I got better at getting one consistently. April, I started to break out sets of 2. And this week I have started to get sets of 3. In fact, I've been doing 2 sets of 3. 

I'm excited about retaining my pulling strength as I lose weight, because that will absolutely make my pull ups easier. I had a dream the other night that I was doing strict bar muscle ups. Just doing them, like they were nothing. It's not the first time I've had a CrossFit dream, but this one felt a little different. Like, this time, the possibility is within my grasp if I just keep focusing on my goals. 

UnOpened

Well, I did sign up for the CrossFit Open this year, as I have most years since I started CrossFit. And the one time I didn't sign up for the Open, I still did all the workouts at my affiliate. But this year, I've been ill. And not the kind of ill I could ignore to sneak in a workout. 

For the first time since I started participating, I have left a workout incomplete, unscored. I don't like it! 

But life doesn't always just give me what I like. My life would no doubt be very different if it did. I didn't end up completing my 10 miles last week, though I tried very hard with a 4 mile run on Monday (the holiday) and a 3 mile the very next day. But my body is just not done being sick. 

My aunt had a similar sickness running from Thanksgiving to Christmas. All kinds of symptoms, just coming one on top of another. I don't think I'm fully through it yet, but I'm through it enough to get back to the office. More's the pity. 

Now I'm facing the possibility that I might miss the next one and I'm just pleading with my body to hurry up and finish off the invaders so we can do 22.2! 

Staying on Track

Last week, I managed to get to CrossFit every weekday, got 3 runs in totally 10 miles and commuted by bike to work all 3 days that I go into the office. I've started out this week on track to keep up the same activity level, though with it getting colder the bike commutes might be stopping. 

It's really all about getting into a routine, especially for the 5 am CrossFit classes. If I just don't give myself any spare time to think about what I'm doing, it's pretty easy to get dressed and drive out. If I'm feeling like I'll have a hard time in the morning, I'll put my clothes out the night before. When the alarm goes off and I don't want to get up, I just put my mind into the track: ankle alphabet, then restroom, then get dressed, drink a yogurt drink and then it's pretty much time to go. I suppose I could get up earlier, but that just gives me more time to procrastinate and change my mind about leaving the house. 

This morning, since it was in the 20's, I spoiled myself by using the remote start option for my car. It was magical! It won't automatically turn seat heat on, but I leave it on if I know my husband will not be driving before I will. It wasn't really warm, because I didn't start it early enough, but just being warmer than the ambient temperature was nice. I didn't sit down and start shivering, so I'll call that a win. 

This weekend I'll have a bit of disruption to my schedule; I'm not likely to make 5 CrossFit classes next week because of the holiday. The bigger issue was that I can't do a long run on Sunday, but then I remembered I have all day Thursday to get a long run in. Totally doable. 

Overall, I'm liking this level of activity. I'm getting pretty good sleep, and the soreness is there, but not overwhelming. I'm trying to push hard enough to improve at CrossFit without overdoing things; it's a fine balance. I want to keep up a high level of activity like this throughout the off season so that I'm ready for a great backpacking season once the weather turns to summer. I'm hoping to get my long runs to 10 miles by April. 

And for now, I'm on track for that. 

Jumpstart!

How do you start (or restart) an exercise program? I've not been doing as much as I could since the end of backpacking season, or even a bit before that. My running was sporadic and short, and over the last few weeks, I'd been battling a cold that kept me from CrossFit. I prefer not to expose my fellow athletes to any illness so I've been playing it safe. 

I was starting to feel better last weekend, though not quite better enough to dive back into CrossFit. So I decided to do a long run on Saturday and just see how that felt. I've been re-reading Chi Running for the first time since I'd first read it years ago, and I'm finding that I'm better able to apply the principles than I used to be. It makes sense. When I first read it, I was a newbie runner. I never ran as a youth, so I had no base to build on. 

Now, after years of running, backpacking and CrossFit, I have a much more stable and strong core, which allows me to actually use the Chi Running principles instead of just using it to adjust my gait away from injury-inducing styles. And I've found myself more attracted to the meditative aspects of Chi Running as well, in part, I believe, because I've learned about aphantasia. 

Aphantasia is the inability to mentally visualize. Visualization has been one thing that has always been in conflict with me meditating. Most of my exposure had been to the kind of meditation that requires visualizing something, and I just couldn't do it. Without knowing why I couldn't do it, I just had to say I couldn't meditate. But now, I know that I can. I just need to do it without visualizations. Like my dad suggested, I can close my eyes and "visualize" blackness. Or, with Chi Running, I can meditate through the motion of my body. 

I ran 4 miles on Saturday, at a nice, slow pace. I usually try to run faster towards the end of my runs, but for this one I deliberately kept it slow. The goal was not to work on speed, but to work on form, technique and comfort. To focus on my body and what it was doing. Later that evening, I massaged my calves. 

The next day, I had thought about going to CrossFit, but there are only morning classes on Sunday and I just didn't make the effort to make it. But my legs were feeling so good that I decided to do another long run and set myself up to have 10 miles for the week. Again, I kept the pace slow and steady. I ran 5.6 miles. 

After that, my legs were pretty sore, so I massaged them again, in addition to foam rolling. Nearly 10 miles over two days, and I didn't feel too bad. So, naturally, I went to CrossFit on Monday, at my typical 5 am time. 

Now, CrossFit usually posts the next day's workout on their website after 6 pm, but sometimes the post doesn't go up. That was the case Sunday night. Would I have made a different choice about going to CrossFit if I knew that my leg weekend was about to be followed by leg day (back squats, box step-ups, thrusters, and burpees)? I'd like to think not, but I can't prove it. 

I'm diving right back in to my routine. Restarting. And I think what's making it work is my attitude. I know that I'm going to feel good, so I push through the reluctance to get out of bed and the soreness and, surprise surprise, I feel darn good afterwards. I did CrossFit Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, with plans for Thursday and Friday this week. I got another 2.2 miles of running on Tuesday, despite the fact that it was raining, with another 2.2 planned for Thursday (I really hope it isn't raining Thursday). 

I'm taking a page from Nike and just doing it. 

So far, it's working. 

Fitness Goals for the Off Season

I've been slacking on my running and going to CrossFit over the backpacking season. And I even gave myself a bit more slack time in September than I might have usually taken. But it's getting time to rev up again for the off season. That means some goal setting!

I do want to get back to 10 miles a week running, but not in October. See, I got a request from my boss to temporarily switch work schedules, which makes my running days Monday and Friday. That makes it super hard for me to run on Saturday and Sunday, because then I have no rest days AT ALL between my run days. But this week, I'm switching back, and that will allow me to start adding the long Sunday run back in. For that reason, I put off the 10 mile per week goal until November.

October's goal was to just get 3 runs in a week, which I was doing fine on until I got sick last weekend. I still haven't fully recovered, but I'm hoping to get back on track and start November with both the 3 times a week and the 10 mile goals going.

My goal for CrossFit is similar. I'm going for 3 times a week to satisfy my goal in October, but in November that's going to get bumped up to 4 times (exceptions allowed for when I'll be out of town, but maybe I'll finally manage to visit an affiliate out of town). This one I've managed to keep up with so far, but I'll have to get in 3 times before the end of this week to wrap it up.

Last year, I was pretty strict about running my 10 miles, but I think this year I'll allow myself to substitute hiking on a two-for-one formula. So 1 mile of running is equivalent to two miles of hiking, allowing me to sub, say an 11 mile Lucky Peak hike for a 5.5 mile run. I think getting out into the foothills and doing elevation hiking will be super helpful for my offseason training.

Maybe I'll even drag my husband along on a few of those; we'll see.

Back to CrossFit

I had planned on increasing the number of CrossFit classes I was attending after my vaccination was fully effective, but I went to visit my family first. Unfortunately, I ended up bringing home a sinus infection and ended up delaying my return to CrossFit by a little over a week. 

But I got back on Monday, and returned on both Tuesday and Wednesday! My body aches just about everywhere, and it's lovely. 

I mean, painful, but also lovely. I like the feeling of having worked my muscles hard. Sure, some things become inconvenient, like raising my arms above shoulder height to reach for anything or climbing stairs or really anything to do with my legs... 

I am avoiding running, so far, at CrossFit, but that's mostly because I can run at home (and I do). I try to do things at CrossFit that I can't do at home, when I have the option. Like, whenever we do a choose-your-own tabata, I try to do something with handstand holds, since I don't have a lot of room for that at my home, or something with the pull up bar. This morning I alternated hangs with straight leg sit-ups (because the handstand wall was occupied). 

Getting up at 4:30 in the morning and then driving to CrossFit is not as easy as getting up at 4:30 in the morning and walking to CrossFit. It takes about the same amount of travel time, but the walk was just easier to get myself to do. The car has so many steps! Getting the keys, the wallet, dressing for a cold car, considering whether I will bug the neighbors by turning my headlights on while I'm still in the stall (they got blackout curtains for their parking lot facing window, but don't always use them), picking a radio station with a song that I like and/or tolerate, and then there's the driving part. Stoplights and turns and the half dozen or so other cars on the road at that hour. 

It could be worse, but I used to have it so much better. Just, exit the house, take a right, cross the street, and boom! Time to exercise! 

And, of course, the new location opened during the pandemic so I couldn't even transition smoothly from what I was doing to what I was going to do. But I like the way I feel the rest of the day when I do get up and work out like this, so I guess I'll keep on doing it. 

CrossFit Open 21.2

21.2 was a repeat of 17.1 - which I totally called! I actually posted my guess on Facebook, so my fellow CrossFitters got to have a little awe at my ability to get into Dave Castro's head. Well, I guess I'll only be in his head if I can nail 21.3, but I don't have high hopes for that. 

17.1 just made sense to my brain, because after doing a new movement (wall walks) and a movement we usually do with toes to bar (double unders), it made sense that we'd do burpees and something with dumbbells. 17.1 has increasing sets of dumbbell snatches alternating with steady sets of burpee box jump overs. For whatever reason, it made perfect sense to have that follow 21.1. 

I did 17.1 back in 2017 twice, and once in 2019 when it came up during our regular workouts. Scaled all three times, because box jumps are not my friend and a 35 pound dumbbell would be a very heavy snatch for me. The scaled workout allows for box step overs and women use a 20 pound dumbbell. That's very doable for me. However, the 20 minute time cap is tight for me because my burpees are very slow. 

They were faster in 2019, when I finally managed to finish under the time cap. 

In 2021, I was slower. 

Rather to be expected after 2020. In 2018 and 2019, I was going to CrossFit 20+ times a month. I did NOT do anywhere near that in 2020. I mean, I did more running in 2020, but overall, my fitness declined. Plus, I'm on a new simplified diet, which often leaves me feeling hungry or odd. 

Oh, and, well, I did the workout on a Friday night. The day after running 4 miles, and I had gotten up at 4:30 in the morning on Friday to run 4 miles. My legs may have been a wee bit tired. 

But I didn't want to go on Sunday again. I was not comfortable when I showed up and the place was pretty much a maskless madhouse. I didn't get as many reps as I had even in 2017, and I don't even know for sure what my tie break time was because my judge recorded every tie break time except the last one - which was the one I actually needed. 

The workout is painful, even when you don't finish all the reps. My low back especially gets affected by all those dumbbell snatches. 

I'm not as fit as I was two years ago, even though I weigh less. The Open gives me the chance to do these comparisons, to look honestly at myself and my level of fitness, and to make future choices based on what I want my future scores to look like. I'm going to be working on those burpees, which is something that I can do from home. And maybe I'll look into getting a dumbbell of my own for home, but then I'd have to pick a weight. 20 pounds would probably be what I'd pick for general use, but if I want to work up to Rx weights, that's generally 35 pounds for women. 

But right now, at this moment in time, I'm not focused so much on fitness and performance. I'm currently working really hard on getting my gut in line. My current diet is what I called 'simplified' and it isn't the most exciting. I'm eating a small number of foods, prepared in simple ways like steaming. So far, that's working to reduce pain and bloating, but my energy levels aren't super high. It's still a work in progress. 

The open is short this year, with only 3 weeks of workouts. That means next week is the last. I'm looking forward to the next challenge, which I anticipate will involve a barbell and a pull up bar. Maybe some hang cleans with chest to bar pull ups. Oh, or toes to bar! 

CrossFit Open 21.1

I haven't been going as hard on CrossFit over the last year as in year's prior. Gee, I wonder why that might be? 

I especially don't like working out with a mask on, but I strongly believe it's the right thing to do. So I suffer through it, and feel super hot and gross while working out. Well, hotter and grosser than usual. There's not really a way for me to do CrossFit pretty. 

The first workout of this year's Open involved an insane number of wall walks and a moderate number of double unders. Okay, maybe the dubs were a bit insane, too, but only if you got past the set of 21 wall walks. 

I chose to scale, because I know I can do one wall walk, and maybe I could do a set of 3, but even the set of 6 would really challenge me, and I wanted a workout rather than trying to do Rx when it's not where I'm at. I'm letting myself make game day decisions on scaled vs Rx this year, rather than deciding ahead of time. 

The scaled version was scaled wall walks - a totally new movement. After practicing them a bit on Friday, I have christened them "wall dogs" because it's kind of like doing downward dog up a wall. There's a piece of tape that goes under your shoulders, and your hands have to start in front of it, get behind it with your feet up on the wall, and then back in front. Reps start and end with chest and thighs touching the floor. 

The total scaled workout was: 1 wall dog, 10 single unders, 3 wall dogs, 30 single unders, 6 wall dogs, 60 single unders, 9 wall dogs, 90 single unders, 15 wall dogs, 150 single unders, 21 wall dogs, 210 single unders. Rx just change the wall dogs to wall walks and the singles to doubles. 

I made it through 11 reps of the round of 21 wall dogs before I hit the 15 minute time cap. I was hoping to finish, but my shoulders just got fried in the round of 15. I had a couple of no reps. 

Overall, I felt good about the workout, and I'm looking forward to 21.2.

Back on Track

I kept the streak alive last week, and got back into the groove for this week's goal with a 5.85 mile run on Sunday. I know, now, that I can run 3 miles during my exercise release time during the week, but I don't prefer to do so. At the pace that I am running, 2 to 2.5 is a more manageable distance for the time I have available. 

I have a regular 3 mile route that uses the nearby Greenbelt, but I only ran that once in the 4 times that I did 3 milers in the past couple weeks. I didn't like how crowded it was, and I had to cross a major street. My next 3 mile run was neighborhood laps - I did two 1 mile laps, alternating directions, then two half mile laps, alternating directions. Laps are good for staying close to home, but also pretty boring. I finally landed on a nice big loop that gives me 3 miles with minimal stoplights and no crossings of major streets. 

My first 6 mile routes had me crossing major streets two or three times (depending on some options). After I figured out my big 3 mile loop, I made some adjustments and figured out how to do a 6 mile loop by running the 3 mile and then looping back around inside it. 

I see a poorly drawn J - maybe I should change my route to make it prettier.

My legs are starting to get used to the running. They don't feel so much like lead when I run, and I'm getting less soreness from even the long runs. I did feel sore on yesterday's run, but that's not from running. That's from doing a whole bunch of squats at CrossFit on Monday - which was only my second class of the year. 

I had not been to CrossFit since late December until last Saturday. I wasn't feeling very well. Mostly it was my IBS flaring up. My tummy hurt and I didn't have enough energy or motivation to get myself to 5 am CrossFit. And, frankly, I benefitted from the rest. I had been pushing myself pretty hard in November and December. 

I haven't started back up on the Power Abs program; I'm thinking of doing another cycle in February in preparation for the CrossFit Open in March. The important thing is I'm not beating myself up over any of these "failures" - I'm doing my best. That's all I can do. 

Outdoor Research Adrenaline Mask: A Preliminary Review

After months of not buying a mask specifically for exercise, I finally caved in and bought one. My decision was influenced by the receipt of a coupon for REI, so I limited my choices off the bat. The only mask I found on REI's website that specifically was made for sports was the Outdoor Research Adrenaline Sports mask. The reviews on REI's website did not fill me with confidence (only 2, both 1 star as of the time of this writing), so I checked the Outdoor Research website for more reviews. There was enough of a better mix there that I decided to give it a try. 

Holding on in November

I'm going to give myself a gold star for my exercise in the last week. Not because I did particularly well, but because I exercised at all after finding out my mom had died. I could easily have dropped everything, and even forgiven myself the lapse, but I chose to continue Power Abs and got a few CrossFit workouts in. 

Only two runs, but one of them was a longer run at over 4 miles. I did take a break during that run to sit beside the river and have a bit of a cry, but it was still a good long run. 

I only went to one CrossFit class last week, but three so far this week so I'm starting to get back into the five day a week groove that I hope to maintain this winter. 

I have had tummy pain most days this week, which is only to be expected with some added stress in my life. And I did go off the rails a bit on my food consumption. Well, more specifically on drinks, as in I actually had a fair amount of liquor. But not as much as I would have thought I'd consume - it's the exercise, keeping me from going whole hog on the alcohol. I hate being hungover and working out. 

I'm on track to complete Power Abs in November, and I'm planning on a second cycle starting in December. Might continue in January, might not. That feels like too far away to plan things now. It probably isn't, but that's how it feels. 

Build Back November

I kept getting derailed through September and October with illnesses that would throw off my workout plans. I got a decent amount of working out done despite that, but this year especially it really affected my CrossFit workouts when I wasn't feeling 100%. 

In years past, I might go in if I "just had a cold" or was just getting over one. Sweating it out is a thing, after all. But this year, any little cold might be Covid19, and the last thing I want is to be the person who brings it to CrossFit. So I've done the at home workouts when I've felt well enough to work out but not well enough to venture out of the house. 

Once I figured out that there was a direct correlation between my going to the rec center at work and my getting sick, I decided I had to stop that. Going to the rec was convenient when it didn't get me ill every time (and when they had hot showers available). Now that those two relatively low bars cannot be passed, I need to stop going there, period. 

I finally started feeling better from the last cold last weekend, and I decided to start something new that I'd been meaning to do for a while. Last year, I did Power Abs and saw some improvement in my core strength. This year, I'm doing it less for the abs and more to have a goal for November. It's perfect because the program is 30 days, just like the month. Along with that, I'd commit to getting to CrossFit 5 days a week, doing the 5 am class every week day. 

I prefer the 5 am class during these times because I see mostly the same set of people. I don't prefer going to the weekend classes because I get exposed to people that I'm not normally exposed to. Sounds kind of bad when I type it out like that, but that's how I feel about it. I'd rather have the small, dedicated circle of 5 am'ers around me than the unknowns who come to weekend classes. 

Anywho, the other component of November is going to be running 2 to 3 times per week. 3 is preferable, but the weather is unpredictable and so is my tummy, so I'll give myself grace and say 2 is allowed. 

For the first ten days of the month, I'm mostly there. I did skip the Friday CrossFit class, but it was my first week back after a week off. And it was a burpee heavy workout the day after I did the 80 burpee amrap for Power Abs. I had many excuses. 

Ahem, so I started Power Abs and have stuck to it so far. Got my 2 runs in last week, on track for 3 this week. CrossFit so far so good as well. Hmm, I'm going to have to figure out what I want to do over Thanksgiving when it comes to CrossFit, since they have in the past cancelled the 5 am on Wednesday and had weekend schedule on Friday. But I'll figure that out when I come to it. Maybe the weather will be nice enough on Thanksgiving for a hike. It's been a while since I did a sunrise Table Rock hike... 

I know that consistency is key with working out; that's why it's been so hard to be derailed every other week with a cold (or whatever). So now I get to see if it's really the rec that's been making me sick, and see how well I can do if I keep the work up. 

Back in the Box

On May 16th I was finally able to play with a barbell again, after a hiatus of nearly 2 months.

It. Felt. So. Good!

Now, I don't, of course, mean actual play. I take weightlifting as serious work with potential for injury. And that's why I kept my weights light and focused on quality form for my first CrossFit class since March 20th.

I had known that Arbor would be moving locations since last December, but no one ever expected the move to be complicated by a pandemic. I thought the transition from being able to walk to my box in less than 5 minutes would be starkly contrasted with having to drive 5 minutes to get there. Instead, I transitioned from the walk to working out at home and now I would drive a lot longer than 5 minutes to get there if needed.

I felt like my workouts over the at home period were consistent and that I was able to push myself with body weight exercises. It's likely that I've lost some strength over this stretch, but on the aerobic side I think I'm doing a bit better than before the shutdown - though part of that is due to timing since I also started running regularly again at the beginning of the closures.

Even feeling that way, I was surprised at how rowing felt after the break. Not only was I comfortable at about the same pace I had been comfortable with before, but I could feel more how my whole body can work together on that machine. I felt my hip flexors when I extended. I could see how I could increase my speed simply by focusing on keeping my low back engaged.

The other movements for this first workout were cleans and shoulder to overhead. I was doing the fitness workout, so I chose to do squat cleans to work on that form, and strict press since I was only lifting 45 pounds. 3 reps of each, so I probably could have gone a little heavier, but the last thing I want to do is injure myself at this point. I'll be easing myself back into the heavy weights and gymnastic movements, though I don't doubt that I'll be tearing up my hands a bit as they get used to bars again.

Still, I'm excited at the prospect of building up my calluses again and being able to see my favorite CrossFit people in person (even if at a 6 foot distance) and not over Zoom.

Kettlebell!

When gyms were first closed in Boise, my CrossFit box held an equipment checkout to allow athletes to borrow some weights since they wouldn't be used at the box and were sorely needed for at home workouts. I didn't go to that one, because I was not feeling healthy at that point and chose to self isolate at home while feeling sick.

We were hoping that the box could reopen on May 1, and in anticipation of that the checked out equipment got returned at the end of April. But, reopening of gyms is not happening for our area quite yet, so another checkout happened. And this time, I was ready and healthy.

Plus, it was after work instead of during work, so I felt better about going - though if it had been during work I would have taken time off this time. I miss weights, and I'm stoked that I was able to borrow something - plus, my alternate weight is having issues. One of the sandbags in my backpack that I've been tossing around for a 20 pound weight burst :(

Now, the first time, they allowed checkout of dumbbells, but this time they did not. So I chose to check out a kettlebell, 26 pounds on the advice of Coach Maria. 26 pounds is pretty heavy for me to lift with one arm, but doable. It used to be a light double armed swing for me, but I discovered that it isn't so light anymore for me. I can rep out American swings, but it's not easy like it used to be.

And, I discovered on Tuesday that my hands have gotten pretty soft. I have been seeing and lamenting the softening and disappearing of the calluses on my hands, but it hadn't occurred to me that my grip isn't the only part of my hand that is being neglected. See, while I did work out with the kettlebell over the weekend, I didn't do a lot of reps in a row. Tuesday morning, I did 15 sets of 20 (over 29 minutes, alternating with sets of 40 jumps). I managed to tear the skin off of the outside of both pinkies where they come in contact with the kettlebell when I grip it with both hands.

I wasn't the only one to get a hand tear either. It really drove home for me the fact that I will need to ease back into CrossFit. Sure, I know how to do the things that I've done before, but my body is not ready to do them at the same weight or intensity as before the stay at home order. I'll need to build up my calluses and take it easy on the weight so I don't come back only to get injured.

Working out from Home

Well, I did a trial run yesterday of working out from home. It was inspired by our planned test of work from home at work on Tuesday. We were supposed to work at our desks, but only using our laptops so that we could iron out any bugs in our processes. This was to last all morning, so I decided to start the day off in the proper mindset and do my workout at home as well.

My CrossFit box has started offering At Home workouts through Wodify, so I knew that I had something to do, as long as I was willing to improvise a bit. Some of the warm up moves were not things that I could easily do. For example, I live in a studio apartment. While the ceilings are actually high enough to accommodate jumping rope, there's no space wide enough to do it. So I just jumped in place as if I were jumping rope, with faster, higher jumps for double unders. I also don't have anything to use as a step, though I might be able to fashion or figure out some sort of step - but it wouldn't be a very high one. I substituted some high knees for step ups this time.

After the warm up, I took a little bit of time figuring out exactly how I wanted to time out the main workout, which had a 9 minute segment, a 2 minute segment and a 3 minute segment. I ended up deciding to set the stopwatch running and just stop when it hit 14 minutes. On my phone, the stopwatch function keeps the screen from locking, while the timer function does not, so stopwatch was much better for having to know when my segments were starting and ending.

I used a backpack with some weight in it for some lunges and jumping squats, and made it through 32 burpees in the final 3 minutes. Overall, I got very sweaty and breathed hard and it was a good workout. There was an optional segment that I did after I had cooled off and caught my breath a bit. It was some core work, and I enjoyed that. I also took some time to stretch after that, since I had time to spare before I'd normally be home from CrossFit.

I'm not really looking forward to more workouts from home, but it's something that I need to get used to now. It's unsettling, but I know that I can do it. I know that I can continue to improve my fitness, even if I can't get out to the gym for a while.

Incremental Improvement

A few weeks ago, when I was rowing at CrossFit, I came to another realization about my form.

Months ago one of the coaches told me not to pull with my arms until my legs and hips were extended. I could see that my arms were not only bending early but that I was pulling while they were bent. I tried to keep them straight, but I didn't really grasp this concept in my body until a couple of weeks ago.

It was during a workout that had us moving from a row to a farmer carry to a couplet of double unders and handstand push ups. I scaled the handstand push ups to box handstand push ups and went heavy on the carry with two 53 pound kettlebells. The row portion was 400 meters in under 2 minutes, which is pushing the pace for me, so I didn't hold to it for all 4 sets. I scaled to 350 so I'd have time to transition over to the farmers carry.

But on that row, with my hip flexors quite sore from being worked on outside of class, I finally started to feel how rowing works in my body. My arms had no role to play other than connector until the last minute, kind of like how you don't actually lift with your arms when you deadlift. The arms are just there to transmit the action and power of the legs. And the legs are not just pushing with the big muscles, but also, right before the end of the stroke, with the hips.

When I tightened my core and really felt that hip extension, I saw my 500 meter pace jump up with no additional increase in stroke rate. And I thought, wow, this is how I'm supposed to be doing this, just wow.

Of course, the next time I rowed, I didn't feel that. I thought I'd lost it, having barely gained comprehension, as if understanding rowing efficiency were nirvana and I had caught only the briefest glimpse of enlightenment.

But I did get it back one more time, so I think it's just a matter of breaking my bad, old habits and instilling new ones so that my body naturally rows more efficiently. That's the goal. Not sure how I'm going to measure it exactly, but I think if I can make this change, then I'll see my rowing times get faster as a result. They might just slow down a bit in the meantime as I experiment with my form, but that's a worthy sacrifice.

Gymnasty Goals

Sometimes, I don't think it's entirely realistic to think that I might be able to work on gymnastics and gain more skills as an adult. Especially without having a childhood background in gymnastics or really any sport at all. It seems like I might have gotten as far as I'm going to get, so what's the point of trying to gain more? With my body-weight strength where it is, not being able to do a set of 5 chin over the bar pull ups, or a single chest to bar pull up, it doesn't make as much sense to work on those higher level gymnastic skills, like muscle ups. Right? I'm not strong enough so why bother?

And then I consider that it took me over 11 months of focused, extra-curricular effort to get my first pull up. Months more effort until I could hit 5. And even though I'm down to 3 (4 on a good day) at the moment, that's in part because of focused effort on other areas (namely, the Spartan Race). I got stronger so I could do Spartan monkey bars, and wasn't as focused on pulling.

If I want to do a muscle up, then I need to put focus on that goal. And I need to work on my strength in specific ways, over a long period of time. That's how things work for me.

One of the accessory skills we worked on in the muscle up course was strict toes to bar. I cannot do that movement. I can do a toes to bar, even string 5 or 6 together - as long as I can kip. But without a kip, I can barely lift straight legs higher than my waist.

With that in mind, as well as the fact that the hollow and arch are foundational movements for gymnastics, led me to choose a slightly different strategy for strength than what I've done before. I'm not ready, right now, to commit to a longer strength workout like I did for pull ups. I might do that in the future, but I'm going to start with something a little simpler. Start with three to four days a week, doing two tabatas. Less than 10 minutes. One focuses on the arch and the hollow, the other on hip flexors with seated leg lifts.

I was actually planning on doing it every day, but then I discovered how very sore the movements made me. It's not super complicated, okay, maybe it's a little complicated, but it's straightforward. I do a hollow hold, then an arch hold, then flutter kicks while in hollow, then swimmers while in arch and repeat for the first one, then playing around with seated leg lift variations, alternating between legs together and legs apart. My abs were feeling it after two days in a row, so I scaled it back - to start.

The best part is, if this really helps me increase strength, I'll see it in more than just the gymnastics movements.

Gymnastics

I signed up for a gymnastics workshop through my CrossFit box. It's four classes over two weeks, focused on muscle ups. Both bar and ring, but focused more on ring than bar. Yesterday was the first class, and I feel like it was worth the money just for getting a chance to do a spotted kipping ring muscle up.

The muscle up is something that I want to be able to do, but I know that I'm still pretty far from it. I'm still working on building up my pull up volume and strength. After that will come strict chest to bar pull ups, then kipping chest to bar pull ups, then muscle ups. Oh, and strict dips need to be in there for the muscle up as well. I'm working more on those during Sunday Open hours, but I'm not quite there yet.

So I know that these four classes are not going to get me a real muscle up, but they are a stepping stone. I know what I want to be able to do, even if I'm still pretty far away from actually doing it. When I started CrossFit, I was a person who couldn't do pull ups. Now, I am a person who can do pull ups. So who's to say that my current non-muscle up self won't someday be a self doing muscle ups?

I will continue to build strength and work on technique and someday I will find that self.

Until then, I'll at least be doing some fun spotted work. We did some spotted strict muscle ups as well as the kipping, and those also felt pretty cool, because I could get the view from the top of the high rings. With the kipping one, it goes so fast that you don't even realize that you're transitioning and suddenly you're on top. So it's good to know how that should feel, even though without the spotting, I'd be stopped by my own lack of strength and coordination before I even started the transition.

I'm looking forward to doing some more drills over the next three classes, and hopefully a few more chances for the spotted kipping ring muscle ups.

Some Payoff

Lately at CrossFit, I've been feeling like I'm backsliding. Like I'm not doing as well as I have in the past and rather than making progress, I'm regressing. But then days like last Thursday come around and I realize that I am still working on my foundation, and that although it is a slow build, it is growing. I am improving, overall, even if I have off days.

Last Thursday we did max unbroken double unders and the benchmark workout Ghost. We had already done some double unders earlier in the week, sets of 20 and 30, and I was feeling really good and smooth with those, even within the workout when I was getting tired. And on Wednesday night, I forgot to check what the workout was going to be, so I wasn't thinking about it overnight. I just woke up, checked the workout, got dressed and went and did it.

I checked my recorded max double unders before going to class, so I had a number that I wanted to beat (56). My first unbroken set attempt got me 62 reps, and I was worried that it might have been a fluke or a counting mistake until I tried again and got to 67. It might be realistic to aim for 100 soon. Maybe.

Ghost is a workout I've done three times before, twice as prescribed (Rx). On the one hand, I don't like it because it's really hard. On the other hand, I like it because it's one of the few benchmark workouts that I don't have to scale since the movements are rowing, burpees and double unders. The format is 6 rounds of 1 minute rowing for calories, 1 minute burpees, 1 minute double unders, 1 minute rest. And then we score the total calories, total burpees and total dubs and get the total reps.

Looking back, I didn't do as many calories on the rower as the first time I did the workout in May 2017 (73), but I did more calories than in May 2019 (59) for a total this time of 66 calories. Same with burpees (63, 54 and 56 this time). But it's the double unders that blows both of those out of the water. In 2017, I only managed 122. That went up to 240 in 2019. And on Thursday I got 303 for a total rep score of 425, 72 reps more than the last time I did the workout.

So I got a PR in both my max unbroken double unders and Ghost, and I felt good. This is part of the payoff of the discipline of going to CrossFit on schedule, 5 days a week. And yes, I did ring the PR bell, because I earned it.