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.

Running Despite

I really didn't want to run yesterday. I mean, I did voluntary do 200 meter runs outside in the cold on Sunday morning, wasn't that enough for one week already? I ran like half a mile in 200 meter stretches. But that was during CrossFit. And CrossFit is what CrossFit is, but it is not dedicated running time. And since I can't go hiking during the workday, running is what I need for training for the coming backpacking season.

I mean, I will be doing some hikes, but they'll have to be weekend affairs.

So for exercise release at work, I've been putting a focus on running for January. I've run so far for most of my twice weekly work day fitness breaks. Last week I did some incline treadmill walking instead. I just wasn't feeling the run, and I was going to let myself have a run break periodically anyway.

But twice in two weeks? Nuh-uh.

That meant that yesterday, no matter that I sooooo did not want to run, it was run day. I ran.

20 outside laps of the indoor track, which is just shy of two miles. It took me longer than when I timed 20 laps earlier in January, but, I may have mentioned, I'm just not sure, I really didn't want to run yesterday, so I took even a slow 20 laps as a triumph.

Besides, I wouldn't have encountered the reverse runner if I hadn't run. The track has specific direction of flow depending on the day of the week. I could understand how someone might get confused and run the wrong way yesterday, because it was the Tuesday following a holiday Monday. It's possible that this young woman got onto the track and thought that I was going the wrong way for a Monday when in reality she was going the wrong way for a Tuesday. I tried to subtly gesture at her that she was running the wrong way, but I was, perhaps, a bit too subtle. She continued to run in the reverse direction, even when another runner and a walker joined us on the track and went my direction.

My husband is always striking up conversations with people in the gym. That's not my thing, but I do wonder what she might have said if I had at least asked her why she was running the wrong way...

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.

Fitness Goals 2020

I feel like I'm at a good place, fitness wise, this year. I've been working on building a foundation, and though the payoff is slow, it is coming. Last year, I focused on conquering the Spartan Race, and I did it. But it came at the expense of my backpacking conditioning. I'm not going to let that happen this year. This year, the focus is on being ready for backpacking season, with more small prep trips through May and June so Ambrose and I are ready for the coast and so that I'm ready for the 2nd half of the Frank Church on the Idaho Centennial Trail.

But that focus doesn't mean that I can't have other goals. I can and I shall.

A year long goal is to attend 264 CrossFit classes. I did 259 in 2018 and 257 in 2019, so I know that's a number within my reach. I also know I won't make commitment crew for 2020 because I'm taking too many August vacations and also focusing on backpacking in June and July, which will reduce my summer months' attendance. That means I need to pick it up in the off season to make the goal. That's an average of 22 classes per month. With the lower numbers for sure coming in August, I'll be trying for 25 classes per month in January, February, March, October, November and December. If I can swing that, then I'll need about 18 classes per month for the remainder, which will be spread out since I doubt I'll even make 18 in August.

It's probably not great that I don't have a concrete plan for this one, but I still want a freestanding handstand. I've had this on my radar for a while now, but I do feel that I'm getting closer with my foundation. If I really want this one, I'm going to have to work at it. Figure out a plan and stick to it. So the goal is to figure out a plan and then pick a time to work on it.

Arbor CrossFit has a pull up challenge for January. I don't know that I'll actually be able to complete it, since I've never done more than 7 strict pull ups and the challenge ends with a set of 10, but I'm going to try and see how many I can end up getting on the challenge plan. I want to increase my pull up strength so I can get a strict chest to bar, one of the many steps on my long road to muscle ups.

I've been doing the 15 minute 3 pull up/3 dip EMOM with my girlfriends at Arbor, and I am starting to see some impact on my dips. I used to use the horns and bands, but since I restarted with the girls, I've been doing assisted ring dips, and I was able to do a negative ring dip and hold at the bottom last Sunday. That is a new thing for me, since it used to be when I tried to hold at the bottom, I would drop after less than a second - and that's coming into the position at the bottom, not after lowering from the top. So I'm going to put a strict ring dip on the Arbor goal board, because I think I'm close and I'm going to get there soon with the work that I'm doing.

Finally, I'm working on my weight and diet. I want to get a bit leaner, especially since I'm considering doing the next gains course, which will, by definition, increase my weight. There's not really a concrete goal with weight; more than I want to be aware and not continue to increase willy-nilly. I would like to lose some fat, and it would just be nice to get back into the 140's. I mean, for now, it's all about staying out of the 160's, but I think what I'm doing will get me back to the 140's. For now, I'm tracking what I eat and when, but not how much. I want to make this a sustainable habit, and calorie counting is just a bit more than I want to do for starters. As far as diet goes, I'm still figuring out which foods trigger my tummy, but the main food experiment going on to start the year is, which bars can I eat for backpacking? I have half a dozen so far to try, and I'll get more to try if necessary. I'm going to dial in my backpacking food in the off-season so that I don't get sick on the trail like last year.

End of the Decade

This morning at CrossFit, before we got started, some people were talking and someone mentioned that this was the last workout of the decade. And I thought back to where I was a decade ago, athletically speaking. I couldn't do a pull up and would never have imagined that that was something that I would be able to do. In 2010, I had a different job, and I'd barely started running, let alone backpacking or CrossFitting.

Athletically speaking, I am improved in every way since a decade ago. I'm stronger and faster and I have more skills. It's been a good ten years, and I'm looking forward to finding out what I'll be able to do in ten more years. Because I don't want to stop. I don't want to turn back. I might always be the slowest person at CrossFit, but I will continue to improve upon myself.

I use CrossFit to help me stay in shape for backpacking. Increasing my strength makes the load of the pack easier to bear. I could feel the difference from the first trip Ambrose and I took on the coast to the second. My core was so much stronger, and it made a significant difference to the way that I navigated across slippery rocks while carrying a 40 pound pack. But CrossFit is also something that I enjoy for itself. The community is great, and I love not knowing exactly what I'll be doing day to day for the workout.

This summer, I plan on doing another coast hike with Ambrose, and a solo hike on the Idaho Centennial Trail to wrap up the section through the Frank Church. We've arranged for me to get a ride up to Dry Saddle on the Magruder Corridor, so we don't have to worry about renting a vehicle better suited to the road than our Focus. I'm going to be focusing on those hikes in my preparation. No Spartan Race this year, because as fun as I find obstacle course races, I prefer backpacking. It's much less crowded, and can be just as challenging.