Wednesday, November 25, 2020

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. 

Wednesday, November 18, 2020

November Progress

Well, I didn't get my 3 runs in last week like I hoped. But I did get 2 runs, so I'm going to call that a win. It was very rainy over the weekend, which precluded any trail running for me. And I still wasn't feeling 100%, so I actually took some steps to take care of myself, crazy, right? 

Instead of being tired all weekend, I chose to go to bed super early and sleep until I woke up. That worked out really well; I got a lot of sleep, and my husband didn't have to starve on Sunday morning until I woke up and made him his omelet (pickled jalapeƱo and cream cheese filled, pepper cheddar coated, dash of guac on the side). 

I have managed to keep up with Power Abs, even though it was a bit challenging this week. Not specifically the Power Abs workout, because I've done those before, but the combination of the at home CrossFit workout I did Monday with the Power Abs Tuesday was a doozy. On Monday, the substitute for running 800 meters was 50 burpees. And I got to do that 3 times for a grand total of 150 burpees. Not my favorite, but the Power Abs Tuesday was the burpee heavy one, where it's almost max reps burpees in 10 minutes, but with a few reps of one other exercise tossed in. I ended up doing 98 burpees on Tuesday. 

That's way too many burpees, as my body's soreness can attest. 

Over halfway through November, and I am starting to feel the results of having some consistency in my exercise again. My body is sore, but also ready. And Boise is doing a bit of a tour of the seasons, allowing me to run yesterday in mid-60 degree weather, which, with cloud cover, is nearly the perfect temperature for running outside. 

I'm thinking of doing another cycle of Power Abs after I finish this one; maybe two more. I could do a hybrid of level 1 and level 2 next month, and then try for all level 2 in the new year. I like having a goal that I can discipline myself to achieve, exercise-wise. 

Wednesday, November 11, 2020

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. 

Wednesday, November 4, 2020

Just Do It

I did not want to run on Saturday. I did not want to run or hike or even walk very far. I was tired and I still felt a bit sick from the illness of the previous weekend. My lungs felt tight, and I was worried, even though I just had a wellness appointment on Wednesday and the doc had nothing to say about the state of my lungs. 

Since it was a payday, my husband and I went shopping on Saturday morning. I could have gotten up early to do my run, but, as stated above, I really didn't want to do it. So, I slept in a bit, and we got breakfast and then went shopping. And then we were back home again and it was time to do the run. 

I felt obligated to do it, because I'd promised myself that this off-season, I would hike at least once a month, and this was the last day of October. I had to do it. No matter how much I really didn't want to. 

The weather was actually lovely; I started out wearing a windbreaker but didn't really need it in short order. I started my journey by running (slowly) down my street and over to the Greenbelt. Then to the Municipal Golf Course, where I did what I'd typically do and ran to the parking lot by way of the putting green. 

But I found that in the time since I'd last run this route (and it had been quite a while), the whole parking lot had been redone. Instead of a place to cross the street, I found a fence. I thought about jumping it, and decided to find the new route, which does connect to the Greenbelt directly (that explains the looks I got for running by the putting green). 

I crossed the street and made my way to the trail that would take me up to Table Rock. This isn't the more commonly used trail, but I knew I'd see some people on it, because there were bikes parked at the trailhead and even an escooter. Still, it wouldn't be as crowded as the Greenbelt, so I tugged my buff down and got a drink of water while I started the uphill portion. 

I slowed to a walk for much of the climb, and I stopped and stepped off the trail to let maskless people go by (I would have done the same for people wearing masks; I just didn't see that many of those). I know some of them saw how easy it was for me to pop my mask into place as we came into proximity; I hope some of them choose to do that in the future. 

The thought of turning back early tempted me when I got to a place where I've done turnarounds before - we call it The Spike, where the trail reaches a plateau - but I kept on going even though I felt pretty horrible. My heart was pounding and my breathing didn't feel full. 

On the plateau, I ran a bit, but mostly walked. And when it came to the approach to Table Rock, aka The Ramp, I didn't try to jog anymore, but just walked without stopping. One foot in front of the other. Ignore the pounding, ignore the pain, just breathe. 

And I realized that I was constricting my own breathing. I had been so anxious and worried, that I was not letting myself breathe fully. I rolled my shoulders back and took a deep breath. And from that point on, I didn't feel that tightness in my chest. If I hadn't gone on this run, pushed myself to where I could feel where that anxiety was affecting my breathing, I might not have figured it out. I needed this run, and I'm so glad I went, especially because I didn't want to.

It was still a hard hike. Table Rock is steep. But I got to the top, and when I came down, I started jogging it. Downhill running can be nerve-wracking, but it also takes a good deal of focus and concentration. By focusing on my foot placement, I found myself going down at a decently fast pace. I kept it up as I turned toward the Rock Island trail to make my way back down, but I got cocky. 

See, I'd made it that far without a stumble, so I allowed myself to get distracted by the sight of a guy standing off the trail at a fence with his dog. Naturally, a rock caught my right foot, pitching my body forward. 

I've only fallen on my face on the trails a couple of times over the years. This was not one of those times. No, this was one of the more frequent times when I stumble, pitch forward, crank my abs and keep running. Good thing I remembered how to do that, because I had to use it two more times before I made it back to the pavement. 

I thought I'd run the whole way home once I reached pavement, but my body had other ideas. My IT band on the right side was painful, and my muscles overall were feeling quite overused. Probably something to do with this being the first serious exercise I'd done in over a week. Sure, I did a mile on Tuesday and almost 1.5 miles on Thursday. Both of those were on flats. The Table Rock route I do is over 7 miles. 

So I walked a good deal on the Greenbelt. I ran some, usually picking a spot where I'd start running, and then picking a spot to stop. But I walked a lot. Fast walking though. And I pulled my mask up when I saw people coming. 

It really was a beautiful day to be outside though. 


Some beautiful blue autumn sky in the background.