WSD & MT after the Holidays!

So it's been a long hiatus again. Never good on the body to not work out for a long period of time. I should have been keeping up, but I didn't. So we started off with WSD. A fairly light warm up of jogging, bear crawls, crab walks, and holding plank. We then moved onto reviewing grabs and chokes. After a brief review we did a randori style where we each took turns being the attacker and doing different moves til the bell goes off. Whatever techniques were not done properly during the practice we went over again. We ended with a sparring session. It lasted forever!
Then we moved over to Muay Thai. We joined in with warm up and jogged, planked, did lots of ab work, and were kaput. We were split into beginners and advanced and went over basics like how to stand, punches 1 and 2, and moving. Calves were burning by this time. I took a few extra water breaks so I wouldn't cramp up. But I made it thru whole class. It's going to be torture after i get back from vacation! Hopefully all the walking I do will help keep me in better condition.

MT, CF, and WSD

Saturday we got up and went to our first Muay Thai class. It was brilliant. It's completely different than BJJ. A lot of standing, punching, kicking, etc. There wasn't one thing I couldn't do during class- sure I probably didn't hit as much, as fast, or as hard, but I didn't have to modify. We plan on going next Wednesday since this week is a holiday and it's closed for four days. Looking for gloves and shin guards to start. Eventually the fancy shorts will come.

After the soreness from MT class on Saturday, I spent hours working in the yard Sunday and my right shoulder just was beat up. Needless to say CF was rough today. Warm up was 3 Rounds of: 200m Run (row), 10 x Push-ups, 10 x Jumping squats (non jumping). That had me huffing and puffing and loaded with sweat. So of course it was time to move onto the WOD. It was 3 Rounds of: 400m Run (row), 20 x Burpees, 30 x Double unders (singles), 2 Mins Rest. The row wasn't bad. The burpees, however, were another story. I still can't do a proper burpee, but I try. Today even that wasn't cutting it. I had to scale it back further and not go all the way onto the ground. Jumping was also rough. I can get upwards of 15 jumps without messing up on an awesome day- today it wasn't more than three. Not awesome. I finished last again and then moved on to the core- 50 T2B. On the floor again for this one. Anyone who has been in an environment like this knows that the inevitable will happen. You will fart at the wrong moment. It was really quiet and there were only about four of us left. I lifted my legs up to the bar and the weirdest, loudest sound came from right below my legs! Yes, my first audible CF gas incident. I had to recompose myself and continue on. It took me a while to finish, but I finally did. Rough, rough class.

After all this I still went to WSD. Class wasn't horribly rough, but it had it's moments. Mild warm up, jogging, sit ups, push ups, rolling, hip escapes...  Then we moved onto some review. Starting with wrist grabs and then working up to the oopa. Another day down.

High Spirits!

Today was another good round of CF. We did 3 rounds of 10x ring rows, 10x squats, and 10x shoulder pass throughs. Today we had a skill to work on and it was muscle ups. I kept trying to just hold my body weight from the pull up bar. It's a lot of weight! But I know I'm improving because I could lift my feet off the ground this time. Sure it was probably only milliseconds, but last time I couldn't do it at all. Then we moved onto the WOD. Today was an alternating tabata of pull ups and box jumps. I did ring rows and used a 45# for my jumps. The total of all exercises was the score. Mine was 105. I did way more ring rows than jumps. But again I could feel the difference. It's a good feeling. Core was 30 supermans. After about 20 I was really feeling it. Glad to have another week down.

Still going!

Tuesday we missed BJJ but yesterday we did go to WSD. It was more of a low key class since it was just my daughter and myself. We did warm up and then moved into reviewing techniques.

Today I went to CF and it was pretty good. We did the standard warm up and then moved on to the WOD. Today we started with a 750m row and then 5 rounds of 10 back squats (95# w/ rack) and 10 hand release push ups. I did the girl version of the push ups. My time was 13:34. Core was KTE and since I can't do them on the bar, I do them on the floor. Basically it's where you lay down and bring your legs up as far as you can and then back down without touching your feet to the ground. I did 65. It was a good day.

Getting back on track...

I forgot my sneakers at home this morning. It would be an easy excuse to not go to class today. But instead I bucked up and told coach I forgot my shoes. Luckily the WOD was weight work. So we did warm up and then moved on to the WOD. Today it was Back squat 1RM, Strict press 1RM, Deadlift 1RM. Your score was the total of all three max weights. I got 485! Back squat was 175, Strict press was 85 (brutal), and my Deadlift was 225! It's the most I've ever done. Really glad I went this afternoon and we are all set for WSD tonite. Glad to be back in the swing of things!

Taking a hiatus.

So I feel broken. Mentally and physically. I had a nice weekend away and missed CF Monday because the kid had an appt. We went to WSD and it was a good class. Warm up and then a lot of escapes from the ground. Tues was more appts and wed was a meeting for school. Today I just didn't have it in me. I'm definitely not giving up, but I just need to take a little time off to recover and regroup. I'm having a *lot* of issues with food. If I don't' get that under control then I don't think it will really matter what I do at the gym. It's depressing and difficult and as much as I want to give up, I know I can't. One meal at a time. I'll get there. I'll check back in Monday with hopefully a better outlook!

CF Thurs

So it's my Friday and I decided to be good and go to CF again so I'd have at least two classes down for this week. Today was the standard warm up and then the WOD was “Nancy” which is 5 Rounds for time of: 400m Run (I rowed), 15 x OHS (I did 45#). Again I wasn't the last one to finish. I came in about 3 mins before the last person at 22:10 (or I think it was- I was really really beat and this is the time I remember!) Core was 30 supermans. I feel really good now that I went and it's over, but it was painful during! Still getting those side pains. Hopefully it's just a phase with a muscle or maybe I ate lunch too close to the workout.

Return to CF

With the recent hurricane that passed through our area the gym was closed for two days. So I decided to go to CF whenever they opened. There were six or seven of us in class. We started with warm up- 3 Rounds of 10 x Shoulder pass throughs, 10 x Push-ups, 10 x Squats. After that we moved on to the WOD "Fran." It's a 21-15-9 rep of Thrusters and Pull ups. I did 45# for my thrusters and scaled down the pull ups to ring rows. My time was 10:10. Core was 3 x20 supermans for me. It was really hard coming back into class after the 5k and the pain from the past few days. It feels good and bad to be back. I'm ready to do the 5k next year. Yes. The pain from race is fading and the fun memories still remain. I must be crazy. 

Dead.

Yesterday was the Zombie 5k- runforyourlives.com- just north of Baltimore. I started Cross Fit for this. Oh how unprepared I was. For the past few days I've been dreading this, wanting to back out and just forget about it. But after we showed up and got our tags and got ready, I was ready to go. I committed to this and I wasn't going to back out. The zombies were great. They mostly cheered me on, even as they were killing me. The obstacles were horrendous. The course was on a camping site that had hiking trails. There was a lot of up and down to start with. I felt like we had already gone a mile when it was probably just 1/4 of one. We had to crawl thru some black pipes and that was difficult as I couldn't stand up without getting my legs in front of me. Talk about awkward when trying to shift my body around! Shortly before the 1 mile mark there was a crawling section. I was nervous that I wouldn't fit under there and through these small triangles. About halfway thru I had had it and was ready to give up. Luckily there was a really nice guy urging me on and then he waited for me to catch up. My daughter was also at the end cheering for me. I was shocked I made it out. The guy stayed back for me on the next obstacle which was going under barbed wire. His friend was smaller than me but she kept getting caught up on it. That made me nervous as I didn't want to get cut up. The guy monitoring the obstacle helped me try it by lifting up the first barbwire. The way I was crawling he said I was fine and had plenty of room so away I went! The other side was hard and I needed a hand to climb out, but I made it! Down a muddy hill we slowly went to this natural spring (large pond/small lake) filled with now muddy water! They said it was fifty degrees because it's fed from an underground source. I had to wait for a group to pass and as I sat there, I worried about how I was going to get out the other side. All they had was a steep muddy bank and a rope. The water was so cold it took my breath and I could barely inhale. With shallow breaths I swam to the guide rope and then pulled and kicked my way across as fast as I could. At the other side I found my footing and pulled and then shifted my feet and pulled again, next thing I knew I was out and not so cold anymore! It was such an accomplishment to get out of that lake for me. We worked our way further through the course, muddy hills down and up and turning and rocks- not the most awesome thing to walk on. Then we came to the top of a very steep hill. about 2/3 of the way down it was so severe that I got down on my bottom and scooted the rest of the way. I really did not want to fall. And of course what goes up must come down and vice verse! So up we went. I literally bear crawled my way up it was so steep. Finally at the top it was another water station, marking the end of mile 2. The "top" of the hill was a myth, we went a short ways on flat ground and then had to make our way up more hills, luckily not as steep. I went around the mud pit because the footing looked treacherous. Next was a playground full of zombies and then two smokehouses filled with electrifying strings hanging from the ceiling. I couldn't make it thru the window so again, went around. We thought we were close to the end, but we weren't. Down, around, down, up, up, up! The last stretch of uphill was brutal. They had a lot of little hills and then some trees to go over, more mud! We got to the top and worked our way around to the giant slide. I was worried again about getting out of the pool of water so skipped that and headed for the electric fence. After watching for a few I went for it. Made it thru no problem. Full of mud, sore from head to toe, I made it. We crossed the finish line together, my daughter and I, after 3 grueling hours and 58 torturous minutes. It took forever, but I did it.

I'm sure there are some things I missed, but it's now Monday and I really want to finish this post. My calves are still surging with pain but the rest of the aches are fading. And yes, I may do this again next year! Try to cut my time in half maybe. We're in the path of Hurricane Sandy so the gym was closed today. I was going to go to CF, but I guess it's for the best that I'm still kind of in recovery mode. Things look like they'll be shut down tomorrow too.

Thurs CF

So with my arm feeling better and a full night's rest I made my way to class. There was myself and two other guys there so we busted through pretty quickly. Standard warm up and then two WODs. The first one was 4 x 8 Strict press. Going at our own pace for the reps. I did 45#. It was a struggle once I hit 6. We got our bar ready for the second WOD. I had two bars because I can lift more then I can hold over my head. It was 21-15-9 for time of: OHS (95#/65#), SDHP (95#/65#). I did 45# on my Over Head Squats and 65# (RX!!!) on my Sumo Deadlift High Pulls. My time was 7:45. For core I did 3 x 20 supermans. Here's my print from after we were done and starting to clean up. I thought it was funny that I was so beat up from this workout that I left a body sweat line on the concrete.

Wed WSD

It was just the kid and myself for WSD today. We did warm up- jogging, bear crawls, and shrimping/sit ups. Then we moved on to chokes on the ground. It was good. We got in a few different techniques and then had some time to practice them. My arm has been sore for almost a week now. I got some therapy on it and taped it and amazingly it's feeling better. The bruising is starting to fade. Here's an update to what they looked like at "peak bruise."

CF Monday

Another week is here and it was an mellow class today. A lot of hard work, but not brutal like it's been. We started off with warm up which was 3 Rounds of: 10 x Good mornings, 10 x Push-ups, 10 x Squats. Then onto the WOD. It was three rounds of 15 x GHD Bench press (45#/30#), 25 x Good mornings (45#/30#), 800m Run. I did regular bench presses with 35# and then used a 33# bar for GMs and rowed. Got done in 20:58. my right arm is still really sore. Not sure what I did to it but it's been hurting all weekend. It didn't interfere with my workout tho, so that was good. No WSD tonite as we are going out.

CFF

I'm feeling badly good. I know it sounds weird, but I'm feeling bad in a good way. Last night I fell asleep with my three ibuprofen and woke up feeling good. I headed to the gym in high spirits with regards to the day's WOD. Warm up was simple, 3 rounds of 10x jumping ring dips, 10x shoulder pass throughs, and 200m run (I rowed). Then we set up for the WOD. Today was a tabata with three exercises: squats, pull ups (ring rows for me), and box jumps (I used a 45# weight). Even though I was dripping with sweat and my body felt like it had 10x the normal amount of gravity pushing me down, I made it through to the end. The squats were good. I'm getting better at them. Ring rows were bad- the back of my right knee acted up during the third round and hindered me quite a bit. It relayed over to the box jumps too. I started off slow, but picked up towards the end. For the core I did 30 supermans. No resting this time, just pumped them out. I must say I really prefer this 12 min tabata to the 16 or 20 min ones we've done in the past. Total reps was our score and I got 171!

CF

Every move I make hurts somewhere on my body. Breathing hurts. Physically I am completely drained. Why I don't have any ibuprofen in my desk is beyond me. Warm up was the standard. There ended up being three of us in class so we moved along fairly quickly. Our skill today was Pistols. Not my favorite as it's a squat on one leg. Very hard and painful still. The WOD was 30 x Power snatch, 400m Run, 20 x Power snatch, 400m Run,10 x Power snatch,400m Run for time. I started with 45# then 55# and ended with 65# for the PS and instead of running I rowed. So much trauma on my arms! I was behind in the second round and then caught up in the third. The one lady had 4 PS left and I was able to pump out my ten in almost the same time she finished her four. It was brutal. Onto the rower for the last 400M and everything was burning, even my feet. I was about 25m til I finished and I saw the lady round the corner to come back so I pumped it out to finish just a few seconds after her. What a relief! My time was 24:45.

Wed WSD

Class started off as just me and coach. He had this look in his eye that made me fear class! I'm an advanced student so we're going to try some different things. Wait, what? No, not me. I'm not advanced! But I guess he sees progress so that's good. After jogging, shrimping, squatting, and bear crawling, another girl shows up (she's also been coming for a while). We finished warm up and moved into review of grab escapes. After moving quickly through those we did some randori rounds of doing random grabs on each other. It's hard to figure out what to do. So many choices. Moving on to the ground we did a couple escape rounds to get out and get away when we're mounted. And the finale was sparring. Oh painful sparring. As fun as it is, I get out of breath quickly and after a three minutes I pretty much gave in. We had been going good for the last 15 minutes of class and I was sweaty and gasping for air. Next time I need to go in for the tap faster and get her to submit. She's so fast tho. CF today and I'm dreading the pain. My arms are bruised and sore.

Fantastic night of WSD

WSD was awesome. We went over stuff that I hate.. like base and shoulder escapes, but it was myself and another woman who is a blast to have in class. After warm up we went over wrist escapes pretty quickly. Then we moved on to the chicken wing move and then doubled up for how to do the double chicken wing escape. It's one of my favorites. We went back and forth with the moves and then headed into a randori type game to test each other on the types of grabs. After that we played the "survivor" game and used the grabs to try to keep the other person while they used the escapes we practiced. We were both fairly successful except once when I got her with the double chicken wing grab and was able to pull her back pretty far. But she just learned the chicken wing move so I can't hold it against her! She is a fast one when she escapes. It's been a while since I had non back pain pain in class. Tonight it was my right side that just flared up towards the end. I had to break and get water. Another class where I was pouring with sweat! Tomorrow we have a show to see so will miss JJ again. But I'll be back for Wed WSD.

Monday CF

Today was an "easy" workout says Coach. Yeah no. It took everything I had just to drive to class. I really wasn't feeling it. Warm up was 3 rounds of 10 x Good mornings, 10 x Lightweight push jerk, 10 x Shoulder pass throughs (first two with a bar, third with pvc) and then we moved on to the WOD. For time we only had to do 30 Clean and Jerks. I loaded up my bar to 45# and we began. It was nice to have Coach work out with us (just myself and another lady in class today) and she finished super quick! I was next to finish at 5:55. Then a few seconds later the other lady got done. I know she had more weight on her bar than I did, but it was again nice not to be last. For core I did three reps of 25 "unbroken" sit ups. Meaning I didn't stop during my set. And I didn't! It was painful, but good. Tonite is WSD. Looks like I'm going in alone. Hopefully it won't be too brutal.

TGICFF

Yes, it's Cross Fit Friday! I'm feeling good and sore after today's workout. Warm up was 3 Rounds of: 200m Run (row), 10 x Squats, 10 x Lightweight push press. After working up a sweat I was asked to move the rower outside- thankfully it was a gorgeous day- for the wod. The WOD was 3 Rounds of: 8xThrusters (65# for me), 15 x T2B (on the floor for me), and 400m Run (row) then rest 2 Mins. I pushed through the last round so I could be done the same time as another lady. My times were 4:54, 5:28, and 4:54. I think I could have done better on the second round but I was beat. Another week over.

Thurs CF

We started with the normal warm up and then got ready for the WOD. We did five rounds, max rep each round, of bench presses and pull ups (ring rows for me).  Overall I did 43 bench presses at 85# and then 54 ring rows. My arms are still sore. Core was 50 supermans for time. I completed them in 1:07. Non stop supermanning. I rocked it. Just three of us doing the WOD today and that included Coach. I need to figure out what I'm doing tomorrow. As of right now I'm super tired!

Wed WSD

We had a good class today. Warm up was jogging and then bear crawls and shoulder escapes and shrimping and push ups. We went over arm grabs and some chokes. We learned a new grab escape and my name for it is the chicken wing.  Basically if your hand is grabbed above your head then you bend your elbow in a way where you chicken wing their arm and it makes them let go. Then we moved onto floor escapes. I sat this one out but ended up having to do it when we went into the games. The first one was the other person trying to escape me and she did. Then we changed partners and I held on to her as best I could but eventually she got away. I need to be able to get up faster. But when I was the survivor and escaping I was able to shift out from under her grip and get to a point where I could use her to stand up. She grabbed my arm and I got out then she went to choke me with both hands so I threw up the elbow and wrapped my arm around her and loaded her on my back. She tapped out pretty quickly then! Honestly I hadn't realized I had loaded her. Pretty neat stuff and quite the workout.

WSD

WSD was good. We did some warm ups and then moved on to getting up and down in base and then working on arm grabs again. Nothing major. Missed BJJ tonite due to a dr appt that ran late.

CF x2

So I took my Dr's advice and tried an extra day of CF. I went in Friday for a workout and got more of a beat down. Warm up was 3 rounds of: 10 x Jumping ring dips, 10 x Shoulder pass throughs, 200m Run (I rowed) and that did me in. I was exhausted. After a few minutes for everyone to get their dumbells ready we moved on to the WOD. It was 4 rounds for time of: 25 x Push-ups, 10 x DB Snatch R arm (45#/25#), 10 x DB Snatch L arm (45#/25#), 800m Run. I did knee push ups, a 20# weight, and then rowed. The first set felt good, the second set felt awful, the third set my arms were burning, and the final set I was closing my eyes pretending I was anywhere else just trying to finish this thing up! There were four of us doing this particular WOD and I was third to finish! Talk about a boost to my self-esteem. Even tho she was running and I was rowing, I was keeping up with the group. My time was 36:21. A really, really, really long WOD. But it was good to get it done. Core was holding a plank for as long as you could. It's hard for me to do in shoes so I didn't last long. Then we did it 3 more times. I got about 25 seconds for the first one and then it dwindled from there.

Today was another stressful WOD. Again with the burning arms. Warm up was three rounds of 10 x Ring rows, 10 x Push-ups, 10 x Squats. Then the WOD was for time: 1000m Row, then 6 Rounds of: 8 x Ring dips, 10 x Pull-ups, 12 x Pistols. The row took me 4:46 and I did a modified version of the dips where I jump up and just try my best, then ring rows instead of pull ups, and a modified pistol squat- I used the rings to help me balance and I couldn't squat very far at all. My total time including the rowing was 18:33. I moved on to core earlier than everyone else because I was worried about not being able to finish like last time we had this as a core. I did 50 before everyone started and then did 50 while everyone else was doing their 100. First half wasn't timed, but the second half was and I did them in 3:29. Amazing! I'm shocked that I was able to do it. Sure my arms were on fire and my stomach was actively fighting against my every move, but I did it! Tonite is WSD and hopefully I will be able to make it through the class.

Pushing Through the Pain

I wanted to give up about halfway thru the WOD today. It was morbid. Coach worked out with us today and there was just another girl, coach, and myself there. Had to push thru for some girl power. We started off with the regular warm up that I still get winded doing and then moved on to the WOD. Today it was five rounds of 10 front squats and 10 lateral burpees. For the front squats I loaded up two 10# for a total of 35#. I can't pull my arms into the proper position yet, so it's hard to carry a lot of weight. For the burpees now that I go all the way onto the ground and the push all the way back up it's so much harder than ever for me. I thought it was rough standing up in base four or five times in a row- bah that's nothing compared to 10 times in a row of getting down and slowly easing myself onto the floor and then pushing up to stand back up. I definitely wasn't doing lateral burpees. There was no jumping involved for me. Someday. For now scaling is just a way of life. I was the last one done and it took me a little more than twice as long as the other girls, coming in at 22 mins and 32 secs. For core (because 50 burpees isn't enough) I got to end it with 30 supermans. After getting my breath back I was able to kick those out without much of a problem. It was refreshing as lately after 10 or 15 I'm breathing like a freight train. I feel good. I'm glad I finished. My body is sore and tired.

WSD Wednesday!

Best Class Ever! No matter how much I bitched or whined during it, I feel so much better after making it thru. We started with warm up. Jogging, sit ups, push ups.. but then we did a bear crawl lap the longer length of the room. I made it there and back. I missed the lunges, but did the step squats lap and then the worst of all... it was a push up, bear crawl step, push up, bear crawl step, repeat till you complete a full lap (full lap is there and back)!!! It was the hardest thing I've completed. Today was the first time I've ever created a sweaty full body print on the mat. It was gross, but good. We drilled pulls, pushes, and wrist grab escapes. Then we moved into some new technique where if someone grabs your shirt you are about to flip their arm either to break it at the elbow or twist it behind their back. After going over that for a bit we went in to a controlled randori and practiced different grabs on each other. We were the only two in class and it was really nice having a "private" session.

BJJ eh...

So we did end up going to JJ last night. We started with the warm up routine, running, high knees, butt kicks, shuffle steps- then went right into drills. I stayed in the back because I can't really go fast like these guys can. So I do my penetration steps, forward rolls, elbow escapes, etc in this area in the corner. After about a half hour of drilling we go into maneuvers. Now I don't do JJ regularly and I'm really out of shape so that doesn't help. I try to do what I can and scale where possible. I kept practicing rolls because I couldn't do what they were doing. Coach tells me to scale it down. Well that is the problem. I don't know HOW to scale it. I will try and try and try, but if I can't figure out how, then we have a problem. Normally I can scale it within reason and it's common sense type stuff. Asking is always an option, but I hate taking the time from someone else, especially if they've never had to scale it for themselves. I'm not your average MMA person. Ah well. We'll see how next class goes. Not super sore today. Still bruised in my throat area from Monday. Followup with my Dr went well. EKG and bloodwork all look good. Advised I exercise more. WTF doc.. W T F.

WSD

Last night was WSD and it left me with pain and a bit of anger. There were only three of us in class and  once again the kid got picked on. Last week she said she wasn't going back to a Monday class. This week she went ahead and went back, figuring it can't be *that* bad. Well I know she doesn't do things correctly all the time. She knows she doesn't do things correctly all the time, but I guess it finally became too much because now it's a constant dig with her (from the coach). It's embarrassing and demoralizing. So after a warm up we went into a choke maneuver. So not good. She took her issues out on me and boy could I feel it. A little overcompensating so much so that I felt like my collarbone was going to crack. After I told her to go easier she did it again. Then the other hand was better but once she switched back she did it a third time. I wanted to drop her to the ground and choke her. I'm still in pain. Breathing was hurting for a bit afterwards. Now it's tender and feels bruised even tho it doesn't look it. I think icing it helped a bit. I'm not sure she'll be coming back to class with me. And if that's the case, I'm not sure how much longer I'll be able to go to this place. When you're overweight and you have trouble doing something, someone making  you do it doesn't work. It just doesn't. There are things you can and can't do no matter your age/weight/ability. Some things take time and practice. Some things will never happen. I go and I try every single time I'm there. Most days I'm not wanting to go. It was a disappointing evening on more than one level. BJJ is a maybe for this evening. if she really wants to go, we'll go. I just have a bad taste in my mouth thinking about it.

CF Monday

Just another Monday afternoon. Today was the first time in a long, long time if ever that I thought I was actually going to pass out during class. I was getting physically sick and had to stop numerous times during the work out in order to not vomit. We started with a Warm up- 3 Rounds of: 10 x Squats, 10 x Lightweight push press. 200m Run. I made it through two and then just couldn't complete the last jog/walk. My lower back struck again. Then onto the WOD. We did 4 Rounds for time of: 30 x Wall balls (20#/14#) and 400m Run. I started with an 8# ball and then moved to the 4# ball. Coach said it was too light (it was, but the 8# was killing me) so she got me a 6# from somewhere else. Instead of more jog-walking I opted to scale down to the rower. It was brutal. The wall balls are where you toss a weighted ball that is larger than a basketball up onto the wall about 12 ft above you. After the first 10 it was a steady decline. The position required to do this really got to me. I'd have to pause and drop my head down so I could get blood flowing again. My time was 25:13. Core was 30 supermans.. again. This time I appreciated the fact that I could stay on the ground ;)  As of this morning the kiddo was a go for WSD so hopefully I'll make it through that tonight.

Another Brutal CF

Today was one of those workouts that sounds easy but was morbid. We had the standard warm up and then it was just two of us so we "jumped" right in to the WOD. Four rounds of one min sledgehammers, one min jump rope, one min burpee box jumps, one minute sit ups and then one min rest. It's just a minute, right? Wrong... it was torture. My arms were like jelly from swinging the sledgehammer (crazy that I was looking forward to it- it's sooo hard when you haven't done it in a while) and I still have issues jumping rope. It was scaled for me of course- rx was to do double unders. I can barely do single unders! Now that I am trying to do more, doing the bbjs were rough. Sure, I can't do a normal burpee, but I do get on the ground and back and up and then jump on the 45# weight (which is really hard still- not sure if it's mental, physical or both) and repeat. I could do three in a minute. Sit ups were actually not bad. I've really been working on core exercises, and this has helped tremendously. Overall my score was 229. I would get anywhere from 20-35 sledgehammers, 10-15 jump ropes, 3 BBJ, and 8-12 sit ups. My set count went 55, 60, 55, 49. Yes, I tried to push it but just couldn't get there. Not sure if we're doing JJ tonite.

Almost done with another week.

I never really want to go work out, but yet I find myself driving back to the gym time after time. Monday is not my favorite day of the week most weeks, but this Monday I was more beat than ever. Yet I drove to Cross Fit. I'm glad I did. I actually felt good after it was over. We had warm up: 3 Rounds of 10 x OHS (pvc), 10 x Good mornings, 10 x Shoulder pass throughs. Then Coach didn't feel we were warmed up enough so we rowed 300 meters. Then we moved on to the WOD. It was a set of 21-15-9 for time of Deadlift (75#) and Over Head Squats (35#). I tried the OHS with 45# but it was so hard to squat I didn't think I would ever get up from it. I finished in 9:23. The core for me was supermans- 50. Back to work and I was feeling pretty good.


After work we went to WSD. It was just me and the kid for class. What a brutal class it was. Long warm up and then a lot of snaking and shrimping. A lot of up and down in base that killed my knees. We got "funishment" at the end of the class. Yeah there's no fun in funishment. Coach assigned the kid to do 20 burpees- his count! I figure I'll try them to be supportive. I can't do them like most people, but I got up and down and jump-clapped. I did 13 by the time she did her 20, so not too bad. Not my favorite WSD class by far.


Tuesday we went to JJ and we had a fun class. Warm up was a lot of rolling and penetration steps. We covered some arm grabs that we learned before and then expanded onto different things you could do from pulling them down to mounting their back. We had to leave class right at 8 so we could hit up the grocery store- Gotta get my water!


Today we went to WSD and tho class started a few minutes late (pesky traffic) it was just me and the kid again and it was by far the best class we've had in a long time. Warm up was the usual- running, sit ups, plank. Then we went over more technique. Going over the grabbing and a move from the Royce Gracie seminar. Then we went into role play and had to try to grab each other and get them to the other side of the room. It was a harder game than it sounds like. Two rounds of standing and fighting, then a break and a few more rounds were if one person went down, we could get them on the ground and drag them to the other side. That didn't work out too well, but it was a new technique and worked well for just getting their hands/feet where you want them.


Tomorrow is CF. I looked at the schedule and I don't want to go. It looks crazy hard. But I'm certain at 1 pm you'll find me warming up for the WOD.

CF lunch break

I made it through the workout this afternoon. I really wasn't feeling like I wanted to go but I made myself do it. We started with the standard warm up and then moved on to the WOD.  Today it was for time: 10 x Hang power snatches, 10 x Hand release push-ups, 10 x T2B, then 20 of each and then 30 of each. I started with 35# for my HPS but after about 20 I dropped it down to 15#. My body is not happy with me this week. The push ups weren't bad, but the T2B are modified for me where I do them on the ground. I lay on my back and lift my legs as high as I can towards my chest then lower them back down without letting them touch the ground. This sounds stupid, but it's horrifyingly hard. I finished in 15:57. I was amazingly surprised that I wasn't the last one done. Even with the scaling I usually finish towards the end. It was a welcome change from the norm.

Wednesday completed, I'm still alive.

So we made it to WSD and had a great class of the basics. More of base and then we got into some rolling. It's amazing how I have to fight my fears in there- I know that I can roll over, but the idea of it paralyzes my body. Mentally I can go through the motions fine. Physically it's another story. I still haven't tried a cartwheel. I need to push though the fear and just do it. Either I'll make it or I won't, but it won't kill me. Halfway thru class I had to stop doing any breakfalls. It's just a little more than my body can take right now. I kept practicing my rolls, which were atrocious, but we were doing them differently than before so it was a new technique mixed with an old move. After WSD I did stay for yoga. Thankfully it started with me as the only person in class so I was relieved. Jenny was awesome as usual and really took it easy for me. Another guy came in from CF and you could tell he was super sore so it was a mellow class the whole way through. I thought for sure I'd have cramps last night because my calves started locking up like they were going to scream in pain, but luckily I slept like a baby. Today I have CF and BJJ scheduled. Here's hoping I can make it through both classes!

The dreaded update...

Sunday I had the privilege of photographing the Royce Gracie seminar with the kids and adults. It was a lot of fun and made me miss Jiu Jitsu. Monday I went to Cross Fit and it was brutal as usual. Warm-up was three rounds of: 10 x Lightweight SDHP with the 15# bar, 10 x Good mornings (15# bar), 200m Run (I did the run twice- walked most of it, then kept the last for after class due to back pains acting up). Then the WOD was 4 Rounds for time of: 500m Row and 10 x Deadlifts (85#). I was spent by the third round and really had to dig deep to finish. I ended shortly after the other woman there at 17 mins 33 seconds. The rowing was anywhere from 2:20 to 2:45 (min:sec) to complete the 500m each time. I tried hard to keep it under 2:30, but it got hard as the workout went on. That last set of deadlifts was brutal. I dropped to the floor at the end for a good five minutes to catch my breath. Core for me was 50 supermans. Darn that hyper reverse machine. I'm not able to get up on it yet. Apparently today's workout was a little too brutal as I started having chest pains on my way back to work. Wasn't fun and got me nervous. It did go away but I scheduled a dr appt anyhow. We did decide to go to WSD Monday night. It was a good class. A lot of up and down as we practiced getting up and sitting down in base along with what to do if you can't get up in time and someone is on top of you- how to roll back and use your legs in a more powerful way so you can escape. It was good, but killer on my knees. Tuesday we went to Jiu Jitsu and I had to leave class after 15 minutes. It sucked, but if I stayed, I don't know how I'd be doing today.

Today I had my dr appt and my EKG was fine. They are running some bloodwork just to make sure, but I should be good to go. So tonite it is WSD and I am going to get back to Yoga finally after all this time.

Breaking down bit by bit

The only thing I want to do is lay down in a soft bed and sleep for days. I'm so worn out I can hardly stand it! So happy that the weekend is almost here. After getting beat up last night I was completely dreading todays WOD. With good reason too! I checked out what it was going to be before going. Oh such a bad idea. Regular warm up and then the WOD was a 15 Mins AMRAP of: 10 x KB Swings, 35#,  8 x Box jumps (I used a 45 lb weight), and 5 x T2B (instead of using the bar I laid on the floor). And my oh my there were three of us there and Coach Iman did the workout with us. The grunts and sweat and agony in that room were crazy. I know it wasn't all me! When the horrifying 15 minutes were up we were all pretty much spent. I don't think anyone was standing. Then I figured out why. While I was doing my amazing 5 sets of hard, hard, exercise, the other folks were upwards of 12 sets!!! Yes, T W E L V E. No idea how they did them because they were doing them full on hard core. Eventually my reps will improve, maybe to 6 or 7 :) I still get winded just doing the warm up. And I am subconsciously trying to match my knuckles up. I have no idea how I ripped my right hand up today. Thankfully I have a breather till Monday now. They moved the WSD class to M & W so I'll be doing that instead of Yoga.

Back to WSD

Ooooh the pain and horror!!!  It's definitely been a while since I was at WSD and I am feeling the pain. Coach Charles had us run longer than normal then sit ups and push ups and planking and more situps.. ugh! That was just warm up. We practiced sitting in base and getting up and break-falling. Then moved into using getting up in base as we were getting crowded by an "attacker." Then we did  some other moves similar to practice those same techniques. Finally at the end we were able to spar again. I sparred twice with my kid and she beat me up. Sore knees and I busted my vein between my first and second knuckle- ouch! Apparently I've got bruises all up on my knees as well. Oh the joys! At the end I sparred with Coach and I was able to cross mount him once. The second part of our sparring he kept bracing against my hips and squirming like a fish so I couldn't get a good hold on him. It was definitely a work out tonite. Icing up and heading to bed early so I can walk tomorrow.

I am Spartacus!!!

Today I started out blah and then I rocked the crap out of the WOD. Sure, it took me a little while longer.. but overall it was done and I was still breathing. The Warm-up was 10 x OHS (over head squats with PVC), 10 x Ring rows, and 10 x Shoulder pass-throughs. Then the WOD was 30 x OHS (95#/65#)  30 x C2B Pull-ups, 20 x OHS (95#/65#)  20 x C2B Pull-ups, 10 x OHS (95#/65#) 10 x C2B Pull-ups. I did the same number of reps, but my bar was at 35 lbs and instead of chest to bar pull ups, I did ring rows. I finished in 9 mins 36 seconds. Core was 50 sit ups. Painful, but honestly when all was said and done, today's workout really wasn't that bad. I think the rest yesterday really helped. No yoga tonite as we have back to school nite. I like to at least meet the teachers. Tomorrow we'll be back to the nitty-gritty!

Pain, pain and more pain

Wow am I sore after Thursday and Friday. Yesterday was rough, but I was able to still do things.  Today I am feeling it. Beat up and worn down. I slept extra long and moving is hard to get started. I'm sure once I do get started tho, it will be a bit easier. Yes, it's late in the afternoon, but rest is important. I'm hoping tomorrow is less of a crazy sore day.

Another Vacation???

Yes, I'm back from another vacation. We went to Seattle, WA and did quite a bit of walking. It wasn't bad at all, that is til we got to Mt Rainier. My friend tricked me into going up a trail that was "short and paved with a slight hill and a few steps." Liar! It was a flight of sketchy stairs with no railing, a steep incline and at 5000+ ft I was dying for some oxygen. It was only .3 miles each way, but it was rough going up and a bit scary coming back in the dark with that steep of slope down. Elevation at the beginning of the trail is 5,433 ft and at the bridge where we ended it was 5, 577 ft. So even tho it's a short distance, we gained 144 ft in height! This was all while carrying the tripod and camera gear. If you want to see it on google maps, the approximate route is 46.7869°N 121.734°W to 46.7915°N 121.7327°W as we started in the parking lot of the lodge. The star at the top of the map is the end point where the bridge was and the bottom of the map was our starting point at the lodge.

Luckily I wasn't too sore the next day as we went out on the lake and I got into the raft to go tubing. What a workout that was- I was holding on for dear life! Finally we get home in the wee hours of Thursday morning and I decided after 5 hours of sleep and 4 hours of work that it's a good idea to still go to Cross Fit. It wasn't a good idea- the WOD was rough! Warm-up:  3 Rounds of: 10 x walking lunges, 10 x Shoulder pass-throughs (pvc pipe), 10 x Lightweight KB Swings (light means 25 lbs!) Then the WOD was a 25 Min AMRAP of: 10 x Weighted box step-ups (16”, 25# DBs) With a DB in each hand step up on to the box. Fully open the hips at the top. Step down. This is one rep.  5 x DB Strict press (25# in each hand), 10 x DB Snatch R arm (25#), 10 x DB Snatch L arm (25#). I was so close to getting up on the 16" box. I've come a long way! I hope in a few more weeks I can at least step up on the box. So instead I used three 45 lb weights- I think it was about 12" give or take. It was a rough work out. I wasn't sure I'd make it, and compared to the fit people, I barely did any reps! I almost got to 6 whole reps, but the last L arm snatch I only made it to 3 before the buzzer hit. So close!  My entire back was sore- is sore actually.

So since I was on vacation and I missed working out for a whole week I figured what a great idea to go on Friday too! Make up for that missed time. Yeah, no. Friday looked good on paper, felt bad in person. Standard warm-up- which has me huffing and sweating then the WOD was a "Tabata Something Else” which is 8 Tabata rounds of each exercise, before moving onto the next, of: Pull-ups, Push-ups, Anchored Sit-ups, Squats. Basically Tabata is where you work for 20 seconds and then rest for 10 seconds. It's not as awesome as it sounds. 20 seconds feels like forever and 10 seconds feels like nothing. Amazing how the time changes depending on what you're doing. But I made it and I was able to walk after resting and stretching for a few minutes. That's always a plus when you can make it out of the place alive! The score for the WOD is total # of reps. I had to scale so I did ring rows- 61,  knee push-ups- 44, capital sit-ups- 43, and squats- 85, for a total score of 233. Not too shabby for someone who could barely breathe! So I'm back in the saddle. Less than two months til my first 5k and I'm really not prepared. I have good intentions, but then lack the drive once I'm at home. This will change because I don't want to not finish the race- I may be last, but I'm going to cross that finish line. 

Slacking off...

So I feel like a slacker. With no Yoga I'm out of my rhythm. Tuesday we missed WSD because it was back to school night. Wednesday we made it and there were only three of us. It was a really fun class. We learned how to get out of a choke when pressed up against the wall and reviewed getting out of a choke in a normal environment. Thursday I missed CF. More getting ready for school stuff.

Moving on to yesterday's CF. Monday's are now considered technical work outs. It's more of a skill builder as opposed to a full blown work out. It's good because I'm concentrating on proper technique and even starting to pick it up a little but it's bad that it's not as much of a well rounded work out as we normally have. But such is life. I roll with it and am enjoying it. Warm up was the junkyard and burgener. I am now being used as a partner to have someone jump over my arms and legs and then crawl under me and jump over me. It's a lot of work! I didn't do the jumping, I partnered up with the only other person there and then I jumped rope for a few and stretched out. The Burgener is basically a warm up with the bar. Getting hands where they should be, lifting properly, etc. Then we add the weights- WOD 1: 7 x 2 Vertical snatch off high boxes at hip.  60 Secs rest between sets. I stayed at 55 lbs for the duration. WOD 2: 4 Rounds of: 3 x Snatch pull ( 85 lbs), 60 Secs rest, 3 x Drop snatch (33 lbs), 60 Secs rest and for Core I tried to do the reverse hypers on this different machine, but I couldn't quite get it all together on there. Soon, though, soon. Instead I did 45 supermans. Hate those! No more workouts this week. I go on vacation tomorrow and have procrastinated packing! I gotta get my butt in gear and get my gear packed up. I should be back for my Thursday CF next week.

New Socks

So in my search for comfy work out socks I found these adidas supernova socks at TJ Maxx (discount!). So far they are my favorite. I really hate wearing shoes lately so I figure if I have to put something on, might as well be super comfy.  And I totally know which is my left foot and which is my right foot.

Monday freakout!!!!

So Monday's are usually a drag anyways- add three days of no exercise and then jumping into Cross Fit at lunch in them and BOOM! It's a fiasco. My right shoulder is in agony after class today. Apparently Coach thinks I've become stronger.. More on that later, let's get to the nitty gritty of the actual work out today.
Warm up was the junkyard one where one person sits on the ground and the other jumps over your arms and legs going around in a circle. Then  You move on to where you become a bridge and they go under you and then you relax down a little for them to jump over you. I've never done this. Never until today that is. I was paired up with a perky young woman who I have never seen before. She got right into jumping over me and then fortunately I was able to hold myself up for her to go under/over without dying. Yes, just being the "log" got me all sorts of tired and sweaty. Then Coach suggests I do it to her- WTF? Yeah, well don't jump, but step over, do what you can. Uh ok. So I did. And yes, I was consumed with sweat afterwards. I didn't even make it to the under/over portion. We also did extra shoulder stretches because of the types of lifts we'd be doing for the WODs.
WOD 1:  5 x 3 Vertical snatch off high boxes at hip. 60 Secs rest between sets.We did this @ 55 lbs. It was good. I'm getting better and dropping underneath. Towards the last set I could feel myself drooping a bit.
WOD 2: 5 Rounds of: 3 x Snatch pull, 45 Secs rest, 3 x Heaving snatch balance, 45 Secs rest- I paired up with one of the regular ladies with this and we kept the first bar at 55 pounds and for the Heaving Snatch we went to 95 pounds!!! I was trying to work on my form, but the bar was pretty heavy for me.
Core: 4 x 8 Weighted Glute ham raises. Core.. good ol' core. I asked if Coach wanted me to do supermans or situps for core today. She said "Oh why don't you try the glute ham raises? You're getting stronger." So I did. Apparently no more supermans for me! I'm glad for the outward signs of improvement, but at the same time it's scary doing different things. At my weight, getting up on the unit practically knocks the wind out of me. I'm sure I'll get the hang of it, but today doing them without a weight was pretty hard, especially after all the lifting. My right shoulder is pretty sore. I used my massage machine on it and will probably hook up my tens unit to it. I have a chiro appt Thursday so that will definitely be good. I also have CF Thursday tho! No Yoga tonite- or for the next two weeks. The teacher is in Poland and they had a hard time trying to find a replacement. Hopefully it won't be brutal when she comes back.

Vomit, Pee, Poo/Gas

Yes, I feel like all of the above want to come out all at once. CF was the hardest it's been for me in a while. My stomach hurts so bad- as if the swat team thought it was a door they had to break down. It's been over thirty minutes since I got done and my body is still shaking from the work out. Today I got a pic of what we walk into every class.

Yes, the boards change daily. I am astonished that I completed the workout today. I was the last one and I didn't do double unders, I did singles. I used a 15 lb bar and put 15 lbs on each end for 45#. On my third round of sit ups, my ankles started hurting so I got rid of the weights and finished up with regular abmat sit ups. I did pop my knee once today during warm up, but it wasn't as bad as Monday. Today is better than yesterday and tomorrow will be better than today. For the record, it took me 31 minutes and 14 seconds to complete today's work out. It was a loooooooong half hour. 

Back from vacation...

And boy am I sore! We got home on Sunday after a wretched 17 hour train ride. Trains are not made for fat people. Phew. Today I'm feeling a little better- my right foot has a huge blister on the pad just below my second toe. It's getting better, slowly. Brief update as far as activity while on vacation- Day 1: Theme park with mild walking, lots of swimming, Day 2: Snorkel with manatees, lots of swimming, minimal walking, climbing in and out of boat was fine, Day 3 Water theme park with medium walking, lots of swimming, and lots of stairs- one ride I chose to go on (three times) had 101 steps to get to the top!! Day 4- theme park, *lots* of walking- So much that this is the day I got my huge blister. I was limping by the late afternoon. Day 5- no theme park, hard to walk, hard to drive, went to Wal Mart for foot care stuff. Day 6- Theme park- no walking, rented a scooter so I didn't drag my family down. Kinda irritated that I couldn't walk it. I have been doing so well lately.

Well as much as I wanted to lay around and do nothing Monday, I got up and went to work. Then went to Cross Fit on lunch. It was rough to do, but I'm glad I did as I'm trying to stick to my "no excuses" goal. I don't have to do it all, but I have to do something. Monday's warm up for me was jumping rope and rolling the pvc pipe front to back to warm up my shoulders. about 5 minutes in to jumping rope I landed wierd and my right knee popped- it hurt so bad. I rested for a few minutes and finished jumping tho. The WOD 1 was 7 x 2 Vertical snatch off high boxes at hip, 60 Secs rest between sets. The WOD 2 was 4 Rounds of:  3 x Halting snatch deadlift, 60 Secs rest, 3 x Drop snatch, 60 Secs rest. I did 55 lbs to start. During the WOD 2, I kept dipping before the move so I took off 20 pounds and I was able to do it a bit better. I need to work on form and get over my fear. It's really a mental block with some of these moves. For the Drop Snatch I stayed at 83 pounds the entire time. Core for me was 40 supermans, no rest. And I did. I did 40 and was sure I was on the brink of death by the time I got into the thirties! Very thankful that I made it to 40. So back to work I went. And I thought to myself, Yoga sounds good. And amazingly it did. I mentioned the sore shoulder and she did some extra stretches for me. It helped a lot. However after 9 or 10 days of not doing yoga, my feet were *burning* during some of the moves. I couldn't do what I could last class. It really stresses the importance to keep up with moving.

Tuesday I went to WSD alone- It was more of a fun class. Warm up was just a little bit of jogging and since we had a sub, we did a few escapes, but it wasn't as structured as normal so it was a lot of giggles with the ladies. A good relaxing class. Afterwards I stayed for Yoga. It was not hard, but it was hard. Easier than Monday, but I was sweating really bad. It's not often I drip on the mat, but I did that day. My tree pose is getting much better. I can balance better on my left foot than on my right, which seems weird- but eventually I'll get there. Not sure if my big blister has anything to do with it tho!

Wednesday was a short workout day. I went to WSD with the kid and that was it. We had planned on getting some school shopping done. She starts high school in just over a week! Crazy. I'll hopefully update again later today after my CF lunch.

Three days of hell

So I wanted to update Tuesday when class was fresh in my mind, but I was so sore I just couldn't manage it. Well here is the final update for this week. WSD on Tuesday was brutal. Coach Charles is back and we did a wretched warm up. Then we went into escaping a grab and at the end we practiced the skills by playing the "get away" game where one person is starts in a sitting position and the attacker is standing up trying to not let them get away.
Wednesday WSD was even more brutal if there is such a way to be- we did a hard core warm up. I was able to bear crawl the length of the shortest side of the room and the highlight of the warm up was when we moved into doing sit ups and coach (who's been on vacation for like two months) noticed how much better I was doing and then when we moved into push ups it was the same. Made my night! I told him it's Cross Fit- I don't want to suffer the wrath of Iman! The other girls were kinda shocked that I do CF. Made me feel good inside.. still sore, but good! That class we did a lot of muay thai stances and movements/blocking. Then we got the pads and practiced kick-pushing the attacker away. Finally we went into "spar" mode and one person threw punches (without hitting) while the other dodged and moved away. It was fun, but super tiring.
Today was probably the worst! We did the standard warm up which is still super tiring and then moved into our WOD. A 15 minute AMRAP of 10x Power Cleans and then 5x situps. The others did a certain type, I did abmat sit ups. I was able to do 5 full reps of each and then an additional 5 PCs before time was up. My bar was weighted at 55 pounds. I tried 65, but it was just too much. No core today because it was incorporated into the WOD. Hooray for the little things! Off for vacation tomorrow so no updates till then. We'll be theme-parking and doing a lot of walking, so I'll def be getting my exercise in!

Yoga post CF

After work I drove back to MMA to take a Yoga class. For some reason (probably cross fit) I find Monday Yoga super hard. Today was no exception. We started a few minutes late as traffic was bad. But once we did start, boy did she give it to us. We did dancer and then a lot of core work and eagle legs for a stretch. I was drenched in sweat. I made it through class. My body is not overly sore yet, let's hope it stays that way overnight into the morning!

Monday Cross Fit

Today was more of a mental challenge than physical- Don't get me wrong, it was hard all around, but the idea of jumping onto something is just beyond my old mind. Today we started with the junkyard warm up. I jumped rope and did some arm stretches. We then moved into the first WOD- one rep max snatch. I got up to 75 but didn't feel like I was doing it correctly. I could do it better at 65. Once I maxed out I put up my bar. I didn't realize we were supposed to keep going. So I shared a bar with another lady there. She was up to 55 lbs and I am able to do that weight really well. Good form and strong lift/duck under. The second WOD was a five minute AMRAP of Burpee Box Jumps. Yeah- go ahead and find yourself a youtube video on that because you're not seeing it here! I had to modify, but I still did what I could. Instead of doing a different exercise altogether, I used a 45 lb weight and jumped onto that, then got down into my best plank then back up and jumped back up on the weight. It took me a lot longer to do, but I'm getting the technique down. I did a solid two jumps correctly. Mind you this was after many failed jumps or jumps where I just got one foot up and one foot was still on the floor- Mind games, man.. It's all mind games at this point. I know I can jump that small distances, but the fear is alive in my head. I would breathe, work my arms, bend my knees, keep my toes in, look straight so my back was aligned, then spring up and forward landing nicely on the weight. It helped me to watch this informative video on youtube- CrossFit Journal - Perfecting the Box Jump by Kelly Starrett and Carl Paoli before going to class today. Yes, it's super long, but it's really step by step instructions on how to do it properly. If you learn the wrong way you're just going to end up hurting yourself in the long run. We were supposed to count how many we did in the 5 minutes, but I couldn't. It was a lot of work getting up and down. I'd estimate somewhere between 15-20, but honestly only 2 of the jumps I made were worth counting. Core today was another bout of supermans. 40 and done. I rolled out my muscles and headed back to work. I'm going to yoga tonite. I hope she doesn't have a super rough class planned! I'm sore, but can use a good stretching.

Theme Park!

So while it's not related to my exercise regimen- it is because of it that I was able to go to King's Dominion today and walk the park. I even manned up and went on a few rides. It was fantastic! A year ago I could not have done this. Today we spent 8 hours and due to the heat, we did sit and cool off on a shaded bench here and there for probably a total of 3 of those hours. It was very hot. I was able to do the Xtreme Skyflyer, extra money, but pretty awesome. I was scared about the weight, but they say it holds 850 lbs. So there we went. What a way to start off the day. The log ride was also doable. I even got in and out without much issue. After that we headed over and I waited while my family went on one of the crazy roller coasters. We went to this bobsled like coaster ride. It was fantastic because I fit with no issue again! In and out, up and down with the knees and keeping my balance. I attribute a lot to Yoga as well as just keeping moving with my classes. It was a fantastic day! My progress really shows when I do something like this.

Cross Fit Lunch Break

Today we did our normal warm up of the 5 reps. I need to list these out one of these days. It's a workout in itself. I don't know how anyone considers it a "warm-up." The WOD 1 was five reps of 3 behind the neck push presses using the snatch grip- basically first two fingers over the thumb. I did that slowly getting my weight up. 15 lb, 35lb, 55 lb, 65 lb, then down to 60 lb which was where I found I could do it properly. WOD 2 was two 5 min AMRAPS. First was 15x double unders (I just became able to jump rope, double unders are not yet in my vocabulary), so I did single unders, and yes, it took me a long time cause I didn't count the ones that weren't full proper jumps. I was able to do two reps of the single unders. Then there was the behind the neck push press. I took it up to the rx weight of 65# and it was horrid. I only got in one rep between my jump roping debacle. We got a 2 min rest and then it was time for the rowing. I got my foot stuck so started a few seconds late. I was trying to hit 1000 m and they cut the time when I was at 984m. I had 5 sec left before I was at my 5 min row mark. I could have made it! Ugh. Core was 40 supermans. I'm able to rise higher and higher these days. I think yoga is helping with that. Looking forward to no workouts this weekend!

WSD and Yoga Wednesday

So after work we wen to WSD. It was fantastic. We had a sub coach- Moe. He's one of my favorites. We first met in Jiu Jitsu when he helped us through some of the moves and worked one on one. Super nice guy.  We warmed up and then went into reviewing what we learned with the choke yesterday. We did that a few times and then moved into a new choke hold break. This was pretty awesome because we got to use our elbow and then move into a flip. Step, elbow and block, after the elbow to the chin you wrap that arm around attacker's head and hold onto their wrist with your other hand, base into them, squat, scoop, and then flip. After that we got into a mutual fight pose. Reaching across and grabbing their arm and jerking them towards you then palming their button hard and swift, keeping hold of their arm still. You can use it to continue the beating or chop and slide the tricep to put them into a submissive stance. Sore, but worth every minute today.  Then after we stayed for Yoga. It was just three people today in class so we went very low key. The third person was new and it was her first time doing yoga. We did the basics and some balancing then stretching. I feel so much better! Started having some issues with my left arm a week or so ago and it's still popping up. I'll have to have it checked out if it doesn't go away after an adjustment. Hoping it's just a pinched nerve. Anyway tomorrow is Cross Fit. Looking forward to kicking that class's butt! It's nice to feel myself getting stronger. I'm sleeping better, moving better, feeling better- I never thought I'd say this, but it's all due to the exercise.

WSD

So after work we went to woman's self defense class. We started with some warm up. Had to do jumping jacks as part of it. Yeah that sucked. Coach was late so we had a sub start us up. We started with standing headlock take down. I stupidly volunteered to show the class how to do it. I put sub-coach in a headlock and he got into base, wrapped his arms around my body/arms so that he can control pulling, then take the foot furthest from the front of the attacker's body and place it behind the attacker's foot closest to you, then sit down. The attacker with drop with you and most of the time will let go (this was a hard fall onto his fist and I'm not going lie, it was so powerful of a drop it made me tinkle a little!) If they don't, then get up on knees and push against attacker- moving into a sort of cross mount. Taking leg furthest away from attacker's head and put it over to the other side of attacker's body, at this point one arm should also be down on the other side. Then take hand closest to head and slide it along attacker's neck, getting a solid push against it and pulling up to break the headlock. After this we moved onto having someone come behind while you are in a sitting position and trying to grab or choke you. Then we moved onto a standing choke from the front. That was pretty good. I can see how this is a really useful move. The dip of the chin, shrug up of the shoulders, drop to base, then duck and twist out swinging back to smack your attacker good and hard. It's smooth once you get the hang of it. So a lot of dropping today. It wore me out. But I'm glad that I'm getting better at the falling and feeling secure about not seriously injuring myself. The more I do it, the better chance I will have of not breaking a bone if I happen to fall on something harder. We skipped Yoga today, but I plan on going tomorrow.

Monday Night Yoga

So I sucked it up and went to yoga. Thankfully it was a "low key" class. I was still sweating up a storm tho. We did a lot of shoulder stretches tonite. The first 15 mins were slow and nice, the middle was faster and harder, then the last 15 were slow again. I'm glad I went. But I am also very, very tired. I'll sleep very well tonite.

Monday Update

Saturday we went to Yoga. It was early and it was brutal. I don't think my body was made to move that way that early in the morning. We got through it. Doing the boat again and it's still a struggle, but it's possible!

This afternoon was my Monday Cross Fit. Today was more about technique, but it was still a brutal work out. Warm up was junkyard something- basically one person sits down with legs straight out and arms straight out, another person jumps over arms/legs repeatedly. Then the person goes into a plank- another person jumps over them then crawls under them. Creepy, but I guess it really warms you up. I jumped rope to the best of my ability. I may have taken one too short or maybe it's my new shoes- Just got them and these nifty new socks- but the rope kept getting stuck in the last crease of my shoe sole.

After warm up we used the white pipes to practice the technique for the WOD. We stood in a circle and just went through the movements. We got our weighted bars and then for better balance were advised to take off our shoes!!! Yes, take off those new shoes you got just for cross fit class! The one day I don't show up in flip flops we take off our shoes! Anyhow, 2-2-2-2-2-2-2 Hang squat snatch. Rest 60 Secs between sets. I did this with first 35 lbs then moved up to 45 lbs two sets in. If I had went heavier, I'm not sure I would have made it to the next section of the WOD. 3 Rounds of:  4 x Snatch Pull (These start from the ground and end with the scarecrow portion of the movement.) Rest 60 Secs, 4 x Heaving snatch balance, Rest 60 Secs. I kept with my 45lbs. It got so much heavier as class wore on. Finally after putting up the weights I moved onto core. My core was different- I did 3 reps of 15 sit ups and then 15 supermans. Yeah, I can still feel my abs crying on the inside. Yoga is still up for discussion. I want to go, but I don't want to go, but I should go, but I'm sooo tired.

WSD, Yoga, & Cross Fit

Wednesday I went alone to WSD. There was one other girl in the class so it was pretty low key. Warm up included rolls. Seema took it slow for me so I could see where she was putting what. I keep going sideways. I want to do a roll! Finally after about 6 times (Yes, I've rolled before but I always go sideways) I did a fantastic roll. It was modified a bit because of the weight distribution I found if I push off more I can accomplish it. The next one was crooked, but I see the light at the end of the rolling tunnel.

Yoga was *awesome.*  It was just me and the teacher. She worked with me and did stretches and helped me pose to get the most out of it. Knowing that I can only go so far and do so much.

Today I went to Cross Fit and dreaded it. For some reason I was feeling super weak. We did the normal warm up (5 sets of like 10 exercises, used the 15 lb bar) and then onto the WOD. 5 Mins AMRAP of:  5 x Hang power snatch (55#) and 5 x Thrusters (55#). I did 3 sets of each. Then Rest 3 mins and 5 Mins AMRAP of:  Rope climbs. I did 0. Yeah. 0. This is a lot to lift people. I'm working on it! I was struggling trying to get a little off the ground. Then rest 3 mins and 5 Mins AMRAP of:
8 x DB Snatch (25#) (Alt arms each rep) then 8 x DB Lunges (25#) (Hold DBs in each hand). I did 3 sets of the first and 2 sets of the second. We got to rest for about 4 minutes and then did Core. 100 x Anchored sit-ups for time. Everyone got done and I was at 35. The weights kept falling off my feet. I kept feeling like I was going to pee my pants. So she came over and cut me off at 50. I was at 5:35. I know I can do better than that with the regular sit ups we do. Next time.. Next time..

WSD & JJ

Tuesday we went to Women's self defense and class started a little late. But coach more than made up for that when he got there. A medium warm up and then going into the skill for the day we did the maneuver to get out of a cross mount. Basically you are on your back and someone is almost perpendicular over your chest, one arm under your neck, their other arm under your arm. You get your knee closest to them into their hip to keep control of where they are since you can't see, then you cross your arm that is "more free" over their face and into their shoulder/collarbone, bring the other arm up to create a brace. Shift your body over so that your knee can go from the hip down under them, rendering you on your side almost. Making sure to keep hold of their arm that is around your neck, take your other leg and flip it up over their head and down around the arm. You can shift to lock up their arm or to position both feet on their hip bones to shove them off so you can get away. It's not easy, but once you get the steps down it's doable. I struggle with the turning and the flipping of the leg. Baby steps. We went to Jiu Jitsu afterwards and I did a little of their warm up. Then we went into the moves. First we practiced getting out of the bear hugs and then the main skill was what we had just learned in WSD. The kid didn't really want to do more of the same thing and she was "tired." We struggled through a few more but left about 5 minutes early. Pretty good for the day. I think I mentioned that last week at JJ, Coach Rob got out the super thick mat for me and I was able to be taken down and do the fall. Well yesterday I did the fall on the regular mat floor. Multiple times!!! It's a painful success. But what a goal to reach. I didn't think I'd be able to so quickly. It's only been a few months of classes. Very excited at the progress I'm making. I can't see it, but I can feel it.

Boat pose!

So I was convinced to go to Yoga last night because tonite my kiddo wants to do Jiu jitsu. I am very glad I went. I was able to go through the two cycles of the downward dog to up and lean back then down to dd and then plank to alligator and cobra then back up to dd. It was nutz! I rested while they did the vinyasa because it just went too fast. I'm not quite there yet. Towards the end of class we worked on core and we did the boat pose. I held it for 8 breaths all three times we did it! I literally did the boat pose! Unreal. Even the teacher commented on how good I am doing. She's super nice. We'll see what we do tonite, I'll be there for two classes, but I'm not sure which.

Just another Monday...

My morning started off on the wrong foot. So when it was time for Cross Fit I was more than happy to get some aggression out. We started with the regular warm up- 5 reps of a long list of exercises. Then the first skill was to do a split jerk and find our max weight. I think mine was 90lbs- Either that or 85lbs. I smashed my head on one of those. It wasn't fun. But I did it again and I got it up. Yay!  Then we moved onto the main WOD. We cycled 20 seconds on, ten seconds rest, switch and keep going for 8 minutes. It's a L O N G time when you're working hard!!!  I did box dips while everyone else did ring dips. Then rest, then jumping squats, rinse, repeat. I did my best and even did some of them correctly. But it was tiring. I stopped counting how many I got to. I just kept going. Core was doing sit up wall balls. I just did sit ups. But I did do all 50 of them! Tomorrow is Women's self defense and Yoga- tho I may go to Jiu Jitsu if the kiddo is really interested in it. We shall see.

Friday the 13!!!!!

Monday was Cross Fit. We did the 5x cycle warm up through the "core" warm up with the 15 lb barbell. After warm up we did weighted pull ups. Five sets of three, trying to find your max weight. I am my max weight so I was just trying to get my feet off the ground. I totally can't do a pull up... yet :) Then moving to the main workout we did a rotation- every two minutes start a 200 m run (for me I rowed). This pretty much meant you had to bust out and then hope for a minute rest between runs/rows. This was torture. By round 5 you want to die and then after round seven you're pumped up and ready to finish it. Thankfully we got a small rest before we worked on the core. It's like doing a sit up, but you raise your knees to your elbows. It's awkward and you hurt a lot afterwards. I don't recommend doing 50 of those if it's your first time.

Tuesday we went to Women's self defense. It was a good class and I was fully intending to go to Yoga after, but my daughter got her nose cracked by one of the girls in the class. So we left early.

Wednesday was nothing. I had to pick up my car from the dealership after work. Yay car maintenance!

Thursday was back to Cross Fit. Regular warm up of the 5 times ranging from squats to snatches and using the barbell for most of the time. The WOD was a 20 minute AMRAP where you start with an 800m run (yeah cause that's not tiring, thankfully only doing that once, ps I rowed 800 m in about 6 mins) then continue to do 10 x Hang squat cleans, I used a 15 lb barbell with 15 lbs on each end. It was brutal. After that you do 15 x Hand release push-ups. I didn't do them like everyone else. I did knee push ups and tried my best to keep straight, but it's hard pulling up this much weight. I only made it through twice and that was brutal. The row wore my arms out that I was like jelly when I tried to lift the bar. Ending with core we did 50 sit ups. Yay for sit ups!? wait no. never mind. I was tired. My daughter decided she wanted to go to Jiu Jitsu so we returned that evening for class. We kinda half did it. She was wanting to, but then kinda backed up, didn't want to do warm up etc. I did a lot of the warm up. Some stuff I just can't do like bear crawls. She did none- blamed her ankle. We paired up and practiced some moves. We got out the thicker mat and she was able to pull my legs out and make me fall. I think she quite enjoyed that. Very tired and slept like a baby last night! Another weekend to look forward to before the week of torture begins!

July 5th Cross Fit

Today was hard, but doable. Started with their "normal"  warm up- 5 reps of a loooong list of things. Then we started the first of two WODs. The first was was 4 reps of 5 barbell rows. I did 65 lbs twice and then 75 lbs twice. The second WOD was a 5 minute ARMRAP of 5 burpees (modified for me) and then 5 sumo deadlifts at 125 lbs. I completed 5 reps of the modified burpees, 4 reps +2 of the sumo deadlifts. We took a water break and then started our Core- timed supermans. I did 40 in 55 seconds. And I was worn out, but not dead. I feel like it's progress!

July 2nd Cross Fit

Went to my normal Monday lunch class and it was a big crew. Warm up was pretty easy- 3 rnds of 10 squats, 10 push ups and 15 supermans (tho for the first two I thought it was 5?! so did extra at the end) and then on to the main work out. They're called squat clean into thrusters.. basically you start in a squat, grab your weight bar, lift body up, bringing bar up and then squatting underneath it- then using hips/knees to push up and pop bar over your head. It's a crazy move and it's not fun or awesome.. but it's a workout! After 30 of those, our core work out was different for everyone else, I did more supermans.. 40 to be exact! Went back to work and finished up there. I decided to be nutz and tried Monday Yoga. It was way harder than Tuesday yoga! Ah well. It was still good. I keep trying to push a little here and a little there. Eventually I'll get there.

Busy Life...

So it's been a while. I've missed two workouts since my last post. The 12th I went to self defense and then yoga. Wednesday the 13th I just went to women's self defense.  Thursday I missed Cross Fit because of a dr appt. That weekend we went to Rehoboth Beach for my daughter's birthday. Monday I went to Cross fit- I'm in a haze about what the workout was. Will have to look it up later. the 19th I did self defense and then skipped  yoga- some little kids went in and I wasn't comfortable going. Wed I went to self defense and Yoga. I'm getting better. It's a good feeling. Thursday we had another dr appt and I missed cross fit again. Definitely feel the lack of exercising in my body. Monday the 25th I made it to cross fit. I didn't finish the warm up- everyone is so much faster than me. I need to start early sometimes. I did the 200 m walk twice, three sets of 10 ring rows, two sets of 10 push ups. The workout was pretty brutal- Ten box step ups and then five ring rows repeated for 8 mins. Then we got a 5 min rest and did five dips and ten lunges repeated for 8 minutes. I was able to do the first exercise 4 1/2 times in the 8 mins and the second one I got 5 done with a couple of box dips tossed in at the end. Yesterday I did self defense and then yoga. Today is another round of self defense and yoga. It's weird but I'm looking forward to it. I need to get my eating under control because I'm lost there. It's a defeating feeling when you're doing so much but the scale doesn't agree with you. And the weak point is obvious. I know where my issue lies. Now it's just a matter of dealing with it. I really want to do the 5k but I'm scared. I'm scared I won't be able to finish. I'm scared people will laugh at me. I'm scared to be the only fat person there. It is easier to give up and not try. But I really don't want to. I need this. I need to overcome this. Why is it so damn hard?

OK I got a refresh on what the WOD was from the day I couldn't remember. It was brutal. I think I did 20 squats for a warm up and some push ups. Then it was 8 rounds of 200 m rowing and 40 squats. I didn't think I'd get through it. I had a partner to time me- Ryan. He messed up his knee so she put us "slow" people together. I got a minute rest in between reps. Amazingly I averaged 2:34 ish throughout. My highest time was 2:38 and my fastest was 2:30- minutes people. Seriously. Who knew? Ryan was really supportive too. It helps having people on your side encouraging instead of berating and thinking they're helpful.

I'm coming back to this to add the workout from 6/28. I knew I was missing one. It was the standard warm up of the list of 5x a bunch of different things then the WOD was 16 minutes long. Four rounds of 40 seconds working out, 20 seconds rest. 40 secs SDHP (55#),  20 secs Rest, 40 secs Anchored Sit-ups, 20 secs Rest, 40 secs DB snatch (25#) (Alt hands each rep), 20 secs rest, 40 secs C2B Pull-ups- I'm pretty sure I did ring rows- My memory is a little hazy. Somewhere during this break time I attempted jumping rope for the first time *ever*! And I succeeded! It was amazing. I was able to do more than 5 in a row. Didn't make it to 10. I'll get there tho. Eventually...

Made it through Monday!

Yesterday was a short but painful workout. Warm up was ok- 5x  three reps of snatches. Take a barbell (mine was 15lbs, then added 20 lbs of weight) and kind of squat over it, then lift with your body, push out the hips, keep pulling bar up, then shrug and kind of duck to get the bar over your head. It's an awkward movement. I think it will be easier next time.

Onto the main workout- 35 lb kettle-bell snatches and jumping rope. Five R, Five L, and then 15 double jumps ( I did squats as I'm not ready to jump yet) and it was as many sets as you can do in 8 minutes. At the end you work on your core. The other people did weird things on this odd piece of equipment and I did 40 "supermans" where you lay on the floor and then flex up with arms and legs, getting your chest off the floor. You can really feel them. It's not anywhere near as fun as superman sounds! I made sure to stretch out after because I could already feel pain building in my right thigh and calf. Another lucky day as I didn't have cramps last night. Note to self: get some bananas!

Thursday's workout

Tuesday evening we went to women's self defense and it was just me and the kid- so the class was pretty focused on us. It was nice to get that one on one from the coaches and get our technique down. Afterwards I stayed for yoga (rnd 2) and I feel like I did better. After class the teacher came over and said she was happy to see me back and that I'm doing well, just keep modifying as much as I need to. So that was really a boost. She's very nice.

Today class seemed exceptionally long! And I feel fully to blame. Warm up was 4x 200 m run (I walk still) and then 10 sumo dead weight high pulls (?) where you kind of squat, grab a bar with no weight on it and then lift it up to your chin and back down. After that dreadful warm up it was working on handstand push ups. For me- knee push ups. so I did 20 of those.

Then we start the actual work out. 4x 500 m rows with 3 mins rest in between each set. I scored 2:21, 2:31, 2:34, and 2:31 cause I was really pushing on that last one. It was horrid! But everyone was really nice and they encourage you to get to the finish line. Nicely- not how some people think they're nice but really are rude and demeaning. So it's really refreshing. Workout's over? No, no, no! Ha! You still need to work on your core! Ugh. So the rest of the class did knee to elbow things on the bars- like a weird monkey thing that's not a pull up but still looks hard. I did 50 sit ups. Yes they were brutal. Yes, I'll be hurting most of the day and probably into this weekend! We finished out by stretching so hopefully that will alleviate some of those naughty cramps one may get. And now it's back to work. I feel like the big engine that could :)

Still mobile

I just wanted to update that I was able to get out of bed and shower without any problem. It's almost better than when I wasn't exercising. So odd that the thing I avoided for so long is the thing that seems to be helping me the most. No cramps last night either! I was very worried because my right calf was much more sore for some reason. Short update, just wanted it noted that although I feel like I'm dying sometimes during the workouts, it's worth it to try to get through the pain.

Not bad for a Monday

Today warm up was 3x rotation of 1 min on rower, 10 ring rows, 5 push ups, and 5 squats. Yes, I was breathing heavy and sweating at the end of it. The actual work out was much harder. This is the first time I've participated actively in an "AMRAP." I'm not sure what it stands for, but it's basically 20 minutes of as many rounds of exercise as you can do. 20 minutes is a loooooong time. Started off with 5 ring rows (everyone else was doing pull ups), then 10 push ups and top it off with 15 squats. It's sad when you're looking forward to the squats cause they hurt the least! I started off pretty good but man did it get harder and harder to get off the floor after the push ups. My push ups are getting much better. I'm pleased with the progress so far. Tomorrow is women's self defense. It's always brutal on Tuesdays!

Cross Fit take.. hell I stopped counting!

Monday was a holiday (yay no class!) Tuesday I went to women's self defense and then thought what a great idea it would be to try yoga right after. Not the smartest idea, but you know.. I really wanted to give yoga a shot. And honestly it wasn't that bad. Sure I couldn't do half the things, but for what I could do it felt good. Wednesday we rested- conflicts in scheduling meant no wsd class for the day.

Today I took my lunch break and did my cross fit. Today she had me do a special routine. Warm up was 3000 (yes, three THOUSAND) meters rowing. I was stoked to get to 2000m in just over ten minutes and that last 1000m was a killer. But I got it done around 16 minutes. I can't remember if it was just under or just above, but I know I passed 2800m at the 15 min mark and I pushed hard to try to finish it. After that morbid warm up she directed me to do 50 squats and 50 sit ups because I need to work out my core. Core, I'm learning, is very important. Apparently mine is lacking. Ah well, another day down. I'm not feeling as horrible as I was after the last class. Hoping that means my endurance is improving.

Cross Fit take 5

Today was brutal. I'm still sore from Monday. Those sit ups killed. Tuesday we did women's self defense and that wasn't fun! But oh lord today the work out was dreadful. Warm up was 200 meter jog (I walked), 10 push ups (knee push ups, but getting better at them), and then 10 "good mornings" where you take a pvc pipe over your shoulders and then bend down. Rinse a repeat for a total of 3 sets for "warm up". Seriously that was a work out in itself. So the actual work out was this:
 "cruel & unusual punishment" 
50 burpees, 5 in & out tire flips, 50 in place lunges holding 35/55lbs, 5 in & out tire flips, 50 lateral box jumps 24"/20",5 in & out tire flips, 50 hip extensions, 5 in & out tire flips
I did a modified version. Burpees are where you are standing up then kind of go all the way to the ground and then get back up and clap over your head. I can't fathom that. I start with my hands up in the air then squat down and touch the floor and then back up. So 50 of those. Next were the lunges. Holding a 35 lb kettle bell weight braced with both hands I lunged the best I could. I'm sure it looked pathetic to any normal person.. but it really was the best I could do. 50 of those came and went. Shockingly now the time was barely ticking. The lateral box jumps got me. I seriously am chickenshit. This 16" tall box looked massive to me. Instead of jumping, I was to step up and then down off it. I couldn't even step up on it. Tears welled up in my eyes. It sounded so simple to do. These guys were jumping up on these boxes and I couldn't even hoist my own weight up on a smaller one. Holding back the tears and wiping away the sweat rolling off my face I ended up bracing on hoops they have hanging and using that to assist. I did 50 step ups- 25 on each leg. It was horrific. I got to 20 and thought that was it. Then I got to 30 and didn't think I could take another step. My shoulders hurt from having to assist my weight up on the box. Just really not what I had in mind to do today! But I did it. I completed them and as I rested and took a drink of water I was urged to do some tire flips. The guys were flipping a 300-some odd lb tire and then jumping in and out and then flipping and repeating. She had me do straight up flips with a 210 lb tire. My arms were jello. I did 6 flips. I felt fantastic. Could barely breath or move, but I did it.  And I was even able to walk to my car. 


I'm wanting to start Yoga. I think I have a problem :)

Cross Fit take 4

Today was class 4 for Cross Fit. I'm not a fan of Mondays in general. I'm not really sure why I decided this would be a good day for working out on my lunch break. But I went. And I'm glad I did. Even tho I felt like a truck ran into my gut afterwards, I know it was good for me. Started off with rowing 500 m for warm up and then some bar movement to stretch out my arms- Take a white pipe and go from the front to the back and then rest on shoulders and do a squat, 20 times.  Then the work out began. I got a big mushy type medicine ball that weighed 8 lbs. I had to hold it near my chest, do a squat, and then when I stood up throw the ball up to about 10-12 ft on the wall and catch it, rinse, repeat. 80 times. Yes.. 80 times. And apparently I was doing them wrong, making more work for myself so I ended up doing 20 more to make good on them. I thought I was done.. Nope. 40 sit ups. Yes,  you read that right. 40. I was actually able to complete them in less than 5 minutes. And I only peed myself a little. Sit ups are rough on the bladder. Note to self- Pee immediately before class. I've been drinking tons of water and I know that doesn't help.

The beginning...

I wanted to start a blog at the beginning of my weight loss journey but much like losing weight, I kept putting it off and putting it off. Well now here it is. I'm starting to get into a routine of sorts and am using this to document my progress and hopefully obtain my goals.

Dec 2010 we decided to book a cruise for Dec of 2011. I started my journey in January with a goal of being able to walk around the cruise ship without passing out. I wanted to enjoy our vacation. I suffer from back and knee pain. Walking or standing for more than a few minutes at a time was a chore- almost unbearable. Five minutes of standing would be the equivalent of someone stabbing me in my lower back. Walking up a flight of stairs would take my last breath away.

So I started slowly. I cut out soda. Sure I'd slip up here and there, but mostly I was drinking my water that I was supposed to. The more you choose water, the easier it becomes to not drink soda. In March of 2011 I started a Physicians Weight Loss Center diet program. The staff pretty much becomes useless. They didn't give me the guidance I need- instead they just said OK, pick from this list of foods, eat 2 proteins and one starch, etc... They do however have some good meal replacement bars. Some of the best I've ever tried. Peanut butter and Jelly and S'mores rank as my top faves.

Exercise was also incorporated. I started slowly with aqua-aerobics twice a week. After a few months I started working out with a personal trainer. He was educated on working with overweight people and we made great progress. I was able to stand and walk a lot more before the pains would kick in.


Recently I joined a Mixed Martial Arts center. I wanted to get my daughter more active in something fun that we could do together. We started out taking Jiu Jitsu and Women's Self Defense. Shortly after joining, she started playing Softball so we had to cut out the Jiu Jitsu. Now we are taking Women's Self Defense one to two times per week as her softball schedule allows. Last week I decided to try out their Cross Fit program. My daughter wants to do the Run For Your Lives Zombie 5k and they recommend it as a good way to prepare for the obstacles you face. It took me about 12 minutes to do 500 meters on the rowing machine, 20 knee push ups, 30 squats, and 20 sit ups. I thought I was going to pass out!  But I went back for more. I had surgery scheduled the day after my first class so I had to wait a few days extra, but I managed to go back this Monday. We did dead-lifts. I had 70 pounds on my barbell and had to lift it 20 times. Then it was over to do knee push ups. 24 of those. Back to do 20 more dead lifts. I was aching. I still had 24 knee push ups to do before I was done- Most people were doing handstand push ups- literally doing a handstand and then pushing themselves up and down! It was insane. I barely made it through the workout. Today is Thursday. There were only 3 people in Cross Fit and warm up was more of a work out for me. Started off with walking 200 meters (They jogged- my knees can't take that yet, and I think I did less than 200 because I'm pretty sure I went the wrong way!) then you do ring rows- they have rings hanging from bars and you basically hold them and lean way back, then pull yourself upwards towards the rings, then back and up again- ten times. After that we take a plastic pipe and go from the back to the front ten times, then hold it across your shoulders and and bend down 10 times. Rinse and repeat for a total of 3 times of each activity! Remember this was just for warm up!!! For the actual work out I started out with the rowing machine and went 2000 meters. It took me just over 11 minutes. From there I did 20 psuedo-sprawls- I can't get all the way on the ground yet so I put my arms up and then squat all the way to the ground and touch the ground, then back up again. Next it was 20 squats and I finished off the afternoon with 11 sit ups. Yes, actual sit ups. I am amazed I am able to do them there. They have a small arched mat for the small of your back and you lay with the soles of your feet touching. Then you take your arms and stretch them out above your head on the floor. You start by swinging your arms up and over towards your feet. It really helps in the process of getting oneself up to a sitting position. Including warm up today's work out was about 30 minutes long, if that.