No sleep, no problem!

I got less than 4 hours of sleep last night that was broken due to a quick run up to NYC- Resulting in about 13 hours in the car total and leg pains from sitting for that long. We split it up and took breaks, but it was still stressful. So I was unsure about going to CF today but I still dressed just in case I was feeling up to it. I decided the heck with it and headed to class. Warm up was a 200 m run and then three rounds of 10 mountain climbers, 10 ring rows, and then pass throughs. It was a workout in itself! After warm up we moved onto the main WOD. It was 10 rounds of 10x pull ups and 10x burpees. I substituted ring rows for pull ups and with my leg pain I tried to do the make shift burpees getting all the way down to the ground, however it wasn't working for me so I did the squatting type burpees that I did in the beginning. It still was hard for me. after the second round I was wheezy and sweaty. Slowing my pace I was able to make it to the sixth round before my back pain really came in. Pushing through I finished with a time of 15:13. I would have been super excited to have finished that, but we still had to do core. Today it was 100 sit ups! It took me a good 10 minutes, but I got them done.

It's Thursday so we also ended up going to Boxing class. Warm up was awesome because instead of running we did drills. They still get me going, but it's more of a soreness pain than getting winded, which I hate. Friends of mine came and we partnered up and practiced punches and blocks. Class flew by- It was almost over before I was really looking at the clock to find out how much longer it would be cause my back hurts :)  Now I definitely deserve to go to bed! Three ibuprofen and hopefully I can get out of bed easily in the morning.

CF Tuesday

Yesterday we had some plumbing issues to take care of so I missed CF. I figured I'd be good and go today to make up for it. We had a good sized class today, about 8 or 9 of us. Warm up was rowing for calories, box jumps, and ring dips- 15-12-9. Today I was feeling blah so I did steps on to three 45# weights. After this I was pretty winded. We then went on to work the mechanics of the power clean. Got my bar loaded up and kept it light as my right arm is still giving me issues. Total weight was 35# for the pcs. I'm fairly slow getting up and down so I didn't do 7 push ups every minute. Instead of 15 rounds, I only made it thru 7 1/2, starting and ending with pcs. It wasn't morbid, but I was definitely sweating. I had the "other" coach today and again wasn't too fond. She yelled a little, but it wasn't motivational and she didn't seem to use names, I don't know it could be me, but I have that love/hate thing with being yelled at during CF. I hate it, but I know Coach is looking out for me to push myself harder and I do try harder and feel better about it in the end. Note to self: if I miss Monday, skip Tues 1 pm class :)  "other" coach was chatty after the WOD and so I just did 50 sit ups for my core. Pics are of the boards for the workout and then my board for keeping track. A number for my PCs and then a check mark for completing my push ups. Funny that I got 56 for each one.

Aquatics for the win

That's right. This morning I went to aqua class and I rocked it. Fifteen minutes in I was getting winded but I was able to hold strong. We did some races across the pool. I won every time and the teacher pointed out how fast I was going and then came over to me and whispered that this was a very competitive group- I'm not sure if she wanted me to slow down or was letting me know I was extra awesome. I choose tho believe the latter! And you know how they say stuff comes in threes- well let's recap... farting in WBJJ while doing sit ups, almost pooping my pants in CF, and now this morning on the way out of the pool my knee locked up as I was trying to step out and I twisted and fell back into the pool. I'm sure it looked all sorts of awesome. Not. Hopefully that's the end of my humiliating streak.

TGICFF

Yes, that's right, Thank Goodness It's Cross Fit Friday!!! The end of another week. Today was bliss compared to yesterday's hell. Warm up was 3 rounds of 10x squats, 10x ring rows, 10x pass thrus, and 20x leg lifts/swings (I did 10 each way for each leg each time). After we got all stretched we moved onto the main WOD. For time: 10 x Muscle-ups, 4 x Box jumps, 8 x Muscle-ups, 8 x Box jumps, 6 x Muscle-ups, 12 x Box jumps, 4 x Muscle-ups, 16 x Box jumps, 2 x Muscle-ups, 20 x Box jumps. I did the easier ring rows (2x for every 1 muscle-up) instead of muscle-ups and then used a 45# plate for my box jumps. I could feel it and was sweating halfway through. I finished with a time of 11:06. The box jumps continue to be a problem for me. Fear rushes through me every time I take a jump. Another week down. This was probably my best week ever for working out- barring yesterday's mishap (or almost disaster!). Core today was 30 supermans.

Boxing Night

So my kid has been wanting to give boxing a shot as it's a new class that started in January. We made our first class tonite. I was out of breath towards the beginning of warm up. Cardio, cardio, cardio! After some running and loosening up we started with basic footwork and jabs. The first run across and my right calf was tight and on fire. I took it a bit slower, but pushed through. Once we paired up and did jabs with our partner, it made things a bit easier. We did a lot of practice and finished with some weird type of jumping jack where you don't actually jump. It was a really good class and I'm looking forward to next week, hopefully our plans for Wednesday won't mess up Thursday too much. The Coach for boxing is really awesome. He was supportive and got my humor so that was a huge plus. I think I can do boxing even without the kid once I get my cardio going. Time for some ibuprofin and sleep. The jury is out on whether or not I'll be making it to CF tomorrow.

WBJJ & CF

So Wednesday was Ladies BJJ. We had a good class- smaller than normal with only four of us this time. We did warm up and then moved on to some more self defense type moves where we got to use props :) Out came the rubber knives. We learned techniques from the ground that would work if someone was trying to stab you or slice you. The moves would also work if the person didn't have a knife, but was still putting you in a vulnerable position. But enough about yesterday's class- I'm going to move on to today's CF because WBJJ was great per usual, unlike today's CF. Let's just get this out of the way- I almost pooped my pants. Yup. That's right. The WOD wasn't easy by any means, but it also was in no way the hardest. I did have a full breakfast today instead of splitting it up- wondering if that threw me off or if I may have a touch of food poisoning still left over from Tuesday. Either way it wasn't fun. Warm up was basically going through the techniques of the WOD, which today was a 3 min AMRAP, rest 2 min, 5 min AMRAP, rest 3 min, 7 min AMRAP of 5 deadlifts, 5 hang power cleans, and 5 kettlebell swings. I used a 35# KB and loaded a bar to 55# as I can't do as much weight for the HPCs as I can for the DLs. It was a struggle. Made it through the first round, rested, got about a minute into the second round and had to rush off. Apparently I missed most of that set as I came out as the Coach was coming to make sure I was ok. Red faced and all I got back in time to do the last set in full. First section I made it 2 times through, second was 1 time, third was 4 times. Glad to bounce back. My right arm is still sore. Core was 50 abmat sit ups. Not horrible, but not fun either. Catching my breath seemed extra rough today. Glad CF is done for today.

Aqua Aerobics = Water Death

It's been almost a year since I did water aerobics. I thought why not- I need to get cardio going. So I got there early and hit up the hot tub. So nice. I forgot how lovely the hot tub feels on my aching body. Time for class so I had to tear myself out of the warm water and plunge into the freezing lap pool. Ten minutes into class I was huffing and puffing. It was so much harder than I remember. This pool is deeper than the one I used to go to so there was a bit of a learning curve. After fifty minutes of flailing around, class was finally over. Back to the hot tub! The teacher is pretty cool. I appreciated her words of encouragement and compliments on my performance :) It's like riding a bike. Looking forward to her class on Saturday.

CF Monday

So as much as I wanted to nap today, I instead drug my butt to CF. I can't remember seeing so many people there! I guess being a holiday they all decided to get their workout in early. For warm up we rowed 500 m, 20 leg swings on each leg, and 20 pass throughs. Moving on to the WOD, it was a 21-15-9 starting with snatch squats and then c2b pullups- I did mild ring rows. RX was 65#, but that's my max for Snatch Squats so I kept it a bit lower at 35#. My back pain wasn't helping either, so I didn't want to overdo it. I was the first one done today with a time of 13:18. Ring rows don't take nearly as long as c2b pull ups. Those look brutal. Don't get me wrong tho. I was definitely aching and out of breath. Core for me was 3 x 20 sit ups.

Late CF

Busy on my lunch break today so I snuck CF in after work. I am glad I went. It wasn't too rough overall, but I definitely felt it. Warm up was like the early days- 200 m run, 10 slam balls, 20 mountain climbers. It was supposed to be three times but I take forever and only made it through two. Jogged the first part of the run then finished it walking, used an 8lb ball for the slams, and after attempting the mountain climbers I ended up using a box to support myself a bit so I could get my legs stretched out properly. The second round I rowed instead of walking. We had Muscle Ups as a skill set so I worked on just supporting my weight on the pull up bars. I feel like I'm getting stronger and better, so that's awesome. The WOD was a double alternating tabata of box jumps and kettlebell swings. I used the 45# plate for the bjs and the rx 35# kb for the swings. Total for me on this WOD was 70. After about three minutes it was a struggle. I finished CF off with core work of 50 supermans. Still not a fan of those- they could rename them boob squishers, ouch!

Coach Encounters of the Third Kind

So I missed Monday CF and decided to go Tuesday to make up for it. It didn't sound like a horrible class. Basic warm up and then the WOD was four rounds of 1 min double unders, 1 min row, 1 min anchored sit ups and 1 min 10 m shuttle runs, then rest for 1 min. My regular coach was not there, instead it was a coach I have never worked with. She must have missed the hellos because she went over the work out and then basically as she was setting the rower for calories she told me that she wasn't sure how she could scale the work out for me, maybe do three rounds instead of four. I told her I did "Angie" and I got this. The more I thought about it, the more I felt offended. I didn't ask her to help me scale it- she just assumed. She didn't ask my history, or if I was new, or if I had questions or needed help with any particular thing. She just assumed I would be unable to do it. I know how to scale most things for myself- I did single unders and regular ab mat sit ups. I finished it, quite winded, but so was everyone else. The score was a total of everything, counting each calorie burned for the rowing. I got 151. That's really not bad! Sure I had the lowest total, but that's no big deal because I finished it. I did my jumping and my situps and my rowing- hell with the short 10m, I jogged and power walked it. There was no core so that was nice. Biceps were sore today.

Today was WBJJ. My favorite class, I'm not going to lie. I miss self defense, but I really like this class. We seem to have the same group of ladies each time so that makes it nice as well because I can get more comfortable with them in order to eventually do maneuvers with them. We arrived late do to the kid's after school activities, but got in for a little warm up of some hip escapes. Then moved into a defensive move with a handshake. It's a nifty move where you dig your knuckle into the top of the person's hand that your shaking. Hurts like a bitch if you do it right. Then to work onto that we had a move where you bend their hand and grab their elbow, effectively breaking the wrist. A nifty move to keep in your bag of tricks. After that we practiced half mount escapes and it was nice to be able to do the move.  I can feel soreness in my shoulder and my arms still, but it's not horrible, so I know I'm improving. :)

Mental Breakdowns...

Yesterday was a rough CF class. We did a light warm up and then the WOD was a 12 min AMRAP of 5 x Back squats (135#) and 5 x DB Strict press (25#). I started off strong because after all- 25 pounds.. that's not that bad even in each hand. The back squats were manageable as well. About five minutes in the fatigue set in and by 10 minutes I could barely feel my arms. The weights turned into the heaviest things I've ever lifted. I just barely pushed out 10 rounds. It was good to finish it. I was beat. My core was 50 sit ups. I managed those without too much issue.

Today was a whole nother story. Mentally I was trying to prepare myself. It looked like a rough WOD today and I was already sore. On the website it was 6 rounds of 10x burpees and 10x muscle ups. When I got there it looked way better- there were two WODs- the first one was reverse rows 5 sets of 3. I did those at 83#. Then the main WOD was still strenuous- 21-15-9 ring dips and box jump burpees. Scaling the ring dips to using the box and sitting on it, then sliding off and using my hands to go down and up. Then moving onto the burpee box jumps I used a 45# plate again and did knee push ups. It literally hit me within the first 5 bbjs- my mind and body said no. This is the first time that I have ever seriously considered just quitting. I took a minute and had to recompose, stop myself from giving in and giving up, and just keep going at my own pace. I did cheat today. I kept losing track of my count. I'm certain I didn't do 21 bbjs. It was probably closer to 19. Not a great day. I don't like not doing what I'm supposed to- and on any normal day I would have over compensated for losing count. But not today. Today I focused on getting up and down and pushing the thoughts of pain and drowning and self loathing and tears away. I finished somewhere around 19 minutes. I can't remember the exact time, but I know it was shortly after another girl who finished just under 18 minutes. After my own personal hell WOD core was 30 supermans.

Tomorrow I have a meeting with a trainer. Hopefully I can pick his brain and get some good information for myself. Swimming will start up soon. I'll be ordering a new suit this weekend.

Women's BJJ

It's very nice getting back into the routine. We were able to go to our Wed ladies class. We did some light warm up and then moved on to quite a bit of technique. Started with a new version of the arm grab and then moved onto mount escapes. Finally we ended with the Americana- when you're mounted you'd take your left hand to their left hand trapping it to the ground, elbow tight to their head and then take your right hand and go under their elbow area gripping onto your wrist and then pulling upwards in a stroke motion- This should make the other person tap out in pain if you're doing it right. We had to keep checking the placement of the hand, bringing it lower so the hand was even with the shoulder and then the pain would pop right in. No MT tonight. We're easing back into our schedule. Now I know why my arm hurts :) couldn't figure out what I did to it before I typed it out!

Monday CF

Between a dr appt and needing to get my car taken care of I missed Thurs & Fri last week. This week should be back to more normalcy for me. Starting with the dreaded Monday class- Today's WOD was a 20 min AMRAP of 5 Power Snatches, 8 Box Jumps, and 10 T2Bs. I used 65# for my PSs, a 45# plate for my jumps, and did my T2Bs on the floor. I rushed the last set of T2Bs and was able to complete 5 rounds. It was pretty rough. I'm definitely feeling the lack of my normal routine. Last Monday's class was also death warmed over and served sweaty tho, so it was nice to kind of recover from that. We had a simple warm up of stretches and technique for the PSs. No core today so that was nice. Finished with a little more stretching and that was it.  A nice tiring quick class to start the week. I signed up at a different gym so hopefully I'm going to start getting swimming back into my rotations. I miss the water.