Monthly Archives: January 2011

Mile repeats on a lovely day

It’s January 30.  Do you know what it’s like outside?

It’s gorgeous.  And not cold gorgeous with a blanket of snow on the ground, but warm gorgeous: blue skies, 77 degrees, a nice breeze, and I actually had to turn the A/C on.

It’s that kind of gorgeous.

I love Austin.  Of course, it won’t last.  A cold front is set to blow in in just a couple of days, promising to make at least one of my Crossfit mornings very, very frigid.

Better enjoy it now, I guess.

It was the perfect day to knock out this week’s endurance WOD (Week 4!!).  Stephanie and I met at the Town Lake Hike & Bike trail for mile repeats.

1 mile run x 3
(Rest for 1/2 the time it took to run the mile)

It was pretty warm and crowded, but it wasn’t as bad as I expected it to be.  I remember doing this same WOD last year in the rain, along Shoal Creek Boulevard, just as the sun was going down.  Not fun.

My times: 8:23 / 9:10 / 9:20

The last two miles felt like they were all uphill and in the sun.  I was panting like crazy.

We walked over a mile after the WOD to get back to the Zilker playscape where Andy was hanging out with the kids.  I was famished because I held off eating lunch to run.  Thank goodness I packed some food.  I bet I looked pretty funny standing over the stroller eating broccoli and pork with a fork, then chowing down on chicken and nuts.

By the way, macadamia nuts are pure heaven.  I picked some up after reading Mark’s Daily Apple last week on the subject.  I have to measure out just a few, or else I would eat the whole bag!

I’m feeling pretty sore as I write this, and I still have my extra exercises to do toward my goals: DB bench press and deadhang pull ups.  But I think I’ll do those tonight.  In the meantime, the boys are beckoning me into the kitchen to help make dinner.  Meatza and salad tonight.  My section will have no cheese.  Awww… sad.

How do I still have energy?

It boggles my mind how I can still have energy to write this post after a full day of working out and household chores — not to mention running after the kids!

I had a hair appointment this morning, so I didn’t go running as usual.  But I had enough time to make it to the free “Under The Bridge” boot-camp workout my gym hosted down at Lady Bird Lake.  Some of my teammates were there — plus Zach — so it was a good chance to chat before and after the workout.

It was tough — but not as tough as the last one I went to.  There were lots of elements to it, but the main part was a partner WOD.

2 rounds w/ a partner
100 OVH squats (w/ PVC pipe)
100 push ups
100 sit ups
Med ball sprint

They initially told us 3 rounds, but Zach changed it in the middle.  Steph and I were in the middle of our 2 round of situps when he called time and told us to do our last med ball run.

It was pretty fun, and Steph and Beth and I lingered to chat before I ran off to the farmer’s market for veggies, meat and eggs.  Unfortunately — NO EGGS!  Ahhhh!  I was forced to go to Whole Foods.  We picked up 36 eggs .  “Enough to tide us over until Wednesday,” I remember telling Andy.

(Chuckle.)  We eat a lot of eggs.

A couple of hours after dinner, I decided to tackle my first workout of Week 4 of the challenge.  I know it’s a lot, but I’m counting on that rest day on Monday.  I value my rest days, and I’m not gonna miss them!

50 lunges
400m run
50 push ups
400m run
50 dips
400m run
50 squats
400m run

Time: 14:52 (Elite)

The push ups really got me.  I did a LOT of push ups this morning.  I just couldn’t do anymore on my toes today.  I had to go to my knees.

Now it’s late.  I should be working.  Instead I’m blogging.  And I have this hope that I’ll actually wake up early to work in the morning.

SLEEP.  It’s so valuable, and yet I still treat it like an inconvenience.  SIGH.  I wonder if my stubbornness will give one day.

Well, that was different

I don’t remember doing a WOD like this before:

3 rounds (each for time)
200m run
12 burpees
Rest 90 seconds between rounds

This one was super quick, but it was a bit tricky at 6 in the morning to watch your own time and figure everything out (there was a master stopwatch running).

My times: 1:46 / 1:51 / 1:55

I felt pretty fast, considering we started out the morning with deadlifts.

Deadlift
3-3-3-3-3

Results: 95-115-125-135-145

That is all.  :)

Women and weights

My friends Beth and Stephanie came over Wednesday to do a strength WOD and one of our weekly EPOC workouts.

Beth said she left her house telling her kids that she had to go lift weights, and her son said exasperatedly, “Why are moms always doing that?”

“Most moms aren’t always doing that!” she told him.

It’s true.  Most moms don’t.  In fact, there are so many myths about women weight-training that persist even today!  (Here’s one of my favorite posts that debunks those myths.) But maybe my kids will grow up with the impression that moms — all women, really — should lift weights heavier than 5 pounds.

Anyway, our strength WOD was a long one this week.  We followed it up with a fast met-con.  (Damn!  I wish I had pulled out my camera!)

Strength
Shoulder Press 1-1-1-1-1
Push Press 3-3-3-3-3
Push Jerk 5-5-5-5-5

Results:
45-55-65-70-80
55-60-65-70-75
55-65-70-75-80

No such luck on meeting that I AM goal of an 80# shoulder press — not yet!

Met-con
100 dumbbell snatches for time

Time: 8:00 @ 20#

Whew!  I followed that up with some major eating at dinner.  Pressure-cooker chuck roast.  Delish!

Sweet, sweet broccoli

I’ve been pretty strict Paleo for going on 4 weeks now, and I feel really good.

No more cheese.  No more cream in my coffee (I’m taking a little cinnamon now).  And I’ve been replacing fruit with vegetables, so I’m eating fruit only sparingly these days.

I feel squeaky clean.  And without a lot of sugar in my diet — BROCCOLI tastes sweet.

Did I mention that?  Broccoli.  And winter squash. And sweet potatoes?  Oh my!  What an indulgence!

I tend to save sweet potatoes for the breakfasts after Crossfit, since they’re carb-heavy.  Tuesday was no exception.

3 rounds
AMRAP 5 min
200m row
7 KB Press R (M 16k / W 12K)
7 KB Press L

Rest 1 min between rounds

My results were kind of weird because there were fewer rowers than people and Zach told me and Fred to wait until someone jumped off.  That took too long, so I started on KB presses on round 2.

Results:
Round 1 — 1 round + row + 5 press
Round 2 — 2 rounds + 5 press
Round 3 — 2 rounds + 2 press

Extra work:
3 rounds
1 min plank hold
1 min max push ups

Awesome WOD.

I’ve been really paying attention to post-WOD nutrition.  One of the coaches had told me (and other ladies) to eat only protein and carbs within 30 minutes after a WOD.  But then I read a post by another coach and Zach said the same thing, essentially, so now I’m eating a protein and a fat.  It seems to be working for me, so I’m sticking with it.

Other than that, I’m eating copious amounts of leafy green vegetables.  Salad!  Chard!  Kale!  Oh my!  And while I’m not really trying to lose weight, the scale says I am.  Which is a nice side effect to the feeling of being stronger and faster.

Hill sprints — they’re just evil

I did 2 kinds of sprinting Sunday, and one of them was not kind.

First off, knowing that Jenny wasn’t feeling well and not excited about the prospect of pushing through 3 miles myself, I suggested we do sprints.  I got the idea from Mark’s Daily Apple.  The WOW a couple of weeks ago looked really fun, and let’s face it — exercise, if not life, should be FUN.

So we started — a little haphazardly at first — but then I got the Tabata app on my iPod set to 10 seconds on, 45 seconds rest.

The people we darted by looked at us a little weird, because we would just take off with a burst of speed, stop, and pick our conversation back up.  We did that from Zach Scott all the way to the middle of the MoPac pedestrian bridge at Lady Bird Lake, then we walked the long way around. It was great.

A few hours later, I met my teammates for Week 3′s endurance WOD.  While the company was good, the WOD itself was quite torturous.

We chose a section of road in Northwest Hills that I’m told running groups will train on.  And I have to say — it was a lot harder running up this hill than when I did this WOD last year at Murchison MS.

8 hill runs — max intensity

Results: 42-38-39-39-42-41-42-42

The first hill run was slower because I went a few yards farther, but on round 2 we settled on 120 yards.  The last 50 were straight up.

OW.

They’re evil I tell you.

Good enough for the Army?

Today deserves a celebration.  Mads turns 4 months old today!

Four months of a new person in the house.  Four months of baby giggles and hugs.  Four months of being “4″ instead of “3.”

Four months of heading down the long road from a pregnant body toward a bad ass body.

Still trying to get there, but the signs are encouraging.

So I did the Week 3 challenge WOD on Saturday, and, while I’m not sure it’s enough to get me into the Army, I’m pretty happy with how I did.

Army PT Test
2 min max sit ups
2 min rest
2 min max push ups
2 min rest
2 mile run

Results:
Situps — 54
Pushups — 41
Run — 18:03

I consider this a major PR.  Honestly, I believe that when I did this one last year, I did not run the full 2 miles, because I didn’t measure it out.  I just guessed.  I think.  Anyway, this year the time was a bit slower, but it’s the best one so far since Mads was born, and I’m considering it a PR.  Plus I did one more sit up and one more pushup.

And guess what!  Almost all of those push ups were on my toes — 35 to be exact.  Yay!

Be gone muffin top!

My pajama bottoms are looser.

I noticed this evening.  I remember trying to wear these right after Mads was born.  They were uncomfortable, and I remember feeling annoyed that giving birth didn’t mean that I would instantly go back to the size I was before.

Stronger, faster, leaner.

It’s my mantra for 2011.  And I think it’s starting to happen.

On Thursday:

Power Snatch
3-3-3-3-3

Results: 45-50-50-55-55

The snatch is a scary move for me, and 55# was HEAVY.  I was starting to lose form, too, so I didn’t move it up much.

Then:

Every minute on the minute for 10 minutes:
7 KB swings (M 32k / W 24k)
7 ring pushups
14 jumping lunges

I was surprised that I finished 6 complete cycles out of the 10.  Yay!  I was using a 16K KB and had to do the ring push ups on my knees.

Today my quads are screaming at me, which made for an interesting run.  But that’s a story for tomorrow.

One down — 4 to go

Remember my 2011 challenge goals?

I’ll refresh your memory:

  1. Do at least 1 unassisted pull up
  2. Shoulder press 80#
  3. Run 400m in less than 2 min
  4. Hold a handstand for 2 min against a wall
  5. Do chest-to-floor push ups on my toes

Well — knock #5 off the list.

I’m doing them!  I did a pushup ladder and did them all on my toes!  I’m still working on keeping that core tight and pushing up evenly — but no more knees!

Yay!

Yeah, we’re nuts

At 5:15am, I was sitting on my couch, in my workout clothes, waiting for a knock on the door.

Two of my teammates agreed to come over this morning to do our strength component for the week and knock out one of the WODs.  We had gone back and forth over what time to do it.  After 5?  Later?

Finally we decided on 5:30am — the same time as the class we go to twice a week.  Instead of sleeping in on a day off from Crossfit, we chose to get up and workout.

Yeah, we’re nuts.

It was a lot colder this morning, but we were laughing (as quietly as we could) as we warmed up.  It was dark, and there isn’t much light on my back porch where the bars are.

We were OK.

Deadlift
5×5

Results: 95-115-135-145-150

I’m getting stronger.  This was a hard set, and I’m proud I was able to get closer to my max for 5 sets.

We did the met-con out front.  I wonder what the neighbors thought as they heard us curse the WOD and sprint our way up and down the sidewalk.  Probably — “That Cindy again — doing her Crossfit.”

5 rounds
10 DB Clean
5 20 yd sprints

My friends thought it was an AMRAP and were looking at me weird when I stopped and checked the stopwatch.  Then I was like — “No, you’re done!  It was only 5 rounds!” — and they laughed.  Everyone was relieved that it was over.

Results: 9:45 with 20# dumbbells (in between elite and intermediate level)

I hope we do this for the rest of the challenge.  It’s so much easier doing these extra WODs and pushing myself when I know I have someone there with me.  Especially the endurance stuff.

This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.