2/7/14. crossfit. no run. recovery day.

2/7/14.  crossfit. no run. 


hit the gym at 5:30am this morning.  Was a good crowd, had the best coach.  3x10 dips.  then rowing and handstand pushups.  did the HSPUs with my toes on a box.  I have trouble keeping my legs straight (pike position) due to my general hamstring tightness.  Will continue to work this. i've been hitting the lower body mobility twice a week for about 45 minutes, but its not enough.

no run today.  day of rest.  did 5K each on 3 consecutive days, then I will do 10K saturday.  that's the most running I've done in a week long period, in over a year, and I feel pretty good.  My friend Jess gave me a Buff, so I'm going to give that a try - its supposed to be barely above 20 degree tomorrow morning.  It's cool to have friends like this, even when I am not that friendly of a person.

2/7/14. crossfit. dips. rowing. HSPUs. NOxplode. protein shake. coffee. oranges. protein bar. baked gnocchi. apple. almonds. cottage cheese. beef stew. fritos. lots of water.

2/6/14. run. crossfit. run in the dark, when its 18 degrees F? Why not?

2/6/14. run. crossfit.  yeah, any idiot can run. there's even a few that run in the dark. but it takes a special kind of idiot to get up at 4:45am, and run in the dark when the thermometer reads 18 degrees.  but i lived to tell.  only about a minute slower than normal 5K time.  not sure if it was the temp, or the fact that this is my first week to hit the road 3 days in a row.  i know 5K isn't far, but i'm still getting back into my groove, and 5K 3 days in a row feels like a lot right now.

i don't care so much about the cold (I know my core will warm up while I run), but i was a little scared about running with exposed skin (nose, face).  I read this article, and concluded that with an air temperature over 15 degrees F, no matter what the wind speed was, I had more than 30 minutes before I could get frostbite. I can limp my way through 5K at 26-28 minutes, any day, so I knew I should be OK.


how-long-does-it-take-to-get-frostbite-or-hypothermia

I did panic a little at the last second and threw on a complete extra layer.  track pants over my running tights. fleece pullover under my reflective jacket, wool fingerless gloves (T knitted them) over my running gloves, etc.  But I couldn't arrive at a solution to cover my face.  I actually tried tying a bandana on, train robber style.  didn't work out.  if I tied it tight enough to stay up, then my breathe fogged up my glasses and i couldn't see.  and breathing through it restricted my breath like an elevation mask.  couldn't catch my breath.  when I loosened it up so i could breathe, it would just fall down.  so the compromise was to hold it up when the wind blew in my face, but let it slouch down when it was calm.  I got through it OK.  But I didn't see too many other people out there this morning! my good friend Jess, a real runner, recommends "the buff" ( how to wear the buff ).  Then she left one on my front porch for me!!! I'm excited to give it a try.

Crossfit. 2 heavy front squats EMOM for 10 min.  decided after 3 days of running, with a long run coming Sat, not to go too heavy (like to failure).  kept it reasonable, max'd out for the last 4 round at 165. WOD was 18-15-12-9-6-3 of hang power snatch and bar bacing burpees.  no fun at all.

2/6/14. run. crossfit. front squat. hang power snatch.  bar facing burpees. coffee. almonds. orange. deep dish pizza. peas. apple. protein shake. baked gnocchi. ceaser salad.lots of water.

2/5/14. run. in which I get blown off at the gym and miss my workout.

2/5/14. run.  what happened to my crossfit?

crossfit? I waited outside the gym until 5:40am, nobody showed up to let me in.  so I went home and ran 5K instead.  probably for the best, as this is a step up week for the running and I need to get in a 5K today.  Yesterday I found out the kids had a science/tech/education function tonight, and I wasn't sure when I could get my run in.  So I guess things were easier to get my run out of the way early.  but its frustrating, in that I haven't missed a workout in years.  seriously.  I have scheduled flights around the 5:30am class so I could squeeze it in.  I have dropped in on boxes in Wichita, Myrtle Beach, and Wake Forest, so I could get my workouts in.  but not today.

so it was a 6am 5K (I lost an hour due to travel to the gym back and forth, including my wait), which is why it wasn't a 5am run.  It was friggen cold, around 22 degrees, maybe even a little colder.  it was a little windier than yesterday, which increased the suck.  Funny thing is, my time and my pace were the same from Tues to Wed, down to the second.  crazy coincidence.  legs are feeling a little stiff (calves, hamstrings especially), i think it has something to do with yesterday's deadlifts.  my knees are feeling a little achy, I'm going to have to just be mindful. 

the plan is to run another 5K tomorrow morning.  the weather is calling for even colder, more like lows of 14 degrees.  Running sounds like a bad idea.  If it goes below 20, I may shift the run to Friday afternoon, which will leave me no recovery time before Saturday's long run.  almost wish I had a treadmill...

2/5/14. run. NOxplode. waffle/ham/egg sandwich. coffee. orange. almonds. tamales. peas. apple. tea. homemade deep dish pizza.  broccoli. lots of water.

2/4/14. early AM run. crossfit. tweaks to the next months running

2/4/14. early AM run.  crossfit.

I set the alarm for 4:45 to guarantee I would be running before 5am. woke up at 3:30am, never really got back to sleep.  out the door by 4:58am. was 25 degrees.  cold.  dark.  I was angry.  angry at the cold.  angry to be running.  angry at myself for being stupid and thinking I could run.  angry at the plan.  angry at fitness.  then i compounded it by only listening to angry music.  skipped any songs that might get me out of my funk and only listened to fast loud angry music.  culmination? rolled the odometer to 5K while the CroMags were pounding one out...

why I am running right now?  to kick ass at Berlin. the training plan i want to follow is specific in design.  per Hal, "I DESIGNED THIS PROGRAM FOR EXPERIENCED RUNNERS, individuals who have run two or three or more marathons and who would like to improve their times, to achieve Peak Performance, to set a Personal Record (PR). You should be running five to six times a week, averaging 15-25 miles a week."

that's some pretty hefty requirements, to qualify myself to even start this plan. this is the stable base I have been referring to.  I ramped up slowly, got to approx 3 runs a week, for a total of 11-12 miles a week.  I have held it there for 2 months.  I am adding a day, so that for the next 3 weeks I will run 4 days a week, approx 15 miles per week.  then, the last week of Feb and the first week of March, I will add an additional day.  Should be comfortable with 5 runs a week, approx 18 miles/week by March 10.  Then all hell breaks loose.

crossfit. EMOM, 10 min, 10 push ups.  WOD: AMPRAP 15 min: 7 deadlifts (70% 1RM) and 200m run. the problem with hitting a new 1RM last week is that now 70% of 1RM is higher than it used to be.  didn't pay attention to the clock.  went slow, kept form good, just tried to lift a lot and stay uninjured.

2/4/14. run. crossfit. push ups. deadlifts. run.  coffee. almonds. orange. bbq meatballs. pretzel roll. peas. apple. almonds. protein shake. cheese stick. pork chop. kale garlic mashed potatoes. purple cabbage. ham and cheese. lots of water.

2/3/14. crossfit. no run. but this is the week to crank it up a notch.

2/3/14. Monday. Crossfit. no run.

5:30am class.  5 min EMOM, 30 double unders.  my doubles were off.  hit maybe 20 each minute.  lots of energy wasting leaping and flailing around, flagellating myself with an aircraft quality steel control cable strung between 2 handles.  5 min AMRAP of clean and jerks (full squat). only loaded up 115, should probably have gone a little heavier.  21-15-9, chest to bar pull ups and 53# kettlebell swings.  after a first run of 5 C2B, I actually strung together sets of 2-3 chest to bar pullups.  still have to do them as chin ups, not pull ups, if I want to get the extra little pull to touch my chest.  halfway through, resorted to peeling down.  chest hair gets you the extra half inch as it brushes the bar, that can spell the the difference between a good rep and a no rep.

this is the first week of February.  To stay on the "pre-training" training plan I set up last October, I need to add an extra run this week.  should be up to (3) 5Ks and (1) 10K per week.  I'm thinking of running Tues 5am, Wed 5 pm, then Thurs 5am. plus the long run on Sat. average over 15 miles/week.  hold that through the month, then onward and upward.  was a little tired in the gym this morning, so we'll see how I adjust to the additional output. 

2/3/14. NOxplode. protein shake. coffee. orange. almonds.  BBQ meatballs. broccolini. cole slaw. apple. almonds. Cottage cheese. Edamame. Chicken yakisoba. Cookies. Lots of water.

2/1/14. the Long Run. yoga. energy boosts kick ass

2/1/14. Saturday. the Long Run.  yoga.

did my long run, 5 miles, at about 10:30am.  wore the adidas energy boosts.  those shoes rock!  seriously, I felt real good running in them, and the miles flew by.  did my 5 in just under 42 min, avg pace of 8:22 min/mile.  it was funny, I could feel every crack and pebble I stepped on, I was really in tune with the path.  felt cushioned and springy, but really grounded at the same time.  was a good run.  i wish they could all feel like that.

i had my perfect long run recovery drink.  20 ounce shaker bottle.  2 scoops vanilla protein powder, 1 scoop orange gatorade.  add water, shake up, guzzle.  tastes like an orange creamsicle...

after the long run, i did yoga for an hour.  I'm glad T is back from india.  having her teach every saturday forces me to do it, and i really think it help me recover from my running.  i'm still probably the most inflexible person there, but every bit helps.  I have trying to do about 45 min of lower body stretching/rolling/mobility work on tues/thurs before working out.  I hope to avoid any injuries this way.

2/1/14. coffee. eggs. cheese. sausage. peanut butter toast. preotein shake. protein bar. cottage cheese. orange. apple. chicken breasts. mashed potatoes. carrots. ceasar salad. tortilla chips.

1/31/14. crossfit. no run.

1/31/14. Friday. crossfit. no run

hit the 5:30 class, it was almost overcrowded.  did some heavy push jerks.  I don't particularly like the push jerk.  could be my lack of flexibility or my lack of coordination.  i understand how, and i understand why.  but it just doesn't always work so well for me.  push press, or straight to split jerk, i guess.  WOD was 100 shoulders to overhead for time.  had to do 50' of walking lunges each time you dropped the bar.  tell you what - I wasn't interested in trying to run 100, and I wasn't interested in hurrying.  when i hurry, my form gets shitty and I get hurt.  proved that before, no need to do it again.  so I went a little light, did all push presses, and after a first set of 25, I kept sets of about 15.  felt about right, I probably did about 250' of walking lunges.  that was my break time.

thank to my best friend Manuel for the following link - I almost pissed my pants laughing.  "woman, its called kipping"

1/31/14. crossfit. push jerk push press. walking lunges. NOxplode.  protein shake. coffee. orange. almonds. turkey. corn fritters. apple. cottage cheese. turkey. broccoli. peppers. lots of water.