dixied - Congrats on your 5k!

Speaking of running, I'm trying to start up again. Yesterday was my first day back. If I knew I'd try to run, I would've picked a place to live without as many hills. Anyway, I did a workout on Saturday and overdid it a little, then ran yesterday and last night I was so sore. Still sore today. I walked the dogs this morning, did some kettlebells and stretches to help with the soreness. I'm thinking of a yoga workout after work.

I have an event that is less than 3 weeks away so I have some short term motivation. I need to work on the long term motivation though because it was majorly lacking this winter.

Yes, the Marines were from PNS NAS too. We have in the "area"

Pensacola NAS (Navy, Marines, Coast Guard)
Tyndall AFB (Air Force)
Eglin AFB (Air Force)
Hurlburt Field (Navy)
Whiting Field (Navy)
Keesler AFB (Air Force)
Maxwell AFB (Air Force)

Everything but the Army, although the Army was supposedly represented too. Probably either locals, or from Ft. Benning, GA which is about 3 hours away. We do a lot of military projects here at work, so I just love these folks for their community spirit. After all, they didn't get to stay and drink, they got shipped back to the Base.

Congrats, Dee!!

Dixie, congrats on beating your previous 5K time!

Fran, maybe that's why BBers do the tan and oil thing?

Yesterday I practiced pull-ups (or flailing under the bar), push-ups (still trying to get that chest to floor push-up on my toes, well, more than 3 a day would be nice!), and overhead squat (I even added a little weight and didn't get stuck, so that was cool!).

Today is my rest day. It's gross outside, raining all day, so I'm holed up in the house, putzing on the puter in between chores and paperwork.

Spray tans are $25 up the street on Sundays....hmmm

I just keep seeing that Friends episode. I'll be the spaz like Chandler who doesn't turn around at the right times!!

I've found a 5k to sign up for! It is 2 months from today, gulp. I didn't run today, stomach was feeling iffy and it was dark outside. I did elliptical (lifting feet) intervals with some kettlebell intervals mixed in.

Nelie: Are you gonna do the 5K? I don't think I would be excited about running hills though.

Cheryl: Bummer about the weather today. We have a beautiful day for St. Patricks Day. Sunny. Warm. And I'm in shorts! I also bought pansies for and in the middle of cleaning out the flower beds. Don't worry. It's going to cool down into the fifties again for us during the weekend.

Totally forgot that it's St. Pat's Day this morning. Went to the gym and everyone was in green. One trainer had a really great hat too.

Had a really fun workout this morning. A lot of mixed up things thrown into a regular leg routine as well. I had to hold back a little though because I meet with my trainer tomorrow and I like to be well rested for those sessions.

Have a great afternoon everyone. (green protein powder right)

Lydia - I plan to run it! It should be fun. I just need to train

Nelie, I always like having some fitness goals to shoot for. The 5K will be great!

Fran, I don't watch tv, so I'm missing that one, but if a spray on tan or a tanning package would be a fun reward for you, I think you should definitely go for it!

Lydia, thanks for not rubbing it in. lol! Your Crossfit report is below!

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The Crossfit Report, a novel, as usual:

Class #7/Tuesday

My Pre-Warmup:
Finally got out of the house on time today, so I got there 20 mins before class. Took a walk, did some running, stretching, practice squats, moving things around to get the creaks out.

The Warm-up:
The trainer was busy cooing over a new baby person (2 weeks old!) and then got snared by somebody asking about how to open an affiliate, so I did my own thing for the warm-up:
Row 500 meters
3 Rounds of:
10 air squats (bodyweight squats)
10 push-ups
10 sit-ups (regular bent knee sit-ups today)

Then 10 shoulder dislocations with the pvc pipe.

New Skills:
1) Slam Ball! Okay, this is just MEAN to people! It's a 20 lb ball filled with sand or something, it's rubber like a playground ball, maybe 8-9 inch diameter, and does not like to bounce. It's like trying to bounce a bag of sand, which is why they call it slam ball, I assume, you have to slam it to get a little bounce. You hoist this heavy little sucker overhead, then slam it down on the floor, and the objective is to drop into a squat and catch the thing after the "bounce" and before it hits the ground a second time...if you don't catch it on one bounce, it doesn't count as a rep. Let me find a video:
100 ball slams
(you don't have to watch the whole thing...it was the best I could find where someone was actually doing the squatting portion correctly)

2) Overhead Squat with weight! I actually requested this one. I was the only on who showed up for class today, so I asked if she could help me with my OHS (overhead squat). I've had trouble in the past adding weight, and knew it was a form issue, just didn't know what was wrong...my previous best was 10 lbs on a broomstick, lol. Today the trainer gave me a 30 lb bar, widened my grip so the bar was about at my belly button, rather than down at my hip. HUGE difference! I was initially leaning forward in the squat, also, which I didn't realize, because I don't do that with air squats, so just being made aware of what I was doing fixed a lot of it right there. I did a few sets of 3 and got a little better each time. She said I got 2 really good ones on the last set, then I felt my shoulders wimp out on me for the last one, but at least I got 2 good ones today at 30 lbs, a new PR (personal record) for me!

3) Not really new, but we spent some time practicing the kipping pullup on the pullup bar. I got a better lift today with more help from the legs/swing, but kept losing my grip. I was trying to get 3 swings strung together and get some lift up off the bar, but just could not grip the bar long enough to get going. It's frustrating, but I will just keep trying and my grip will get stronger, I'm sure. Also, growing calluses on my fingertips wouldn't hurt, lol. Here's a video on the kipping pull-up, so you can see what I'm trying to do..they make it look so easy!
kipping pull-up

The WOD (Workout of the Day):
Run 400 meters
15 Ring Rows
15 Slam Ball
15 Thrusters (with dumbbells, 2x12 lbs today)
15 KTE (knees to elbows, or my version, knee raises hanging from the pull-up bar)
Run 400 meters

My time was 11:49. I could have done better, but both times on the run I got too zippy at the start, and ran out of air after 200 meters or so, had to walk a little on the way back. I'll remember to pace myself better next time!

I did way better on the knee raises today, getting some control, and held on for the first 10 without dropping off the bar (woot!). Then I did 4, dropped, and 1 more, then stumbled out the door for the last running portion.

Soothing the Tight Muscles:
After this workout, nothing hurt but my hands, though I told my trainer about my idea that maybe I cranked on my achilles tendon during those calf stretches she'd shown us previously. My calves are real bears from the type of skating I do, so I think my tendon lost the battle when I was trying to stretch my calves...I've injured it before trying to do the same thing just in a different way. She suggested using the foam roller instead (cringe, lol), and it worked well. I had some knots in there I didn't know about, so even though I'll be a hurtin' unit tomorrow, feeling bruised from it, I know it is helpful, so I'll use that for my calves from now on.

I also cleared up some confusion I had about how much fish oil I should take. She said she'd like to see me getting at least a gram a day, so with the pills I bought, that means 3 a day, plus I can count on getting some from the salmon I eat, so I will get at least a gram that way, for sure...the 3 pills (gel thingies, whatever) give me 900 mg total, that's just under a gram, right?

That is it! If you read this far, thanks for reading!

Hi I'm back home from a wonderful conference, and sick. Sigh. Not too sick to go to work, but.....

Cheryl - I enjoy reading your Crossfit reports. I did checkout the website for the Anchorage one, but I doubt I could ever get there for more than a "sample" class. Sure looks like fun - in a weird sort of way - though.

Lydia - Hope you had fun running the city! I came back to a mess. Our Director of Administration was "invited" to resign yesterday, and I just got an email that we now have a replacement - maybe interim, I'm not sure. That dept is in deep-do-do as they just lost a clerk/cashier to another dept, and the payroll/accts payable person has announced she's retiring May 1. Lots of changes. I'm just glad I'm over here in my own building, keeping my nose to the grindstone and not raising any flags!

Cheryl - I love the crossfit report. I looked at the WOD at the official crossfit site and thought there was no way I could do that. It looks like your program is 'in the spirit' of the WOD but not the exact same. Does that mean crossfit gyms tailor the program to various levels? Or does each crossfit gym tailor their own WOD? Do you know?

Pat, I'm glad you're not in the middle of that...sounds like a mess!

The rest of this novel is for Nelie, so feel free to skip if you're not her. Got a little wordy, sorry!
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Nelie, as far as I know, each affiliate decides what to do each day for their WOD, but if they're (IMO) true to the original crossfit program, then it's going to look similar, and they'll also do some of the regular "named" (aka "benchmark") WODs on a regular basis. There's actually a crossfit affiliate about 2 miles from my house, but I chose one farther away, because the one by my house just didn't seem to "get it", and the workouts were very different than the main site, like a different program, IMO. The one I go to, they don't follow the main site schedule, but they are very true to the programming.

Now, the class I'm doing is like the Baby Crossfitter class, so our workouts are not the same as everybody else is doing. First off, we haven't learned all the moves to be able to do everything, like we haven't covered cleans at all yet, and have barely added weight to any of the lifts we have learned. Basically, we learn some new skills, and those are included in our class WOD that day, plus maybe some moves we've already covered, so we get more practice at them. The first few workouts were really easy, but they are getting a little more challenging now. Our trainer really adjusts the workload for each of us, like I usually get more weight than the other two, or more reps, assigned just to me, and they may get less, if they're struggling...she wants everybody to have a good workout, but not get hurt! The plan is that as we get more skills and get closer to "graduating" from this beginner class, then on Saturdays we'll do the first half of our class as usual, the warm-up and skills training, then we'll get to join the regular Saturday group to try our hand at the real WODs they are doing (we will still scale the weight or reps to fit our fitness level, even then). The idea behind the class I'm taking is that it's easing us into the program, learning the moves, and also easing us into the intensity, rather than just tossing us into the group and the regular workouts. When we're done with this class, there's supposed to be a test of some sort, and if we pass the test, knowing all the moves, I assume, then we'll know we're ready to join the regular workouts.

As for the main site WODs that you're referring to, they can ALL be scaled down for ANY skill and fitness level. For example, here's Tuesday's mainsite WOD:
For time:
1 mile Run
100 Pull-ups
200 Push-ups
300 Squats
1 mile Run

Do not let that intimidate you. That is the "Rx'd" workout, which means it's for the man beasts out there and crazy 20-somethings, not everybody! A total beginner could scale that down, and still get a good workout without killing themselves. For example:
Run 200 meters (or walk)
10 Jumping Pull-ups (or ring rows, rows on a bar, lat pulldown, gravitron, etc)
20 Push-ups (on the wall, angles, knees, whatever)
30 Squats (if it doesn't specify, it always means bodyweight or "air" squats)
Run 200 meters (or walk)

The stimulus of the workout is preserved, it's the same workout, just scaled down to whatever level a person can handle. You want it to be a challenge, but you don't want to injure yourself.

If I scale it myself, I try to guess what I can do for 10 to 20 mins, and adjust the numbers to fit. However, it's even easier than that, because from the main crossfit site, if you go to the "Start Here" button, you'll see a link there for "Brand-X Scaled Workouts"...click on that, and look for the thread (it's a message board) near the top with the correct date and WOD you're looking for...they scale the mainsite WODs every day for all levels, from the top right on down to "buttercups", and you can just choose your poison, or get an idea of how to do your own scaling of that particular WOD.

Here's a good video explaining the concept of scaling any crossfit workout.
http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/C..._ScaledWOD.wmv

Truly, anybody can do crossfit. Brand-X always provides alternatives for moves that require special equipment (like a rower or rings), and moves that are complicated or too advanced for beginners. Everybody can get more fit, too. Mary, the lady in the video above that is taking long strides instead of lunging steps? She can now do lunges all the way to the floor...they are hard work, but she can do them, she can stand up out of it (which means she's safer from the "I got down but can't get back up again" situation), she can heft a 40 lb sack of dog food off the floor...she's a beast for somebody in her 80s!

Cheryl - Thanks for the info!

I am definitely going to look into my closest crossfit gym when I get back from my trip in a couple weeks. They are the ones offering a woman's only kettlebell class. Of course I got a lot going on with trying to train for a 5k but I know crossfit is very beneficial towards that goal.

I guess I never felt intimidated by a regular gym but I'm a little nervous about walking into a male centric type gym and being the fat girl. I look at the WOD and some seem doable with modifications but others I had no idea how to modify.

Hi everyone -
I have been a totally unmotivated workout slug this week, except for yesterday's run... I did nothing Monday, didn't get up and do my planned strength training yesterday, ran 6.5 miles after work yesterday, didn't get up for my planned strength training this morning... Won't get any in tonight when I go home because we are going to see "Spamalot" tonight... So, I'm planning to do some in my office exercises this afternoon. I wore good shoes and have three breaks between phone interviews. I'm planning at least two, maybe three tabata sets with squats, wall or desk pushups, and some punches or knee jabs from my kickboxing routine. I can close my door so no one will see and think I'm crazy...

I'm still trying to find some exercises for the back and shoulders that don't work my pecs as much - my pectoral muscles are still really tight on the implants and I don't want to do a lot to strain them right now until things finishing settling. I'm still doing pushups, just not nearly as many as I used to do, and have moved my hands closer together. Don't know the logic of why, but it feels like it doesn't pull across my chest as tightly that way. Called my PS about those and he says those are fine. (He actually says any chest exercise is fine, but I'm still a little shaky. I can see the pectoral muscle distortion on the implant when it flexes and I can see it push the implant up and out, so I'm going to give the pockets a little more time to heal.) I'm doing a standing row on the Weider, lateral raises with my dumbells, isolated arm exercises, shoulder presses (sometimes Weider, sometimes my dumbells), and am thinking about putting in a 'high reverse cable fly' to replace the lateral pulldowns. Those pulldowns pull on the pecs pretty hard... Any other suggestions for back and shoulder exercises? Cheryl, I took your suggestion for the row, just went with standing instead of seated - seated is hard on the Weider. Thanks!

Pat - welcome back! Good luck navigating the crazy!

Nelie - Have fun on your 5K! Hills are tough...

Fran - I can't do the spray on tan for that same reason - I always have this picture of myself being all streaky and crazy looking!

Dee - High five on the 5k!

I'll be intersted to hear your review of this Shannon. We're going later in April. I haven't seen a live performance in a long time.

I did pretty well eating at the conference, given that most meals had little choice. I did eat at an awesome sushi restaurant 3 times. Each time I was with a group who knew a lot more about what to order than me. It was good for me and I now will be more confident when I go by myself. There was a "to die for" black cod dish that I could have eaten for every meal.

Exercise, however, was limited to walking between the hotel and the conference venue, and taking the stairs instead of the elevator. Then of course, I've been sick with a UTI since I got home. I'm feeling better after just 2 doses of antibiotic so I should be back in the gym tomorrow. Tonight I take DH to the airport, and then I'm alone for a week, so no one to complain about what time I get home in the evening.....

So far the upheaval at the Admin dept has not affected my dept. I got an email saying there is now an interim director. Not surprising since admin includes finance, and the auditors were scheduled to start this week.... I'll learn more at lunch since several directors are accompanying the city manager to the Chamber of Commerce annual meeting.... (Which of course will be another food minefield!)

Nelie - good luck training for the 5K. I'm sure you'll do fine.