History in the Making

Knowing that I must start sounding like a broken record, I will still share, that (once again) I am refocusing on my nutrition. It sure is an uphill battle for me and might be for the rest of my life given my history.

But for the first time, since I moved to this country and discovered the deliciousness of Girl Scout Cookies, I declined an order form... Actually, I turned down two order forms in last couple of weeks. People, there is history in the making!

I don't think you should cut out every treat, but with the cookie delivery from my mom and leftover treats all around the house, I really want to avoid to put yet another temptation in the pantry.

Where is all this coming from?

No, it's not a New Year's Resolution!

I sometimes like to listen to pod casts at work and recently discovered CrossFit Radio and Jillian Michaels and Fat2Fit. That was really food for thought an several levels and gave me a little motivational boost to put better things in my body and also start to eat more thoughtfully again.

Also, a blog post from HIT CrossFit a while back ago, really strung a cord with me. The bottom line is:

"YOU CANNOT OUT TRAIN A BAD DIET."

I think, I really needed to hear that.

It sometimes is very tempting to just think: Oh, I can eat XYZ, I'm running/ cycling/ swimming this off in no time. But in reality:

“80% of your body composition will be determined by your diet."

 
And with that in mind, I once again try to make better choices and keep on fighting the uphill battle.

Boo yah! I am ready!

I'm Walking

Today and yesterday, I clocked a total of 17 miles of walking.

I would rather be running and cycling, especially since the weather has been so mild in the last couple of days. But I had my oral surgery last Wednesday and everything that gets the blood pumping, just doesn't feel that good right now.

But I take it. I honestly didn't expect to feel this decent so early. Good thing, they didn't have to do as much as they expected. Lucky break!

But at least my tooth implant is fixed now.... Or at least I hope so. We'll see, how the next checkup is going down in two weeks.

Karma loves it. I think she will be very disappointed, once I am ready to workout again and the walks are being cut down. 

The soft diet is kind of getting to be at this point. When you start looking at a slice of pizza and start thinking about throwing it into the blender... Well, I am almost there.

I discovered a couple of new roads today, that can be incorporated in future running routes.

But it was hilly hilly hilly. A couple of times, I had to take a breather, because the pounding in my jaw just gotten too bad, but we got it done.

I Have A Sad

Today was my last CrossFit workout for a while. I will miss this. The workouts, the people... Hopefully, things are going to work out and we'll be back at it after our last race. I think we really lucked out with finding HITCrossFit, because it was just a great experience. What I am not going to miss is the drive over here though!





In our warm up run this morning, a fellow CFitter noted, that it looked like I was going out with a bang and that we were in for a treat for today's WOD:

Warm Up
Run 400M
2 rounds
10 shoulder pass throughs
10 oh squats
10 push ups
5 pull ups

Strength
Box Squat 5/5/3/3
Curls 10/10/10

Metcon
FIGHT GONE BAD
3 Rounds- 1 minute at each exercise. continuously counting reps as you move to each exercise. 1 minute rest after all exercises are complete, then repeat. Score is total reps.

Wallball Shots 20/14
Sumo Deadlift High-Pull 75/55
Box Jumps 20″
Push Press 75/55
Row for calories

     
No kidding.

BUT, I am happy to say that I was able to put RX (=as prescribed meaning, didn't scale down weights) next to my name on today's board. I think that was a first! What a way to finish this experience! Oh... And I made a new max weight on the box squats... High fives all around! ;-)




On the bright side.... I am looking forward to joining the tri swim classes again in the mornings twice a week and therefore avoiding the swim team crowd at the pool in the afternoon.

I hope to be able to keep up with some sort of strength training as I don't want to start back at zero come November*... But so far, I don't really have a plan for that.

*November... That sounds kind of crazy, since we are not even done with January yet, but I am sure it'll be here in a flash!

Badonk-a-BONK

I just googled badonkadonk to check spelling and found the urban dictionary entry.... seriously not safe for work! ;-)

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Source

Today was a perfect example that it's necessary to fuel your workouts... depending on what your workout it's going to be. Today was also a perfect example of what not to do.

It all started out with a nice breakfast before heading out to CrossFit. There I got my butt handed to me during the metcon that mostly consisted of bench presses. After CF, I headed right over to my friends house for a bike ride. I had one gel (Honey Stinger - my new favorite) before we headed out and than two more at mile 15 and mile 25. The total ride was close to 36 miles... A little longer than planned, but I don't think that made a difference, because I basically was out of steam at mile 25 already and that third gel didn't really make much of a difference.

Later I talked to Terry about it and he asked me, why in the world I wouldn't eat something solid before heading out. Touche!


On another note: This extra day off today was awesome... Unfortunately, there won't be another long weekend until April.

Flippy Flip (Turn)

Does a triathlete need to know how to flip turn? There are no pool walls in a lake right? But truth to be told, most of us are going to spend most of our time training in a pool and so it's worth investing a little time in learning how to do the flip turn.

Last year, at the tail end of the tri swim class, I started to learn the basics of a flip turn and have been practicing it ever since during my training swims. Even though I have been doing them for a while, I still joined the flip turn clinic put on by Coach Katie yesterday... I thought, that it sure can't harm for somebody to look at it and make my turns more efficient and more consistent.

It was totally worth the time investment, because as it turns out, I developed a couple of habits that are less than efficient.

The first step for the flip turn is the somersault and so we somersaulted down the lane for a little while, to get a feel for it. To somersault, take three strokes, then leave your hands by your hips, tuck your chin and roll over. Things to watch are, that you stay straight and that you face the same direction before and after the somersault... Also, don't flail with your hands and arms, keep them close to your body. Probably the most important part is to side breath before you flip, because you need to have air available to breath out through your nose while flipping, so the water doesn't rush up your nose. So all together now: stroke left, stroke right & breath, stroke left, leave the right arm by your side, pull the left arm to your side, tuck your chin and roll over while breathing out of your nose... Make sure to stay in a straight line!

After that, it was time to practice on the wall. The first part stays just like that, only that you don't make a complete flip, but break the somersault half way through by planting your feet on the wall and then push off. It's going to take a little while to figure out for yourself, how close you have to be to the wall in order to be able to do a flip turn. For me it works to take the last breath right where the "cross" is at the end of the pool line, but it really depends on your body size and it'll take some practice.

Once your feet are on the wall, you push off and then you rotate your body with your arm overhead. Then utilize your momentum from pushing off the wall and streamline with some flutter kicks before starting back with your stroke and also take your first breath.

This is a boat load of information and that's why I put it here... I don't want to forget (again) myself.

Happy flip turning.

Off-Season Officially Over!

It seems like it was just yesterday that I proclaimed to be in off-season. Now it's January and off-season is GONE!

While I was far from lazy in the last 2+ months, the pace was really much more relaxed and the weekly volume lower... As usual, I let nutrition slide... sometimes more and sometimes less and sometimes completely... Of course the holidays don't help with that, but on the other hand, I can't really be bothered.

With that being said, it's now time to buckle down and start nibbling on leafy greens more often! ;-)

As previously mentioned, I started 2012 off with a bang cold and it really put a damper on my training and enthusiasm for the upcoming race season. Last week was a prime example of physics applied to life:

A body in motion tends to stay in motion

 unless acted on by an outside force.

Meaning for training would be, that once I get rolling on the training train, I don't even think about it... It's automatic and I am just ticking off my workouts for the most part. But when something stopps me in my tracks like the neck strain/ cold debacle, it's really hard to get going. Not just mentally, but also physically... It's rough to start up the 4.30am alarms, but your fitness takes a toll during a one week break as well. Also, the first run back sure sucked big time and I was ready to throw the towel at least 10 times in one hour.

Now it's Day 4 after the break and things slowly start clicking again. The first workout was an easy 6 mile run on Saturday, that felt anything but easy. Then on Sunday with the drizzle going on all day, I retreated to a one hour trainer ride with a couple of single leg drills (hard) and several 5 minute hard efforts... A nice little sweat fest. Then yesterday, the early morning calls started again with CrossFit. That felt extra rough and reminded me of my first couple of workouts when I started CF. During my hiatus, I lost all my hard earned calluses and basically start from scratch on that front. The metcon almost made me hurl and the weights just felt extra heavy. Then another run yesterday after work. It was called "zen" run and while I can't say that my mind was "zen" like, the run felt much better than Saturday. This morning another CrossFit session and while I wasn't able to back squat my former max, I wasn't far off either.

Fortunately, coach put a fairly easy week on my plan to ease back into things.

Cookies and Salad

Yesterday, I finally received the care package my mom put in the mail 2.5 weeks ago. I say "finally" because I started to get worried, if it's ever going to get here. It mostly consisted of homemade Christmas cookies. A little late, but still very tasty and destructive to any "eating better" vows one might have made... I am speaking just in general here, since I avoided resolutions like the plague 2012! ;-)

Since my cold takes it's dear time to clear up, decided against a cookie lunch and opted for salad instead... And then maybe just have a cookie or three as dessert!

So happy, that it's already Thursday!

All Wrong

I am so glad, that I didn't make lofty new year's resolutions this year, because it feels like 2012 is starting out all wrong.

This was my view for most of Sunday (They showed the 2011 CrossFit Games on ESPN2, that was quite impressive!). I woke up with a headache from hell (not alcohol induced) accompanied by a throat that felt like on fire and the sniffles and coughing. Happy New Year! Since then, things have gotten worse (Monday), then stayed about the same (Tuesday) and then some improvement today, but I feel like I am fading as we speak...

I know there is much worse out there than a cold, but dang it sucks anyways.

Starting Sunday I did the "when can I go back to training" games. First it was Wednesday, then it was Thursday and this morning after I was almost falling into a temper tantrum, it was enough already! No workouts until at least Saturday... This cough needs to be gone before I start back up, because while this sucks, dragging the cold out would be even worse. I sure don't feel like a repeat of the being sick cycle that I went through early in 2010 only because I never rested long enough.

With that being said, I try not to think about the $$$ that I dropped on another month of CF which I won't be utilizing the way I had hoped (but it's a family membership, so at least Terry can make use of it!). Also, I am working on convincing myself that my first half Ironman distance is still off far enough to get it all done... I haven't been a couch potato over the winter, so I should be getting my fitness back in no time. Right? I also try to ignore the fact, that I will be missing another week of training later this month due to oral surgery... Dang... Can we just call this month a bust or what.

Signing off to sulk.