It's Back

I've got a lovely achy feeling in my arms and legs from my weights workouts this week, and I absolutely love it. It's been about 3 weeks since I put in some serious time in the weight room at the gym. Getting back into lifting has really lifted my spirits. I've been feeling agitated lately, mainly because I haven't been feeling like I have had much control over my time. Taking some much needed 'me' time has helped.

warming up with 60kg deadlifts at the gym yesterday

Today I hit the pool to do some laps and soak up a bit of sun. It felt so good on my achy muscles. That was followed by a lovely yoga sessions which was the perfect way to end a hectic week and start the weekend!

poolside

If you haven't read my post from Tuesday 'The Only One' please do take a moment to check it out. Thanks :)

Bits and Pieces

After I have a meltdown like I did on Saturday, everything looks bleak and I often feel like I just won't be able to get out of that funk ... and then I see something like this {I tried to embed the video - didn't work! Do take a moment to click on the hyperlink and watch it on YouTube.}


The CrossFit Games
The CrossFit Games took place this past weekend. I wasn't able to watch it live (because of the 10 hour time difference) but I watched most of it via YouTube and the videos on the crossfit. com. Talk about getting the motivation to bury those voices of self-doubt and pick yourself up again!

I took away several things from that video clip:
1. Wow - look at their strength
2. Imagine how hard they had to work to get to where they are
3. Damn, I do a lot of those exercises; granted, not at that weight or at that speed, but still, I do them
4. Not all the competitors go continuously; they need to stop and rest too
5. It's all about giving it your all and finishing - the support from the crowd for the last competitor was fantastic

It definitely gave me an extra bit of confidence that I needed. Does CrossFit still intimidate me? Hell ya.  Will I give up? Absolutely not!


My CrossFit Progress
The cardio aspect is actually really tough - all that jumping around, box jumps and burpees in particular, but it's getting better.

I am now in the advanced group of CrossFitters. I had my first advanced class yesterday. It's a much smaller group which is nice because we get more focused attention (torture) and we can work on technique. The workouts are brutal, but they're invigorating too! I was especially giddy after yesterday's session because of my 100 kg. (220 lbs.) dead lift record! Yay!! Our Coach hit a personal best herself yesterday too - 120 kg!!! Wow!!! I teased her and said it was comforting to know that in case of an emergency she could just pick a few of us up and rush us to safety ;)

My jump rope skips are definitely improving. Yesterday we were supposed to jump for 2 min straight. I got to 1 min 55 sec before the damn rope got caught in my shoe! Arrgh! Before I was proud when I got to 1 min straight; to be at almost 2 min feels great.


C25K
I'm progressing through C25K really, really slowly, but I'm still doing it. I finished Day 2 of Week 3 on Sunday. I upped my speed just a little and kept it at a 0.2% incline throughout. The 3-min running stretches aren't horrible; I know any difficulty I feel with it is really in my head. You can read about my progress here. I hope to finish the last day before I travel and then hopefully do at least week 4 while I'm away.

Back in April I signed up for a 10km which was to be held on November 23. On Saturday I got an email saying that it has been rescheduled to October 27. They said you could request a refund if you wanted ... I have to admit that I felt like canceling for a second. I mean, that's pretty much 1 month earlier. I'm having enough trouble just getting to 1km now - will I be ready for 10km by the end of October? I decided to just stick with it anyway. If I feel completely unprepared by the time of the race, then I can always bow out - but for right now, I'm challenging myself to step it up. Update: I just received an email saying that the race is now on November 3rd. {Don't know why they keep changing their mind!} At least that buys me another week. I'm going to keep on training and hope that I'm ready on the day of the race.


Other Fitness
I'm totally behind in my boxing workouts, but I hope that I can get at least one session in tomorrow. My arms have been so sore from CrossFit. I don't want to overdo it, but I also don't want to let go of the boxing. It's SO cathartic!!

I haven't made it to a single Body Balance/Yoga/Pilates class. The scheduling is all off because of the summer and I've just been too busy. I really do need to make some time to do some stretching and relaxation though. I think it'll help me keep my focus more when it comes to CrossFit.

I've been wanting to go swimming for ages, and today, I finally made it to the pool! I did 20 laps. It felt really good to be in the water. My arms were still pretty tired, but I also felt like the different movement and the resistance of the water did me some good. Although I had a ton of errands to run today, I did take 20-minutes to soak up some sun :)

Life
My main mission for today was to get rid of all the snacks and munchies that were in the house from the time my parents were here. Yesterday I mindlessly sat down with a bag of crisps - I seriously cannot have that stuff in the house! So I packed everything together in a bag and gave them to my housekeeper today. I feel better now that all that stuff is out of the house!

I got my visa for Italy :) Now I can finally start really getting excited for the trip.

I've steadily been making my way through my to-do list. The heat has been brutal though, and even though I'm driving around in my air conditioned car, the sun is merciless. It's in the 50's everyday (120's Fahrenheit). There's only so much an A/C can do!  I'm just glad there's hardly any humidity. We may burn as we walk from the house to the car, but at least we don't sweat that much! I made the mistake of leaving the house without any water today -- I definitely won't make that mistake tomorrow!

Regrouping - still

I was starting to get a bit frustrated at myself because I feel like I'm taking a long time to get over this trip. A bit of refocusing from a friend helped me realize that it wasn't so much that I've been away for 7 days but more that I've actually been away from this type of life for almost 5 years. I was starting to get alarmed that I was feeling so tired and so hungry all the time and then I realized, I think this is the first time in 5 years that I feel relaxed and calm. I know I have things to do, but I know that they don't need to be done now. It seriously is a new experience/feeling for me so I'm trying not to get too worked up about it and instead just enjoy the ride.

As I said above, I have been ravenously hungry since I returned. I haven't eaten junk food, though I have had a few small sweets, but I've been eating. I am constantly hungry. I felt alarmed this morning so I got on the scale, thinking that the number would jolt me back to reality. Instead of seeing a gain, I saw another half pound loss. Seriously? How is that possible? Although it was great, as I was in the middle of my 2 scrambled eggs and toast this morning (a much bigger breakfast than I usually have, but not unhealthy) I stopped and realized what was happening. I'm now 3 kg (7 lbs) down from the plateau weight that I had been holding on to for a year and a half. I haven't been at this weight for so long and now I think my body is sending these crazy hunger signals in a panic, probably interpreting it as starvation. Normally, or perhaps I should say, previously, I would eat and eat until the crazy hunger subsided. I'm doing the same now, but I've noticed something very different -- instead of eating scrambled eggs, a panini, a bag of crisps, a bit of chocolate and some crisps I am now getting full on scrambled eggs,  a salad, some fruit, and veggies and rice (though I've still been having something sweet too). I'm still eating, but what I'm eating has changed. I didn't even realize that I had changed my eating habits, it just happened. I'm sure this is what has made the difference. The amount of times I'm eating is the same, but the portion sizes along with the ingredients and preparation are completely different and I think that's what is making the difference.

I do need to be careful though because I don't want to go back to my plateau. I only have a short time before I travel again; I've got to hit my goal!

I went back to the gym today and was so happy and overwhelmed with the excited response of the trainers at the gym. Big hugs, huge smiles, and lots of congratulations and compliments (including that I looked like I had lost weight and trimmed down quite a bit). My favorite was my boxing coach who greeted me with 'Dr. Boxer' :) Loved it!

I had mainly gone to the gym to meet with KD to catch up and lounge by the pool. I brought my workout clothes just in case I felt like doing some cardio on the cross-trainer or something but in the end we ended up swimming a few laps. It was my first swim of the season. It felt so good in the water. It also felt so good to feel how my arm strength made a difference in my movement under water. I am so, so pleased when I see how my workouts make a difference in my daily life.

I will workout in the gym for sure tomorrow, but in the meantime I'm still trying to figure out my routine for the next few weeks. Another thing to add to my dilemma is that I spoke to the CrossFit trainer today and she has officially started holding her training sessions. I really don't want to wait until I get back from Mexico to start. At the same time, I really want to finish my NROL4W program before starting something new ... I just can't figure out if it's worth starting now or if I should hold off ... too many decisions to make!

A bit much perhaps?

Today was one of those days when I went a bit psycho on my workout. As I was preparing my gym bag I could not decide what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to do some cardio, and I wanted to swim, plus there was weight training, and Body Balance class ... I just couldn't decide, so I thought I'd just prepare for them all. I ended up packing so much stuff up for the gym that I actually needed to take two gym bags (and that's not even including any toiletries as I already have those in my gym locker!) Anyway.

It's a good thing I was prepared for all sorts of workouts because my routine went like this:

Cardio warm-up: 1 km -- I'm a bit frustrated that I still can't (or am afraid to try to) jog the 1 km straight, but rather am still completing the 1 km with a mixture of walking, jogging, and sprinting.

Weight training: Workout 8B -- Like my training on Monday (which I posted about yesterday) it went much better than I had expected. I was able to complete all the reps at the same weight/resistance as I did before I traveled. Though I have to tell you, starting from last night when I got into bed, my abs were burning! Damn those prone jackknives ... and then this

morning, the walk down the stairs made me realize how stiff/sore my thighs were feeling. Nevertheless, I was going to complete the workout - lunges and all!!

Swimming: It was too beautiful a day not to go

for a swim [doesn't the pool look inviting?]. I wasn't sure when I'd get the opportunity and I only managed to work in 3 swims this entire summer. I was determined to get into the pool -- despite my fears (laugh if you must, but there you have it!) Anyway. I managed 20 laps with just 1 minute rest after my 10th lap ... (total of 1/2 km) -- I wanted to stay and do more, but I wanted to get to Body Balance Class ...

Body Balance class: I'll have to post more in detail about this class at some point ... but just briefly this class is a combination of tai chi, yoga, and Pilates. I loved the fact that I could really feel the strength in my arms and legs when doing the Sun Salutation and other balance poses ... anybody who thinks that these types of classes are 'easy' don't know what they're talking about. You definitely work up a sweat - and by the last main track, my legs are shaking (but in a good way) ... and then comes the BEST part -- 10 minutes of relaxation/meditation. The lights go off, the curtains come down, you lay down with your eyes closed and the instructor calmly guides the meditation (people often fall asleep - snore even!!) It's incredibly relaxing and just what I needed today.

So, I managed to fit it all in - it was a bit rushed, and I definitely wish that I had had more time to lounge by the pool before rushing into the class. I probably won't do the combination of weights, swimming, and balance again as my arms were protesting quite a bit ... but overall I feel great.

Now to get some studying done!!