Yesterday’s workout:
30 Clean & Jerks with 135# for time
I did it with 40kg(88#) in just under 20 minutes.
It was hard! I have to wear longer shorts or pants to cover the part of my tattoo that gets bar-rub every time I do a clean.
New Wheel Bling
Special Delivery from Zipp…
Crossfit Love/Hate
 Crossfit is a method of resistance training/conditioning that will make even the most fit person whine and beg for mercy. It’s a training philosophy that’s growing in popularity- I can’t really describe it, so I’ll just give you a link to the crossfit website so you can read all about it: Crossfit
You’ll notice that the workouts look short and usually don’t include anything but bodyweight (with the exception of the heavy, singe rep days as well as the Olympic-style lifts). Yes, they are short, but don’t let this fool you into thinking they’re easy. Most of them have women’s names. Once you’re 4-5 minutes into your first workout, you’ll know exactly why…
Today I did my 3rd Crossfit workout:
“Mary”
Complete as many rounds in 20 minutes as you can of:
5 Handstand Push-ups
10 One legged squats, alternating
15 Pull-ups
Ok, I’ll admit, I used a bar in the squat rack as assistance for the hand stand push-ups as well as the pull-ups, and I used the squat rack itself for balance on the 1-leg squats, but seeing that I just started this stuff, I don’t mind too much. I quit at 18 minutes and 7 rounds, because I was getting the “burps” (precursor to the “pukes”).
My first workout was one that I made up myself (hence the name):
“Andrea”
20-15-10-5 reps
Thrusters
Vertical jumps
Pull Ups
Walking lunges (that’s reps per leg)
I urge my faithful (and unfaithful) readers to check out the Crossfit website- it’s got video of all of the exercises as well as a workout of the day every day, and a link to a forum where someone is nice enough to put “scaled” versions of the WOD up for beginners and/or those who DON’T like the feeling of being run over by a truck after their workouts. Also, check out Memphis’ only Crossfit gym, which was started by one of my former U of M students: Crossfit Memphis
The long haul
70 miles today! It felt very good. Other than being really hungry and having cold toes, I felt really strong at the end of the ride (usually I’m pretty exhausted). Even though not many of my rides have been more than a couple of hours, the volume has been relatively high. Looks like the miles of gutting out the cold are paying off in the endurance department!
My art collection
Tattoos are my favorite art, and I collect pieces by Joe Stamp from No Regrets Tattoo Emporium. I first found Joe when I decided that some lower-abdomen wings would look nice. I randomly picked an artist (Joe) at a well-known shop in town (which shall remain nameless- just go to No Regrets!), and they turned out very nicely. When I decided to go for something a bit more extensive, I went back and asked him to draw a phoenix for me. The end result:
Not long after, I was listening to the crazies on American Family Radio when I heard a Southern preacher reading revelations and preaching fire & brimstone. He read the description of an enourmous, evil 7 headed dragon with a tail that knocked 1/3 of the stars from the heavens. Upon hearing this, I immediately knew what my next artwork would be… I’m not particularly religious, but I’ve always had a facination with religious art (of any faith), so I thought it would be an awesome piece.
So, last night, we got started. Joe worked on the outline of the Revelations Dragon for 3 hours. So far, it starts at just above my knee, ends at the top of my hipbone, and wraps around the entire outer half of my leg. Eventually, the tail will extend up onto my torso (we were both pretty exhausted after the portion that he lined last night, so we decided to add the tail on later). Go big or go home, right? I’ll put some pictures up once it’s a little bit healed. Right now, it’s a bit red & swollen and feels like a very bad sunburn. It’s insanely large, but I absolutely love it!
Bored
It’s a bit of a lazy Saturday, and I’m waiting around for lunch to digest before I ride the trainer. So, I do retarded things to pass the time. Like having a staring contest with my Belgian Malinois (see picture below).
I won. She sniffed my face and blinked when her nose touched mine & got a static shock.
I need this!
Two Steps Back
My ankle injury seemed to be doing very well- most of the swelling was gone, and my foot (for the most part) had returned to its normal color rather than the odd shade of martian green it had been for the past few days. I was even walking with no pain in the area. SO, naturally, I attempted an easy, on-pavement jog last night with some friends. Not a good idea- although everything felt fine in the first 5 minutes of relatively flat pavement, once we jogged up & over a couple of small but steep pitches, the pain started creeping back up the side of my foot/leg. Going against my will to continue and not be defeated by injury (again), I walked. Luckily, I had Turbo, my Belgian Malinois, and Temesa, one of the Warthogs (group of friends I frequently run with), to keep me company.
Although it was (mentally) painful to stop running, I can tell that the physical consequences would have been much greater- even with just a few minutes of stress to the area, the space between my anklebone & Achilles tendon filled back in with swelling, and it’s painful enough today that I can’t help but limp a little. Thankfully, it’s not bad enough that I can’t ride my bike, but I’m not happy to have the nagging pain again.
Looks like I need more time & probably some at-home physical therapy before I strike out on foot again!
Short Term Overreaching
It’s very effective for inducing training adaptations, but it can make you feel like you’ve been put through all sorts of wringers. The idea is that you dish out a little more to your body than it’s able to handle (inducing fatigue) and then follow with a brief recovery period. During the recovery period, your body rebuilds and adapts to handle the stresses that you initially put on it to cause the fatigue… you get a little better than you were before.
My past couple of days of interval love caught up with me today at exactly 1 hour and 3 minutes into my ride. I was pulling away from a stoplight when it suddenly felt as if something had mysteriously drained all of the energy from my muscles. I’ve spent the remainder of the afternoon/evening trying to sit and rest whenever possible. I skipped my leg workout in the weight room, but that was more of a protective measure to keep my ankle from re-injuring. I’ve got a rest day tomorrow. I’ll need it- my next workout includes 4 VO2 intervals. Woohoo!!!!
Update #3 + Interval Love
So I’m at the (somewhat dangerous) point now where my ankle is swollen and hurts until I take my anti-inflammatory meds, but then it feels OK. Using a neoprene Ace ankle support, I went for an easy ride yesterday and a harder ride today. I decided to switch my Time pedals (with re-centering float) to my old Speedplay X5s (free-float) in order to allow my ankle to stay in whatever position feels most comfortable.
On a side note, today’s ride included three 3 min VO2 intervals. If you don’t know what a VO2 interval is, it’s basically the highest possible intensity you can sustain for any amount of time. I decided to mix it up a bit today- #1 was in a 15-20mph tailwind. I was hauling ass- passing cars were pacing me and giving me crazy looks because I was sustaining speeds close to 30mph. Interval #2 I did up the two largest hills in Germantown (the first into a headwind), and #3 was on my favorite interval road that runs behind my house. Maybe I’m crazy, but I absolutely LOVE intervals. The harder, the better. It carries over to my love of time trials. Something about the pain cave seems like home.