6/8/08

Climbing:
5.6 & 5.7 - both clean! woot!

WU:
run 400m
50 squats
25 sit-ups
15 PU

RX:
Ten rounds for time of:
12 Burpees
12 Pull-ups

Mods:
Had to step into & out of burpees instead of jumping, and there was some use of my knees to get back up on the push up part
Ring-rows

Time:
38:55

Comments:

We were actually set to go on a group bike ride this morning; we're riding a metric century up in the wine country in Mid July, and I need to get used to being on the saddle for hours and miles at a time. But I was feeling sore in all the same places that would be really worked by a bike ride, the ride wasn't set to start until 10:30 meaning that the ride would be unpleasantly warm and, if I am to be honest, I was(am) intimidated by the prospect of another group ride because the one I went on last week ended in an emotional breakdown. I made it through the ride just fine, it was only afterwards on the way home that I was a mess.

Mostly that had to do, i think, with being under nourished - i just wasn't getting enough calories in my diet, and I just ran out of reserves. I have since basically doubled my daily caloric intake, and i feel SOOO much better, but this morning's group ride was a no-drop ride, and while I don't mind being last (It's the place I am in most of the time, and I've learned to make peace with that and just try to make myself my best opponent) i HATE feeling like everyone is being held-up by my slow performance - which was what happened last week.

The decision to go do a little climbing and today's Crossfit class instead was made easier by Daniel who also preferred that option. 1) because he has work to do this afternoon, and the Crossfit option was the shorter time commitment, 2) because he thinks it's more important for me to get back on the climbing wall and try to regain some lost ground because we have an outdoor climbing clinic we're going to in a couple weeks, and 3) because he's concerned that the LSD exercise will eat away at the strength gains he's worked so hard to achieve, so he wasn't super excited about the ride, either.

So climbing and crossfit yay!

I really surprised myself on this one. We've been exercising everyday since Wednesday, and I was thinking that maybe today should have been a rest day, after all, and so I went into this thinking that I would aim for 5 rounds, and that anything above that would be bonus. Well I made it through all 10 rounds, and not significantly slower that some other folks in my class, either! My time was actually better than some, but that's only because I was doing modified exercises, and they weren't.

I've never done burpees before, so i didn't really know what to expect, but they always looked really hard. In the videos I've watched, even really good crossfitters get really tired doing burpees. I though they might just about kill me. Now, I know my form was not the greatest. I could neither hop forward nor hop backwards, as you are supposed to (and I am adding that as a goal); I had to vigorously step into and out of them, but I think they actually helped me get closer to doing a push-up without having to use my knees to come back up. At any rate, for most of them I was able to get my knees off the floor almost immediately after starting to push back up, which is definitely an improvement.

I realized two-three rounds in that I was over-modifying my ring rows. They get easier the closer your feet are to being directly underneath the rings, and I was always starting with my feet in about the same place, and as they got harder I would just move my feet closer-in in order to be able to keep going. Starting about - i think - round 4 I would just take a break until i could keep going.

In round 9 (a bit late :P ) i realized that i could do a sort of 'kipping ring-row' by swinging my hips up to help me pull up. I wish I'd figured that out a lot sooner!

Mostly though I'm just really psyched to have completed the whole workout (more-or-less) as RXed. AND I did not feel like i was going to keel over and die when i was done!

Actually, I'm a little conflicted about that. I wonder if that means that I am modifying too much, and not working hard enough? I know I worked hard. My hamstrings and shoulders are already vociferously complaining about their rough treatment from yesterday and today's workouts, and I'm already wondering whether I'll be able to walk like a normal person or reduced to tottering around like an arthritic senior citizen tomorrow. ... So ... yeah. To answer my own question then, as long as I am working hard enough to make gains towards getting stronger and more fit, I'd rather not feel like death at the end of a workout. It puts a damper on the rest of the day.