Work kept me on schedule. Alas.

I was actually really bummed that Filthy 50 was today, since I had designated a rest day today.  I planned my week and did the last three WODs, figured I’d rest Friday and move into the weekend.  But I’ve never done Filthy 50, so I was considering breaking down and heading into the 7pm, all excited!  Then I got sent on a late ambulance trip and didn’t punch out until 8:15, so I guess that was that.  Rest day enforced.

On the lighter side, I’ve been doing this Intermittent Fasting thing for 3 days now, and I feel great.  I did Thursday’s WOD fasted, had some protein, ran off for a massage, then moved into a healthy salad, off to work, and a good-sized dinner.  Loving this real eating thing.  I fasted today until I finished my ambulance trip, so didn’t eat between 9:30 last night and 4:30 today.  19 hours?  Just how that worked out with my meal on my trip, and I broke my fast with a lovely prime rib, sweet potato, and broccoli.  (It is a beautiful perk of work that when I get sent on these long distance trips, there’s a steak house nearby, we’re allowed to stop and eat on the clock, and the company pays for it!)

I do find myself getting occasional hunger pangs during the day, but they’re mild and certainly manageable.  I need to drink more water, and effort I contributed to palpably but still poorly today.  40 oz, maybe?  It’s a mindset change I need to work on, I guess.  I still feel great though, and I’ll top off my grazing before bed and call it good.

Quick run-down, since I didn’t sleep much last night:

Thursday:

Eatin’:   1:30  Post-WOD SFH shake.  8 oz coconut water.

2:30:  Chipotle chicken salad with extra lettuce, cheese, a bit of the dressing.  Eaten ravenously.

5:30:  1/4 bag of baby carrots.  1 SFH shake.

9:00  1 pint chicken with broccoli, not steamed as usual because the lady didn’t listen.  3/4 cup rice.    3/4 cup pineapple.  yum!

 

WOD:  10 minutes to max REP split jerk:   PR!  145 w/ really slow dip-and-drives.  but still, 145!   Can’t wait to see how that proceeds!

6 rounds:

5 heavy push presses

max rep pull-ups

rest 3 min

(85/9, 85/8, 85/10, 95/10, 95/9, 85/8)

 

afterparty:  500 m row for time.   2:16

I almost vomited.  My posterior chain was wrecked after the prior couple days, and this burned horribly, and then I almost puked.  Hopefully I can develop that better endurance soon.  Great workout!

 

Friday:

REST.   Fasted until 4:30.

first meal:  8 oz of prime rib w/ horseradish, 1 sweet potato w/ butter, 1 cup steamed broccoli.

Avocado and something else shortly here, then off to bed.  Gymnasty in the AM!

 

Willpower:  Strong at 10!  Not even sure I’m gonna cheat for the Superbowl!

I don’t do anything fast intermittently. or something.

I just had a very very satisfying meal consisting of 4 scrambled eggs, 1 small sweet potato with butter, and a tomato.    Awesome.  I’m trying to decide what else to feed on before I head off to bed, which will likely be in an hour or so.    I’ve decided to try Intermittent Fasting, an idea that says, essentially, “Don’t eat so freakin’ often!”  It runs pretty counter to the 5-6 meals per day that have become so popular, but I do sometimes run into problems with the multiple-meal problem:  my meal times don’t always coincide with when I’m hungry (salads leave me unsatisfied quickly, no matter how large), so I’m either stuck with my stomach growling waiting to eat, or I’m trying to decide if I should eat early to make a later meal fit in better without those hunger pangs.

There are apparently a wide variety of Intermittent Fasting plans available (including 24 hour fasts, 36 hour fasts), but I think I’m going to go with a 16 hour fast/8 hour window in general, though some modification will be necessary.  I did some reading, and there’s an optimization of Human Growth Hormone and some other stuff that happens with not eating, including optimal insulin sensitivity (good reading at http://www.romanfitnesssystems.com/blog/intermittent-fasting-101/ ).  There’s also a plan called Fast-5, which is a 5 hour eating window, and which is what I expect it to look like on my evening workout days.   Optimally, I’ve been told, for one doing this Fasting Game, you should WOD fasted, then begin your eating after your workout for recovery.   I’ve also been told it’s okay to mix the fasting pattern all up, which I guess also makes a lot of sense from a Primal standpoint;  it’s not like your dinner comes running past at 6pm each day.  I’m curious to see how it works out, but there are a lot of benefits touted about the whole thing.  One of them, of course, is having a really nice solid meal that leaves you truly sated, as I am feeling right now.  Fantastic.

I’m curious to see how my body will manage in the long term and what I should expect for adjustment metabolically (lightheaded/dizzy while WODing?)  Still, it’s an interesting concept, and I’m all kinds of excited.

Anyway, today was tough.  That WOD was killer.  So glad I went.  And I PRed, which is always fun, right?  Now, when I didn’t finish last time (about a month ago), I didn’t finish by 4 reps.  Not a lot, but I was happy to finish at the even 20:00 mark, as Rx, today.

So, here it is:

Breakfast:   (~08:00)   1 More Muscle Shake

(~1:00 pm) 1 tsp almond butter.

(~3:30 pm) 1 tsp almond butter.  (a new brand for me.  amazing. yum!)

Post-WOD:  1 SFH shake.   2 cups coconut water.

dinner:  4 scrambled eggs.  1 tomato, whole.  1 baseball-sized sweet potato, with some butter.

probably a second dinner to come.  I anticipate some pineapple and a cup of drinking chocolate with coconut water.

WOD:

25 thrusters (65)

4 rope climbs

25 hang squat cleans (65)

4 rope climbs

25 front squats (65)

4 rope climbs

25 squat cleans.

20:00

My elbows were SO by the front squats.  Tired!

afterparty:  tabata leg scissors, including elevated hold for first two rests!

Killer!  foam for me tonight!  and more fishoil!  Then, back to the fast!

 

Jumping muscle ups are jumping. and hard.

I went into today’s WOD totally prepared to scale those down.  7 Muscle-ups.  Are you high?  I mean, I’m working hard on mine, and it’s going well, but 21 of  ’em?    No freakin’ way.   Do me some ring dips and pull-ups.  I’m ready.   Then Jay offered me jumping as a scale, and I’m glad I did, but it was tough.  Killer WOD today, and it was pretty daunting.  Not gonna lie.    Food was MUCH better today, and I was overall much more prepared for good eating and timing.

Because I’m finally getting things in order, staying strict Primal and all, my work schedule is going to change to Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday, with that Wednesday being a 24 hour shift, i.e. a forced rest day.   This will allow me, in a few weeks, to attend Games night (exciting!), but means I have to figure out what to call a rest day on weekends.   (GymNasty?  Nope, not rest.  StrongMan?  Nope, not rest.  crap.)

I’m still catching up on sleep a little, so I’m rushing off to bed shortly here, but all-in-all I felt good, even if dragging a bit.  I also need the sleep because I picked up some overtime tomorrow (this shift pays for the Strongman seminar!), and tomorrow looks brutal.    Without further ado:  TODAY:

Food:

breakfast  (7:30?):  1 More Muscle shake.

2nd breakfast:  (9:45?)  2 eggs, scrambled, with 1 slice bacon, 1 tbsp cheddar.

Lunch:  4 oz steak.  Yum.  Also, 8 oz coconut water.

early dinner (4-ish?)  Chipotle salad with extra lettuce, chicken, cheese.  Here’s a tip:  if you ask for extra lettuce, they’ll give it to you.   Today, since I said no to beans and such, they actually gave me extra chicken, and topped it off with the cheese.  I actually had a really awesome salad.

post WOD:  1 SFH recovery shake.  8 oz coconut water.

at home:  8 oz coconut water on ice.  cold.  Yum!

Casein Protein pre-bed.

I know, I know, less coconut water.  My treat.  I need to cut back. Still pretty minimal on undiluted fast carbs.

WOD:

3 sets max-rep push-ups   24-17-20  (pull-up-program prep)

Warm-up:

3 rounds

15 air squats

15 push-ups (those felt great)

15 ab-mat situps

15 seconds Samson stretch

MAIN WOD:

3 rounds

7 muscle-ups (jumping)

14 power cleans (120, scaled to 105)

21 burpees

time:  16:06.

5 x 15 toes-to-bar

Willpower:  10.   Looks great.  I feel beat after tonight.  Off to get my protein and off to bed.

I felt pretty strong today, and that’s awesome.   I don’t really look different to myself, but I feel more solid.  That counts.

 

Wholly unprepared.

I was just really poorly organized today.  Poorly rested.  Today was a rare high (ish?) dairy day, and, quite frankly delicious (I love milk).  I slept not nearly enough last night and I ate not nearly enough today.  Consequently I’m cranky and under-recovered.  To make everything better, my work schedule is in all-kinds-of-flux.  Not losing-hours type, just changing and making it harder to catch all the classes I want and make rest days, too.   I crammed a rest day in today, still did my push-up/pull-up sequence.  I’m beat, and I’m headed off to bed shortly here to get back to it tomorrow.

Here’s the score for the day:

Breakfast:  1 More Muscle shake.

elevensies (actually, 10:30):  1 cup 2% milk.  2 eggs, scrambled, with 2 slices bacon, 1 tbsp grated cheddar.

2-ish:  1 cup whole milk.

early dinner:  2 oz string cheese, 1.5 oz pistachios.   1 more muscle shake.

late dinner:  2 large trees broccoli, 4 oz steak.

Like I said, didn’t eat so well.  REALLY out of proportion and probably not enough, but I stayed on the straight-and-narrow, if leaning toward the edge.  I haven’t had dairy in days, so I’m really okay with this, and there are some very serious proponents of milk in weight-training, so I’m not overly concerned with this.

 

Overall, I’m not really seeing a lot in the way of progress, but my exercise wasn’t all I hoped for, what with sickness and studying, and I’m picking that up again.   I do note, however, that my pants are fitting a little looser, so I’m taking that as positive progress.

Willpower:  10 and holding.  I’m feeling confident.  comfort:  8.  After striking myself in the junk yesterday with a kettlebell, enthusiasm is down a little, I admit. ow. ow. ow.  😀

Exercise:

3 max rep push-ups  (17 – 20 – 17)  (this is part of the pull-up program.  adequate rest required between this and pull-ups)

Day 2: pyramid:  1-2-3-4-4-3   (pyramid until failure, then max rep set)

Strong is the new awesome.

Ventured out for a Strongman class today, which was awesome.  The Sunday-at-noon Strongman is brand new to the schedule, but, from what I’ve seen, the Strongman classes are always well-attended.  What really strikes me the most about Strongman things is how much really is technique.  It’s not just that it’s heavy and awkward.  You kind of think that inherently with O-Lifts, but Strongman looks like just picking up strange objects.   Turns out, there’s actually a very step-by-step process to each lift.  Anyway, there were piles of people there, and everybody did great.  I had a blast, and someday I will get that 140 lb keg up.  Ooh-rah!

On the eatin’/well-being front, I think I’ve been running kind of short on the food front.  I’ve been having trouble with feeling cold, and I’ve been having extra trouble with my Reynaud’s (weird circulatory problem with vasospasms in my toes) and cold hands and feet in general.   So I’m going to up the quantities a little bit, with an extra emphasis on veggies and protein.  I can feel my body itching for protein for recovery.

I’ve also decided to starting adding on some varied pull-up volume training, a la the Armstrong Program (Google it if you’re interested), a 5-day-a-week sequence of pullups in different arrays, including volume ladder, max-reps, and wide-grip and narrow-grip sets.  Armstrong .  I did day 1 tonight.  We’ll see how that goes.    I also expect to start some Wendler sets of squats, deadlifts, and presses this week.  Lots of extras for me!

So, here goes.

Food:

Breakfast:  1 More Muscle Protein shake.  1/4 cup Krunch.

Post-WOD:  1 SFH shake.   1 cup coconut water.

Snack:  1 cup coconut water on ice.  Yum.   little more Krunch.  1 oz dark chocolate covered nibs.

early Dinner:  8 oz steak.  1 large broccoli tree, steamed, with a small amount (1/2 tbsp?) garlic vinaigrette and olive oil w/ basil.

post dinner: 1 cup Dutched Drinking Chocolate w/ coconut milk.

9:30-ish:  1 more cup Dutched Drinking Chocolate w/ coconut milk.

pre-bed  :  1 Casein Protein shake

 

WOD:

Tabata push-ups  (peer pressure; I was in the room)

Strongman Keg things.

2 lifts with 57 lb keg.

2 lifts w/ 75 lb keg

2 more lifts w/ 75 lb keg.

1 min max:  3 + 2 partials w/ 75 lb

1 min max:  6 up to navel w/ 140 lb keg

1 min max:  4 + 1 failed w/ 75 lb keg

1 min max:  6 up to navel w/ 140 lb keg

3 lifts w/ 75 lb keg, 10 SDHP w/ 53 lb KB

Class ran late, so I had to go, so only one of that last one.  I’ll plan better next time.

Tonight also:  Armstrong day 1:   5 sets max rep pull-ups w/ 90 second rest.   8-4-4-3-4

Did some foam rolling and some hip mobility.

 

Feeling like I”m back on track this week.   Willpower:  10.  No problem at all.

Karen tomorrow sounds awful.  I hate wallballs.  I’m going anyway, pending not working late.  ALWAYS pending not working late.  Nothing I can do about that.  I’ll come in and do it rogue if I have to, but I’m going to do it.

 

I totally blew today off.

I was debating today as rest vs trying GymNasty, and rest won.  My posterior chain is smoked, and I want to go in for tomorrow’s StrongPerson class, and I’m still trying to work out my WOD schedule and tolerances.  Meh.  I’ll definitely hit strongman tomorrow, torn on the WOD beforehand, and maybe volleyball afterward?  Just in time for the my nap… i mean… watching football at home.  right

I completely blew off eating today.  Those recovery strategies went right out the window.  I reap what I sow, and that’s the truth of it.   Not bad food today — I stayed within guidelines, even pretty low carb, but just not enough of it, and definitely under-proteined.  Here it is:

FOOD:

breakfast:  1/8 cup Krunch, 1 more muscle protein shake.  1 cup coconut water w/ mango.

“lunch?”  4 oz steak.  couple pieces of Krunch.

mid afternoon:  1 cup Dutched Drinking Chocolate w/ coconut milk.

late afternoon:  1 cup Dutched Drinking Chocolate w/ coconut milk.

Dinner  (which was 30 minutes ago):  3 eggs, scrambled, w/ 3 slices bacon.  1 tomato, sliced.  Extra Fish Oil.

 

Not enough vegetable.  Not enough fiber.  Not even enough protein.    Did some foam rolling today, and I’m headed off to bed, so I’m going to do a little more foam-time on the way.  I deserve sore.  That’ll show me.  Better tomorrow.  Back on the horse.

 

I’m beat. The truth.

Stressful last couple days.  State licensing exam for Massage Therapy, which has necessitated crazy studying, then a “backward” (evening-to-evening) 24 hour shift at work.  Which means, after the test, I went to CrossFit, then I went to work, then I went to CrossFit.

Just logs again.  I swear I’ll get to something more profound soon.

Wednesday:

food:

breakfast: 1 SFH protein shake.  1/4 cup Krunch.

Lunch:  1 cup Bok Choy soup w/ 1 egg.  Too light, but what I had.

post-WOD:  1 SFH protein shake.  Extra fish oil.

Dinner:  3 eggs, w/ 3 strips of bacon.  Yum.  1 cup coconut water.    Also yum.

pre-bed:  1 scoop casein protein.

 

WOD:  5 rounds:

3 deadlifts  (205 x3, 195 x2 rounds)

6 burpees

25 DU’s.   When I get tired, DU’s get really uncoordinated.

rest 4 minutes.

part 2:  4 rounds

25 Russian KB swings (53 lbs)

rest 30 seconds.

 

My posterior chain and low back were really beat after this.    Still feeling it today.

 

Thursday:

Food:

breakfast:  SFH shake (couldn’t keep anything else down).  1/4 cup Krunch.

Lunch:  salad at Chipotle, w/ chicken and cheese, extra lettuce (seriously), little bit of dressing.

Post workout:  1 SFH shake.  1 cup pineapple Vita-Coco.  Yum!

Dinner:   1 pint steamed chicken with broccoli w/ some carrot slices.  3/4 cup rice.

Bit of a splurge with all that rice and the coconut water, but I’m okay with it.  I felt pretty short and was still pretty sore.

WOD:

foam rolling.

my 2K row for time:   09:57.   (no time for more; both rooms were occupied, and I had to get to work)

 

Friday:

breakfast:   1 cup 2% milk.  2 eggs w/ 1 slice bacon.

lunch:  1 SFH shake.

early dinner:  9 oz prime rib w/ horseradish, 1 small sweet potato, 1 cup steamed broccoli.  (dinner at Texas Roadhouse on the company.  Unfortunately Grain-fed beef.  Still a very lean cut for prime rib!  Yum!)

Post-WOD:  1 SFH shake mixed w/ 1 scoop More Muscle.  (Killer WOD today on some already wrecked muscles)   1 cup mango Vita-Coca.

late dinner:  3 oz steak w/ garlic.

 

suspect I need to cut back on my fast carbs a bit (so minimal — is this really a splurge?), but I am making sure I’m sticking them with something protein-y or fatty to slow it down.

WOD:  Elizabeth  13:50

21-15-9

squat cleans (scaled to 85 for sore back)

ring dips   (scaled about half to jumping)

Part 2:  10 rounds

15 deadlifts  (85)

15 push-ups   (scaled a lot of these to knees, but managed at least 5 strict on toes at the beginning of each set)

 

I can feel that I’m hurting, and my body screams for proteins to help with assembly.  Fascinating that I finish working out and would like to go home and gnaw on a raw steak.  grr.

 

 

completely blew off yesterday’s blog…

…which is not the same as blowing off the nutrition.   I’m all kinds of short on this 90 day thing this week, since I’ve got a test on Thursday I’m studying like a fiend for.  I may or may not make it in tomorrow (Wednesday), but I’m still eating well and did a whole bunch of mobility on Monday night.  Anyway, Let me tell you about the specifics:

 

MONDAY:

Food:

Breakfast: SFH  Protein shake (with cold peppermint tea.  Peppermint tea + chocolate protein = mint chocolate chip protein shake!).   1/4 cup of Krunch.

Lunch:  Big spinach salad with some sliced cukes, a little bacon, couple slices of chicken.  SFH Protein shake because I decide I had not enough chicken.

snack:  1/4 cup Krunch.    Peppermint tea.

dinner:  1 pint homemade Bok Choi soup (garlic, chicken broth, Bok Choi .  Yum!   )

 

WOD:  skipped for studying.  driving me crazy.  Did some mobility on my iliacus, psoas, and hip movers instead.  also a little split work, which I need more of.

 

Tuesday:

Breakfast:  SFH Protein shake.   1/4 cup Krunch.

elevensies:  1/2 of a big Salmon salad from Panera (Salmon, Romaine, mandarine oranges, almond slices, some onions but too strong!, all the rest removed).  No side (“would you like an apple, potato chips, or bread?”    “Ummm.. no?”  “are you sure”  “Yup.”)

2nd lunch:   other half of the salad.   the mandarin orange wedges, few though they were, were like little bursts of sunshine!

snack:  1/4 cup Krunch on the ride home.

dinner:  1 pint Bok Choi Soup, now with 2 eggs dropped in for substance.  Much better.

 

WOD:  still put off for studying, though I might throw down a quick tabata.  frankly, though, I’m just kinda beat.  Hoping to sneak out to WOD tomorrow.  😮

 

Massage Therapy Licensing exam on Thursday.  Crazy studying.  Can’t wait to be done!

Also of note, very excited about new specialty classes (Strongman!) and potential for upcoming competitions!  How exciting!

Best of all, I think the clean eating is working;  I do believe my pants are slowly loosening.  I don’t see obvious change, but I’ll take what I can get. 🙂

 

Right, right, did I mention I hit my kipping Muscle Up on Sunday?  One of my goals.  Still totally bragging.  Completely psyched.    That’s it for tonight.  Back to the books.

 

What do rubber flooring and hot chocolate have in common?

They were both things I tinkered with today.  Lots and lots of rubber rectangles.  Good physical activity at least.

The drinking chocolate is a bit more interesting.  I was looking for some things that have taste to drink, because sometimes I really like taste.  I mean, water’s great and all, but I broke away from soda, so I’m used to fairly intense flavor.  Coconut water actually fills this void remarkably well on an only-occasionally basis, but I’m looking for variety.  Here’s what I found:  Dagoba Drinking Chocolate, Unsweetened.   I’ve tried it with both coconut milk and coconut water, and, frankly, I liked it better with the water.  But you have to be a serious dark chocolate lover to like this.  It’s bitter.  Still, rich and nutty for me, and high in all the things dark chocolate is.  And quite agreeably warm, which is worth mentioning since it’s currently 3 degrees Farenheit outside.

Next test:  I have Cacao Barry Extra Brute Dutch Cocoa Powder.  Dutch processed means alkalized, so a smoother taste and less bitter.  I found some smashing recipes on some paleo sites, and this one strikes me as a pleasant alternative.  I’m gonna give it a shot later tonight, probably.

http://www.kjdavies.org/2011/01/09/probably-primal-hot-chocolate-take-three/

Understand, of course, two cups of this is absolutely a splurge tonight.

So, today,  for meals:

Early lunch:  1/2 cup Paleo Krunch, 1 SFH protein shake.

snack:  1 cup coconut water, on ice.   1/4 cup Krunch.

dinner:  5 oz steak, 1 1/2 cup steamed broccoli, 1/2 baked sweet potato w/ ~1 tsp butter.

after dinner drink:  drinking chocolate w/ coconut milk.  (minimal carb in this with the coconut milk, and deep-rich-fantastic!)

 

Mayhaps a different hot chocolate goodness.  after-after dinner.

 

I actually was up early today. I was.

But I also really did spend most of the day asleep.  And since I blew off a party at a friend’s house for not wanting to infect them, I figured you guys get the same courtesy.  Back to it Monday, and that’s that.    What I *did* do today was crazy mobility work.  I don’t know if you’ve seen Leb’s posts from the guy from SanFrancisco Crossfit, but he’s apparently doing 1 mobility video per day for a year.  I did like 4 of them today, and good gosh, did I need them.  I definitely learned some great work today to loosen up my hip flexors and rotators.  Good stuff that should improve my pelvic positions and flexibility in squats, a weakness that Brett readily pointed out to me at the Revival.  So, after half an hour of serious ball-in-pissed-off-muscle and stretch-against-rubber-band and embarrassing-getting-personal-with-bar stretch, I’m actually in a much better space.   It was good, and I very clearly need to do more of it.  Right.

So.  Today:

Mobility WOD:  30-40 minutes of Iliacus, Psoas, hamstring, glute med, glute max, piriformis, and tensor stretching and release.

Food:

Lunch:  3 eggs, scrambled.   1/4 cup Krunch.

late snack:  1 cup coconut juice with 2 tbsp pineapple juice.  1/4 cup pineapple.  Yum!    Little more Krunch.  Not much.  1/2 oz chocolate covered nibs w/ 2 tbsp almond butter.

Dinner:  3 oz steak.  2 medium broccoli trees, steamed, with some olive oil, vinegar, basil, garlic, for dipping.  Yum! again.   1 plum tomato.  couple pieces of iceberg lettuce and anther couple slices of tomatoe.

Later treat:  1 cup drinking chocolate, unsweetened, with coconut milk.   This was fantastic.

Regarding the drinking chocolate:  you have to really appreciate the finer points of very very dark chocolate, but I really enjoyed this, and it went beautifully in the coconut water.   There are lots of varieties of this, and I got mine at Honest Weight from their chocolate rack.   They offer a variety of additives and spices, including “original” with cane sugar, but I opted for unsweetened.   Apparently there are some islanders who drink 4-5 cups of this per day (with no heart disease in that society to speak of), and I can absolutely see that.   Seriously.  Rich.  Yum.   But, fair warning:  Bitter.

My boyfriend reports he really digs the Pam’s Paleo Krunch, even better with raisins or craisins.  Your mileage may vary.  I can’t keep my fingers out of it without the fruit, but next time I’m in town, maybe tomorrow, I’m going to pick up some apple snits to chop up and add in.  Test drive, you know.    Can’t wait to get my Steve’s kits for work, too.

Willpower: 10.  I feel great, and I have no qualms at all that I’m doing the right thing.  I’ve nearly cut out fruit.  I feel fantastic.  Hope I can stop being sick so I can get back to some serious WODs!