Painful elbows rear their ugly heads..

UGH!!!!! I thought things were going so well. My neck has stopped hurting, elbows were great and my piriformis has been healthy. And just like a switch, it all freaking hurts again. Maybe it is time to start working out and eating for looks rather than performance. Yes, I want to still do a lot of the things I currently do, but maybe I shouldn’t. I feel frustrated with my body, but I need to listen to it.

It's a love / hate relationship. I love MUs, but my body hates them...

Sleep: 8.75 hours

Water: 96 oz, so far

Today’s Grub:

8:00 am – 3 scrambled eggs and two sausage patties

8:35 am – coffee with coconut milk

12:45 pm - Pulled BBQ pork

2:45 pm - Protein shake (protein powder, coconut milk, frozen berries, and water – yum)

7:30 – Chicken & Dumplings

Today’s Work:

Since OPT has given us an extra rest day, I am going to go to the 5:00 Bikram class. Yay for hot recovery work.

Let there be sleep!

With the exception of last night, I have been getting close to 9 hours of sleep and night and on some nights, over 9 hours. It really is the most amazing feeling. I am waking up before my alarm goes off and feeling rested when I get up. I have also been sleeping completely through the night. I am not sure if my body is regulating better with more sleep or what, but not getting up in the middle of the night has been wonderful. I am usually ready for bed at a decent time and fall asleep almost immediately. Now the second part, I believe is due to less TV watching in bed. I am making the effort to maintain my sleep time and it is really paying off.

So, let’s back up a little to Saturday, the OPT event…. Well, I got through round one and one MU into round two before I started failing at them. I could get the turn, but couldn’t get into a lockout. The C&J weight was fine. It felt good to move something only 20# less than my max for reps. I called it after the first workout because my right shoulder started tightening up really bad and is still tight. I thought it was better to be safe than sorry.

I skipped OPT last night and did Bikram yoga. I am getting closer to reaching my pose goal. I think that if I continue to go to Bikram that I will reach that goal by summer.

Sleep: 8.25 hours

Water: 96 oz, so far

Today’s Grub:

8:00 am – 3 scrambled eggs

8:30 am – Coffee with heavy cream

12:30 pm - Chicken and dumplings

4:35 pm – Protein spiked coffee with heavy cream

8:30 pm - Zoodles and meat sauce

Today’s Work:

OPT Being
3 sets @ 100%:
5 TnG Power Clean
10 burpees AFAP
rest 4 min
+
3 sets @ 95%:
Row 1 min
Walk rest 5 min
+
1 set @ 90%:
5 rds:
20 DU’s
15 ghd sit ups
15 back ext’s

My elbow issues have resurfaced since the MUs on Saturday, so I rowed more today. Yay…

Subbed 3 sets of 100% :30 row with 4 min rest.

149-147-143
+
267-264-265
+
10:30

Aww yeah!

Well, the OPT workouts are up! I’m not going to lie, I’m a little nervous and excited. I have not done many MUs lately and yesterday didn’t exactly go as I had hoped. And now I have to try in front of lots of peeps. I hope all goes well.

Sleep: ~8 hours – Lola decided to meow outside the door for about 30 minutes until I got up to check on her. Weird.

Water: 48 oz, so far

Today’s Grub:

8:00 am – 3 eggs with sausage

9:00 am – Coffee with coconut milk

12:15 pm – Meatloaf

? – Dinner TBD

Saturday’s Work:

On the hour, every hour:

1st hour:
5,4,3,2,1
C&J – 205/115#
MU’s
(1 score = time)

2nd hour:
2K Row + Max DU’s in 10 min
(2 scores = time for row and reps of DU’s)

3rd hour:
15,12,9
R KB Snatch – 2/1.5 pd
L KB Snatch – 2/1.5 pd
Burpees – vertical body at top
(1 score = time)

4th hour:
12 min amrap
10 wall balls – 20/14# to 10ft
5 toes to bar
(1 score = reps)

MORE Protein?!

So, one of the guys in my office started doing Primal/Paleo. He is very excited about his weight-loss and the other benefits of the lifestyle. The other day, he got Robb Wolf’s 30 day transformation. There is a part where Rob mentions the amount of protein one should consume. Take your body weight, switch the pounds to ounces grams (typo) and that is the amount of protein you should be consuming daily. I know for a fact that I do not consume enough in a day, maybe even two.  For the next couple of weeks, I am going to use FitDay to track my protein intake.

Sleep: 9 hours!

Water: 110 oz

Today’s Grub:

8:00 am – 2 eggs and sausage

8:30 am – Coffee with coconut milk

12:45 pm - Leftover meat snacks from Monday night

2:50 PM – Hot tea

4:00 pm – Blueberry Vanilla Protein Shake

9:15 pm – baken chicken breast and some raisins

Today’s Work:

OPT Being  - I’m actually quite excited to do this one!
3 tough E-ROM HSPU on the minute for 5 minutes
(no rest into…)
running clock unbroken muscle ups – 1 on minute 1, 2 on minute 2…
(no rest into)
50 GHD sit ups anyway you like

Well, this was an embarrassing workout for me.
HSPU – Decided that I should work on strict. Um…yeah.. All sets to a 4″ target. Used to be a smaller target.
MUs – didn’t happen
GHDSU – 1:47, all unbroken
Workout: 2
Babs: 1

7 pm – 8:30 pm
1.5 hours Bikram Yoga

Where do I go now?

Ah…the eternal burning question of what the future could possibly hold. Where do I go from here? Well, it’s a new year and I have new goals. I am also thinking of what to do about my future work situation. I know that I am not happy with where I am right now, but what is the next step and what is the end goal? I am using the month of January to decide where my next step will go. I also have marriage on the brain. I continually see people I know getting engaged, married, and having babies. When will it be my turn? That is another step that I hope happens this year….ring-a-ding-ding..

Sleep: 8.75 hours

Water: 48

Today’s Grub:

8:00 am – 2 eggs with sausage and spinach

9:00 am – coffee with heavy cream

12:30 pm – burger with bacon, goat cheese, and fried egg served with a side of sweet potato fries and a couple of beers…

7:35 pm – Chicken lettuce wraps

Today’s Work:

A. power clean – build to a tough single in a few sets; rest as needed
+
5 rds for time:
225/135# Dead Lift x 12
15 box jumps – 36/30″ – jump up, step down
21 double unders

Totally skipped the gym today…

2012 Goals

It’s funny to see the way my goals have changed through the years. I feel like I have really done a 180 on focus. I used to be so focused on competition that I wasn’t really having fun at the gym anymore. It was a chore that I was beginning to resent. Over the past few months, it has really become time that I really enjoy. I am less frustrated about my weaknesses and am more focused on enjoying the work, not dreading it.

2012 Goals

• String together 3 MUs
• 1 strict MU
• Sleep 9 hours, per night
• Run 7:30 mile
• Clean & Jerk, 160
• Yoga – Standing head to knee pose
• Straddle to handstand without wall

Sleep: ~8.75 hours

Water: 79 oz, so far

Today’s Grub:

8:00 am – 2 eggs scrambled with viking hash

9:00 am – Coffee with heavy cream

1:15 pm – 4 chicken meatballs, turkey sausage, and spicy chicken and bacon poppers

3:25 pm – Protein whipped coffee

8:50 pm – Coconut shrimp

Today’s Work:

OPT Being 
A. Push Press x 1/Push Jerk x 2/Split Jerk x 2; rest 90 sec x 4
B. Clean and Jerk TnG x 10 – game pace; rest 1 min x 3
C. FLR on rings – accumulate 6 min

A. Kept very light so my neck didn’t get messed up again. 45-45-65-65
B. Skipped
C. Complete

7 pm
1.5 hours of Bikram yoga

Bikram Yoga

A more focused me..

So, I have really been enjoying Bikram yoga. I have been to three classes and I really feel as though I am improving. It is definitely a whole different world from what I am used to from both my CSC work and other yoga classes I have taken. It’s a bit militant, but I like it.

Sleep: ~8 hours

Water: 48 oz, so far

Today’s Grub:

8:00 am – 2 scrambled eggs, a few strawberries, and two primal friendly biscuits

9:00 am – Coffee with coconut milk

12:30 pm – Turkey sausage and some grass fed cheese

1:15 pm – Hot tea

9:15 pm – Chicken cordon bleu and parm

Today’s Work:

100 TGU not for time
(1.5/1 pd)

Ended up only doing 50
Switched from 35# to 25# after first 10 reps..too heavy and slow

Out of It.

Taking vacation last week has me all confused this week. I can’t seem to get on top of my work or even send the right information. I am mentally slow this week. Ugh!

On the bright side, I booked my flight to Texas! Yay! It will be nice to see the family for a week. I miss them.

Sleep: ~8 hours

Water: ~60 oz

Today’s Grub:

8:00 am – 2 eggs with viking hash and 1 sausage patty

1:35 pm – leftover meatloaf

4:30 pm – Blueberry and vanilla protein shake

8:45 pm – NY Strip and some raisins

Today’s Work:

12:45 pm
3 sets @ 100% for reps:
30 sec amrap clean and jerk – 115#/75#
30 sec amrap box Jumps – 24/20′
30 sec amrap KBS – 2pd/1.5pd
30 sec amrap burpees
rest 10 min ACTIVELY

I went into this with the intention of the first round being a warm-up, but that didn’t really happen. I ended up going at about 90% on the first. My legs were so spent by the time I got to the burpees.

C&J: 7-9-7
BJ: 10-14-12
KBS: 8-11-11
Burpees: 8-9-8

6:00 pm
1.5 hours of Bikram Yoga

New Year, New You?

I always hear this slogan when it comes to the new year. I find this to be a bit overwhelming. It’s like you have to overhaul all of you and that seems so exhausting. What about “New Year, Better Version of You”? This is a changing of the things you want to improve upon rather than a total overhaul. I want to be a better me, not a different me.

A more flexible me...

So, I am at the point where I have to start deciding upon my 2012 goals. I will sit down tonight and get them written out, along with some time frames for meeting them.

Sleep: ~8 hours

Water: 72 oz, so far

Today’s Grub:

8:00 am – 2 eggs scrambled with viking hash and a sausage patty

12:45 pm – Meatloaf from Everyday Paleo

7:45 pm – Leftover meatloaf and raisins

Today’s Work:

A. back squat – 5,4,3,2,1; rest 5 min
B. 20 COVP chin ups; rest 2 min x 4
C. Run 400 m @ 90%; rest 2 min x 3

A. 115-125-140-150-150
B. All quite broken
C. 1:54-1:58-2:14

Not the effort I should have given today. Oh well, onto tomorrow…

Back in the saddle!

After a few days of being sick and a literal pain in my neck, I am feeling like I am almost healthy.  I am still struggling with some congestion and my neck is still a little sore. I am thankful for Pete, though. He straightened my neck out and today is much better. Yay!!!

So, I did Tuesday’s workout….

A. Power Clean Cluster – 1.1.1.1.1.1; rest 90 sec x 3 – 10 sec b/t reps
B. Push Press x 1/Split Jerk x 1 – 5 sets, build per set; rest 90 sec
C. KB Snatch – 5 min amrap – 2/1.25 pd – try to get equal reps/hand

rest as needed

part 2:
Row 20 sec @ max effort
rest 2:40 x 6
(HS walk practice 10 min)
Row 20 sec @ max effort
rest 2:40 x 6

A. 125-130-135
B. 85-90-105-110-115
C. Used 35#, 61 reps
+
Only did first three rows due to some lower back and neck discomfort.
101-100-95
Played with handstand walking. Getting better!

Sleep: ~8 hours

Water: 24 oz, so far

Today’s Grub:

8:00 am – 2 eggs scrambled

12:30 pm - Chili and salad

? – Dinner TBD

Today’s Work:

Part 1.
AMRAP lulelemon items in 30 minutes..

Part 2.
A. Front Squat @ 30X0; 3 tough reps; rest 20 sec
+
21,15,9 rep rounds for time:
Burpees
CTB Chin Ups