Feeling the Heat!

Holy cow! I'm so glad I got workout shorts recently, because today I had to wear them. I went to the 9:30am in class and it was definitely hot out. We were drenched in sweat by the end of warm up.

Here is what we did today: 

Strength: front squat 4×7 (35lbs)

Conditioning:

Run 200m

25-20-15-10-5*

Db thrusters, tricep dips, box jumps

Run 200m

Also run 200m in between each round

The heat did not help with all the running, but I finished it and didn't die :)

Plus I got a new shirt from our Gym :)

I love my box! :)

New Shoes and C25K Week 6

I got new shoes today!! My hubby took me out shopping to get new running shoes as an anniversary gift, and I got the Reebok Realflex Transition. They feel great and I love them! Plus they are super stylish :)

I couldn't wait until the sun went down to try them on and go for a run, so I went around 7pm. It was still hot out, and I definitely felt it. I did c25k week 6 day 1. I instantly noticed a difference in how my shins and calves weren't hurting as much. My only problem with the run was the heat. It affected my breathing and I was way more tired than usual. But I ran faster and with much less pain. I went down to a 10:22 run pace from 10:50 last Friday.

I'm ready for week 6 day 2: The big 20 minutes run!!!! I just hope I can do it!! :)

6 Weeks Into Crossfit

I'm starting to feel the heat out there, even though it wasn't that hot today. As always, it felt great afterwards. My sister in law also joined me today so it was nice having a partner to work out with :)


Here is what we did:
Conditioning: 20min amrap
10 push press (10lb kbs)
10 box jumps (20" box)
20 mt. Climbers
Run 100m


Each round took me about 3 minutes to complete, so I think I did about 6 rounds, but I'm not sure. All I know is that it was harder than I thought it would be. 


Afterwards we did abs work out, so we did some situps, butterfly situps and bicycle. I really don't have a problem doing situps. I find that's probably the easiest thing for me to do, out of all the exercises. Bicycles, however, make my sides burn a lot, but I guess it's because it's working. 


It was a good workout overall :)

Progress! Progress! Progress!

Progress is always a good thing, right?

Today I was supposed to start week 6 day 1 of the c25k program, but because I rarely pay attention to anything, I mistakenly repeated w5d3 instead of doing w6d1. But  that's okay, because althought I did the exact same run from two days ago, I did it about 23 seconds faster! And compared to last Friday, I did it a whole minute faster!

My calves were hurting, and so was the side of my stomach, but I kept going and tried to go as fast I could. I definitely need to do something about my calves though...

Here is the summary of the last 3 days with Ease Into c25k:

So yeah, this is one of the things I've noticed progress on.

The other thing I'm starting to see are my clothes becoming more lose and people asking me if I lost weight.

That's DEFINITELY a good thing :)

c25k: Week 5 Day 3

I'm not proud to say I skipped Crossfit today and instead stayed home napping. Although it felt nice at the time to just sleep through when I was supposed to be working out, I
woke up feeling like a loser. This is the first time I skipped Crossfit for no good reason and did not feel good at all. It felt like I had cheated on myself.

So in order to try and make up for some of the loss, I decided to go and do the week 5 day 3 of c25k program.. It consisted of running 9 minutes, walking 2 minutes, running 4, walking 2, then running 2. I ended up running longer than 9 minutes in the first run because I didn't realize I had paused the app. I think I probably ran 11 or 12 minutes. My pace also improved from 11:58 from last week to 11:13 this week.

I was happy I got out and did it. I'm ready for the next week to be here and run 20 minutes straight very soon :)

And it is safe to say I won't be missing Crossfit anymore...

When Eating More Is Good For You

Now, I don't know how I feel about this whole Paleo diet thing just yet...although I have been trying to eat more proteins and vegetables, and less carbs. But swearing off carbs and sugar completely, I'm not sure I can do it. I do want to try it someday, but I feel like right now I'm still getting my head wrapped around eating healthy and exercising.

What I like about the Paleo idea though, are the amount of food you eat. You become full from eating a good amount of vegetables and lean protein. I never knew protein made you feel full faster and longer until I started crossfit and reading about Paleo.

This article title "Eat More, Weight Less" from Crossfit Rockwall's website really caught my attention. Just look at the difference between REAL healthy eating Vs. "Healthy" eating:

You can see the full article and various other comparisons here. 

It's amazing how much we can deprive ourselves of food, when it's not about not eating, but eating right. 

What will you choose to eat for breakfast tomorrow?

Meeting Tabata + Confidence Restored

Today was a great day for me. I was feeling energetic, positive and also learned I am back down to 155lbs and 25% fat, so I'm back on track. Plus I'm starting to notice a little difference with my body, although not much.

It was also a great day at the box. I was feeling so strong and motivated. I noticed I was able to run a bit faster for the warm up, as well as was able to do all the exercises and stretches we do during the group stretch with much more ease than my first couple of weeks.

The WOD was definitely NOT an easy one, but I felt amazing afterwards. We did a Tabata, which was my first! Here is what we had to do:

Strength: shoulder press 4×5 (35lbs)
Conditioning: Tabata (8 x 20s / 10s rest)
Jumping pull-ups
Bicycle Situps
Row
Airsquats
Weighted shuttle runs


I think it was also my first shoulder press. It's so much harder than the push press. When I did the push press last time, 35lbs felt like nothing, but this time, they felt way heavier, and kept getting heavy each time. I definitely felt it on my arms. 


Then came Tabata. The most difficult exercises for me were the Airsquats and the Bicycle Situps. The Airsquats themselves weren't hard. What was hard was that we had to hold it for 10 seconds during each rest. My thighs were on fire!! I was literally about to cry. I will definitely feel it on my things tomorrow. 


Overall, it was amazing work out. I was dripping sweat towards the end, and when I finished I felt so refreshed and relaxed. It was a weird feeling. I just LOVED it! :)

And The Shoes Come Off AGAIN

Today was beautiful out...My energy level on the other hand, not pretty.

I started the morning around 7:30am where I had to force myself out of bed. I then had some scrambled eggs and a wheat bagel for breakfast. I'm not sure if it's because I forgot to have coffee, or what, but I was feeling so tired...plus my shins were still a bit sore from last Friday.

It definitely impacted my work out. I was tired just from the 2 lap running warm up and my shins were not happy either. We then learned most of the work out was going to include running, since it's supposed to rain for the rest of the week, and the instructor wanted to take advantage of the nice weather out. So running we did. Here's what we had to do: 

21 ball slams

21 box jumps

21 star jumps

Run 200m

16 ball slams

16 box jumps

16 star jumps

Run 400m

9 ball slams

9 box jumps

9 star jumps

Run 600m

6 ball slams

7 box jumps

6 star jumps

Run 800m

Oh. My. God. Those last two rounds of running were excruciating. On my last 200m, I was about to give up and start walking, when I remembered the last time I ran without my shoes. I decided to take my shoes off and run with my socks on. And that worked, again! I ran faster and more easily and finished the work out like a champ. The only reason I don't run barefoot longer is because I'm not very used to it yet. Although it feels good the first couple of minutes, it becomes straining afterwards..at least that's what I noticed from the last time I did that. My brother, who is a pro barefoot runner, told me you have to start small so that's what I am doing. 

Anyway, that was a 800 calories worth of sweat. Totally worth it! I just had to roll my shins and calves afterwards..

Easy NOT an Option

I saw this on Pinterest today... Loved it :)

C25k - From W1D3 to W5D2

Last time I did the actual c25k program was 3 weeks ago. I had done week 1 day 3. Since then I had been doing crossfit and doing some runs here and there but not following the actual c25k program. Last Friday I was able to do 9 minutes straight before having to walk, so I thought if I was able to run 9 minutes, I could probably skip a couple weeks of the c25k and I did. I decided to skip all the way to week 5 day 2, since you run 6 minutes, walk 1 minute, run 4 minutes, walk 1 minute and run another 6 minutes. And I was able to complete it with no problems! The only thing bothering me were my calves, but apart from that I felt fine.

Four weeks ago I was not even able to run for 1 minute. That's just a reminder that ANYTHING is possible.

"When You Try Your Best But You Can't Succeed"

Yep... that line from Coldplay's song "Fix you" has been playing on my head over and over. Why? Well, I'll tell you why... because a little over 4 weeks ago, I didn't think I would still practically look the same and weight the same today. But I do.

It started with the work out today. It was hot out and I had a head ache. Luckily the headache kind of went away during our warm up, but the work out overall wasn't that great. I mean, it was good in the sense I burned lots of calories, but my performance sucked, especially doing jump ropes.

Here is what we had to do:

Strength: back squat 4×5 (60lb weight)
Conditioning: 4 rounds
Jumprope 100 singles
Run 200m
10 pullups
10 burpees
10 thrusters (10lb kbs)

I was fine doing the back squat. No problem there. 

But then came the workout. I was the worst there and was about 1 round behind all the other girls. I just couldn't do the full 100 Jumprope singles. My feet kept on getting caught on the rope and the most I did was 70 until I gave up and went running. On the last round, when everyone was done, I decided to do a 400m run instead of Jumprope then run, to make up for my inability to do 100 Jumprope singles. It was difficult but I did it. I didn't even check to see how long it took me to finish all 4 rounds. Felt like an eternity. My heat rate watch told me I had burned 800 calories and it sure felt like it.

After that I decided to go on the fat measuring scale. Last week it had told me I was at 155.6lbs and I had gone down to 25% body fat. Well, today it told me I gone up to 158lbs and 26.5 body fat! I think my muscle was up by 2% but I don't remember. I was too focused on the fat part. I mean, I don't mind not losing weight as long as I'm losing fat and ever since I started this thing, I had only gone down on the fat percentage, so this certainly made me feel horrible about myself. 

So right now I feel unmotivated and tired. I'm not about to give up, but I lost all hope to lose 30lbs by the end of Summer which was my initial goal. I don't know what to do anymore. I feel like maybe I should up my calorie intake even more but I'm afraid that if I do that, it will backfire.... 

It's funny how a couple of years ago, all I had to do was eat little and I lost a lot of weight. Now I'm practically kicking my butt every other day, drinking at least 2 liters of water per day and watching my calories, and NOTHING happens. This sucks.

PS: I have been doing Crossfit for officially a month now...even though it doesn't look like it :/

600 Calories Burned

I was looking forward to go back to the box, since I hadn't been there since last Monday. On Wednesday I had to work so I did the at home workout, and Sunday was mother's day so there was no class. 
I really liked yesterday's workout. As longs as there are no Burpees, I'm happy :)
For the warm up, we ran 3 laps, which wasn't as bad since I've been getting more used to running. 
Then we had the usual group stretch and drills. Those make me so tired!
And then the work out: 


Strength: push press 4×7 (35 lbs)
Conditioning: 17min Amrap
20 weighted squats (I used 10lbs med balls)
18 Situps
16 jumping lunges 
14 kettlebell swings (I used 20lb kbs)
10 push press (I used 15lbs dbs)


I was able to do 3 complete rounds and up to the 5th situp of the 4th round. I did regular lunges since I'm still working on my balance. 
At the end of the class I had burned 600 calories according to my heart rate. 
Today my shoulders, upper back and neck are incredibly sore. I think the kettlebell swings did it. Maybe I have to work on my form a bit more. Other than that, I'm looking forward for my next work out tomorrow :)

Venting

No physical changes as far as I can see.

And it is so disheartening. When you work out hard and limit your eating to healthy stuff MOST of the time, you expect to see changes in at least a couple of weeks. But I haven't. The only time I saw changes was in the first 2 weeks when I lost about 5 pounds and about 2 inches from my waist. But since then I have been measuring myself and there have been no changes. I haven't been weighing myself this week, but I know the week before I fluctuated up and down.

The only thing that has been somewhat consistent is my fat percentage. I started out at 33%, then I went down to 26% and last week I was down to 25%. Tomorrow I will measure it again, and hopefully it will have gone down a bit more...

I just wanted to be skinny enough this Summer to wear a bikini  :(

Oh well... as long as my body ability is increasing, I'll be maybe 60% happy..

12 Minutes Mile

So this evening, for the first time, I decided to go for a run without following any programs, my heart rate, or any limits. I just wanted to run a 5k and see how long I could run and how long I had to walk. So I mapped a route from my place that was about 1.6 miles and decided to go all the way there and back, which would be 3.1 miles (5k). So I did, and started running, and was able to run for almost 10 minutes before I had to walk. I walked for about a minute and started running again. I didn't time my running after that but I know I ran way more than I expected. Unfortunately, I could not complete the last 0.1 mile because the road got very narrow and had no sidewalks, so I decided to turn around and go back.

I finished 3 miles in 36 minutes! That means I run a 12 minutes mile. I know this is not a lot, but for someone who could barely even run 2 minutes without being out of breath about 4 weeks ago, this is huge for me.

PS: My legs and feet don't like me right now, but I'm sure they will recover :)

No More Burpee Tears

I was supposed to go to a 9:30am crossfit class this morning, my lazy self got the best of me. It was raining, cold, and I had had a tough time falling asleep yesterday. So when my alarm went off at 7:30am, I decided to turn it off and ignore it. The reason I was supposed to go at 9:30am instead of 4pm which is when I usually go on Wednesdays, is because I was supposed to work overtime today from 3pm - 8pm so I was going to miss the 4pm class. So I woke up at 10:30am instead, and decided I would do a at home work out to make up for my lazyness. I decided to a past at home work out:

10rds: 10 walking lunges each leg and 10 Burpees

This is the same one they have us when the gym was closed for renovation. The last time I had tried this workout, I cried towards the end. It was incredibly difficult and painful. I finished it in 28 minutes.

So I went for a run around the block as a warm up, and did this work out for the second time in my crossfit lifetime.

It took me 28 minutes to finish again. I didn't cry this time though.. But I realized, I probably didn't do the whole 10 rounds the last time I did it. Maybe I thought I did, but I know I did much faster this time. My guess is that I only did 9 rounds the last time, which means I probably cut down 4 minutes from last time's time. But I will never know.

This is the problem with cheating in crossfit. You are really cheating on yourself when you skip rounds or don't time yourself properly. Not that I did it on purpose last time, but still...

I also got a bruise on my hand from the pushups..my first Crossfit bruise :)

Looking Like a Real Crossfitter

Today's workout was pure craziness. I was already sore from all the work out and running I had done yesterday, so when I saw this on the board, I almost had a heart attack:

Strength: shoulder press 4×5
Conditioning:
100m farmers walk
200m medball run
100 jump rope singles
200m medball run
100m walking lunge
200m medball run
100m broad jump
200m medball run

We also did this one in teams of 2, so we had some time to rest in between, but geez, that was barely enough rest. For the shoulder press, we used a 25lb total weight. For the farmers walk, we used 20lb kettlebells and for the medball run, we used a 10lb ball. I found that holding the ball on my right shoulder was the most comfortable. I had to switch shoulders at some points, but I mostly carried on my right shoulder. As I was running around the building, I caught a glimpse of myself in the reflection of the glass window and saw this girl, a little slimmer then she was a few week ago, looking badass running with a 10lb ball on her shoulder, looking like a real crossfitter... That made me smile.

This was one of the harderst work outs we had to do so far, but that's how I like them... When you finish them drenched in sweat and out of breath. :)

Socks on, Shoes off

So after today's workout in the morning, I decided to have a nice Spa Pedicure, a manicure, do a little shopping and relax... Which I did, until around 3pm when my brother stopped by my place after running the Broadstreet Marathon, and asked if I wanted to run the last 4 miles back to his house. And by the way, he had also ran TO Broadstreet and ran back.. So he was running close to 40 miles by then. So I was like, "I just did Crossfit this morning, but what the hell..You just ran to the city, ran a marathon, and ran back, so yeah, sure!". I put on my work out clothes and went. I was surprised how long I was able to run without stopping. We would run until my heart rate went over 180 then we would walk until it went below 160. We ran a total of 3 miles and walked about 1 mile. Toward the end, my ankles and achilles tendons were hurting so bad. I was losing strenght in my legs, they felt heavy. He told me to take my sneakers off. So before I ran the last mile, I took them off and only ran with my socks on. I couldn't believe the difference it made. Suddenly I was running faster, my body was lighter and my feet didn't hurt so much. I actually ran the last mile without stopping. The only thing that felt uncomfortable was the bottom of my feet, the cushion right before the toes.My brother is a barefoot runner and he told me it takes a while for the feet to get used to the pavement. But I didn't care about that small pain. That was nothing compared to the relief I felt by taking my shoes off.

So in a little less than 1 hour, we ran/walked 4 miles. My legs were hurting so bad afterwards, but it felt great. I definitely notice the difference from when I first started running.

I haven't actually ran until I'm not able anymore, so I'm curious to see how long I can run without stopping. Maybe sometimes this week I will have to try it.

Beginning of 3rd Week

Last week wasn't my greatest.. I didn't follow my diet very strictly and it was just a bad week overall. So I decided to try and do better this week. Working out in the morning is still weird for me. I'm not used to working out without having a lot of time to get ready and eat. What I do is I eat as soon as I wake up around 7am to give enough time for the food to digest by the time I go work out at 9am. The last two Sunday I had walls that kept me from doing the work outs to the full extent. But today I was fine.
Here is what we had to do:

Conditioning: in teams of 2
800m run
100 kb swings
50 burpees
100 squats
50 db thrusters
50 box jumps
800m run

Since this was done in teams of 2, we each had to do half of these work outs. While one person ran 400 meters, the other rested until she had to go and run 400 meters.

For the kb swings we used a 15lb. I thought it was a little too light, and it actually made it more difficult. For the db thrusters, we used 10lb dumbells. That was actually enough, a little too heavy actually.

Overall, it was a great work out and I'm just glad I didn't have anything to keep me from completing them.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

2 Weeks of Crossfit

Today completed my 2nd official work out week with crossfit. I have noticed slight improvement in some areas. For instance, the warm ups have been feeling easier. I remember when I first started, I couldn't do 20 mountain climbers in a row. And today I did it fine. I know it's not a lot, but it's some progress.

So here's what we had to do today:

Strength:
3x max floor wipers


Conditioning:
3 min wallball
Rest 1 min
3 min pull-ups
Rest 1 min
3 min airsquats
Rest 1 min
3 min kettlebell
Rest 1 min
3 min jumprope

For the floor wipers, I was able to only do 5 at a time.

For the conditioning, I knew I wouldn't be able to do every single workout for 3 minutes without stopping, and that's what happened.

For the wallballs, I used a 10lb ball and boy, was it hard. My arms started feeling week and so did my legs. My neck was also hurting from looking up. I think I was able to do about 15 without stopping. But I don't know how many there are in 3 minutes. All I know is that I had to stop a couple of times and shake it out.

Then came the pull-ups. Oh, my, goodness. Not even with the thickest band there I was able to do two in a row. I was pulling myself up but my chin was going past the bar. My leg was also getting weak from tryng to push down the band. I know I did my best because I could barely feel my arms afterwords.

Air aquats were definitely the easiest. Of course after a while my butt and thighs were getting tired, but nothing compared to what I felt with the other ones.

My kettlebells weren't the greatest, because my arms were so tired from the pull-ups. But I did as many as I could for those 3 minutes.

Finally we did jump ropes. I was able to do about 30 - 40 before the rope got stuck under my feet, and then I had to restart. I'm not sure if it happened because my legs kept getting tired or if I was just being clumsy. It was definitely better than my last attempt on Sunday though.

So that concluded my work out. It felt more strenuous on my muscles then the one yesterday, which felt more strenuous on my breathing. Yesterday was definitely more of a cardio then a strenght I think. But I'm far from a fitness expert so I could be wrong :)

I'm just happy I completed my 2nd week doing crossfit!!! Can't wait until next Sunday!