Barbara

Home workout!

Warmup:
10 squats
10 knee pushups
1 dot drill

Workout:
"Barbara"
5 sets of the following:
20 pullups (I did jumping doorframe pullups)
30 pushups
40 situps
50 squats

Ow.

Holy eff.

Warmup:
4x 20 or 30 seconds (I wasn't counting, Justin was) of Squats and Pushups and Pullups
3 sets of 5 reps each of 95 lb deadlift, 24" box jump, situps

Workout:
5 sets of the following:
20 box jumps (24")
30 situps
10 deadlifts (115 lbs.)


I'm tired. And now I have rips on both my hands. Yay!

Tonight was awesome.

Warmup:
Buncha sets of 10 with PVC working on thruster form
400m row
100 jumprope
400m row
100 jumprope (got through all of this set without messing up)

Workout:
5 sets of the following:
10 thrusters (front squat, stand up and push bar up overhead) @ 65 lbs
21 pullups

Boom.

20 pushups - 1 situp
19 pushups - 2 situps
18 pushups - 3 situps
.
.
.
1 pushup - 20 situps

Time: 27:02

200 pushups in 16:30.

Workout at my parents' house!

Warmup:
2x the following:
Dot drill
10 squats
10 knees pushups

Workout:
5 sets of the following:
10 squat clean-to-thruster
15 pushups
20 situps

Warmup:
2 rounds of 200m row, 10 medicine ball clean to wall ball, 5 toes-to-bar
Power cleans: 5-5-3-2 at 45-45-65-75

Workout:
Power cleans - 75 lbs, 3-3-3-3-3

75 lbs was easy, but I was struggling to get my form right. On the 4th set, I thought I had it, so for the last set, I tried 95 lbs. Failed miserably. I really didn't have the form. I need to work on power cleans.

Warmup:
3 rounds of:
-150m row
-15 pushups
-15 jumping jacks

Workout:
7 rounds of (but I only got through 6):
-7 burpees
-7 ring dips (I used band 2 rounds, then I did jumping)
-7 pullups (I CAN DO KIPPING PULLUPS NOW!)
-7 45-lb thrusters
-7 situps
-7 14-lb medicine ball cleans

I think I'm getting sick.

Warmup tonight:
4 sets of:
5 burpees
5 toe-to-bar (last 2 sets were knees-to-elbows)
5 jumping kipping pullups on rings
10 lunges

I did a 400m row and about 8 wallballs with 14 lb medicine ball before I decided I shouldn't be working out. My legs were way, way too tired for what I was doing, so I figured something was wrong and I should just stop. Sucks. I was really looking forward to this workout (3 sets of 400m row, 30 wall ball, 30 box jumps).

Tomorrow's another day.

Warmup:
Pushups: 14-14-15-15-14-14-10-10
3x30sec box jumps
3x15sec assisted pullups
3x15sec pullup assisting (for me, pushing up on Kolb while he's doing pullups)
5x45lb deadlift, clean, push press, back squat
5x75lb back squat
3x95lb back squat
2x105lb back squat

Workout:
3 sets of 5 reps of 105lb back squat
3 sets of ~15-20sec legs parallel, hanging from bar alternating with 3 sets of ~15-20sec legs parallel, suspending vertically over parallel bars

Warmup:
Buncha practices of snatch-and-balance with a PVC bar
3x5 of the following:
-cleans w/ 20 lb ball
-bear crawl 10m
-burpies w/pushup jumping onto 20" box

Workout:
20 minutes, max rounds of the following:
10 squats
9 pushups
8 16kg kettleball swings
7 situps
6 pullups

I was dead set on not jumping on my pullups, so I used the small band and really focused on my kipping pullup form. As a result, I only got through 5 sets (plus 10 squats). But I'm cool with that. I'm extremely close to getting the kipping pullups. I'm so stoked to knock that one off the list!

Diane

Warmup:
50 jumprope
20 wall ball
lots of attempts at a kipping pullup (I can pretty much do 1 now, haven't tried for a second cause my form isn't quite right)

Workout:
3 sets, 21-15-9 reps, for time (I hit 6:19, so clearly I should have done a higher weight) of 105 lb. dead lift, handstand pushups (with legs on a 20" box)

Today was pretty easy.

Warmup:
250m row
3x the following sequence w/45 lb bar:
- 5 deadlift
- 5 clean
- 5 front squat
- 5 push press
- 5 back squat

Workout:
5 sets of 3 Push Jerks at 55-65-70-75-85 lbs

Pushups: 25-30-20-15-40

Kinda psycho today.

Warmup:
Buncha no-weight squats and some lunges. Like 5 minutes.
Pushups: 13-15-12-10-15 w/ 45 sec. rest

Workout:
25 pullups
50 box jumps (24" I've increased!)
50 situps
50 pushups
50 kettleball swings (16 kg)
50 hang power cleans
25 pullups

Annie

"Annie" Workout:

Warmup - 3 sets of the following:
10 squats (no weight)
10m duck walk (squatting with hands behind head)
5 inverted ring pullups (so, hanging vertically upsidedown on the rings with arms straight, and bend elbows to pull body vertically upward)
5 burpie-box jump (burpie w/ pushup, and instead of jumping in the air, doing an actual box jump at the top)


Workout:
50-40-30-20-10 reps of double unders and situps
(double unders are when you jumprope and the rope goes under your legs twice in one jump)

Pushups:
10-10-13-13-10-10-9-25 with 45 sec rest in between (harrrrrd)

I almost died today.

Warmup:
50 jumprope
10 10-lb wall ball
10 pushups
10 snatch and balance (3 w/45-lb bar, 7 w/ PVC)

Workout:
4 sets of the following:
400m row
15 snatch and balance w/ PVC bar
30 pullups (jumping)
30 pushups


It was effing difficult.

Donating blood today. No workout. Yay recovery.

I almost died today.

Warmup:
3x the following:
5 go-through-motions-with-PVC-bar snatch
10 pushups
10 pullups

Workout:
Pyramid sets 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 of the following:
Box jumps - 20"
Push Press (like a shoulder press, but you use your legs to push into it) - 55 lbs.
Ring dips (I used an elastic band, but I did all my dips!)


My arms are tanked after this one. Holy crap. It was effing HARD. That's what she said.

Maybe I watch The Office too much.

Cross Fit! 6 days in a row, I definitely need a break.

Warmup:
3 sets of 15m wheelbarrow walk, 10 burpies (with pushup)
(I only did 2 sets cause I got there late)

Workout:
4 sets of the following:
400m row
20 single-leg squats (10 per leg)
20 upside-down rows on the rings (so, elevate your feet in front of you, or just put them on the floor in front, and do ring pullups)
20 cleans with medicine ball (I used the 10-lb ball)


Today was HARD. Very hard. I'm taking tomorrow off as well as whatever day I end up donating blood this week.

TONIGHT WAS SO AWESOME!

Warmup:
5 sets of the following:
5 shuffling wall ball (I used 10-lb ball)
16 lunges with PVC bar overhead and strong shoulders
20 second dead hang from bar with rounded torso

Workout:
Pushups: 5 sets - 16-18-13-13-20, one legged squats w/partner help in between sets

Shoulder press: warm up 5x45, 3x45, 2x55lbs; work out 3 sets of 5x55lbs

5 sets of the following:
5 toe to bar (dead hang from bar, bring toes all the way up to vertical pike with straight legs -- I did this for the first set, but was mostly knees-to-elbows for the next 4)
10 situps
15 flutterkicks


The last 5 sets of 3 exercises was for time, and I finished 2nd out of like 15 dudes and one chick. Woot! I heart abs.

Jackie

CrossFit: The Jackie Workout (a name on a workout means it is HARD)

warmup:
50 jumprope, 21 squat thrusters with PVC bar, 21 pushups
50 jumprope, 15 squat thrusters, 15 pushups
50 jumprope, 9 squat thrusters, 9 pushups

workout:
1000m row
50 thrusters with 45 lb. bar
30 pullups

I did 6 pullups with the band and the rest jumping.

XFITTTT

Warmup:
500m row
3x5 clean, lunge, thrust, 45-65-75 lbs.

Workout:
3 sets, 5-3-2 reps front squats w/ 85lbs.
500m row in 1:56

I forgot to do my pushups workout before I left. Nuts.

Crosssss Fit!

Warmup:
10 rounds of the following:
-30 jumprope
-5 pushups
-5 wallballs

Workout:
Pullup ladder.
I ended up with 14 sets, 1 minute for each set (including breaks), of pullups:
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14 reps
(if I could have done more sets I would have)
Sets 1-6 were with the elastic band, sets 7-14 were jumping pullups.

CrossFit!

Warmup:
50 jump rope
21 squats with arms overhead holding a pvc pole
21 jumping pullups (these are getting easier)
50 jump rope
15 squats w/ pole
15 jumping pullups
50 jump rope
9 squats w/ pole
9 jumping pullups


Workout:
3 sets, 30-20-10 reps of the following:
-deadlift, 75 lbs
-box jumps, 20 inches
-flutter kicks

Pushups:
5 sets: 13-16-12-12-18

Saturday morning CrossFit, woot!

Warmup:
3x the following:
-50 jumprope
-10 lunges with medicine ball held straight overhead
-5 knees-to-elbows

Workout:
10 sets, 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 reps of the following circuit:
-pullups
-box jumps
-kettleball swings
-thrusters

I did a little more than half my pullups using an elastic band (my feet in the band so I had an upward force to help me lift myself), the other half of my pullups were jumping into them.

A kettle ball is like a shot put with a handle on it; kettleball swings are when you swing it from the ground to eye level at arms length...killer on the hamstrings, it's awesome.

Squat thrusters are with just the 45-lb bar, you do a regular squat with the bar in front of you, but when you come up, you also lift your arms straight up to the sky and a little behind your head. I did the first 2.5 sets with the bar, but I had to switch to a PVC bar (so, really, no weight, just a placeholder to make my form correct) because my arms were dead.

Overall, the workout was pretty hard, but I think part of that was the fact that I was sick towards the end of the week. I was respiratorally challenged during this workout, especially after the box jumps, and I was also muscularly challenged. My arms are still weak. Lame.

Can't wait to go back on Monday!

Crossfit: JT workout

So Crossfit names some of their extra hard workouts after fallen heroes (cops, military people, etc, who have died in the line of duty). Today's workout is named for JT. I tried to give JT my best. But man, it was HARD.

Warmup:
50 jumprope
20 box jumps
15 squat-to-throw medicine ball against the wall
~20 clean motion using 10-lb ball (I want to learn cleans the right way)

Workout:
3 sets of the following:
Handstand pushups (I did mine with my legs on a 20" box)
Ring dips (I jumped into straight arms above the rings)
Pushups

First set, 21 reps
Second set, 15 reps
Third set, 9 reps

Ow. I failed during the regular pushups a lot, I was really pushing my muscles to fatigue. Woot!

My NemeTeammates Hellyer and Meagles were there with me, yay! Hellyer finished a little before me doing the same stuff as me. Meagles did actual ring dips with band assistance, she was AWESOME!

CrossFit Day 2!

TODAY WAS AWESOME!

Warmup:
Burpee ladder (9 sets: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1)
Pushup Challenge pushups (5 sets: 12, 13, 10, 10, 16)
In between pushup sets, the following:
-after set 1: 25 box jumps
-after set 2: 15 squats with arms holding a pole overhead
-after set 3: 8 knees-to-elbows (hanging from a bar, bring knees up to elbows)
-after set 4: 40 lunges


Workout:
3 sets of the following:
400m row
30 flutterkicks (lay on back, legs straight ~ 1ft off floor, 4 up-down kicks=1 flutterkick)
20 jumping kipping pullups

It was AWESOME! I am signing up.

Crossfit!

Today I went to Windy City Cross Fit for the first time! It was AWESOME!

I think I'm going to join. It's a cool group of people, some of whom work very near my office. And the workout was fun and fast and HARD.


Warmup:
2 sets of the following:
50 jumprope
10 box jumps
10 squat and throw a medicine ball straight up

Workout (modified for me because I'm new, some people did harder things):
3 sets of the following:
15 Jumping kipping pullups
15 Jump to straight vertical arms on rings
7 "handstand" pushups (my feet were on a box but my torso was vertical over my hands)
200m rowing


I pushed through the rowing really hard at the end and I think I actually reached my VO2 max (judging by how much I wanted to puke).

I'm going back tomorrow. I can get addicted to this pretty quickly.

Saturday: 20 pushups, to prove a point. Plus some throwing Saturday and Sunday.

Today: Yoga! 90 minutes, a lot of Warrior 2 and Triangle Pose. I rocked some Half Moon as well. The instructor was a little too hippie for me though...made us just lay still at the end for like 10 minutes. I was super bored. And she told us to be proud of our accomplishments on the yoga mat. And told us not to judge ourselves or our bodies. WTF? I was like, dude, that crap makes me wanna puke. Give me something real to do. But whatevs. Yogalicious!

Pushups!

5 sets: 11, 15, 9, 9, 15

What up, pushups.

Day 1 of offseason workouts! I didn't do much but getting to the gym was step 1.

20 minute medium-hard bike, 6.5 miles
Pushups (5 sets): 10, 12, 8, 8, 15 (max)
Throwing with Loyola

I'm doing http://hundredpushups.com/index.html and today was Week 1 Day 2. I started a couple weeks ago, then quit, but I'm back on it now. Woot!

My goal is to be down to 145 by tryouts next spring. If I go into tryouts at 145, I'll be a) faster, b) longevity-er, and c) less likely to get injured. I really need to drop back down to high school weight to reduce the stress on my knees. And to be faster. I miss being fast.

I'm gonna restart this blog for my offseason workouts (my frisbee team had a team workout log that I was using for the season). I'm taking a week off since nationals (12th place, we broke seed, woot!), hopefully to heal up some joints.

Current ailments:
Left knee - I can't put weight on it when it's bent more than 90 degrees, and if it's in the same position for too long, it sort of locks up. I had it MRIed at the beginning of the season, and it looked fine. Maybe I should get a second opinion. I also have a bruise on my kneecap from nationals, but I don't think I had any lasting damage from that impact.

Right knee - Still has a torn PCL, it get a little sore sometimes. Somehow it has become my "good" knee.

Right ankle - Achilles is still feeling a little crazy, and I rebruised my ankle without respraining it. I think I just generally need to lay off. Last Monday, I did a cutting drill with Loyola, and by the end of practice, my Achilles was hurting so bad I was limping pretty severely. Boo.

Back - I strained some muscles on the outside of my back, kind of right on top of my ribcage. Pretty sure I hurt them at sectionals when I was pulling a lot. Still hurts to lay on my side for too long.

Maybe next week should be a yogatastic week...

Track track track track.

P.S. I have been lame at writing my workouts. I HAVE been working out though.

1/2 mile warmup
Some plyos

4x(200m fast, 100m slow)
6x15m, start laying face down, get up and sprint 15m, backpedal back to line
4x100 @ 75%, zig zag back to line (twice forward, twice backward)
2x400 (90s rest)
2x200 (40s rest)

Full leg matrix
60 reps x 8 different ab things
Pushup matrix

I almost booted once. Was finished with everything in under an hour. Rock.

Snertz workout!

800m warmup
some strides and plyos, I kinda half-assed them

15 pushups
75 situps

15 all the way down then touch the sky jumps followed by 40yd sprint
15 touch the sky, 40yd sprint
10 touch the sky, 40yd sprint
(this is where I failed a little at the workout)

4 x (10 tuck jumps, 40yd sprint)

15 pushups
75 situps

2x40yd lunges w/torso twist
2x40yd one-legged distance hops
2x10 forward hops over cones
2x10 side to side hops over a cone

15 pushups
75 situps

10x 5-10-5 yd shuttle runs
10x40yd sprint

Eff the cool down.

I only booted toward the end, after the 6th 40. Hooray!

Gym at the Luxor!

Half mile warmup
Failed at free weight squats
Leg Matrix (in lieu of squats)
Ab Matrix
Triceps over top of head
Bicep curls

Weight Machines:
Hamstrings
Lower back
Lats

Went to the gym today. Judging by my gym notebook, I hadn't been there in 3 months. Good lord.

Warmup: 1.5 miles @ 8:30/mile (7.0mph) --- this surpasses every warmup I did before April and is faster than every workout I did before April. It felt awesome. Now I have confidence that I have been improving just by going to track workouts and practices! Sweet!

Lifting (weird order because of other people on machines):

Lats: 90x15; 100x12; 110x10
Calf Raises: 50x20; 90x15; 110x15
Adductors: 50x12; 65x10; 75x10
Chest Press: 60x15; 70x12; 80x10
Abductors: 50x12; 65x10; 80x8
Squats: 155x12; 165x10; 175x8; 185x8
Abs: 7.5 minutes cross country abs
Rotary torso: 70x12
Hamstrings: 90x12; 100x10; 110x8


All of these weights are at or above where I left off 3 months ago. Lats, Calf Raises, Chest Press, Adductors, and Abductors were eeeeeasy. I felt awesome. Squats and Hamstrings were HARD! Holy crap! I now understand why track workouts have been so difficult -- my legs haven't been getting any stronger by NOT going to the gym, probably because I'm not spending all that much time actually full-out sprinting or using them to full capacity. Crap. Never underestimate how awesome the weight room can be.

Track tonight:

1 mile warmup

200m; 45 sec rest
400m; 90 sec rest
600m; 120 sec rest
600m; 120 sec rest
400m; 90 sec rest
200m; 45 sec rest

6x30 start on the ground face down, jump up and accelerate
4x50 focus on stride length (we watched each other run these and critiqued form)
2x80 backwards, once quick feet, once stride out

half a squat matrix
pushup matrix
ab matrix

throw a lot

Running was hard today and really made me realize how weak my legs are. I gotsta fix that. Weights tomorrow or Thursday.

Track workout tonight was AWESOME!

1 mile warmup
1x600, 2 min. rest
1x500, 2 min. rest
1x400, 2 min. rest
1x300, 2 min. rest
1x200, 2 min. rest
1x100
6x30, starting laying flat on stomach
4x50, 3 tuck jumps first, focus on stride length
4x80 backwards
Pushup matrix
8 min. cross country abs
Half a squat matrix
400 cooldown
20 minutes throwing

I felt SO GOOD during this workout! During the 500, I had to stop and almost boot, but it was completely psychological. I was doing fine and controlling the urge to boot, but then my teammate was gaining on me and I could hear her behind me, and she was breathing heavier than me. My brain heard her breath rate and decided that I was in fact breathing that hard, even though I wasn't, and boot reflex started. So I had to stop! It was so weird! During the 400 and 300, I stayed just behind the heavier breather, and during the 300 I was surprisingly able to accelerate past her during the last 50 meters. I ROCKED the 200, just like a race back in the day! And same with the 100! It was fun! I couldn't do the 6x30 because on the first one, my back did something weird, so I sat out. But man...this was a great workout. I didn't need my inhaler! Or at least, I didn't USE it. The 2 minute rest allowed me to really power through the 200 and 100, which was AWESOME and extremely rewarding. I love hitting my top speed. SO MUCH FUN! I feel like I'm flying!

Last night:

Half a squat matrix (no jumping, it was late)
Pushup/ab Countdown/Countup:
20 pushups/1 situp
19 pushups/2 situps
etc.
1 pushup/20 situps

Last night was a failure because my intention was to do a track workout, but I left work too late. AND I didn't really get any work done. Need to focus.

2nd Nemesis track workout!

1 mile warmup
2x800m, 2:00 rest
2x400m, 1:30 rest
4x100m with 3 tuck jumps just before running, ~1:00 rest
4x100m backwards, jog 100m forward
pushup matrix
8 minute cross country abs

I ran my mile warmup from my house to the track carrying a water bottle, which made me feel good about not driving. The workout was less hard -- one of my teammates is approximately my speed for the longer runs, which was nice, cause she was reasonably pushing me (as opposed to the others who just kicked my ass). This week I tried Claritin before my workout, but I still had pretty bad lung problems. I'll try my inhaler next week. I don't like when my lungs fail.

Just think how much easier this would be if I was 10 pounds lighter.

Someday. Someday soon, dammit.

1st Nemesis track workout! We had 5 people at the track by my house.

1 mile warmup
2x800m, 2:00 rest
2x400m, 1:30 rest
4x100m with 3 tuck jumps just before running, ~1:00 rest
4x100m backwards, jog 100m forward
1st half of the leg matrix
pushup matrix
7 minute cross country abs

This kicked my ass pretty hard. 800s were effing difficult and I ended a good minute behind the rest of the group, but I was right up with everyone on the 400s, and I was in the front for the 100s. Backwards running I was really stretching it out and it BURNED my quads. Sweet. Abs are really difficult after all that sprinting. Pushups weren't as hard as I thought they'd be, but I probably had bad form.

Double half a leg matrix (so, 24 squats, 24 lunges, 24 lunges, 24 squats, no jumping). I started late so I didn't want to wake up the neighbors with all the jumping.

Abs -- 30x each of the following:
Legs-up crunches
Right elbow to left knee crunches
Left elbow to right knee crunches
Bicycles
Legs in butterfly stretch position crunches
Wonder Womans
Humping abs
Legs-up crunches

2.6 mile run around my neighborhood. I found 3 parks on the way. I love Chicago.

Then lots of abs. 25 x each of the following:
Feet-in-air crunches
Right elbow to left knee crunches
Left elbow to right knee crunches
Legs in butterfly stretch position crunches
Bicycles
Right oblique crunches
Left oblique crunches
Humping abs
Butt-ups
More feet-in-air crunches
Wonder Womans

Later in the evening:
4 sets of 10 pushups (regular, not cheating)
some more abs
25 squats against a ball against a wall followed by 30 second ball/wall sit

151 yesterday morning. Awwwwwwwwwesome!

Yesterday we had practice again. I booted twice. WTF. At least Val made fun of me for it, cause I effing deserve it. At least I know I'm trying my hardest. I just really am looking forward to changing the definition of "my hardest." I can do more, and I can do it better. Look out, V02 max -- you're gonna be getting a boost before too long!

10 pounds in 2 months is on.

I'm not exactly sure how much I weighed on May 2 when I originally stated my goal, but my guess is it was about 155 or 156. So my goal is, 145 by the end of June.

Today: 153. Baller.

And now I'm back to having a gym in my back yard! Hooray! I'm gonna make this happen.

I mostly ran ~2.6 miles today. I walked some of it. But I mostly ran it. Woot! I don't think I was going super fast but I wasn't dragging.

Then I did Leg Matrix.

Then I did the 20 to 1, 1 to 20 pushups/situps routine.

Tonight, first I did the Leg Matrix:



Then I did the pushup/situp thing I stole from Kitt:
20 pushups 1 situp
19 pushups 2 situps
...
1 pushup 20 situps


Both workouts are hard. I should do them more so they get easier.

Hooray!

5-min. moderate bike warmup

Single leg lunge squats and abs!:
15 x two 25-lb. dumbells x two legs
50 crunches
12 x 30-lb. dumbells
50 crunches
10 x 35-lb. dumbells
50 crunches
8 x 40-lb. dumbells
50 crunches
30 butt-ups
50 crunches w/ legs in butterfly stretch position
~50 seconds of one rep of Wonder Woman

I'll probably do some planks as the night progresses.

The past month has been really tough for workouts, but I have a new goal:

10 pounds in 2 months. Something like a pound a week. I'm looking pretty tubby lately, and it makes me slow. Booooooooo.

It's really tough to work out when I'm spending 11-12 hours/day in the field. It really showed last weekend at pickup. I hadn't been doing squats for about 3-4 weeks, and on the field, I had zero sprint endurance, and I definitely was getting beat at the end of the day. Booooooooooooooooooooo. At DUI, when I HAD been doing squats prior to the tournament, I felt really fast and even had a 6th gear. I think last weekend, I had maybe a 3rd gear, but definitely no 4th or 5th or 6th. If I think I'm gonna make a good impression during tryouts, I need to be able to kick it into 6th.

So yeah. Working out while in the field. Kind of tough -- I'm technically not supposed to help the drillers with any manual labor things. I shoveled a little yesterday and carried some 50-lb. bags of sand, but man, I spend a lot of time just watching.

A couple days ago I started doing wall sits against a full drum of soil. That seems to be pretty awesome so far, although it's not squats, but it's at least SOMETHING. I also realized that my steel toed boots are heavy enough to be some sort of resistance against my hamstrings if I stand on one foot and bend the non-standing knee, like a standing leg curl.

So yeah. I'll take what I can get. I bet I can find a good place for tricep dips too...

Step 2 is packing a set amount of food so I don't just eat crap from the minimart all day.

Last weekend was pretty awesome for working out. The ~17-mile bike ride was ridiculously fun, and ultimate on Sunday was fantastic. I need to find a way to make my hotel more workout-savvy. They have free weights and a crappy treadmill -- any ideas on what I can do with dumbells to make my legs stronger? I'm all ears.

Tonight I did the workout I borrowed from Kitt a while back:

20 pushups, 1 situp
19 pushups, 2 situps
18 pushups, 3 situps
....
1 pushup, 20 situps


It was easier this time than the first time, with both the pushups and the situps. Woot!

My biceps are hottt right now. I might do more abs, just for kicks.

Finally will have time to start back at it today. After a 70-hour work week last week and some requisite socializing this week, I'll finally have time to chill starting today. Hotel for this month has treadmills and free weights, woot!

My knee has been feeling pretty okay in the morning, but after a full 13-hour day on my feet in steel-toed boots, it hurts a fair amount when I rotate it. Ew.

The gym at this hotel is no good so I've been slacking this week. The first couple days, it was wicked hot outside, so I was a bit dehydrated and consequentially didn't eat much. The last two days have been more normal temperature, so I've been eating more, booo. But I've also been pounding on brass soil sleeves the past two days as well, so it makes up for it a tiny bit.

I'ma go do some planks now before I pass out. Crap it's already 10:00. How did that happen? I gotta get up at 6 tomorrow.

I had a dream last night that Alice and I were hanging out and somehow she peer pressured me into doing wall sits with her.

Yesterday: Like an hour of ultimate ON GRASS and in AWESOME WEATHER! I love the Bay Area. I'm gonna start calling it the Hooray Area.

Today: I did some random stuff in the "fitness room" at the Vagabond Inn in Los Banos, CA...
2 sets each of lats, hamstring curls, chest press, and fake weird squats

My knee got banged up a little at ultimate yesterday. I didn't lay out, but I hit the ground, didn't catch the disc, and now my knee hurts off and on when I extend it. Whoops. Gotta learn to lay out so I can still walk when I'm 60.

Yesterday: 2 hours of ultimate in the snow. I LOVE SPRINTING. But I suck at it right now. It was cold and my lungs weren't very happy with me.

Today: 1-2 hours of Mischief pickup. But first I gotta get on a plane.

Hooray for frisbee starting back up! My quads are already starting to feel like sprinter's quads. I like it.

Online Stopwatch.

Great for timing your planks when you don't have a watch. It even rings when your time is finished!

My family is awesome.

My brother-in-law Eric (the one married to my sister, not the one who is JJ's brother) sent me this today:

-----------------------------
"Show up earlier, work harder than anyone else and stay later".

When I want to skip a workout, I remind myself that I always feel better after a workout than before a workout. Once you put your shoes on or get to the gym, the hard part is over. Here is what happens to me when running hills:

Breathing is labored, gait is inefficient, mind is full of useless thoughts left over from the stresses of the day, and I want to stop.
Keep going...
Breathing becomes synchronized with gait, mind starts listening to the breathing but still distracted, and I want to stop.
Keep going...
My mind tells me to stop or I will be sick...
Keep going...
Breathing is free, gait is effortless, and mind is empty. I want to feel like this forever.

It seems like if I make it past the third time that my mind tells me to quit, the reward is priceless.
---------------------------


As a result of reading this email from Eric, I didn't let myself NOT go to the gym today. I was really getting down on my job by the end of the day, starting to hate it again, and had convinced myself that my new division doesn't respect me and that I need to quit. But I knew that if I went to the gym, I could work off all my aggression and bad feelings. I got home, put on my workout clothes, sat down for 3 seconds, then decided to just effing go.

I went to the gym, got on the treadmill, and ran an easy half-mile warmup at 10-min. mile pace.

Then I stretched, and a latin music dancing-style workout class was starting.

I got back on my horse. I mean my treadmill.

I just started going. Decided to rock the 6.5 mph ~9:15 min/mile pace again. I started my run going uphill at "4.0" whatever that means. Just for a quarter mile, then I went back to flat running.

And I just kept running. I thought about Eric's advice to just not stop. I ran a full 2.5 miles without stopping at all! I haven't done that in a REALLY REALLY long time. I can probably count on my hands the number of times in my life I've run 2.5 miles without stopping. The class kept me entertained, there were some really good dancers, and I am quite pleased with what I was able to do today.

It was awesome. I feel great now! Eric, you rock.

Today:

Work: 0800-1800
Gym: 1830-2000
Chill with Jage: Rest of evening

I don't wanna take my lappy home with me tonight. I actually got to work at 8am! It was amazing. I was even on the same train as one of my coworkers, and I got a lot of "wow, you're here early" crap, because I'm usually on "California time" because all of the projects I'm on are on the west coast. So when I show up on "Midwest time," it's a really big deal.

Okay, added to my 865 previous calories today:

3 Kiwis: 138 calories
Protein mix: 240 calories
----------------------
8:20 pm: 1243 calories consumed

My workout tonight was fun! The TurboBoxing class was going on while I was running, and the instructor was EXTREMELY perky and fun and upbeat, which made me want to work harder and keep running. And there were like 40 women in the class! It was intense! Some of them were really putting a lot of energy into their moves, which is fun to watch. It's like a very repetitive dance recital.

My workout:
5 minute bike warmup
2 mile run @ 6.5 mph (about 9:15 minute mile)
Squats: 155x12; 165x10; 175x8; 185x7 (I can do more than this! I love that I keep going up!)
Chest Press: 50x20; 60x16; 70x12 (Increased 60 & 70 lb reps)
Pullups (weight assist): 60lb assist x6; 80lb assist x10 (I decided I should do real sets of these)
Hamstrings: 90x12; 100x10; 110x8 (Fuck injuries this year, I'm staying healthy)
Adductors: 40x12; 55x10; 70x8 (just found this machine)
Abductors: 50x12; 60x10; 70x8 (just found this machine too)


The bike warmup was fun, it was a Nautilus machine that had a video display that made it more like a game. Except it wasn't as awesome as the game at the MIT Z Center where you biked faster to push the balloon over the mountains, and at the same time you have to shoot targets with hand-operated controls. That game was AWESOME and made me forget I was working out. I think that was somebody's thesis project actually and all us awesome game-loving exercise bikers got to be the test subjects.

My 2 mile run was wicked slow. I decided I wanted to go farther today. I felt almost no cardio workout -- I was definitely sweating, but I was hardly even breathing heavy at the end. My legs were a little tired, that's all. But I think it was useful -- it most definitely made my squats harder. And if my legs can't last 20 minutes of jogging, I know I won't be able to last a full tournament. So eff you, legs, I'm gonna make you go more, longer, because I can, because I control you and I can tell you to suck it up and stop being lame.

Also for fun, I like this site:

http://www.caloriesperhour.com

because it does math for me. It gives me an idea of how much energy I'm expending throughout the day, adds it all up, and gives me a good idea of my input vs. output.

Also, it has "ultimate frisbee" as an activity that burns, for my 155-lb. self, 562 calories per hour. Which seems about right, if I play for an hour without taking a sub. That sounds really fun actually. Are there any savage tournaments coming up?

Don't worry, I'm not one of those crazy overobsessed people who freaks out about calorie counting. I just occasionally get curious, so I'll keep track for a few days. It's pretty eye-opening. By no means would I ever not eat enough food to support my workouts.

Also, just for fun, I'm going to try tricking my body into thinking food is scarce. 5 minutes ago, I was feeling hungry, so I just drank a big glass of sugar water. Maybe I'll start bringing some olive oil to work and see if I can deal with it, I'm pretty sure that will work better than sugar. Tack on 15 calories to my daily total.

Just for fun, let's look at what I've eaten so far today:

1 medium DD coffee, cream and sugar: 120 calories
1 bowtie donut: 300 calories
1 pepperoni pizza hot pocket: 350 calories
2 cups of Earl Grey with creamer: 80 calories
---------------------------------------------------
2:08 pm: 850 calories


Hmm.

I'm pretty sure this will last me till dinner, as long as I eat something small before the gym. I'm not drinking alcohol for the rest of the week, yay detox. If I can find a way to make this a <1800-calorie day, I will be extremely happy with myself.

Today's Schedule:
Work 1130-1800
Gym 1830-1930
Dinner 1930-2030
Work 2030-2230

I'm really having trouble getting work done lately. It's having a pretty detrimental effect on the rest of my life, and that sucks. I end up staying at the office later, which results in not going to the gym, which makes me just stay up later, which makes me get to the office later, etc, etc, it's a vicious cycle.

Clearly, I'm not accomplishing my goal of being passionate and intense about my job. Actually, let's check in with my action items:

1) Write out a daily schedule, down to the hour, that includes time for workouts.

This one I've done a couple times, have been pretty good about sticking to it when I actually write it out. I should do this more.


2) Pack my lunches so I can monitor my workday caloric intake.

I suck at this. However, I think I've been eating less at work. I got some bagel chips and hummus, which was awesome for a couple lunches, and I'm drinking more water. I think the key is just to have healthier general food items around rather than always going to Potbelly's or Fake Panera.


3) Stop using my work computer for anything personal.

Word.


4) Eliminate boring, non-interactive computer addictions.

I've dropped the online puzzle site. It was so awesome, but a pretty serious time drain. I still play waaaaaaaay too much Facebook Boggle.


5) Time spent watching TV will also be ab-workout time.

Did planks today and it was AWESOME.



So, I'm not doing great, but I'm on my way. Bad habits suck.

Spring league starts this weekend, wooooot! I'm sooo so stoked to play again! Yelena's friend Jessica from Nemesis drafted me onto her team! I hear she is very good at ultimate. I can't wait to play with her.

Didn't go to the gym today, but work was somewhat taxing to the body.

So, imagine filling your Nalgene with water and tying it to the end of a ~10-ft string. Then stand on a ledge, and lift the Nalgene all the way up to your body using a hand-over-hand method of pulling up the string. I did about 150 reps of that today. Not all that difficult, but it's better than sitting at a desk all day.

Also, I need to start measuring my field work "workouts" in Bucket-Yards. As in, how many yards did I carry a bucket containing 4 gallons of water (30-35 pounds). Today I was on a pretty small site, with an extremely low volume of water to deal with. I think I pulled out something like 50 Bucket-Yards. Contrast that to when I work in Portland, where I probably rock several thousand Bucket-Yards over the course of a week. Ever wonder why I have gigantic arms even when I don't lift weights? Yeah.

I should start doing squats while I've got the buckets full.

I went to the gym but forgot my notebook, so I had to guess at weights again. I was pretty close. I also forgot what reps I was doing, so I made that up too.

All the treadmills were full! It was crazy in there. I found a bike and warmed up with 2.5 miles in 7 minutes. It was pretty easy but got my legs warmed up enough for a good stretch.

Squats: 145x15, 155x12, 165x9, 175x8 !!!!! I'm getting better!
Lats: 90x15, 100x12, 110x9 --- I guessed wrong, I ended up dropping in weight, whoops.
Chest Press: 50x20, 60x15, 70x10 --- SERIOUSLY upped the reps here, awesome. Should have done an extra set though. Oh well. It was hard by the end for sure.
Hamstrings: 80x12, 90x10, 100x8 --- Same as last time, whoops.

I'm feeling pretty good about my strength right now. The upping of the chest press reps is fun, but I still feel like a tool only putting 50 on for weights.

Today's plan:

1015-1445 -- Get shit done at office (damn I'm a slacker...1015??)
1445-1630 -- Pick up rental car, get gear from other office and drive home
1630-1800 -- Gym, baby. Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger.
1800-1930 -- Dinner with JJ and Dance Contest Mike
1930-2230 -- Work at home

Okey dokey.

Thanks to Paul and Martha and Alice for heckling me. I love you guys.

Giddy-up

I'm off my horse. I need a kick in the ass to get back on. Feel free to heckle me.

I rocked the 6:30am workout today. And I ran for the first time since Kaimana! The plague is almost over!

Didn't run far though....
Warmup: 0.5 miles at 10:00/mile
"Workout": 0.7 miles at 8:30/mile
0.1 miles walk/drink
0.5 miles at 8:30/mile
0.1 miles walk/drink
0.3 miles at 8:30/mile

Lifting was fun. I've decided to increase my reps for benching, since let's face it, gigantic undefined arm muscles won't make me feel any better about my body size, and I don't need them for ultimate. So I'm effectively going for endurance on my arm muscles. Any suggestions on how many reps I should be shooting for? I still want to pyramid my sets, i.e. increase weight and decrease reps with each set -- I think that is the best possible way to continuously challenge myself and improve.

Squatted 170x6 on my final set today. Hottt. I need to focus more on my core, though, I'm worried that my back is going to fail. Planks planks planks. Plus some balancing on the ab ball.

Gym today was fun. I'm LOVING squats! And I did a really tough 3 sets of lats! And I benched a bunch! I feel so buff compared to everyone else in my gym, it's the best.

I can't wait till my lungs heal so I can do some cardio.

Taking today off -- my back is still pretty sore from the back/ab workout I did 2 days ago, and I don't want to risk an injury.

Tomorrow is my annual medical monitoring appointment -- I'll get to find out if I still have "elevated liver enzymes."

I started a weight room notebook.

Also, I squatted my body weight (155) today. Not really all that impressive, I squat JJ all the time, but it's a cool milestone. 155 was my 4th set of squats, which was supposed to be 6 reps, but I was feeling good and pushed out 10. A little added sprint strength from Kaimana, and now I'm shooting way past what I thought was my "plateau." I love lifting.

I also got a, "Oh my gosh, you're going to lift HOW much?" when I was doing lats. It was pretty awesome. This woman was really, really impressed with my strength. And man, it's just the beginning of the season! Yay! I love my gym.

Plan 1

Okey dokey.

Expounding a bit upon last night's ramble, I'd like to clarify some stuff:

1) I'm hoping that figuring out how to go all out with the three things listed already (JJ, frisbee, work) will help me figure out how to naturally apply that sentiment toward everything else as well. This includes friendships; I've been pretty weak sauce in the past couple years about actually getting out of the house and doing stuff. As a result, I think I've missed out on some opportunities to get closer with some really cool people. I shouldn't need convincing - I want to be a Yes person, and then actually have the energy to follow through.

2) I want to spend less time on hobbies that don't make me a better person so I can focus on the hobbies that do.


So, today is Saturday. I slept away half of it, yay illness recovery. For the rest of my day, here is the plan:

now-1200 --- Wake up
1200-1300 --- Weight room (no cardio while I'm lung-sick)
1300-1430 --- So fresh and so clean clean plus post-workout food
1430-1530 --- Airport to deliver car to T&A
1530-1630 --- Much-needed trip to grocery store
1630-1730 --- Unpack from Kaimana and clean up my shit
1730-1900 --- Cook and eat food
1900-done --- night out with JJ and N&M

God, I'm so boring I live my life on military time. Awesome.

My acrylic primary colors

This blog is gonna be mostly about getting my shit together and following through on life.

I recently wrote about my desire to love life fully and thoroughly. I know that the only way I can pull this off is to break some bad habits, and the only way to break bad habits is to start with a plan.

So there are three daily facets of my life that absorb the majority of my attention:

a) JJ
b) Frisbee
c) Work

My initial goal is to find a way to be passionate and intense about the way I go about handling these three facets.

Re: JJ -- I love JJ. He's my soul mate and he gets me. I'm pretty sure I'm already approaching our relationship with passion and intensity....there's a level of security and confidence with each other that we have reached that surpasses any other relationship I have been a part of or even witnessed. I'd say that, with JJ, I'm in it to win it.

Re: Frisbee -- What I love the most about frisbee is the community surrounding it, but it's tough to get any respect when I'm not truly passionate about the sport. I absolutely love playing, but I've been a total halfass about training for the last 3 years. As a result, I come off as a lazy, crappy teammate, and that sucks. Also, I'm really, really tired of being the fat chick. It's not my style, it's not how I grew up, it makes me feel even more socially awkward than I already am, it slows me down, and it's just plain not healthy. I've got a tight body, but it's hiding under a keg. Bullshit. So, next step, weight loss and building some base endurance.

Re: Work -- There are a billion things that distract me on a daily basis, and somewhere between Walnut Creek and Chicago, I let those distractions get the best of me. I was pretty efficient with my time when I worked in California, but since I've moved, I've been really struggling to get shit done. I'm pretty sure it's starting to piss a lot of people off, and that's not helping anything. I do like my company, and I used to like my job. I'm just trying to find a way to be good at it again. I've been having a tough time finding my place in my new office; I'd really like to find a way to enjoy my day to day work again.


So, those are the facts. Here are my action items:

1) Write out a daily schedule, down to the hour, that includes time for workouts.
2) Pack my lunches so I can monitor my workday caloric intake.
3) Stop using my work computer for anything personal. I was doing this before, but then my home laptop monitor failed, so I haven't been using that machine for a while. All I need to do is find a monitor cable and I can make this happen.
4) Eliminate boring, non-interactive computer addictions. Specifically, no more online puzzles and limited time spent on Facebook. These are both serious time drains and are making me waste my life.
5) Time spent watching TV will also be ab-workout time. Easy enough.

I think these changes will give me more time to do what I say I'm going to do (specifically regarding workouts and work). They should also help my focus my attention so I'm less flaky. And hopefully they will help me drop back down to a functional weight (my goal is 140, I'm at 155 right now).


Let's see how this rolls.