Soreness & Body Fat %

Let me just say, workouts that seem innocently easy or not as straining to do will come back and bite you. I'll admit, I was feeling quite ok after yesterday's WOD, and maybe my arms were a little jelly.

It only takes several hours and a long period of sitting down before BAM:
- hamstrings
- lower back
- abs, abs, abs
- still the pecs and side of my chest
- maybe the side of my neck?
- anything else I'm missing?!

I can walk, but it definitely is a chore to be able to go anywhere. I think I'll take yoga tonight and stretch out...

I also got a body fat % hand-held caliper! It's called the Omron Fat Loss Monitor
I realized I would probably benefit the best from getting it a few months ago and seeing my overall progress, but it's cool to test it out and see if I'm fluctuating a lot over a span of a week or a few months.

I took 4 readings, 2 last night and 2 this morning just to see the differences it has. It's pretty simple...after putting in your height and weight, body composition and activity level (athlete or normal), you just hold it out in front of you and it sends very weak electrical signals to determine your fat content versus lean mass, water, etc. It's pretty simple and just shows a number.

Last night I got (1 hour after dinner) 18.7%; 18.5%
and this morning at 5am I got 17.6%, then 17.5% just after breakfast. This actually makes me surprisingly happy! I'm pretty sure I could have been around 24-25% last year, and looking at some comparison pictures I'd have to say I'm pretty well pleased and the reading looks about right. I look forward to seeing the trends over the next month or so and comparing it to my weight.

My Arms are Jelly

Clearly my bottleneck in every Crossfit WOD is anything having to do with a pull-up bar. Must get more arm strength!

Today's WOD was called Stephen:

30-25-20-15-10-5 reps of:

GHD sit-ups
GHD back extensions
Knees to Elbows (on bar)
65# stiff-leg deadlifts

deadlifts were EASY. And the sit-ups and back extensions. But those knee-to-elbows...I probably did 8 REAL ones and the rest were me struggling to get my knees any bit in the air. Just 5 at a time....

Finished in 23:20. Pathetic, but basically almost Rx.
Time for golf!

Pull-ups Galore. Open Swim & Blueberry Monster

Today's Crossfit WOD was entitled "Cindy" which consists of only three things:

5 pullups

10 pushups

15 air squats.

Doesn't seem hard, right? Now do this AMRAP for TWENTY MINUTES

I did about 4 rounds and the clock only said 6:00 and I was already pooped. Not only that, but the pullups were tiring my arms out like crazy. I still don't think I have the kipping pull-up down at all. I don't have the momentum going up so I end up doing a hybrid of a kipping pullup and a real pullup. I ended finishing 12 rounds and 2 pullups I believe, but about 70% of that time was just waiting for my arms to regain strength for the next 1-2 pullups.

Next...I finally went on my first open water swim! It was a random decision to go ahead and do so, and I'm actually surprised the water wasn't as cold as I thought it was for 68 degree weather! The only thing was that being at the pond/mini beach alone, I literally had to play it super safe and not go out too far (I'm afraid there's alligators lurking, but maybe not). I made sure I could see the ground underwater as I swam...out by the buoys the water got a little murky and tough to see and so I freaked out a little. I did get to feel how it was to not have to push off a wall and just keep swimming. Actually felt really nice but I knew I shouldn't be out there much longer in the evening. Swam for 20 and called it a day. Probably went 1/2 mile or more.

Lastly.....

omg what is this purple madness?!

It'a a...BLUEBERRY shake of course. Blueberries, Almond Milk, 1/2 tsp of CINNAMON (totally does the trick) and about 1/2 cup of thick, creamy fage yogurt for a little tart. AMAZING and light too! Not to mention the blueberries were on sale at Whole Foods today for $1.99 per pint! Usually they are $4! I grabbed a pint and ran with it! Actually not literally since there was still a mountain of blueberries left. Seriously, with a sale that awesome, why wouldn't all the blueberries be gone?

New semi-power shake. Will be a real power shake once my unflavored whey protein powder arrives from Amazon...apparently it already shipped today, within a couple hours of ordering it.

YUM PROTEIN! Now if I can just stop eating all those extra carbs...

Some mornings, just gotta get up and work out

Awful headache. My shoulders were so stiff. It was definitely one of the more uncomfortable runs I've had in a long while and by no means a PR run. I'm pretty sure my diet was sufficient enough and I was well hydrated, but I bet it was the quality of sleep I get. I'm still struggling to complete 8 hours of sleep a night where I'm not waking up in the middle of the night or waking up unreasonably early (or staying up unreasonably late).

I haven't ran for a couple days, but I did some weight-lifting on Monday so that might slightly affect my muscles not being completely charged for a fast run.

Sheesh, I just realized to top my PR run of 7:57 for 13.1 miles will be TOUGH...even my 11 mile run the other day didn't reach that! Also, I forgot my heart rate monitor this morning...the perils of waking up at 6:45am and needing to get my workout overwith in an hour.

Swimming in the Zone

Sometimes instead of trying to memorize one of Lisa's crazy 1700yd+ swim workouts with sprints and rests, it's just easiest to jump in and start swimming laps. I thought I would begin with just a 4 lap warmup, but I decided...hey why not turn it into 1/4 mile (9 laps)? But then...actually, I'm at lap 8, why not swim 1/2 mile anyways and do another 9 laps. And later...actually, if I'm this far, I might as well swim 36 laps and finish the whole mile. I did, and swam a couple cool down laps and called it a good workout.


It's crazy the mindset that I get once I'm in the water and I begin zoning out. The first 8-9 laps are always the toughest since my body is still warming up and getting used to breathing just a little heavier. But by lap 20 or so, I feel like I'm in a state of bliss - as if nothing else in the world really matters much anymore but just counting the laps one by one as they go by and hearing the bubbles stream from my nostrils and my mouth once my faces hits the water after each breath looking towards the ceiling.


I hit a constant rhythm, counting strokes in groups of 3, and usually aiming for 8 sets of 3 strokes for length of the pool. I try to gauge my speed by the number of strokes it takes me as long as I feel I keep up the same rhythm.


I finished my mile in about 34 minutes. I forgot to properly set my watch to Chrono stop-watch mode so I didn't get an exact, but I remember seeing my watch at 8:06 when I started and finishing at 8:40. I feel like I could have swam faster, if I was really doing a TT. It's hard to gauge how fast to go and how much energy you can really use per each lap without burning out too early or leaving all the sprints to the last 3-4 laps.


Anyways, it's nice to actually have a swim workout where you just swim nonstop for a certain distance, just so you can really feel that you've accomplished that distance. I'm pretty sure stopping to cling onto the wall for a rest break isn't going to happen out in the open waters...

Bench - Squat - Deadlift 135 club

Proud to say that I have now accomplished 2 of the BSDL135# club (I think I'll refer to it that way from now on):

I can easily deadlift 135, but today for the first time I squatted 5 reps of 135#, and then did it again for 3 more reps! HURRAY!

Sadly, I have no pictures or video to document my progress :( But just wanted to rant! I think it'll definitely take awhile to get my bench up to 135#...I'm only hitting 90-95# at the moment :-/ And when I did try #135 the other day, I couldn't even push the bar off the rack! Give me a year....

I think I'll go do some overhead presses and either Power Cleans or deadlifts later tonight.

Why Try at Y-Tri? and a Farmers Market meal to die for

This morning was the worst morning at Y-Tri for me...I felt like I was just eking by each of the three workouts and managed to make it through. Usually every other week, the first few minutes of warming up are the toughest, and then I slide into turbo gear and have the  mental and physical energy to get through.


Today, my body was both depleted in both physical and mental energy. I think I overdid it running 11 miles yesterday at my half-marathon pace, and then doing a weight lifting session that afternoon. It was like I spent all the energy Ia stored up from Thursday and Friday for yesterday...and I somehow believed I would have a ridiculous amount for Sunday Morning.


Apparently that isn't the case, especially since I let myself at a calorie deficit yesterday since I overate the last couple days. BAD IDEA. 


When you feel your body physically isn't able to keep up with the assigned regimen (your quads feel fatigued, you can't find a comfortable arm position, you're sweating like mad), then you are mentally affected as well - you think you don't have the physical energy to do well and thus you settle for the minimum effort you can do to pass by.


That's how I felt today...doing the minimum I could. On a normal day, I would push to my max, knowing that each bit above my threshold I can push past, the better at the sport I'll be. Either today, my threshold was much lower, or I just didn't have the mental motivation to really work harder.


Running is always my break point that comes a little easier and I know how it feels to push myself when running. When it comes to swimming, I have no idea and I feel I am still swimming to be comfortable breathing in water rather than to gain much more speed.


Today's swim workout was about 2100yds in total, and during the whole thing I felt like I just needed to get back in the water and just keep swimming. Don't take longer breaks and fall into a bad habit, just force myself to get back in and do laps. I did end up finishing the whole workout with a pathetic time of over 48 minutes or so, but at least I swam over a mile today.

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And now...my awesome Paleo dinner of the evening: Spaghetti Squash with Olive, Basil & Almond Pesto (topped with an egg for extra protein), and Striped Bass.

I bought a huge bunch of fresh, amazing scented basil (for only $3) and almost a lb of Striped Bass from the Lippitt Park Farmers Market yesterday. I have to reiterate....fresh local food will almost always taste better. It tastes more wholesome, more savory and fresher than anything else:

This looks amazing, doesn't it? By the way, although that brown stuff looks a little gross...it's actually the best tasting olive pesto I have ever made in my life. Here's my quick recipe to mix in a blender:

• 1 cup pitted kalamata olives
• 1 (very compressed cup) of fresh basil leaves
• 2 tbsp capers
• 1/2 cup shredded parmesean cheese
• 1/2 cup chopped almonds (or 1/4 cup freshly ground almond butter)
• 1/4 cup almond milk + 1/4 cup olive oil

It's an amazing sauce for spaghetti squash, to pair with grilled chicken or other fowl, and if you still eat pasta...with pasta. For the spaghetti squash, just cut the whole thing in half, put it cut-side down in the oven for about 45 minutes at 450 degrees, and let the squash tenderize! Then scoop out the seeds, and use a fork to pull out the "spaghetti-like" strands of the squash meat.

The striped bass....was AMAZING. just a tad overcooked but still very succulent. I can't wait for the other half in tomorrow's lunch!

Muscle Ups, Medicine Ball Bash & My New Toy!

Taking Thursday off was definitely a helper in terms of reviving a ton of energy I needed for these last couple workouts. I was hoping the Crossfit workout would be a little more challenging...

25 Bridge-Ups (These are actually HARD...even though I am really flexible and can bend my back relatively easy, it's super tough to actually lay back down and bridge up again...25 times in a row! Here's a lovely image of my back bridge:

It helps to have natural flexibility...I haven't lost too much since I took gymnastics as a youngster in 1st grade, but I obviously can't do splits or crazy back bends and flips anymore. Too lazy to restretch myself to that limit.

And then I also learned what Muscle Ups are and how in the world to do them...or at least a negative muscle up. We start from holding ourselves up while grasping a set of suspended rings, as if we're about to start a dip. Then we actually do a dip exercise as deep as we can go, and then release until we hang. Then we jump up to hold ourselves above the rings again and start another dip.

The positive ...or I guess a real muscle up is being able to transfer yourself from hanging by the rings to that low dip position, then pushing up on the dip so your arms are extended and your hands are holding on to the rings by your sides. That's 1 muscle up.

Apparently....I  can almost do one! Well, I can do dips on rings so all I need to do is kip myself up to that dip position and hopefully I will be well on my way. (It helps that I can do a few pullups now...)

And now...The Partner WOD:
20 medicine ball sit-ups, 14lbs passing it back and forth to the partner
20 medicine ball squat cleans + 10ft toss to partner, 14lbs
And then each partner runs 250m WITH the 14lb medicine ball.

I have to say, the situps and the squat cleans/tosses weren't bad at all. It helped that my partner was also awesome and we totally smashed all the mens' times. BUT THE RUN...you would think holding a 14lb ball wouldn't be too bad.

But the ball is HUGE. At least 18in in diameter and very huggable. I couldn't find the right position to hold it, and I don't think it mattered because I couldn't get the momentum from my arms. The craziest part was knowing that I used to weigh at LEAST 14lbs more than I do now, and carrying that extra 14lb ball while running was definitely not the same...I remember being able to run slightly faster. But it was definitely an eye opener to me of how much the extra weight I used to have was holding me back. I'm trying to imagine what it would feel to be carrying the 20lb ball since that would more accurately represent my starting weight last year...but I would rather not run that.

Overall I think we finished in 19:42? I don't remember, but it definitely beat out the guys.

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And lastly, I finally got an opportunity to take my new toy out for a test drive...my new Garmin 305 GPS enabled watch:


Luckily Amazon was having a super sale on it...only $128! I've seen it run only as low as $170 and usually this watch has been running at over $300 (and all the other similar models that don't have as great of reviews). It is a little bulky to look at, but when running I actually don't notice it too much at all. I don't think it will necessarily make my left bicep a little bigger...but maybe by a millimeter to even it out with my right one.

Anyways, today was the perfect running day...overcast clouds, slight rain (actually pouring rain by the end) and just over 60 degrees. I was surprised that my watch held up in the rain in the end since it got pretty wet (Unfortunately I can't use this as a swim watch since it's not that waterproof...just water-resistant to a certain extent). Sorry triathlon.

Here's some awesome data that I picked up on my 11 mile run today...it was great to be able to not map out my run and to get my mileage as I ran, as well as my pacing.

Unfortunately, I forgot to wear the heart rate monitor so I didn't get that info, but hopefully I will be training with that tool in the near future...maybe tomorrow at Y-Tri!

It's cool to pair up the overall elevation with how my pace is....doesn't look like it changed too much, although the pace on my watch does tend to vary a lot. You can see some giant spikes where I had to stop for traffic and my pace just slowed way down for a few seconds. I think my average pace is probably more around 8:07 since I took a couple stops and also included a minute walk at the end, but not bad! Almost as good as my half marathon pace (7:58)

I also just realized that after that first elevation spike going up Transit street over to Governor street, my whole route was on average downhill the entire way. There were some good hills though.

Hoping this watch will motivate me to run even faster! I think it did today...I'm sort of competing against my pace now. No more junk miles for me (as in slower than 9:00 pace just because)

The attack of the 2pm daily crash!

Every day, it doesn't matter how big or small, leafy green or protein-enriched my lunch is, I always have this crash in the early afternoon between 1-3 pm. I have the least amount of energy and can barely focus...almost as if I wanted to just take a nap. What gives?

Has my 9-5:30 weekday office lifestyle led me to fall into this rut? I guess being in a habit of sitting 5 times a week for hours at a time is inhibiting me from having any energy during the middle of the day. If I were to graph a chart of my daily energy levels on a scale of 1 to 10...this is probably what it would look like:

Yeah, assuming the energy from after 11:00pm is probably on weekends where I might get a small spike of energy...i'm pretty sure this is how I feel on most days. If only I can get that sunken level of energy in the middle to even go up a few points slightly, I'd feel much better. 

Hoping that my change of schedule for RISD classes will help...hoping to get a few afternoon workouts in to help boost my mid-day energy levels and trick my body into thinking it needs to be more alert around 2:00pm.

I feel that your body maintains some sort of "energy time clock" where your body memorizes when you tend to use the most energy, then saves up your energy for those points in the day. For example, I always have workouts in the evening after 6:00pm, and have recently been doing a lot of workouts around the 7-8am time period. Also, I'm used to waking up at almost the same time everyday (6:30/7am) and getting ready for work, so my body has adapted to being away at this time.

Thus, my body has prepped itself to be full of energy at these time periods and regardless of whether or not I go to the gym or am just standing around being bored, I feel I have boundless amounts of energy or at least feel very alert. On the flip side, I'm so used to just sitting at a desk on my butt between the hours of 11:00am-5:00pm, so of course my body will adapt to not using any physical energy at these hours. Hence even on weekends where I am not sitting down half the time, I still feel the need to crash. (Yet I don't even though I feel like I should take naps...maybe I should?)

The moral of the story is, if you're feeling crashed at certain points in the day, start finding ways to trick your body into thinking it needs more energy at that point in the day. I'm trying to walk around the office more...at least once classes start my afternoons will be more varied than on my butt at the desk.

Ok so I'm eating yogurt...

I know technically yogurt is not truly "paleo" since it is Dairy, but it's probably one of the closer cheats you can do that still allows you to maintain the same type of calorie processing that your body does. A lot of paleo eaters do re-admit dairy into their diet, others have sworn it off completely either because they are lactose intolerant or just would like to stay super strict. I personally think adding just a little dairy into my diet is helping with my energy levels and at least giving me a few more choices that I can eat as far as meals go.

HURRAH! I've re-introduced a new food group! But I'm not going to go out and drink a gallon of milk everyday now...I'm still limiting my sources of dairy to low-lactose types. The only dairy I'm ingesting is cheeses (hard cheese, quality cheeses, feta and goat cheese), and greek yogurt.


I've become an incredible fan of Fage Total full fat greek yogurt. Yes, it has no sweetness or fruity flavor in it, and well I still can't bare to eat *plain* yogurt...it's just too sour tasting. But I love the thickness of it and the fattiness...it's incredibly low in carb too and a good way to get some more healthy fats and protein that I'm lacking still. I actually love hacking this yogurt by adding either:

• a tbsp of raw, local & organic honey (the local honeys are always the best tasting! Mmm)
• a tbsp of freshly ground almond butter from that crank in Whole Foods.
• a sliced up banana or fresh berries
• haven't tried pure maple syrup yet but I bet this is also a good combo

I'm surprised at how filling of a snack this is...one of the smaller snack containers of Fage Total on its own is a whooping 260 calories, and if I eat about that amount of yogurt with a drizzle of honey, some almond butter and a banana, I'm pretty sure the calories top at around 500. WHOA 500 CALORIES?! wait a minute aren't I trying to lose a couple lbs?

Actually, I only plan to eat this snack on my workout heavy days and days where my lunch just isn't living up to the protein/fat standards it needs to. I couldn't imagine scarfing this down on one of my lower 1200 calorie non-workout days where one of these yogurt treats is literally half my daily calorie intake. I could also always leave out the banana and it'll be a pretty satisfactory breakfast, if I don't break my other love of uncured whole foods maple bacon and fluffy eggs.

We'll see if this yogurt awesomeness will help me out on my 8.5 mile run tonight. That is, if my shins are feeling up to the challenge. (My shins are sore? AND my abs too? Since when does this happen...)

Rankel WOD

Today's Crossfit WOD was named after "Rankel" and consisted of doing as many rounds of:

6 x Deadlifting 155lb
7 Burpee Pullups
10 Kettlebell swings, 1.5 pood (24kg)
200m run

I'll admit, being only my second week I was afraid to do as Rx'd, so I scaled down to 135# DL and only 16kg kettlebell. STILL HARD.

I did complete 6 rounds and 6 deadlifts, so I could have done as Rx'd and gotten through maybe a couple less rounds....but not bad. I literally felt trashed during the entire workout. Will be resting most of Thursday (by resting I mean getting a darn good swim workout in) for Friday morning...whatever WOD that may be.

I can already feel the 6-pack churning...and muscles that haven't been sore in months are sore!

Take a Break?

I'll admit, the hardest part of working out and getting to the gym for me is...purposely not working out.  I've driven myself into the mindset of "Must workout everyday, need a calorie deficit, must lose those extra 3-4 lbs!" and even though my muscles are sore, I find myself out running 4-5 junk miles even after I finished an intense Crossfit session yesterday morning. I was even considering biking to work if it weren't for a coincidental flat tire I discovered right before I left (It's like the athletic gods telling me to get some rest!).


I find myself working out twice a day now at least 2-3 times a week (and maybe 3xday if you consider a bike commute to work a workout). But I also want to finish strong at the olympic-distance triathlon I'm doing at the end of August. This morning, I was debating even getting in a swim workout, biking to work and then going to the Crossfit session I already signed up for. Since it was a last minute decision, I ended up biking to the gym, jumping in the pool and swimming 25 laps non-stop, and then "transitioning" to my bike again to commute to work. Not bad...but I also want to do well with today's WOD.


I've yet to get any serious injuries...the majority of any injuries I had were from half marathon and marathon training months ago...much of that remedied from getting some proper running shoes (vibrams) and taking a whole week off running when I had some odd foot pains. I'm surprised that for how much I work my legs and quads through biking and running that my quads don't ever feel sore.


That is, until I started Crossfit and did a couple WODS...even thoughe n the whole session is over in 25-30 minutes, my muscles are aching the next day. I think I have pretty good abs, but my abs are burning after doing 50 hollow rocks and who knows how many sit-ups. Not sure how my performance will be today with some fired abs and sore shins (from box jumps?). I have high expectations for myself as a little monster.


Dinner tonight is some sauteed tilapia and spinach with garlic...nothin too special.