Toefuzz

Today’s WOD focused on two things I’m terrible at, situps and anything requiring balance.

3 Rounds
50 Double unders or 150 single jump ropes
20 weighted walking lunges (used 25#, Dawn went with 15#)
50 situps (Dawn rx’d, I went with 30)

I’m pretty solid on the jump rope but found it difficult in Vibrims as everytime I missed the stupid rope got stuck between my toes.

Lunges were tough b/c my balance is so bad (A Dr has laughed at me). My knees are so from scraping the gym floor do I did better at a big long stride. Obviously holding the weight overhead made things more difficult.

Situps, I just plain sick at those and that’s all there is to say about that.

Ran 2.12 miles in the afternoon at a sub 12 minute pace. It was nice to be able to run without Yaktrax.

Breakfast – big salad after Crossfit

Lunch – Late breakfast, just grazed

Dinner – meatballs and sweet potato

Snacks – Larabar or 2, handful of pecans, half a banana, Steve’s beef jerky

Today’s WOD was a rough one.

1,000m row
50 thrusters (45#)
30 pullups

The row wasn’t bad, though in hindsight I should probably go easier on the row to save some energy.

I surprised my coach by knocking out all 50 of the thrusters. We used the 15# bar so it had 2 big 15# weights on it which is much more impressive than just using a 45# bar.

Band assisted pullups for the first 15 and them jumping pullups for the rest.

Time was 16:02.

My wife apparently forgot her shoes so she did the entire thing barefoot b/c she’s a bad ass. Unfortunately she’s short and couldn’t get a pullup even with a weight stacked on top of the 24″ box jump so I am going to ignore that her time was better than mine.

We also did some strength work today, which I enjoyed. I should have paid more attention to the weight but I think I was around 125# on squats. 3-3-3-3-3 for a total of 15 reps. We started lower but the last 3 or 4 sets were somewhere around 125.

Knee is bugging me a bit. I think I’m bringing them in when squatting under load, need to work on that.

Breakfast – Larabar and 4 eggs

Lunch – Big salad from the grocery store.

Dinner – taco salad with the tortilla

Snacks – mixed nuts.

Great day in terms of diet and workout.

Snacks – picked out some nuts, trying to avoid the peanuts but they are tasty.

Took the day off yesterday for my “nephew’s” baptism. I use quotation marks b/c his father is my brother from another mother. Great ceremony and a wonderful time was had by all. The little guy smiled for almost the entire time. One of his dad’s better featured that both of his sons have picked up, always ready with a smile or laugh.

Stayed up too late and woke up at my normal time (6 our time, 5 Chicago time). I tried to stay awake but couldn’t turn on any lights as everyone else was asleep so I eventually succumbed to going back to sleep. Unfortunately I woke up every 20-30 minutes. The sleeping pills seem to do a great job of helping me get to sleep but I still find myself waking up enough to notice the clock 4 or 6 times per night.

We eventually left the hotel and headed downtown. Now, I love my wife and she has an incredible number of talents. Navigating, however, is definitely not one of them. Tom Tom was virtually worthless b/c of the tall buildings so I ended up navigating with one eye on my phone while the other dodged crazy Chicago cabbies. We dropped the girls off at the American Girl store (an amazing time was had by both mom and daughter) and then went to Adler Planetarium. Mikey and I had a blast but my other “nephew” was freaked out during the first few minutes of the star show which was unfortunate. He still had fun with Mikey running around playing with the interactive exhibits.

My diet this weekend wasn’t pretty but I did come to the conclusion that I have an issue with gluten. In the past I’ve blamed dairy but after having dairy a few times the past week without much of an issue and having issues after eating a personal pizza I became convinced it was gluten.

My upper abdominal muscles are quite sore as are the muscles in my neck. Friday’s workout is still taking its toll.

I managed to get out for about 4 miles Saturday morning. I started on the treadmill but was bored after 1/3 of a mile so I bundled up for zero degree temps. My run went well as did clearing the driveway after. I was definitely ready for a nap.

We are home now, wife and I didn’t kill each other downtown, and I’m ready to enjoy football.

Today’s WOD consisted of the following:

Every even numbered minute complete that number of situps (2nd minute you do two, 8th minute you do 8, etc)

Every odd numbered minute complete that number of push presses (65#/45# rx)

WOD ends when you fail to complete your reps.

I felt like a bad ass at the beginning of the workout as I could do one push press and then stand around for 50 seconds. It didn’t last long. What really killed me was the last 1/4 of the situp where you engage your lower ab. Apparently I don’t have one of those.

End results were 15 on the push press (45#), and only completing 6 of the situps at the 16 minute mark. I was close to completing more but my form went to hell and I couldn’t get through the last little bit of the situp.

I’ve always said my goat was the pushup (goat being what you are worst at), but I think I’ll add situps and probably pullups to that list as well. Fortunately I am a child and enjoy playing around with pullups. I also suck at lunges apparently. Our warm up included 3 down and backs and I almost fell over several times. Stupid balance.

Strangely enough my weight has gone up 2 pounds in the last two days but the scale says I’ve lost 2 or 3% body fat. My scale is retarded as I doubt I’m putting on muscle that fast.

Breakfast – 4 eggs, banana, handful of macadamia nuts

Lunch – big salad from the salad bar at the grocery store

Dinner – rotisserie chicken and some left over chili

Snacks – pickle, dark chocolate, nuts

Nothing too exciting today, 4.45 miles in the snow. I need to weigh my winter running clothes as my times are terrible of late. I’m sure it’s a combination of winter weather conditions, cold temps, and heavy clothing but would like to know where to assign blame just b/c I’m a dork like that. Btw, temp was around 13.

I really need to work on my diet. I’ve been losing weight and it hasn’t been terrible, but I need to do a better job of incorporating veggies into it. That’s always my stumbling point. I’m great on protein and not bad on fats. I’m also eating too much bacon, but damn it’s delicious!

Feeling blah tonight, like I’m coming down with a cold or something. Looks like a decent storm coming, hopefully we can still make it to Chicago on Saturday.

Breakfast – eggs, banana, and a Larabar

Lunch – 4 pieces of bacon, small chicken breast

Dinner – Pizza chili

Snacks – pickle, some nuts, more bacon, and finished off my chocolate bar since I feel like crud.

My ass hurts but that can’t be possible as I have no ass, or so my wife likes to tell me. And yes, I realize there are jokes galore to be had at that first sentence.

Biggest Loser was evil last night. The temptation challenge involved what was basically a Chinese buffet. Now I am craving General Tso’s chicken and pizza. Not sure where the pizza came from, just sounds good. I knew last nights treat of popcorn was a mistake!

Well deserved rest day today, 3.5 – 4 tomorrow am. Staying up late to watch Biggest Loser and then sleeping in was a big mistake. It’s amazing how quickly I fell into a routine (going to bed at 9 and reading for 15-30 minutes, getting up at 6). I felt terrible this morning and have been tired all day. This weekend might be tough with a hockey game Friday and a trip to Chicago Saturday. Not sure how I’m going to get my long run in Sunday. Hopefully I’ll have time when we get home.

Picked up my suit today. Ordered it 7-10 days ago and the pants might be a bit large already. WHOOO HOOOOO!

Breakfast – yogurt, few pieces of bacon

Lunch – Chipotle bowl

Dinner – pulled pork carnitas thingies with some sautéed broccoli.

Snacks – blueberries, pickle

My stupid internal alarm clock woke me up at 4am, a bit early. Had trouble getting back to sleep and found that waking up to an alarm clock is much less pleasant. Felt like I was run over by a truck. Played on my phone in bed for 30 minutes listening to rain pound the roof and decided that running outside was not in the cards today. Ran 2.9 miles on the treadmill, but that’s a best guesstimate. Last time my Garmin footpod was significantly higher than the treadmill (very accurate when compared to running map.com and gps), of course today it was screwy as hell. Guesstimated my mileage based on treadmill distance and perceived effort.

After running I woke the little ones up, fed them breakfast, and walked them to school while I let my wife sleep in. Came home and woke her up around 8:35 for Crossfit. There was another beginner in the class so we spent time going over basic movements before we got into the actual WOD. I should also mention that our trainer’s friend dropped in, the type of person who actually competes in Crossfit competitions. Needless to say, she lifted the same weight as me (or heavier) and did so much faster. It’s one of the things I love about Crossfit, always room to improve.

The WOD was 1 min row for distance 3x then 3 burpees, 6 box jumps (I went with 15″ and it was low), and then 9 Kettleball swings (35#). I managed what I think was 8 reps plus 3 burpees. I need a dry erase board to keep track of these things. Not sure how many Dawn did, was too tired to pay attention to anyone else.

To end, we are signed up! Dawn is going to try to go 3x per week as am I, depending on how it interferes with running. At this point I need to focus on running to get through the upcoming 25k.

Breakfast – banana, leftover chicken, and salad.

Lunch – didn’t eat breakfast until around 11:30 so not really hungry.

Snacks – 2 pieces of bacon, handful of blueberries

Lunch

Crossfit this morning and the workout was Grace, part of the workout that injured me a few months back. Workout is 30 reps for time, clean and jerk with 135# for the boys and 95# for the ladies. Being the manly man that I am, I rocked 65#, 30 pounds less than the Rx weight for ladies, and I have no problem with that. No injuries and I had to struggle to lock my arms out for the last few reps so I think the weight was about right. For those who don’t know, a clean and jerk is basically a dead lift into an overhead press using one fluid (in theory) motion.

My son asked why I’ve been going to bed so early (9pm) and I told him I had made many unhealthy choices over the last 20 years to get to this point and that it would take hard work to get my health back. His comment, “Gotta earn those years back Dad”. From the mouth’s of babes and all that. Plus, getting up early allows me to have everything done when I come home so I can actually see my family. Not my wife so much, we’ve swapped sleep schedules. Personally I think she’s just staying up later and not falling asleep on the couch b/c she can watch what she wants!

Breakfast – leftover apple and sweet potato bake from yesterday and some eggs.

Lunch – Work was quiet so I was creative. Wrapped a couple of chicken breasts in bacon, added some butter to the pan and baked the. Made some fresh guac to smother on the top and the result was mind blowingly good.

Dinner – same chicken as last night w/peppers and steamed veggies.

Snack – pickle, last few slices of my weekly chocolate bar.

Successfully woke up at 6 again but stayed in bed playing on my phone for 30 minutes. The windchill was around -8 when I started so I warmed up, bundled up, and went outside. Fortunately I found an old shell ski coat from high school that once again fits to use as a top layer. Best part is that this jacket has vents in both the front and back so I didn’t overheat and almost pass out like last week. Meandering route through town, enjoyed a pretty sunrise along the river, and ended up with around 5.2 miles in a little over an hour. Weekly miles were around 14.6. Set records for weekly mileage, longest distance, and most time on my feet. Overall, it was a great week. 4 runs, 2 Crossfit workouts and a great diet.

Daughters’s family birthday party was today. Had a good time, though I didn’t get my afternoon nap so I’m cranky.

Breakfast – banana, and some kippered herring.

Lunch – pizza (toppings), macadamia nuts, and a few squares of chocolate.

Dinner – Vinaigrette Chicken thingy Dawn is making.

Snacks – lots of grazing today with small meals. Macadamia nuts, banana, and a delicious baked yam/apple concoction I made up.

Woke up at 6 this morning and forced myself out of bed even though I wasn’t feeling it. Finished my warm-up routine and was out the door by 6:30. We’ve had 6-10″ of snow over the past 24 hours so it was an interesting run. Lots of snow, slush, and hard pack so the Yaktrax got a workout. My pace was terrible but I’m working on ignoring the watch and just run by feel. Running in conditions like this requires quite a bit more effort. It was also cold, windchill was around 5 degrees.

After running I came home and made my wife breakfast in bed. Unfortunately I had forgotten it wasn’t a school day and woke her up earlier than necessary, though I did steal her alarm clock early in the am as I was planning on taking the kids to school and letting her sleep. Washed the dishes, smooched her goodbye, and went to work.

Unfortunately Michael was sick last night so we didn’t go to the hockey game last night. Red Wings are on at noon so we’ll have something fun in the background at work.

Perhaps the most interesting thing to happen today was listening to Robb Wolf’s podcast (#103). I don’t know if I’ve heard my symptoms described so clearly by someone else. Robb’s suggestion was to be tested for adrenal fatigue. First time in a long time I’ve actually been looking forward to talking to my Dr and trying something new.

Jillian’s “friends” birthday party tonight. The are coming over for a half sleep over so it should be interesting.

Breakfast – eggs and chicken sausage

Lunch – dry aged ribeye with a baby spinach salad.

Dinner – some leftover turkey chili. Pizza at the party, I’m considering taking the toppings off and just bypassing the crust to make the best decision possible since there isn’t much chili.

Snacks – banana and a few macadamia nuts.