Monday, December 13, 2010

Round 25 - 12/13/10

It was absolutely bitter here today (-25C with the wind), plus we got snow last night and it was the icy kind because of the temperature drop. Needless to say, I wasn’t looking forward to trekking out to the gym, nor am I looking forward to going tomorrow morning...but ya gotta do what ya gotta do. ;)


An upside was that the gym was empty, so I had the total run of the equipment and the total attention of the trainer. That’s always nice. We got some time to talk in between parts of the workout about a few things. I told her my knee was hurting and we both agreed I’d probably just strained my IT-band from a combination of my run on Sunday and squats on Friday. She also asked if I felt that since I started doing CrossFit my running had improved. That’s a little trickier to judge. I was running 20-25 miles a week a few weeks before CrossFit and it was really easy for me to get in the zone because I had an end goal in mind. I could run for 40-60 minutes without stopping at a comfortable 9:15 minute mile pace. A few factors have changed now (including weather) and you just can’t expect the same from yourself during winter running that you can during fall. I breathe fairly well in cold weather (I grew up figure skating competitively), but the wind and the road conditions just aren’t the same.


That being said, I took my dad for a 5 mile run with me a couple of weeks ago and I did notice some improvement. My dad runs a little faster than me (but not as long) and I let him set the pace during the run. By the end of it he was dripping and I wasn’t even out of breath. It was just easy. I didn’t feel it at all. I think CrossFit must be partially responsible for this.

I also kind of expressed my frustration with the fact that I hadn’t lost more than a pound since May (before my serious half marathon training started). The trainer gave me a couple of encouraging pieces of advice. For starters she said it takes at least a month to notice some real change because of CrossFit (which I have to a degree, I’m definitely more toned), but for me it may take longer. I was already pretty well conditioned and fairly strong to start with so I was able to build up to the level I’m at quicker than most people. I’m not really taxing my body enough to see serious change yet. She predicts during month 3 and 4 I’ll start to see inches just fall off.


She also said it was a good sign that I’m hungry a lot more often these days. It means my metabolism is increasing because of my new routine. Hopefully this serves to encourage somebody else. I know how frustrating it can be when the scale’s not budging, but as long as you’re making positive changes and have a little patience you’ll get results; if you’re doing everything right something’s gotta give eventually.


Okay, I’m done rambling. Onto the WOD!


We started with 2-2-2-2-2 deadlifts. This means you have to do five sets of 2 at different weights. I warmed up at 65lbs before starting my sets. My sets looked like this: 1) 85lbs, 2) 100lbs, 3)110lbs, 4) 115lbs, 5) 125lbs.


I set a new personal record with my 125lbs! I was really excited and the trainer thought I did really well. I was going to attempt 120 for my last set and she said she thought I could handle 125. That seems like so much weight now! Haha.


The second part of WOD was called “Fran”. Fran consisted of 15-12-9 squat thrusters and pull ups. Last time I attempted a lot of squat thrusters in succession they set me up at 53lbs to start and ended up switching me to 42. This time I was determined to stick to 53lbs.


I did all 3 sets at 53lbs. Yay! My shoulders and my upper back have gotten a lot stronger since I started CrossFit (and the trainer really noticed this, she said). I’ve seen subtle changes everywhere, but it’s my upper body more than my lower. I’m really hoping she’s right about the inches falling off in a few more months. Ultimately I’d be happy to drop 10lbs (when originally I wanted to drop 20) and lose inches everywhere. I just want to see what happens at this point.


- N

4 comments:

  1. holly sista! 9:15 mile is serious!!

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  2. Just found your blog and I am enjoying it!

    I'm not doing crossfit personally, but I'm doing more weight training and less cardio, following a program by Rachel Cosgrove. She mentions in her book that when you are weight training to ignore the number on the scale and instead concentrate on inches lost and body fat percentage lost. I'm finding it hard to do that since I'm kind of addicted to weighing myself everyday. Since starting her program 4 weeks ago I'm down 1lb, 1% bodyfat and I've lost an inch of my waist and 1/2"on my chest and thighs. I'm pretty excited about this because I was really stuck for awhile, despite going to the gym 5 days per week! Weight training rocks!

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  3. @Prairie80

    So glad to hear that!

    I used to be over 200lbs so I spent many, many years obsessing over the number on the scale. I'd *like* the number to be about 10lbs lighter right now, but if it doesn't end up that kay and I lose crazy inches I'll be totally okay with that. In the end, I just want to look good and train like an athlete.

    I'm a huuuge advocate of weight training because I think while cardio may make you a smaller version of yourself, weights actually shape and sculpt your body and give you better proportions so you look better. If you have a tummy you'll still have a tummy if you just do cardio..only it'll be smaller when you lose weight. People who weight train are less likely to diet themselves down to nothing and have an easier time maintaining their weight loss.

    Be sure to check in and let me know how your weights are going! Thanks so much for reading!

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