Day 2 of Crush60

I woke up to a very nice email from a friend from graduate school (hi Laura!), which included a compliment and a makeup sale tip. What a great way to start the day! :D

Later on in the morning, a work email notification pops up from the executive director:

For those few intrepid souls who made their way into the office, enjoy the extra few hours off!  Please use the office closure on your timesheets for these hours.  

This was perfect timing because I had a call scheduled with my committee chair from 1-2 PM. Before I could park myself on the couch for an afternoon nap, I went to the gym to tackle Day 2 of Crush60 (back). I got about halfway done before it started to get a little too crowded for my comfort level. I went home, took a nap on the couch, went to the other gym for a 45-min spin class and then finished the rest of the prescribed workout. Feeling pretty strong today!

Awesome discovery from today: there's actually wifi at the gym! Gawd, I'm so late to the party. I wish I knew this sooner! (Maybe they should consider posting the wifi password in a more prominent place than the front desk.) 

Day 1 of Crush60: Entering the Man Cave

I'm heading to ATL next week and I IMed my boss to ask her if we could get Chinese take-out like we did last time. Yep, meal planning a week in advance. She called me almost immediately, and I thought she was going to make fun of me, but really she said that it was a good idea and moved onto a work-related question.

There was a happy hour scheduled today, but skipped it to go the gym. The goal today was to actually stay in the weight section to do the Day 1 (chest) workout prescribed in the strength training program, no matter how many guys were there. Ugh, it was kinda intimidating, but I forced myself to stay. Fortunately, most of the machines I needed were in the periphery of the weight area so I didn't feel like I was in anyone's way. Day 1, check. 59 more to go...

Telework day tomorrow and then a 3-day weekend! :)

Somewhat Draggin My Feet

The last hour of the day totally dragged because I was on a conference call that I had very little to contribute. I wish it could have been a dinner table situation where I could just excuse myself and have the experts provide the feedback. Once the call was over, I went over to the gym to get a workout in: 2.38 miles in 30 minutes on the treadmill (meh), 5 planks at 30-40 seconds each and 50 wall balls with an 8 lb ball. And then I called it quits. I've been working at it hard the past few days, so this workout was better than no workout.

Schedule Switch-Up

Early to rise: Today I tried something different. I've been debating on how I can go to the gym to strength train AND go to spin class. I like the one gym near my high school for their spin classes because I'm familiar with the instructors, but I would rather go to the gym near work to lift because I like their space. Do I go to the gym early to lift and then go to work - OR - do I go lift after work and then head home to feed RJ and eat and then go to the other gym to spin?

Today, I'm trying the latter. RJ usually wakes me up at 5 AM to feed him. I don't want to use the automatic feeder during the summer with the wet food because with the warmer weather, I don't want the food to spoil by the time breakfast rolls around. Anyway, instead of crawling back into bed for another 1.5 hours, I only did it for 30-45 minutes, enough time for my brain to boot up completely. At around 7 AM, I think I was the first one in the office, which was a little creepy, but at least I didn't have any distractions while I addressed some emails and an invoice that came in last Friday on my day off.  Oh, and I also wrote up my performance review. A year's worth of work boiled down to a several-paged PDF. Is it even going to make a difference? I'm thinking that the supervisors have decided on raises far before we do these performance reviews. Blech.

Gym time: I left the office around 3 PM to go to the gym and cranked out 10 minute walk on an incline, 2000 m row, and leg raises. There were quite a few people in the weight lifting section, as in really big guys. Gee, not intimidating at all. Ok, Hulk and Thor. Go save the planet and give the short people some room. While I did the leg raises, I surveyed that part of the room to see what machines were there and how people were using them. Truthfully, I purchased a strength training program last night (something that has lots of people talking about on tumblr), but I don't feel like I can fully commit to it until I understand the exercises and how to use the machines. I have a trip to Atlanta next week for work and a trip to New York City in mid-July to visit my friend Suzie, so I'm thinking between now and the time I get back from NYC, I need to get my homework done and then I'll feel better about going full steam ahead with the program. It's kinda like...school.

With the crowd, I kinda gave up and went to home to feed RJ.  And then I headed back out to go to the other gym for spin class. Since I got there early, I walked another 10 minutes on the treadmill and then experimented with the dip assist machine. One of the exercises in the plan asks for 5 sets of 15. I had to split this up before and after spin class, but wow, my shoulders are going to hurt tomorrow. Some people do these dips with not only their own bodyweight, but they ADD weights...that's insane. :P

The spin instructor commented on how consistent I've been about coming to class. That was nice of her to say. :)

Two-a-Day

Unlike the day after the first CrossFit class I took where it seemed like everything hurt, I woke up with some sore shoulders, but it wasn't too bad. Good thing because today ended up being a busy day...

• 45 minute spin class (went to Target afterwards to wander, but came out with nothing. I did noticed that they had some of the new Maybelline Creamy Mattes, but I ran away before picking up anything)
• Came home to download music to my iPhone, do a load of laundry (yay, fresh sheets), vacuum, scrub down the bathroom, eat some lunch.
• Go back to the gym, this time the one closest to work. I tried to take it easy on the cardio since I already did a spin class: 0.25 mile run at 5.5 mph, 0.75 mile walk up a 7.0 incline at 3.5 mph, 5 planks at 40 seconds each, leg press/extension/curls, 30 wall balls with a 10 lb ball. THE END.
• Came home, did another load of laundry (yay, clean workout clothes and towels) and took a shower and a NAP!

On my grocery shopping trip on Friday, I got some ground beef, mushrooms, and other ingredients to make spaghetti sauce. I made a pot of it tonight while watching The Dark Knight Rises on TV. I don't think I'd even get tired of this movie.

Successful CrossFit Class

I'm happy to report that it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. The workout was:

• Warm-up: 2 laps around the parking lot (400 m), 5 ring rows, some stretching
• 400 m run
• 25 wall balls (I used 8 lbs)
• 25 push presses (I used 15 lbs per hand)
• 200 m run
• 20 wall balls (same as above)
• 20 push presses (same as above)
• 100 m run
• 10 wall balls (same as above)
• 10 push presses (same as above)

I know that my FitnessBlender workouts were a key part to me making it through the workout today, and tee hee, I even beat my sister. Usually, she's the athletic one. She's gotten out of her CrossFit routine since coming back home, but is hoping to jump back into things soon. The co-owner of this gym is a classmate from middle/high school, so it's nice to already know someone there.

What I thought was really amazing was that there were people in there that were older. For example, the co-owner's parents were there doing the workout too. One of the older women came over to me and Julie after the workout and asked if we had done CrossFit before because we were doing a great job. Aw, yay, positivity! She was really killing it too. I asked her how long she had been working out at the gym and she said 2 years, but she did some private lessons with the co-owner so that she would know how to do things correctly and "be brave enough to go to class." I wouldn't join this gym because I'm already paying for a gym membership. I think Julie is going to bite the bullet (I hope she does) and she mentioned something about punch cards so one can take individual classes instead of doing a membership. I would totally do that.

As promised, Julie and I went to Five Guys afterwards and got cheeseburgers and I tacked on a cherry milkshake.  It was totally worth it because the workout was pretty taxing. Then we went to the mall because Julie wanted to go to Old Navy (she ended up getting a pair of jeans. I was looking at a set of earrings, but decided against it).

One thing that I didn't think was cool was a conversation that I had with Mom before going to Old Navy. I told her that I had been working out a lot more lately and flexed a bicep. She touched my tricep, as if to say that it's got a ways to go. Gee, thanks.  I told her that clothes were fitting better, as I lifted up my shirt. She touched my stomach and said "Hm, still soft."  o_0  I didn't even know what to say. I wanted to say, "Are you serious?! Do you have any idea what it took to even get to this point?! Have you nothing encouraging to say?!"

I think I ended up just laughing it off, but I'd be lying if I said that that didn't sting a little. Unless you're competing for something or dealing with some serious physical ailment, yes, it's going to be soft. In that moment, I felt somewhat deflated. I thought that was pretty f***ed up.

I have to remember that a) progress is progress, no matter how slow or small, b) no one can take away your accomplishments unless you let them, and c) it's far better to rely on self-validation instead of external validation. Guess I won't be sharing any workout updates with her for a while. Sheesh.

To end on a brighter note, I got an Etsy sale today. I'll be shipping an origami elephant card to Kansas on Monday. :)

Day Off

Hooray, day off, day off!  I didn't really do much except go to the gym, grocery shop and then bum around the house until it was time to head out to the Arlington Cinema & Drafthouse for the Dave Coulier comedy show with Robyn (Uncle Joey from Full House). I had never been there before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. You could order food there, which was nice so you can eat and enjoy the show at the same time. I had quite a few laughs; my favorite part was the jokes about TSA and airport because I could totally relate.

Today's workout: 1.32 miles for 15 minutes, 2000 row, leg press/extension/curls and 50 burpees when I got home. Free Crossfit class with Julie tomorrow morning...that should be interesting!