Librarian of Doom

Good work on Week 1! Very interesting article. I'm at a point right now where I'm prioritizing gains above aesthetics...I want to drop body fat, but not enough muscle mass that I lose significant amounts of strength. I have a lot of body fat to lose, but right now strength is the only area in which I'm not a complete wuss, so I'm clinging frantically to it.

Pretty good Week 1! Sounds like you have a solid plan for Week 2!!!

Chiming in to the "that was a pretty damn good week" chorus! Also, I love your neighborhood! So pretty! I get so tired of the endless ranch-style houses around here!!!

Oh, toenails. Mine were a little too long when I did the Spartan. Fun fact; it takes me a little over 7 months to regrow my big toenails. And I join you in your hatred of the treadmill. So much suck. Glad to see you making a plan! Adapt, react, and overcome!

But Sam makes it look so easy! Yeah, pullups are hard, and it's going to take me a long time to get there. I just wish I could do any sort of pullup - even extremely banded would make me feel better. I just have to keep reminding myself that three years ago I was looking at CrossFit workouts and making this face: Now I'm doing CrossFit workouts and making that face. Day 7: Went to CrossFit! Yay. Or ow, you know, really mostly ow. E2MOM (every 2 minutes on the minute) 7 rounds 4 front squats @ 75% of 1RM 6 burpees That sucked. And not just because one of my wrist wraps went missing. 20-15-10 Squat cleans 95/65 (rx'd and ow - I hit the wall hard on these) KBS (I did 20 for this one, since the heavy kbs messed up my hips last time. It helped) Rest 2 minutes 60 wall balls 17:35 (ish; I couldn't see the clock when I finished) Worked on mobility before and after, did my pullup work after. Didn't have time for a run because today was our batch cooking for the week day, but I said any CrossFit days above 4/week could count as a run for grading purposes. Writing done. Macros are better; I made some honey mustard chicken thighs to sub for my burgers. A little low on fat for today, but that's because I didn't have my normal breakfast. If I'd had my bacon I think I would've been about good. Progress Tracker: CrossFit Days: 4/22 Runs: 2/16 Pullup training: 3/16 Macros: 4/37 Mobility: 6/37 Writing: 7/37

Oh, how I know this feel. It ended up being like 5 months off for me while doing the Super-Long Commute of Doom and then with finances getting screwed up by moving, but I kept eating like I was working out. So discouraging sometimes. Glad to hear you were able to dust yourself off and get back up again! Yoga can be super discouraging when you stop for awhile (why does mobility disappear so fast?!?!?!?).

Woot woot catching Wufkar! Oh and, y'know, bench PR and stuff

Great week 1, especially while traveling!!!

Doing ANY running is hard for me to do! Sorry about the negatives; I know for me, with strength stuff, sometimes I have it, sometimes I really don't. Were you doing them at a different time of day than usual? I have my best strength results in the evening, because my body is well fed.

Shoes suck. Whenever I find a kind I don't hate, they instantly stop making them. Frozen toes also suck.

I'm a little curious about my muscle gain potential, but that would require me to be able to tell where the "inner edge of my contracted biceps" is. I can see some muscles pretty well when I flex...the biceps are not them.

*foresees a lot of gear purchases in her future* We hates running in the cold. Hates it, precious.

Dean gets me I would love to do more competitions, but I don't know if I'll get another opportunity anytime soon. There were technical difficulties at the last one I went to, and the box that hosts it was making noises about not doing it again. Most CrossFit competitions are aimed at people who are actually, y'know, good at CrossFit; you have to have unassisted pullups and double-unders, among other things, to even do the scaled division. So we'll see. I'm never going to be a Games athlete, but I do enjoy pushing my limits and seeing how far I can go. I feel like I should start singing "It's a Small World", seeing as 540 is where I go. No idea if I know your old rugby pal or not; I'm still getting to know people, and I usually stick to one or two class times. Days 5 & 6: Husband of Doom had a game to DM right after I got off work on Friday, so I didn't get to go to CrossFit. I went to the city employee gym on my lunch break and did the WOD by myself as best I could. 2 rounds Max reps Bench press Pullups Yeah, I have no idea if I did this right or not, but I tried. Bench press is not my wheelhouse, and I have to do jumping pullups, for I am weak. But I did my best. 5 minute AMRAP 1-2-3-4, etc. Box Jumps Jerks Rest 2 minutes 5 minute AMRAP 20 double-unders 15 wallballs 10 hang cleans I did 65 for the jerks and the cleans. Scaled the box jumps to step-ups. There are no med balls at the city gym, so I subbed goblet squat thrusters with a 12 kg kettlebell. That burned a lot. Mobility before and after Went home, got kids to bed by myself, but A was having a rough night, so I didn't get to bed until after midnight. Got my writing done and macros were good except for fat being high again Today was a bust on the fitness and diet fronts. It was a rest day for CrossFit, so I was planning to run. I had set aside some time to spend one-on-one with K and C, since I don't see them as much now that I've started the new job. But once I got home from that, HoD was exhausted from being up with A during the night pretty much all week, so I sent him to bed. Gonna get my writing and mobility done before bed so I can say I've done something today (you know, other than nurturing my relationship with my daughters, whatever). Plan to make up the run tomorrow, but there's supposed to be ice, so I may have to brave the dreadmill. Progress Tracker: CrossFit Days: 4/22 Runs: 1/16 Pullup training: 2/16 Macros: 3/37 Mobility: 6/37 Writing: 6/37

Glad you're safe!!! That sounds terrifying.

Glad you found a new gym option and a new program option that are gonna work for you! I wish my schedule would permit me to go work out at the gym that has CF kids, but it's only at 4:30. Gonna try to fit it into the budget soon!

I did once have a good chicken recipe that basically marinated it in mustard, and I had forgotten all about it. Thanks for reminding me! And yeah, earlier in the year I rolled the ankle and it started being super pissy. Trying to avoid having that issue again! Yeah, it was a bit scary. Day 4: I worked on Sunday, so I only had to work 4-8. Which was good, because baby A kept me up about an hour later than I normally am. But I got to sleep in in the morning. Didn't make it to the chiro; I was going to go on my way to CrossFit, but I ran out of time, and then the stupid office schedule meant I wasn't able to get in before I had to go to work. 10 x 3 back squats @ 70-80% I backed the weight down on these because my hips were still pissed and did 125 (I did 135 last time) 3 rounds of 25 back extensions (I took these pretty slow and carefully, didn't want to aggravate my back again) 12 back lunges @ 65 lbs 12 bent-over rows @65 lbs (the last set of these made my back a little achy, but it went away after some mobility) 10 kettlebell rows on each side @ 25 lbs For time 4 rounds 25 lunges 25 v-ups (or flycatchers, as they call them at this box) 10:39 - not last done! Although I was only hitting my shins or my knees on the v-ups. I still have a lot of scar tissue from the c-sections that limits my ability to bend in half. Did my mobility before and during, got my pull-up work done after the WOD. Macros are very good on carbs and protein, still high on fat but getting better. I found chocolate protein powder with fair-trade organic cocoa! 521 words written on the fanfic today. Sleep well, everybody! Progress Tracker: CrossFit Days: 3/22 Runs: 1/16 Pullup training: 2/16 Macros: 2/37 Mobility: 4/37 Writing: 4/37

Woot for gym and taking it slow! It's not as satisfying, but we all know where the other path leads (and it's not satisfying at all to have to rehab injury) Glitter is the herpes of craft materials. You can never, ever get rid of it.

Oly lifts are SO skill dependent! With powerlifting you can fudge it to a certain extent, but with oly lifts you have to have those skills on point or you just hit a wall. And good job yesterday doing some daily tasks even though you were wiped!

We should find whoever pissed off Winter and sacrifice them, cause this cold is stupid. Glad your challenge is going well so far! Stay warm!!!

Sleep is important. Hope today is better!

Welcome home! Just in time for the horrendous cold, huh?

I hear you on the running and the cold, as well as the hatred of treadmills. Those things are horrible. But if it doesn't warm up here soon, I may have to suck it up. Proud of you for doing something, but sorry it's derailing your other goal. Sorry about the eating woes...my youngest currently subsists on peanut butter and jelly, pancakes (when I make them; not all the time), a little bit of egg and bacon stolen from me and her brother, some burgers and sweet potato fries if I'm home for dinner before bedtime, and not much else, so I feel your pain.

Muscle gains are so frustratingly inexact and different for each person. I think giving it time before you assess and adjust is probably a good plan.

Yeah, I used to have the macros down...now, not so much. But I'm resisting the temptation to face-plant in ALL the bad foods. Not gonna lie, I thought I was going to die. A lot. Hopefully I can get the macros squared away before too long. We're now in Northwest Arkansas. It's a nice little area with enough population to support a surprising number of businesses without being super urban (I drive by fields with cows in the middle of town on my way to and from my apartment) I got lucky enough to figure out what I wanted to do before having kids (people who do grad school with kids are braver than I am!) and to have a supportive husband and to be used to being poor so I could stick it out long enough to graduate. I also did my Masters in like a year because I'm apparently a masochist. Don't ask about the 15-hour semester. I'm still not sure how I survived I love it when people play along with my gif theme! And yeah, coming back to CrossFit was super tough. I feel like I'm just now starting to get back to where I was, endurance-wise. Day 3: Work, then CrossFit. I was super excited for today's WOD, because it was basically most of my favorite things. 10 rounds: 5 pullups (aka the only part I'm not good at) 10 KBS 55/35 15 air squats 2 deadlifts @ 75% of max I noticed from the previous class that the last to finish were at about 30 minutes. Since I've been struggling with my cardio endurance, I decided to shoot for under 35, under 30 if I was really feeling zesty. Around round 8 my back and hips started spasming. I started with 195 on the deadlift bar, but I deloaded to 175 to take it easier. I had to stop a couple of times and do the thing where you hug your knees to your chest and rock back and forth to ease up my lower back. Despite it all, I finished in 24:18. I was not last to finish in my group. I probably should have deloaded more, but I just wanted to be done. I did my mobility before, and a shit-ton after to try to get my hips back to where they should be. I've been having problems for awhile, and I go to my chiropractor, but then the next day they're right back to the same thing. This is part of the reason I had the mobility goal; I wondered if it was because I hadn't had any mobility work for my hiatus. I'm going to go to the chiro tomorrow and talk to him about how it's being a chronic thing and see if he has any suggestions. Macros are within 10% for carbs and protein (I found a hidden serving of protein powder! Yay! Going to shop for more tomorrow!), so I'm calling that within the margin of error. Still over on fats, but not quite so egregiously this time. Got 502 words written on the fanfic, which completed the chapter I was working on and put me partway into another. Let's finish the rest of the week strong! Progress Tracker: CrossFit Days: 2/22 Runs: 1/16 Pullup training: 1/16 Macros: 1/37 Mobility: 3/37 Writing: 3/37