Sandbox Prep

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Here we go again! Same old shit again! Marching down the avenue! 6 more weeks and I'll be through!

 

Goals:

- 2 miles 5x week

- Push up drills 3x week (100 Push Ups program, Android)

- Drop 10 lbs

 

Additional: Every day that's warm enough and nice enough, I will spend approximately 30 minutes soaking up the sun with a good book.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited to add: I'm not posting this in the Ranger 6 Week Challenge forum, because I don't anticipate being able to really follow the Challenge during this time.

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Day 1: PT was one lap around the golf course (2.15 miles). Hung back with one of my profile PTers for the first half, for their sake as well as mine, then pushed through the second half. Breakfast was half an avacado (should've waited longer, it wasn't quite ripe yet), one Naproxen (shut my knee up), and some creatine and protein powder with milk in my shaker-ball cup (holds approximately 2 cups).

 

Planning on hitting the gym over lunch, but I haven't decided yet whether to do squats & deadlifts or to focus on upper body and give my legs a bit of a break - it has been 4+ weeks since I've done any kind of PT, and we've got a PT test on the 25/26th.... I'll figure it out when I get there.

 

Kept it light today, since I'm still feeling this morning's run in my right knee:

- 3x sets of 8x reps deadlift w/ 20 Lbs each side (40 + bar)

- 3x sets of 6x reps squats w/ empty bar (focused on form, as I'm still struggling to get exactly horizontal)

- 3x sets of 8x reps lat pull-downs w/ 85 Lbs (close grip)

- 2x sets of 6x reps lat pull-downs w/ 85 Lbs (wide grip - these don't feel good AT ALL; I can feel and hear the muscles in my upper arms rolling and clicking when I perform the exercise this way. Not sure why this happens, or what I could do to make it stop....)

 

Didn't get to lay out today due to cloud cover, but I did make it to the library and picked up two books: The Road to Reality, by Roger Penrose (physics book), and The Adventures and Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ( ). Hoping to get the chance to read them poolside sometime this week, if work and the weather allows.

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Day 2: PT was in the gym today; focused on abs today with 1 min push ups thrown in the mix. Did 2 min of sit ups (feet under the bar) - achieved my lowest number EVER at 72; followed that with a 1 min plank, 1 min flutter kicks, 1 min (per side) side planks, 50x bicycles (opposite elbow-to-knee sit up thing), 25x unassisted sit ups (feet not under the bar), 50x crunches, 25x leglifts, 50x side crunches (per side), and then stretched for about 10 min.

 

Probably going to work on arms and back at the gym this afternoon, and today is the start of this week's 100 Push Ups program.

 

Breakfast was the other half of yesterday's avacado, two tablespoon-ish-es of cottage cheese, 1 egg, creatine and protein powder, with honey and cinnamon blended up in some water in the blender. It made a really heavy "shake", but tasted great: I doubt I'll need more than a chef's salad for lunch this afternoon.

 

Didn't make it to the gym this afternoon due to paperwork and briefings, but did get in my 100 Push Ups program. I was a little disappointed in only doing the minimum the program recommended (13, 10, 9, 9, 13) but I can congratulate myself on getting that much done. I am looking forward to seeing how far I can improve in this exercise, as it has always been a challenge for me.

 

That being noted, I'll try to remember to post my PT test number on the 25th/26th. It will make a good baseline to go off of.

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Day 3: PT was at the gym again today. Took it easy today and just focused on my form for push ups using 20 Lb dumbbells (to increase ROM). Did 1x slow set of 10x close-hand, 1x regular set of 10x wide-arm (my usual form), and tried to eek out one more set of close-hand but only got to 8x reps. Did a couple sprints around the track (0.01 mi per lap), rowed for 3 min (yay, fish game!!! ), and called it good. I'll either be hitting the treadmill or the golf course later today (I may have found a new workout buddy, so depending on her I may do it over lunch or after COB), even though we have a ruck march tomorrow. Damn Ft Polk and it's stupid PT ideas! How does "Monday - run day, Tuesday - muscle failure, Wednesday - run day, Thursday - ruck day, Friday - run day" make any sense to anyone? Somebody didn't think shit through, that's all I can say.

 

*hmph*

 

Breakfast was protein & creatine w/ water, a handful of sliced almonds, and 1x small tomato dropped in the blender. Interesting flavor, but not bad - next time though, I'll try putting the almonds in the water and letting them soak a bit before blending to see if that softens them up. I ended up having to a mouthful of tiny bits of almond at the bottom of my shake and they weren't really appealing. Chewed and swallowed anyway (why waste good food?)

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Day 4: Didn't run yesterday during lunch or after COB. My potential work out partner wasn't going to be available until 1800 (an hour and a half after I would already be off), plus today my section is supposed to be joined on our ruck by our new company commander. Should be an interesting ruck, to say the least.

 

Wasn't an interesting ruck, we just went around the golf course - not even sure if I can count it as a ruck, since the total distance was only 3 mi (golf course: 2.15 mi, distance to and from golf course, approximately .5 mi). Decent pace though, and our company commander and 1SG were tailing us the whole way. Makes me wish I'd run yesterday, though....

 

Did go to the gym over lunch: started with squats and did 1x set of 6x reps with 20 Lbs each side of the bar (so 85 Lbs total). Would've liked to finish the set, but I turned my back on it during my first 1 min rest and it was swarmed by a group of six meatheads who then proceeded to use it for total bullshit hand cleans (I assume it was bullshit anyway, since they had to practically bend over backwards to get the weight under their chins - even I can recognize the danger in "form" like that, and I don't know shit about weightlifting). Pissed me off, knowing they had to have seen me do my first set of squats and just decided they were more entitled to the bar than I was - not to mention, there were plenty of straight bars available for them to use that weren't obviously designated for the squat rack. Guess only the "big bar" would do for such "big men" though, never mind that every other bar there was clearly intended to be used for arm/shoulder/chest exercise.

 

Grrrrrrr....

 

I decided to let it go and will them to break their stupid backs, rather than make a scene. Moved on to 3x sets of 10x low rows with 85 Lbs on the cable combo machine (that's what I call it anyway - y'know, that cable station that has the lat pull down, low row, and two places for tricep extensions?), 3x sets of 20x leg lifts, then threw in a quick 10x reps of pull ups on the assisted pull up machine (95 Lbs counter-balance - I'm not good at pull ups) and 50x sit ups on the mat. I was pretty much just biding my time in hopes the meatheads would finish their rawrlookathowmuchweightIcankindofliftandhowfarIcanbendbackwardswithitonmycollarbone routine so I could finish my squats, but after hanging around for almost 15 minutes in a not-so-subtle location I admitted defeat and left.

 

I will be with you again soon, beloved squat rack, and this time no meathead shall separate us!

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Day 5: PT was at the gym. I'm not a treadmill hater, but I kinda wish I'd been informed that even though we were going to the gym, we were expected to do cardio - I'd have brought my iPod like everyone else. Probably better that I didn't though, as I was so bored after a mile on the hamster machine that I decided to challenge one of my soldiers to sprints around the indoor track. We'd run like hell for one lap, then walk, then sprint again, etc. I forgot to keep count of our laps, but we're pretty sure we completed 5-6 (so, 10-12) which adds up to roughly another mile (it's a .01mi-ish track). Not a bad run day, considering 1/4 of it was dead sprints!

 

Breakfast was a sandwich of leftover beef shoulder on wheat bread w/ Sriracha, and a cup of Earl Grey tea. I'm guestimating anywhere between 300-400 calories? I should probably start keeping track of what I eat on my FitnessPal app again.

 

Weighed myself this morning prior to brekky (and straight outta the shower): 166 Lbs. Really want to drop that by 10 if I can, but only if it's bodyfat - I don't actually care how much I weigh, if it's mostly muscle. Think I'll start off next week w/ with a couple pics and see where I'm at, visually, by the following Monday.

 

Forgot to get back on here (on the 19th) to finish logging the day's activity: Went to a different gym than I normally go to over lunch and did 3x sets squats and lunges.

 

Used the same weight as the last time for squats, when I didn't get to finish my set, so 2x 20Lb-ers on the bar for a total of 85Lb; 6x reps per set, focusing on good form, and my quads were pouting by the end. I'm still struggling to get truly parallel with this exercise; I come about 2-3 inches to horizontal thighs, but I can't seem to get any lower under the bar. BW squats I can go below the line, but not with weight.... not yet. I think it's just that my muscles aren't quite used to/strong enough yet to rebalance my frame with the increased load? I don't know - I'll just keep working on it, and see if anything changes on its own. I've only been back at this for a week, after all!

 

I only used 2x 10Lbs (65Lbs total) for my squats, due to my lack of confidence in my ability to perform a complex movement after the squats, and kept the reps at 6. I know my boyfriend (who showed up after I'd been at the gym for 30 minutes) wasn't impressed with my minimalism, but I promised myself I wouldn't be stupid this time and do what everyone - myself included - always tries to do: HARDCORE GYM TIME IS MINE RAAAAAWWWWWRRRRR I WILL BE SWOL NOW!!! And then spend the next 3 weeks involuntarily voicing the results of gym time everytime I have to sit... or stand... or.... move.

 

So I just said, Screw him and anyone else who thinks I'm wasting my time easing back into things, and left after my squats and lunges. And I am SO glad I did, because the next day my entire lower body was SUPER TIGHT - but I wasn't "sore" in the can't-sit-can't-stand-can't-move-w/o-crippling-pain kind of way: just very tender and very firm. And that is exactly what I wanted! Just enough of a workout to feel the difference, but not so much of one that I lost all ability to continue working out.

 

Saturday and Sunday were my rest days (I had CQ on Sunday as well, bleh). I'm on pass for today, so I have some housecleaning to get done and the State Inspection sticker on my car to get renewed, but other than that I am free to work out whenever I please. I plan on probably going for a run around the golf course, and possibly going to gym as well. I'll log that in it's own post, though.

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Day 6 (technically 8, but as stated in the post above, Sat & Sun were rest days): Ran the golf course (2.15 mi) for a somewhat disappointing time of 20:14. I don't know why that seems disappointing to me, since it's got all kinds of hills and I haven't really put a lot of effort into running lately, but.... it's whatev. Maybe it's because I still secretly compare all my run times to my 14:17 2 mi in AFG (PT test - yes, they made us take them there too. Actually, they made us take 3 - and then wound up not counting any of them and we had to re-test stateside a month after we'd got back! But that's another story for another day.) I guess I keep thinking, if I could run a 7 min mile there, at that kind of elevation, in the middle of a Middle Eastern summer, getting all kinds of dirt kicked in my face by the outgoing convoys, how can I not run a better time here than a slouchy 10 min mile?!

 

And then I have to remind myself that at that point in my life, I was working out for roughly 2 hours every day, and had been for an entire year; whereas here.... yeah, not so much. Not yet. I'm getting back into it, but if I'm honest with myself I have to admit that my motivation for doing so is knowing that I'll be right back in the sandbox in a little bit. It's an odd motivation, I suppose - knowing I'll have nothing to do but work and workout over there, and therefore wanting to workout now - but I am a fairly odd individual anyway. I mean, c'mon, I rewatch Eddie Izzard on a weekly basis, y'know?

 

Anyhoo, so yeah, did the run thing and then did some running around things (got my State Inspection sticker renewed, woohoo!) Also decided to start off this week's 100 Push Ups program today, so yay me for a total of 63 pumped out. I still have to add on 30 seconds to the time (so, 90 sec vs the recommended 60) but my concern is maintaining my form while attaining the numbers. PT test graders don't count push ups if they aren't performed to standard. I've never really had a problem with my push ups in that area, but I can't afford to sacrifice form for an increase in the number I can perform in two minutes: it's gotta be quantity AND quality.

 

And now it is time for a shower, folding laundry, and some kind of lunch. I wonder what PT looks like for tomorrow? More gym, probably.... I have the least creative leadership in the world when it comes to workouts.

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Aaaaagggghhhhh, where did last week go?!?! Oh yeah, that's right - work fucked up everything, hooray! PT was a given, but was never really a challenge since we were gearing down for the PT test (which I only got 257 on - although tbh, I wasn't really giving 110% either). Then there were ranges and quarterly trainings, and really... really, I'm just going to pretend last week didn't exist at all. So we'll call tomorrow Day 9 and counting.

 

For the record, I did get to lay out at the pool today. I only laid out for 30 minutes, and although I was reluctant to return indoors, I was happy my boyfriend insisted because in that one half-hour in the sun, I was only a shade or two away from being burnt! Yup, I'm a white girl. >_<