Darkfoxx 17: Leveling Up

[darkfoxx]

Placeholder for this next cycle. I have impending vacation/fml it's monday brain and can't think of much else right now. TBC. 

 

Probable goals: 

 

1. my usual fitness + focusing more on specific skills. I think I need to re-evaluate the skills toolbox I wanted to build a few challenges ago and work on some of those specifics. Plus work on lowering my 5k time, and get ready for /compete in this season's mud runs. And I should probably address my damn hip flexor that keeps getting super-pissed after 5ks. 

 

2. Metrics per usual - nothing is changing here. 

 

3. Probably a continuation of my catchall 'get shit done' goal - creative projects/minimalism/digitization 

 

4. I should really keep my 'get out of my comfort zone' goal -- and I should look at upping the pushes. 

 

 

[Noname123]

Ooooh what mud runs?! I'm doing WD and am scoping partners for Super/Beast (Sprint will be in Philly in Nov). 

[darkfoxx]

2015 Race Schedule

This is what I have planned so far for the rest of the season. I'm shooting for 1 5k a month (2 on months with no mud runs), + 5 mud runs. I need to find more 5ks and 1 more OCR. 

 

April 11 - ECU Color Run (5k)

April - Spaceballs Virtual 5k

 

May 3 - North Face Endurance Race (5k)

May 30 - Spartan Sprint

 

June 13 - Oakley NY Mini 10k 

June 27 - Savage Race

 

July 12 - Rugged Maniac 

 

November 7 - Tough Mudder 

[darkfoxx]

Day -7 Update

 

Workout was decent-ish. I did a bunch of research on specific movements to concentrate on to work toward a pull-up, got to the gym, and couldn't make about half of them work. So, I did what I could. 

 

3 sets of the following:

 

Bat wing rows (8x with 20lbs.)

Bodyweight rows - X

Plank walk-outs (10x with ball)

Overhead presses (5x with 15lbs)

Ground pull-ups - X 

Medicine ball russian twists (10x/side 8lb medicine ball on stability ball)

Negatives - X
Overhead medicine ball sit-up (10x with 8lb medicine ball on stability ball)

 

Food was good: Kind bar & coffee for breakfast, leftovers for lunch & bunless burger with sweet potato fries for dinner. All metrics within range.

 

Sleep was decent: 8:24 with 4:17 restful sleep. Steps were up to the normal weekday poo - 1320/0.4 miles

 

Knitted, prepped things for the vacation a bit, attempted to start the book I'm supposed to be reading for book club but couldn't get into it at all - and the forums aren't loving the book for the other book club. I may just bail on both and continue the series I was reading last week - or do something crazy like dive back into the Outlander series, since the show is back. Ain't nobody got time for that, though. 

[darkfoxx]

Day -6 Update

 

Workout was decent. I took it easy and did 30 minutes at a fairly brisk pace on the treadmill + punch-outs and little oblique bends the whole time. My obliques are definitely feeling it today. 

 

Food was on track: green smoothie + hemp protein + coffee with almond milk for breakfast, leftover chicken/green bean/bacon/avocado for lunch, snack of nuts, roasted sweet potatoes/carrots/fennel with dill + Italian sausage for dinner.

 

8:10 of sleep; 4:29 of that restful. 4,974 steps/1.9 miles

 

Didn't get out of my comfort zone, but I did knit a bit and planned what I want to pack for vacation. 

[Hiroro]

Darkfoxx! Be my fitbit friend?

kah237@gmail.com

[darkfoxx]

@Hiroro: Invite coming! 

[Hiroro]

Yay! 

 

Also...woah you've hit 30k steps in a day O_O

[darkfoxx]

Yes! I don't remember if that was one of my massive walk around the city days, or one of the ones combining a 5k with a long ass walk. 

 

Most days I do under a mile since my commute is 0. 

[darkfoxx]

Day -5 Update

 

Last night's workout was light but good - periodic attempts at negatives and jumping pull-ups throughout the day + 30 minutes on the treadmill at a 3.1 clip broken into 10 minutes @ level 10 incline, 5 minutes @ level 5 incline, 5 minutes at level 7.5 incline, 5 minutes at level 15 incline, 5 minutes at level 12 incline + 5 minutes cool down at level 0. 

 

Metrics were on track, despite lunch being devoid of protein. Breakfast was a Thai Sweet Chili Kind bar + coffee with almond milk; lunch was a shredded cabbage/dill/garlic/serrano chili/pistachio oil/olive salad; I had an afternoon snack of hard boiled eggs mashed with avocado and dijon mustard; dinner was leftover beer-braised beef brisket with quick sauteed broccolini; and I had a bunch of Trader Joe's Thai Lime & Chili Cashews for an evening snack. 

 

I've got to give a shout-out to today's breakfast - I had an almond butter perfect bar and that shit was ridiculously delicious. 

 

I also knitted a bit, and got a lead on an August activity - I think I'll do either a GoRuck Light or a "fun" OCR (wipeout style) with a group of friends. Got to talk to the hubbs and see what he thinks. 

 

No comfort zone pushing, though I did make a concerted effort to lock plans down with people in Raleigh and was actually direct about what we wanted to do rather than leaving openings for wishy-washy plans. Score. I figure taking the same tactic with my hubby's friends as I do with some of mine (i.e. - come here at this time and I will be there; no-show at your own peril') would work better than making nebulous plans and then waiting around for an hour/hour and a half for them to arrive while we pace. Anxiety. I has it. 

 

----

 

 

And I'm going to be rather persona non-grata for the next 10 days. I may update sporadically while on vacation, I may not. I will, however, at least read everyone's posts. I will continue tracking my metrics while I'm gone, and may pop in to post race photos. 

[darkfoxx]

W.T.EVERLOVINGF. 

 

I just signed up for a GoRuck Light in August .... I think that counts as my 5th OCR. 

 

And I might die - especially if my brother in law ends up being my cadre. 

[Fonzico]

Whoohoo, new challenge! Hope you're having a blast on vacation!

[Noname123]

Bah, now I'm looking at GoRuck Light events in my area. 

 

Awesome progress pre-challenge!!!

 

Challenge starts tomorrow, time to get pumped!

[maegs]

Not gonna lie, GoRuck scares me a little haha. Good on you for signing up for one!

[EricMN]

I would love to do a GoRuck just to see how I would do. I've heard good things.

[thekatisalie]

Just dropping in to give you a random Day Two fist bump!

 

[darkfoxx]

Ok, I'm back from vacation - and sidebar: omfg, my dog just farted a ridiculous amount in my general direction and I might die. 

 

The good: Did decently at the 5k color run -- not a PR, but at least I didn't get too far behind track. I had a crazy amount of pollen to contend with, and the main drag at my alma mater is terribly kept - like, I remember the road being wonky while I was in college *cough* *13yearsago* *cough*, but damn - we're talking worn down to tire grooves with a hill in the middle bad. And the cheesy biscuit + large coffee + pellegrino I drank was warring in my stomach come mile 2. Fun times. 

 

I also did hot yoga and didn't die! My heart got wonky 3 times and i had to stop and put my hands on my cold bottle of water a bunch, but I lasted the whole hour and really liked it. 

 

And I swam a tiny tiny touch. In sorta public (hotel pool). In the tiniest bikini I think I've ever owned. Children did not run screaming. 

 

I did, however, get like 5 compliments on my hairdo this vacation  

 

I also had a bunch of bbq (eastern north carolina style pig ftw), some less than wise meals (the Tropical Smoothie I had out of desperation which made me sick + the bottle and a half of damn wine I had with Kwebs + all the little flirts with too much pimento cheese + all the times I snacked on "good" stuff way too damn much + the night I mitigated the bad by eating 8 wings + the toppings and dough from a slice of pizza), and one fantabulously damn worth it extravagant meal at Poole's Downtown Diner aka my new favorite place to eat in Raleigh (ended up having a veritable tasting menu - something like 10-12 dishes + 3 alcoholic drinks). 

 

The bad: I'm up 3 pounds, my skin feels like a waxy oil slick, and I neeeeeeeed smoothies in my life - but didn't want to make myself carsick on the drive, so didn't order any groceries. 

 

And I semi slept like crap during most of vacation - and last night was hard on everyone -- the hubby couldn't get back into the noise/light, the dog was restless and kept walking around, and I don't know what my damn problem was. Oh, and I managed to jack my neck up somehow while drunk sleeping. We're talking so drunk, I woke up 5 hours later and had to bail on plans to wake up early and help drag a dog to her tv spot - but the world was spinny. 

 

But overall, I had a good time. I didn't behave as well as I should have, but I didn't go completely off the rails, either, so there's that. 

 

And I signed up for the 'Beat The Blerch' virtual 10k. Whoo. 

[Fonzico]

Glad you had a good time! Now that you've got that our of your system... Back to work! Lol

I've never done hot yoga, but despite a few recommendations, I have to say it sounds like hell. So good for you for trying and not hating it!

I'm seriously so stoked you're back, it is not the same around here without you!

[darkfoxx]

W00t! W00t! 

 

I totally thought I was going to die, since I pass the freak out in saunas and hot tubs - but it was doable. Mostly. Within reason. And no trying to be valedictorian of class, which totally wasn't happening anyways 'cuz there was some serious yoga bitches up in there. The fun type that get butt hurt when they aren't out-yoga-ing the teacher. Fun times. 

 

Today I think I'll ease back into life semi-slowly -- I have to do another 5k this month to earn my Spaceballs medal -- before the crazy ass 5k trail run (bwahahaha) the first week of May. 

 

So...... I kind of need to do that shit this week. 

 

And I really need to get my ass in gear with the upper body strength, so I don't die on the ruck I over-exuberantly signed us up for. 

 

Did I mention, my ex-SF BIL does rucks and may be our cadre? I AM GOING TO DIE. A: I do not do well with authority. B: I like to sleep. C: I have the upper body strength of an elementary school student. 

 

WHAT WAS I THINKING? 

[darkfoxx]

Week 2 Day 1 Update

 

Back to the grind. 

 

Workout: Decided to ease back into things with a Zombies on the treadmill. Did 30 minutes/1.73 miles at a speed of 3.5 (17:18 mm) with inclines - 5, 7, 10 & 12 - plus a 5-minute cool-down. 

 

Food: Overall pretty good, but a little heavy on calories

 

Breakfast - Kind Thai Sweet Chili bar + coffee with almond milk

Lunch - Chicken Delivery: Rotisserie chicken, steamed veggies, cole slaw & a couple bites of pita

Dinner - Indian Delivery: Tandoori mixed grill, grilled mixed veggies & chutneys

 

Measurables: Not the worst, though I'm bummed about the weight (up 3 lbs from pre-vacation weight)

 

Activity - 1.8 miles / 1673 calories / 4990 steps

Sleep - 7h 24m total / 0m awake / 4h 41m light / 2h 43m restful

 

Other Shit: Knitted a fair amount and finished pulling my stuff out of the suitcase. I can't say it's all "away" because now I have a laundry explosion in my bathroom, dresses and jackets draped over the chair, and sandals waiting to be put up. I'll get there. 

 

At least I got my groceries ordered so I'll have both dinner tonight and can finally get back to my damn smoothies. 

[Fonzico]

Smoothies for the sanity win.

Awesome that you got right back into the workouts! Keep it up, and you'll have kicked the holiday bloat to the curb in no time!

[Noname123]

Yeah holiday bloat will disappear within the first few days of getting back into the swing of things, don't let it get you down! 

[Hiroro]

Sounds like a fabulous vacation! Glad to see you back though

 

Trail run...GoRuck...you are my running inspiration! Totally badass.

[darkfoxx]

HaHaHa. Thanks. Inspiration in this case is anxious, thinking she has bit off more than she can chew. Damn that getting carried away b/c of NF business. 

 

Week 2 Day 2

 

Workout

 

Today's workout was good - I did the suggested exercises from this article about women and pull-ups. 

 

The breakout:

 

Curls

 

Reverse Preacher Curls - 8 reps, 10-lb. weight x 4

Standing Dumbbell Curls - 8 reps, 10-lb. weight x 4

Incline Hammer Curls - 8 reps, 10-lb. weight x 4

 

Rows

 

Reverse Flyes - 8 reps, 5-lb. weight x 4

Elbows-Out Rows - 8 reps, 5-lb. weight x 4

Batwings - 8 reps, 5-lb. weight x 4

 

Holds

 

Hollow Hold with weight - 5 reps, 5-lb. weight x 4

 

And I had intended on doing these crazy burpee walkouts, but was fighting nausea so bailed. 

 

Food

 

Breakfast: Thai Sweet Chili Kind bar + coffee with almond milk

Lunch: Rotisserie chicken

Snack: Hawaiian trail mix, plantain chips

Dinner: London broil with broiled green beans

Snack: Cheddar cheese flavor almond nut thins

 

Calories: 1570 of 1500

Carbs: 77 of 100g

Fat: 82 of 100g

Protein: 117 of 70g

 

Activity: 0.6 miles / 1544 calories / 1810 steps

Sleep: 8h 14m / 0m awake / 4h 33m light / 3h 41m restful

 

Other Shit

 

I knitted a fair amount and got some research on rucks for GoRuck done. Does anyone happen to know of a good ruck for small women? I'm looking for something that will hold up to GoRuck (2 bricks + 10lbs weight + bopping around for 6 hours), has space for a hydration bladder, has sternum and waist straps, padded shoulders, and is around 15 inches tall. And not a million dollars. This seems like a hard thing to find - I can find 17-inch and 18-inch packs for what I want to pay all day long, but I am smaller than that. The pack my hubby has is fantastic for his size - but swallows my frame, plus I have no chest, so the straps fit bizarrely. 

 

Wah. #firstworldproblems

 

 

In other news: *whine* I don't wanna run a 5k this week. 

 

But I want that damn medal. 

 

It's sitting next to me, taunting me with its spaceballs fantasticalness. 

 

Maybe I should make myself do it tonight, so I don't end up forcing myself to do it this weekend? BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooo 

[Fonzico]

Get it over with! Otherwise it will just hang over your head.