Running

It's crazy how motivating this little flower is... #vzwvoices #fit

Well, as you can see below, Neil had a rough week. After doing back squats (the athletes are in a strength cycle and building new PR numbers every week with certain movements), he pulled a hamstring doing a cycle of sprints. He’s doing better, but is on limited movement workouts until his hamstring heals. Our trainers have been great in helping him treat it, and he’s been more mobile than both he and I thought he’d be at this point. It’s a level 2 muscle pull, so it definitely could have been worse, and for that we’re pretty thankful.

I’m a week into my new programming and really enjoying it for the most part. I managed two PR’s last week in both my bench press (95 lb) and front squat (165 lb), and the workouts are definitely putting my strength endurance to the test. I’ve had to adapt several of the workouts to accommodate some concerns about my shoulders (high-rep snatches) and equipment we don’t have at the gym (Airdyne), but I think my adaptions maintained the intent of difficulty.

I will say that I’m definitely missing the social aspect working out with the rest of the class, especially Neil. This programming has returned me to solo workouts, and it’s kind of bumming me out. What I love about CrossFit is collectively slugging out workouts with other people, and with the exception of one day this past week, I’ve been completely alone. My trainer has indicated that the programming will merge more in the future, so I’m looking forward to that.

Monday

Neil

Strength:
3×5 Squat (Add 5lbs to Last Week) – 190 lbs
3×5 Press (Add 2.5lbs to Last Week) – 115 lbs

WOD: 5 Rounds
100m Sprint (11-12 seconds)
- Must not deviate +/- 2 Seconds From Original Time. Penalty is 30 Evil Wheels.

Jessica

Strength:
A. Build to 1 RM incline bench press (95 lbs – 25 lb PR)
B. Amrap ring dips in 5 minutes (begin the 5 min with 1 amrap unbroken set and record score) – Got to 27

WOD: 10 rounds for time:
10 toes to bar
10 hand release push ups
Finish: 10:40


Tuesday

Neil

Warm-up: Relay + Med ball

Strength: 5RM DL (Following the Last Few Weeks, Try to Add 5lbs To Your Working Sets) – 255 lbs

WOD: 10 Rounds For Time
7 Wood Choppers (Left and Right)
5 T2B
Finish: 8:19

Jessica

Warm-up: Relay + Med ball

Row 3 min for max cals/miles
Rest 10 min
x3
No pacing, all out efforts

Finish: Finished between 640 and 680m for all three rows. Cut the rest time to 5 minutes instead of 10.


Thursday

Neil

Warm-up:
Relay warm-up

WOD:
5×3 back squat – 195 lb
Sprints – pulled hamstring, could not continue workout

Jessica

Warm-up: PVC + relay

Strength:
PR’d my front squat today — 165 lbs! Second PR this week.
Establish 1RM Front Squat: It’s been forever since I established a 1 rep max front squat. My old PR (that I remember) was 125. I PR’d with a new max of 165 lb. I think the 175 is close, just need to tighten up a bit more on my form.

WOD:
Snatches:
25 at 45 lb
25 at 75 lb


Friday

Neil

Warm-up: Relay with oly tech

WOD: 12-9-6-3
Push Press (did strict press at 95 lb)
Ring dips

Jessica

Crazy amount of snatches in this workout, but I can definitely feel myself getting stronger and closer to my goal of an 85lb!
Warm-up: PVC and 25 snatches with a 45 lb bar.

WOD:

A. Power snatch; 3, 2, 1, 3, 2, 1; rest 3 min (at 65 lbs)
+
Airdyne 30 seconds @85%
Airdyne 30 seconds @50%
x6

The workout originally slated for 20 rounds, but time and concern for my shoulders made it 6 rounds for me. There was no prescribed weight accompanying this workout, so I chose 65 lb.


Sunday

Jessica

30 minute recovery run – covered about 3 miles with the dogs in a run/walk.

Do you prefer to workout solo, or with other people?

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It feels like forever since we last talked about running, and to be honest, it’s because we really haven’t done any this summer. The heat has been unrelenting, leaving minimal time for good (read: enjoyable) running. If you can believe it, temperatures really only dip below 80 degrees from 5:00-7:00 AM, which as you can imagine doesn’t help our motivation either. Running in heat drains our energy, and doing so before our work day even starts is something we really can’t afford with our demanding jobs. We like running, but not that much.

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Neil’s Memorial Day “Murph”

So for the most part, we’ve been forgoing running and prioritizing CrossFit for our workouts this summer. The short, high-intensity workouts give us a little more bang for buck for our effort, and also include plenty of cardio and some running. However, as the summer wanes on, I’ve definitely been missing my dedicated running time. And we’d both like to run in a race/event again. So we did what anyone needing hope and motivation would do, we signed up for a race.

We are now registered for the Roots N Blues N BBQ Half Marathon/10k. Neil is going to run the half marathon and I’m going to run the 10k with my brother. It’s the first “official” 10k for both of us, and I’m excited to run it with him. The three of us are also eyeing the Bass Pro Half Marathon in November, when it’s hopefully (:fingers-crossed:) a little cooler.

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Neil was long overdue a new pair of running shoes, so he picked up a bright yellow pair of Inov-8 ROAD-X LITE™ 155′s. He already has a pair of Inov-8 BARE-XF™ 210′s that he wears for crossfit, but the 155′ offer a little more cushion without sacrificing the minimalist fit we now prefer. The 155′s are feather light at only 5.5oz, and when running in them you feel no weight at all on the foot.

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I wasn’t due for a pair of shoes, but I got a nice surprise on Saturday when Neil brought home a pair of grey Inov-8 F-Lite 195′s for me. A member of our box ordered a pair in the wrong size, and asked Neil if I might be interested in them. I’ve just started breaking them in, but they are awesome! Light and super soft. Yes, soft. I can’t believe how delicate they feel, yet how sturdy they are during my workouts. Like nothing I’ve ever worn. I’m a die-hard New Balance Minimus fan, but I can definitely see why so many CrossFit athletes (and Neil) go with Inov-8.

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The bad news? Our shoe collection is quickly turning into a hoarding situation. Above represents only 1/3 of our collection (not including hiking or professional shoes)…

When do you say goodbye to old shoes?

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Just a few days left till my first half-marathon! I’m in full-scale nervous energy preparation mode. I’ve broken in my shoes, downloaded tons of new music, planned my warm-up, fueling and hydration, asked people to come cheer me on (or collect my corpse if necessary). I’m pretty sure Neil thinks I’m crazy, as he stayed up late partying the night before his last half.

Food this week has been super clean but random. Sautés with lots of lean meat and sweet potatoes. I’m getting excited, but am super nervous and a little worried. When I signed up for the race, I had in mind the cooler, rainy May weather we had last year. Saturday’s forecasted temperatures are now in the mid-nineties with high UV indexes. It feels like a cruel bait-and-switch, but it’s my own fault. Even though I know it will be cooler in the morning, my low blood pressure makes dizziness, overheating and passing out a very real fear. I want so badly to do well, but I already feel myself slowly conceding that finishing is now my goal instead of the faster pace and times I trained for. I know it probably sounds silly to all of you who are seasoned runners, but I’ve wanted to badly for this race, my first one, to reflect how far I’ve come in the past 9 months.

In any sense, enough of my whining, let’s talk about you! What is your favorite race memory (good or bad — I think even bad experiences make for good story!) or tips for a first-time half-marathoner?

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Zoom Zoom!

May 8, 2012
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This weekend went fast, but thankfully, we maximized every minute of it. We had kind of an ambitious list of to-do’s. Training runs, workouts, car painting, a client website go-live and some hefty yard work. I worried we might have set our sights high with the hot weather in the forecast, but we pushed through, [...]

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Hurry Hurry Curry Chicken Salad

July 28, 2011
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I feel like this week is slowly slipping through my fingers. I’m scrambling to finish work and freelance projects in the hope that I can leave for BlogHer next week with a somewhat clean slate and a window of opportunity to relax. It doesn’t help that I’ve entirely procrastinated on getting ready for my trip. [...]

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Spicy Chicken Tortilla Soup and Snow Daze

January 20, 2011

We woke up this morning to 8 inches of snow. Everything was and still is completely covered, including the roads. I don’t think I’m ever going to get used to Missouri’s idea of snow removal. Just because people drive on it and does NOT mean it’s clear! If we didn’t have the Jeep, we’d be [...]

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Easy Veggie Artichoke and Olive Calzones and Shin Splints…

December 17, 2010

As soon as it gets cold, really cold, all I really want when we get home from work is bread, cheese and blankets. I have so little motivation and while bread and cheese surely tastes great, too much is definitely not an aid to our better health. So last night when I was craving calzones, [...]

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