2015 Exercise Log/Challenge

[Crankin]

This morning I did 35 minutes of yoga at home.
DH took the afternoon off and we just got back from a snowshoe in our local conservation land. OMG, it was hard, as the trail was sort of packed in the beginning, but not at all near the turn around point, after we cross into another town. Gaiters and poles were definitley needed today. The climb up the ridge was quite strenuous in deeper snow. This took about 15 minutes longer than usual, about an hour. But, it's nice out, around 32 degrees.
Off to REI to scout out a few things we think we need to change up for our trip, including new waist packs.
More snow tomorrow (just a little) and finally, my PT appointment.

[Crankin]

The trip to REI was worthless! They"re out of everything. This is prime winter sports season, through the middle of March or later up north. So, we were not close to home at rush hour and ended up going out to dinner to avoid traffic. A very delicious and healthy dinner of baked salmon, fresh veggies, and a sweet potato. Started researching on line and found most of what I want, but I cannot find a water bottle holder that is a lighter waist pack than what I have and can hold a change of gloves or head cover. This is impacting my back issues, so I may end up just dealing with being too hot and using jacket pockets, to get a lighter pack. Anyway, finally had my PT today. SI joint locked out on the left (not the source of my biggest issue) and he discovered mylegs are a bit weak for someone who does what I do. I have 2-3 more things to do at home. He did some manipulation and unlocked the joint and I go back Tuesday. He did say that he doesn't find any signs of hip issues or arthritis in my hips, but the stiffness I feel is just normal aging. I can take this from him, as he is my age!
Just did 40 minutes on the trainer, of hill intervals in short bursts for 20 of the 40 minutes. Then I did 5 more minutes of stretches.

[Crankin]

Boot camp this morning. Hard. We did stations with partners. Catrin, one of the exercises was a kettle ball swing. I am in awe of you!
I am gonna feel this later.

[Catrin]

Crankin Glad that you got to play with kettlebells!

I made the mistake of seeing my chiro before class last night for some Active Release work as part of my competition preparation. He found some scar tissue at the base of my skull and released it. I should have asked him to wait until next week as this caused residual pain and inflammation. So much that I had to quit in the middle of our workout last night. Ice and heat last night, and mobility work this morning does have it feeling much better. Still stiff, but all the pain is gone He DID warn me...after the fact. To be fair, neither of us was thinking about last night's class.

So today is a rest day, though I will do multiple sessions of flexibility and mobility work but nothing else. I will likely complete my overall goal of secondary mobility work today and will likely add a couple hours to that goal.

More tomorrow when I get home I will, literally, be the last person to compete tomorrow. I have no competitors, so my focus will be to prove my rank by performing a minimum of 100 properly executed 8kg Long Cycles in 10 minutes. I've done this plenty of times in class, but THAT isn't the same environment. My coach will be working to hold me back so adrenalin doesn't cause me to start too hot out of the gate and burn out before I've reached my goal.

[Catrin]

It was fun ! Today I will do some light cardio to keep me away from my personal KB gym at home. NO lifting today!

I WILL do this again, but I've some work to do before that happens. While I did make rank, which is certainly a challenge in itself, I don't want to go to one of the very large comps I've been wanting to attend until I've progressed more. Having a dysfunctional scapula does complicate things. I would LIKE to progress to the 12 KG before I hit a major comp but time will tell. I may return to Louisville this summer for another local comp though, get platform time under my belt.

[Crankin]

That sounds like a good plan. No sense in getting hurt doing something you want to continue doing.
We went with the local ski plan today and it was perfect. It's snowing very lightly on and off, so we got up, I ate a bowl of buckwheat oatmeal (my new thing) and we were skiing by 8:45. Got done around 10:00, after doing the usual 10K loop. Part of the trail wasn't re-groomed from what fell early in the AM, but it was fine. Conditions were perfect and we hardly saw anyone. When we got back to the car, the parking lot was filling up quickly. I was a little clammy from skiing in falling snow, but I didn't want to wear my soft shell, it's so warm. Headed off to a local café, close to home and had a second breakfast of a mocha latte and an upscale version of bagel, lox, and cream cheese. Plan to hole up and relax, get some work done for the rest of the day.

[Crankin]

This morning I did a 10 min warm up on the trainer and then 3 sets of 4-7 core/body weight exercises on my DVDs, each set interspersed with 10 minutes on the trainer (with a couple of hill intervals). Then did the flexibility portion of the DVD, followed by my PT stuff. Then this afternoon, I shoveled snow for an hour, sort of cleaning up around where DH snowblows. It was good to be outside.
Rest tomorrow.

[Crankin]

Went for a nice mid week ski at our local touring center. It's sunny out, so I ignored my sinuses and did the same 10K loop I did Sunday, with just a bit added on at the end. Once I got to the ridge/climbing part, I saw no one. Came home and did 15 minutes of my PT stuff.

[Catrin]

Last night I went back to my KB group after our competition Saturday. No competition work, right now our coach is turning up the conditioning level for all three of us. We will have to consider carefully what I will do next and the timing giving my thumb/wrist arthritis problem (and shoulder), have to be smart about this! Very proud of one of my training partners, she has real talent, and is 28 with NO broken bits (unlike me). She is unusually strong for a female her size, and she shows real promise of being able to do KB lifting professionally. Time will tell but it will be fun to watch/encourage her!

Rest day tonight after our session yesterday, and we have training again tomorrow night.

[Catrin]

Crankin, I commend you for getting out in those temps, I couldn't. I hope you both have fun!

I do wish I had discovered my activities long ago. My hand treatment on Tuesday flared everything up and it impacted my training session last night. I can't even write right now, but it will pass. I did what I could that didn't hurt and modified what did. Onward and up!

[Catrin]

Hand recovered from Tuesday's treatment, another next Thursday. Good conditioning workout today, I and my training partners return to competition training next week. I think my next comp will be in Chicago on Aug 2.

I AM looking forward to when the weather warms enough to hit the hiking trails and get some fresh air. Until then, it is back to the rowing machine - though in more moderation than what I did in December. I was racing then, basically, it was part of an overall challenge.

Had fun cooking tonight, had some pastured ground lamb and made some bangers and roasted veggies for dinner. I misread the spice part of the recipe and added WAY too much to the ground lamb - but it turned out fine! A bit on the heavy side spice wise, but I think I would have found the prescribed spice level to have been a bit bland, so it worked out well.

[Crankin]

I find most recipes have way too little spice.
Laying in bed at the B&B and looking out at a true winter wonderland. The place we skied at yesterday was good, but not thrilling. We skied about 10K, not a lot, but I find the first time I go to a touring center, it's some work to figure out the trail system. It was snowing the whole time we skied, which actually made it harder. The snow has stopped here, but it's really bad at home still.
Had a great dinner last night, in a blizzard, at an amazing place in Gill, MA, a teeny, teeny rural town.

[Crankin]

Yesterday's skiing was awesome. We did about 14K, most of it, climbing up to the summit of Northfield Mountain. Despite it being 12 degrees, the only place it was cold and windy was at the top. We made the mistake of skiing down on the road, which is an easy green trail, and it was slow because it was open to the blowing snow, unlike the woods. After we ate, we did another small climb, so we could ski down some blue trails. Fun. Today is a rest day. Will drive home and deal with snow clearing and getting food.

[Crankin]

Spin this morning. Hadn't been in awhile, so it was tolerable!

[Catrin]

Yesterday I dropped into a session with my coach at another location. It was a good one! Tonight it is back to my usual group, and a return to competition work. I am excited to return to it after doing lower intensity fitness kb work since our competition last week.