2015 Exercise Log/Challenge

[Catrin]

Hit my usual Tuesday evening KB training session last night. My coach is being stubborn about my not doing any sport lifting for now - but that doesn't mean that I can't use kettlebells in other ways, just no overhead work for now ;-) Hoping I will still be able to compete in 45 days, time will tell. The current thinking is my adding long distance rowing to my schedule at Thanksgiving is what tipped my shoulders over the edge - they were doing great before then. One arm has improved greatly, and the other one appears to be headed in the right direction :-)

Today I will take on a cardio-KB workout at home (with a light weight). I want to do something before leaving for church for an afternoon service. I will be serving as a greeter/usher which I always enjoy. I don't do it all of the time and it is always nice when I do, a great way to meet new people!

[Crankin]

So, it was very wise for me to take yesterday off, but I think I should have done some light walking or spinning to loosen my body up. It was too wet to take a ride and I did work until 6 PM. So, I did 3 sets of my back stretches. Woke up today incredibly stiff and sore. My ribs and upper abs were screaming! We only did one new thing, a partner exercise where one person was on the floor and the other one pushed their legs down and the person lifted them back up. I had to modify this a bit, but I think this is what did my upper abs in. For someone who has a really strong core, I am not used to this. So, off I went to step and sculpt this morning. This class is always crowded and it was very crowded today, which means the room gets steamy, as it's also warmer out and raining. I get there early, to get by the big fan and the door and I use Nuun in my bottle. So I did a 10 minute warm up on the TM, mostly hill walking, but 3 minutes of running, too, figuring this would help. Nope, my back was hurting for the whole class, I sweated so much, it got in my eyes and messed up my contact in my left eye, but the worst was when we went down on the floor to do abs, I could not do half of it, they still hurt so much. Oh yeah, and when I was changing position doing these plank type push up things, I cracked my knee on the floor. All in the name of being able to eat a bit more over the next day, but I finally am feeling better after doing more stretching and attacking myself with the foam roller, as well as a hot shower. I will use the heating pad tonight, because it looks like I will be riding outside 3 days in a row!
I haven't had a day at the gym like this in many years.

[Catrin]

Fantastic that you can ride three days in a row at this time of the year! Take care of that back....

As for me, I attempted to do my planned KB-cardio workout today, but there was a bit of soreness after last night's workout. So I will do the workout tomorrow rather than today. I DID complete one full round with a grand total of 100 single-arm swings (each side) mixed with some body weight stuff (after my usual warmup/mobility work) but one round is barely getting started. Oh well, listen to my body today so I can play tomorrow or Friday. I've learned that if I listen to my coach and chiro that things go MUCH better ;-)

Crankin, was your partner new to you or someone you usually work with for partner exercises? I've learned in the past that it really matters - especially that type of exercise.

[Crankin]

We don't usually do partner exercises, so no, not someone that knows me well. However, she did notice that my legs were going down to the left and asked if I was a lefty. So, she was astute enough to recognize something was off. She's a tri-athlete, who seems to be recovering from injury, as she modifies a lot of stuff that she didn't before. So, after I gave her a list of having "uneven" sides and a lumbar issue, she got it and I modified!
Hope your greeting duty goes well. We are going to our neighbors for a drink in about an hour and then for our "Jewish Christmas," aka Chinese food at 7:30. Will ride a short ride tomorrow before we go to dinner at our close friends at 3.

[Catrin]

It sounds like you had a nice evening planned Crankin, hope you had fun!

This morning I hit the gym for some cardio work - no kettlebells allowed today as I've KB training tomorrow. I've an unstable patella so it can be a problem finding the right thing that gives my body what it needs without overly-tweaking my knee. I am not rowing right now so my shoulders can finish healing, we think it was likely the combination of rowing for volume PLUS my competition training that sent my bicep tendon and rotator cuff over the edge. All is feeling better, I did some light work last night with the kettlebell jerk, it felt fine

My coach was working the floor, so we had an impromptu session where we figured out which of the available machines (that he considers worth using) would work with my little knee problem. We came up with a few that seems to work, and settled on a approach where I would move between different types of machines every 10 minutes or so to prevent over-use problems. The shorter the set per machine, the less of a chance that I turn it into a competition. It really doesn't matter that it is only me competing with me, it is just something that I am prone to do. So I moved between the ArcTrainer/Octane/Rope machine and the non-motorized treadmill.

[Crankin]

I rode 17 miles yesterday and 24.5 today. It was gusty, but 50 degrees yesterday. I did not think it would be so windy today, and we were heading into it for at least half the ride. DH was not feeling it, so our speed was exceedingly slow, even for us! However, we did pick it up near the end, before we got to our lunch stop, which is about 3 miles from home. Today was cooler out, but I've been dressed appropriately 2 days in a row, which is a miracle at this time of year.
Trying not to wimp out for tomorrow's club ride. We did it on Labor Day and DH had labeled it something "40 miles of hell and Nagog Hill." Thing is, once that hill is done, it's mostly flat or rolling. I also did the ride another time and I almost turned around, but it was because I was with a group of fast guys, who eventually went off on their own and then it was fine. We will not ride with the group, most likely, but be there at the start and let them go off, and then we will go.

[Catrin]

Usual KB training this morning, and I was allowed to try the three basic kettlebell sport lifts (Jerk, Snatch, Long Cycle). Things went fine! It was rather a long workout, they call it the "Calorie Burner" for good reason, but I went a bit slower than normal and really focused on how my biceps and shoulders felt. All was fine. I did end the last set 10 seconds early as one shoulder was starting to tighten and I called it good. I think things will be fine for my Feb 7 competition as long as I listen and don't re-injure. Part of me wants to do more work tomorrow after church, but since I've special KB training sessions already scheduled for both Monday and Tuesday I don't think I will. If I DO go tomorrow, then it will simply be all about mimicking a hamster on the ArcTrainer! No arm involvement at all.