Done, Done, on to the Next One

It's almost embarrassing, the ego this whole BCCC thing has given me.

Funny story. This weekend I was a bridesmaid for one of my best friends. We ordered our (super-cute) dresses back in August - at that point, I had been eating paleo about 80-90% of the time for a month or so, and I was down a little bit of weight, but not much. On top of that, I'm pretty hourglassy, and as usual, my bust size fell two sizes about my waist size on the chart. Long story short, I ordered a size 14, which had plenty of room to accommodate my chest, and I figured I'd just get it taken in.

Fast forward through five more months, two 30-day challenges, quitting diet soda and other artificial sweeteners cold turkey, and a whole lot more consistency. I waited as long as possible before I took my dress to get altered. My lady took that shit in FOUR INCHES in the chest, and as much as possible in the waist without messing up the pockets (yes, a dress with pockets - so fabulous). And still, on the wedding day, when I put that dress on, it hung off of me, somewhat like a sack. As luck would have it, one of the other bridesmaids ordered down a size, and wasn't loving the fit of her dress either...so we switched. And her size 8 was still too big for me.

So, yes. I've been channeling Ron Burgundy. "HEY EVERYONE! COME AND SEE HOW GOOD I LOOK!" And now that I'm close to where I want to be, body composition-wise, I'm ready to shift my focus.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I've signed up for a good old-fashioned strongman competition.

("You people have held me back long enough! I'm going to CLOWN COLLEGE!" "...I bet none of us expected him to say that.")

In less than two weeks, I will be carrying a keg, walking with a yoke over my shoulders loaded with 320lbs, heaving a 130lb Atlas stone, and - gulp - clean & jerking 145lbs. Which, incidentally, is 27lbs more than I've ever cleaned OR jerked before. So, my focus has shifted away from fat loss and to maximizing my strength. Which could really use some maximizing.

I've loosened things up a bit, but am still keeping my nutrition pretty strict while I train. I'm having cream in my coffee regularly now, but am limiting chocolate (or other sugary treat) to the weekends only. I'll probably be OK with more fibrous veggies (cauliflower and green beans and whatnot), but recently I've been having only greens (spinach, kale, collards) out of sheer laziness, so that might continue. I'm also trying to include more lean meats, since I have a tendency to eat mostly pork chops and red meat, but I'm not actively avoiding them.

Example: my post-workout dinner last night.



Two salmon burgers with mustard, small sweet potato nuked and topped with cinnamon, chipotle chili, paprika and salt, salad with raw spinach, cherry tomatoes, handful of bacon crumbles, olive oil, balsamic vinegar and granulated garlic. Side of food and workout log.

Speaking of workout log...boy, it's been a while since I've caught this blog up.

Thursday 2/2: Greasing the groove with supinated strict pull-ups, on the minute for 10 minutes. Started with 2 each minute, failed on the second starting with the fourth minute, so backed down to one. 13 total. Split jerk, up to peak of 1. 55-70-85-100-110 push press -110 (PR!)-115 (PR!). Metcon: 4 rounds for time, 8 push press with 75% of max (for me, 85lbs), 8 toes to bar, 8 single leg squats to a box. 11:35 as RX'ed. Push press could have been faster, but I felt strong and never failed, so that's good.

Saturday 2/4: Gymnastics skills class, handstand pushups. Strict with bands - up to light bands for a couple reps. Kipping - REAL CLOSE. Need to learn to push with my arms. Stayed around for regular session. 3 rounds for time of 10 deadlifts at 65% of max, 50 doubleunders. 16:04 as RX'ed (165lb deadlifts). I could have lifted 50 more pounds and still taken just as long, since my DUs go to shit when I'm fatigued.

Sunday 2/5: Oly. Snatched up to 68.4lbs (weird weight due to combo of pound and kilogram plates); cleaned up to 49kg (about 108lbs).

Tuesday 2/7: Skill work with strict muscle ups. Bodyweight false grip ring pull up (god, that shit is SO HARD) (TWSS). Band assisted muscle ups with two mini bands. SO HARD. Metcon: "Sammy's Day Off." AMRAP 12 minutes, 4 chest-to-bar pull ups, 4 ring dips, 4 handstand pushups, 4 kettlebell snatch (1.5/1pood). 4 rounds + 2 pull ups; scaled with mini band for pull ups, light bands for HSPUs, and push ups for ring dips.

Thursday 2/9: Greasing the groove with supinated pull ups. Same as 2/2 - two for first three minutes, one for last 7. Split jerk - warmed up with 45x3; then 65-85-105-115 push press -115. Metcon - 21-15-9, overhead squats (95/65) and wallballs (20/14). 8:37 as RX'ed. Wallballs super slow, but squats great - did first 21 unbroken and split into 4's and 5s for the rest.

Sunday 2/12: Gymnastics fun - cartwheels, roundoffs, iron cross ring work. Oly: snatched to 73lbs (PR!), clean & jerk to 118lbs (PR!). My form REALLY started to come together for me this week, particularly with the snatch. SO HAPPY.

Monday 2/13: Greasing the groove with pronated pull ups, one bodyweight each minute (up from 2 with mini band last time). Legit. AMRAP doubleunders in 5 minutes: 54 (FAAAAAARK - last time we did this I got about 120). I knew then that the metcon was going to be ugly for me. "Big Jim:" 3 rounds of 400m run, 9 thrusters (135/95), 12 box jumps (30"/24"), 15 double unders. A whopping 26:06, as RX'ed - and the last 15 DUs took me SIX MINUTES. SIX! I bet I spent 12 minutes of that workout on double unders. Like I said...they go to shit when I'm fatigued.

Yay Cardreader!

Finally -- after two freaking weeks of no new pictures (well, except the ever-reliable crappy blurry Blackberry photos) -- I've got a new cardreader. You know, one that ACTUALLY works with my memory card.

And that means I can finally share with you the reason for the delay:

And the artist:

"What? I didn't do anything. I swear!"

So, approximately fifteen days ago, I was getting ready to leave for what I planned on making a six mile run. It was a sunny, moderately hot morning, and I was pumped to test out my new running skirt:

It's actually a tennis skirt, but whatever. The only issue is that is doesn't have any pockets -- but no worries, I have my trusty SPIbelt just for this reason.

About a mile into my run, I realized I'd forgotten my water. I don't drink a ton of water on runs, but I do like some -- if nothing else than to avoid cottonmouth. I have a small (8-ounce) amphipod that straps onto my hand. I dig it because it's small -- while it doesn't hold a ton of water, it also doesn't weigh much. Apparently, it weighs so little that I don't even notice it's there! (Or, more importantly, when it's not.)

I wasn't too concerned -- even though it was definitely hot out, my 6-mile route runs down the Schuylhill River trail, up past the Waterworks and onto Kelly Drive. There's a water fountain exactly two miles from my house, which is well-positioned -- I figured I'd run my two miles, drink, another mile out and back, stop for another drink, and then get my planned post-run coconut water at the end. No problem, right?

Except. There was something going on near the Art Museum that morning. There's a spot where the trail forks - you can keep going on the trail itself, which goes under the road and then back up to the Waterworks, or you can hang a right and pick up West River Drive. This morning, for some reason, they were forcing all runners/walkers/bikers/whatever onto West River Drive. Which meant missing my perfectly-positioned water stop.

No worries, I thought. I'd run West River Drive once before -- about a year ago, I did the 8.4 mile loop that goes from Kelly Drive to West River Drive. I hadn't brought water that time either, and remembered stopping at a fountain on West River Drive. I figured I'd just make sure I ran to the fountain.

So I'm running. I'm running. I'm making decent time and feeling good, if a little thirsty. I'm watching as my Garmin rolls over to three miles. Hmm. Now what?

I had no real interest in extending my run -- the last thing I need to do is reinjure myself, you know? So I figured -- OK. I'll just walk to the water fountain! And then turn around and run back.

So I pull off into the grass to slow down. Quick stretch of the hip flexors, and I started walking. And walking. And walking. At 3.25 miles, I was still thirsty, my heartrate way down, and there was no water fountain in sight. "It's gotta be here close," I reasoned. And took off running again.

That freaking water fountain was 3.8 miles out. OMGOMGOMGOMGWATER! It looked so amazing that I was worried it was a mirage. But no, no...definitely not. I gulped down my fill, stretched a bit, and headed home.

And wow. Was that a brutal run home. Extending a run by 1.6 miles probably doesn't seem like much to a lot of you, but I was basically just waiting for death to take me. Even with my quarter-mile walk, I managed to cover the first six miles in just under an hour, which made me happy -- and also made me want to die. In fact, I spent a good five miles solid just wondering when sweet death would take me.

My remaining 1.6ish mile run/walk/jog/shuffle hybrid home could not have ended soon enough. When I finally hit the sweet, sweet air conditioning of my corner grocery store, I could have melted right there. The coconut water was the most glorious thing I've ever tasted. When I finally made it the couple blocks home, I more or less had to crawl up my stairs.

My post-run "OMG I AM HOME" face:

Serious case of the sausage fingers from being dehydrated:

...and I had to wait two weeks to document this because these pictures were trapped on my camera. Thanks to Little Miss Sophie. Let me tell you, this really seemed like a much better story at the time :)

How was everyone's weekend?

Is it safe to come out now?

MAN, this has been an insane week...and it's only Wednesday.

Thankfully (1) the office is closed Friday, so it's really more like a Thursday, and (2) I blasted through my fire drills AND most of my to-do list, so I have a little breathing room this morning.

Last night I finally got to try Plyo -- oh, I'm sorry, "PLYOMETRICS X." After PhillyGuy stole the DVD last week, I was looking forward to trying it for the first time -- especially since it left his legs aching for days last week. He had previously pointed out that there was absolutely no way both of us could do the workout at once in our "home gym," so we packed up the laptop and took it to our complex's new gym.

The new gym includes a big, wooden-floor workout room, complete with mirrored wall and plenty of space -- I figured it would be PERFECT for our plyo. And it was...except that when we got there, the room was occupied by a yoga class. Figures. Without any way to tell how long it would be before they were out of there, I forced PhillyGuy to suck it up and get our workout started right in the middle of the gym.

I'm sure we looked like idiots at first, staring at a computer and jumping up and down just a few yards away from "normal" exercise equipment, but believe me, once you got into it, there was no time or energy to waste on dwelling on what other gym-goers might be thinking. There were plenty of variations on squat jumps: reaching squat jumps, standing tuck jumps (no using your arms for momentum, like I did in cheerleading!), runners squat jumps, squat jacks, traveling "frog" squat jumps, blah blah blah...and MAN, did I feel it. Half an hour blew by, the room cleared out, we booked it into the aerobics room and killed the second half hour.

By the end, I was absolutely dripping with sweat. Unlike Kenpo, where my heartrate never really peaked, I could tell that I was consistently where I needed to be, above 185 and, at the peak of each interval, much closer to 200-205.

I'm sore today, but not overwhelmingly sore. Some of the moves hurt my knee, though I simply don't know yet whether it's because I have poor form or because my knee isn't healed enough yet (or both). I'm going to try it next week with a knee sleeve and see whether that helps.

Today is (I think) biceps, triceps, and shoulders. I think. It's hard to remember. If that's the case, we're definitely going to need to pack up for the gym again, because the resistance bands just ain't cutting it for me.

SO LOOKING FORWARD TO FRIDAY!

Day of New Things

Apparently, today is a day of adventure for me.

(More importantly, it is my last day of work for the week -- since PhillyGuy and I are leaving for a weekend in NYC tomorrow!)

For some reason, I've decided to try some new things today.

I headed out this morning in that oh-so-bizarre combination that the weather this time of year makes necessary: a skirt and Uggs. (Look, I'm so sick of tights -- and it's going to be mid-60s! That means it's OK to wear a skirt with bare legs! Unfortunately, a 38-degree morning is NOT really flip-flop weather. Hence, the oh-so-chic gray Uggs.)

For some reason, I decided to vary my usual route to work. Instead of cutting through Fitler Square and that area, like I usually do, I headed straight down South Street to 20th. That meant that I didn't pass Good Karma, my usual coffee place -- instead, I hit up La.Va, which I've passed a thousand times but have never stopped in. Verdict? I prefer Good Karma, but only a little bit. They're both a bajillion times better than Starbucks -- not that I dislike Starbucks by any stretch of imagination. But after trying a real, handmade latte, Starbucks tastes...well...corporate.

Anyway. My next change-up for the day? Breakfast. I'm out of yogurt, so I sliced up some strawberries and packed those up with a little baggie of granola, figuring I'd just stop on the way to work and pick up a container of my go-to Chobani. Except the grocery store I stopped at only had two or three containers of Chobani left, none of which I wanted (2% plain, 2% pineapple, and one lonely nonfat strawberry, which I'm sick to death of). They DID, however, have a massive variety of other brands of yogurt. I was intrigued by this:



(Forgive the lousy blackberry picture.) Skyr? Icelandic-style yogurt? The ingredients list looked good, so I grabbed the pomegranate/passionfruit flavor and headed out.

Verdict? MAN, is that stuff tart. It's a little bit of a different texture than Greek yogurt...more of a thick custard texture than a sour cream texture. With the strawberries and granola mixed in, I really liked it -- but plain it was a bit much, even for me. For the whopping $3.29 per container, though, I don't think I'll be making this a regular habit.

Next on the list of changes...well. Guys, I started this blog for a specific reason: to help keep myself accountable in losing the 18lbs I let creep on over the past year. Instead, it seems like it's been a venue for me to record justifications for having several lousy weeks in a row. That's not really what I had in mind, you know?

In honesty, I don't know WHY I've been letting myself be lame like this. Some of it had to do with my nagging knee, but not all of it. I worked late a few times, not getting home until 7:30 or later, but nothing stopped me from getting up early to work out in the mornings instead...except for my desire to sleep in. This has GOT to stop. Because let me tell you, justification ain't helping my ginormous thighs fit back into my suits, you know?

I'm almost embarassed to admit this, but...well...PhillyGuy and I bought P90X. Yes, that DVD set with the d-bag-ish infomercial. He's at his breaking point, too, and we decided together that this was something we'd do -- TOGETHER -- to get past this lousy stage we've let ourselves fall into. Do I need a 13-DVD set to show me how to work out effectively? Nope. Do I need the eating plan that it comes with me show me that eating less crap and more veggies and egg whites is going to help me drop body fat? Nope. But, here's the thing about me -- I just do better with a program laid out for me. I tried the whole keeping-myself-accountable thing, and while I generally do fine MAINTAINING that way, I never get anywhere new with it. This isn't limited to losing weight, of course -- I know that I need to do speedwork and tempo runs to improve my race times, but without a specific week-by-week plan, I don't work out the way I should and, shockingly, my race times don't improve. By contrast, give me a Runners' World SmartCoach plan that tells me to run X miles at Y speed on day Z, and what do you know, I PR.

So here I am, with an overpriced DVD set, a door-mounted pullup bar, and a husband to accompany me on what I hope will be three months of getting my ass in gear (and, preferably, getting my ass back in that navy suit I bought in April 2009, none of which fits right now).