March 16 - Warrior Up

I'd like to report in that I am feelin' fine and resting easy after my second run of the Warrior Dash today. But alas I have to confess that I feel more like the conquered rather than a Warrior. LOL.

But even through the scrapes, the bruises, the cramping muscles, and the mud that seems like I'll never be able to wash it all off .... I'm a happy camper.

I survived another Warrior Dash. My better half (& favorite work out partner in the whole world) & I ran our first WD back in November. And we had such a good time doing it that we immediately signed up for the next one scheduled once we were done.

The first time around, we really didn't train much for it. We stuck to our normal workout routine, but we really hadn't gotten into crossfit yet. And aside from our soccer games, we were only getting in about 1 neighborhood run per week (at best).

This time, we really have been hitting it hard to get ready. We are doing crossfit workouts about 3X/week and running about 3X/week as well. We've upped our distance to around the same distance as that of the WD (which is somewhere near a 5K distance, depending on the exact course). So honestly, I felt good going into this one. I felt like I should be able to perform a little better than our fist showing.

I was W-R-O-N-G.

But saying that, I'm still fairly happy with myself.

The course was fun. We scaled walls, hopped through a tire course, pulled ourselves through and out of soupy mud pits, and ran up and down the rather steep hills of the Rocky Hill Ranch mountain bike park. In the end, we had managed to make it through 12 obstacles spread over about 3.5 miles of the Ranch.

I must confess, those hills are much more thrilling on the back of a mountain bike than they are on foot. ;+) But the park is a really great spot for anything 'outdoorsy.' And I would go back in a heart beat to do it all again (though I would like a month or two for my poor aching body to recover first).


Maybe next year I'll see an improvement in my time. But honestly, I'm not too fussed about it.

I had fun. I trained hard. And I was able to do every single obstacle without assistance.

I'm good.

Now to go find a spot on the couch until tomorrow (soccer game!).

March 13 - WOD

Today's WOD was pretty simple, but in true crossfit style, I am already starting to hurt.

Overhead squats. Need I say more?

Five sets. Only 3 reps each set.

I've made it no secret that I have struggled with this exercise. For my first set, I stuck with using the PVC pipe. But I finally graduated to the weight bar for my last 4 sets.

It might not seem like much. But I am so pleased with myself for using the bar for this exercise finally. I have a long way to go but at least I am seeing some progress. That's good enough for me for tonight.

In other news, we also got our run in yesterday. Just a quick couple of laps around our street before judo class. Since we were short on time, we pushed the pace. It sucked (or at least I sucked wind doing it). But at least we worked it in before time to run to judo.

This Saturday we have the Warrior Dash. Despite the fact that this is a run (which we all know is not my thing), I am really looking forward to it.

Feb 19 - plank, jog, sprint

Each day I am starting to feel a bit more like myself. And that feels good!

Today I managed to squeeze in my planks between meetings. I am still trying to work on the side planks, so I held on for 1 min 5 seconds on each side and then did a regular plank for 1 min 5 secs as well.

After work, Wonder Dad and I did a quick 4 loops around our street. We finished in just about 20 minutes. We kept up a good place for most of the run, but the last lap was a bit slower (despite the fact that I felt like I was trying a lot harder). Oh well ...

Then we capped off the night with some sprints up and down the side lines during Wonder Boy's soccer practice. Our first game is just a week and a half away, so we figured we better start pushing the pace a bit.

We also have our first 5K of the year coming up in just under a month. We've decided to run the Warrior Dash again. We ran one last fall. And while we both completed the run as well as every obstacle, our times were ... well ... let's just say "less than spectacular."

I felt bad for Wonder Dad as he could have made better time, but he chose to stick by me throughout. And I'll be honest, I had to walk a bit of it. I had trained running the 5K distance, but the obstacles took a lot more out of me than I had bargained for. I am hoping to be better prepared this time around.