New Year's Eve

I went to the gym this morning! I read the workout on Wodify before I went and almost didn't go! I think my New Year's resolution should probably be to delete Wodify. I never really record my workouts and I usually just psych myself out of a workout by reading it beforehand. Hmmm.... Anyway, this was today's workout:

I only made it through once and it took me about 22 minutes. I did not start over in the three minutes I had left. I just finished my push-ups and stopped. Also, we were supposed to be using two dumbbells or kettlebells with our deadlifts and squats, but I only used one. Oh well. It took me like 5 minutes to do 31 burpees. Sheesh.

I Missed

Well, I finally missed a workout on my schedule, and I have been grumpy all day. I truly believe me being in such a sour mood was because of missing the gym. It was partly because I was mad at myself for not getting up on time and partly because I didn't get to feel those great endorphins! No, I just usually feel pretty accomplished after a workout and I didn't get to start my day with that feeling. This is what I missed: 

Looks like I missed a fun one. And yes, I used the word "fun" to describe the workout.

It Was Saturday and It Didn't Rain!

Well, I didn't have to fight the rain yesterday morning, but I still managed to be a couple of minutes late to Crossfit. Getting up in the morning to go to the gym isn't my favorite thing to do on Saturday, I  suppose. But seriously, the lack of rain did make me happier. Here was our workout yesterday morning:

So, we know that I really hate burpees, but 2 minutes isn't so bad. I managed to do 15 in that time, which is about what I expected to get. I honestly didn't count the squats or push-ups. The second part of the workout was pretty fun, actually. We had to pick up a 60 lb sand bag and toss it over a shoulder. After some practice, I was able to get it over my left shoulder, but couldn't get it over my right. One day! Also, maybe one day I can use the 100 lb sand bag! Also, maybe one day I can do toes-to-bar rather than knee raises.

I Forgot!

Y'all, I forgot to write a post about the beastly wall balls:

I'm pretty sure when I looked at the workout earlier in the day, it went all the way down to 10 and therefore added up to 150. But this ONLY adds up to 140, so excuse me. So the shocking part about this workout: it wasn't that bad! I remember having to do Karen (150 straight wall balls) a couple of years ago and I was literally crying by the time I got to 50. I completely expected that on Wednesday night, but I never shed a tear! I actually found the sit-ups harder. Hmmm. 

Well, I would like to do the Saturday workout, too, but I think I accidentally told my roommates that I was free Saturday morning and that we could exchange gifts then.

I Did Fight Club!

I finally made it to Fight Club last night! Haley was coaching, which was super awesome, mainly because I feel like I hardly ever get to see her. I mean she does own the place, but she can’t be there 24 hours a day. Anywho, here’s what we did for Fight Club:

All in all, it wasn’t too bad, though it certainly did make me tired. I definitely need to work on my strength, as punching somebody in the face at my current level probably wouldn’t even hurt. Really. But that’s kind of the point of the class, so I hope to be able to keep going. I know I can’t make it Thursday. We’ll see in the new year.

I’m currently sitting in the gym waiting to do tonight’s workout. It involves 150 wall balls. Pray.

Monday Boost

I made it to another Monday class. Woo!

A couple of notes about the workout last night: I used the green band for the pull downs, which almost made the pull downs too difficult. Almost, but not quite. I just had to make sure to concentrate on each pull down to make sure I got down far enough. Also, we didn't actually do the last Metcon EMOM style. Which I'm thankful for. I think I could have done it if I really tried. I do wish I had kept track of how many rounds I did, but I got distracted by my legs feeling like Jello and trying not to fall down. 

So far, I have yet to regret a workout! Yes, there have been a couple I didn't like particularly, but none to regret. I'm going to try Fight Club tonight. I don't know if I can continue with Fight Club, but I'll go tonight because I have no reason I can't!

Yet Another Rainy Saturday Morning

The weather really needs to sort itself out and stop being rainy on Saturday mornings! I feel like that makes it way more difficult to get out of the bed! But I did manage to wake up and get out the door. I even left in time to run by the QT to get a bottle of water. Which is good, because today's workout was not easy!

Two workouts for the price of one! Just kidding, the first part wasn't that bad. The second part was fairly difficult, simply because of the hill run. Daniel kind of requested we all do the run - the rowing and biking were just rain options, but of course it wasn't raining just then. Soooo, running is not my thing, much less up hill! I didn't make it very far up before I started walking, and our second time around, I walked the whole thing. I'm definitely glad I went to Crossfit this morning, though. That's three Saturdays in a row! 

Oh, and here are a couple of pictures:

Deceptively Difficult

Last night, I was able to go to Boost. I watched a little bit of the Crossfit workout before my class. It involved a 20 calorie bike ride. I wonder how long it would take for me to do that? The agony! Fortunately, my class had no biking in it at all. Actually, when I looked at our workout on Wodify, I thought to myself that it didn't look so bad. Here it is:

I'm usually pretty decent at planks, so 40 seconds seemed doable. A 40 second Superman hold also sounds fairly simple. I hate wall balls, but hey, there were only 8 to do at a time. And hammer curls generally aren't bad at all. But, of course, I did not take into account doing these things one after another or the order in which we had to do them! I'll catch on one of these days! I did manage to hold all of my planks for the whole time, but I was struggling at the end. I used a 12lb wall ball. You wouldn't think an extra 2 pounds would make that much of a difference, but I constantly drop the 14lb ball!

Anywho, that workout is now in the books. I haven't missed a workout yet that I planned to go to. Next up is Saturday morning Crossfit. I still haven't decided if I'm doing the self-defense seminar afterward. We'll see.

Fight Club

I don't even know what this all means but I wish I could've been there! Can't do Thursday either because I'll be at work! But maybe next week?

Never Miss a Monday

Because of the snowy/slushy weather today, BangBang didn't do Boost tonight. They had a 4:30 Crossfit class, though. Well, I did go! It was kind of cool to go because I was able to see people who usually go to different times there all at once. Here was today's workout:

It was definitely interesting! I ended up on the bike because I was not quick enough to get a rower (it was a big class today). As I have said before, I HATE the bike. I really hated it today because I kept having to bike farther each time! Oh well. Anyway, I can usually get through Cindy 10 times, but I didn't even make 5 rounds of Cindy with a Twist. It was definitely harder. I'm glad I went today, because I won't be able to make tomorrow. Also, I was in a pretty good mood and had plenty of energy tonight, which I'm almost certain is because of going to Crossfit!

Another Rainy Saturday

Another Saturday in which I did not want to get up. But I managed it at the last minute and made it to the gym for Saturday Crossfit. Today's workout wasn't too bad, actually. Here it is:

The reverse bear crawl sucked, but the rest was okay. I felt pretty good after the workout and was happy I got my butt out of bed. Then I stayed for Steve's Fight Club demonstration. My idea of a demonstration is watching people do things, but it turns out Steve's idea of a demonstration is having me do things. Haha! That's okay -- two workouts for the price of one! I think Fight Club has the potential to be a really good class. I don't know if I'll be able to go to it or not, though! We'll just have to see. I know I won't be able to next week, which is the first week.

Hard Love

Tonight's post is the title of the song I posted in my last entry. Because I finally had a workout that I did not at all like. First of all, tonight's workout was the same as the regular CrossFit workout. Like, not different at all. At first it didn't seem all that terrible, but it quickly turned. The workout was this:

By the way, that's 100 total kettlebell swings. But that wasn't all that hard, really (although I did use a 26lb kettlebell, rather than the recommended 35lbs). My main problem was the bike. I hate the bike so much! I just did a 5 calorie bike ride instead... and I still finished a round behind everyone else.

I have never been athletic at all. I've always finished last. Gym class was torture for me in school. And apparently it still bothers me that I finish last. I think that's why regular CrossFit freaks me out so much. I know it's not a competition (at least not much of one) but I just feel bad anyway. Sigh.

So yeah, this blog is going to help me not think about how much this workout sucked... somehow?

Crazy Week

Today was one of those days I could have easily found an excuse not to go to the gym. I have a big project due on Friday, along with a phone interview for a job. I hit a deer last night, so I didn't really get to work on anything last night, and I spent part of this afternoon in Easley talking to a girl at the repair shop. But, I went to boot camp tonight because I knew this was the kind of week where I needed to do something physical! And I intend to go again tomorrow night to Boost.

My master plan for getting things done this week is this: I'm going to work on my project through the day on Thursday and stop. If I don't finish, I'm going to use a grace day (my professor gave us two at the beginning of the semester and I haven't used any yet) and turn it in Saturday instead. I'll take Thursday evening to clear my head and think more about the interview.

I feel so much better having gone to BangBang tonight. I just love hanging out with everyone and meeting new people (yes, introverted me enjoys that sometimes). And the workout gave me something else to focus on for a little while. I also listened to my favorite workout song on the way home tonight. I don't listen to it during the workout because music is already playing at the gym. I listen to it before to get me pumped up sometimes and then after just because I like it so much! And I'm putting it in the blog just so you can listen! I actually like the album version the best (just Needtobreathe and no one else singing), but this version is good too.

Rainy Saturday

I did not want to get out of bed this morning because, ugh, it's a gloomy day. But I thought about this blog and how I knew I would feel better if I just got going, and I managed to get up in time just to make it to the gym by 9am. I wonder how successful I would be at power lifting if I had to be there at 8?
Saturdays are actually kind of fun because the workout is typically group- or partner-based. Today's was a partner workout. I can't remember my partner's name, either, which makes me sad. But here was the WOD:

So it wasn't too bad, really, because one partner got to cheer the other on while the other completed the full round and then we switched. I am most proud of the fact that I managed to hang onto the bar for the entire 25 seconds once I wised up and used the chalk.

Not only did I do that workout, but I stayed for yoga at 11. Sarah met me there and did yoga, too, so that was cool. Next week the Fight Club demonstration is at 10, so I'll definitely be there for that. I will probably go ahead and do yoga again as well.

Overall, even though today is gloomy, I've had a fairly productive day. I credit getting my butt up at a decent time and going to Crossfit for that! Otherwise, I would have slept forever and then been grumpy all day!

So Sore!

I went to Boost again last night. My legs are so sore today! But it's the good kind of sore -- it means I was doing something with my body instead of sitting around doing nothing! We also had to do a fair amount of burpees last night, which I do not consider fun at all. It wasn't too horrible, though. Steve remembered that I really don't like burpees and gave me a little pep talk before we started. See what I mean about the awesome coaches?!

Steve also mentioned that he's starting a class in the new year. It's going to be a self-defense type of class. I'm quite interested in that.

Anyway, I feel much better today than I have felt in a while, so this "going to the gym" thing must really work to make me feel better. I just have to keep blogging and telling myself that. I plan to go back Saturday morning (which is the next time I can go, due to work). Hopefully I can convince myself to get out of bed!

Workout #2

Hey-O! Workout #2 in the books! I went to the first night of boot camp tonight. To be honest, the workout was more difficult than I expected. I've done a version of that workout before (or the same, can't remember exactly), so I kind of remembered how difficult it was. But like I said, I haven't worked out in a while... so yeah, it was more intense than I remembered! Also, the warm up was brutal because I was so sore from yesterday! All the stretching hurt! Anyway, like I thought, I did feel much better after doing the workout than I did before the workout. Have to remember that!

Starting Over

So I started over last night. Well, to say "started over" is a bit dramatic, but it had been a while since I've worked out consistently. It was the beginning of September when I stopped going to CFBB. I moved near the end of September, and I had a lot to do to get ready for that, not to mention regular work hours and my classes at USC. But then once I moved, habits had to change. When you move, it can be exciting, but everything gets discombobulated! I had to get used to new routines, and going to CFBB got put on the back burner for a while. I meant to start back once I got settled in, but it took me much longer to get settled than I thought. I'm still not thoroughly convinced that I am settled! Anyway, about six weeks went by before I found myself back in the gym... and I was scared. Scared that I had lost any strength or ability and that I wouldn't be able to do the workout. I went twice that week. I did one workout with Daniel and another with Jess. Fortunately, all the coaches at CFBB are awesome -- that's one thing I never have to worry about! My workouts were pretty good, actually. Yeah, they were harder than usual, but they weren't too bad. But then I had a ton of school work to do and before I knew it, another couple of weeks went by. And another couple of weeks. Then Thanksgiving. Anyway, I finally decided to start back yesterday evening, and I have a goal of being consistent through the end of the year. I drove to the gym and found myself scared to go in! Surely, after so many weeks (really, over 2 months!), I would feel horrible working out. I forced myself to walk in -- I like to get there early and watch the Crossfitters work out before me. It kinda gets me pumped up a little. Daniel was there and he came over and talked to me for a while. That's one of the best things about CFBB. The coaches there really care about you and take the time to talk to you and see what's going on in your life. So, I talked to Daniel for several minutes about my difficulties in being away from the gym and deciding to come back. Steve came in to coach our class, which was wonderful, because Steve is also awesome. The workout wasn't too bad, actually.

The last part of it was pretty difficult, but not just for me. We had to row 500m, rest for 90 seconds, then row 500m more. This, of course, was better than the time we had to row 1000m straight. However, I think this was harder for me because I was in better shape rowing 1000m! Anyway, I got through it with some help from Steve, and I left the gym feeling good. I almost always feel way better after I work out. And, overall, it really helps my depression. So, I'm planning to go back tonight and tomorrow night in hopes that I can make this a habit (again). I really want to be a person who goes to the gym! Maybe that sounds silly, but I really love CFBB. The people there (coaches and athletes) are just top-notch. So, I want to be there, several times a week. I just have to make it a priority again!