Air Force Wod

It's been such a tremendously busy week I'm so far behind!!!!!! I promise to get these all up and running soon!

Now I know why they call it a 'dead' lift....

Coming today or thereabouts...

Snatchable? Is that like lunchable?

This will more than likely come tomorrow... I'm sleepy

Return of the goat...

Is this like "Return of the Mack"?



I took a rest day on Wednesday just because my behind was dragging. I hit two 15 hour days back to back and was scheduled to have another one on Wednesday, so I was a little apprehensive about starting the day at 0400. So I got back to the box on Thursday and Friday, and I really have to say I think Jerry is an evil man. Ok, so maybe he's not some horrible terrible guy, but this week SUCKED.

It's like Jerry looked at my goat list and was like, "I'm going to put every one of Katie's goats in a wod this week.... mwuahahahahahah." I swear, that had to be how it went. Everyday this week it was something. Deadlifts,burpees, running, l-sit pull-ups, ring dips... eeep! Everything I SUCK at. I literally had to FORCE myself to go to the box this week. Normally I really enjoy being in the box, but when you suck at the things that come up in the wods, it's really hard to feel motivated to go. I went basically because of regionals. Had I not needed to train for regionals, I probably wouldn't have gone to the box much at all this week. Because, in addition to the suck factor, I am feeling very burnt out.

I'm sure that everyone feels that way sometimes, and I think the combination of the things in my life at the moment is just adding to that. So I think after regionals that some time away from CF will be good for me to recharge batteries and maybe get back to a more healthy frame of mind regarding exercise and working out. Sometimes we all need a break, and I'm thinking it's my time. I'm also thinking after watching my sister swim today that I kind of miss the water and so perhaps some cross training may be coming down the pike. Perhaps it will keep me from getting too burnt out. If I mix it up... it might be a good thing! Who knows... I'll be sure to blog about it though... :)

It didn't look that bad on paper...

Dear Katie,

I would just like to tell you that you are a big giant terd burglar, and that you really ought to stop judging books by their covers. Seriously. You write all these rules and funny things about CrossFit, and then you totally ignore what you write. You are a pretty big dork sometimes, you know? What number is it on the "Don'ts of CrossFit" list? I forget, but you wrote, "If it looks easy on paper, be afraid." And what did you do yesterday huh?

You saw the wod, said, "This doesn't look that bad" and then came into the box and got your BUUUUUUTTTTTT WHOOPED! Serves you right for judging my wods by their covers. You need to learn to take your own advice butthead and stop being a terd burglar. And if you don't , I will just continue to punish you and program double unders, running, and push-ups everyday. You've been warned!

Love you long time,

CrossFit

******************************************************
Dear CrossFit,

Uncle.

Love,

Katie

******************************************************

Ok, so just MAYBE CrossFit didn't really write me a letter and tell me to stop being all sorts of silly and stupid, but they probably ought to. I saw the workout, thought, this doesn't look too bad, and then got my @ss handed to me BIG TIME. It was seriously painful. After the pull-ups, I just felt all sorts of awful. The WOD looked like this.

5RFT
10 L-sit pull-ups
6 snatches 85lbs/135lbs
400 M run

Ummmmmmmmmm... about this wod and the THIRTY-TWO MINUTES it took me to do it! Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm............................ UNCLE?!?!?!

World turned upside down...

Isn't that a song?! I think it is... maybe it is... maybe I just made the whole thing up... But regardless, it pretty accurately describes Monday as I spent the better part of Monday morning being upside down.

Jerry had us do 12 minutes of handstand work to start the day. And if you are a pretty decent handstand-er, then you got to work on free-standing handstands and walking on your hands. Believe me when I tell you, I thought this didn't sound too bad, but oh my God! I woke up Tuesday with traps so sore I couldn't touch them. This really works a whole different rage of muscles. It's clearly more challenging than a wall handstand! I would recommend not trying to do this in a workout, but as we did, a skill practice for a set time limit. I really hurt, but was good practice....

After I nearly killed myself by repeatedly turning myself upside down, Jerry had a nice little metcon for us.... double tabata. Zoinks Shaggy. There is nothing I like less than tabata, well, except push-ups... well now that I think about it... and Cindy. I hate Cindy. No offense to her or anything, but her workout really sucks. Soooo double tabata? With rowing, box jumps and walking lunges? Lord. I think my legs rebelled about halfway through. They were like, yar, we mutiny! And then they just refused to work.

Ok, so maybe my legs didn't REALLY talk like pirates, but it would have been an entertaining workout if they had. Anyway, if you're looking for a nice little gasser, here ya go...

Double Tabata
:40 work/ :20 rest
Row
Box jumps
Walking lunges 15lbs w/20lbs m

Ew, gwoss, and ew. Pardon my alternate languages that I'm randomly throwing in here (Pirate, Katiespeak et al) but seriously. I'm DYING for a day when I get to throw heavy weights all day, and that's it. I don't want to do anymore metcon. I know we need it with the competition coming up and all but I don't want to run, or row, or jump, or double under ANYMORE! BLECH! Enough.... let me OHS someone and I'll be happy. Maybe THAT will come up as a regional wod. I'm putting in my vote for that. 1RM OHS! Someone write that down!

Cindy Sandwich...

Lately Jerry has been throwing a lot of really gross workouts our way, but they've mostly been from area sectionals. On Wednesday, Jerry put together this little number which made me feel like a giant pile of poo. Needless to say that after sectionals, I really never want to see Cindy again... so the fact that it sort of came up was really super disheartening. The wod Jerry threw together looked like this...

Cindy
AMRAP 6 Minutes
With a continuous running clock go immediately to
18 minutes to find 1RM push press
At 18 minute cap with continuously running clock go immediately back to
Cindy
AMRAP in 6 Minutes

This was seriously just gross all around. I'm still extremely weak in my triceps from the whole sectionals thing, and the push-ups on here were so slow it was ridiculous. I understand that it takes a little while to recover from rhabdo, but I was really thinking the rebound would be faster than that. I really didn't feel like I was moving anywhere on the push-ups and this time I wasn't even wearing a weight vest. Doing sets of 2/3 was hard. At this point, I'm not feeling very confident about regionals in a few weeks.

Lungs on fire...

In this late breaking news, Kings of Leon will remake their hit single 'Sex on Fire' and aptly rename it, 'Lungs on Fire'. Expect the remake to feature T-Pain, Usher, and Jason Derulo.

Ok, so maybe that's not exactly all true... but it sounded good and it made me laugh this morning... kinda like The Goonies...

Chunk- "Ok Brand, Michael Jackson didn't use the bathroom at my house.... but his SISTER did...."

A throwback...

Can you find me in this photo?

Sometimes we all have those days. Those days where we know where we want to be, but we just can't seem to get there. We can so clearly see our goal, but yet we're just not there and it seems completely unattainable. Yup, these days suck, and are utterly frustrating. It's easy to get down. It's easy to wonder why things aren't happening the way you'd like. It's easy to hate life for awhile. It's also really easy to lose focus.

I wholeheartedly admit that for me these days, CrossFit seems to be more a mental thing for me. I have been losing my perspective more and more. As I progress, I seem to forget how far I've come and that now that I've come THIS far, progress will be slower, it will be harder fought. It will not come as quickly as it once did. So, this post is to serve as a reminder. I called it a throwback because I am going back to the beginning. I want these pictures to remind me of how far I've come. A reminder that the journey is long and far from over.

Hang squat clean X 1

Whoops! Totally let this one slip by me!

We hit some 1RM Hang Squat cleans last week. Haven't hit a squat clean rep in awhile, let alone a hang clean, so this was an interesting workout to his as I started to get back into the swing of things. My top weight was 1X150 I think.

CrossFit readers: I need YOU!

Regionals are coming. In fact they are coming like a freight train..... they will literally be here before I know it. So I need some help. If you were on board for the sectionals, you know that I planned multiple outfits to match the different wods. It was a way to keep my mind from focusing too much on the pain that was to come, and just a way to well, HAVE FUN. Unfortunately, my creativity has sort of run out, so I'm looking for ideas.

For sectionals, there was a Penn State outfit, a Steelers outfit, a throwback outfit (I wore my 1/2 marathon shirt/short combo that had well wishes written all over it), and there was the infamous glitter outfit... oi vey.

But, here I am, 3 weeks out from regionals now, and my wardrobe is lacking. I have no plan, and I'm totally bummed. So I need some fresh ideas to spice up my wardrobe for regionals. I'd love to hear some thoughts/comments on what you think I should wear. I'm not one to 'bare all' so please don't even suggest a sports bra and tight shorts. That's totally not me. But all other intersting ideas will be contemplated! :)

I have a drinking problem....

I'm sure that when I posted this, a few people gasped and wondered what in the world was going on with me. But if you know me, or you've been reading me for awhile, you know that most (not all but most) of my blog titles are done pretty tongue in cheek. This one is no different. I do have a problem with drinking, but not in the way many people probably thought.

I don't have a problem with alcohol, but I do have a drinking problem. I drink a lot of empty calories. What do I mean by that exactly? I mean I drink a lot of calories that don't do me any good. They're not protein shakes or anything like that. They're just plain old sugar. In the past, I have tackled this very same issue, and for awhile, it actually seemed to be pretty subdued. I was zoning pretty hardcore and coffee and soda were things that I allowed myself every ONCE in awhile. They weren't the everyday necessities that they had been in the past. But somwhere along the line, the hardcore zoning slipped, the diet slipped, and I was never really able to right the sinking ship again. I went down in an eating frenzy and just never really came back up.

A few months ago, I started making better choices. I went primal for awhile and really enjoyed it, but had trouble with it once school resumed and life in general went from somewhat serene to psychotic. And it was amazing how over a few months, I didn't notice that soda and coffee were no longer those little 'treats' that I used to allow them to be. They were becoming an everyday occurance, and sometimes multiple times a day! It was scarey how much I was intaking. So I made a conscious effort to cut back and again, for awhile, I did.

Now, one thing I never did do was go back to drinking venti white mochas each morning. I did at least steer clear of those. But unfortunately, Starbucks has become a regular stop each morning and the soda fountain at work, which is GLORIOUSLY free, has become a frequent stop of mine as well. So, after looking at the scale this weekend, I decided that enough was enough and it's time to deal with this so-called drinking problem.

This drinking problem really is worse for me than anything because it gears up my body with a dependency on sugar, and let me tell you, when I don't get it, man am I ever cranky and angry, and all sorts of headachey. I know that means that my body is dependent on it, and now especially since it's not getting it, it is detoxing itself. I know it's a necessary evil, but it's one that I really need to learn to get a handle on. It seems like I do this to myself about once every four months or so. I'm fine for a while and then little by little, the bad habits inch their way back in. I definitely need to take a firmer grasp on this and really limit my sugar intake.

To help combat this, I've begun drinking the Crystal Lite 'on the go' packets. Now I know what you're thinking.... I went from one processed pile o' poo to another. Yes, I know... but I'm hoping that the flavor will be enough to keep me from drinking soda or coffee and that eventually I'll be able to scrap it all together. I know though that breaking an addiction is hard. So, I am just going to have to keep working on this drinking problem. The good news is though, even with the Crystal lite, I've gotten into the habit of drinking a lot more water, which is always good for things. Here's to hoping that I can stick with it. I am 4 days coffee free, and 2 days soda free. Here are the calculations already.... of course everything is approximate, but even the approximations look good!!!

Calories saved in 4 days by not drinking my regular coffee (grande vanilla latte):
1,000
Grams of sugar saved:
144g

Calories saved in 2 days by not drinking soda:
500
Grams of sugar saved:
140g

Totals: 1,500 calories 284g sugar

Un'chain'ed melody!

I got to the box on Saturday and realized that Jerry was going to let us play with the chains again. There are lots of different science-y reasons for putting the chains on the bar, but I just like how it looks! (And sounds! It sounds pretty badass!) Our workout was

Every 3 minutes complete
2 reps BS @ 80% of 1RM

My 1RM BS is 225. So I took 180 and decided that that would be my working weight for the day. I can assure you that I thought that it would be rather light, I mean, after all, it IS almost 50 lbs less than my 1 RM. However, I failed to factor in that whole 'chains' thing. Oops.

The chains supposedly weigh another 43lbs. Soooooooo did I really just lift my 1RM essentially 12 times? I think so... sorta... I mean... it's not exactly on the bar, but it is on the bar... it sort of trails just a smidge on the ground, then it's not on the ground when you come up... so yes?!? I guess?

I don't know really, but what I DO know is that I felt that fo' sho' the next day.... wooooo! Walking around yesterday at work I thought my arse was going to fall off it hurt so bad! Note to self, do not do so many heavy backsquats in the near future! Zoinks Shaggy!

Running + pulling = Runling?

After taking a week off, I knew last week that I needed to get back into the swing of things. I didn't go Tuesday when I saw that dreadful push/pull workout, so when I saw Friday's workout, I knew I really needed to get back on the horse and get over the whole mental thing.

Friday's workout was actually Alabama's 3rd workout from their sectional. I sort of liked it, even though it really sucked. It was running and pull-ups. Two things that when combined, = a whole lotta suck, cause there's really no down time and no time to breathe. Normally, I try to regain my breathing on my running. Um, well, that was a little hard on this one because as soon as I would regain it, I'd be back on the pull-up bar, then back out the door, and it would be all sorts of gone all over again. Whoops.

Anyway, the wod was

5RFT

15 pull-ups
400 M run

It sucked, I mean, there's not much I can say. But it's workouts like this that I really need to help prepare for regionals. My cardio is wicked low now, and I totally feel horrific and fat after that week off, so it felt good to hit that one pretty hard. I was the first lady to finish, but honestly, I didn't feel good about it. I may have been the first lady, but it wasn't speedy. It should have been at least a solid minute faster. I was wasting too much time dropping off the bar. If we tackle this again, it will be something to think about.

#37 Ways You Know You are LEGIT CrossFit...

I began this list a long time ago, and it gradually began to grow... this is a compilation of the #37 ways to know you are a legit CrossFitter... if all 37 apply to you... you are a sick, sick puppy... and you are sorely addicted to the Kool-Aid! :0) I, and I alone have the power to ammend this list!

37. You openly admit to carrying Nu-Skin, Neosporin, and Band-aids in your purse so that when you have a rough pull-up day you can be on that, STAT!

36. You keep your old Globo Gym membership just so you can use their showers after your CF workout drenches you in sweat.

35. While cleaning the interior of your car you realize that "dust" that you're cleaning off your dashboard isn't really dust. It's chalk.

34. You hit 7 straight CrossFit days in a row because you don't want to miss any of the fun during the workouts. During these said seven days, you manage to hit the Trevor Win'E workout, and Miami Vice.

33. One of your friends asks you a question. What 3 things would you take with you on a deserted island. You immediately reply chocolate then stop to think about number 2. You decide on a solar powered wireless laptop so that you can continue to keep up your CrossFit blog because you decide you will continue to do CrossFit on the island. You spend the better part of your afternoon then trying to devise a method of using set numbers of coconuts on a straight branch as a adjustable weight bar, while using coconuts weighted with sand as dumbbells so that you can hit some CrossFit workouts. You do of course realize that this is completely hypothetical and will probably never happen, and that you are completely wasting your time, but nonetheless you do it anyway. You also devise a new implement called a coconut bell, which has palm fronds linked through holes in the sides of the coconut that you made with a rock, so that you can swing it. Ah yes... creativity (and CrossFit addiction) at its finest! :)

32. While your students are playing on the playground, you notice that one of your boys on the monkey bars swings really well. You think to yourself that he would be a great candidate for learning a kipping pull up. You debate about teaching him before you realize that he'll probably hit his head on the monkey bars, thus prompting a law suit, and you therefore opt against it. (Hey, school's for learning right? ;) )

31. After traveling 500 miles and dropping $$ on a hotel room for an awesome beer festival, you decide to be the DD and not partake, all so you can hit your CrossFit workout in the morning.

30. In an effort to eat healthy so you can nail a few extra reps/pounds at your next workout, you decide to have yogurt for breakfast. In your morning haste, you drop the yogurt in the *ehem* area on your nice black pants. You then walk around the rest of the day with some suspicious looking white stains on the front of your pants in your *ehem* region and are forced to deal with all the suspicious stares of your coworkers. Oh for the love of CrossFit!

29. While your wife is busy using your car, you are determined to find a way to get your new weights into your CrossFit room for your morning workout. You resort to using a wheelbarrow, only to get pulled over by the cops because you "look suspicious" pushing a wheelbarrow full of weights. (Apparently at 5am weights in a wheelbarrow closely resemble a dead body)

28. When you hear T-pain sing/rap/warble about zoning, you assume he is on the same diet plan that you are.

27. When told two days in advance what your workout will be, it causes you to have nightmares about people breaking limbs and doing ring dips over a moat full of alligators.

26. In order not to miss a regularly scheduled workout, you make sure that when you drop your car off at the garage that they schedule a loaner for you. You then spend the next few days driving around in a busted up, brokedown, baby blue, 1988 Buick hooptie all so you can CrossFit.

25. Due to all your CrossFit bruises, you find yourself making comments like, "It's a good thing I don't have a boyfriend 'cause he'd swear I was cheating on him."

24. You know how many CrossFitters it takes to screw in a light bulb. (3...1 to screw it in, 1 to count their reps, and 1 to photograph it.)

23. You come up with random questions like, "If CrossFit were a superhero, what super power would it have?" or, "If CrossFit and Xena Warrior Princess were to fight, who would win?"

22. You find yourself speaking about CrossFit as if it were a real person.

21. You understand what WOD, AMRAP, and all the other CrossFit acronyms mean.

20. You're boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse refuses to hold your hand because of your calluses. Your boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse may also at some other point have asked you to stop rubbing their arm, back, shoulder, etc. because your calluses were scratching them.

19. While looking online to buy CrossFit toys for home, you burst into laughter when you find that the site you are looking at recommends that a women start with a "challenging" 15lb kettlebell, while men work with a 35.

18. You are on a first name basis and regularly hang out with Angie, Fran, Helen, Grace, Nancy, Elizabeth, Cindy, Karen, and all the other ladies.

17. After listening to you describe your workouts, your family and friends have suggested that you seek psychiatric treatment.

16. The laundry pile in your room is so rank it could probably stand up and walk out on its own.

15. After being injured doing your workout you recruit people to CrossFit while they exmine you in the ER.

14. You talk about CrossFit so much that your friends and family are not 100% sure you have not joined a mysterious new occult.

13. You don't count reps if you don't get your chest to the deck, or your chin over the bar.

12. You're so beefed up that your instructor has to buy heavier kettlebells just for you.

11. The Zone requires you to hit the grocery store so often that all the cashiers know you by first name.

10. You've kipped yourself off a bar.

9. You've called in sick to work because you busted through an epic the day before and now can't walk/lift your arms/move.

8. You can no longer attend church because it interferes with your Sunday workouts. (not to mention CrossFit and Pukie are your gods now)

7. You get upset if the WOD DOESN'T make you sweat so much that you are forced to change your shirt halfway through your workout. (Visit Rick at Crossfit Alamo for more on this one... ;) )

6. To you, the "Filthy Fifty" does not carry any sexual innuendo or reference someone's age.

5. You use CrossFit for dating advice.

4. You have been caught telling eight year olds (spouses, your own children, or fellow coworkers) to "Rest Later" and get their work done NOW. There's plenty of time for rest when it's finished!

3. While at the bar with your friends you debate whether or not you should take your next shot because you don't have a string cheese in your pocket for the block of protein you need to balance with the block of carbs in your shot of tequila/JD/Hennesey/Hypnotiq. (But let's be honest, some of these choices should probably be more carefully considered anyway....)

2. When your boss pulls a surprise added shift to your schedule that requires you to work a double and would require you to miss a planned CrossFit hero workout, you immediately plan to show up late so you can hit the workout anyway. You hit the workout and pay a $15 shower fee at the gym before going to work, all so you can hit Daniel. In the hurry to shower and get to work, you realize in your rush out of the house, you forgot a towel, so you are forced to drip dry/dry yourself with your sweat drenched clothes so you can manage to only be a half hour late to work. All for the love of Daniel.

And the number one way you know you are CrossFit LEGIT....

1. You chose your vacation desitinations based on their proximity to a CrossFit affiliate. You also actively plan your vacation activities around their workout schedule so you can still hit four workouts per week.

I've been tweeted!

If you've ever paid attention to my page (it's ok, I know some of you don't... half the time, I don't)... but seriously, if you've ever really looked at my page, you may have noticed that on the right hand side close to the bottom is a little tool called Feedjit. Feedjit is really neat because when people pop over to read my blog, it tells me where they are coming from.

Now, I'm a nerd, so I totally want to know these sorts of things. Well I noticed today that someone had come from Twitter. I don't use Twitter, so I was intrigued... I won't lie! So I went to Twitter, and through a little sleuthing, I discovered that someone had actually tweeted about my DC/VA/WVA wrap up. I thought that was pretty cool... until I read the rest of the statement, and then it went from cool, to MOST FREAKIN AWESOMEST FANTABULOUS THING EVER Did you catch that?

So, in this tweet the woman who posted the link... she called me, get this, "a badass". WHAT?!?!!? I know right?!?! Someone called me a badass! I thought that was seriously the coolest thing ever. Does this make me a nerd? Probably without a doubt, absofreakinlootely. But, at the same time, it was freakin' cool. Someone thinks I'm badass. Wow... cool beans. I don't know who the woman is, but she totally made my day and I thank her a million times over. I'm sure to write the tweet and post it probably took her all of 30 seconds, but it seriously made my entire day. *EEEH!* And yes, I TOTALLY just did the pig thing...

I'm 75% sure...

You know what I love? Heavy weights over my head, but you know what I don't love? Heavy weights over my head. I'm trying really hard to be smart about the whole injury/recovering thing, but I'm not going to lie, it's not as easy as I'd like. I suppose the old saying, if it were easy, everyone would do it, could apply here, but seriously.

Wednesday's wod was jerk X 1. I talked things over with Jerry and we decided that I would work up heavy to 75% and stop. If anything hurt before then, I was to ditch the bar immediately. Nothing really hurt on the ramp ups, but damn it all if I didn't just feel weaker than a wilted dandelion. Wow... where did that come from? That was a totally random poetic intervention...

Anyway, I just didn't feel like I was solid overhead. I know I know... patience and allowing my arms to fully recover from being shot to hell. But still, I want to go back to moving fast again, and I want to go back to being strong. I don't feel strong right now. At 135 (75% of my 1 RM) I felt like it was excrutiatingly heavy. How in the world can I possibly lift 180 again if I can barely lift 135? I feel like in terms of my strength I've made some serious strides in the wrong direction. It was a frustrating morning for sure... hopefully I feel strong again soon.

On loop... or it's all MENTAL man!

I woke up when ye olde alarm clock went off at 0400 and rolled over, still half asleep, to turn it off. As I climbed sleepily out of bed, I flipped open the computer and what to my wondering eyes did appear? A wod full of pull-ups, push-ups, and 8 tiny reindeer... wait a tic... there weren't any reindeer... but there were push-ups and pull-ups and in pretty high volume too.

My first thought was, I need to go do this. I need to get work in. My second thought was, oh hellz no. I am not going to get f'ed up again. I'm not going to lie. That was literally all it took for me to go from, "let's do this and let's get back at this" to "we're not doing this". All of a sudden the healing game has nothing to do with my body and everything to do with my head. Could I have gone and just subbed out the volume, yeah. Should I have? Probably. Did I? No.

Like a little pussy cat, I got scared. My body was going, "Katie you really ought to go the gym" while my head was saying, "There is no way in hell you are going to the gym and doing a wod that essentially destroyed you." And the funny thing is, I knew that there was no weight vest this time, and I know that I probably could have done some of it. But I was just too scared.

So, after I totally psyched myself out, I went back to bed and later headed off to my work day. After work though, I was really upset with myself. I should have gone. I am deathly afraid of hurting myself again, but you know what they say about that horse. You gotta get back on... I suppose I do... it's just... well it's scary to get back on... So instead of getting in for a wod, I decided to go for a run. I geared up and hit CFOT around 800 or so... just in time for it to get dark, but it was so warm this week that it was actually a perfect night for a run.

We have a loop measured out around CFOT that we use for Murph. I decided to hit that and just run. This was a great plan except for a few minor details. 1.) Chafing. I totally wore the wrong shorts and it's CLEAR my thighs have gained weight. 2.) My knees are not used to running long distances and they were none too happy with me. 3.) It was almost 830 and I was really hungry.

Regardless, I did manage to get 3 loops in which is a total of 3 miles, so it was still a good workout for me. I didn't have a watch to clock me so I am guessing that it was roughly 35 minutes or so because I stopped to stretch/adjust my clothes a few times. I'm still disappointed that I turned into a headcase, but I'm glad I did get some work in after all. Something is better than nothing right? I'm going to keep working on the mental stuff....

Chains of love...

It seemed like a good idea after sectionals to lay low for a little bit and let my body start to heal up. Originally, my plan was to take about 3-4 days and then get back to the box and start doing some cardio work and starting running and doing things like that. Um... about that plan... yeah. Not so much.

Once the pain and the problems really settled in last week, I decided that taking the full week off was a much better plan. It was hard, and it was frustrating, but I did it, and I think it was definitely the right way to go. I finally decided on Monday that it was time to return to the box, and I returned just in time. It was a strength day which sort of set my mind at ease.

The pain and physical aspects of what happened last week are all but gone, however, I will publically admit that the rest of my healing process will now be all mental. FDR (I think) once said that "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." I beg to differ. I fear getting rhabdo again, and I fear putting heavy weights over my head because I am afraid that I'm going to hurt myself.

There I said it. Yeah. Big tough girl who likes heavy weights just admitted that she is scared. I suppose this could be related to something like falling off a horse. I'm sure it's hard to get back on because you remember how much it hurts if you fall. Same idea. It's not that I honestly think that I will get hurt everytime I do something. No, I know better. But it's just the fact of knowing that it MIGHT happen that makes me just cringe.

So Monday, while I was ready to get back to the box, I was sort of shying away from the back squats Jerry had programmed. I just wanted to go run. Can't hurt your arms if you run RIGHT? But Jerry told me, in a polite way, to get my ass on the bar and to stop if something hurt. Now, to add to the BS X 3 that we were doing, Jerry added a new element: chains. The idea behind attaching the chains is to force you to drive out of the hole at the bottom. If you can imagine a chain hanging from a barbell, imagine what would happen as you squat: it hits the floor and really doesn't affect you all that much. But, when you come up, the chains don't gather in a nice pool on the floor, they are now hanging from your barbell and being worked on by gravity. Nothing like an extra 43 lbs of chain hanging on your bar. Geez.

Because of my mental game, I was having a hard time focusing and thinking heavy, so I worked slow. I made sure to work on taking a big breah before each rep and not holding my breath, which I sometimes have a tendency to do. Eventually though, even working up slow, I was able to put up 175X3. I think I could have continued to go even further, but you know, it was my first day back and I really didn't want to push it. After hitting all those squats, I was pretty pleased, but the mental game still had a pretty good grip on me. Over the next few weeks, I need to continue to work on my mental game, and get over this hump that seems to be blocking my way. Now, it's seriously all mental.

Katie on: Lessons Learned

Competing in last week's CrossFit sectionals was perhaps the greatest athletic feat of my life. Sure I've competed in literally hundreds of swim meets and soccer games throughout my time, but nothing quite compared to the feeling that I had last weekend. The feeling of nerves, desire, desperation, drive, and utter pride. It was all around a fantastic weekend. There was no doubt in my mind that I was 100% proud of myself and the effort I put forth, and damn proud to stand as a member of team CFOT.

But once the medals were awarded, the points tallied, the weights reloaded onto trucks, and the spectators had all gone home, the weight of the weekend finally began to hit. The aftermath that was sectionals began to hit home. In the recap I wrote about the weekend, I wrote that I awoke on Sunday morning without range of motion on my left arm. Despite only having about 50% flexation in my arm, I was determined to compete. Looking back that seems incredibly silly of me, but at the time, my brain was on competition mode, and my goal was to finish the sectionals wods the best I could. After a quick consoltation with an onsight chiropractor/sports med doctor, I was ready to compete. But after another day of competition and two more wods, things went from kinda bad, to really a whole lot worse. On Monday morning I woke up without flexation in either of my arms. My triceps were so tight that things like showering, eating, drinking, putting on clothes, and even putting my hair in a ponytail were either impossible or excrutiating.

On Sunday when I spoke with the onsight doctor he told me that what had happened was either one of two things. I either had a severe strain on my triceps, or I had a localized case of rhabdo. Looking back, as soon as he said rhabdo, I should have left, gone to the doctor, and been examined thoroughly. However, as I mentioned earlier, I was in competition mode. My goal was to get through the day. And honestly, since he presented it as a localized case, it just seemed to imply that it really wasn't that big of a deal. Looking back, I wish that I would have been thinking more clearly, but I wasn't and I can't go back and change the past.

The bottom line is that Sunday, I made a mistake. I put myself in unnecessary danger all because I wanted to compete. Sectionals without a doubt will roll around next year, but by doing what I did, there was serious potential to injure myself badly. I have been around long enough to know what rhabdo is, and know that if that ever becomes an issue I should stop immediately. But for whatever reason, my brain didn't see it that way. Not to mention, the doctor never told me that I couldn't continue. He told me he would help me get through the day. Because of that, I guess I didn't take it seriously. I didn't think it was a big deal. I should have.

The lesson I learned here is this. It is easy to be hard, but hard to be smart. But nevertheless, it's important. By doing what I did, I risked that "localized" rhabdo slipping into other parts of my body. I risked doing serious damage to myself all because of a two day competition. And I'm angry. I'm angry at myself for not thinking clearly when I know I know better, but at the same time, I'm also angry with my doctor. He never told me not to continue, and he never told me that when I was finished, I should see an MD. What he did tell me was to call him on Monday.

Again, granted, I should have been thinking on my own that that would be necessary, but my focus was not on my health. My focus was on finishing. And once I finished, it was on celebrating. I wasn't thinking like a rational person. I did what the doctor wanted, and I called on Monday. Unfortunately, he was already booked and I had to wait to see him until Tuesday. Again, it was never recommended that I see an MD, but I was just told to come in on Tuesday. Again, I should have been thinking more clearly, which obviously I wasn't, but there was a failure on both ends here, and what happened on Tuesday was what made me really angry about the whole thing.

On Tuesday when I went for my appointment, the doctor was still convinced it was rhabdo. He told me that I wouldn't have full ROM back for at least two weeks, and he told me that everything was going to get worse before it got better. The way he presented everything to me, it was as if this was no big deal because it was localized. But before I left the office for work, he reminded me that if certain things began to happen, I was to call 911 immediately. Time out. How did we seem to go from not a big deal to you may die from this? It was like he was trying to scare me, and rightfully so, he did. He scared the shit out of me. But again, if this was what I had, and this was the position that I was in, a) why did he let me go to work, and b) why didn't he ever tell me to go see an MD to confirm the diagnosis?

The only way to be certain of rhabdo is to test your urine and do some blood work to check your levels of things like calcium and protein. So, since I never went to an MD, the diagnosis was never confirmed. So when I went back on Wednesday and the doctor told me to avoid electrolytes and added protein to help my body bounce back, I was more than a little frustrated. No confirmation of rhabdo had been made, and by that point it was 3 days past the event and I figured that a visit to an MD would be pointless. But by that point, I was also beginning to think more clearly and think less about the pain. I started to get angry about how things had worked out, both on my end, and the end of my doctor.

The bottom line, and the overall lesson here folks, is that this isn't something to play around with, regardless of the confirmed diagnosis or not. I'll never know if I really had rhabdo or not, but regardless, I put myself in a situation that I really didn't need to be in. Thankfully my range of motion came back after about 4 days, but I was lucky. Not to mention, it cost me. In just two days I paid out about $400in doctor bills. Thankfully, I had spring break this week and was able to take the time to lounge and try to recover, but having a whole week off isn't something that people typically have the luxury of having.

I was also incredibly lucky that I didn't do more damage to myself by competing on the final day of sectionals. No competition is worth your health, and no competition is ever worth your life. As CrossFitters we always want to push that envelope, we always want to push ourselves and find our limits. But at the end of the day, we need to be smart. It's easy to be hard, but hard to be smart. We never want to quit, but as the old song goes, you got to know when to hold em, know when to fold em, know when to walk away, and know when to run. This situation was a time to walk away and I didn't. I risked a lot to compete in that competition. I'm proud of my spirit and I'm proud of the fact that I did hang in there, but I'm not happy with the fact that I put myself at some very serious risk.

In this situation, there were issues on both ends, both mine and my doctor's, but the bottom line is that there was no need for this to happen. I got VERY lucky, and I've learned in the future that it's not worth it. The pain I suffered this week was excrutiating, not to mention utterly embarassing and frustrating. I can't explain to you what it was like to have to ask our hostess at work to put my hair in a ponytail because I literally COULD NOT bend my arms enough. No competition is ever worth that. Please take my word for it and learn the lesson from me. Don't learn it the hard way like I did. I'm on the mend and I will hopefully be back to the box soon enough, but it was a risk that never should have been taken. It may be hard to be smart, but it's much better for you in the long run.

Know the signs... read more about rhabdo here.