Crossfit: Week 2

Better late than never, here is the recap of my second week of Crossfit.

Tuesday, being my 5th time at the box, I felt confidant in coming in and starting my warm up. Run 400m, 10 sit ups, 10 push ups, 10 pullups, 10 back extensions, 10 squats. I got this. Dare I even say that pull ups were starting to feel better. Granted, I was still doing jump-ups, but the motion itself felt so much better. Like my muscles knew where to go.

After the warm up we started working on the new skills for the day, which included back squats, wall balls, wall climbs and hand stands. I opted not to attempt a handstand, although I'm fairly certain I can actually do one, because I was really self-conscious. The idea of my shirt creeping up and exposing my flabby, white, muffin top was enough to sideline that. I did, however, try and succeed at the wall climb (basically walking your feet up the wall into a handstand). 

WOD

300m Row

15 Wall Balls

10 Push Ups

5 Pull Ups

While I won't be recruited to a rowing team any time soon, I can hold my own on the rowing machine. If I concentrate, I even have decent form. Wall Balls, are another story. At a whooping 6lbs, I was given the littlest, lightest medicine ball at the box. I'll fully admit that even that felt heavy by the third round, but even more than that, I am still struggling with my squats. Some combination of lack of mobility and lack of strength, makes squatting really hard for me (can any other runners relate??).  Keeping my knees wide and my butt out is haaaard. Jump ups and push ups (from my knees) rounded out the workout. I was really pleased to not be the last to finish. I wasn't first by any means, but came in somewhere in the middle of pack at 12:27.

The biggest upset of the day was learning that Tuesday's instructor, Dori, was teaching her last day for the summer. I really liked Dori's softspoken, yet motivating personality. Plus she is really observant and kind. Great instructor! Turns out, in summer she stays busy with her own Paddlesculpt business...looks like I'll have to check that out this summer, too!!  

Wednesday, despite tired legs and swampy air, I headed out for a short 3m run. It was National Running Day, I couldn't not run. It ended up being my fastest, best run in MONTHS. I came homing feeling pleasantly exhausted and like I was actually making progress. Maybe there's something to this crossfit thing?!

I should back up and mention that at some point Tuesday I noticed that my abs were feeling more than sore. Given the wrong movement,  like a sit up, I was noticing a sharp pain in my right lower ab. Since it didn't consistently bother me, I pretty much ignored it. 

Thursday is when the wheels seemed to completely fall off the track. The day's warm up included 400m run, 10 GHD sit ups, 10 extensions, 10 wall squats, 5 pull ups, 5 broad jumps. On my very first GHD sit up it felt like someone stabbed my in the ab. Sharp, searing, awful pain. Rather than say something, I moved to the floor to do regular sit ups. Still painful, but I did them anyway. Because I'm stubborn and stupid. Broad jumps hurt. Even my jump up pull ups hurts. 

I knew I had pulled or tweaked something, but didn't want to say anything. Skills for the day included ring work, lateral hops and rope climb. On the rings we worked on stability holds, ring dips, ring rows and ring push ups. Let it just suffice to say that all things ring-related are hard, but the push ups are impossible. At this point, even the act of engaging my core to support a movement was becoming unbearable. But I still did my best to keep up, and not say anything.

Oh, the rope. I haven't gone near one of these since like middle school. And it wasn't good then, either. The crossfit claim is that rope climbs have nothing to do with upper body strength, that it's all in the legs. I would argue that if you don't have the strength to hold on to the rope, and I don't, it doesn't matter if your legs can propel you up the rope or not. But I tried. And then settled in Up-Downs instead, which were more than difficult enough for me.

WOD
10 Minuites, on the Minute
3 Back Squats
20 Lateral Hops

Starting at 0. and the top of every minute, meant another round of 3 back squats/20 lateral hops. I kept the weight low on my squats and focused on form because of my squatting difficulties and my sore ab, but holy shit, do lateral hops add up fast.  After only a few rounds I moved from the 12" hurdle to just hopping over a line in the mat. And that was still exhausting.

After everything was done, I decided I should probably ask about my abs and what sort of modifications I should make to let things rest and heal. Jill forbid me from doing any sit ups, and had me try a plank. After less than 10 seconds I had to stop because the pain was back. That's when she said her best, non-medical, advice was full rest for a few days. No running, no crossfit, no anything. I left knowing she was right, but wanting to cry. I had just started to build some momentum and feel like I could actually maybe do crossfit, and now this?

Who seriously pulls their ab msucles?!

The next 48hours were miserable. Coughing hurt. Sitting up was near impossible. Laughing was out of the question. I was waking up every time I rolled over. As much as I wanted to go to crossfit on Saturday I knew the smart decision was to keep resting.


Two steps forward, one step back.