That just *feels* better

Practice doesn't make perfect, but perfect practice makes perfect. It's not about repeating something over and over...it's about practicing perfect form until it is perfect. That is what I have been trying to do with the kb snatch...make it perfect. When it's not perfect my wrists are bruised,my hands hurt and frequently bleed and my elbows get a touch sore because it becomes a tough arm exercise and not a hip exercise. The snatch is really just an extension of the swing. After the hip snap...let the bell float up and around eye height (or a bit before), 'punch through' and stop at the top. Then reverse. So easy to say...not so easy to do.

But it's coming...

My training on Saturday started off brutal. It was hard. Everything felt heavy. I was just trying to do stuff with the 12kg and you would have though I was dragging around something much more substantial. 12kg is a little on the heavy side for me at the moment with turkish getups because my hipflexors like to take part in the exercise and I can't keep my leg on the ground as well...but I can do it. Just not as well as with an 18pound bell (which I don't have). But on Saturday the TGUs were HEAVY. I was dragging and i couldn't figure it out. I didn't have a heavy week of training...i chalked it up to low amount of calories for the day by that point and moved on.

But by the time I got to kb snatches...everything was right as rain. Did a quick warmup with the 12kg and form felt good. Moved on to 16kg for 5 sets around 3-4 reps per set, mixing in some swings/high pulls for technique and form...but the 16kg felt pretty decent. I wasn't smacking the bell as hard on my wrist. So just for volume sake and to focus on finer details I moved to the 12kg and did a 'half' 5 min test where I would do 5 per side and rest for the remainder of a minute for 5 minutes...giving me a total of 50 snatches. Nothing major, but right now is about perfect practice and perfect form...not volume.

And you know what...they felt great. Hip snap, punch through (almost there 100%), pulling the bell back down into the swing without 'throwing it'...it's coming together and 12kg feels effortless when the technique is correct. I love that feeling.

I haven't been on my bike this week which is a bit disappointing, but mainly my fault. This next week looks a bit gnarly on the 'life' front...ok...i take that back. The next 2 weeks look that way, but at least I will get to end the gnarly-ness with a fun...fun...trip with friends wine tasting and a visit to the spa...i need a massage. I think it will be well deserved by that point fo' sure. But the next week and a half will be a bear to get through. One breath at a time one step at a time.

But the next week and half has made me pause...in a good 'life reflective' way and made me just smack myself on the head and say: what are you doing silly? Lots to think about.

War Wounds...

RKC training is going pretty well. At the moment it is basically boiling down to I need to work on strength and technique with my snatch, more practice for my turkish getups (but they are coming along nicely), continual swing technique (but most people can use that) and everything else (cleans, presses, squats) are ok technique wise, but continual strength gains will be necessary. The reality is that the snatch is an extension of the swing, so really I'm working on my swing. Although some of my 'issues' are because I stop doing my swing correctly when I move into the snatch movement. Somehow my little brain gets confused and starts doing the wrong thing. Mainly I try to stop my swing before it has the chance to go fully back into the arc position under me. This means I'm not 'loading' my hips in the bottom of the swing movement. This, in turn, makes the snatch incredibly hard and turns it into a very unfun arm strength exercise instead of a hips exercise. Fortunately, I know what my body 'feels' like when it is doing this and I have mentally been correcting it wrong. So I now know how to correct it.

My left arm has a better 'groove' than my right. Probably more out of weakness than anything else. It *has* to rely on my hips because it isn't strong enough to fling the bell around so I actually do things correctly on that side.

My right arm can't figure out how to bring the bell in on the down swing. Ok...i take that back...a few times today it could figure it out, but I'm still working on this. My problem, i'm basically throwing the bell away from me mid-air. Not such a good thing to do to your elbows. Makes them kinda sore.

But my biggest problems are that since I'm casting the bell away from me and doing some other weird things, I tend to GRIP the bell too hard on the down swing. NOT GOOD. At the end of my session today I looked down to see blood:

Left hand has been giving me grief lately anyway, but I thought it was on the mend. Then I discovered half way through the day that my right hand has blisters on it. Oye vey.

And then there is this other little issue called: I'm not punching through at the right time during the snatch. Here is some proof I'm still wacking my arms with the bell:

Um...that's the beginning of a bruise, not a sunburn. Pretty don't cha think? (AND that is with arm protection bands on too. owchie)

I have turned some gloves into possible things that will help me protect my hands when practicing, although during the RKC snatch test I can't use gloves, so this is more to help when my hands are being fussy.

oh...and see my pretty pink new chucks in the background. FUN to use to lift weights in. (preferred type of shoe is one that's flat like Chuck Taylors or wrestling shoes or no shoes...which I prefer, but I was getting owies on my feet from my Turkish getups so I put my shoes back on. :-( )

And in the world of endurance sports...I managed to get on my bike not one time on this weekend but TWO. My only question at the moment is when is that 'point' where endurance exercise and anerobic exercise counter act one another. How long on the bike where it is a 'problem' for things like weight lifting? Trying to figure that one out because those who are in the world of weight lifting would say endurance sports are evil and counter to gaining strength...but there has to be some sort of happy medium? Right? Right? I am really re-bonding with my bike right now and hope I can continue to do so for awhile.

Take no prisoners

16kg of all all her glory...Tatiana will not be my master...I will be hers.


Training on monday I went through some finer details of working on my kettlebell snatch...mainly because I 'punch' through on the bell too late and let the darn thing whack me. Let me tell you...the bruised wrists from last week were not acceptable. So working on technique was welcome. The beautiful thing about this was that I knew once some of these details were worked out various things would happen a)12kg snatch would become effortless and b)snatches with the 16kg wouldn't freak me out (with my left hand) quite so much. As predicted, I knew once we went through some technique stuff when I got to trying my left hand, 16kg was do-able. HEAVY...but do-able. Training today I'm still a little sloppy on the arc on the downward swing with the 16kg...so the bell is still trying to swing me around (and not the other way around), but the right hand is so much better and the 12kg is wicked easy. No bruised wrists and I feel more confident I could whip through 100 in 5 mins with the 12kg if my left hand wasn't torn up right now. Still work on needs to be done on the down swing so i'm not beating up my left hand, but it will get better with time and attention.

Lately I have been doing with kettlebells what I do with many sports...put it in terms of physics. I was having a conversation with a friend of mine tonight at dinner about knowing now what you know...and trying not to say "i wish i had know XYZ...earlier"...because if I knew now what I know...I definitely would have done more with newtonion physics in undergrad. Right now I am fascinated with the angular momentum, torque and the amount of 'work' (in physics terms) of the kettlebell swing and snatch. Nerdy I know...but hey...that's me. Although the downside is I had the WORST physics teacher in undergrad and at the time I think I slept through newtonian physics and while my grad degree I did a whole heap load of physics, totally not related to this type. What I find funny is that when i take up a sport the ways I like to 'understand' them are in terms of physics. The number of articles (including journal articles) I read on aerodynamics, drag, and power with respect to the bike is sort of silly...but that kind of thing is bizarrely interesting to me.

But things are coming along as they will. The strength needed to get through all of the RKC requirements will take some training, but I can tell it will happen with time, and perfect practice.

trying to find my groove

mmmmmmmm...tasty KALE smoothie. Tastier than it looks.
Ingredients:
Water
A bunch of kale...as in a FULL bunch you buy at the supermarket
1/2 cup of raspberries (more because I put them in first forgetting I was going make a kale smoothie. They don't have the strongest flavor, so can be omitted)
1 banana...this is necessary as bananas cover the strong bitter flavor of the kale
1/4c of pineapple
dash of lemon juice...help with the bitter
dash of agave.
1 scoop of egg protein "jay Robb" brand protein powder
1 tsp flax seed oil

Things I learned in this process: put the kale in first without any other ingredients. And put it in the blender in batches. You might need to add more water.

Kale is a vegetable that is a bit on the bitter side. Lemon juice does help with that but in the end i needed it a little sweeter for my taste and put about 1tsp of agave in with it. I think I would also then add the flax seed oil and egg protein and lemon juice and then the banana. Then I would see if the pinapple was necessary or not. I'm looking forward to trying this with spinach as spinach is a little on the sweeter side compared to kale.

I'm still in that 'futzing' stage with Paleo. My main limiter the past few weeks are I haven't taken the time to do some food prep during the week or prior to the week so that makes paleo a more challenging way to eat. But as eating paleo is pretty extreme in our overly processed society (no grains, no legumes, no dairy) because of my personality I thought it was better to just take things out while giving myself a bit of grace in it. Go for 80% of the time at the moment and then attempt to eventually get to about 90-95% by the end of Feb. So far...so good. Seems I have lost a few pounds without focusing too much on it too and since I am focused on a better than pre-sick/OTS 2010 %body comp by Sept, I am headed in the right direction.

The thing so far with paleo is this...I feel better. I'm not even 100% on the paleo wagon as far as cutting out all sugar, and being SUPER nit picky or even eating it 90-95% of the time, but I just feel better. So...i'm going with that. This week will try to be more prepared.

RKC training...met with my trainer last week. I had a Functional Movement Screening and got a 13/21...you want to be at least at 14/21...so I'm decent as far as movement is concerned...some dysfunction, but ok. There is a hilarious test (OK...it was hilarious to me since I can't do it and it SEEMS so easy) in part of it. You have this board that is about 6 inches wide and you have to put your hands on either side of it and grip it with your knees too...you are in a 'tabletop' yoga pose with your hands and knees on the ground. THEN...lift both your right arm AND RIGHT leg out to the side. In Yoga...a lot of times they make you do opposite sides (i can do that fine)...but on my right side with both my right arm and my right leg I promptly topple over. Left side isn't great, but not as severe. Being the scientist that I am...I find it rather curious and wonder what underlying issue is causing that. Probably my stupid psoas who hates me on that side.

My trainer then looked at some of my kb moves...Swing is ok over all. He's nit picking on it, but I'm the personality type that I WANT nit picky, perfect form. Since I have enough time between now and RKC in Sept, I want all my form to be correct before adding the volume. Also when someone nit picks on my form, it helps me learn how to teach something. Granted my TGU (turkish getup), and kb snatch form needs a lot of help. TGU...I can't seem to roll onto my opposite arm correctly so that I am able to keep my opposite leg down. And the KB snatch...the punch through is too late and I'm WACKING my forearms. For awhile I thought I my form was alright, and then I started doing higher reps...um...notsomuch. Bruising still with wrist bands. Bruised wrists/forearms is not the best look, but at least I can wear sweaters to cover my arms at the moment.

The only thing that really annoys me at the moment about KB training...my hands. I know it is all about training your hands to grip correctly and holding the bell with your fingers like a hook, but like most people I develop callouses on my non-dominate hand more severely. It's about holding the bell looser...and I know its about holding it looser on the down swing (either the snatch or the swing), but trying to convince your head to do that...good luck. And this week in an effort to keep my callouses small...using a scary callous shaver I managed to CUT my hand...right in the spot that is one of my 'hot spots' on my left hand. Nice...just call me Grace...thanks. Fortunately the hand dermal layer regenerates at an amazing speed. Keeping it as bandaged and out of infection's way as best as I can.

Here are my 2011 goals in order of focus #1 and #2 are really my primary:
1)100 x 16kg kb snatches in 5 mins (my RKC requirements) by Sept
2)Pass the RKC in Sept
3)Get to lower than pre-sick/2010 %body fat levels by Sept. I was about 5 pounds away from that goal %body comp pre-spring 2010 sickness.
4)100 push ups...consecutively...and yes...the standard type of pushups.
5)one pullup


This should keep me busy. :-)

She's here!

Tatiana showed up this week. 16 kg, or 1 pood of beauty and brutality. I did a fun little workout today with my family of kettlbelles. I started with 15 minutes of half turkish getups with one 12kg...yes...me and my pathetic getups. I think I need at least a 10kg, because while I can sorta do the 12kg, on my left side my right leg I cannot keep down. I have trouble keeping my opposite leg down partly because I'm not rolling onto my arm correctly. I think this is a pretty good demo of the getup




And from there I progressed to double 12kg clean and presses. And in 15 mins achieved 12 sets of 3 reps. Things to work on: when i get tired I do let the 'bells slap my wrist harder than I should. I don't tame the arc very well.

And then 10 fun minutes of 20sec on/40sec off of swings and snatches. I pulled in my 20kg for the swings at the end and attempted one set of snatches with my 16kg and the rest with 12kg.

So about that 16kg...um...yea. Really what I did was high arm pulls with the 16kg on my left and and did manage 3 on my right side, but I'm going to be honest (like I was in my last post), 16kg still scares me a bit. I'm meeting with an RKC instructor on monday to have a movement screen and I will work with him towards my RKC this year...so I'm also feeling a little bit of a 'maybe I'll just work with him a bit more to get over this mildly irrational fear first'. I believe the way to move through this is found in the hip snap and the rest is mental.

What is interesting is lately I'm still reading (not commenting much) triathlon blogs and i love to hear what people are up to...what they are training for, what they want to do...but I don't have that 'pull' at the moment. But I do miss my bike (and bike fitness!!)and I do hope to visit the track this year.

The interesting thing I reflected on today is how 'easy' it is for people to come to triathlon or really anything with no background and no foundation for what they can do and what they are able to do. You sign up for your first race. You download a training plan (maybe). You follow it. You complete your race and you are all grins. Next step: new race, new training plan...and it keeps going. What you don't account for are the things that sideline you or taking a lot of time off.

I trained with my new kettlbell gym from July through the end of Sept when they closed. 3 months. Not a lot, but I had a good program that keep progressing every week. And I got stronger. And then the gym closed. And Oct when crazy, and November came around and I had my life back and I trained some...and sort of haphazard...and then there was December of more chaos in lack of focus for any kind of training and now I'm in January and I have lost that beautiful strength I had back in Sept. And what is hard for athletes is that constant thought of 'I used to not be here'. So I am letting it push me forward. I want my strength back from Sept but I also want something akin to 2009....I don't need to be in HIM shape...but this RKC certification process will put me in something equivalent. But this must happen without my body rebelling again like last year.

Forward!

Names

Some People name their kettlebells...other people don't. Some people name their cars, and other people don't. I'm someone who sometimes does these types of things when inspiration hits me. My car name in New Zealand was: Kermit. He named himself when I bought him. Little green Mazda 626, the minute I saw him I just thought: Kermit and it stuck. After I moved back to the states in 2002 I bought a Mazda Protege which I still have. Brown. Sorta boring, but a good little car. But not inspiring for a name. I've tried to name him...but it's too hard after the fact. Same with my bike. Gasp...i know...the closest I've come is 'George'...but it doesn't really stick. Poor guy...i do heart him so, and yet he is nameless. snif.

But my new family of 'bells? Yep. I bought them and their names pretty much surfaced right away: Borris for the 20kg...Tatiania is on her way (the 16kg), Vlad and Anastasia for the two 12kgs and time will tell if I get a smaller guy too. I talked through the good, the bad and the ugly with Katie B about RKC certification. I get the feeling there will be a few 'Come to Jesus' moments during the 3 day grueling process, but that is why I signed up. It will test my limits. In order to pass the physical I have to be able to do 100 kettlebell snatches with the 16kg in 5 minutes. That's no joke of a test considering (shh...don't tell my secret) I'm a little intimidated to snatch the 16kg bell at the moment. I know I have the strength to do it. I can one arm swing the bell and do high pulls all day long, but prior to my new kettlebell family (which is currently missing it's 16kg family member anyway) I trained at a standard gym at the moment where proper use of a kettlbell is looked at strangely. So if anything goes awry dumping the bell and getting out of the way would probably get me kicked out. I know it is purely mental and I am fine, strong and safe with it, but I think I would rather do it in the privacy of a park. You know...those private grassy parks with other random strangers. At least they won't kick me out of the park.

Although talking through the RKC certification process with Katie B., she also suggested if I could practice (once I had the strength) to train with a heavier bell then the 16kg so that effectively the test seems 'easier'...hmmm... RKC bells don't come in an 18kg variety, but it does seem that I can buy a 40 pound bell from some other random brand. His name would be John if I try this type of training. First I need to start with the 16kg 'bell and go from there.

One reason I like kettlebells is the simplicity of them and how brutal they can be. Yesterday...three bells, one evil ab wheel = BRUTAL workout. We were doing double kb work so 2 x 12kg on a variety of moves, snatches, presses, cleans and presses, swings...in an increasing type of ladder. Yea...no big deal...except for the part where our instructor said: for 15 minutes. After 5 my arms were on fire and my grip was dying. What is brutal about kettlbells is that the workouts look really simple and almost (gasp) easy. And then after 5 minutes you wish it were over. Effective. Truly.

Onward and forward...apparently i'm in a blogging mood. Maybe it will stick?

The Trigger is Pulled

Meet the new additions to the family. I also ordered a 16kg along with...SIGNING UP FOR RKC CERTIFICATION IN SEPTEMBER.

No...i'm not excited...not.at.all. eeeek...ok I lied...i'm really...really...excited.

3 very tough days to get certified to teach kettlbells and one challenging test to be considered to teach. The physical requirements are 15 second hang (for the ladies)...which I can already do since it can be either fist toward or away from you and I can at least do forward for 15 seconds (chin up style...maybe I should also make it my goal to be able to also be able to do pull up style...which is reasonable since one 2011 goal is to do ONE pull up). But the 100 kettlebell snatches with 16kg in 5 mins...oye...vey. Now THAT will be a challenge. I can probably do 100 already with a 12kg...but 16? 1 pood. Bring.it.on.



So...I bought 2 x 12kg and a 20kg today. They didn't have a 16kg on hand, so I ordered it when I signed up for the certification. Then my little kb happy family will almost be ready. Although i think i might need an 8 or a 10kg since my turkish getups are pretty pathetic at the moment....but where I can get them without shipping here in SD didn't have any 10kg on hand either.

I like goals. So this is a big one. I will probably also do a HKC certification in the spring as there is one here in SD and depending upon when the tactical strength challenge in the Fall is...I will probably sign up for that too. But I refuse to sign up for that until I can at least do 1 pullup. I doubt I will be ready this spring for that, but who knows. April is close...and far at the same time.

Piece by piece

This summer/fall I was back with some training, mainly doing weights and other things, but doing *something*. And then October hit...which came in to about 70 hours of work/week combined with two things I was working on...both my main job and other...and any type of training took a back seat. I've since been doing some kettlebell work and lifting, but not as organized as I have meant to be and it totally shows.

Of course I'm the silly one and decides to throw down 45 miles in the saddle after 4+ months of not riding. Smart one. I've actually been running this week..2x...i don't know what that is about...except molasses. I actually wore my Garmin both times, so i"m not lying on that. I'm actually kind of fascinated by how slow i'm running at the moment. Not thrilled, but sort of facinated.

So...the plan is to 'do something' 7 days a week. Yoga, kettlebells, trainer, running, swimming...are all legit. But right now I'm after 6 weeks of consistency. Consistency is what I need right now and it is usually the first 3 weeks that feel like hell in this training circuit after not doing stuff constantly. So...that's the plan.

Long term plan. Still working on the next 9 months. Until I pull the trigger on my thoughts I'm not ready to publish.

Paleo: this week 3 out of 7 days went ok. It's a bit of a change taking out ALL grains, dairy, legumes...so one that need fore thought and planning. I also need to understand my energy needs. I'm reading Rob Wolfe's book as well as Joe Friel's "Paleo for Althetes" book. I'm possibly looking into some Primal books as well. I figure at the very least I will have some good recipes. I tried a paleo pancake this morning...meeh. More tasted like fluffy eggs...but trying to work on this. Too bad I A)hate grocery shopping and B)hate cooking. And by hate i mean...HATE. It's a challenge. I've given up trying to like it...because it is such an effort and chore to me. I had a friend try to show me the 'joy' in learning to cook. He somehow thought that by teaching me to cook I'd learn to like it. Here's the thing: I know HOW to cook...i just abhor it. So that is an added challenge to the Paleo cooking, but only in a little way. Eating paleo is pretty easy for main meals...meat, lots of veggies, healthy fat and if I'm recovering from a workout...some sort of starchy veggie (potato, sweet potatoes, pumpkin) and some fruit (again a good recovery source for workouts when you need carbs).

That's my random ramblings for now.

Observations

It's been over 2 months since my last post: when writers block hits, it hits every area of my life.

Some days can be improved solely by going running with pigtails and a running skirt, fortunately today was one if them.

Pigtails might just be my 2011 "thing" although tough for under a helmet. I might be 33, in a career-y type of job, a professional degree of sorts, but pigtails during workouts might just be in order.

How do visors get stretched out? I don't let people with big noggins borrow them so why would they one day be too big? Oh the mysteries in life.

Thank goodness I still have a trunk like a chaotic athlete. I forgot my sports socks for my run but had a spare in my trunk. ( along with a myriad of random other things)

Want to strengthen those glutes? Pistol squats. Don't even weight them and don't worry if you can't squat all the way down (A2G) use a step bench (I've got 4 risers at the moment ~6inches off the ground) I promise stronger glutes. Or at least sore ones.

I need more Zen in my life. I wish I didn't hate yoga so much. I have to try not to hate it and practice being Zen.

I'm trying to go paleo: no grains, no dairy, minimal sugar. Today is day 4. Day 3 was a bit of a bust. Cake AND ice cream were involved.

I hope to be posting more in 2011, but I'm not holding my breath either. Happy New Year!

Been awhile!

Life got in the way there for a bit...but it was for the greater good...and while super...super...super busy it was all for an amazing event in the end. So that was good.

Now I have to deal with the reality that my kettlebell gym closed at the beginning of Oct...but I have discovered an awesome Kettlbell program that I could do at my YMCA since I have a few kettlebells there. Or i've even toyed with buying my own so that people stop STARING at me when I swing kettlebells around. Or walking in my way. Um...HELLO...swinging a 25-35 pound object around. Sometimes above my head. Please don't walk in my swinging path. The one thing I can't really get around are the staring when I'm deadlifting/squating/pressing. I just need a new gym and while there are more 'lifting centric' gyms in this area...they have their own host of weirdness.

So...i have an adventure I think brewing. I'm excited and do now have plans and time to be back in this area of bloggy land so maybe i will be around a bit more these days.

And the final numbers...

Max lifts on lifts I cared about:

220lbs Deadlift

145lbs Front Squat

and what impressed me the most this week...

175lbs (rock bottom...ATG)Back Squat...a 36 pound improvement over Sept 08! And to think that I was down 2 pounds of lean body mass over April 2009 when I started this lifting plan due to being sick this spring.

Gym is still closing next week, but I have about 4 different possible plans that might come to fruition, I'll know more by next Friday.

One thing I have learned about triathlon is that I like training plans and I like training goals. But right now...I don't really like triathlon. So...i'm swimming in a sea of 'what's next'? The thing that has been hard is that finding a road race or a triathlon or something that is semi related to swim-bike-run is EASY. Finding something that looks interesting to me that doesn't include 'endurance' training or is related to swimming biking or running is hard to find...I'm trying to sort through that right now.

I'm kind of going through a "What is out there?" moment. Could I pick up a new sport? If I ever find the time in the next few weeks I'm going to try out Netball. Funny sport similar to ultimate frisbee with a ball...but funnily enough is British in origin, yet I never played it in the UK or NZ when I lived there. Of course that would so be ME to pick that game up now that I don't live there...it was like the fact I picked up the american sport of Ultimate frisbee when I lived in the UK. I never do things the 'normal' way...do i?

But over the past few days a few thoughts have come to mind and I've started researching a 'what's next'...and it is not related to swim-bike-run in any form. I'm kind of excited about it...but it will be awhile til I declare it. ;-)

til then...it's finally summer here. Just in time for fall.

Weight max week and what next?

This week is our max test week. I'm a big nerd and have been really excited about it. Why? Because I want to know how I have improved over my Sept 08 max from when I was doing Crossfit. At that time my Deadlift max was 210# and my backsquat was 139#. Monday I broke my DL max @220#. I still think there was a little more in me, but my nervous system was a little fried. And today I front squatted 145#. I don't have a max really for that because I have never tried to figure it out. I also was throwing around 20kg for cleans and jerks with the kettlebell which sort of surprised me a little bit. So that was fun. I also had a good laugh over my instructor telling me to do my general kettlebell swings with heavier weights because I tend to cheat and just 'muscle' the lighter weights (16kg and below)on my swings. I found this comment pretty funny.

Last week I broke my backsquat PR with 145# x 3 reps so Friday when I test my backsquat it will be fun to see what I can do beyond 145#.

So what's next? I have some random things I might be interested in working towards, but the verdict is out on what's next. I had flirted with doing Carlsbad half marathon in January...and then my affection grew a little cold. It'll probably sell out before I can make a decision. Some days I like to run, and some days I don't.

But the major bummer of what is next is...my gym is closing. :-( They were only open in this small format for a short while and due to some administrative issues the whole thing is being closed...like at the end of next week! I'm sad. I'm cooking up some options for myself, but at the end of the day...i'm sad. I was so happy there. I enjoy my instructor. I'm learning lots and finally starting to feel healthy again. I'm still far from the level of fitness I would like to get to...but it is such a difference from this spring! Something will work out. And until then...sniff.

7 weeks down and living in week 8

I think some days everyone wonders about their blog...why they do it? Who really cares? Why do other people read it? And one thing I sometimes wonder is why is blogging any better than me just writing all this down in my own journal somewhere squirreled away where no one has to read my blathering. I don't know...maybe because at least saying things 'outloud' with a random audience whether or not they say anything in return feels better than just talking to myself. And considering how often I talk to myself...maybe it just signals a way that I'm getting out of my thinking head and onto 'paper'. Been thinking about that a lot. What purpose does this serve? But strangely even though I thought blogging was the weirdest thing ever back when I started it...and the two people who got me into this crazy endeavor have stopped blogging...I enjoy it. So somehow it helps me process.

Lately things have been...um...chaos. I'm SUPER busy while concurrently being emotionally on two ends of the spectrum which makes things a bit hard as well as hard to stay focused, but that is life at times. Kettlebell class is going great. Next week marks the end of our first set of programs...which means next week = max lift testing. I'm pretty excited...strangely...but still excited.

Today I am pretty sure I PRd my front squat...granted, I used to RARELY front squat so I don't think that really counts. I don't know my front squat max...but I did squat 130lbs today and it was HEAVY. I almost pschyed myself out before hand until I thought: what's the worst that will happen? You have to dump it?

At my gym it's acceptable to dump weight on the floor so it really wasn't a big deal. AND i didn't have to. It was mighty heavy though. Deadlifts came in this week at 180...but we have been progressing SLOOOOOWLY. I should have pushed it awhile back. The last few weeks I've just been loading them up. Sept 2008 max DL = 215...goal next week...to meet or break that. I think I should be able to break that, but I do have a weaker grip now than I did then.

Backsquat...2008 max 140...donno. Friday is backsquat day and due to some scheduling stuff I actually haven't backsquated in over 2 weeks. So who knows.

But I must go to bed now...because I'm going now on off days and doing body weight stuff/active recovery which is super fun. But has reminded me that I need to continue to work on pushups. I did 75 Bosu ball pushups (not consecutively...but 5x15 within a big set of other stuff)...and I'm a bit sore today. I also did some wacky medicine ball pushups where you hold the medicine ball with one hand, lift your opposite leg (or same leg if you wish) and do a push up. I think those were around 3x3. Then there were the fun ones I could only hold where you put your foot on a medicine ball, lift the other one and then do a push up. I just held that since I started to fall on my face every time I tried to do those. But pretty fun. Sometimes I feel like we are attempting circus tricks on some of this body weight stuff, but hey it's pretty cool.

6 weeks down

Another week in the books for kettlebell training and another week where I'm feeling 'normal'. Energy is good and all is well and almost to the point where this spring feels like a dream. Was I really that sick? Did that really happen? It's weird to first have your body completely freak out on you, have doctors not know what is *really* wrong with you, then start to figure out how to fix yourself and then get to a point where you are healthy and full of energy where you can take care of your life and everything around you and it almost feels like it was all a dream. That is actually dangerous.

But as I feel better physically some rough stuff has taken place the past week or so. Since I'm not much of an over-sharer in my 'offline' life...that's about all I'll say on my blog. But I managed to get out of town this weekend, see some old friends from NZ, and get away and gain a bit of perspective on life. It's been good all around.

I did discover this weekend that I might actually sign up for a half marathon in January and even with the intent of really training for it. Goal time and everything. That thought came out of the blue after seeing a bunch of half marathoners at Disneyland this weekend. So we will see how long that thought lasts. I'm barely getting past that feeling of "why do people run this sucks" feeling of being out of shape. I have had a few brief moments of runners 'bliss' or that feeling where your legs are just under you and the breathing and legs just feel together and linked. But they have been fleeting thoughts...but I do know that they come about more regularly with more running. So...we will see. I'm still giving myself space on the topic of endurance sports.

Life is getting really busy with some chaos with a job this fall...and it is good. I'm excited.

So...definitely round a bend. Just don't know what this road has to offer me at the moment. Guess we will see.

5 weeks down

Ok...at some point I will stop counting, but maybe after the 3 month mark. So 5 weeks of kettlebells and powerlifting/strength and I feel...well pretty darn strong. I actually made it through my 3x10 sets of burpees this morning and didn't have to stop to rest quite so much. Oye the first week I had to do those it was like do 3 burpees, stop, do 3 more...stop...finish the final four and want to lie on the floor. Now I can get through the full set of 10...even if I start to falter a little at the end I'm still able to do all 10. So yes, i'm getting my fitness back which is soooooo nice. Interesting observation was with hanging leg raises today...where I hang on some rings and lift my legs up...4 weeks ago...could barely do 5. Today..12 wasn't so hard (ok a little at the end...but these are not sissy exercises).

And good new...Fatigue is still at bay...so I really do think I"m on the mend. And I'm more and more thinking Magnesium did have something to do with it. Been running a bit...still pretty laborious...how did we ever get into running? Those first few weeks of running...SUCK. But I did have a fun end of a run the other day where my friend and i pushed it at the end of the run and it felt good. I'm almost to venturing past the 40 minute mark. I know...sounds so short.

And I wont' be doing the half mary i was contemplating in November. Too much chaos in Oct to deal with. One insanity at a time please. Maybe carlsbad half in January? Donno.

But all in all its good. Checked my body comp this weekend, body fat is down, % bf is down and I have regained the lean body mass I lost this spring which is also a good thing. Side comment on body composition though...who says you can't spot reduce? Seriously...I wouldn't believe it except if you have the YEARS of trends with how your body loses weight...what you are doing *does* influence where you lose more fat. I'm so not kidding. The first time I went in to see my nutritionist over 2 years ago we would notice I would lose weight from some parts faster than others and she would comment: are you doing more XYZ? And I would blow off the comment as I didn't believe in the idea that doing something that used a section of your body would cause more fat to disproportionately leave that area. I just figured 'that's my genetics'.

Ok...i'm now super suspicious. Last time I was working with her back from 2007-spring 2009...i tended to equally (and these two spots I would lose the most body fat from)...lose from my quads and my waist. This time? My quads alone DROPPED a disproportionally greater amount than ANYWHERE else. She asked: are you doing lots of squats?

Well...yes I am...but why would that cause me to drop MORE fat from my quads?

Last time I was working with her I was doing swim-bike-run plus some crossfit. This time i'm doing kettlbells/powerlifting, running and vinyasa yoga. It's kind of bizarre. So maybe you *can* do some spot reduction. But I think if you that is all you do you won't lose anything...you do lose fat all over the body, but it does come off not at the same rate from the same places. That's kinda weird too.

Three weeks down

Three weeks down with my strength/conditioning kettlebell class and all is going well with the class. I love the class. To the point that I am sad on the days I don't get to go and excited on the days that I do...Waking up at 5am doesn't even bother me and that is SAYIN' something considering I am no early bird. It's interesting because the program is periodized and so we have had 3 heavy weeks progressively getting heavier weights and then decreasing number of sets...so for example the first three weeks for my deadlifts looked like this: 5x3, 4x3, 3x3. Next week it is 2x3, but also a decrease in weight on all lifts. I had gotten up to 135 on the DL last week which is progress...i was doing 3x5 @ 145-150lbs in January. So the strength is coming back. I probably could pull that right now, but I wanted to start conservative considering I'm getting back onto the training wagon at the moment. But good news...energy is high and spirits are too.

It was interesting last week because I was in a discussion about a random supplement that is making its way into the trimarket...what's new there? But it got me thinking about how I feel like I have 'rounded the bend' almost fully on a few different spectrums in the last 3 weeks which had me thinking: is it just that I can train again? Taking a fair amount of starchy carbs out of my diet unless prepping or recovering from training (similar to Paleo for Athletes), or is it the fact that I decided to see if some Mg supplementation might be beneficial?? I am a data point of one, but I might be leaning toward that I may have been Mg deficient. I have been reading a lot of both endurance athletes as well as the impact Mg has on mood and it makes me wonder...its not too out of the realm of possibility more out of the fact that I have come up short on so many other things this spring that I tend to wonder what else I might be missing. I eat a pretty heathy well rounded diet, but things have pointed to that I don't efficiently absorb the nutrients in food. Either way, I'll probably take it more out of insurance than anything. After this spring's issues and how so much has surfaced with deficiencies...i'm pro-multivitamin and pro-multimineral now.

On the endurance front I am considering a half marathon in November, more out of the fact it would be a way on my off training days to continue to burn high amounts of calories. And while I truly believe calorie in- calorie out = weight change, I can't help but be annoyed that while I have been extremely diligent tracking calories and exercise in training peaks...and I have been running a deficit very consistently for over 2 weeks...the scale has decided not to be a pal and reflect this hard work. It actually is saying i'm heavier at the moment. In two weeks I will know better with a bf test...the pants do fit a little less snug, so I have to go with that. I have been known to lose fat as quickly as I gain lean body mass...and considering I've been doing more weights/week than I ever have over the past few years, who knows how my body will freak out. Granted one goal was to gain back the 2 pounds of lean body mass I had lost since last year, I think I'm there.

More fun to come I'm sure.

One week down

Week one of kettlebells/powerlifting has gone really well. I'm sore. I knew I would be. But not too sore and the type of soreness is not related to how I used to get sore when all the overtraining syndrome started...so maybe I'm heading out of the woods. I still need naps it seems on the weekends and I will be honest...if I could nap around 3pm in the afternoon I would do it. That would have been good today, but I will make this short and head to bed early.

But the best thing is that it just feeeeeels good. So many months of barely getting my HR up and finally being able to be out of breath during a workout just gives that great rush of endorphin high that is so wonderful. I heart endorphins. In all honesty I'm more surprised that I'm not MORE sore. I mean, don't get me wrong...friday's squat fest (a zillion and two lateral squats combined with a bunch of back squats made me barely able to move around this weekend) put me in a sorry state, but really not a severe degree. Soon enough I will be moving beyond that initial 'owchie i haven't lifted in a while soreness' to the different type of soreness that comes with just moving new heavier weights. The later hurts a little less.

But most of all...i'm enjoying it and having fun. And really that is the most important.

But again it has me thinking...will I *ever* come back to triathlon? I know I don't have to. And I won't until I think i will love the multisport schedule, but it is just so weird to think that I may not come back. I am having a day where I'm really not sure if I ever will return. But then again...tomorrow I might think differently. I would say I'm about 50:50 split at the moment...so it depends on when you catch me.

In the meantime...I'm learning to master that kettlebell swing.

On an edge...but it's all good

That fear sits in the back of my brain as I start embarking on training. And in all honesty...it's hard to manage because it isn't like fear of a race: Can I do this? Can I do the training? Will I get through the race? Will I over heat? ect. Those sorts of fears I somehow am able to 'think' through them and manage them. This fear of the bottom falling out without warning, there is no 'crisis' management since my only option if the bottom falls out is starting back at square one and waiting until the body decides it is healthy enough to deal with the situation.

Reintroducing 'training', 'exercise', whatever you want to call it right now is one of those weird things at the moment. I'm gun shy to be honest. I'm scared of doing too much, but i HAVE to do something. I was telling a friend that my main motivation to lose the 10 pounds I have gained this spring has little do to with 'oh i need to lose weight because of XYZ reason' and more to do with the economics of the situation and the fact i hate shopping: I don't want to buy new pants.

So...i need some exercise that is a little bit more aerobic than yoga. Granted vinysa yoga does make you sweat a bit and gets the heart rate up...but not quite like other things. But my kettlebell class officially began this week...and that will definitely get the HR up. And I have been biking on the weekends a bit. But here was the situation this weekend. I rode 35 miles, they were hilly but I did not go out and smash myself. Then I came home and need an hour and a half nap. That is kind of frustrating. I had done the same route the week before and no napping was needed. So it is that sneaky thoughts of doubt that creep in and then say: are you doing too much? Are you trying to train too much right now? What if your body gives up again like it did back in March?

So managing the sneaky thoughts is much harder than I would have thought. But alas...one must manage them. But I have to say getting back into something with some intensity where i'm sweating and HR is high feels SOOOOOOO good. Ok, the being sore that it hurts to cough isn't super fun, but I miss the feeling post intensity exercise. I am sure in a week or so I won't be so sore anymore.

Granted on Tuesday I was most annoyed that my soreness was all due to body weight exercises, evil burpees, pushups, one legged pistol squats. Seriously? I didn't even need a barbell to make myself hurt like this? Well one thing I do miss are my deltoids so I guess those will come back in a hurry.

So it is good...i'm enjoying this and starting to think about more exercise on my off days (tues-thurs-sunday), but I'm also trying to make sure my body is ok and recovering well this first week. I'm also starting to look into other sports. Maybe venture back to Ultimate Frisbee? Or stand up paddleboarding looks kind of fun too. New adventures!

Overtraining Syndrome Part 1

I had a comment a few days ago from Ruby Dragon asking about my experience with overtraining syndrome (OTS) since it seems she is going through the same thing. There is information out on the web, but not a lot of accounts of what happens during overtraining syndrome. This is a long post and many may or may not find it useful...but hopefully it might help someone who is going through it. OTS is hard because it just levels you after being so active.

Last year in May I got a little over trained. Classic HR too high when it shouldn't be and too low when it should be high. I remember being on a run where I couldn't keep my HR over 120bpm...and I was running at a good clip. And I was tired. And I was cranky. And I was in the middle of training for Vineman 70.3 and we realized I need to back off. So I did for a little bit. Few extra days of rest. Fluids. Good healthy eating and I was right as rain. All was well. That is sorta the 'normal' situation when us triathletes get a 'little' overtrained. But it does happen...the super chronic form of OTS

• Washed-out feeling, tired, drained, lack of energy
• Mild leg soreness, general aches and pains
• Pain in muscles and joints
• Sudden drop in performance
• Insomnia
• Headaches
• Decreased immunity (increased number of colds, and sore throats)
• Decrease in training capacity / intensity
• Moodiness and irritability
• Depression
• Loss of enthusiasm for the sport
• Decreased appetite
• Increased incidence of injuries.
• A compulsive need to exercise

But most people don't really talk about it. Even doctors. They don't really know what it is or why it happens. Hormone imbalance? Cortisol too high or something like that? No one knows. Some people their training will put them into a state of OTS because the body has just had ENOUGH. They have been pushing without enough eating/fluids or recovery to support the training. In my case I think it was a combination of SUPER high stress (ie cortisol) for a NUMBER of years combined with poor digestion which resulted in some nutritional deficiencies (folic acid, ferrtin, Vit D...) mix in 8-12 hours of consistent training and the body will say enough at some point.

Last season I noticed I don't recover well from training (probably due to the bad digestion thing)...but then in january it just went down hill. These things are actually hard to notice until the bottom just falls out. It's that whole fable that if you were to throw a frog into boiling hot water he would jump out, but if you put him in a pot of water and slowly heat the water you can boil the frog without him noticing it or jumping out. OTS I think is a culmination of things and it is hard to detect. Sneaky, sneaky. Especially with us type A's who think we need to push the envelope in every training session and that we can go go go and when we are utterly exhausted we just rest a wee little bit, maybe one nap and all is right again.

The reality is that consistently cutting corners on the nutrition, sleep, too much caffine, too much refined carbs, will lead to an erosion of health and one day you will wake up to find yourself at a bottom of a canyon. Filling that back up...takes time and patience and a lot of sleep.

Here was my progression. I found this in my training comments. This is why taking notes for training can be important. I kept a weekly journal for my coach at the time and so this isn't how i felt ALL week, just on one or two particular days within a week.

Week of Jan 18th “Slept in a long time. Very 'heavy' when I woke up. Slightly dehydrated so I ate breakfast and drank a bit of fluids hoping my body would respond so i could run ok. Warmed up for 10 minutes, got through my running drills and was utterly exhausted. Ended up walking back to the car and not running any more.”

Week Feb 1st “body wasn't feeling much more than an aerobic pace, but speed was very encouraging for going aerobic/not really feeling it pace.”

Week of Feb 8th I was swimming like a rock still after the weekend when I felt like lead all weekend.

Week of Feb 15th Sunday: woke up feeling sick...not a cold, just upset stomach, low energy.

...did see the stress 'show up' on Tuesday when I was running and running REALLY SLOW. Last week stress + less sleep + poor nutrition the night before = slow.

Week of Feb 22nd woke up EXHAUSTED...got a 4 mile run mixed with some walking in, but was supposed to do 75mins but couldn't drag myself out of bed early enough due to my exhuastion. My level of exhuastion on Sunday was actually concerning.

I may have a few clues to my lack of recovery that i'm trying to square away but this has been happening more frequently than it ever did before. For some reason

I'm a bit frustrated at the moment because it seems that when my energy levels are good...things are starting to 'click' and come together but I have been having an equally hard time recovering from some of my long rides but it doesn't feel like my muscles are pushed and are exhausted...i am just tired. Like i might wake up from 8-9 hours of sleep but i feel exhuasted and drained. I am sure it is a combination of many things... work, travel and training... But the weird part is one day I have a ton of energy and the next i won't. Sunday i felt miserable all day long, tired, headachy, horrible. But this morning I woke up with a ton of energy bouncing off the walls. I seem to be either full of energy or not and it is pretty extreme on both sides.

Week of March 1st...Raced this week and it was sort of the beginning of the end

had major energy melt down last week. I'm sure everything else that is going on in my life with work and travel isn't helping...but i think there is possibly something else going on. Underlyingly i feel like i have a lot of energy...my body is not tired from training...i'm just exhusted in general. If that makes sense. I have the energy underlyingly to do everything, but i am battling with a desire to sleep all the time.

Week of March 8th

Considering how I felt all week I hope the tests show something conclusive because I was dragging and extremely exhausted and generally feeling rotten, much worse than the week before.

I did half of my TT on Wed only to be so completely exhausted on Thursday (even with 9 hours of sleep) that I had to come home early and take a nap.

Week of March 29th

This week was marginal. Traveling on top of this fatigue i think really wore me out. In some aspects I am feeling better. My biggest problem with all this fatigue is that it is a HUGE paradigm shift for me to have to focus on not having a go-go-go mentality. Which is hard for me. I'm doing ok...and trying to be ok with it all...but it's not mentally easy either.

Week of April 5th First D.N.S

Sunday: I woke up, got ready, ate and was getting ready to pack my car when I could tell that if I raced i was going to dig myself a HUGE hole that would take a LONG time to get out of. It was a really hard decision not to race this morning, but after I went back to bed and woke up 4.5 hours later, still very tired, I knew I had made the right choice. I had wanted to come down and cheer everyone on, but was still really exhausted when I woke up.

April 12

Still pretty lethargic which makes me less motivated since it takes so much emotional energy to do much of anything

April 26th

sports medicine doctor thinks it is 'over-training syndrome' and I'm to check back with him in a month and keep my activity 'in check' in the meantime basically meaning if it makes me too tired it was too much.

still fatigued and pretty apathetic towards training most of the time still...but that seems to be a negative feedback loop of being fatigued and being frustrated that i'm tired and then just not wanting to do anything because it usually makes me pretty tired.

That night...Went to the ER...couldn't stop throwing up for no real reason at all. Took DAYS to recover from. Not really related to OTS, but showed how fragile my body was...it was just freaking out all the time.

May: The pit of despair.

Basically in May, I cancelled a lot of bike ride. I slept in a lot. I was unmotivated a lot. And I tried to just focus on other things a lot. I tried not to let the nagging thoughts of 'will I ever'...what if and all of that eat me alive. It was hard to tell people over and over: I just can't. My body just can't.

It hurt. Recovering from 2 hour bike rides required equally long naps. I wanted to sleep all the time. I probably still didn't sleep enough. More out of apathy than out of not doing it.

June

First bike ride that didn’t wipe me out

Consistency starting to come back...key...not to push.

July

Kettlebell classes have started and 3 weeks of learning.

Trying not to drink coffee anymore.

Realized coffee basically makes me 'high'...talk about a norepinephirine rush. No wonder my poor adreanals hate me.

Next week...first week of some actual consistent higher heart rates.

So while I am slowly on the mend, I also know I'm not totally out of the woods either. I'll admit it. I'm gun shy at the moment. I'm about to start kettle bell training in more 'full effect' and have a nagging worry that I'll stop recovering again. But...i have to try.

I say this as 'part 1'...as I think i have some other thoughts on the topic. But..well...i'm tired. Maybe later.

Discoveries

As I have been talking about in my past few posts, i'm finally finding something I enjoy again and being active is about finding things you enjoy. Someone was asking me about what do I 'do' to be fit and active because they wanted to take some 'tips' from me. My first answer to that question always is: what do YOU enjoy doing? Being fit and active needs to come from enjoyment. Sure there are times when I'm in a training plan and I'm not enjoying how I'm tired or that a particular workout is killing me, but underneath it I enjoy it. Hence why for awhile I am putting multisport training away. I know many people claim they don't like to do anything active, but I think some of that 'aversion' is born out of fear. Fear of learning something new. Fear of worrying what other people will think. Fear of being bad at something new. We all like the comfort of the familiar, but sometimes we all need to branch out and grow and try to figure out what it is we like. I usually feel like i'm making a total ass out of myself when I'm first learning something and in truth... typically I AM...so I've learned to laugh at myself too. But I have found that with practice that awkwardness and self conscienceness does goes away...i promise.

After my foray into cross fit I discovered: I like lifting heavy weights. Give me a heavy deadlift and I am a happy camper. I think this kettlebell thing I'm doing now which will also incorporate some powerlifting and olympic lifting in a setting that is designed more to what I need as an athlete might be the perfect fit for me. Although I'm sure the first few weeks might be a lot of complaining about how sore I am. After all I'm really out of shape right now.

And as of late my biggest concern with my lack of activities has been more around my pants becoming too snug. So I made a date with my sports nutritionist and got my %bf tested. The good news, compared to March of 2009, my lean body mass has only gone down 2lbs. Not bad considering how horrible a spring and how inactive I have been (and for me putting on LBS is easy...so I actually wouldn't be surprised to see those 2lbs back on me pretty quickly). I know I had lost some strength, although this is a comparison from over a year ago. I kinda wish I knew what my LBM was in January...although that might depress me. So let's pretend that Jan 2010 I wasn't that much different fitness levels than March 2010. Granted I was, but I think if I knew I had lost much more LBS i'd be depressed so let's just leave them as close to being equal. And then the truth of the %bf. Looks like i have 10 pounds to drop to get to March 2009 levels. So let's start there.

My nutritionist and I discussed finding activities I might like and that it doesn't have to be swim bike run. It's nice to be reminded I SHOULDN'T swim bike run unless I WANT to. I know this, but it makes my aversion to running and swimming of late almost a relief. Wanna know a secret: i still pack my running stuff and swimming stuff hoping that if the urge to run or swim overcomes me I am ready. I guess i'm not ready yet. ;-) And yes running with friends and swimming with friends I will go and do...but it's being able to enjoy it on my own that I am waiting to come back to me. I still believe that one day it will. I ran 2 miles on my own a few weeks ago, and every part of that run was wonderful...but it was born out of a desire to run and I'm still waiting for it to return. Until then I will try to be 'ready'.

I know there are times to push through some things, but right now is not one of those times. I know that if I am too harsh on myself or force my self into any swim-bike-run that I'm not keen to do the long term consequence of the short term calorie burn isn't a good trade off. But I'm not going to lie when I say I might push a wee little bit and try one swim and one short run this week. There are also realities in life like those 10 pounds that I really would like to go away so that my jeans aren't so snug.

Another discovery I made today was white flour. I know it's not good for you. I know stay away from it. I know...I know...but sometimes we don't always do what we know is best for ourselves. I had some pancakes at lunch...and an hour and a half later I could barely keep my eyes open. A solid 1.5 hour nap later I'm finally awake. And the crazy part? I have dramatically cut back on coffee to the point that a cup of coffee makes me super alert these days and I EVEN had a cup of coffee during my drowsy period before I succumbed to the nap and it did NOTHING. So...bye bye pancakes. I heart you, but you don't heart me. I might actually try this experiment with wheat pancakes and see if it is wheat causing the power nap desire. I did have the pancakes with protein and some fat to try to slow the insulin spiking, but apparently not enough.

So...lots of discoveries made today a bit of a rambling post, but I think right now I'm trying to sort through some stuff in my head that I haven't been able to for the past few months. If I have the energy I hope to be here a bit more in the future.