This week was a pretty solid and varied week for workouts, so I thought I’d tell ya about it.
Monday: Felt like I was coming down with something so I took the day off. I honestly rarely feel guilt for not exercising, but I’d basically taken off both Saturday and Sunday, and I did feel a little guilt. However, I think I successfully held off the sickness, so it was worth it.
Tuesday: Not exercise-related, but I met up with the lovely Ellen for coffee before work. It was nice having an evening workout planned so that I could do that before work. Also, pro tip: there are multiple Koffeecake Corners. I do 94% of coffee meetings there because it’s near my office and has the most ridiculous name ever, and did not know there was more than one. #themoreyouknow
At night, I did another CrossFit Elements class. I have just two more to go! The workout was 21-15-9 wall balls and burpees. In English, this means 3 rounds of throwing a medicine ball against the wall and then burpees; first 21 reps, then 15, then 9. The instructor eyeballed us and kind of decided who she thought was stronger and she put me in the weaker group and gave me a lighter ball. Oh, it’s on, lady. I’ll do a post on my initial thoughts on CrossFit once I finish Elements, but I’m still so surprised/impressed at how you can get such a killer workout in such a short time.
Wednesday: another PM workout! Or two. I had an 8pm CrossFit class scheduled so I was just going to stay late at work to get ahead of all the content I need to schedule for while I’m on vacation…until Jordan asked if I wanted to go for a run with her. Duh, yes. It’s hard to say no to one of my favorite people and to running during work hours. We ran about 4 miles, and then I came back and worked for a bit more before going to CrossFit…and hoping that the workout wouldn’t include too much running.
Random side note: we use a chat system called Slack to communicate at work (there was an interesting Wired profile on it) and someone created a bot so every time you say “CrossFit” it responds with this GIF. I forget every. single. time. and am still amused.
So, of course the workout included running. We did the “Helen” WOD, which is three rounds of: 400m run, 21 kettlebell swings and 12 pull-ups. I used a 12kg (26.5 pound) kettlebell and felt pretty badass about it. Also, EXHAUSTED. The kettlebell swings were the hardest part of the workout for me. Although I sort of didn’t want to run any more, I was happy to have something in the workout that I knew was my strength. I was faster than all of the other girls, and faster than one of the dudes. I, also, was one of those douchebags you see running around the block, which I honestly wasn’t crazy about. I can’t do a real pull-up (much less 36 of them!), so I used a band. The bands you use to help you do pull-ups are basically massive rubber bands that you put over the bar and step through/into so that you have some assistance. (Here’s a video on how it works.)
I came home and laid on the floor, staring at Bailey, willing him to walk himself. That didn’t happen, so I peeled myself off the ground, chugged some post workout drink and let Bailey pull me down the street.
Thursday: I saw Elle was in town for work, so we met up for an early run. I rarely run in the park by myself in the morning because it’s not super close to me, but once I get up there, I remember how happy it makes me. We ran about 4 miles, and it was an awesome shakeout from the CrossFit-ing.
Friday:
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Yesterday, I swam attached to a giant tether. I felt like a massive fish on a fish pole, and I wondered when I was going to be scooped up and had for breakfast. But they probably would have just thrown me back because I am 94% wine.
New York Health and Racquet Club has a new class called Swim Pro, where you swim attached to a giant tether for added resistance…and difficulty. It’s such a weird sensation, but it was definitely a good workout. They did a special private class just for me and my coworkers, so I’m not sure if this the normal format, but we alternated between the tether and doing ab stuff out of the pool on the deck. The instructor, Jerome, came around several times to look at our form. I’ve come a long way since my swim lessons with Sam, but my kick still needs some work. I kick from my knees, not my hips, which is not right. We did a bunch of intervals – swim hard for 30 strokes, easy for 30 strokes, repeat, and by the end of the class, I had worked some some serious hunger. Forget runger, I had some serious swimger! That’s gotta be a thing, right?
And last night was our Junior League Homecoming, so today I am taking a rest day.
So, two random questions:
1. iPhone people: what have you done with your phone when traveling internationally? I’ll be in Switzerland this time next week!!!
2. CrossFit people: how/where do you track your workouts? Is there some sort of DailyMile for CrossFit people?
3. Everyone else – what was your favorite workout this week?
I love CrossFit! Glad to hear you seem to be enjoying it so far.
As for tracking, my box got its members signed up through BeyondTheWhiteboard (http://beyondthewhiteboard.com/whiteboard). I think you can sign up as an individual if your box doesn’t give out accounts there.
It’s really handy because not only does it come with a lot of standard CF workouts pre-built (like the Girls or the Hero workouts), but it lets you create your own workout. When you post them, you can compare your results with members from your box or the entire site, so that you’ll get an idea of where you stand with your time XX:XX for Annie. It also asses your current fitness/skill level, shows how you improve over time and where you have weaknesses. F. ex. it compares the levels of your squats – back, front and overhead – and tells you if one of them is weaker and whether you should work on one. Another cool feature is that it estimates your 1 RM (one rep max) after you’ve done a certain lift a handful of times. I. e. it’ll tell you, your 1 RM deadlift is probably XX lbs if you can lift XY lbs 5 times. This is helpful for those 10-reps-at-40%-1RM kind of workouts, especially if you’ve never tested your 1 RM for that given exercise.
And of course, there are demos for all the exercises.
Thanks! I signed up for the free trial – it looks pretty cool.
Fave workout this week: Hiking Bear Mountain with a close friend on Friday. We both had the day off from work and had an amazing time. It was so refreshing to spend the day together- chatting, sweating, and enjoying a plant-based picnic! I swear, New York leaves are becoming prettier every minute!
Fave workout this week: Hiking Bear Mountain with a close friend on Friday. We both had the day off from work and had an amazing time. It was so refreshing to spend the day together- chatting, sweating, and enjoying a plant-based picnic! I swear, New York leaves are becoming prettier every minute!
I think it is great that you translated your Crossit workout into english – now I understand WODs!
Good 🙂 I’ll try to keep doing that when I talk about CrossFit. And I’ll try to not just talk about CF 🙂
Totally get the swimger. Swimming was my main workout for about two months. When I told my boyfriend I felt like it was actually making me gain weight because afterwards I was always so hungry, his response was “why do you think whales are so big”.
HA. That’s kind of hilarious.
definitely use beyond the white board. Your box should have a subscription.
My favorite workout thus far was BodyPump on Tuesday though I’m hoping that today’s trail race will quickly become my favorite! It looks like a great week of balanced workouts – GREAT job! Also, if you want to wake up crazy early one morning you can come to swim practice with us one day 🙂
I use an old school marble notebook to track my workouts (my box gives you one after you finish elements), but there are a few apps to track WODs. Try WODbox, WODzilla or Beyond the white board! Can’t wait to read your thoughts on elements. Badass week of workouts! 🙂
Take your iphone with you, just switch the data off and rely on wifi. No idea what the data plans are like in the US but australian providers charge a fortune if you use data overseas! Calls seem to be expensive but not so bad you’ll end up broke as you would with using data.
I love hearing other people’s stories when they first start CrossFit — mainly because I use to have the EXACT same thoughts! It’s such an empowering community and incredibly easy to get addicted too! My CF box is my second family! Can’t wait to read more!!
When I was in Israel recently I rented a SIM card for my iPhone 5 so I could make calls and had unlimited data, it’s actually pretty easy to take the SIM card out of the iPhone 5. In the past I’ve just relied on wifi, what’s app and Facebook for all communication in foreign countries.
Thanks! I’m thinking that’s what I’m going to do – did you get the SIM card once you got there or were you able to get it before you left?
@Theodora Blanchfield: I had the sim card waiting for me when I got there, but I think some people switch it out while they’re still in America.
1. Usually I get an xcom global mifi device, and just use wireless internet rather than cell service. It might be quick enough if you order today! I love it.
2. Two things – I take a picture of the whiteboard, and I use a paper workout log by journal menu. I like both options! I haven’t found an app that I love for tracking PR’s, and the paper books have a section for common lifts and CrossFit wods.
Ooh thanks for the heads up 🙂
When I did Crossfit, my box’s website has some sort of tracking, I’m not sure what it was. Before that, I used good old pen and paper. For the iPhone internationally, I always take my phone and put it into airport mode and use wifi. I also use my phone as a map to see what’s nearby and reviews using Tripadvisor’s CityGuides app. The app downloads the maps of a city along with reviews of hotels, restaurants, and attractions onto your phone so you don’t need wifi or cell service. And since GPS works without wifi or cell service, you can use the app to see where you are to get directions or see what’s nearby and what the reviews are. There is a Point Me feature I’ve found to be really helpful. The only thing is that the number of cities available on this app are limited, so you’ll have to see if any of the cities you’re going to are there. If not, there are probably other apps out there specifically for travel and you can see if they can be used offline.
so helpful! Thanks 🙂
Sounds like a great week! For tracking CrossFit workouts our box uses Wodify. I’ve also heard good things from beyond the whiteboard. I used to use myWOD, and you can sync it with an RSS Feed if your box posts WODs on a blog so it imports all the WODs for you!
Swimger is absolutely a thing! I swam from competitively from ages 9 to 17, and at the peak was swimming definitely more than 20 hours a week — I was literally never full.
As for workouts last week I tried ToneHouse NYC and almost died. It was SO hard! But exactly the kind of agility training not-coordinated me needs.
OOOH! I still need to try that place!
Randomly saw a blog comment of yours on Carrots ‘N Cake blog, clicked on over, and I think you’re doing Elements at the box I’ve been going to in NYC for the past 2+ years! Welcome and I’m glad you’re loving it so far! 🙂
ooh really?! I’m at Black Box. If that’s where you are, we’ll have to meet up for a WOD soon. Ahhhhh I’m already using the language I vowed never to use 🙂
Well hello there! Just seeing this post now. Loved meeting up – date #2 will have to be at KC. Have so much fun on your trip!