Thursday

Yeah!  No running today!  That’s always a happy day in my book.  The warmup was done by a coach that is coming in to do the Olympic-style lifting class.  There was stretching and then we did 3 rounds of 10 light wall balls alternating with burpee jacks.  You get in a pushup position with your feet together and hands wide apart.  Jump your hands together and feet out.

The strength work started with overhead presses while in a deep squat.  I have good shoulder mobility so this wasn’t too hard for me.  I did 33 lbs.  Other people who are a lot stronger than me were staying with 15 lbs.

Then we did pull up work which I still totally suck at.

The workout was 4 rounds of:

  • 30 Russian twists with a 10# ball – Sit on the ground with your feet off the ground.  Touch the ball to each side of your hips.  That’s one.
  • 15 slam balls – Stand up with ball overhead.  Throw it down on the ground and squat to catch it.
  • 5 Turkish get ups – Lay down on the ground with the ball in your hand.  Extend your arm straight up.  Get up while keeping the ball balanced overhead and then lie back down with your arm still extended.  Don’t drop the ball on your face.

I did it in 13:14.  I had never done Turkish get ups before but I was a strange child who liked to spend time balancing things on various parts of my body.  They taught us a very deliberate way to do it slowly.  I could just get up and then cross my legs, drop into a cross legged sit, and then lay back and keep the ball up.  I could hear my trainer wanting to yell at me but not really being able too.  Then one time the ball wobbled and he yelled, “Heather! Slower on the down!”  I laughed and I think he felt better.

The husband has been swimming.  Let me back up.  He was on the swim team in high school.  He also did triathalons.  He was a very good runner.  Fast forward through the Army years where he gets broken in various creative ways and he isn’t able to run anymore.  A lot of time it hurts him just to walk.  But, he thinks he should still be able to run.  I’ve tried to convince him to swim for exercise instead.  I’ve even offered gym memberships with pools for gifts.  No go until a month ago when he decided to go to a gym with a pool and swim.  Now he’s a convert.  He actually used the words, “Since I’ve been swimming I don’t hurt nearly as much.  Who would have thought?”  I pointed out that I had thought that repeatedly and vocally.

Now he wants to take me swimming too.  I went and did some laps with him.  I’m not a good swimmer.  I’m not going to drown in the pool but I can’t breathe right to do the correct strokes.  I like back stroke since I don’t have to have my breathing parts in the water.

Saturday

Went swimming again.  I really want to take a snorkel.  Then I could swim laps all day long.

Tuesday

After warm up our first activity was a bear complex every minute on the minute for 10 minutes.  To do this you start with a bar on the ground.  Pick it up to under your chin, squat, stand up and push it overhead, bring it behind your head to rest on your shoulders, squat, stand up and push it overhead, put it back on the ground.  I did 63 lbs.

The workout was 5 rounds of:

  • 400 m run (if you are slow 200 m)
  • 21 deadlifts at 95#

I could have told you that I was slow but our trainer had us all do the 400 m run on the first set.  If we weren’t finished with the run and the deadlifts in 3 minutes then we could do the 200 m run for the rest.  By the end everyone was doing 200 m.  I finished in 17:47.  I had no energy today.