Tag: fitness and nutrition

#TinkRuns2024

I’m Doing It! June 2024

2chicksandapen

Month 6.

Half way.

Happy the way to somewhere or nowhere? That what’s been on my mind this month.

An MRI for the knees. A milestone I didn’t anticipate before I started this running project. Happy I can get up each day and go but frustrated I can’t go at full speed on anything. Unfortunately, injuries can sideline you when you least expect it. This pretty much describes my current stats: ongoing recovery.

This month marks another 5k that I was expecting to be special. Instead I did a park 5k solo and I’m opting for no races in June to work on my overall recovery plan and enjoy my travel without extra aches and pains. A personal choice. This was an easier decision after the 5k I wanted to do had a date change that conflicted with my travel and the course was going to change. All of a sudden I wasn’t destined to do this race!

It was a year ago I ran the 5k. My mental game probably wasn’t as strong as it is today and my body wasn’t as prepared for the run a year ago. To see the comparison in time and how I feel after this race was really something I’ve been looking forward to. A full circle vision of hard work. Did it pay off? I wanted to know. I won’t know exactly because I’m not repeating the race. I do know however my 5k time is almost 9 minutes faster thus I’ll claim winner on progress for year over year.

I guess it doesn’t matter that I couldn’t make the race. The hills were awful. The walk to the start line in the woods is a workout in itself. One could say you’re tired before you even start. This was more of a disappointment than my injuries to date. Go figure. For June I will add in hill training as a little nod to the race that wasn’t in the cards this year!

Not a ton of miles for June but I didn’t quit.

No stopping me now.

How will my second half differ from the first? 

Will my mileage pick up volume?

The half way point of the year is here. Holy cow. Committing six months to running takes dedication, time, and a can do attitude at the very least. Now it’s time to see what it takes to get to twelve months and really dial in on marathon training. We shall call this the building capacity phase. 

Will my mileage double by year’s end?

Will I get close to 750 miles?

Will I battle more injuries?

 Will I continue?

adventure, fitness and nutrition

Fitness Freedom

2chicksandapen

The CrossFit Ranch. The Original Proving Grounds. Home of the first CrossFit Games. Owned by Dave Castro. Even though I do a lot of my fitness outside of my CrossFit gym, I am a huge Dave Castro fan. I love his CrossFit announcements. His esoteric clues. His persona.

When the opportunity came to visit The Ranch for an event, I was all in. I missed it last year due to a scheduling conflict, but this year I was going to make it work.

It was a celebration of sorts, leaving school directly after the last day of my 10th year as a teacher. A long flight across the country. Renting a car and making the drive. To save on what was already a splurge of a trip, I bunked in with a group of women I had never met or even interacted with much. But, we are all part of the same online fitness community. They turned out to be pretty low key and kind. A group no one would have ever brought together but we were all in it for the adventure.

A 30 minute drive to the Ranch in the morning and we were into our weekend of fitness fun. Signed in, got our swag bag, and dove right in to the first event.

Called “Climb Every Mountain,” it started with a 1 mile run. After that, you did a mile ruck / sandbag carry up the infamous CrossFit Ranch hill. I was the slowest of my heat on the run, but I was smiling and taking in the sights, meeting the people I’d only seen on the screen at the turn around points. Once I got back, I had to choose my weight. I could choose 20, 40, or 60 pounds (or more) to carry…or go with no weight. My home sandbags are 25 and 35 pounds, so I decided to challenge myself with 40. I had done a lot of weighted walking in May, so I felt pretty good about it as I started. It didn’t take me long to realize that the 40 pounds combined with a seriously steep hill was going to be a heck of a challenge. I quickly got to the point where I had to just tell myself to walk 50 paces then drop. Walk 50 paces then drop. I thought the hill would never end. But, I was determined to make it to the top, and make it to the top I did. No time cap on this event so as long as I kept going I knew I would finish. True to fitness fun form, a special surprise guest waited at the top of the hill behind a tree. Yes, I screamed when he jumped out, but then I laughed and had a quick photo opp.

The trip down to the bottom was treacherous with the sandbag, but little by little I made it to the finish line. The smile when I saw my team captain cheering for me at the finish line said it all.

The rest of the weekend was all about fitness and connection. I met scores of wonderful people, all at different points in their fitness and life journeys, all challenging themselves to work hard and be joyful. I picked up heavy strongman and husafell bags. I pushed enormous sleds with a team. I muscled through a long chipper. We ate, danced, and fitnessed together.

The weekend ended with a final climb of the hill. Everyone in attendance climbed together. We carried notes where we had written some things we were going to leave behind on that relentless hill. I wanted to leave behind my fears. My worries about what anyone else thinks. My concerns about failure. We got our hug and challenge coin for the climb, then burned those fears in a fire pit. It was a satisfying end to a weekend of fitness.

What was the best part? Was it meeting so many of the community’s “celebrities” (or really they’re sort of everyday heroes to me)? Meeting them in person, I see that they are sincere in what they believe. They are dedicated to family, fitness, and the belief that we can all be well. They live out their mission. Or maybe it was making new friends, enjoying meals together, morning meditative walks on the beach…really there are too many good memories to list here.

Here’s my takeaway: in the end, no one but you has to understand or approve of what you’re doing. Did people tell me I was crazy? Sure. Did someone close to me chuckle as they asked if I was traveling all the way across the country to exercise? Absolutely. Did those doubters make me do a double take? Maybe for a second. But whose approval ultimately matters? Me. I am SO glad I did it. And I would totally do it again.

So when people look at you like you’re crazy, carry on. In the end, the collection of experiences and memories you have is up to you. No one else can climb the mountain set before you. If something is calling you, answer.

challenges, fitness and nutrition

Puddin’ Pedal

2chicksandapen

Sounds cute and innocent enough…a 20-mile “fun ride” through central Georgia. Part of the State Banana Pudding Festival. Pudding at all the rest stops! A pudding tasting at the festival! Banana carving! What’s not to love?

There was a 20 mile and a 40 mile option. People asked me what I was doing…funny. Even 20 miles would be about 7 miles longer than I had ever biked. There were maybe 20 of us, total. 5 doing 40 miles, 15 doing 20. Some chit chat at the start line…quite a few of us were new to this event, but nearly all had much nicer gear and bikes than I did. Several wore fancy kits advertising their distance races. Most were also my age or older. Friendly. After all, we weren’t competing.

Straight out of the gate there was a huge downhill. I thought to myself, we are going to pay for this with some big ups.

How right I was! What followed was mile after mile of mostly huge hills. Every turn had me holding my breath and often shaking my head in disbelief. Another ?!^&@# hill!!!

The 40 milers and some of the more experienced cyclists were long gone as I steady pedaled up the first few hills. A couple of older women who had come together took a number of breaks on the side of the rural roads so I kept in touch with them. Finally at one point I turned around to see several people about 50 yards behind me along with the police safety vehicle that signifies the back of the pack. I’m doing ok, I thought. Just keep moving.

Up and down. Up and down. At one point I just get off the bike and walk it up the last part of the hill. My back and my saddle soreness told me it was fine to take a little break. At one point people pass me and then I hear the sound of the car over my shoulder. It would be over my shoulder for the remainder of the miles. Kind of taunting me. Once in a while tempting me. Others had given up, hoisted their bikes and climbed in. Put themselves out of the slow rolling pain of endless hills. Should I?

I’ll spare you the pain of all the inner doubt and dialogue. I knew I was too stubborn to give up. Yes, every time I would get off the bike to walk some horrible uphill they would pull up next to me to see if I was ok. Always the answer: “yes” with a smile and a thank you. Even with the headwinds of a storm blowing in. Even after an hour and a half with no mile markers and not a bowl of pudding in sight, I kept going.

We did finally get to the pudding stop. There was just one. The rest of the 20 mile group was there, sitting and snacking on pudding and sandwiches and nilla wafers and orange slices. We all pulled out together a few minutes later. I learned we just had about 7 miles to go, with a few more horrible uphills between me and the finish line.

It took forever, it seemed. Me and the sweep truck just puttering along. One hill had me so mad I started hyperventilating. But I had to calm down… “You didn’t come this far to just come this far,” I told myself. “Finish it. Finish it. Finish it.” Counting my pedals from 1-100 just to focus on getting. up, the, hill.

And at long last, I did finish. The finish line was nothing special. In fact, people kept saying “just keep going,” then eventually I was riding into the festival crowd and I turned around. The follower vehicles were gone. No finish line, no bowl of pudding, no cheers or way to gos. I just got off my bike and sat on the ground for a minute. Shaking my head. Shaking all over, really. What just happened? I finished.

This may have been the hardest physical thing I had ever done. I had to work harder than I wanted for longer than I wanted because there was someone just over my shoulder, waiting for me to quit. No stops for photos or scenery. Just a fight through pretty much every single mile.

I am stubborn, that is for sure. I can endure pain and discomfort for as long as I need to. I can keep going. I can sustain. I don’t have to satisfy anyone but myself.

A bucket list activity turned into a one-and-done. A few bites of pudding and many sore muscles and memories. Sometimes the things you look forward to contain tests and challenges you don’t anticipate or imagine. But pushing through them is its own gift. It leaves you with a sense of achievement. And a plan to improve.

fitness and nutrition, friendship, Uncategorized

Challenge Finale

2chicksandapen

The middle of the challenge hit and I made it over 50,000 meters. I was excited. 62,000 or a little more to more realistic. I wasn’t the top in my group at this time, but I was being consistent and that was my purpose go this challenge. The picture below shows me celebrating with a ruck in in very cold weather while stretching my aching shoulders.

The next holiday week was going to be different. Out of town for travel. Extremely cold temperatures, but I was purposeful in choosing activities that I could track my efforts on fitness while trying new things like snow shoeing and snow biking. Both firsts for me but both were trackable. 

I used the bike erg. The rower. The air runner. The assault bike. The ski erg. I even filled a ruck with 30 pounds of weight to lug around for my activity credit. I didn’t discriminate on the methods I used but I completed the most on the bike erg and the assault bike by a long shot. I’m glad I have a gym that has a variety of equipment to use while tracking 100,000 meters. Otherwise I might go insane.

I grew more tolerant of the bike erg. I adjusted to longer times in the bike saddles. I regained my desire to put in extra work a second time a day even if just 20 minutes of cardio. I walked more with purpose. I enjoyed completing activities outside even in the cold temps. This is something I have been missing for a good while now. Glad to be back in the mode of moving and pushing myself even in extreme conditions.

The picture above shows the stacking of 30 pounds in the backpack to begin the ruck. Based on my body weight, the 30 pounds was the requirement. It’s harder than one would think when you are trying to achieve distance. All in all it helped me prepare for my physical and mental days ahead.

As I wrap up the month and the year of 2022, I can say I logged over 100,000 meters in addition to other workouts like crossfit and tennis. I am proud of myself. I am excited to make this an annual challenge as well. I’m glad I had friends to do this with. All in all this was a great experience and I’m looking forward to my next challenge already. No matter what it is.

This challenge taught me rain, snow and cold weather are not excuses to get your fitness in. There are always options if you just make your fitness a priority.

fitness and nutrition

Dirty Work

2chicksandapen

Summer time is a time of change.

Schedules change. Daylight times change. Eating habits change and more. I try to just ride the wave and embrace it all.

This summer has also brought a change in my workouts. Street Parking launched the Summer Grind / Dirty Work series program for the summer. These workouts focus on odd objects like sandbags, heavy weighted balls, sleds, rucksacks and battle ropes. I’ve been using my sandbag pretty consistently for about a year and I love throwing that thing around. Otherwise, working with these pieces of equipment is mostly new to me. In a time where I’ve felt pretty restless (and even a little bored) with my workout routine, this has been an energizing change.

Something different, something new. Something to learn.

Rucking gets me outside more. D-ball workouts let me slam new things down. For some reason, I feel like a badass when I do sled pushes. Different muscles are sore. Different senses are awakened. Different skills used.

It’s funny how little changes can actually help me stay consistent. Something new can keep me coming back every single day, but with renewed energy. Plus, Street Parking has me chasing all the virtual badges. I’ve been a gold-star chaser since I was a little kid. Some things never change!

What’s new in your routines? Any little changes breathing life into your healthy habits? If not, what can get you inspired to move? Hiking somewhere new? A new sport or game with friends? What small changes can make a difference in your big picture?