Big legs

It's been awhile since I left the gym and felt all wobbly on the first set of stairs I hit. Today was one of those days. I planned to follow Ken's example and do yesterday's regular crossfit, but ended up subbing in thrusters for kettlebell swings. It looked like this:

5 rounds:
12 thrusters, 40 lb
12 walking lunges, 30 lb

Finished with:
12 presses, 35 lb
15 squats, 45 lb

Treadmill to loosen up - an easy mile (about 12 minutes @ 5.3 mph, 1% grade). Walked some of it at the beginning, because I got a cramp (the regular kind). Otherwise it felt great - normal. Slow's the way to go!

Hitting all the (body) bases

A hk custom CF-style circuit again.

4 rounds:

500 m row
15 DB (aka kettlebell) swings 25#
12 bench dips
15 16" step-ups (per leg)

Phewf. That's it. It took about 40 minutes. It was hard. I sweated a lot. I loved it.

The DB swing is my new answer to deadlifts. (Which are awkward at best without the proper sized plates.) The drive of the legs/hips and stabilization of the back required really seems to work the same muscles in similar ways. Just saying.

Note on the step-ups: This doesn't sound very high considering box jumps are typically done on a 20" box (not that I've ever used a box that high, but anyway). But when I step up to this level, my hip flexes my thigh beyond parallel to the floor - that is, it's as high as I can possibly step up before I have to twist my hips or hop. Next time I do this, I suspect I'll have to lower the step, because my belly is beginning to interfere with my leg when I raise it this high. Hmph.

Cardio day

I wanted to test out my running ability, to see if I could still count on it. The past few times I've hopped on the treadmill, it's been at the end of a workout, or part of a circuit which requires a quicker pace. These episodes didn't go that well. I hoped that if I started with running and maintained a slower pace, I'd be able to keep it up. It worked. Sort of.

Here's what I did on the treadmill:

10 min jogging (5.5 - 5.7 mph)
10 min walking on a 6 - 11% grade (+10% for the 2nd half)
12 min jogging (5.3 - 5.5 mph)

In total, I did about 2.5 miles in 33 minutes (there were some walk-for-water breaks in there).

I had to stop to walk after the first 10 minutes jogging because of increasingly uncomfortable presure/cramping in my lower belly. The walking helping, and the 10 minutes on a grade showed that I burned about the same # calories as the 10 min jog. Feeling better, I jogged again, at a slightly slower pace. This went better, and I probably could've kept going, but I didn't want to crash and burn.

The rest of the workout comprised two times through the following:
25 push-ups (knees down)
40 v-sit ball tosses
side plank (30 count per side)

Today's lesson learned: GO SLOW. This is not the first time I've had this lesson WRT to running. When I first started running about eight or nine years ago, I hated it because it hurt. I was coaxed and cajoled into just going more slowly (thanks Daddy-o)... and voila! I became a runner. Now, I must recall the basics to keep forging ahead.

Weigh-in: Still hovering around 145!