Monday, January 30, 2012

Wow, how did I get from Day 25 to Day 30? Applekale Crossfit, the Quantum Leap edition.

I am a pastor of a church, and sometimes pastors just have those days...or clumps of days...which are packed full of activity. It makes it tough for me to plan a regular schedule. I don't work 9-5. I work when I'm needed, when there's work to do. This past few days have just been that way. Somehow, I haven't been able to squeeze blogging in. Oh well, falling down on that blog-every-day thing.

So I'm pretty happy to say that even though I've had lots of work to do, and even though I am still struggling with a painful, stiff back and hip (thank you very much, Deadlifts from two weeks ago), I still managed to make it in to Crossfit three of those days, AND I took a restorative yoga class at The Yoga Loft  with the wonderful crossfitter yoga teacher Laura Garrison. That class was awesome, y'all. You should try restorative yoga sometime.

So, I will combine all my stats about food and exercise into one big boring post. I'll begin with today and then work backwards.


Monday January 30


What I exercised:
  • Met with Albany Crossfit coach extraordinaire Kevin for a training session, to work on my deadlifts. We came to the conclusion that I have trouble activating my hamstrings--they are too flexible--so I am lifting with my back (and injuring myself.) We worked on my noticing when my hamstrings are engaged, and Kevin basically told me to only deadlift sumo-style until I get stronger. He had me practice deadlifting this heavy kettlebell--did you all even know we have 100 pound kettlebells at Albany Crossfit? I need to focus attention on keeping the bar as close as possible to my legs, and on activating the hamstrings as I put the bar down, so that when I am doing multiple reps I don't need to re-set and re-engage them every time.
  • Kevin also had me work on back extensions, and told me to work on them every time I'm in the gym, using successively heavier weights, again, to strengthen the hamstrings.
  • After we were done training, I did some volume training on pull-ups, this time doing two per minute for twenty minutes on the blue+purple bands. This is to get me closer to my goal of being able to do 5 unbroken pull-ups on the blue band by the end of the challenge.

What I ate:
  • 9 AM: breakfast quinoa
  • 12:30 PM: giant salad: spinach, greens, 2 hard eggs, 1 c fresh lentil and broccoli sprouts, 1 big carrot, and dressing of olive oil, lemon juice and capers
  • 3:30 PM: small cashew cookie 
  • 5:30 PM: post-WOD shake (almond milk, spinach, 1/2 banana, 1/2 c frozen berries, 1/3 c protein powder)
  • 6:30 PM: I had a meeting scheduled at the Olive Garden tonight. I wasn't too excited about eating one of their wilty salads for dinner, so I was almost glad when I was stood up. I went over to Chipotle and ordered a vegetarian bowl (small amount of rice, black beans, all the salsas, veggies, cheese, sour cream, lettuce and guacamole). Ate half of it.
  • 9:30 PM: ate the other half of the Chipotle bowl.

Sunday January 29

Rest day, though I did dance through most of the Jazz Vespers church service :) This was a very busy day for me, working from 7 AM til about 11 PM.

What I ate:
  • 7:30 AM: 2 hardboil eggs
  • 8:30 AM: 1/2 of a Larabar brand cashew cookie
  • 1 PM: the other half of that Larabar and another whole one (Key Lime Pie, and it was tasty. Never tried that flavor before.)
  • 3 PM: so starving. Went to Panera and almost without thinking ordered tomato soup and macaroni and cheese. 
  • 6 PM: post-Vespers, went to the church chili cookoff, and had a bowl of chili with 1/4 c cheese and a small piece of cornbread.
  • 11 PM: (after returning from an emergency hospital visit) ate 1/2 c paleo granola and 1/2 c almond milk.
Funny, a few months ago, I wouldn't have considered this such a bad food day. Now I think it's a train wreck. I didn't pack food before I left the house so I was stuck eating Larabars because I was so hungry. No good carbs at breakfast. No big salad (even though I could have had one at Panera). Mac and Cheese! yikes. 


Saturday January 28

What I exercised: That wonderful restorative yoga class I mentioned earlier. Surprisingly challenging.

What I ate: 
  • 9 AM: small protein plus cashew cookie bar
  • 12:30 PM: post-yoga protein shake and a coconut cream pie Larabar
  • 3 PM: 1 cup cooked quinoa and raisins. No almond milk :(
  • 6 PM: vegetarian bowl from Chipotle


Friday January 27

What I exercised:
  • 9 AM WOD
  • "Filthy Fifties" (scaled to 35's)
    scaled also by using the ballistic box turned the tall way--what is that, 12 inches?--a 25# KB, 25# push press, 10# WB, step-back burpees (hip too stiff to jump back), and tuck jumps instead of double-unders
    29:10
It was the burpees that slowed me way down. I scooted through most everything else.

What I ate:
  • 7:30 AM: breakfast quinoa
  • 10 AM: post-WOD protein shake
  • 12:30 PM: 2 eggs fried in coconut oil, and a big salad of raw spinach with Olive Oil, lemon juice and capers
  • 2:30 PM: small apple, string cheese, "granola" bar
  • 5:30 PM: 2 more granola bars
  • 7:30 PM: dinner out at "Tranquil" restaurant in Binghamton.  Few bites of hummus and olive tapanade on pita, baked brie, green salad, stuffed eggplant. Glass of white wine.


Thursday January 26

What I exercised:
  • 9 AM WOD
  • I. Split Jerk practice
    6 @ 35#, 4 @55, 2 @ 75, 1 @ 95, 1@105, 1@115!
  • II. 6 sets:
    5 tough push-presses
    AMRAP pull-ups (subbed ring-rows)
    1st set: 35# and 14 ring-rows
    2nd: 55 and 12
    3rd: 60 and 10
    4th: 60 and 10
    5th: 65 and 10
    6th: 70 and 10
    I was pretty pleased with this.
  • III. 500 meter row. 2:05
What I ate:
  • 7 AM: paleo granola bar
  • 7:30 AM: 1 c cooked collard greens and lentils.
  • 10:00 AM: post-WOD shake (avocado, banana, protein powder, almond milk, ice and water)
  • 11:30: another paleo granola bar
  • 1:30 PM: salad of greens, 1/2 avocado, 2 hard eggs
  • 6:30 PM: cooked dinner for my little nephews. Compromised: raviolis with vodka sauce and some cooked peas.
Okay, so how am I feeling, after all these really hard days of working long hours? Pretty good. I am especially susceptible to depression when I work like this, and somehow it is under control. The house is a mess, but at least I am continuing to exercise and (mostly) eat well. I ate out too much these past few days, I know, but it's tough when my work is so busy, and time with family and friends feels more importantly that sticking too strictly to the diet.

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