Wednesday, December 12, 2018

WWU - Back to Back to Back

I know it's December and it's a busy time - believe me, I am at DEFCON 1 with my knitting right now - but I'm pleased to report that I haven't let it interfere with my workouts.  Now, rain HAS interfered, but seriously, who wants to run when it’s pouring cold rain?  Not I.

Anyway.  I have to tell you about last week because it was both slightly impressive to me and also slightly dumb.  I added Mondays to my workout schedule at BCS Fitness, so I go M/T/Th.  I also run on T/Th mornings, and Saturdays, when it's not raining.  But last week, with the funeral train coming to town, BCS Fitness closed for the late afternoon workouts on Thursday and offered a Wednesday workout instead.  Which I did.  If you're keeping track, that meant I worked out Monday afternoon, then I ran Tuesday morning, then I worked out Tuesday afternoon, then I worked out Wednesday afternoon...and then I ran Thursday evening.

I do not recommend this.

That Wednesday workout was a tough one - I think it would have been tough even if it hadn't been my third workout in a row, but we did a "41" workout in honor of George H.W. Bush.  Doing 41 reps is hard!  Our coaches kept telling us to break it up, and I did for the most part - like I might have done 20 reps before pausing for a few seconds.  Then I'd do another five reps, pause.  Three reps, pause.  Try to add it up in my head, pause.  Keep going until I hit 41.  Some were harder than others, but there were no easy exercises in this workout.

One station was the rower, where we had to row to burn 41 calories, which takes a while.  I got on at the same time as another person who is older than me by at least 10 years.  Both coaches came over and told us to take breaks while doing the rower.  Well, we started, and I figured I'd row until he took a break and then I'd take one too.

He never took a break.  So I didn't either - I figured if he kept going then so could I.  But I was toast at the end of that one...still, I kept up with the older man.  I know some people take pride in keeping up with the younger crowd as they exercise but me?  I'm just trying to catch up to the oldsters who are all in better shape than me!

Diane and I normally run on Thursday morning, but the marathoners were doing their Saturday run on Thursday evening because one of them couldn't make the Saturday run, and Diane was going to be out of town on Saturday as well, so we made plans to run at the same time as the marathoners - it's nice to be out there at the same time, even if we're not all running together.

After we spent the afternoon outside with the funeral train, we went home, changed into running gear, and then met up to run.  My legs were tired and sore from the previous three workouts in a row, and I was pushing myself much more than I usually have to, but I didn't give up and walk.  I just kept running, and I attribute that to getting a little stronger thanks to my workouts at BCS Fitness, and also because I push through those workouts as well - if we have 10 reps (or 41...), I keep going, no matter how long it takes, until I finish.  So I guess that unconsciously translated to my running.

By the way, we finished with 4 miles.  It wasn't until later that night that I realized I should have run just one more tenth of a mile, to make it 4.1 - I can't believe that number slipped my mind, especially considering how we spent the afternoon!

We didn't end up running on Saturday because of flooding rains, and while Jeff and I thought about running Sunday, it was still rainy and cold and we decided we needed an extra rest day.  I think that was a good decision because when I went to my workout on Monday, we did a 12 Days of Christmas set which took me the entire 30 minutes to complete.  Good thing I was well-rested!

14 comments:

  1. Good for you! Racing against the other gym member cracked me up - I've done that so many times. Whatever it takes. I am always amazed at what I really can do if I just do it.

    P.S. The best part of belonging to a program is the push you get from the trainers and the other members, right?

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    1. Yes to the trainers and members - I have such a good group and all of the trainers, even the ones who aren't working with us at the moment, are super encouraging. This was such a good decision, to go back to BCS Fitness.

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  2. All that training 4 days in row sounds intense! I also thought it was funny you racing against the older gentlemen whatever it takes to get it done! Extra rest was a good thing you don't want to get sick or injured over training.

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    1. Yeah that was a bit much; I'm a believer in rest days so I need to remember the importance of them.

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  3. I do my own competition with the bootcamp participants...especially when we run. I'm the only runner there, so that's where I have the advantage over the men. Last week's bootcamp tho--I came in near the end. It was hard and those CrossFitters kicked my booty!

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    1. Ugh, CrossFitters! KIDDING! It's good that so many people are doing the type of exercise that they enjoy.

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  4. That is a lot of working out!!! I'm glad you got the weekend off. Plus rain, that's good knitting weather :)

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  5. I love all the fun stuff your gym comes up with. Please keep posting it so I can steal the ideas!

    And man, you are a BEAST! WTG last week!

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    1. I will post...when it sticks in my brain long enough after the workout to remember it. I swear I shouldn't be driving after some workouts. ;)

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  6. Kudos to you for all the activity. I've literally done zilch since Thanksgiving! I'd love to hear Bout your 12 days of Christmas workout!

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    1. You start with one thing for the first day. Then you do two things for the second day, and one of the first. Then three for the third day, two for the second, and one for the first. Each day has a different exercise. The harder ones were toward the end - like, we did sprinter starts on day 8, which nearly killed me...but I only (ONLY!) had to do five sets of them.

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