Memorial Day + One Screwed Up Training Week

So this past weekend was Memorial Day and I know there can be a lot of confusion between Memorial Day and Veterans Day.  So just to clarify
Memorial Day - remember those that have served our country and have lost their lives for it
Veterans Day - those who have served our country and are still with us today

"Murph"
My Memorial Day actually started on Sunday afternoon around 3pm.  I had friends invite me to do "Murph" on post.  Now if you've never heard about or done "Murph,"  you're in for a treat.  So every year on Memorial Day the workout "Murph" is completed.  It is a workout that many CrossFitters do and other fitness enthusiasts do to honor not only Navy SEAL Michael Murphy bu many other fallen heroes.

Pre "Murph" (I had a sarcastic smile on)

"Murph"

1mi run

100 pull ups

200 push ups

300 air squats

1mi run

Now Sunday is typically my rest day and I love my rest day.  I just relax on my couch, watch tv, take a nap or spend time by the pool.  I was all for doing Murph earlier in the week but the closer to time it came to do Murph the more I was against it just for that simple reason I wanted to relax.  So I decided if anything I was at least going to go out and support those doing Murph.  I was going to show up in my workout clothes because when I watch I usually have an yearning to participate.  So I was still undecided even seconds before it was time to start.  But as soon as my friend Janine pushed start on her timer I took off with everyone else.  It started to get really humid because it had rained earlier that day, partly downpoured.  I was definitely sweating.  I think the worst part of the whole workout was the push ups and the 4 laps around the track for the mile.  I was able to do it in 1 hour and 5 minutes.  Definitely not my best time!  But it is nice to know that after the first year of completing it your legs don't feel like rocks on the second mile.   I completed Murph in 1hr and 5min this year.  Granted it was slower than my time from last year but I'm not in the same place I was as last year.

Working on my 200 push ups!!!  That was the worst part.

Pew Pew Practice
So I've been seeing a lot of friends lately start practicing their shooting more and some are even competing.  I myself own a gun for my protection when traveling by myself and also because I live by myself.  I have had my gun since I was 21 years old.  It was part of my birthday or graduation present.  I saved up that money after my family and I started shooting. 
Well I have always felt as if I was a bad shooter because my shots would never land where I wanted them to on the target and it helps that I never practice either.  I remember I went shooting with a friend before I left to move out here almost 3 1/2 years ago and have only been shooting twice since then.  You only get better or more efficient by practicing, just like at anything else. 
Anyways so for Memorials Day I stopped over by Guild to support my CrossFit family as they took on Murph for the holiday.  I didn't get to stay for the whole thing because I obviously was going shooting that day.  I have a friend that is a SF instructor and not only enjoys shooting but enjoys teaching others as well.  So he watched me shoot a mag at the target that was set to 10m away so he could see where I was having and issue.  My grouping was together, but obviously not in the place where I would like it to be...dead center.  My only issue he determined was just like most people I anticipate the recoil.  Stupid reflexes! 
I think I only lasted at the range for about an hour.  He showed me how to fix my grip so that it would take out some to the movement from the recoil. He moved the target out to 15m and things got worse! It's amazing how much worse of a shooter I felt like at just an extra 5m out from the first time.   We worked on the second site after taking the first shot and the most frustrating part is the wonderful game he decided to play with me.  My gun contains two magazines (holds the bullets that go in the gun).  He took both of them from me and emptied them out, plus we used his ammo, and he told me that he was going to put the magazine in either with a bullet or without a bullet.  I would not know, as I was not allowed to look when he was "loading" the magazine and putting in my gun.  Pull after pull the gun was empty and it was starting to work.  I was relaxing and making sure I was breathing when I pulled the trigger and my recoil was going away.  But my frustration was building.  I was tired of pulling the trigger and no bullet coming out of the gun.  Every single time, nothing.  We did it about 3-4 more times and then he called it a day.  He could tell I was getting frustrated and I'm sure just like with doing double unders in CrossFit, the more frustrated you get the worse and trying to fix the problem gets.

My Screwed Up Training Week
Well remember how I told you my schedule for working out last week was messed up?  Well it all started because of Murph on Sunday. 
Monday being Memorial day and I having plans and not being sure what time the gym opened I wasn't able to get my workout in.  And the only excuse I will make is that I wasn't going to drive to the gym just to find out that it was closed, especially after calling it several times. So instead of my normal rest day being Sunday and not going out for a run which probably would have helped when Tuesday rolled around and I had back squats to do.  And some of my normal Tuesday strength work got thrown in with Mondays work as well.  With quads still sore and meeting animals because of dog sitting this past weekend I had a busy Wednesday.  But I did get a chance to relax on Wednesday night by going to trivia night at Latitude 35.  They have trivia every Wednesday and I had done it once before almost as a double date type of thing.  It wasn't as much of a date for me as it was for a friend of mine.  But anyway.  I felt like all I did on Wednesday was run around and a much as I didn't want to skip out on running that day I'm glad that I did because I was running around with what felt like a chicken with my head chopped off.
Thursday I can't even remember what I did which only begins to tell you how crazy my week was.  Friday I did my normal conditioning and typically on Fridays because I'm so exhausted by the end of the week I go home and take a nap.  With my schedule being different this week I wasn't that tired and needed to go for a run since I've been pretty good about getting in 3 days a week since I decided to start running on a regular basis.  He, Fidget, is still motivation for this, to make him proud.  So I headed out for my 2.5mi run that I typically complete on a Monday as a warm-up for the week and that was probably all my body could handle with the heat and being sore.  I felt really slow that day!  But I couldn't wait to get home and have dinner.  Finally to be able to relax.
But Sunday would bring around a new week and back to my regular schedule!  So glad for that!

I was antsy to get out of my apartment on Froday so my girlfriend Krystal and I headed downtown to Southern Alternative Boutique just tonnage some fun trying on clothes and I need a top for the akort I had bought there previously. I decided to try on a romper: 1) because I have never had one on and 2) because Fidget said it was his least favorite outfit on any girl so I wanted to prove to him that they aren't that bad! Luckily they had one I thought was adorable so I had to try it on!

Man does my back look huge and yeah yeah I didn't
have on the right type of bra for trying this on.

Recovering + Kickball

Toward the end of last week between the stress I had placed on my body from switching up the days that I trained a certain way and being an Aide to a sick kid on Monday at work I caught a cold.  I have some amazing friends for wanting to help me out and take care of me but I've still got all this horrible mucus stuck in me and that's it!  Just mucus and it's aggravating that it won't go away.  I sound like I'm hacking up a lung coughing trying to clear it out.  Luckily for me this week on my Catalyst program it is a down week so volume is lighter as well as the weights.  

Keeping Up With Running
On Monday which is my normal 2.5mi run it decided to bring in a quick cold front and some rain.  And with still trying to clear out my system and get better I didn't want to miss my run so I went inside to hit the treadmill.  Now I didn't want to run 2.5mi on the treadmill although it wouldn't be a bad idea since it would help me with my speed outside but I decided to do a tabata run.  Now for those that don't know what a tabata is, it is typically seen as 8 rounds or sets of :20sec all out work/:10sec rest, giving you a grand total of 4min of work.  The great thing about tabata is that you can use it for cardio geared toward strength (running, rowing, air dyne) or a strength workout.  The pros and cons of using a treadmill for a tabata; pros: you can crank up the speed super high, I usually place mine around 8.5-9mph; cons: it doesn't completely wear your legs out like a true fartlek tabata run does not on a treadmill.  I've gotten so used to doing tabatas for a run on the treadmill that I extend it past the eight minutes and go for 15min.  But that 15 minutes on Monday felt like it took a little longer. 
Tuesday was a super busy day.  It was All American Week on post this week which had a lot of special events like the Army 10 Miler and a huge combatives tournament.  So Tuesday I did my strength work, headed to one job and then had to go in early to the other job early because they were so slammed.  And because we were so busy I wasn't really able to eat anything but what was suppose to be my afternoon snack turned into shoving that down my throat for dinner.  And Tuesday at work got to the point where I started to get irritated and have a headache because I hadn't eaten anything since 1045 that morning.  Here comes the hangry.
Wednesday morning I was lucky enough to finish my Catalyst athletic work early enough to go out for my 2.5mi run that I typically do on a Monday afternoon.  It honestly felt good to get everything done in the morning, and it was a good thing I did because I didn't realize how long my errands that I did that afternoon were going to take me.  
I got finished early with my strength work as well on Thursday and had time to do a little extra work so I decided to do 200 lunges (100/leg).  I'm not going to lie, it might sound hilarious to some, but adding running back into my training scares me a little bit.  I know it can change the appearance of how my body looks, especially my legs and believe it or not I like that my legs have some meat to them.  That they are "thick" for me and I don't want to lose that because of running and my butt.  I don't want to lose my butt either cause I like that too.  And let me tell you my booty is sore today.  Friday morning was going to be my last swim day and sure enough when I walked in the pool was closed and going to be closed all day.  It is time for the outdoor pool to open and they were finishing moving equipment out to the outdoor pool.  So that means the end of my swimming season since it's free to swim during the fall and winter months indoors and will cost me money during the spring summer months.  I can handle a couple months without swimming.  And I was planning on going out after work and doing hill sprints.  Well because the pool was closed I was able to complete  in the morning out of the heat later in the day.  my hill sprintsI used a 1:3 ratio of work to recovery.  And every week that I run, yes it is for me but it is still for Fidget as well.  I still want to make him proud of me even though he's not around anymore.  I'm glad this week is a light week with training.  I was able to come home and take a nap after work on Friday and just to give you an idea of how tired I mentally and physically become from everything I took a 2.5 hour nap.  I normally only sleep for an hour.  And the recovery week has been good for me trying to get all this crap out of my system.  I did have to cut back on some of the CrossFit conditioning though.  My favorite this week was the

7 Rd
20cal row
7 hang clean + thruster 115/80#

I only did 5 rounds and it was a good thing too because I was about to hack up a lung.  

Kickball


Shelby and me


 

So we all remember playing kickball in elementary school and some of us in middle school.  I remember playing it and loving it.  This past Thursday was the last day for a club at work called Bulldog (our work mascot) Buddies.  This club intermingles children with
disabilities and children without.  The plan for the last club meeting was kickball with the kids and hot dogs.  Who doesn't love a game of kickball and some classic American past time (yes I know that's baseball) food.  We headed outside around 330 with all the kids and all the food.  Those kids mean the world to me, like they are my own and I don't have any.  We divided up into teams and I played about an inning and a half before taking some of the students off the field because they needed to eat before catching the bus back to their 

Leilani and me




 

homes.  I had a friend come join us to play and when I took off out of the field to help feed the kids he stayed and played the rest of the same with them.  I hun out with the kids while they ate and we took pictures.  I would love a big group picture with all of them which I should have gotten then but not all of them stayed to play kickball after school.  I took some of them over to the bus so they could head home and then headed back over to hangout with everyone for awhile.  It is so much fun to hang out with them.  I honestly had thought about spending some of my birthday with them.

Oren and me

Confessions of....
So besides all of this I'm not going to lie, I do miss Fidget a lot.  I haven't gotten to talk to him but twice (only a couple hours part) since he's made it back to Washington and one of those conversations he had definitely been drinking.  He says he misses me and yes I miss him.  There are still things that I miss about him being here like us going out on runs together and some things I wish we could do together.  One of those conversations involved him telling me that his deployment was getting pushed forward but he wasn't sure when but he wants to see me before he gets deployed. But if that happens it's going to be tough because finances are extremely tight for me right now.  Yes, I really do want to see him before he leaves but him saying this while he had plenty of drinks in his system makes me really question if he meant what he said.  And the only reason I feel this way is because I've been told by 2 guys before that they loved me and they were drunk at the time when they said it.  I would brush it off and tell them about it only for them to apologize for not remember saying it.  Only for me to realize that my feelings were starting to progress in that direction.  So do I want to believe what he has said about coming to see him in WA or us meeting in New Orleans, absolutely! But am I sketchy about him meaning it, yes.  So hears to hoping he was being truthful even with the alcohol in his system. So with that being said I've got a lot of confusion going through my head on not sure what to do.  Most people would say forget about the whole thing but part of me just likes to hold on the that inkling of hope.

~God Bless

 

"Training strength and endurance mentally, physically, and spiritually."