Lurgy!

The problem with going out and having a good time is that I often get sick afterwards.  Maybe it's because of the late nights, alcohol, being out in the cold, poor food choices or a combination of all of the above.  Whatever it was I managed to pick up a lurgy in the last few days.  Stupidly, I decided to drag my sorry arse to the gym this morning after popping some flu tablets to help with the sinus issues.

Some days I do some really, really silly things and this was one of them.  Today's workout was a strength WOD working on snatch.  I knew that I wouldn't get a PB today but I was shocked at how weak I was.  I had to put the bar down and rest after each rep in our sets of 5 and 3.  On the plus side, Jardan gave me some great pointers on extending my hips and I think I made a little bit of headway with it.  I wish I could go in when they have open gym and practice some more, particularly from the hang position.

The second part of the session was a dumbbell snatch, lunge doublet and I got to halfway through my first round and knew that I had bitten off more than I could chew.  I felt weak and shaky and my heartrate felt too high.  I chose to not finish the WOD and go home.  I hate doing that but I knew that it wasn't doing me any good by continuing on with the workout.

And now I'm at work ... yet another stupid decision made by me. 

Hmmmmm ....

I woke this morning feeling marginally better but still way off 100%.  I've packed my gym clothes with the idea of going in after work but I don't think I will do the WOD but rather I'll go in and work on some things for the weekend.

I was wondering if it was a coincidence that I have gotten sick after increasing my workouts over the holidays by incorporating the weightlifting sessions.  Maybe my body can't cope with the extra work and, in hindsight, I should have cut the Crossfit classes while I was doing weightlifting.  The frustrating part for me is most of the girls that are doing the weightlifting also do the normal crossfit classes and in some cases they throw in the pilates and mobility classes as well.  And these girls are progressing so much faster than me which makes me feel like I need to do the same to keep up.  Unfortunately, my body can't keep up and nor should it.  Crossfit is only 1 aspect of my life and as much as I love it I also need to ensure I have ample rest and recovery to make sure that I don't get sick and not try and keep up with people 10 - 20 years younger than me.

NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

One of my work colleagues came into work sick last week and it seems as though I have picked up the bug.  It couldn't come at a worse time as I have a team comp in Rocky this weekend.  Although I know that it's only a local beginner competition, I still want to be my best.  I haven't been to the gym in the last couple of mornings which is disappointing as I wanted to go and work on a few things.  In the meantime, it's rest and hope for the best.

Elizabeth

I decided to go to the gym this morning after nearly a week off.  In hindsight, most probably not the best decision as I'm feeling wrung out now but my thoughts were that I scale right back and not push too hard.  That's great in theory but as soon as the timer goes off things change.

Today's workout was Elizabeth which is:

For time:

21, 15, 9, Reps of:

Squat Clean 60kg/40kg

Ring Dips

 

My weight choice was 15 kg for squat cleans which is well under what I would have done if I were on top of my game and I used a purple band for ring dips (I would normally use an orange band).  The WOD took me 6 min 46 sec to complete which I was pretty happy with but I'm frustrated with how I feel afterwards ... I could easily go back to bed and sleep for the rest of the day.  Anyone would think I ran a marathon not a sub 7 minute workout.

 

Despite that, I think Elizabeth is going to be another favourite WOD and I really want to do it again with a heavier squat clean.  In the meantime, I'll continue to focus on getting better.  My plan is to rest as required, have light weights days (I don't need to get a PB each time I enter the box), remember to take my supps and reduce my social media at night which will hopefully mean better quality and more sleep.

Sick Again :-(

I have come down with a nasty bug again.  It's frustrating as this is the 3rd time this year ... and I never get sick!  Training has stopped for the time being and I'm eating what I can (apples make me feel better).  It's frustrating as we are going away in a couple of weeks and I had hoped to get as much exercise in as I can before I have a 2 week break but it is what it is and I'll rest as I need in hope to help me recover.

Things That Make You Go Hmmmmm

I'm not sure if it's kismet but I find it intriguing when I get a spate of blogs in my newsfeed regarding a particular subject that is pertaining to my situation at the time.  Today has been one of those days.  Lately, I have been struggling with my sleep due to coughing up a lung for most of the night.  I'm run down and, well, basically exhausted but I have only taken 1 day off work (because I can't be bothered waiting around a doctor's surgery to get a medical certificate) and a few days off training.  I have stepped it back a notch but I'm finding that I feel pretty good once I'm in the gym (and crap the other 23 hours in the day).  This blog was emailed to me this morning from Sean Flanagan Health & Nutrition Coaching:

One Common (But Often Ignored) Sign You Are Over-Exercising

Posted on June 24, 2013 by Sean

 

Whenever I see someone with an exercise schedule that is very busy (5-6 workouts per week for example), I always like to probe into what happens when they DON’T exercise. The answer is usually that they feel like crap. No energy and just generally feel poor. So in their minds, they are using exercise to remedy this situation.
The problem is that being exhausted is a sign that they are depleted – their exercise demands have exceeded the nourishment from their sleep and nutrition. So in this state, using exercise to get more energy is a means of getting the body to run on stress hormones like we’ve discussed previously.
Your body was relaxing because it needed it…. and then BAM! You add even MORE stress. Like a cup of coffee after a sleepless night, hardly the most beneficial scenario in the long term.
It’s normal and healthy to feel good and get an energy boost from exercise. The problem is creating driving yourself into a state where you NEED the exercise to feel NORMAL.
So if you find yourself getting to a state where you only have energy when you’re exercising, it’s probably time to embrace that low energy state more. Let your body mellow out and recover. Back off to a more reasonable exercise load (such as 2-4 sessions per week and maybe less intensity than you were doing previously) and start putting in more sleep in your newly freed up schedule.
Remember, if your goal is to have a healthy metabolism, it is absolutely CRITICAL to modulate stress – including exercise stress. Learn when to step back, sleep more, and perhaps increase your calories.

I then saw another blog regarding the benefit of sleep on performance.  I think someone is trying to tell me something!

Not Again!

I can now explain why I have been a little flat in the gym (and other parts of my life) this week. Yep, I'm sick again.  I guess that's what I get for going around a couple of months ago spruiking how I never get sick.  Payback was getting a bug twice in one month!  I'm going to give myself an uppercut for this one as I knew I overdid it.  I was going to have Monday or Tuesday off training as Sunday was such a big day but, as usual, I looked at the WODs online and didn't want to miss out.  I'm a shocker like that; I hate to miss out on workouts particularly if they are benchmarks.  I have to remind myself that I need to rest at least once a week, it's better for me overall as I will have less time off in the long run because I won't get sick or injured.  Downtime is important!  With that in mind, I have taken today off and it will be early to bed tonight and hopefully I'll be able to kick the cold sooner than later.

Out of Action

I got the stitches removed from my excision today and I was hoping that I could get back stuck into training ASAP.  After a chat with the nurse who was removing the sutures she suggested that I lay off the heavy lifting for at least a month.  It's in a bit of a crappy spot, on my left upper trapezius, and I know it's an area that gets used a lot in lifting.  I KNOW I should lay off for awhile but I miss getting to the box.  I have been doing a couple of things at home this week but it just doesn't seem to be as fun.  I guess I gotta do what I gotta do and get back into the swing of it.

On a positive note, I'm off to Sydney tomorrow for our Lean and Strong get together.  I can't wait!!!

Dammit!

It seems my lovely eldest child has passed her germs onto me.  My body tried to fight it off all weekend but I have spent the last couple of days with a nasty headcold.  It isn't enough to totally stop me but enough to make me feel like crap.  The weird thing is I have hit a couple of PBs with my lifting (35 kg for my sumo deadlift high pulls on Monday and 30 kg for my cleans last night ... and I may have had more in me) but it left nothing in the tank for the final blast after my weights last night instead I did some double under practice.

Tonight was meant to be one of the girls, "Jackie", but as I don't have a rower at home I won't be able to do it and I really think I need to have some rest so I have decided to focus on mobility work instead and if I feel up to it some double under and box jump practice.

Tomorrow I get the skin cancer cut out so I guess that means no training tomorrow either. God, I hate being out of action.

Less Than 3 Weeks To Go

I got over my body fat measurement debacle from last week by sending some progress pics through to Liz for her critique. There are improvements from last comp which is all I can ever ask for. The goal for last week was to hit the 47s and I smashed it by coming in at 47.1 kg on Saturday - mind you, getting sick may have sped that process up a bit. As I mentioned, I started the week with gastro and then I ended the week with a UTI. AWESOME! Anyways, I'm all good now.

I did all my measurements for the challenge yesterday and was pretty happy with the final results. I'll post them at a later date.

Blah!

It was bound to happen. Both Missy T and Moo have had a tummy bug recently and the lovely little dears have passed it onto me. Nice of them to share with their Mummy! Don't they realise I don't have time to be sick? On the plus side, I lost another 100 g since the weekend making my weight at 48.1 kg this morning. Maybe not the best way to lose weight though ;o)

The girls had their ballet exams yesterday and Mal had to take the day off work for which I am eternally grateful. Both girls were very happy with how they performed which was a total relief. I get so frustrated with their ballet teacher as she has this habit of getting Moo (Missy T has fun no matter what she does) into such a state prior to their exams. I don't get why a teacher would tell a kid that that the examiner is really strict and she is going to fail, it seems to go against the reason you put your kids into sport; to build self-esteem and confidence. I think it's time to try another sport or maybe go to another school. It's a shame as she loves to dance.

2 Steps Forward, 3 Back

This is how I'm feeling at the moment. Training had been going well, I was back enjoying it again and looking forward to each training session. Food was not so great with parties nearly every weekend with loads of yummy food. Sometimes I would go great at the party only to get home and eat anything and everything in the cupboard. Last week I decided enough was enough and set myself some more concrete goals and then, BAM, I get sick with the flu. On the brightside, food has been good when I have been able to eat but there has been no exercise apart from a walk with Mossy on Monday. Anyway, even though I'm still coughing up a lung its back into it tomorrow, ready and raring to go.

Feeling Better

I'm feeling much better today. I'm still not 100% but I'm not feeling like death warmed up anymore. We have a busy weekend planned. The usual Saturday rush with gym in the morning, then soccer and Moo has ballet lessons this weekend. She has her exam on Monday at 9:30 am which I'm not too happy about. Do ballet schools think that we can just stop our lives for this sport? Too bad about school and work? Moo was upset the other day as her teacher got angry at her for not getting the steps of her dance. She is doing ballet for fun! I don't think its worth it if its stressing her out so much that she is in tears. Am I being an overprotective Mum?

Bleurgh

Yes, well I managed to catch whatever my kids had. I guess it serves me right as I was spruiking at work the other day how I've managed to evade any nasties the last couple of years. I woke up on Tuesday morning with a sore throat and aching all over and am not feeling much better today. No exercise for me this week but I hope I will be better by Saturday as I'm meeting Leigh for Body Attack. Food has been fairly good, heaps of veggies with the occasional medicinal chockie bikkie plus loads of green tea.

Anyway, don't feel like talking anymore. I hope everyone is having a great week.

Days Off

I'm home from work today as both my girls are sick. Moo has been battling it all week and now Missy T is complaining of a sore throat so its a day off for all of us. I'll use it as an opportunity to get some stuff done around the house.

Yesterday I left my workout until the afternoon. I usually train early in the morning after hubs goes to work but I slept in (it was our Show Holiday) and my workout was postponed until the arvo. The best part was that hubs could help me out. I can lift a lot more on my squats but the problem is when I'm by myself I can't lift the weights onto my shoulders. I would love a squat rack but just don't have the space. It was great to have hubs was on hand to put the bar on my shoulders and I lifted more than what I normally do when training legs at home.

I also whipped up some of the Oatmeal Apple Pie from the Gourmet Nutrition cookbook. Its quite nice and should be nice for either breakfast or snack.

Blah

I seem to have come down with some sort of nasty bug which I am struggling to shake. Its a strange one as I am feeling nauseous but I feel better when I eat. This has had me reaching for the comfort foods the last few of days which is not great and because I'm so tired and my back is aching I haven't even been able to go walking. I had planned to take Mossy for a run this morning as he hasn't been out since last week but only managed a walk and even then I kept feeling like I was going to throw up. I don't get sick very often and when I do I tend to get over it really quick so its a little frustrating that I still feel yuck. All I can say is I'm glad I got it this week and not before the comp.

After our delicious breakfast at the Stamford last week, I am now hooked on Bircher Muesli. I have made myself a big batch for this week. I don't have any apple juice but have used skim milk instead and I have to say its quite yummy. Trust me, it tastes a lot better than it looks!

Friday and Saturday

Training yesterday was pretty good. Here's what I did:

Biceps
dumbell curls 3 x 15 @ 7kg
conc curls 3 x 12 @ 4.6kg

Back
dumbell rows 3 x 12 @ 12kg

Abs
Fitball crunches 3 x 30
bicycles 3 x 25

Food however was not so flash.

1: Wholemeal toast with peanut butter
2: Apple, vita wheat with cheese and green tea
3: Apple crumble and tea
4: Leftover zucchini slice
5: Coffee and 2 cream bickies
6: Jaffles with savoury mince and cheese, bickies and dip, spring rolls etc. Several rum, dry and lime.

I figure this will be my free day. A workmate brought in the apple crumble for morning tea and I just couldn't say no (I would hate to offend her)! We then visited friends in the arv which progressed onto our front veranda for the usual Friday drink. I have made up for it today as the kids and hubby had Hungry Jacks for lunch and I declined opting for the rest of the zuccini slice instead (and felt much better for it).

I went to Body Attack today and really shouldn't have. I woke up with an incredibly sore throat but I went and suffered through it taking the low impact options occasionally. Mal and Miss Five have been coughing all week so it was just a matter of time that I got it.

Hopefully a rest tomorrow will help me recover and be ready for another big week.