Lots of Lifting

Today's workout was mostly lifting, it was a pretty good one. We started with a warm up that was somewhat cardio, but not too killer. Then, front squats. I actually lifted 100 pounds twice! Not the best form, especially on the second one, but I decided I could count it. I got all the way down, and then back up. My back rounded a bit, but not too bad. I lifted 95 pounds for two rounds of two, form was much better on that one.

WOD: 12 minutes AMRAP
10 power cleans (I lifted 45 pounds)
12 back squats
I did 5 times plus 8 power cleans

A friend of mine and I were talking about The Very Bad Day coming up in January, and we decided to take the day off work and protest. There's a march on the Boston Common, they're having them in cities all across the US. I was going to go to a march the day after, on that Saturday, but somehow it seemed more authentic to protest as The Awful Event occurred instead of the next convenient weekend day. It will be my first political protest (is that bad?)  I feel a little better know that I have something to do that's constructive.

Bear Hill Tower

Even shorter walk in the Middlesex Fells, but I realized that I should also write down the length of this one. I wanted to take a walk again today, but I had put a turkey in the oven and didn't think I had time for the Rock Circuit hike, so I decided to do a shorter walk. I thought that a walk from the Sheepfold to Bear Hill Tower would be about an hour round trip if I took the road, and it kind of was! The walk there was more uphill, it took pretty much exactly 30 minutes. The walk back took 20 minutes. I think in the future I could take one of the trails back (as opposed to the road that I walked on) and it would be pretty much exactly an hour.

I finally got my new fitbit and it's totally awesome! Yay! I did way too much Black Friday shopping. I don't think I need to shop again until spring.

I only did crossfit once last week, which was pretty lame. On the other hand, I did do yoga, and yesterday I went climbing at Metrorock instead of to crossfit. I decided that was allowed, I need to get back into climbing! I don't think I will be able to do as much hiking soon, winter is coming. So, that will allow me to get back into climbing....

Short Walk on Rock Circuit

Happy Thanksgiving! Once again I ate way way way too much and then was filled with regret. But it's just such a delicious meal, I can't help myself. To help empty space before the meal I went for a walk on the Rock Circuit trail in the Middlesex Fells. It is my favorite trail, and there's one point where theres' a nice view of the city. I decided that because I had limited time I would only walk from the parking lot to the view point and then back. It's a short walk, but I wanted to blog about it because I really liked it and want to remember how long it took, in case I want to go again and have limited time (and, face it, I like to know exactly how long I will be walking).

It took almost exactly 45 min from the trail head to the view point. It was a really nice day for a walk in the woods, a cool crisp fall feel, crunchy leaves on the ground, and not too many people out and about. The weather was perfect for a walk. I'd worn my wool hat because I hadn't washed or combed my hair and it looked like a mess, and my down puff because I was wearing the same sweat shirt that I slept in, and I'd spilled coffee on it. I actually wound up getting overheated, eventually enough that I decided that if I ran into anyone they could see messy hair; I had to take off my hat.

Total walk time was an hour and a half, so half the time to do the full circle. Definitely worth the 10 minute drive to get a little nature!

I'm headed out to finally get my fitbit soon. I hope this one won't be broken!

Thanksgiving weekend!

I have a post from Thanksgiving weekend crossfit last year. It's actually a little amazing to me that I've been doing crossfit for so long, almost a year and a half (minus the 8 or so weeks I took off. So, not really almost a year and a half, but whatever.) I took Wednesday off from work again this year because there are no students on campus, and it would be silly to work. And then today I left an hour early because I didn't think anyone would benefit from me sitting at my desk shopping online. Particularly not me. I've been on a bit of a shopping spree the past week. I guess I figure if the economy's going to tank again there's no point in saving my money, might as well have a few new toys that I can weather out whatever comes next. So, I got a new modem and router (it actually turns out you are supposed to replace these more than every 8-10 years anyhow. Who knew?) Now my internet is way faster.  And then I saw they had such good deals on TV's at BB. My old TV was cheap when I bought it 8.5 years ago. I was able to upgrade to a 43" ultra high def TV for not too much money!  It's like 2x the size of my old one, which wasn't high def at all. And, this one's a smart tv, so I only have one remote to access my netflix :)

I got a new fitbit too, because my old one is falling apart. It's now literally being held together with duct tape. I got the super cute fitbit alta. Only, the damn thing won't work! I have to talk to customer service tomorrow about it. It's so frustrating! I also had a technology fail with the first TV I got, after about 25 minutes into each episode the volume cut out. Always right at the good part, when the mushy gushy moment was happening. So, I had to return that. But, the TV I could take back to the store, the fitbit is going to require talking to customer service, which I predict will be annoying. Such a weekend of first world problems!

Anyhow, crossfit. It was an endurance workout today, with lots of burpees. I really didn't want to go, but I talked myself into it by saying that I could do level 1, which had way less burpees.

WOD:
1500 meter row
15 burpees (everyone else did 30, but whatever)
15 pull ups (ditto on the 30)
7 burpee pull ups (I did burpee jump up) (everyone else was doing 15)
rest 3 minutes

1000 meter row
10 burpees (everyone else did 20. You get the pattern here)
10 pull ups
5 burpee pull ups
rest 2 minutes

500 meter row
5 burpees
5 pull ups
3 burpee pull ups
my time 29 min 17 sec

I really wanted to throw up at the end. But, I didn't.

I was thinking about a hike for tomorrow. It's supposed to be the nicest day of the long weekend. I just don't think I can make myself go all the way to the Whites, though. Wednesday is always the worst traffic day, and I would be in Concord right around when it was at its peek. I'm gonna think about Friday. Considering the Kinsmans, bagging South Kinsman which I didn't get to on the beginner backpack weekend with the egg salad sandwich people.

1.3 miles of running

Today was another running WOD, at least it is actually nice outside. Although, that meant actually running. I wasn't really in the mood, I didn't sleep well last night and today was a kind of dull work day, but tomorrow involves 100 burpee lateral jumps.  So, I went.

We started with push jerks and split jerks. Since it was the Friday at 5 class, it was full of real cross fitters. I sort of checked around to see if anyone was lifting similar to me, but no. They were all starting where I was finishing. So, I lifted by myself.  I got up to 65 pounds x2 on push jerks and 70 pounds x2, three times on split jerks. I was kind of happy with myself, even if some of the other chicks were lifting like twice that.

WOD:
800 meter run
21 deadlifts (I lifted 105 pounds)
600 meter run
15 deadlifts
400 meter run
9 deadlifts
my time: 17 min 13 sec

When I was finishing my 800 meter run, some of the guys were starting their 600 meters. And then I got in and had run a 10 min mile, and was all proud of myself. These guys were finished when I came in from my 600 meters. Ya.

Next week is a two day work week. Thanksgiving weekend! Yay! I'm gonna go for a hike and remember all I do have to be thankful for. It's good to remind yourself sometimes.

Second smallest kettle bell :)

I was talking to a good friend of mine from Mexico, apologizing for the election, and she reminded me that Mexican's come to the US illegally because of their corrupt government that doesn't provide opportunities at home. So, we all kind of fuck up the world sometimes. I guess Americans can just no longer be all superior about their decision making. It was strangely comforting. I can't believe that a week ago at this time I was so happy and optimistic about the future. I was so excited to vote, I got up at 6:15 am and was third in line at the poles, and I was practically skipping to go watch the election coverage. I'm gonna need to stop whining about it on my blog, though I believe my only reader is of like mind, so maybe not.

My boss was saying the other day that she plans to go to DC to protest. She can't decide if she will go for the election, or wait for later. She's so cool!

Anyhow, today was a crossfit day. The WOD had a lot of running in it, but it was pouring rain outside so we got to row instead. I was pretty psyched about that. It was a tough one, though.

WOD: 5 rounds of 4 min each
500 meter row
20 kettlebell swings (I used the second smallest!)
wall balls until time
rest 2 minutes

Your score was the total number of wall balls. I was pretty consistent on the rowing, doing 500 meters in about 2.5 minutes all five times. The first three rounds I did the kettle bell swings unbroken, and then 10-10-9 wall balls. The last two rounds I did ten and ten kettle bell swings and 7-8 wall balls. Total wall balls = 44, which was low, but I feel like that's a lot of wall balls!

My fitbit is totally falling apart. I got it last December, so I think that they should replace it for free, I believe it has a one year warrantee. But, I kind of want a prettier one. I was thinking that I would get a new one in January - that's when they brought out the new models last year. I'm not sure that this will make it until Jan, though. It's degrading pretty fast. I'm pretty sure I actually kept the receipt this time, so we'll see.

Hancock and South Hancock

I had to get out of my state of mourning for a little bit, so I headed up North for a hike. It's a long weekend, with Friday off, so Saturday was the perfect day for a hike. I decided on the Hancocks because the road is still opened, and because they both sounded like fun! Which they were.

The Hancocks are in the Pemigewasset Wilderness and, before the Kancamagus Highway (or, the Kanc as I like to call it) was built, they were two of the most remote peeks out there. Now there is parking right by this hairpin turn of the Kanc and you have to cross the road at this really sketchy section. So, no longer remote, but now dangerous to get to the trail head :)  I was really proud of myself because I woke up at 5:40 and was on the road at 6 am. I started out hiking at 8:30!  Of course, part of that's just because I haven't been sleeping well, but whatever, I'm still impressed with me.

The first 1.8 miles of the trail are pretty much totally flat, very pretty, a relaxing hike. There are 5 stream crossings in the hike, and the first two are in this section. There were a few rocks that were covered in ice. There were both hands and feet involved. It wasn't pretty. I got to the first trail junction after just an hour!  The second section was .7 miles. It was still pretty gentle of a hike. A few more roots in the path, and 3 more crossings. On crossing #4 I slipped on an icy rock and my foot got completely soaked! Fortunately, for once I was prepared with extra wool socks and a plastic bag to put in my boot. A little less breathable, but fine none the less. I reached the next junction pretty fast! This is where things finally started being really uphill. For 1.1 miles you could tell you were going up, but it was fine, there were roots other than the usual rocks. And then the steep part began.

You could either go .7 to North Hancock or .5 to South Hancock. There's a 1.4 mile trail up top that connects them. I decided to go up the .5 trail on the assumption that this would be the steeper trail. Much as it's painful to go up a steep trail, it's do-able. It may not be fun, but it's possible. Going down is so hard on the knees, I'd rather that be more gradual. Also, it said there were limited views and I wanted to be on the mountain with the better limited view last, and that was North Hancock. The up part was tough. Since the rest had been so gentle, the .5 up was intense; it took me 45 minutes. At the top I sat in an overlook (which was amazing, I don't know why anyone would call it "fair" - maybe because it wasn't 360 degrees?) to have a cheese sandwich. Of course, as soon as I sat down there were a bunch of people there, and a dog that really wanted some cheese. Dogs love cheese. Well, they seemed like nice people, and a very nice dog. I sat for about 15 min and enjoyed the view.

The ridgeline from South to North was the best part of the hike. It was so nice up there! I was in the woods, which was good because it was cold and windy out and the trees offered protection. There was a dusting of snow, the sky was so blue, and it was peaceful. I love a good ridgeline!

I was a little sad to get to North, but not sad to sit and have cheese sandwich #2 and a banana. I was pretty hungry!  The view from the second mountain was in a different direction. It was better, you could see the tripyramids, the osceolas, and a bunch of others. No roads, no cars, no houses. And, of course it was full of people. There was a scouting troupe I think, and they brought ramen and stoves to have a warm snack. Not a bad idea. And, two more dogs to admire my second sandwich. Dogs. I stayed for a while, about 30 minutes. Then it was time to head down.

The way down was so so slow, probably slower than going up. I had my microspikes on, it was slippery in some places and dirt in others, so it was complicated with the walking. Plus, it was so steep! It took me an hour to get down. After that, the rest was much quicker. I left the top at 1:30. Got to the bottom at 2:30, and got back to the car at 4:30! The 1.8 miles at the end I was just flying because I really didn't want to be in the woods after dark due to hunting season, crossing the road, and not wanting to drive on the Kanc in total darkness.  Total hike time was 8 hours, with about 1 hour of that sitting, eating, putting bags in my boots, etc. Book time was 6 hrs 15 min. That downhill killed me!  All and all, a really nice hike!  All the hard work was done in one hour 45 min, the rest was pretty chill.

More sad days

It's two days later and some of the acute anguish from the election has faded. The sick knot in the pit of my stomach is gone some of the time, I've stopped eating ice cream and carbs (mostly) and feeling numb. I still haven't been on social media, except to go through Facebook to make my moves on Scrabble. I haven't looked at the news in any form. I've been listening to Game of Thrones on my iPad in the car (because even stations that play music are going to talk about politics I'm sure) and so the only political shenanigans I've listened to are the Lanisters, Barathions and Starks. I was at yoga class yesterday, and the despair there was still palpable. My fav yoga teacher is headed to Costa Rica for a little bit, I hope he comes back.

I'm still trying to keep busy and active. Which includes crossfit, even though I considered not going today. It's Veteran's Day and I have a long weekend, I decided to get there early-ish, so I wouldn't have it hanging over my head all day. Once I finish this and shower, I'm going for some retail therapy. Might as well spend it, I don't think my money is going to grow over the next few years (I hope I don't look back at these words and regret them).

Since it's Vet's Day, we did a hero WOD:
Whittman - 7 rounds
15 kettlebell swings (I used the smallest one)
15 Power cleans (I lifted 35 pounds)
15 box jumps (I did steps)
my time: 20 min 26 sec

Whittman was 26 when he was killed by a roadside bomb. I hope we can avoid killing more people.

Tomorrow I'm going to try to get in another hike. Hopefully it will make me feel better.

A Very Very Sad Day

We elected a new president yesterday. I'm so sad about it I can't talk about it, can't think about it, can't even acknowledge it. I feel like right after 9/11, when we knew something bad was coming, but there was an eerie quiet while waiting. Right now I think I may never look at the news or social media again. It's been so hard for me to get to this place in my life where I'm happy, I hope this doesn't fuck it all up. It's scary stuff.

I've decided to try to keep life the same as much as possible right now, keep doing things that are good for me (except that for dinner I had chips and guac and ice cream, so without complete success). I did go to crossfit. We started with back squats in sets of 3. It was a small class and I got my own barbell, so I was able to do a lot. I started at 65, then 85 then 95 then 100 for four sets!  It wasn't my highest ever, but I felt like my form was pretty good throughout, and I got stronger as I went through the rounds.

WOD: 10 min AMRAP
15 toes to bar (I did knees to chest)
20 wall balls
I did exactly 4 rounds

My mentee from Big Brothers Big Sisters is really into Strange Things, so I decided to watch it too. It's scary but good (and less scary than watching the news, let's be honest.)

Garfield

I went back and forth on what to hike today, the weather didn't look so good, but I really wanted to get in a hike. I've been seeing posts on Facebook that there's snow in the Whites, and I wanted to make sure that my first "winter" hike wasn't too hard. But I also didn't want to do a really easy one like Cannon - I figure I should save that for real winter. Garfield has all the requirements, plus an access road that closes once there's snow so it can't be hiked in the winter. The only thing is that the top is opened so there's a really nice view, and it was supposed to be cloudy....  Still, I went with it, and was glad I did!  It was a really nice hike, one to put on the list to revisit (unlike The Owl, Isolation, or Adams) on a day when it's clear out.

I did pretty well getting up. I left home at 7 am! I had put some stew in the crock pot last night, and put it in the fridge. I even remembered to put it on to cook when I left :)  I added corn when I got back, should be done in like 10 min, which is good because my stomache is rumbling. I got to the mountain at 9:30. I was pretty impressed with myself for finding it because it's on this mostly unmarked access road with pretty much no signage until you get to the parking lot and trail head a mile and a half in. When I got there, though, I was a little horrified to see a Meet up group with like 20 people gathering! Sigh. I also realized that I didn't have my 3 season boots, and was going to have to wear the winter ones, and that I needed to wear two pairs of socks with them (I confess, I found one pair in the back seat of my car, balled up from my last hike). I was glad I had them, though, because up high there was snow!

I decided to take my time and let the Meet up group go ahead. In addition, there were two groups of three guys, one of Spanish  speakers, one of whom kept whistling which was annoying and one that was three guys in like their 20's + a really nice dog.  I let them go ahead too, because I assumed they would be faster, but I actually wound up passing the dog guys!  And the Latino men too, though they passed me again.

The hike was really gradual for the first part, with two pretty nice stream crossings. The first half didn't even have a ton of rocks in the path which was refreshing. It obviously got steeper, but not too steep until the last .2 miles. There were even a few switch backs!  Eventually it started snowing, lightly. It's 5 miles up and it took me about 4 hours.

One woman from the Meet up was having a hard time. I passed her on the way up, she was eating a rice cakes with something on them, which I thought was a funny trail snack. I ran into people going down in a bit, and they were all like "do you have a purple parka? Are you with the meet up?" Everyone had a message for her on the way down, and they kept asking me because I was a woman hiking by myself. It was a little weird because in the middle of nowhere do you want to tell a stranger you are alone? Usually with hikers it's fine, but I feel like most people don't ask.

Anyhow, the top was cold and windy and no view. I walked around for about three minutes and then went and stood in a  grove and ate something. There was actually a tent set up - it's right on the AT, I wonder if someone's still through hiking? It's an in and out hike, so after a snack and a chat with a few other people in the grove (I was alone on the summit for my 3 min, but you are never alone up top), I headed back down.  My 3 guy and a dog friends were headed off to Galehead. Brave. 10 miles is good for me!

The top was slippery, and I got to use my spikes! I was about 2 hours down and starting to have dark thoughts, when I realized I hadn't sat down, and I really hadn't had much to eat. So, I through a jacket over a rock, sat, and ate a power bar. I felt so much better! The last hour was a lot easier. Must remember for future.

Didn't jump on the box

Today was the big day when the Dean visited campus - it turned out pretty awesome, there were just the right number of students, and I only said one totally bone headed thing. All and all, a big success! I confess, I was kind of nervous all afternoon about things working out. After, I went to crossfit just to complete my stalking and debrief. Also, it was a pretty good WOD-ish.

We started with front squats. Sadly, everyone else was lifting way more than me - there were two groups of women, the first group said that they would probably lift like 200 pounds. Ha! I went and joined the other group. We did 5 sets of 3, and I got up to 88 pounds with reasonable form for 6 lifts, and 93 pounds really horribly such that it really barely counts (it was like a demi plie). I think that might be a new front squat record for me.

WOD:
50 box jumps (despite my 3 successful jumps last week I did steps)
40 thrusters (I did 35 pounds)
30 box jumps
20 thrusters
10 box jumps
my time: 13 min 16 sec

I'm hoping to get in a hike this weekend, Sat looks like the better day. Maybe Cannon, Garfield, or Lincoln.

Tuesday is the election. I can't wait for it to be over, and I hope that people have enough sense to make a good decision. Electing Hills isn't going to make for smooth running of the country, but the other option, it just makes me wonder who we are?

Stanky Legs

Today's WOD involved a lot of running, a mile in the WOD and a third of a mile for the warm up. In the WOD it was broken into three loops of a third of a mile, the first one I did took me about 3 and a half minutes, which is about a 10 min 30 sec mile, which is OK I guess. I was puffing pretty hard!  First we did Power Snatches, 5 rounds of 3. I got up to 55 pounds, which I did for my last two rounds. I actually felt a little bit like my form was good for a few of them.

Stanky Legs WOD: 3 rounds
535 meter run
15 overhead squats (I did 15 front squats with 45 pounds)
my time: 15:56

It was supposed to have a cap of 15 minutes total. After, my legs did feel pretty stanky. Looking at the board, there were some people in the morning class who did the entire workout in about 10 minutes, which is faster than my running time! Wow!

Thursday the Admissions Dean is coming to Northeastern to talk to the students. I saw him today and was all, "we're so excited" to which he responded "yeah, I'm not coming." Funny.