Sunday, December 28, 2008
Warm-up:
1200m run – no stopping!
5x:
10 DL
10 SDLHP
10 shoulder press
10 OH squat

Workout:
20-18-16-14-12-10-8-6-4-2 rep rounds:
Bicycles (4 count)
Lateral bridges (left side)
Arch rocks
Lateral bridges (right side)

Time:  11:51

+30 second chair sit
Handstand skill practice
80 burpees

My first time doing the 1200m without stopping!  My mental gymnastics must be working.  I feel I have conquered the jump rope issue and now the running phobia, so I can face the upcoming New Year with fearless enthusiasm.

More importantly, I can face my upcoming birthday with even more enthusiasm.

Of the two, the latter is probably most important.  Particularly at “my age”.  *grinning*

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Warm-up 2x:
30 seconds jumping jacks
15 OH squats
Some shoulder warm-up with jo

Workout 12 Days of Christmas:
1 push-up
2 plank-ups
3 mountain climbers (4 count)
4 arch rocks
5 bicycles
6 burpees
7 jumping lunges (2 count)
8 squat jumps
9 flutter kicks (4 count)
10 good mornings
22 sit-ups (s/b 11 pullups)
100 squats (s/b 1200m run)

Done like the song… so, 1 push-up, then 2 plank-ups and 1 push-up, then 3 mountain climbers, 2 plank-ups and 1 push-up, and so on…

Time:  23:03

+35 more burpees for my total of 77

Ugh.  This is Christmas in Belize?  Yikes.  Next year I have to start a better holiday tradition than this one! 

There were many fireworks going off for the evening, so I decided to skip running around outside, in case I was mistaken for some sort of white, glow-in-the-dark target.  Of course, nothing like having fireworks under your butt to get your feet moving for that last 1200m!

I was sooooo disappointed not to be running tonight!  Because I love to run so much, any day not running is like, well, a day without having my fingernails ripped out.  No, no, NO!  That’s not what I meant.  I meant that it’s just a sad day without a run.  *rolling eyes*  This whole “tricking myself into enjoying running thing” is starting to take its toll on my head.  At the end of this, my legs will be the size of Usain Bolt’s, but my brain will have shriveled to the size of a pea. 

I plan to run around the US Embassy again for time. 

With any luck, they’ll shoot me.

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Boomerang Sunday!

In keeping with the ideals of CrossFit, I’m trying new sports.  My latest sport - which I do every Sunday morning - is boomerang throwing.  (No, really, you SURELY didn’t expect me to have taken up tennis, or basketball, or something “normal”, right?)  A very dear friend of mine not only gave me some boomerangs, but he also MADE one for me!

At that point, you gotta try it, right?  I can’t believe how much fun it is!  It’s actually some decent exercise since at least in the beginning, there is, sadly enough, a lot of “fetch” involved.  Having said that, I actually was able to get it to return to me… and I have proof!  (See picture below.)

Nice, huh?  I lost track of it in the sun, and wham! it slammed me in the leg.  They HURT!  However, it obviously DID return… and, continuing to prove my increasing prowess with the ‘rang, one of my subsequent throws spanked my throwing partner right in the butt (though he wouldn’t let me take a pictures, alas). 

He shouldn’t have snickered at me.

73 burpees later for the day.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

72 burpees
100 pistols

My version of a “rest day”.  I love being retired!

Friday, December 19, 2008
Warm-up:
800m run
Various stuff (I don’t remember it all)

Workout:
15 bedlifts (142#)

9 max handstand holds (# of seconds): 39,41,30,20,29,29,29,22,27

No, that was not a typo.  One thing found here in abundance is wood – and the types of woods vary greatly.  There are many, many hardwoods that are incredibly dense.  (So dense, in fact, that mahogany is considered a SOFT wood!)  As a result, some pieces of furniture are remarkably heavy – often unexpectedly so. 

Like my bed. 

By standing on a scale and picking it up, I found that it weighs 142# when it’s about 6” off the floor.  This makes for a good deadlift item, although the weight is in FRONT of me.  It also becomes lighter as I lift it higher, since more of the weight is on the opposite legs.  Nonetheless, it’s something else to pick up!

This best motivator of all was the fact that this forced me to weigh MYSELF first.  The number reflected on its face made me realize that I, too, must be a very dense, heavy hardwood.

Thursday, December 18, 2008
Warm-up:
1200m run
7 K2E (meant to be more, but the square cross-section was a bit rough on the hands)

3x:
10 OH squats
12 good morning’s

Workout 10x:
3 burpees
6 arch rocks
9 wall squats
12 lunges
15 situps

+40 burpees earlier in the day for my 70!

Time:  20:40 (-15 seconds to remove the large bug - animal lovers, don’t worry.  I just moved him farther away.)

The run felt good!  I decided to change my focus and instead of watching my feet to see where I was going, instead I looked around, enjoyed the sky, the trees, the birds… and I just kept running!  Of course, if I continue to do that, I *will* eventually do a face plant, because running on a gravel “road” isn’t exactly the easiest.  In addition, I really have to pay attention to things in the road (seriously, how big do spiders GET down here?) and every now and then one of the night birds will fly right up into my face (stopping both of our hearts simultaneously), but that just adds to the enjoyment of running, right?

Right.  Of COURSE it does.

I haven’t had much experience in blatantly lying to myself, so I don’t think I’m doing it well yet.  I’m working at it, though!

I love running!

Sunday, December 14, 2008
Warm-up:
800m run

10 DH pull-ups (purple)

2x (with 1 gallon jug of water):
20 OH walking lunges
10 Turkish get-up-mills

Workout 10x:
30 second hold each with 5 seconds for transition time:
Plebs plank
Bottom of squat
Hollow rock hold

The only place I have to do pull-ups right now is on the gate – and the cross-section is SQUARE.  There’s no way to hang properly, so I sort of hang from my fingertips – ergo dead hang PU’s with more assistance, instead of kipping, which would likely result in some sort of unintentional aerial acrobatics.

Friday, December 12, 2008
Warm-up
800m run

2x:
5 DH pullups (small green, small black)
16 walking lunges (1 gallon)

Workout:
5x:
400m run
50 squats

Time: 23:37
+64 burpees earlier

Wow.  Even considering that I was stopped twice by friends wanting to chat, this is still an APPALLING time.  I have no idea why, other than my running was SLLOOOOWWW. 

From now on, I am following the Discipline of Magner - I *love* to run.  I LIVE to run.  I will be gazelle-like in my movements, as opposed to tapir-like on this day.  (And I mean a *napping* tapir.)

I plan to redo this workout fairly soon and competely beat this time.  Of course, with a time like this, that won’t be too difficult.

Sheesh.

Okay, I’m over it.

Tuesday, December 09, 2008

Warm-up
1200m run
61 burpees

Workout
Farmer’s walk with 5 gallon bottle – 8 minutes

As anyone who knows me even slightly realizes, I am an “animal person”.  I get along well with creatures, and they generally gravitate toward me.  (Witness the tapir napping of an earlier blog entry.)  So, it actually a little surprising that I do not – yet – have a pet.  (I do not BUY them; they always just “show up”.  Heck, I even had a bunch of foot-long koi “show up” after I put in my pond at my home in LA!) 

While I finally have my own personal house gecko (took him long enough to show up – I was about to complain to the consulate about the lack), he is not really something I can take on a walk.

So I have Wally.  Yes, Wally the Water Bottle and I went for a pleasant stroll around the area.  I pointed out the flocks of parrots, the aracaris (think scarlet and black toucan) and the wood warblers.  I think Wally enjoyed it.  I know it was rough on my neck and upper back, but… anything for Wally.

The local workmen, after trying unsuccessfully to assist me (“You WANT to carry bottle?”  “Yes, I want to carry bottle.  Is fun!”) shook their heads sadly and returned to their building.  I am definitely getting a reputation.

Monday, December 08, 2008

60 burpees
100 sit-ups

Sunday, December 07, 2008

59 burpees
100 sit-ups
100 step-ups (2nd stair)

Friday, December 05, 2008

Warm-up
800m run

3x:
10 burpees +7(+20 earlier)
15 jump shrugs
15 OH squats
20 second chair sit

Work-out (with my trusty 5 gallon, 41.71 pound water bottle)
25 back squats
50 bench press
50 front squats

Okay, the back squats with the water bottle were not such a great idea. It forced me to lean forward in order to keep the water bottle from rolling down my back and landing on the floor, so after 25 of these, with increasingly degrading squat form, I quit and decided to do the front squats instead. Ah, but the bench presses with the water bottle were fun! They were actually “floor presses”, since I don’t have, well, a bench. There’s something really inspiring about having a 42 pound object hovering right above your chest - you really want to make sure you lift it out of the way so that it doesn’t come crashing down on you. A quick way to become an A-cup, for sure.

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Warm-up 10x:
5 burpees (+4 earlier for my total of 54)
5 wall squats
5 windmills

Workout: 41.71 pounds (5 gallon water bottle)
100 deadlifts
50 front squats
25 shoulder press

If you want to find *every* flaw in your squat, try working out with a large, unwieldy bottle of water.  Because it shifts so readily, if you are off-balance even slightly, if you don’t push up exactly evenly with both feet, if you lean even the slightest bit to one side or the other, the water will move, causing you to be even more off-balance. 

It’s also so awkward to hold that all movements are done slowly rather than with any explosive power.  Although the bottle only weighed about 42 pounds, the shoulder presses were *tough*, largely because I had to do them in slow motion.  Balancing it perfectly as you’re raising it above your head is tricky, to say the least.  The prospect of it coming crashing down, whether merely on the floor or directly on one’s own head, is not appealing. 

In fact, it’s hard to say which option is less appealing, since in the one case, the bottle will hit the floor with a resounding THUD, flooding five gallons of water throughout the room.  In the other, the floor will still be underwater, but one may be rendered unconscious.  However, the sympathy one will hopefully incur by such a horrific hit to the head may allow certain others in the vicinity to overlook – and, if one is REALLY lucky, to refrain from commenting upon – the stupidity of playing with a full 5 gallon water jug in your own bedroom.

Thursday, November 27, 2008
Warm-up:

800m run
3x:
30 hollow rocks
15 wall squats
10 dips

Workout:
6x:
5 burpees
10 mountain climbers (4 count)
15 sit-ups
10 pistols (5 each side)

Time:  16:33

+19 burpees earlier in the day

And now a completely shameless plug for the Belize Zoo - if you come to Belize, you MUST visit the Zoo.  It’s small, but absolutely wonderful.  The animals have large, densely forested enclosures and are only there because they were injured, orphaned, born there, or sent from other zoos.  My visit:

http://picasaweb.google.com/richakaz/BelizeZoo?authkey=S6Qt21tAnmU#slideshow

Yes, the tapir fell fast asleep while I was scratching his head.  Pretty cute…

Monday, November 24, 2008
Warm-up
800m run
3x:
10 neck rolls up
10 neck rolls down
10 arch rocks
10 hollow rocks
10 wall squats

Workout:
AMRAP 20 minutes
21 OH squats (with a large log)
15 tuck jumps
9 burpees (3 rounds, then switched to push-ups)

+1 burpee (already did 18 earlier) for my total of 46

Total:  8 + 10 squats

You know the very best part about making up your own workouts?  It’s doing *just* as many burpees as you need!  This was originally written with push-ups, but I still needed to do a few more burpees.  I figured that doing 3 rounds of burpees made the workout a bit better, anyway, then I switched back to push-ups for speed.  Is that cheating?  Or could I say that it’s simply following the CrossFit way and giving my body a change (albeit halfway through a workout)? 

Yeah.  Sounds like solipsistic hairsplitting to me, too. 

*happily*  But, I haven’t yet had a single day where I’ve Burpee Banked!  (Ugh.  Just saying “banking” reminded me of my Banking Issues.  Oops!)