This month's goal is Athletic August and since it's such a big daily involvement, it seems like too much to just give a summary at the end of the month. Already in the first few days, I've had so many thoughts and feelings and a weekly summary made more sense. To me, this is a lot like Whole30 but with the highs and lows being much closer together. I'm excited to see where this journey takes me and these weekly updates will help keep me on track.
Weeks go from Sunday - Saturday because that's how my app tracks them and it's easier for me to have some solid
Day 1
What a start. The first day of the month could not have been a better example of this goal. It was the exact day that I normally skip workouts - Tuesday (when I don't have any gym dates), busy day at work, and I had book club after work. I had a tiny window between work and book club (which I was hosting at my house) to workout. But... you don't mess up your goal on day 1. Not only did I go to the gym, but I went to the bootcamp gym that Dan and I decided to test out for the month.They are also doing fitness tests this month and it was the first day of recording your starting numbers. Not only did I crush my starting numbers but I got to try something I've always struggled with - climbing ropes. It's something I've come across in many obstacle races and I stall or take the punishment because I've never learned how to do it. All it took was the instructor showing us once for me to see what the moves were. I tried it out and she walked over to tell me I was such a show off for getting it so quickly (in a joking way). I told her it was actually my first time climbing the rope because it was the first time I saw how to do it. I only made it half way but it felt so amazing learning how to do something I've struggled with. It also gave me a new goal of getting to the top by the end of the month.
Day 2
Day 1 was a little rough on me. I squeezed in gym time despite being rushed, ran home to prep book club, had a couple glasses of wine, went to bed late, woke up early and couldn't go back to sleep - all recipes for a rough day 2. However, I felt fine all day. I was a little tired when I woke up but there's no time to spare so I quickly went to work with the hope of making the half hour bootcamp class on my lunch break. I was starting to feel sore but went anyways. This was a short class and today's tests were a mile run, thrusters, and pull-ups.The run was pretty rough - I haven't run a straight mile in forever and it was crazy hot and humid out... and noon. Running a mile in 92 degree humidity is rough but I did it. Next were the thrusters. I'd never done these before and was having trouble getting the rhythm so I decided just to move on. I was excited for pull ups - words I never thought I'd say. The bootcamp gym uses bands to adjust for weight. I decided to go for the middle band but try to go for a pretty high number. I ended up getting 20. I think my goal next time will be to do the next level band until I can get 20 there and so on until I'm doing 20 with no band.
I got home and didn't feel quite as wiped as the night before which was nice. I worked for a few more hours and then it was out the door for climbing. I knew my brute strength was probably wiped out from the pull ups so decided to focus on more technique heavy climbs. Well, those use more forearm strength... which was also tired from my lunch workout. I pushed through though and was happy that I was trying to break my plateau. My partner and I were going to end on an easy climb, but the rope was also on a super hard level climb and we decided we would start there and switch to easy when it got too tough. We got a decent way up it and would like to try again when we weren't so tired. I think starting on hard climbs and switching over will be a great way to get to the next level in climbing.
Day 3
I'm tired. I woke up just feeling sore everywhere. I had two big days of working out and I felt it. It's time to listen to my body. I would have loved to go back to bootcamp and body pump but my body needs a day off. WAIT - one of my goals is no days off. That's right, but there's a way to make this work. Since I was hurting the whole day, I decided just to do the bare minimum - some stretching and my burpees. If you look at my summary, Wednesday was huge with a tiny Thursday and that makes sense. I don't think this month is about pushing super hard every day. It wouldn't work. Giving myself days off is critical to making this work - even if a day off includes some light stretches.Day 4
I was hoping to go back to bootcamp Friday but I was still really sore. I was hoping to maybe at least do an ab workout at some point but my stomach was feeling upset. I focused on getting that settled and decided just to give kickball my all. Lucky for me, I consider that a workout (but I would love to be doing something in addition as well). We also celebrated Dan's birthday with our team which meant a late night... and I hadn't done my burpees yet. One of my friends said he'd do them with me in the bar. Many of the other patrons didn't love that, but I got about half of them done there and was able to finish at home. I'd love to say that was the first time I did burpees in a bar but that would be false.... In any case, it showed me that I can do burpees under the influence and while I wouldn't recommend it, it's nice to know that I can't use that as an excuse to keep myself from doing something.
Day 5
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| always smile, even when it hurts |
I woke up Saturday morning, made some avocado toast and joined Dan at the gym. It wasn't even fun. Not in the slightest (for the record, I liked the other workouts I did earlier in the week). It was almost all legs (which were still a tiny bit sore) as well as some kicks. The kicks weren't so bad... except when I had to hold the bag for my partner and she kicked really hard. I did NOT like that. But... even though it wasn't my favorite workout, I was happy I did it. I felt really accomplished for the day and it was a good lead in for the rest of the weekend.
One thing I noticed this week, is that the days I worked out, I had more energy the rest of the day than the days I took it easy. I always feel exhausted h in the afternoons and the only days I didn't get that feeling were Wednesday and Saturday - the days I worked out before my afternoon crash.
My Saturday didn't get any easier - I took Harley on a long, hot walk that involved me carrying her part of the way. Dan and I went to the zoo which is also a lot of walking. I came home... and realized I still had my burpees to do, and I did them. I even had fun with it and Harley helped me as well. It was probably a thanks for carrying her on our walk.
The one downside of all the working out I did - super water retention. Looking at my Saturday video vs. my photos earlier in the week look like a different body. It's HOT in San Diego right now and I'm trying my best to stay hydrated so that's going to mean some wild fluctuations in what I look like in my photos and that's ok because this about being healthy, not perfect pictures.
TLDR Version:
- I really pushed myself so far but I liked it and had more energy on the days I worked out
- The burpees are getting easier. I almost feel like I should add 10/day each week.... but that's so many burpees
- Bootcamp gym has it's ups and downs. I love learning new things, but some of the classes aren't as fun as others
- I have some strategies to improve my climbing this month and I'm looking forward to trying them out
- Harley is a great workout buddy
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