Better than Nothing...

So summer is finally upon us here in Germany. For awhile I wasn't sure I'd ever be able to put my fleece and hoodies away.  We've had a solid week of nice weather now.  Workouts are still few and far between because of family visiting.  I know, bad excuse, right? Taking an hour or more to do what I want to do is just really not an option right now,  but I did the last two days!

Sunday morning was just glorious. Chip was taking care of the yard and I took the opportunity to find my bike clothes and hit the trail heading east along the river towards Bamberg.  It's been months since I've been on my bike...not because I don't want to ride, its just been so cold and wet.  Biking on wet trails is not a  good idea and I don't have winter/cold weather bike gear.  More excuses!  The ride along the river was amazing. It was flat and fast, partly shaded.  The sun was hot on my shoulders and the breeze warm, with the slight hint of a chill remaining, whooshing through my helmet.  My thoughts drifted as I dropped to the bottom bars and found the sweet spot in the saddle. Chip, DC, work, crossfit, friends, health.  I wished Chip was drafting behind me, enjoying the feeling of being so alive.  Today was the day we'd dreamed of--perfect weather, and a whole day to ride along the Main to Bamberg (60k away) and beyond.  I thought of my old life back in DC and accepted the fact that I'm still homesick and it might just not go away.  All in all, I covered 30k (18-19 miles) in about 1:20.  Not speedy, but who cares. It was a great morning.

 Monday morning brought more warm weather and sunshine.  Time for a trail run in the woods.  Chip was at therapy with his Mom, leaving me and his Dad at home.  Ray and I headed out into the woods. Ray does a run/walk program so I took him out on a looped trail and when we got to the point where he could head back and not loose his way,  I let him head home and I took off deep into the woods.  The run/walk for about 15 minutes was a great way to loosen up the legs from Sunday's ride.  After Ray turned back, I took off into the woods for another 45 minutes.  Just me and my music.  My legs felt better than my last attempt at running which is a plus, but while my body just wanted to unleash stress and anger and lots of emotion, my legs couldn't keep up.  They feel a bit weak--time to hit some squats and deadlifts regularly.

I'm hoping to hit the pool this week for a swim and start July off on the right foot next week with some solid crossfit programming.

The BEAR

Is a bear! Did the bear complex this morning and boy was it harder than it looked. Maybe not, maybe it is just because I haven't picked up a barbell in over four weeks.  4 weeks! Can you believe it? I felt so weak as I did a few warmup up rounds with the bar. It felt heavy. Uh oh!

Since it felt heavy early and I realized I hadn't lifted in weeks I decided not to push it too hard and do something stupid and hurt myself.  My attempts looked like this:

5 Rounds, One round=7 sets of clean, front squat, push press, back squat, push press

Round 1: 45#
Round 2: 55#
Round 3: 60#
Round 4: 60#
Round 5: 60#

Wimpy? Yes. Hard? yep. I'll take it. I wanted to drop down in my last round, but I powered though.  I had no adreniline or competition or anything pushing me so it was done with a bit of rest too.  I would love to do with a partner or something and in top shape. 

All the fries and beer and desserts of late are wreaking their havoc, but after the 4th of July, hopefully life will return to normal and I can get on a schedule.  July and August will include lots of swimming and biking.  My triathlon is 10 weeks away!!! The Army 10 miler is just 4 months away---time to get SERIOUS again!

Cindy Lou

Yesterday I went to the track with my friend Mindi to hit the "good" pullup bars.  It was a beautiful day out so why not.  We only had 30 to workout so it looked like this.

Warmup:
quick 400m and some stretching, few pullups to get back in the groove

I was going to do Cindy for 15min instead of 20 as prescribed, but both of our legs were shot--Mindi's from a half-iron and half marathon she's done in the last two weeks and me from beating down Rome, Florence, Salzburg, and well, thrusters from the other day.  We did what I will call "Cindy Lou" instead.

15 Min AMRAP
5 pullups
10 pushups
15 situps (full unachored)


I finished 7 rounds.  Pullups felt awesome. First few rounds were 4 and 1, the last few 3 and 2.  My kip STILL sucks, but the pullup felt strong and the chin was way over the bar. Pushups felt great and sits were easy, but not so easy on the tailbone.  Mindi did great too-we scaled her pullups to 3, but she hit everythings RX'd. We just need a "kip clinic" for her....she's freakishly strong and can do 1 or 2 stricts with ease, but need the swing to link it all together! All in all, a solid fast WOD!

Traveling and Eating -- Forget working out!

Tomorrow my parents will leave for home and end their 2.5 week trip here to Europe.  Their trip commenced with a quick trip to Bamberg, then off for a week in Italy.  We spent 3.5 days in Rome and 3 in Florence.  They were hard long days---up early for things like Vatican Museum tours, mass at the Vatican, and hours and hours of walking. We had a few 10-12 hour days of walking and sighseeing that left me toasted...and it was about 85 degrees the whole trip.  I kept setting my alarm to get out of bed to run or something, but my feet and legs were just too tired to do that with the thought of 10 more hours of walking.  Eating zone/paleo in Italy is nearly impossible.  Breakfast was tough, but I got some protein, but couldn't resist these little jelly filled croissants--coronados or something like that.  Lunch was often quick pizza, gelatto, or caprese salads.  Dinner---well, meat is really really expensive and the pasta is amazing and nearly impossible to resist. Homemade spaghetti with olive oil, garlic, and fresh pecorino cheese was the best.  Wine was flowing and I drank more than my fare share. :) When in Rome, right?
Other treats included lots of gelatto, salami's, croissants, lots of olive oil, canolis, and lots of cappucinnos.

I was home for a day and a half and got a quick backyard workout squeezed in there and got my mom to join me! Just 20 minutes of some sprints, box jumps, kettlebell swings, and pushups.

Then it was off to Salzburg for the weekend. More walking. More good food. Beer. I actually studied in Salzburg during college and this was my family's first visit.  We had to hit all the highlights including real Wiener Schnitzel, Augusteiner Brau beer, pretzels and brats from the market and "cake and coffe" at my favorite cafe.

Normally, I wouldn't eat like this. I don't on a normal day.  My excuse? It's vacation and I probably won't be in Europe that much longer. That and my parents have never been here to try all this amazing food--I had to at least eat some to prove to them it is amazing, right?

So, my blog subtitle promises blogs about traveling, and here ya have it. Here are my rules:
1) Everything in moderation, including gelatto and pasta.  It's vacation people. But, if it's not good, stop eating.
2) Drink Italian wine every day you are there. It is cheaper than water and you'll never taste red wine this good ever again. Be sure to order or a liter....or two.
3) Don't try to plan CF WOD's when your day's are already filled with exercise...even if it's walking. Refer to rule 1.
4) Share all your food. If you let everyone you're with have a bite, you don't feel like such a pig.
5) Do eat fresh pecorino cheese topped with organic honey if it is on the menu. It is amazing. Your stomach might hurt later, but your taste buds will love you!
6) Have fun! That includes eating AND exercising.

After you see these, you'll understand my posts about my "bavarian bulge"... I'm not worried...I have the rest of my life to eat healthy!

Vacation!

Parents are in town and we're off to Rome and Florence for a week.  I packed some workout clothes and hopefully I'll be able to do some body weight stuff/short run somewhere in there. So, I'll sign off for now!