I Can Do Hard Things

I think this is my new mantra. Last weekend's trail race (did you read my recap?) really forced me to dig deep and keep going when I wanted to give up. That strategy came in handy this week when I did the full Murph workout at CrossFit. 

I'm so grateful for what my body lets me do and what my mind pushes me through.

Weekly Rundown

Sunday: walk 1.9 miles

Monday: CrossFit

Tuesday: Fluid running

Wednesday: trail run 5.55 miles

Thursday: CrossFit

Friday: Run 5 miles

Saturday: Murph, run 2 miles

After a restless night, I woke up Sunday morning feeling pretty fatigued. I was still feeling off from my race the day before, but I wanted to take a little walk up to Gibraltar Rock. It was such a beautiful morning and I was surprised that no one else was there when I arrived. I took my time both ways which was a nice change from when I run on this trail! Sometimes it's nice to slow down, isn't it?

I still wasn't feeling 100% on Monday morning. When I checked the WOD, I saw that we were doing a push-up 'test'. I figured that would give my legs the rest they needed, so off I went. This was a really fun class. The coaches had boxes set up at different heights and we had to do 10 perfect push-ups on each of the boxes, starting at 30" and stopping when we failed. In between each set, we did 6 GHD sit-ups. This was all about core strength, not arm strength. I did pretty well until 12". I couldn't get past 7, so I was done. Now I have a new goal to work towards! The MetCon was a 10 minute AMRAP, 2-4-6-8-10 of double or single unders x 10, burpees over the kettlebell, and kettlebell swings (I used 30#). I did one full round and was starting on my second round of 60 single unders when time was called. 

Wednesday was very windy! I figured trail running would be the best option, as the trees would help mitigate the wind. Of course, there was the fear of falling trees--yes, it was THAT windy. My drive to the preserve was on streets littered with leaves and fallen tree branches. I decided to run the east preserve trails because I wanted to run through the piney woods where the deer hang out. I also wanted to keep my miles low to help with my recovery from last weekend's trail run. My run started out cloudy, but by the time I finished, the sun was out. I did see deer on my run, including several male/female pairs, but they were really skittish, making me think they had a fawn with them. Hopefully, next time I go, I'll see one. For now, I was happy to soak up all the foliage and wildflowers around me. 

I may have been a little too ambitious with my recovery run on Wednesday. On Thursday, I woke up with really tight quads and hips, so I did a yoga sesh with Adriene, which helped a ton. Then it was off to CrossFit. There were bench presses and dumbbell rows for the strength portion!! For the bench presses, we had 5 sets of 5 reps. Since it's been a while that I've done bench presses, I built from 55# and finished with 70# for my last set. I alternated the sets of 12 dumbbell rows using a 25# dumbbell with my knee on a box. The MetCon had 5 sprints for time: 150m row, 1 fast lap farmers carry, and 4 devil's presses. I used 15# dumbbells. My splits were: 1:20, 1:24, 1:21, 1:21, 1:21. Consistency and speed were the goals!

My legs were still fatigued from last weekend's trail race, so I took it easy on my Friday morning run on the bike path. I had some new gear and Brooks Ghost 16s to try out too! It was pleasantly cool but humid and I stopped to walk several times to let my heart rate come back down. Overall, it was a pleasant little run and the perfect way to start my morning. 

I wrapped up the week on Saturday at CrossFit to participate in the annual Murph workout. Held every year on Memorial Day weekend, this workout honors Navy Lieutenant Michael Murphy who was killed in Afghanistan in 2005. This was his favorite workout and consists of:

1 mile run

100 pull-ups

200 push-ups

300 air squats

1 mile run

I have done the half Murph multiple times, but this was the first time I would be attempting the full Murph. After my challenging trail race last weekend, I figured I could dial into the 'I can do hard things' mode and dig deep to finish this one. My strategy was to break up the workout into 20 segments. I also modified the movements to ensure I would perform them all with exceptional technique, as we have been doing in class. I subbed ring rows for the pull-ups and did the push-ups on a box. Sammy Jo walked by multiple times and told me my push-ups looked beautiful, high praise indeed from her! For the air squats, I squatted down to a wall ball to ensure adequate depth. When I went back outside for the final one mile run, my quads were tight and my heart rate was high. I felt pretty bad and even vomited a little bit. Once I got my breathing back under control, I was able to run at a nice steady pace. The coaches were at the finish line and congratulated me. I finished at 54:21, which was under my goal of 1 hour. 

I was really proud of my effort. Physically, it was hard! Mentally, I had moments where I felt like I couldn't keep going, but my mantra helped. The encouragement from the coaches and other athletes was helpful too. 

Off the Road

It's Memorial Day weekend and we're at home. What the what? We had some storm damage this week and needed to do a major cleanup of our backyard. For years, we've had a gazebo on our deck that was bolted to the wood. Much to our surprise, this week the wind picked it up and destroyed it. We woke up to twisted steel and a shredded tarp. Mother Nature is crazy.

Since we wanted to do some planting, we went to Home Depot to pick up flowers and tomato plants. We also looked at outdoor deck coverings and decided to buy a large offset umbrella instead of a gazebo. The hubs and I set it up--it looks great! Cocoa spent the day chasing her ball. It was just a perfect day to be outside! Let's hope the weather stays calm for a while.

How was your week? What are your plans for the weekend? Did you do Murph or run in a Memorial Day themed race? Who else had to deal with storm damage?

 I'm linking up with Deborah and Kim for the Weekly Rundown.