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| To be fair, no, I didn't die ... |
So, it’s Saturday. It’s 3 p.m. and I’m on the couch.
I wanted to
do a lot of things before a shoot tonight, like clean, organize my closet, shop for my kid, maybe grab
a coffee or smoothie somewhere and take in a movie. But I’m not doing any of
those things … because it requires moving various parts of my body.
And right
now, my body is smoked.
See, I’ve
remained committed to working out and eating clean so that I can have dessert
for dinner on occasion … s. Um … Well, mostly so that I can still fit into my
clothes, though, because I can’t afford a new wardrobe. But I digress.
In being so
committed, I accepted an invitation to work out with a photography client of
mine – who, as it turns out, is also a fitness trainer. I was really only going
to drop off her CD, but once I was there my pride would not let me leave. So I
was like, psshhhhhyeeeeaaaah, I’m down to workout.
Which might
not have been the best decision, in hindsight, as the WOD the night before
pretty much destroyed my upper body.
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| Took this as a comparison between last year and this year. |
Don’t be
fooled. It’s one of my favorite workouts, but the handstand pushups take a lot
out of you. By the time I got to the kettlebell swings, my fingers had no grip
and my arms were wrecked. There were a few swings where I felt I could have
lost control of the kettlebell. But I didn’t. And I made it to 11 rounds - more than double my last attempt. Anyway.
So, there I
was at the gym, laughing and joking, nervous, as the trainer starts writing the workout
that I soon realized was the warm-up. I stopped laughing when she disclosed the
WOD for the day:
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| I was expressionless on the outside, but crying on the inside. |
It was a Tabata WOD. That’s
eight rounds of each couplet, alternating so you’re doing a total of four rounds each with a
row in between. I felt sick ... and briefly calculated the odds anyone would know I was
lying if I made up an excuse to leave.
“Oh, yeah, I’m
so sorry … I forgot I had a shoot at 4 p.m. today and need to prepare for that
for the next eight hours. Photography is … so hard to … prepare … for stuff …”
No?
I learned my
lesson about underestimating workouts with my first Fight Gone Bad a few years
ago. And while 20 secs on/20 off for one minute may seem easy, it’s not.
It’s
like repeatedly slamming your toe in a door for 20 seconds. Okay, so that was
just a little dramatic …
Most of my hesitations
to jump in on this are:
- I have a weird anxiety about working out in front of people. Especially people I don’t know. I’m not athletic and I look awkward when I workout. Remember Elaine from Seinfeld dancing? Yeah, like that.
- It’s hard to explain why I can do HSPUs but I’m still on banded pull-ups after nine months – but at least I’m on the black band!
- I sweat every ounce of water in my body and it’s not pretty
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| Hashtag nofilter, melted mascara, 40 year old drama queen ... |
Honestly, at
some point during a WOD, I’m so wrecked none of points 1-3 even matter anymore.
Looking at
the WOD, it seems relatively simple, but it was legit. First eight rounds, no
problem. Burpees aren’t my favorite, but I maintained a steady pace to hit at
least 6-7 in 20 seconds each time. Same with the goblet squats but went for
9-10.
I think my
body started rejecting the WOD when we hit the second couplet. All the muscles
in my upper body protested, reminding me of the previous day’s WOD in case I
forgot. I really only finished by sheer
force of will and my determination to not crawl out of there dragging my pride
and dignity behind me.
And I have
to thank my Crossfit coach, his tips on rowing technique helped me out on this
a lot. While, 200 meters is not a long distance to row, good technique can make
the difference between smoking my arms beyond use and being able to type out
this blog post.
Don’t get me
wrong, I feel great. Like that kind of great when you find an awesome pair of
workout pants that makes everything look better with sewn in Spanx?
Yeah, like
that.
Disclaimer: I'm not one of those pro-fitness, I love working out more than life, cheerleaders. But I am pro doing what makes you feel good about yourself on the inside and looking fit on the outside. I'll be the first to tell you I'd rather be doing anything else than working out, but I also want to be in semi-decent shape and healthy.
