330- Sixteen Handstands

Have you ever had a workout so good that for hours afterwards you felt like you were floating on clouds with rainbows and puppy dogs?  How about a workout so good that not only did you feel amazing for the rest of the hours in the day afterwards, but then woke up the next morning and still felt the same euphoria?  Yeah.  I'm not lying.  Here it is, nearly 8am the day after yesterday's killer 6pm workout, and I feel like 1,000,000 bucks.  I even had my post for today pre-written, but I had to move it down the line to document this feeling, and post this today. 

 

When I saw the posting for the workout yesterday, I knew it was going to be one of those tricky ones:

50m OH Lunges (45/25)
45 Jump and touches (18″/12″)
40 Goblet Squats (50/35)
35 Double Unders
30 Kettle Bell Swings (50/35)
25 Squat hold Wall Balls (20/14)
20 Mountain Climbers
15 Hand Stands
10 Kettle Bell Press (50/35) (each arm)
5 Tire Flips
50m Bear Crawl

 

Call me crazy, but I looked at this, and thought "that doesn't look too bad."  But then I instantly thought of how many previous workouts I had thought the same thing, and how wrong, oh, so wrong I was.  Then I got a little nervous.  I knew the lunges, jumps, and jump rope would be tough on my ankle.  The rest of the stuff should be ok?  Oh, and hey, look at that, handstands!  Without the push up!  I can do those! 

 

I left work a few minutes later then usual headed for the gym.  It had been raining all day, and couple that with the few minute delay in leaving, and I was stuck in all sorts of Seattle traffic hell.  The places where traffic was normally free flowing was stopped.  This can't be good.  As I neared my exit to home, (40 minutes later on what should be a 20 minute drive) I was tempted to go home, head to the grocery store and make soup for dinner.  I texted the bf deluxe (I know, I know, texting and driving, but I was stopped in traffic!) and told him I was skipping the gym.  As soon as I pressed send, traffic instantly cleared and the next thing I knew, I went cruising by my home exit at 60mph. 

 

I missed the 5pm class, but I would be way early for the 6pm.  Oh!  I'll get a snack and shop for dinner before the 6pm class, and then I can just go straight home after!  In the produce aisle, I crazily started grabbing all on sale veggies to stock the fridge, I headed over to the bulk section to get some nuts for my pre-workout snack, and lo and behold, there was one of my sweaty gym buddies.  "Hi lady!"  I said, "just get done?"  She proceeded to fill me in on the workout details, and like I suspected, it was one of those tricky ones.  I grabbed some natural pepperoni for pre-workout fuel as well, because it sounded like I was going to need it. 

 

I arrived at the gym just in time to see some people finishing up and the looks on their faces.  The energy of the workout was awesome.  It was tough, but I could tell this was not one to be missed.  Times on the board ranged from 13 minutes to 22 minutes.  Primal sounds were emerging from the quietest girls, the floor had scattered drops of sweat, as if the ceiling had opened for a second and allowed rain to fall.  My mind flashed briefly to my birthday workout, today was the day where I was supposed to perform my first workout ever recorded and see how far I've come in a year.  The trainer and I looked over my first week of workouts, and they were all brutal.  I chose to do the workout everyone else was doing that day instead because birthday workout can wait.  Best choice ever. 

 

There were a solid four of us at the 6pm class, and I was excited and nervous to get this thing over with.  I looked at the times on the board of everyone that had finished the workout so far, and chose a goal of under 21 minutes based on the times of the people I usually match.  We quickly chose our weights, kettlebells, etc. and had to demonstrate what we would be doing for a handstand.  Next thing I knew, we were off lunging across the room holding plates above our heads.  Lunges were SO hard on the ankle.  I powered through.  The jump touches were really hard on the ankle, I powered through.  Goblet squats- no problem.  Single unders were hard on the ankle, again, powered through.  Kettlebell swings were rough as my heart rate was up, and breathing fast.  Squat wall ball holds?  Worse thing ever- just got it over with.  I looked at the clock when I was finished with those and realized I had a shot at making my goal.  I powered through the mountain climbers, and got ready for handstands.  Somehow 15 didn't sound like so many, but after 6, I was spent!  I kept at it, and trainer shouted "great handstands, really good!"  That kept me going for the last few.  Kettlebell press were impossible at this point with 35#, so I switched to 25# I banged those out like they were nothing and moved onto tire flips.  Normally I can flip the tire at least once unassisted.  Not after all I just did!  So, someone that had already done the workout kindly offered one of his arms for assistance.  The 50m bear crawl was almost unbearable (HA!).  Again, I just wanted to get through it.  I saw the clock, and I still had a shot at an under 21 min finish.  As I was on my last 10m, the other guy still working out with me passed me (all 6'3" of him) and I touched the wall seconds later.  20:32.  Boo-yah!

 

What an awesome workout.  Driving home my arms and shoulders were so hot from all the use, they felt huge and swollen.  As if none of the other stuff in the workout mattered, I just kept thinking of how I did 16 handstands!  The post workout high rushed over me, and has remained since.