348- Improvements

Thank you for the well wishes yesterday, everything is going to be fine.  There is no other option.  While I try to keep deeply personal items out of this blog, occasionally there is some overlap in so far as how some items will affect my overall health.  I want to lay everything out on the table not in the hopes of getting sympathy from anyone reading, but more so that I have a record of my actions and subsequent actions/reactions. 
 
Now, back to regularly scheduled programming...Yesterday was a great day for me.  My eats were 100% on point, and something very interesting happened during our warm up at the gym.  On Saturday, I wrote about "swinging a heavy bat."  For anyone out there that has never played baseball/softball, players put weights on the ends of their bats before going up to hit (or if you are old skool, you swing 2 bats at a time) so that when the are at bat, and swing the unweighted/one bat, it comes around A LOT faster.  It works.  Minds are tricky like that.  Taking this theory to my running, I decided to run to the store, do some shopping, and run home with my goods.  I honestly had no intention of noticing a difference the next time I ran, and really just needed to get some groceries!  The heavy bat thing came to me as I was running, because lately at the gym I've been trying to use weights a little higher then the Rx'd weight for girls (whatever it may be) and one of the trainers said to me "swinging the heavy bat, I like it!"
 
Yesterday, we went through our normal warm-up/dynamic stretching stuff before we got into the REAL warm-up (usually 3 different moves 5-10 reps each, changes everyday depending on what the workout is) and when we were done loosening up, trainer says "out the door, 400m run."  Out we went, and I was the second person out the door, but I felt fast.  I kept waiting for the people behind me to pass (like they always do) but I was holding them off, and it wasn't hard.  I was just running.  After the turn around, HCT (hot cop trainer) passed me when we were nearly back to the gym, but that was it!  Usually I jog in the door last, or second to last.  Not yesterday!  I jogged in 3rd.  There were 4 people behind me.  Boo-yah!  So maybe there is something to that heavy bat afterall?  I haven't felt that way running since pre-ankle injury.  It could also be my added weekend runs, or that I've really been focusing on intensity in my workouts, or the BCAA's, or a combination of all?  Either way, I'll take it. 
 
We then worked through the rest of the warm up- 3 rounds of: length of gym OH walking lunge w/ 10lbs, 5 inch worms, 10 back extensions.  For the workout I got the chance to swing a heavy bat again, it was a barbell complex (deadlifts, power cleans, front squat, push press), and the recommended weight for girls was 65#.  I decided to go with 75#.  I made the super fast girl next to me do 75# too, because I knew that if she did 65# she would beat me by minutes.  If she did 75# it might only be 10's of seconds that she beats me (I think she still beat me by a full minute, even at 75# grrr).  The awesomest girl in the class did 95# (same weight as the boys) because, she is a beast.  One day I will be like her.   
 
Keeping in line with actually following through with what I say I'm going to do, I'm prepared to start running to and from the gym everyday.  I can no longer use the weather as an excuse.  That means at the end of each week, I will have logged an extra 4 mile run, presuming I keep my four day/week gym habit.  I'm curious to see if this creates a noteable gas savings?  The gym is only 0.5 miles away, so I'm not driving very much, but still, with gas prices on the creep, its always good to save where I can.  Yesterday I left my crossfit shoes in the changing room at the gym, and today I brought with me my preferred running shoes for the journey.  This does mean that I'll be once again changing into my workout clothes here at the office.  I sure hope the old iron pants* that complained about me doing that finds some real work to do so she's not all up in my businass...
 
 
 
 
*found out months after she complained about me wearing workout clothes in the office that everyone calls her iron pants because I guess, she's gone after everyone at some point or another for something...LOL!  I was so relieved I wasn't the only one secretly hating her.