wildwood trail #1

Any of you that read my blog from the very beginning, before I even heard of CrossFit, you may remember how I tried to learn to be a runner. I scoured the internet for advice, bought shoes and supplies, everything I believed that would help me be a runner. At one point I even had a running coach, who to this day I still utilize all of the lessons she taught me. It's been about 6 years now of off and on training, I don't think I classify as a runner but I still try. Most of my running though is done in a CrossFit WOD, which means it's done on the sidewalk or road.

Now that the weather is becoming nicer, Aaron and I decided to start running on the Wildwood Trail again in Forest Park like we've done in past summers. I had no expectations, as I am just looking to restrengthen my ankles and just be consistent in my running. I almost immediately could feel my feet and ankles start yelling at me. Shortly after that my knees expressed their hatred for me too. I only made it 2.5 miles total, walking the majority of the time inward and ran most of the time back to the car. I think my total running mileage was a little over a mile.

I think after a few more running sessions on the trail I will be able to run more, and further. It felt good to on the trail again. I took a few breaks where I stood there and took my headphones off to listen to the birds chirp. I'm so thankful to live in a city with such an abundance of beautiful parks.

eagle creek trail: tunnel falls

Yesterday I celebrated my birthday by going on a hiking trip to Tunnel Falls at Eagle Creek in the Gorge. It is one I have never been on and I wanted to explore a new place. Aaron and I got off to a late start and didn't make it to Eagle Creek until around 1pm. The initial plan was to go all the way to Tunnel Falls, from the trailhead to the Falls would be 6 miles. Because of our late start I told Aaron that we should just go as far as Punch Bowl Falls, which is about 3 or so miles in and reserve the Tunnel Falls for another date. 

The beginning of the hike, as any other hike I do, I am slow and tire easy. I eventually have to use my inhaler and take breather breaks. We did notice however, that the amounts of my breaks have decreased quite a bit since I have started CrossFit. I am much better shape now than I was a year ago. We reached Punch Bowl Falls around 4 or 4:30pm and did not expect it to be as crowded as it was. There were a lot of young people there diving into the water from cliffs, some were sunbathing, and others were just hanging out. We hung out a bit and than finally decided to head back onto the main trail.We sat on a log so that I could rest, we chatted, and took in our surroundings. It was at this point Aaron suggested that we keep going and head for Tunnel Falls. He believed I could make it and we'd be fine. Feeling pretty good, I said sure, and off we went. 

Once we passed the entrance to Punch Bowl Falls the trail became a lot more quieter. We'd only come across people every once in a while and the majority of them were back packers. At some point passed the Punch Bowl Falls I found my stride and didn't require any breaks except for sips of water. The scenery was absolutely glorious, and so quiet. A few times the trail would come out from the protection of trees and we could feel the hot sun beaming down. At some point I became acutely aware that I was running low on water and that I will definitely run out before we made it back to the trailhead. We still pushed forward. Eventually at some point Aaron became concerned that we hadn't reached the falls yet but every time we'd run into another person they'd say it wasn't too much further. I swear everyone was lying to us. 

The trail on Eagle Creek.

The path in general is moderate, some easy spots, and than some areas that slow you down due to lots of lose rocks. It is these rocks that I despise! Knowing full well that I am a magnet for injuries and easy falls I was focusing mostly on my footing as we trekked along. At times I think I don't give myself enough credit, and truly get that I am stronger and fitter. I am more than capable of completing this hike injury free, well serious injuries. We finally decided at some point to stop and rest, snack on bars that we brought with us and I had the last of my water. Aaron is good at rationing his, but I drink so much water in general that rationing wouldn't have done much, especially since taking allergy meds and meds for my tummy cause me to have dry mouth. We chatted and almost decided to turn back when Aaron saw someone and asked once again. Tunnel Falls was right around the corner, so we trekked on. We reached it. What an absolutely beautiful Fall it was. We went through the tunnel behind it and out to the other side and could feel the spray from the rushing water. It felt so good against my sweaty dirty skin. We took a few photos and just stared at the beauty of it. But than the reality of our situation took priority. 

Tunnel Falls

It was now around 6pm, I was completely out of water, and we had 6 miles to hike back. This time I lead the hike and I must've caught my second wind or the drive for cold fresh water was strong because we were making good time. We also realized that we may have to hike the later half in the dark as the sun was heading down behind the mountain. We clearly did not plan this out very well. All went fairly well until we hit the area with rocks again. A couple of times I stepped wrong and rolled my right ankle. At the moment it felt fine, it was probably adrenaline of wanting to get out and get to water. I began to slow down after we reached Punch Bowl Falls but it was a relief to know that we only had about 3 miles left to go. Water was getting closer and the sun was still out. 

When we reached the end I was so happy, water never tasted so good. I was tired, sore, and plenty thirsty. The car ride back into town gave me time to reflect on this experience. I am thankful for it, I do not regret one moment of it. I most certainly will be more prepared next time but glad to have been with Aaron who gave me enough motivation to keep a positive attitude through it all. 

Today I am feeling pretty sore and beat up. I have a massive blister on my right pinky toe, my right ankle feels jacked up, and my right knee feels tight. I'm taking it easy today but if asked to do it again, I wouldn't hesitate for a moment!

checking in

I knew it would be a while before I'd find time to post anything, but I didn't expect it to take me four weeks. Alas, here I am and a whole lot has happened in the past month. The last time I posted I was complaining about my knee issues, specifically my right knee. Though my knee feels a million times better, I don't know if it's because I haven't done much in the way of physical activity as I had been. Or because it actually got better. Maybe a combination of the two? Maybe. I will only know once I get back into a normal fitness routine. Because of my knee I had to take some time off, allowing it to heal and rest, but I was also forced to back down on the days I CrossFitted due to school.

As you may recall I was beginning my first term in the Fit Tech program at PCC. Well it's been about five weeks now and it is safe to say that between school, work, and the little time I find for CrossFit, I have no life. I'm having to write myself "to-do lists" for school, for work, for home life, etc, just to keep up. In no way is this me complaining, far from it. I am so absolutely happy with the decision I made and even though this term feels more like "busy" work than learning much, I am gaining some perspective on the person I am becoming. It's all good!

I did sustain a new pain (injury?). A few weeks ago, during a WOD I noticed that my left sacroiliac (SI) joint was becoming bothersome. Going into round three of the WOD I was in the middle of a 400m run when it became apparent that I needed to stop. The next day my chiropractor gathered that it was my SI joint and I have irritated all the local muscles. In all of my stubbornness I ignored his orders to take a few days off from working out, the pain persisted. I am now doing as ordered and have taken the last week off. Today I will go back to the gym to row and get something in so I don't feel like a slob (I really do feel gross for not being active). I am hoping to be able to get back into a normal CF routine soon.

I am still hosting monthly fitness challenges though I decided to change things up for the month of May. Head on over to Challenge Me Fit's Facebook page and check out May's challenge(s) and join me! We can inspire each other to stay on track!

Well my friends, until next time (and I really do hope it's sooner than later), take care of yourselves!

Photo taken from Pinterest.

this old knee

You may have noticed that my resting squat challenge went stale. Unfortunately my right knee became quite inflamed and irritated, I gather from overuse. Between the resting squats and doing plenty of squat WODs at CrossFit Stumptown, my knee finally had enough. My chiropractor had me take some time off, which worked out since Aaron and I were heading out of town for the weekend. While gone I had moments where it felt great and then moments where it didn't feel so great. We had access to an indoor heated pool where we went, so I took to swimming a couple of times. Hiking on the snow at Crater Lake without proper shoes proved challenging as well, I did fine and only had one moment of pain. I am currently still not doing the resting squat challenge and will probably not go back to it on a day to day basis. Giving myself another week or so before getting back to it on a limited basis. Today I did some burpees and box jumps, it was the most intense movement my knees had to deal with in over a week. So far I feel good but we will see how they feel tomorrow morning. Running hasn't been an issue either, thank goodness.

My schedule will be changing this coming Monday, as I will begin Spring term of the Fit Tech program. I will pretty much be at school or work Monday thru Friday while still fitting CrossFit into my schedule. And starting April 14th I will begin a 10k training program for the race I want to do this coming June. In other words, my postings may become far and few between, but I will NOT stop posting. I will make every effort to post, at least once a week to two weeks. It's a great stress release and allows me to share my thoughts!

Oh, and I achieved something today. Did my first WOD with Burpee Box Jumps and RX'd. Only had one mishap and managed not to hurt myself! :)

This photo was taken from Pinterest.

day 10, 11, 13/30: resting squats & realizations

My resting squat is definitely getting better, though from time to time my knees (specifically the right one) decides to be bothersome. I think the change in weather right now is not helping either. On day 11 I managed to get a flat-footed squat for a moment. This is a huge achievement and means my ankle mobility is getting better.

Day 10 after a sweaty WOD

Day 11, felt good in my squat & got some stretching in.

Day 13 after the CrossFit Open 14.3 WOD.

The day before participating in the CrossFit Open 14.3 with my gym mates I practiced my box jumps. I haven't been able to actually jump the 20 inch box. For the actual WOD step-ups are legal, so I knew I would be fine but at some point I need to get over the mental hurdle that stops me from jumping onto a box. So I practiced with a box up against a lifting platform, it makes the box about 16 inches. I then placed a 25# bumper plate on the floor and jumped onto the box that way, that make it about 18 inches. When I got comfortable with that, I changed the 25# plate with a 10# one. This made me a little nervous, but after a couple of failed attempts I got the hang of it. The next step was to remove the plate all together and just jump up from the ground. And on my first try I nailed it! I did it a few more times and nailed it each time! I FINALLY got box jumps! Now at the Open I didn't do box jumps and did step-ups as I was informed these would be more efficient.

And, today I got my new jump rope in the mail today. We sized it to fit my height and I will give it a go this week. Maybe I will finally get double unders! I will keep you posted on my progress (or lack thereof).

*There was no day 12 in resting squat due to knee issues.

day 4/30: resting squat challenge & the first step to my new road

I've made it to day 4 of the resting squat challenge, and even as I type this I am squatting. I am experiencing no pain in the knees and my ankles aren't feeling strained. However, I can only hold the resting squat for about 3 to 5 minutes at a time before my legs get tingly. This is still an enormous improvement from my first go around of the challenge. I'm still using a heel support as well but some moments I will squat without heel support and let my heels hang so that the ankles can get some stretch in them. I have been working on mobility in my ankles as I know they are pretty tight.

Took a minute at work to squat.

As for my first step to my new road is with the change of my work schedule. Today was my last day at Lula Health Center, a bittersweet day. I will miss the ladies I worked with tremendously as they are all very talented and have big hearts! I will now only be working at one job while attending school. I am very fortunate to continue to have an awesome boss that is willing to be flexible with my work schedule so that I can attend school at the maximum hours possible. I'm ready for my new adventure to begin!

a healing knee

I am going to play catch up today and get some posts done of thoughts that have been lingering in my head for some time now. If you recall I have been struggling with my knees for a while, especially the right one. It's been an off and on thing and only became worse when I began doing CrossFit. Now before you naysayers crack a smile and think I am blaming CrossFit for this, keep reading to see that I am not. If anything, CrossFit opened my issues to the underlying issues that I have either not noticed or ignored. When I picked up running in 2009 I had noticed some discomfort in my right knee almost immediately. I shrugged it off as the result of being overweight and that it will go away on its own after a while. And though my knee never experienced actual pain, it never really went away. And with most things that become constant, you become numb to it and forget that it is even bothering you. Fast forward to May of 2013, I start doing CrossFit. That nagging discomfort reared it's ugly head almost immediately. In the beginning everything I did was either modified or light, I wasn't pushing my body to it's limits yet. At first air squats were easy and manageable. I learned to do them wide legged so that I could actually do them. Then when I began doing thrusters, overhead squats, front squats, and especially heavy back squats, everything began to change. That discomfort turned into pain and there would be times I couldn't even do an air squat without my knee feeling like it would explode!

I feel very fortunate to have found the CrossFit box that I did. The coaches there are fantastic and have been very helpful with helping me figure out the causes of my pain and helping me come up with a mobility routine to help rectify the problem. It all came down to my squat. The question was, why wasn't I squatting correctly? Remember, it is not the squat that caused the pain, I had been dealing with knee issues long before I found CrossFit. It all came down to my mobility and flexibility. You'd be amazed how having tight hips and ankles can affect so many things in your life. So almost on a daily basis I go through a routine of stretching and mobility work on my ankles, calves, adductors, knees, hamstrings, quads, glutes, and hips. I don't ignore other areas of my body either, but I do spend a significant amount of time on my lower half. I've been at for 4 or so months now and let me tell you is hasn't been easy. If you've ever been injured at any capacity you know the healing roller coaster, where you begin to feel good for several days and then suddenly you feel like you took a million steps back. Too many people give up and not continue to push forward with their healing because they expect immediate results. Nothing heals over night.

I am happy to say that things have really begun to improve. My squat is looking AND feeling great. I have started to add some light weight on my squats and so far have been successful. I don't expect this to be the end of my knee issues but it is certainly gotten closer to the end. During this journey I have definitely learned some things and am continuously amazed with the human bodies capabilities. If you are having any issues with your squat, or just squatting in general, or maybe you know you have tight hips, check out the 30/30 Squat Challenge on Facebook. I'm not kidding, it will do wonders for you!

This photo was taken from Pinterest.