Day to settle in

Rainy and Foggy day in NEH Maine.   Gave us a chance to get settled and run the necessary errands.

Bummer

Susie and I are both suppose to be competing at TJ's Northeast Masters Comp @Rebook but with both of us recovering from injuries its not happening.  Instead we are packing and getting ready to head up to Maine.   I really feel bad for Susie as I talked her out of Ocean State to do this one.   Goal is for both of us to get healthy and just enjoy the workouts and from that we will see about the competition.

Consistency

Woke up this morning fully expecting not to be able to get a ride in because of a downpour but when I checked my email my riding partner was already to go so rain or no rain i was getting out.   Even though I havent been hammering on the bike my legs are not quite caught up with the fact that I am expecting them to push the peddles daily.  

From there I headed over to the gym and got a short challenging wod in. Messed up a few rounds and did 15 pullups vs 10 but not a big deal.   Wall Climbs were the toughest part by far.

Single Double Sub

6:30am class had to do a double sub on the programming bench press for Deadlift and AD for rowing.

Just getting the work done.

Triple Double

Good consistency and even though I am no where near crushing any of the workouts I have been doing I have been getting great joy from just being able to do them,  Im still limited what I can do in the gym and will be for at least another month so that I can really allow my foot to heal.  Its all good!

Morning ride with Tom Gormley.   They guy is on his cyclocross bike and still leaving me in the dust. After a year of completely killing myself in my training I am doing this for my complete enjoyment and nothing else.  I dont care if I get passed by a granny on a 3 wheeler. Okay that might bother me a little

Quick change for a short stop at Craic.  Quickly mobility work and then the following wod.

I think this is my new signature shot - photos with my feet in the frame.  #footphotos.

Dragging

Last night i arrived home to a dark house, at first I thought everyone was already in bed at 9:30pm but I quickly came to the conclusion we had lost power.  Total bummer as it was hot and I was going to miss the Bruins game.  It was difficult to sleep without the hum of a fan or AC not to mention it was fairly warm.  

Dragging during the ride.  I though I would be OK because Tom's bike is in NH and he was on his cyclocross bike.  Fat chance on that.  Tom was strong and was setting a pace that I was having a hard time matching.   At one point I got shot straight out the back.   Normally this would get me down,  But at this point I am thrilled to just be exercising.

Quick change and over to Craic for a workout. Here is what they had programmed.   I had to scale.

OTM - 21 mins
1st - 1-3 Muscle ups/ 3-5 Pullups
2nd - 30 Double Unders /practice for 40sec substituted 20lb med ball trunk twists
3rd - 15 Kettlebell Swings@ 53 lbs

Monday Double

My plan to get back in shape is to get a 1hr bike ride in at a steady pace and then do a WOD at Craic during open gym,   Got a nice solo ride on the Cervelo.  Great bike but it all still comes down to the rider. 

Quick change and over to Craic for the 7:30am WOD. 

Just getting the work in.

Mike's Grave Stone Blessing

After the morning workouts we went down to Bedford to see Susie's mom as the gravestone was installed and we arranged for a blessing on sunday.   Tris is on the Cape with his a friend so its seems a little strange.

When we got there I was exhausted from the workouts and drive but Jack wanted to go over to Westmoreland Sanctuary for a hike.   Now normally its impossible to get these guys to do anything but of course when I am dead tired they want to get some exercise.  

We had a nice dinner at Truck and Susie recognized Rob Thomas, I had no clue.

It was a nice blessing and Rev Terry always says the right thing. 

While we were there I test rode the S5 and R5 and ended up getting a sweet deal on the Cervelo R5!

Double - Getting back on Track

First group ride of the year.   Some of the Wilson Mt running crew and some Dedhamites that just ride.   The group was 11 strong.   Good solid pace.  Not crazy fast, perfect pace to get back in the saddle and start working on my fitness.

After cycling did a quick change and went over to Craic for the 9am class. 

The WOD was 20min AMRAP
Run 400m I subbed 500m Row
10 Burpees
10 Swings
10 Situps

Very tiring after the ride but still managed 5 rounds plus 200m

Rest Day

Red Eye Adventure

Last night I was on the red eye scheduled to leave at 11pm so that I could get back in time for a 9am meeting.  All was going per the norm - we boarded and settled in and then all of a sudden they had us all get off the plane so that they could go and test something.   Two hours later they made an announcement that everything was AOK and to line up. So we lined up and then 30 minutes later they said well things didnt actually check out and we are arranging for a different plane at a different gate.  We all line up at the gate and they tell us it will be another hour.   When we do finally get moving its well after 2:30am and we wont land until close to 11am.   Upside was I was out like a light and got a solid 5hours of sleep.

Boat Race WOD
20 min AMRAP
500M Row
400m Run - substituted 2 min on the Airdyne

1 - 1:39.6
2 - 1:53.4
3 - 1:49.5
4 - 1:53.1
5 - 1:55.0
Total - 9:13.6   Avg 1:50.7

2 min airdyne between rounds

Then I did my Max Capacity WOD - Didnt keep score. Tried to do good movements.

Day 2 of simple body weight wod

Took the last flight out of NY last night so that I could get a full day here in SF.   Heavy rains in NY made the trip to the airport a little stressful as the traffic was brutal.  The upside was I didnt have to wait around as I just got to gate before they closed it.  I flew JetBlue so that I could watch the US National Team play Honduras in a World Cup qualifier.  The team started slow but played a strong second half and picked up the 3 points with a 1-nill win.  The team has some depth now and is really playing well together.

Woke up to a beautiful day here in SF.  They put me in fantastic room here at the Vitale Hotel complete with its own roof deck so I did my morning workout on the deck.  Here is a photo of the view - fantastic! 

These wods from Max Capacity are a lot harder than they look on paper.  I'm not sure if its because I am in such lousy shape or they are just simply hard.

Today's was another 4 rounds 50 sec on - 10 sec rest

1. Elevated Pushups 27,21,17,15
2. Bird Dogs 34, 34. 31, 27
3. Squat Pulses 56, 53, 31, 27
4. Super mans 50, 50 ,50 , 50

Max Capacity App

The string of injuries and illnesses have stacked up like cord wood along with the realization that as an athlete I can't do what I used to do and it has put me in quite a funk. Work hasn't provided any relief or an outlet in fact quite the opposite with just more pressure and expectations.

Susie finally helped me get my head screwed on right and back at it - Sunday I got a 25 mile ride in and Monday I was back in the gym in a class.

I was reluctant to go back to Craic as i know there would be questions and comments on where I have been, and what's wrong. The questions I know are because people care but i just want to come in and  clear my mind and not have to talk about my injuries as they will just bring me back to being frustrated.. I know it's unrealistic to think I can keep to myself and be invisible without coming off like a jerk.

On the road today and I downloaded a free app that has 12 weeks of body weight workouts and will
use this to get my work in until I'm healthy enough to just drop in at a CrossFit gym without having to modify everything.

Today's wod :

Fifty-Ten Protocol:

4 rounds. 50:10
Squats
Push-Ups
Lunges
Planks

I lost my scrap of paper with my score a bit bummed about that.

First day back in the gym in a long time

First day back in the gym in a very long time. The foot has a long way to go but I can work around it.

The good news is the wrist is feeling pretty good but it will be quite some time before I can really test it given my foot. It just felt good to just sweat. I am not really worried about my scores or times. I'm just happy to be working out.

12 min amrap
Row 250m
10 KBS
10 press @35lbs

4 rounds plus 5 swings

Rest 6 min

Airdyne 1:30
10 burpees

5 rounds


John Durocher
Jdurocher@salesforce.com
617-835-2790

Good and Bad

I will start with the good news - Today was the day that we arranged to have the Fenway Park private tour and game vs the LA Angels.    We won the tour at a fundraiser at the kids school.   It was a beautiful day for a game - Blue Sky and temps in the high 70's.   Highlights of the tour were going down on the field, a visit to the dugout, a visit inside of the green monster, and then on the green monster, a stop at the owners box, Royal Rooters Club, State Pavilion Club and then Lucchinos's box for a chance to stop in and say hi to my friend Cat.   I think I probably enjoyed it as much if not more than the kids.

Ok now for the bad news.  Last game of the season and 25 minutes into the first half I went to sprint for a ball and I heard a snap in my foot.  It wasnt immediately painful and I thought I might be able to go back in but the longer I rested the worse it got. By the time I drove home from the game I couldnt really put all my weight on it.  This looks to be pretty bad.

Small steps

Today's hotel room workout is a long way off what I was able to do last year but I am trying not to be too discouraged.   Pulled this out of the NY Times health section - they didn't call it a Tabata workout but that's what it was.  Did two rounds with @30 seconds of work and @10 seconds of rest.

I'm almost embarrassed to post it but at this point this is all I can do.

Discouraged

I feel a bit like Job - no plagues but it has been one injury after another and the final straw is this nasty cold that I got after we got back from Maine.   Head cold and cough going on two weeks.  Im hoping my luck will change but It doesnt seem to be going that way. I rowed an easy 5k on Monday and woke up on Tuesday with pain behind my shoulder blade.   WTF

I got the MRI on my wrist and it confirmed that there is a tear in the meniscus.   Since I have been resting it it feels better when just doing everyday stuff.   If I get healthy I will be able to test it for real in another week.