Crossfit Kettlebell
I’ve always wondered what went into somebody’s thought process to do something big like ride across America or compete in a huge race like the Tour de France. Not only their thought processes, but how in the world did they prepare for it?
I have 24 weeks of total training to put in before I ride 1,500 miles from MD Anderson in Houston to Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. I plan on documenting each week right here – for myself as well as anybody else who would like to know how to get in shape enough to ride 1,500 miles.
The 1st week of training involved lots and lots of work and lots of Motrin and some Aleve. I think this is the first day that I’m not utterly sore throughout my entire body (I’m writing this on Sunday after two recovery days). 🙂
So what is it that’s made me so darned sore? CrossFit.
I joined a College Station CrossFit organization – BoomFit. The owner, Charlie Lima, has been trying to talk me into it for years and I know that he is a whiz at whipping people into shape and is really a great person to just hang out with. So I joined a week ago and had my first session on Monday.
The other reason for CrossFit is that I’ve heard and seen how really in shape that the CrossFitters are(is that a word?). Really, I believe that they are the fittest people on Earth. So I figured, if I’m going to ride 1,500 miles across America I need to be in the best shape of my life. What better way than CrossFit?
Here was Week 1:
Monday
Yikes. I found out how completely wimpy I am in upper body strength and that I’m actually pretty good in lower body strength. The lower body stuff came as no surprise after a half a year of riding 25 miles almost every day. I’ll finish this year out at just a little over 2,000 miles by the way.
But simple stuff like pushups and situps were hard. Really hard. And it made me really really sore the next couple of days. In weird spots like under my elbows. I think I just might be doing the pushups wrong to make me that sore – under my elbows.
Below is the workout of the day (WOD) that I performed along with the time. Everything in CrossFit is for time by the way. The 15, 12, 9 are reps. So in the WOD below I would do 15 Pushups, 15 Situps, 15 Squats and then 12 of each and then 9 of each.
WOD (workout of the day) – 15:00
- 400 Meter Run
- 15, 12, 9 Pushups
- 15, 12, 9 Situps
- 15, 12, 9 Squats
- 400 Meter Run
Tuesday
My second workout on Tuesday was nice because it was what I was familiar with – riding. I rode 25 miles and ended with a 3 mile fast sprint between 25-30mph. My time was 1 hr 9 mins.
Wednesday
Wednesday brought something that I think I just might be good at in CrossFit – rowing. I think I did good with that because I got into a nice little pace (1:52 for 300 meters) and zoned out, kind of like riding. Looking up on the BoomFit board, the lowest spot is something like 1:45, so I’m not too far off pace. I think I’ll keep working on rowing until I can get myself on that board. 🙂
WOD – 10:00
Done Three Times:
- 300 Meter Row
- 10 Thrusters (Squat and Military Press)
Thursday
Thursday was scheduled to be a riding day, but I was honestly just too darned sore to even think about anything. I took it off.
Friday
Friday was interesting. I tried ring dips (think gymnastics and iron cross stuff), and really sucked at them. I ended up having to rest a foot on the ground in order to balance myself. Next I tried hand stand pushups — oh yeah, can you guess it? Suckville again. Next – pullups. Suckville. I know what I need to work on — upper body.
WOD – 7:43
- 20 ring rows
- 20 deadlifts
- 20 kettle bell swings
- 20 military presses
- 20 lunges
- 400 meter run
Saturday
Saturday and Sunday were recovery days. In upcoming weeks I’ll be throwing in long extended rides (2 hours or more), but I wanted to get through this week first – especially considering how sore I’ve been!
Sunday
Below is going to be my schedule for the next five weeks. After the initial 6 weeks, I’ll re-evaluate where I’m at and go from there.
Monday – CrossFit
Tuesday – 25 mile ride
Wednesday – CrossFit
Thursday – 25 mile ride
Friday – CrossFit
Saturday – 50 mile ride (week 4 through 6 – 75 mile ride)
Sunday – Recovery
