Y’all… guess what? I ran consistently. Well I jogged, I should say, which is better than a shuffle or whatever that movement is that is right below a shuffle is called. Because that is me on a daily. You can ask anyone at CrossFit Boom, that my run/jog is probably slower than a fast walker!

But after being MIA from workouts in 9 days (how the hell did that happen?) I finally got a workout in. And a 30 minute AMRAP was the welcome committee for me to get right back into it. I’ll explain an AMRAP in just a second.

My former self might have not even shown up. My former self who did show up might be dead and not typing this post. It was tough. Not gonna lie. But I didn’t stop on the run. At all. Not even when I hit the turn around point. Not even when I got to the driveway almost back to the box. For 3 separate times! Even after I haven’t worked out in 9 days! I don’t even know who I am.

Wait, yes I do! I’m almost 18 pounds lighter than I was in January. 30 pounds lighter than I was last June. My fat isn’t dragging me down as much. My lack of good health isn’t slowing me down as much. Wahoooo!

Don’t get me wrong. I still DO NOT LIKE RUNNING. I repeat, I still DO NOT LIKE RUNNING. And it wasn’t a walk in the park. I was still out of breath like you wouldn’t believe.

So let me detail out this workout.
AMRAP 30:
Row 500 Meters
Run 400 Meters
18 Alternating DB Snatch
12 DB Thrusters

AMRAP is As Many Reps/Rounds As Possible. So you do the movements listed above in order. Then when you are done, you repeat. Do this until your time is up. In this case our time was 30 minutes.

So I don’t mind rowing. I’m not good at it. My legs are short. I’m a little chunky. It’s not a super efficient movement, but I prefer it over running. There was an option to not run after the row, but I told myself not to take the easy way out and to run. If it was too terrible, I would switch things up. And low and behold, I rowed my 500m, jogged my 400m and didn’t stop or DIE! I quickly moved into my 30lb dumbbell Snatch. And slowly moved into the dumbell thrusters. Rinse. Wash. Repeat.

My second round was a little bit slower but still continuous for rowing and running. I was certainly more out of breath when I got back from the run so I took a moment before I picked up the dumbbell. I still haven’t worked out in 9 days. And now I’m feeling it. As I watched the clock tick on by, I realized I should at least complete a third round. If I was a runner, I could have maybe even completed four rounds. But I am not a runner.

My third round row was significantly slower. And my new found excitement for completing the previous two 400m jogs had left the building. My third jog was way slow and a little bit back to the shuffling but continuous. No stops, walks or pauses. By then I was really out of breath. Lying down sounded like a good option. I really took my time to get back to the dumbbell. But once I did, I powered through. I had to at least get back to the rower to start round 4.

But that fourth row was tough. It took everything in me to not stop. I ended the row with 1 minute on the clock. A dedicated Cross-Fitter would have left for that run, knowing they would be back 30 seconds passed the time. But, me… had I left for that run, I might still be out there. Yes I know it’s not that far but it’s more than I wanted to do and it would have taken more over 3 minutes to finish. I got off the rower and laid there, trying not to die.

After my soul decided to re-enter my body, I decided I would do the “extra” work. It wasn’t terribly hard but it was still terrible. Banded rows and dumbbell curls. It was good to do extra. A lot of times I just skip it, but I told myself to do more, so I am. I did!

Now let me get back to my 9 day hiatus. It’s easy to let life get out of control. It’s easy to make excuses like I clearly did. But I still ate well, which is why I think I didn’t completely die with that workout. So while working out is definitely beneficial to overall health, it’s the FOOD that you put in your body that will make you or break you! A year ago, I would have missed 9 days, eaten poorly, drank poorly and then attempt to do 30 minutes of that workout, and I would have barely survived. I would be hurting the next day and probably not workout again for a week just because it hurt so bad.

I’m not a spring chicken, so some of you 20-somethings may not even be phased by such things. But I’m a 40-something and it hurts! But with clean eating, I survived and I don’t feel zapped or terrible!

So I’m Day 88 of better living. I’m still not sure where I’m going. I’m reading things, researching stuff and just chugging along with my macros and calories. On April 28, our box is having a nutrition thing, so maybe I’ll dial it in a little better or change it up to meet my goal of losing 20-30 more pounds. And then I may make a fitness goal… I don’t know what yet. But I need more than a weight loss goal to keep me going.

I had a lot of you say you need to make a change after I posted my progress pictures. I know it’s easier to say it then to act, but let’s go. The cold is finally going away. The days are going to be perfect. It’s time to get moving. Get outside, do something. Eat better!