I truly enjoy spending time at our beach home, and Luke, Meg, and Zac love it, too!

Saturday, June 29

AFAP
500 double unders; complete in max rep unbroken sets & complete 25 unbroken Abmat sit-ups when set broken

I began with a measly 17 (I should’ve warmed up better) and completed as many as 75 unbroken reps. It took me 10 rounds, so an average of 50 a round and a total of 250 sit-ups. That’s a lot of sit-ups.

1-2-3…18-19-20 air squats; complete 1 lunge/leg rounds 1 through 10, then 2 after round 11, 3 after round 12 up to 10 after round 20

That’s 160 air squats and 65/leg lunges. Mah legs!

Sunday, June 30

The last day of Pride month and World Pride Day. (Listening to Appalachian Spring and thinking about playing the clarinet.)

Luke and I began our day with a 5K walk in Carolina Beach state park.

I went to Hugh MacRae park in Wilmington for today’s workout, as I don’t yet have a pull-up bar set up in gym.

Every 30 seconds for 10 rounds
1 strict L C2B pull-up
1 strict pull-up
2 kipping pull-ups
1 butterfly pull-up

I got quite a few looks. One STDB (friends know what the acronym stands for) saw and I then overheard him telling his woman that he could easily do pull-ups. He approached a bar and, well, couldn’t do a single rep. Didn’t I mention it’s World Pride Day?

Every 30 seconds for 14 rounds
Odd-numbered rounds: strict reps R T2B, L T2B, T2B, K2E
Even-numbered rounds: strict reps R K2B, L K2B, T2B, K2E

An ab burner folks. Try it.

2 miles
Run 30/leg paces forwards & 10/leg paces backwards

I got even more strange looks. The weather was a balmy 91 degrees, and I was moist from start to finish.

• 

• 

• 

Thursday, June 27

I rested Wednesday, not because I needed to but because I should.

50 RFT
Box step right foot & left foot lands on box; step down with right
Box step left foot; step down with left
Box step right foot; left knee raise (no step on box)
Box step left foot; right knee raise
Box jump; land in squat and step down

Yup, that’s one rep. I wanted to work the glutes, and this did the trick.

I traded in the Mazda CX-3 for a Ford Flex, and I’m more pleased with the purchase than I thought I’d be. I was able to pack a substantial amount of stuff to bring to the beach with Zac (in crate, of course) as placed in back and Luke and Meg (also in a crate) sharing the 2nd row 60/40 bench.

I had no idea how much I felt the road in the CX-3 until I didn’t feel the road in the Flex. The Flex cabin is cavernous. Perhaps the thing I like most is that the pedals can be raised; thus, I can fully extend the telescoping steering wheel and pedals and then push the seat back and raise it high. I feel like a Big Boy.

The Flex has a multipanel vista roof, i.e., 4 moon roofs. Wow! Premium white platinum (that cost extra), power lift gate, folding 3rd row seats are among some of the accoutrements. With 2nd and 3rd row sets folded flat, there’s over 84 cubic feet of storage.

And ApplePlay. Yay!

The car is truly a pleasure to drive. Luke certainly likes the extra space.

Oh, Meg hardly caterwauled. I even made sure to check on her to make sure she hadn’t passed out! Ha! I worry too much about the kids.

Friday, June 28

20 RFT
5 strict burpees with mountain climbers and grasshoppers
5 forward & backward sprints to end of driveway and back (est. 10m; 20m total)

Each round took about 90 seconds. I took me a little longer than 30 minutes to complete, however, as a shoe came untied and I paused once to rehydrate. I was drenched, and my shirts, shorts, socks, and shoes were soaked through.

Luke rested on a blanket in front of the garage door the entire time. He truly is a remarkable dog.

• 

• 

• 

Whilst I certainly don’t run the excessive mileage/week I used to, I nonetheless love running.

Some recent workouts…

22 rounds every 30 seconds
Strict T2B
Strict K2E
2 windshield wipers
5 air squats
~ Rest ~
22 RFT
Run 100m (50m out and back)
DL 245#

The focus on was form for first and was on intensity for the second part. I did pause very briefly to set up back and shoulders before deadlifting. Because you should.

5 RFT
50 unbroken dus
10 kipping K2E
5 hang cleans, 65#
~ Rest ~
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10 strict HSPUs; run to end of driveway and back after each round

I made it through round 6 with unbroken HSPUs. That was tough.

AFAP
Run to Michigan Avenue and back; hold plank for same amount of time

According to Apple Watch, it’s more than a quarter mile. It took me an average of 2:15 to run distance. Keep in mind that it’s a hilly course! This was more challenging than I imagined would be. Why? Because of math. R

For Reps and Time
10 rounds of ax reps unbroken ring pushups; run 100m after each round

I completed 208 reps. I also forgot to chalk my upper arms the first couple of rounds and have abrasions. Ew.

AFAP
10 L chest-to-bar pull-ups
10 shoulder presses, 105#
15 L pull-ups
20 push presses
20 strict pull-ups
30 push jerks
25 kipping pull-ups

A main site WOD. WTF? I contemplated lowering the weight, you know, because I’m a master and shit. I did not.

I completed L C2B in unbroken reps. That was a good start! By the time kipping pull-ups occurred my shoulders were smoked. This was much more of a gasser than I expected. Average HR was 146 with a high of 163.

AFAP
Run 400m @ beginning of each round
100 back squats @ 95
9 @ 105
8 @ 115
7 @ 125
6 @ 135
5 @ 145
4 @ 155
3 @ 165
2 @ 175
1 @ 185, 205, 215, 225, & 235

Time = 54:54

It’s been a while since I completed an endurance workout, and damn did I enjoy it! Mah legs.

I had a non-cancerous growth removed from right shoulder, and was told to avoid exercise for 48 hours. So I rested Thursday. That’s 48 hours, right?

Jeff and I enjoyed a whirlwind trip to Vegas. We enjoyed two incredible shows, “O” by Cirque du Soleil Saturday and Lady Gaga’s jazz show Sunday. Aaaand, Gaga’s surprise guest was Tony Bennett! Oh. Em. Effing. Gee! Gaga’s performance was beyond spectacular and was truly one of the best experiences of my lifetime.

As the shitty hotel charged a $30/day gym fee (and because I didn’t want to be surrounded by STDBs), I completed a workout our room.

Every 15 seconds for 25 minutes
Strict 10-count (on the second) burpee
1. Hands to floor
2. Kick feet to plank
3. Chest to floor
4. Pushup up to plank.
5. Raise left arm to shoulder
6. Lower left arm plank
7. Raise right arm to shoulder
8. Lower left arm to plank
9. Jump feet to hands
10. Jump and clap

Uhm, I’m composing this section of the blog from San Francisco, and I can’t recall exactly many workouts.

1-2-3…8-9-10 24″ box jumps (landing in full squat)
Complete 5 air squats on top of box after each round

20-min AMRAP
Run 200m
Max rep strict and unbroken (no dropping from the bar) chest to bar pull-ups

This was all about paying attention to the clock. I ran 7 rounds and, with just 7 seconds remaining on the clock, completed the last 3 of a total of 45 reps.

I stayed at the Hotel Union Square whilst visiting SF for work and visited the “gym” at the Diva (the sister hotel). I say “gym” as it was a very small, misshapen space with limited equipment. However, there was a slam ball, and I had forgotten how much I enjoy using this piece of equipment. Note to self: purchase slam balls.

Workouts included burpees, slam ball pushups and squats, KB swings, planks, HSPUs, and more. I also ran tabatas on the treadmill both mornings that I worked out, the second day completed two with a twist: the second tabata was 25:10 at 5:51 mpm pace. Fun!

It was wonderful being in SF during Pride month, and just about every store front displayed a celebration of my people.

I led a training session, provided coaching, helped sell product, and hosted a master class at Neiman Marcus San Francisco. I know, right? The NM representative said, “You need to host all of our master classes.” Tru dat.

Back in Asheville

1, 2, 3…13, 14, 15 calorie row & strict & unbroken presses, 65#

That was much tougher than I thought it’d be.

10, 9, 8…3, 2, 1 strict burpee + 35# DB DL
20, 18, 16…6, 4, 2 Abmat sit-ups
~ Then ~
10, 9, 8…3, 2, 1 strict C2B pull-ups
50, 45, 40…15, 10, 5 air squats

Very intense and much needed.

I watched “When They See Us” on Netflix, and the series has stuck with me. It’s beyond my level of comprehension that an individual can be judged based solely on her or his race. And a certain someone wanted to reinstate the death penalty to, you know, kill innocent boys.

Well, I suppose it’s time to click “Publish.”

• 

• 

• 

It was a busy May and June promises to be even busier. And it’s been a long time since I’ve posted.

Again, just a few of the workouts I remember and in no chronological order.

10 RFT
25 unbroken double unders
DB (30#) DL + HC + PP + thruster

AFAP
10-20-30 Abmat sit-ups then Russian KB swings then weighted squats (30# med ball); run 100m after each round

AFAP
2-4-6-8-10-8-6-4-2 run 10m forwards & 10m backwards
4-8-12-16-20-16-12-8-4 per arm plank DB rows

AFAP
35 unbroken dus*
2 strict and unbroken HSPU
*If broken, complete unbroken rounds @ end

I broke during 2 rounds, once because my hands were sweaty and slippery and I lost grip of the handle and again when I neighbor waved at me and, well, I waved back.

AFAP (on the beach)
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
10m shuttle sprints & 6-count burpees

100 strict ring dips in unbroken reps; complete strict HSPU after each round; rest 1 min between rounds.

I began with 15 and the fewest reps was 8 the last round. My arms were sore the next day.

Max rep calories rowed in 10 strokes (no fewer than 10 stokes/min) + 25 extending air squats; complete as many rounds as max reps rowed any round

I rowed 12 calories quite a few rounds, thus 12 rounds; that’s 300 air squats and over 130 calories.

AFAP
Run to Michigan Ave. & back
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1-1-1-1-1-1 back squats @ 95, 105, , 135, 115, 125, 135, 145, 155, 165, 175, 185, 195, 205, 215, 225, & 235# (95% of 1RM)

According to Apple Watch, I ran 4.75 miles. I also completed 60 back squats with accumulated weight of 7950#. Luke hardly budged the entire time. That last squat was a struggle, but I got it. Time = 54:54