Tuesday: Tempo run/5mi

Wednesday: Partner wall ball/20 lbs, foam roller, lower back, lax balls teres major/minor roll,
CLEAN: 85 lbs, mid-thigh straight arm pull/power clean/squat clean
METCON: Dumbbell clean, push press, each side, renegade rows each side, athletic stance.
40 lbs, got to round six.

Friday: 30 jumping jacks, push up hand claps, shoulder stretch, spiderman stretch
Rock hollow body, handstands (can almost do a full handstand off the wall!)
Dips/Pendlay rows: 25/35lbs
CONDITIONING: 4 rounds for quality: L-sat holds, one-leg squats, bear crawl with 40 lbs.

Saturday: 4mi

Sunday: 11mi

As you can see, I went pretty heavy on the training. I’m bone tired but it’s a very good tired. I had to walk a little bit during the Sunday run because even at 8:30, it’s hot and very, very humid. Nevertheless, a good week of training.

Jim, the head of the CrossFit Foggy Bottom gym, always encourages us to open up. When we scrunch of shoulders or hunch over, it’s not a good position of strength. In fact, it’s a position of weakness. It’s a bit daunting to pull your shoulders back as you start the head to chest push ups or as on Friday, opening up while upside down. But that is the best position of strength.

Part of the road to health is opening up. That’s the goal of this blog and some testimonials of what has happened before will come soon. Yet, I recognize the dubious irony of opening up on a blog platform to whoever chooses to read this and also struggle with opening up to friends and family and those who I love and who love me. A lot of shoulder tightening happens in those moments and those conversations.

As expected, the road to good air is beginning to take shape amid old and new challenges and adversities. It’s the constant battle of committing myself daily to this task in each decision and hoping (praying even) that the results will be worth it, even if the results include not being able to run the race or travel south or whatever. Those inherently are goals and markers and a big part of the journey but they aren’t the journey itself. In fact, I won the race the day I said yes. Crossing the finish line is just my body and my circumstances agreeing.