It's a long road back

I've been extremely bad about updating my blog lately, but I've had a good excuse! My back injury was worse than I thought and I've been totally out of commission for the last 2-3 weeks. I finally got to ski on Friday, although I only lasted about half a day. I seemed to have timed it just right - three mega storms lined up to nail us and I can barely ski more than a couple of hours.

I went to the Chiropractor on Saturday and it was "interesting". The adjustment consisted of popping every join in my back at the same time. It was pretty dang gross. It seemed to help though and I'm going back on Wednesday. I hate all this PT mumbo-jumbo: "your back is misaligned", "we need to strengthen your core muscles", "you need to stretch more". KISS MY ASS! I stretch at least twice a day and I had the most brutal core strengthening program on the face of the earth! Don't tell me I'm weak, because I'm not. Tell me that I'm hurt and I need to rest. Tell me to stop eating cheescake and drinking beer due to depression. Tell me when I'll be better!

Gimpy McBusted is back in the house

Yup, I managed to hurt myself again. After hitting my personal best deadlift two weeks ago I was feeling pretty good about my back and how well I had recovered from last year. On Monday morning (the 29th), I decided to do "Diane": 21-15-9 DLs and HSPUs. I warmed up, and decided to throw on 135# for the DLs (hey, I maxed at 200#). So, 15 reps into the first set I stood up to take a break and realized that my lower back felt really tight. It kept getting tighter and more painful by the second, and soon I was totally Quasimoto'd. It's probably similar to what I did at the climbing gym last year. STUPID.

So, I'm back on the recovery wagon. I've managed to get in some pretty decent cardio workouts over the last 7 days or so, but it's just not the same when I can't do my Crossfit stuff. I'm hoping to be back on my skis by next weekend. I've also tried to put myself back on a pretty strict diet to limit my losses (although the combo of GGAN, the mini-summit parties, UFC, and Superbowl definitely didn't help in the "diet" department this weekend). I'm going to try going for no alcohol during the week (and Sunday if I can manage it), absolutely no sugar, and calories <1500 per day. I really want to lose this horrible 6-7 poounds that just won't go away.

I talked extensively with Lis this Sunday about XC skiing and touring, and hopefully I've found myself a new touring partner. I've really wanted to get some nordic gear too, so it'll be cool to have her show me the ropes a bit. I think it's time to get super fit again (if only I would stop hurting myself!)

On another note, Josh has started classes at the Bernales Institute and he's really loving it. I think I want to give it a shot once I'm back in full form - Muay Thai has always looked really fun. I don't know how I feel about getting punched and kicked, but I would be one bad mofo.

Workout of the Day

Deadlifts

Reps: 3-3-2-2-2-1-1-1-1
Weight: 115-125-135-145-155-165-175-185-195

New PR max DL!

Book club!!

No workout today. I'm wrecked.

Tonight is book club and I have the wonderful honor of hosting again. I think it's been over a year since I've hosted. Yikes! The book I chose was Eragon and I thought it was OK. BIG rip-off on LOTR, and it was a little difficult to not compare the two at every given moment. I have to hand it to the kid though...it's a lot easier to read than LOTR! And Saphira rules. I heard the movie stunk, but I still have to see it. Maybe I'll wait until it's on PPV so I can have a stiff drink while watching how horrible it is.


I checked out James and Traci's website this week and followed the link to "Make your own South Park character". I wasted a crap-load of time.
Here's the site: http://www.sp-studio.de/

Almost met Pukie

Today's workout:

50 of each:
Box jumps (7 steps)
Jumping pull-ups
KB swings (35#)
Walking lunges
Push press (20# DBs)
Back extensions
Thrusters (10# DBs)
Burpees (no hands overhead)
Double-unders (did about 2 and gave up)

Time = 34:44

Closest to passing out during a crossfit workout EVER. At one point during the burpees I was on my hands and knees drooling. I think my body's a little beat down. Should do a couple heavy weight, low rep workouts before the weekend, but no more met-con workouts until next week.

Another weekend, another tour

Ahhh...leave it to Josh to help make crappy snow conditions enjoyable. The conditions are still looking extremely depressing in the backcountry, but still he perseveres with another great plan. We met up with James and Jamie early Saturday morning to attempt the "Tri-Canyon tour" starting at Our Lady of Snows and finishing off in Alexander Basin. Lofty goal, but I felt like I was up for it. The morning started out good enough - blue skies, lots of sun, and an eerily empty Pole-Line Pass skin. Didn't see a soul from Cardiff to Flagstaff. I never slipped off the Cardiff skin track (although Jamie ate some shit), so maybe my skinning technique IS improving. After much bullshitting and the best banana bread oatmeal snack cake ever (Quaker, baby) we made our way over towards Cardiac ridge. My first glimpse of Cardiac was breathtaking!

The skin up Cardiac bowl was long and very warm, and Mineral Fork was gorgeous as well. I was rockin' out on my Shuffle, so the suffering was relatively enjoyable. Alas, the clouds raced in as we caught our breath on the ridge and we busted down into BCC after a sketchy downclimb in sugar snow and much girly-whimpering on a tiny little traverse. Thanks for hitchin, Jamie. Lots of driving, but still a fun day.


Sunday was a groomer day at Deer Valley with Ma and Pa. Holy crap, I need to ski at the resort more often. I busted out the Kneissls and I thought I was going to kill myself on the first run. I forgot that skis have edges! The first hour consisted of me trying not to fall over backwards every time I held an edge and accelerated out of a turn. By the end of the day, I think I was getting the hang of it again. Josh dragged me up to Daly chutes after lunch and I managed to hack my way down the main chute. Lots of side-slipping, but you gotta start somewhere, right?

Ribs, beer, and a Patriots game at Jamie and Kate's and the day was complete. I'm gonna miss those guys a lot when they leave us in the fall. We've been lucky to have such great bike/ski/party partners since we met them.

An a side note, I've submitted my graduate application to the U and I'm preparing to apply to the MBA program. Better start calling me Master Tracie.

Workout today: 30 min of spinning intervals (2:00 90% max HR, 1:00 rest)

Ready for the weekend

Another Friday, another slow day at work...

At least I have the dogs to entertain me. A few months ago I set up a webcam to watch our dear little Maddie while we were at work. It's pretty entertaining, although I did have to watch her rip apart my brand new copy of Eragon without being able to do a damn thing about it. Today should be fun because this is the first time we've had Maddie and Haley together at the house all day with the webcam in place. The picture is a live feed, so enjoy.


On another note, I did get to indulge in my favorite guilty pleasure last night...The O.C. It's gotten so retardedly cheesy that I can't look away. They've pulled some doozy storylines out this season - male prostitutes, the "bad girl" falling for the "band geek", Taylor and Ryan (huh?), Summer becoming a hippie? What?? Only 5 episodes left and I don't know how to feel. Sad? Glad to take reclaim my hour a week back? Not sure. I guess I'll need to find another crappy show to piss off Josh.