Sunday, June 28, 2015

Weekly Workouts

I was about to say this week was kind of low key since I missed a workout on Tuesday, but then I remembered some heavy squat cleans that crushed me.  Thankfully my IT band was completely healed come Monday, however I was dealing with some back pain throughout the week.  I'm overdue for a trip to the chiropractor, so that will definitely be happening before the holiday weekend.

S - Hit some balls at the driving range + 1.0 mi walk with Butler

M - CrossFit
  • Strength: Split Jerk, build to a heavy 2 reps.  I made it to 115#.
  • WOD: 10 minute AMRAP - I finished 4 rounds + 5 reps, as prescribed (Rx)!
    • 5 Squat Cleans (155/105) - These were SO heavy, but I kept getting them up!
    • 7 Bar-Facing Burpees

T - Living room yoga + 1.0 mi walk with Butler (with some random sprints thrown in) - Barbell Club was canceled because our gym lost power in the crazy storm!

W - 2.5 mi walk/hike with Butler (with some random jogging) + CrossFit
  • Strength: Front Squat, 4 sets of: 1 front squat 2 sec descend, 4 sec pause at the bottom + 2 front squats.  I got to 125#.  I probably could've done a little bit more, but sitting in the squat was causing a lot of pain in my back.
  • WOD: 6 minute AMRAP - I finished 4 rounds, Rx!

Th - CrossFit
We didn't have enough rowers for everyone, so I offered to start with double unders and then switch to the rower when someone was finished.  I completed 40 dubs, did my row, and then did 47 more dubs before time ran out.  Although I'm awful at them, it wasn't my worst day of dubs and aside from the two times I got whipped in the face, I stayed pretty calm.  I need to fix the way I'm jumping and I know getting better is going to require me working on it more regularly... but I don't wanna!
F - Rest

S -  2.42 mi walk with Butler + living room yoga


Is tomorrow really Monday already?

Saturday, June 27, 2015

Puddin'


Puddin's passing was very unexpected. She had been to the vet on Tuesday and she was scheduled to get a small lump on her leg removed on Friday. The vet was not super concerned and had checked her vitals. On Wednesday we had friends over and they brought their dog. Butler and their pup were having a grand old time in the yard and Puddin' was just hanging out, but then she went down to make sure everybody knew who was in charge! She did a couple of laps around the yard and put the younger pups in their place. Later in the evening, she inched her way onto the couch to get double cuddles. She was arched doing her classic "seal dog" move across me and was being such a sweetie. By the end of the night she was sitting upright in the crook of my arm and I just kept laughing at how silly she looked.

On Thursday I headed home from work to grab the dogs and meet Dave at his parents' house for dinner. I quickly let them out to potty and then they both jumped in the car. Butler was sitting in the front because he's a monster in the car, Puddin' laid down in the back... which was completely normal. When I pulled up and parked 10 minutes later, I went to open the door to let her out and I immediately knew something was horribly wrong. She wasn't breathing, she had peed, she was gone. 

We drove about 15 minutes to a local vet hospital since our vet was closed. They knew we were coming, so they immediately took her out of Dave's arms when we got there. But it was too late. She had been gone for probably almost 20 minutes. There was nothing they could do.


When Dave told me he was thinking of adopting his friend Rachel's dog in August of 2010, I was super excited... until he told me it was a pitbull.  I was skeptical of the breed, I didn't really care for short haired dogs, and to top it all off her name was Puddin'.  Puddin'?  Really?  I thought that had to be the stupidest dog name I ever heard!

And then I met her.  And she was Puddin'.





Puddin's life started very rough.  I'm not sure exactly what happened to her, but I know she had a lot of babies because her nipples were very stretched out when Rachel's family adopted her.  Her ears were clipped.  She had scars.  She lived with the Powells, who are the biggest dog lovers I know, until Rachel moved out and she took her with her.  She was a spoiled princess during this time and was Rachel's Puddie-Girlfriend.



When Rachel moved back home, she could not take Puddin' with her, so that's when we ended up with her.  I know this was hard for both Rachel and her parents, but I'd like to think everything happens for a reason.  Puddin' changed my life forever.  She made me fall in love with a misunderstood breed and now I will adopt pitbulls for the rest of my life.



Puddin' could've been the poster doggie for pitties!  She was so laid back and well behaved that we took her everywhere.  She changed so many peoples' minds about the breed.  And every time we were at a party, we'd receive comments about how she was the best dog ever.  I couldn't tell you how many times people told us they were going to steal her!  Both my parents and good friends now have pitties that look like they could be Puddin's sisters.



Puddin' was one of the sweetest dogs I've ever met.  She thought she was a lap dog.  She loved to give lots of kisses.  People would always bend down to pet her and then next thing they knew, her tongue was in their mouth.  If she saw the opportunity, she would go for it.  Whenever we arrived home, her tail would wag so hard that her entire body would wiggle.  I remember waking up at Midgley Lane to her wild tail hitting the radiator because she was so excited and making such a loud dinga-ding-ding noise.  She was always the absolute sweetest in the morning.  She was so happy to start the day.  Over the years, she stopped waking us up and it turned into having to kick sleeping beauty out of bed.




After almost a year, we started getting comfortable with having Puddin' off the leash in our yard.  I remember getting nervous about her running off, but we realized she just wanted to be near us.  My heart was pounding the first time she ran off chasing the deer that were always in our yard, but she'd run to the edge of the treeline and then just give up.  We began to trust her so much we would walk her off leash too.  I only got caught by a park ranger once and I'll never forget it because poor Puddin' was in a cone at the time.  I just couldn't help but laugh at the idea of my "ferocious" dog causing any drama in the park with this giant cone on her head.


Although she would usually listen to us, she was also very stubborn.  Sometimes she would run up to the edge of the field and no matter how many times I called her, she'd just ignore me until I'd walk all the way out to where she was and then she'd run back like "what?  I didn't do anything wrong mom!"  I'll never forget one morning when I let her out to go potty.  I let her out just like normal and then when I came to get her back in she was no where to be found.  Once in a while she disappeared into one of the neighbor's yards and then when I called her she'd come sprinting back, but I kept shouting her name and she never came.  I started to panic and started running around the neighborhood in the rain screaming her name.  I was so scared she had ventured out to the road or disappeared into the park.  I jogged all the way down to the creek in my work clothes and it started pouring.  I was soaking wet, really freaking out, when I spotted her... sitting on our neighbor's porch.  That little dog did not want to get wet in the rain!



She was also known for her hard head.  If Puddin' wanted to get into a room, no closed door could stop her.  And she was very sensitive to certain noises.  One time our smoke detector died and she hated the beeping noises so much that she put her head through a window!  Our neighbor heard a crash and thought we were getting robbed, but when he came over to investigate he only saw Puddin' making her escape.  The poor thing wasn't injured aside from some scratches, but it was pretty traumatic!


Puddin' was a slut mutt.  She would purr when you pet her just right.  If you stopped, she would make weird noises at you letting you know she didn't approve.  People would say "oh Puddin' must love me" and I'd think... no you're not special, she's a whore :)


I think about Puddin' often.  I picture her curled up on the couch next to me.  I reminisce about all the silly things she did.  When it thunderstorms, I picture her shaking like a leaf.  When I get home, I long to see her cute wiggly butt coming to greet me.  I miss her so much.  She was an amazing dog and she will always be in my heart.



Sunday, June 21, 2015

Weekly Workouts

I can't believe the weekend is already over!  Honestly, I spent most of it drinking cocktails and stuffing my face.  I'm really ready to get back on track with some healthy habits!  A few of the blogs that I love always do weekly workout recaps.  I really enjoy following along so I decided to give it a go!

S - Rest

M - CrossFit
  • Strength: Back Squats - During warming up I somehow tweaked my IT band :(  I started to warm up my squat and I had a sharp pain in my right thigh so I immediately stopped and spent the time stretching and foam rolling.
  • WOD:  The workout had a bunch of squats in it too, so my coach and I made up a different workout for me:
    • 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 Toes to Bar and Handstand Push Ups - I did the HSPU with one ab mat under my head and finished in 11:40.  My shoulders were cooked.
T - 0.6 mi walk with Butler + CrossFit (Barbell Club)
  • 6 x 2 Snatch Grip Deadlifts, which I took off a rack near my knees and just did the motion from above my knee to the top of my thigh since my IT band still hurt.  I worked up to 75#.
  • 6 x 2 Muscle Snatch, I did it from the hang position right above the knee.  I made it up to 75#.  Iit was so awkward to not bend my knees at the top catch position.
  • 7 x 1 Snatch, I did power hang snatches.  I got to 90# (5# under my max).
W - CrossFit
  • Strength: Overhead Squat - I just did mobility, still trying to work out my IT band issues.
  • WOD:  4 Rounds (10 minute cap) - Finished in 8:55
    • 10 Burpee Pull-Ups
    • 5 Power Snatch (135/95) - I did 55# and did them from the hang.  I probably should've done a heavier weight.
I'm in the back middle, behind the pole.

Th - 1.0 mi walk with Butler

F - 1.4 mi walk with Butler.  I usually hit the gym Friday mornings, but I decided sleeping in was a good option.  Between my IT band, ongoing back pain, and a little bit of discomfort in my left shoulder after an upper body heavy week for me, I knew my body could use the rest.

S - 1.0 mi walk with Butler

I usually try to make it to the gym 4 times per week, but I'm really hoping this extra rest means I can go all out this coming week.  Injuries suck.

Here's to a fresh start!




Friday, June 12, 2015

Our Honeymoon Recap Part 3: The Mineral Springs, Hitchhiking, & Horses

If you missed the beginning:
- Part 1: Traveling to Nicaragua
- Part 2: Fresh Fish & Adjusting to Island Time

I wore ear plugs to sleep, but still woke up fairly early on our second full day on Ometepe.  We decided that we weren't just going to sit around like the day before, so we made a plan to head to the mineral springs before it got too hot.  Linda told us it was about 3 miles, so we opted to make the trek by foot.  We left around 9 am, but it was still quite hot!





We made it about half way and I saw a nice hotel and restaurant I recognized from TripAdvisor so we decided to take a pit stop and have breakfast.  My pina colada hit the spot and the view was great.






We both left feeling refreshed and ready for the rest of our walk.



The refreshed feeling went away rather quickly though! The road had been fairly flat but suddenly we were in the middle of no where hiking up and down some significant hills.  At that point I was dying of heat and although we had directions from Linda, I started to feel very unsure if we were on the right track.  Finally we saw a sign for the springs so we figured that must be it, but I had this memory of Linda saying one of the entrances was closed.  There was no indication that this one was closed, but there wasn't a soul in sight.  We started heading down the long entrance road covered in fallen mangos baking in the sun and I told Dave if this is isn't open, I'm going to have a meltdown.

Thank God, it was open!  We paid the super low fee, the man at the gate made some jokes that we half understood about the mineral springs being better than plastic surgery, and we were in!



The springs were beautiful!  It was pretty empty since it was so early, so we selected some ideally positioned seats and settled in.  The water was ice cold, which felt amazing since the lake water was too warm to be refreshing during the day.



We grabbed some tropical drinks and chatted with some other travelers.  We met an interesting woman who went on a class trip to Europe and ditched her classmates and spent months backpacking around, used to work in casinos when women dealers weren't very common, and now spends most of her time in Nicaragua.  They had a few vendors selling some souvenirs and I purchased a couple of things.  The woman had to draw the price in the dirt because I don't really know Spanish numbers above 20.  We hung out for a few hours but then decided it was time to get back.

Before we left, I had already decided that I didn't want to walk the whole way back.  I was feeling so relaxed and cool and I knew the walk would make me sweaty and grumpy.  Linda had mentioned hitchhiking as an acceptable form of transportation on the island and she had been so informative and honest about everything else, that we trusted her suggestion.  Dave and I started to discuss it, thinking about what we would do if we got into a bad situation but before we really decided whether we were actually brave enough to do it, a car came up behind us.  I looked back, didn't wave or anything, and he pulled over.  It was a nice crossover SUV with some much appreciated AC and some loud tunes bumping.  We had a brief broken convo with the young driver when we got in.  We rode about halfway back until we saw some shops we wanted to take a look in.  We asked him to "alto" and he did.  He didn't seem to expect anything in return, we thanked him, and that was it.  We hitchhiked in Nicaragua!

After walking a little longer, we saw another hotel that I recognized from the internet, so we decided to stop in.  Dave had a beer and I decided on some ice cream!


When we arrived back at the house, we retreated from the sun and did some more lounging.  Linda had left us some fresh produce in the house so we whipped up some guacamole.





When it started to cool down a little, we spent some time on the beach.  Random horses and cattle would come up and drink from the lake all the time.  It never got old.  It was always so cool to watch!




I promise, I did not photoshop Dave in these photos haha.



Linda also surprised us with these carved coconuts!  Luna de miel means honeymoon in Spanish :)


Then more of this...



And these cuties.



After we cleaned up, we went back up the hill to Hotel Santa Cruz to have dinner with Linda.  She was originally from Chicago, but decided to relocate down to Nicaragua.  She built herself a house and eventually a guest house and started renting both of them out.  She's active in the community and supports local students, helping them get supplies and refurbished laptops.  It was obvious when we went out with her that she was very well respected by everyone in the neighborhood.  We had a lovely dinner with her and I enjoyed the chicken curry dish she recommended very much.


After dinner, Linda gave us reflexology foot massages (for a small fee) while we chatted away about anything and everything.  It was such a relaxing end to the night.

To be continued... Part 4



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