Cardio&Strength - W4D3

 Metis: *00:09:58 

 Metis: *00:10:25 

Today is a double feature of Metis, all cardio, all sweat. I had a soccer match (baby soccer actually, a little different from what I'm used to) so I trained afterwards. As usual, not the best idea because I come into the workout already feeling a bit tired but hey, that's life when you are NOT sedentary, right?!

I was confident I could top my PB on the first run, and I was quite shocked to see it took me a minute longer to finish up! I would like to blame the soccer but I don't really know. I was expecting to perform worse on the second run, but to my surprise it wasn't much of a difference, just under 30 seconds. I think that's good, not taking that much longer, but I worry for not  topping my PB... I guess there are many factors to take into consideration and I shouldn't worry too much while I'm giving my best at each rep.

Cardio&Strength - W4D2

 Uranos: 00:45:20 

Today is my first time doing Uranos, a new cardio + strength workout. Uranos includes, among other things, a 2 km run, a series of 50 Pull Ups and a series of 50 Push Ups. PHEW!!!

I must be honest. I absolutely HATE running. With all due respect to the countless runners out there, I think it's the single most boring exercise ever. I always dreaded the times when I had to take those endurance tests in school and run long distances, or those 30 to 45 minutes of jogging the University soccer coach made us do before every training session... I'd much rather be chasing a ball than going round in circles! However, now that I'm in better shape running does not seem like such a hard thing to do anymore. It is still not my favourite thing to do, but I finished the 2 km in 12 minutes, which I think is quite a decent time, and I almost didn't have time to complain/suffer from it. I'm even confident I could have sped up and finished a bit earlier!

This week's instructions specifically say that the goal for week #4 is to take the workout outside one's house for the first time (mostly all workouts can be done indoors), and thus be forced to overcome external obstacles such as the weather. Lucky me, it's spring here, so the weather is good and not really an issue. I train late in the afternoon or night, so it's not that hot anymore. I don't have a park nearby though (well, there is one, but it's uphill so it's not ideal) so I decided to do the running in the street, and the rest of the workout in my yard. 

Let's call my house point A. I had already measured 200 meters (just counting steps, but it turned out to be quite an accurate measurement when I used the car to check) down the street to point B so I could do A→B→A and get the 400 meters I need for workouts like Hera. Yesterday I took the car and went from my house the opposite direction of point B, and measured 800 meters to point C. This way I have: B -200 m- A -800 m- C (1 km from B to C, with my house in between). So, for my 2 km run I did A→C→(A)→B→A and then I got inside to do the rest of the workout.

I've had some pain in my hands, arms and shoulders from all the Pull Ups I've been doing lately, but it's not nearly as bad as the first time. My gorilla grip is getting better and I hardly have any calluses forming. Today it still took me a while to finish the 50 repetitions, but I'm pretty sure it was way less than the 15 minutes it took me the first time. Baby steps, right? On the much much brighter side, I took it as a personal challenge to do the 50 Push Ups with a star, and I did!!!! I had to rest a bit every 10 repetitions or so, but hey, I think that's better than doing them girly style with the knees on the ground. I consider this a big achievement, perhaps my mayor breakthrough so far. I'm confident that rather sooner than later I'll also be able to do the Pull Ups the right way too so I can get a star on all these workouts!

Cardio&Strength - W4D1

 Hades: 00:37:55 

Starting week n° 4! It feels great to be moving yet another step closer to the 15 week goal. 

I woke up feeling a little bit sore and tired after yesterday's work out full of Pull Ups. Today I had to do Hades for the second time. As you may remember, this workout includes doing MORE Pull Ups. So you can imagine I wasn't thrilled by the thought of it. I absolutely dread doing Pull Ups. I suck so much at them that I even feel sorry for myself. It will take so much work for me to get decent at them... but that's the idea, right? To work your a*s off -specially at your weaknesses- to improve and be the best you can be. 

On the bright side, Hades also includes Push Ups and today I decided I was done being a baby and doing them girly style. I did all my Push Ups without any modified repetitions!!! (i.e. with my knees off the floor). I am super proud of this, and yes, I did not top my PB, and I went down almost 4 minutes, but finishing the Pull Ups series the proper way is so worth it! In no time I hope I'll be saying the same thing about the Pull Ups...

Cardio&Strength - W3D4

 Ares: 00:14:16 (PB!) 
 Sit Up Max: *123 

 Ares: 00:15:31 

 Sit Up Max: *125 (PB!) 

Last workout of the week!!! Or should I say workoutS... Four at once, to be more precise; this is a first! With soccer (I'll tell you about the finale on my next post) it took me a while to get to this last session (time and energy issues), but today I came in well rested, ready to kick some ass.

Ares includes 5 series with Pull Ups, and I seem to be getting worse and worse at doing them instead of better. I still get the tingling sensation in my left forearm after a few repetitions, and I loose strength quickly to the point where I can barely hold myself with the chin over the bar, let alone lower myself in a controlled manner. I sometimes feel like I'm "cheating" because I'm not even doing every modified repetition correctly, but this is something that is truly beyond my abilities right now. I'm working on it, and I can't wait to see the day were I can do 10 full pull ups straight, but until then I'll just have to keep on working and trying to do my best at each repetition. 

I'm starting to get calluses on my hands because of the Pull Ups (they hurt a little). I've been seeing several videos in YouTube and reading posts that address this issue. The best explanation on how to prevent the calluses all can be found here. I've been very carefull at gripping the bar correctly from the start (i.e. centering the bar at the base of my fingers >"the gorilla grip" rather than in the center of my palm), and I'm convinced that if I hadn't, my hands would be ripped by now. But still, I'm hanging from a metal bar, when I usually don't so I think it is only normal to have calluses developing. I don't like it though! Still, it's a little price to pay for getting stronger and better!.

Today I beat two PBs so I'm pleased about that, but I'm hungry for more...

Cardio&Strength - W3D3

 Hades: 00:33:26 

Do not confuse Ares with Hades. They sound, look and are very much alike, but still are two different workouts. This is my first time doing Hades, which involves many burpees and my  always dreaded pull ups and push ups. Evidently I didn't do it with a star... I still struggle very VERY hard with every single "pull up", if I dare call them pull ups considering I do them girly style and not that great. I'm still not satisfied with the way I manage lower my body... lacking strength and control. I try to follow the instructions, but I have a really hard time going all the way down in a controlled manner. Also it takes me forever to finish a series and I felt the that tingly sensation in my left forearm again. I know practice makes perfect, but I can't help to hate having to do Pull Ups! 

Push Ups were another story. I still did them knees on the ground (since I wasn't aving a star anyways) but at least I could finish the whole 15 repetition set with no breaks, quite fast and lifting my body all the way. I feel confident I will soon be able to do them with my knees off the ground.

Today I felt I was particularly slow. I struggled with the burpees, when I shouldn't anymore. I think I'm a bit too tired. I've been sleeping too little and working out very late, 3 days in a row so that may be the thing. As a matter of fact, my eyes are closing as I write this so, let's just leave it at that for now...

Cardio&Strength - W3D2

 Split Lunge Max: *123 (PB!) 

 Squat Max: *93 

 Sit Up Max: *115

 Squat Max: *82 

 Split Lunge Max: *89 

Today was MAX MADNESS day.

I was feeling good after yesterday's workout, with no pain and not tired at all. As usual, I ended up working out way passed my bed time. I really need to try and find a better moment to work out, because I'm loosing precious sleep hours for the sake of training in peace, with no interruptions or whatsoever... 

Today's training session focus was all about the legs. With the lunges I also felt I was exercising my butt, so we'll see tomorrow (or the day after) if that hurts too, and how bad.The second round of squats and lunges were quite hard to do and finish because I had already drained my legs, but I pushed through the best I could. I even managed to top my Split Lunge PB during the firs series!

My quads are becoming more and more toned. I can see a muscle contour appear just above my knee I could not see before, and it's so weird! I guess hard work does pay off, even if it's slowly. I've always had rather large muscular legs, but never toned, always a big muscly mass. In fact, I always have to buy pants that are a little big and wear a belt so that my legs are not squeeeeeezed all the time... I'm not really sure if getting my legs bigger is something I want but hey, can't do anything about that. On the bright side, bigger, stronger legs means more power to run faster, jump higher, and overall improving in soccer, so yay!!!

Cardio&Strength - W3D1

 Aphrodite: *00:29:27 

New week, old workout! 

It's been a while since I haven't done Aphrodite, so I was excited to do it again. I know the idea is to top your PBs every time, but I am realistic and I'd rather set myself a goal that I know it's possible for me to achieve (i.e. to finish the workout in less than 30 minutes, which I did) than one I know I'll probably not be able to accomplish (i.e. top my PB, which I didn't). I'm a minute and a half away from that PB though, but with all honesty, I think that today I could not have sped up more than I did (maybe 30 seconds, tops).

As I was writing the previous paragraph, I remembered this picture

I still have a hard time believing and incorporating into my system some of these messages, which I believe to be so true... Maybe I'm too rational and realistic, as I said before, to be able to really erase the "IM" in IMpossible. But we're getting there, right?

In spite of my "low goal", I gave my best trying to lower my time. I was sweating like crazy (ah, the good old days!), had shortness of breath and all those pretty things Aphrodite brings to your life. Even if the overall time does not reflect it, I made what I believe is an important progress: this time around felt like fainting during the 20 repetition series instead than during the 30 repetition series... I think that's a reflection of me gaining endurance; I could stand more repetitions before feeling dizzy! Also I did more squats in a row before needing to take a mini break. Again, I think that's the endurance kicking in.

All and all, I wish I had to do Aphrodite again this week to try and top my PB. I feel I always need one session to adjust to the workout change before I can really make it count, and with this new guide, every day has a different workout so it's not evident to do!

PS: playing soccer on Saturday was the best remedy for my sore muscles from last week's workouts. I scored 7 goals (yes, you heard me, 7 goals in one single match :-D) and we qualified to the final which will take place this Saturday, so I'll keep you posted on that! This week I'll train like crazy, hopefully from Monday (today) to Thursday straight, rest on Friday and then play on Saturday at the top of my game.

PS2: yesterday was elections day in Chile. We have to have a second round to define who will be the next president, even though everybody knows that answer already!

Cardio&Strength - W2D4

 Metis: *00:10:45 

 Metis: *00:09:57 

FINALLY, my last session of week #2: Metis, two times in a row.

Today is day 1 after Artemis -and my Dad's birthday-. I have some soreness in my pecs, shoulders and triceps from the push ups and pull ups. I also feel my quads tight (and getting tighter by the hour) from the sit ups. However, since it's only day 1, I'm still very functional; last week it was on day 3 were I couldn't take off my sports bra by myself... Hopefully, today's exercise will help me to feel less pain tomorrow, and specially on Saturday (the dreaded day 3) because I have a soccer semi-final, so I have to be at my best to get to the final, specially after loosing the other two semi-finals we've played these past two weeks... 

I did Metis without any modified repetitions (yay!), but I couldn't top my last PB. I was slown down because of the pain and stiffness in my muscles, but I still managed to get through the thing quite decently. I took a couple of minutes break in between the two Metises, and as I was warmer, the second time my muscles hurted a less so I managed to improve my time in almost a full minute. By the end of the whole thing I was pouring sweat like crazy; always a good sign. I feel like I could have pushed myself a bit harder tough... Next time I'll really strive to top my PB.

Tomorrow I'll rest, on Saturday I'll play soccer and on Sunday (election day here in Chile), I'll get started with week #3!. See you then!

Cardio&Strength - W2D3

 Artemis: 00:52:30 

Artemis is the f**king hardest workout ever (for me). It has, amongst other things, a series of 50 pull ups followed by a series of 100 push ups. My two favourite exercises, together and in a high number of repetitions. Wohow!

I was super sore for about four days after my fist pull ups during Ares, and even today I could feel my triceps tight when I lifted my arms (and it's been 6 days!). I had soccer matches on Saturday (we moved on to semi finals!), Sunday (I scored 6 goals!!!!) and on Monday (we lost the semi final at the penalty kicks... the goal keeper catched mine :-(... Yesterday I rested because I was absolutely beaten after those three days of soccer -and you know that recovering properly is as important as exercising properly-, so only today I could move on to day 3. At this rate, week #2 is almost turning into "month #2"!. The "good" news is all my leagues are getting to an end so I'll soon have a lot less soccer an a lot more time to do my Freeletics workouts. I intend to catch up with all this lost time, but we'll see how things go.

I think today I spent over 15 minutes doing the pull ups. Even with the modified version, (a.k.a jumping up to the bar and lowering myself in a "controlled" motion...) I struggled with each and every single one of them. Around the 35th repetition I felt something cracking in my left forearm, and from then on whenever I pulled, my arm tingled with a shooting sensation of pins and needles. It was weird and uncomfortable, but not painful. I don't really know what that was. I think it might just have been fatigue, even if the pain was not cramp-like... 

After that, I think I spent at least another 10 to 15 minutes to do the push ups, girly style (knees on the floor). At some point I wanted to give the finger to Artemis, lie down and just go to sleep. I don't like failing, and even if I did all the repetitions -which took me an eternity to do- I know I didn't do the exercises all that well because I didn't always lock my arms completely during the pull ups (I can't even lower my body all the way in a controlled manner!) and I didn't always lifted my arms from the floor when I got down at the push ups. 

As the picture says; I struggle very hard with these strength exercises today. In the near (hopefully) future my triumph over the pull ups will be glorious.To get there, I just have to keep on working hard-

Cardio&Strength - W2D2

 Hera: *00:25:45 

The other day I did Ares. The day after that I was tired, but OK. The second day I was feeling pain in my back, shoulders, triceps, elbows... Today I'm really really sore. The description of week#2 in my online coach says:

"Whether you already had to do pullups or not: Don’t let them discourage you. Even with breaks, many star-pullups in a row are a real challenge. At the beginning, it is totally normal if you can do less than five. Many of you will not be able to perform a single one. No worries. No one masters pullups without hard work. On the contrary, pullups take quite some time and effort. Make sure to lock out your arms completely - completely means all the way, not halfway - and enjoy having sore muscles. This particularly pleasant ache at your inner elbow even has its own name: T-Rex. Why? Take a guess."

Yes, I'm part of the many who can't do a single pull up. I try not to be discouraged by that. Also, I wouldn't describe my pain as an "ache", but I do get the T-Rex thing. I want so bad to do everything with my arms as close to my body as possible to avoid the pain... Today I had to ask my sister to help me take my sports bra off because it was sweaty and tight and I couldn't lift my arms and pull as stongly as I needed to to take it off. It was awful! 

I also discovered I had a muscle below my arm pits/back that I think I had never exercised before. I'm not quite sure if it's the Serratus anterior or the Latissimus dorsi, but either way it hurts A LOT. (I'm leaning towards the Latissimus more than the Serratus...)

Well, luckily today I did Hera, a cardio-only workout. It involves running a bit, which I absolutely hate, so I had a bit of a struggle there. on top of the fact that, when I moved my arms as I was running, my pull up sore muscles were hurting quite a bit.

Now I'm leaving for a soccer match. We'll see how that goes. Our first goal keeper broke her tibia about a month ago and now our second goal keeper tore her anterior knee ligament so we've been taking turns, and I think I would have to struggle a lot to play goal keeper today considering that just lifting my arms hurts! I'll keep you posted on that...

Cardio&Strength - W2D1

 Ares: 00:15:50 
 Split Lunge Max: *101 

It's been almost a week since I've been back from my trip and I'm just starting to get back to normal (for good). I had very important soccer matches on Monday (quarter finals) and Tuesday (semi finals). Against all odds, we won on Monday - I scored the qualification goal :-) yaaaay! - but we lost on Tuesday at the very F***ING last minute... They scored the second goal (the final result was 2 to 1), we got to the center of the field, the ball started to roll and the referee ended the match. We were absolutely devastated because we wanted so much to be on that final, and to come so close just to loose like that... 

Anyways, the idea for me to write this journal is to let people know my experience with Freeletics, how I combine it with soccer and my life in general, but also as a way of committing myself "publicly" to completing the program. This way I feel morally obligated with you to keep on going, so I also feel I owe you total honesty. 

It's been almost two weeks since my last HIWOD, and I was seriously -like never before- considering quitting today. I've been struggling with starting week #2 since I got back, mainly because the workouts got harder and more complicated to do. I got used to training very late (past 11 PM) alone and relaxed in my bedroom when people in the house were asleep or doing their things -so I didn't get interrupted-. Then I stretched, got to the shower and slept with a big smile. I think that's one of the main things that made me love Freeletics; I could do it wherever I wanted, whenever I wanted. But this week, my training program starts with Ares, a workout that includes pull ups and 40 meter sprints. Pull ups the hardest exercise for me to do + they require a pull up bar. For the sprints, well, it's obvious I can't do that in my bedroom at 11 PM. It took me a while finding the mental strength to overcome these technical difficulties -I know, it shouldn't be a big deal, but they were for me- but finally I got to it and did the workout today in my parent's yard. We live in a large piece of land and we have a swing, so I used that as a pull up bar and I sort of calculated 20 meters for sprinting. I know it's not the same sprinting 40 meters at straight than 2 x 40 meters but hey, at least I did it!.

As expected, no star on Ares because I have never been able to do a single pull up starting from a hanging position. It's on my MUST ACHIEVE list of life. The day I can complete a full pull up series (I don't know... 10 - 15 in a row?) starting from a hanging position I will be really really pleased and I'll consider myself truly fit. Today I even had a super hard time at the last repetitions with the modified version (jumping, chin over the bar and dropping in a "controlled" motion). My hands are super sore now and the controlled part was... not so controlled as I'd like it to be...

Luckily, besides Ares, I also had to do a new MAX; the Split Lunge Max, so that lifted my spirits. Before I started I set 100 repetitions as a decent cut off point for me for time and I got there barely with my 101 reps (not dalmatians). I was sweating a lot by the end and I could feel the back of my legs working like crazy!!! The two weeks off weren't free; I felt slower and more tired both during soccer and the workout. It takes much effort to get in shape, but you can loose that state in no time and with no effort at all!!! We'll see how I keep going this week... Hopefully I get back up fast!