no one except me, that is…

Slowly getting back into the groove after the mid-winter slump. My visit to the dietician last week, the first since November was the shot in the arm I needed. Despite the mid-winter slump, veering way off my diet and my hormonal situation, I’d managed to lose almost 2 kilos. If I can manage that with such little effort, imagine what’s possible if I tighten up the regime so…

This week I was back in the Box. I decided against checking out the WOD’s before-hand. I figured I’d just show up, do my best and enjoy myself. Wednesday was “ Annie”. Annie is still not my friend. The double-unders…need I elaborate? It took me a half an hour + to finish because the double-unders just aren’t there and I’m a hardass and I no-rep all the bad ones. I finished; that was worth savoring.

Thursday I’d planned to run, but decided to do the Domestic WOD Spring Cleaning Special instead. I burned over 800 calories (according to my Fuelband), so I figured it was a good alternative. I did manage to squeeze in an “interval training” while walking the dog. Mack is getting chunky again, so we run the distance from one streetlight to the next, walk the next two and so on. He seems to enjoy it.

A well-deserved nap…

My phone pinged early this morning. Mr. Fabulous. He’s on a business trip and wanted to wish me a good morning, which was very nice of him and if I were really wasn’t ready to wake up, I’d never have heard the ping anyway, so it was okay. I sent him a cute sticker and then checked out Facebook and there it was; today’s WOD. I had to look. FRAN!!!!!

WOD: Fran

21-15-9 Reps for time of:
Thrusters 30/43
Pull Ups

I was pumped! Call me weird, but there’s almost nothing I like better than thrusters. Curious, or what? It is not an easy skill, it asks a lot of the athlete both mentally and physically, but the kick! Wow! I scaled. I’m not crazy. Took the thrusters at 25 kg. and I’m still on the hanging pull-ups, but Wow!

I spent most of the rest of the day thinking about why I like thrusters so much. Here’s what I figure: It is all about the “Chi”

In the past, I’ve done different forms of yoga as well as tai chi and in these disciplines, there is an emphasis on “ grounding”. That is to say, standing with your feet firmly in contact with the surface you’re standing on in order to align the chakras and promothe the flow of chi, or energy through your body. This is also the way you stand when you start your thrusters. If you’re doing them right, you take a deep breath in before you lower into your squat, gathering the chi as it were, then with a big explosive push from the quads and glutes, you reach for the sky and stretch your whole body, releasing the old chi on the exhale, ready to gather in the new on the next squat. Thrusters are a power boost for the body and mind!