The Accident

A strange thing happened to me at my CrossFit workout.

First, I want to talk about the wins we've had. One of our members had suffered a major heart attack 3 years ago. The kind of heart attack that the paramedics had to revive her... a hospital stay and cardio rehab. After rehab she came to our gym against her doctor's orders and started to work out.

She was careful. Her workouts mimicked the work out of the day but were scaled back for her abilities and not stress her heart. In one year of doing physical supervised exercise 3 times a week, she has gained strength and improved her vital readings to the extent that her cardiologist was stunned. Her story is worth celebrating.

Another friend of mine had her ankle crushed.

The repairs involved metal screws and rods in her ankle. Her Achilles tendon also had to be re-attached. For the next few the years she suffered pain and anguish and the loss of joy of riding her horse, hiking with her daughters, and doing all the things she loved dearly. After two years of consistent work at our gym [one baby step at a time], she can jog in a workout. She can walk without pain, and she is 99% back to her previous self. She is dedicated to our Mobility Class as well as showing up the to the gym.

Our coach joined 4 years ago, she was tired of all the extra weight she carried around. Her husband bought her a gym membership and she started out. Her goal? It was to lose all the baby weight she'd gained after her 10th child. I've watched her slowly transform over 4 years. She is amazing in many ways as she has now trained for and is one of the coaches in the gym.

She has lost 70 pounds and says she has a little ways to go. 

Her empathy and coaching skills are amazing. [All of our coaches posses these skills]

None of these journeys were quick fixes like we see advertised ... DO THIS or Do That! And you will see a difference in weeks! 

No. This is a common sense and well guided way to seek better health overall. 

We have an average array of people in our gym. 

From 18 to 80, some are great athletes working to become better athletes. Some of us have fitness and health issues. 

The coaches are careful to help us tailor our workouts for each of us specifically.

Some days, it is like herding cats.

On to the Event of the Day.

I was looking forward to the workout yesterday. It was a kettle bell workout combined with some runs after each group of 20 kettle bell swings. 

The runs were our choice, 200 meters, 400 meters, or for those who couldn't run, they could walk 100 meters or ride the stationary bike or row.

I love the running part as I've always loved running. The kettle bells? Meh, but it was going to be hard and challenging which are things I like. I'm considered elderly and I was safely the eldest person in class. 

A group of 5 of us took off from the gym to run/jog our first 200 or 400 meters. All was going just peachy, I was behind the young and fast girls. When we came to our turn around [we run on a bike/hiking path alongside the highway] ...

it
happened.

I got hit hard by something in my right calf. I'd been jogging on the edge of the path next to the grass. I ducked in an instant [reflexes?] and saw a woman and her bike go over me in  my peripheral vision.

She hit the ground hard on her right side. She was wearing a biking helmet which kept her face and head from hitting the hard trail. Her bike went over me and landed somewhere. 

I stayed in the crouch because I was not sure what the H-ll just happened. In an instant, the other gym folks who had been running ahead of me turned back to help. One surgical nurse, one Nurse Practitioner, and one Hot Line Nurse came to the woman's aid. 

Another gym member ran to call 911 when the lady said she couldn't get up and was in severe pain. 

I squatted next to her. Her pain was obvious. Her husband had parked his bike and was standing there in distress also. He didn't know what to do and couldn't figure out how to operate his wife's cell phone.

First the squad car arrived. Then the first team of first responders along with a Firefighter that had been at the gas station across the highway. Another fire department vehicle responded and I just backed away. I am not an EMT.

I decided to walk back to the gym and gather my wits. I was pretty shook up. Jesse walked back with me and asked if I was okay. I said I guess I was. I looked down and pointed to the bruise popping up on my calf muscle and said I guessed she clipped me there.

Jesse gasped and looked at my back. She exclaimed, "Dam girl, you have tire tracks across your shirt in back!"

Followed by "ARE you okay?"

 

I felt okay, but still in shock of what I'd seen. I grabbed my water bottle and decided to walk back and tell the police officer what happened.

Two gym gals went with me. I explained to the officer that I was jogging when I got hit from behind on the right side of my calf and ducked. The lady went over my right shoulder and the bike went over my left.

The cop's eyes got huge and he touched me gently on the shoulder. ARE you OKAY??? Those bikes weigh like 40 lbs! The gals pointed out the tire tracks on the back of my shirt. I made my statement, you know, name phone number, date of birth.

The lady was still on the ground and they were waiting for an ambulance. I looked over at the bikes and noted that they were e-bikes. The kind of e-bikes, when you pedal, the electric engine kicks in and shoots you forward. Did she pedal instead of braking? I'd never know.

I might add that this couple was in their 80's and I recognized them from many other days when we have worked out and shared the trail together. 

I walked back to the gym. There was nothing I could do. I felt horrible and so sad. What if she broke her leg and her arm? Or worse yet? Her hip? 

The gym members were calling me super woman and amazing among other accolades for just getting up and being okay after such a wreck. I felt none of that and felt only a deep sadness as I heard another set of sirens coming down the highway.

I gathered my stuff and wrote out my workout results. 1 round of 20 Kettle Bell swings 26lbs and 200m run in 16 minutes. Only one partial round completed due to bicycle accident.

My afternoon plan had been to explore The Richland County Pine River bike trail. But I wasn't in the mood. Plus my back muscles were stiffening up. I stretched and iced the areas and thought about that lady the rest of the day.

Gym members kept texting me to see if I was okay. I was. 

They were calling me super woman and Speedbump Val. 

I was waiting to hear any news about the lady who hit me. 

And of course, I did a reenactment of the accident with my Legos...

[we didn't carry kettle bells on the workout]

The last word I heard on the lady that ran me over was that she was assessed with a broken shoulder and a broken hip and was taken to the trauma center immediately for surgery.

I am so sad.

I know that I wasn't at fault as bicyclists are to yield to pedestrians but I think this lady just made an awful miscalculation. At her age, it may have great ramifications.

So yeah. I am sad.

All in a day

It started out on a whim before dawn. I don't even know why I decided to just grab my Nikon and head up the hill. I expected to be disappointed because it looked like the clouds were going to fill up the sky and we would have a dreary morning.

The surprise wasn't the pretty colors in the east, it was the stunning colors emerging in the south and west.

I stood there for a long time taking photos as the colors and hues kept changing.

And when I got home just before 6, the day was starting. I watered and checked the mules. Moved Lil' Richard and Sven to some nice grazing spots, and came inside to check on Charlie and Rich.

Both were sound asleep so I picked green beans as the sun peeked over the tree tops. I got soaked with the morning dew but had a pretty good haul of green and yellow beans. I found some ripe tomatoes, pulled most of the onions, and sat on the porch to wash everything and prep it.

I got an email from my CrossFit Coach telling me that my WOD [workout of the day] was a 5K! Now understand, many of my workout friends can't run due to needing a new hip, a new knee, or even other assorted issues. We are not all Olympic athletes. So a cardio workout is taylored for them. They get to ride a stationary bike or use a rower. 

I'm not going back into a gym situation at this time. I am still Virtual.

I was so tickled to have an ALL run/jog workout, that I stopped everything I was doing and changed to go run.

I had to take my smart phone as I'd never really measured out what 3.1 miles would be if I ran it on foot! 

And I ran it. Well, perhaps I looked like an old lady shuffling down a gravel road. However I felt like I was Nike, the goddess of speed, strength, and victory flying over the road with my Covidhair blowing in the breeze.

My phone kept track of my route, my time per mile, and gave me an accurate run.

[my running route includes wide open spaces with no humans in sight]

All that aside.

When I finished, I still felt energized.

So much so that after freezing and putting produce in the dehydrator, I went out and found a willing mule.

Okay, maybe Siera wasn't willing at first.

But she proved again what an incredible animal she is. We rode nearly 4 miles around the neighbor's wild wood. Here we stop to watch a doe and her twins run through the woods below us.

My mules wear a bell. This way I never walk up on top of a deer or other form of wildlife. It works well. It isn't obtrusive and I think the bell makes a nice sound.

After getting back home, Siera got a treat.

Some grain and some yard grazing.

This after a ride pretty much assures that she will meet me at the gate next time too.

After supper, I caught up Mica. I haven't ridden her in over a year.

We went for a sunset ride along the backroads that I'd gone running on.

When I went to bed that night, I felt so calm and complete.

Something powerful reawakened me on that 5k. I hadn't run in years. I had tried to start up again, but never really did well. It just felt good. 

Virtual CrossFit Viroqua

When the gym closed due to the Covid-19 outbreak I was pretty bummed.

At first I was all ready to work out at home. I even went around and found things like post drivers, an anchor, and a carriage horse weight as substitute weights and a stall mat.
Then I hit a wall. I couldn't get motivated. I'd walk past my jump rope and think, "Gosh I should work out."
Then I'd move on to something else.
Always something else.

My CrossFit shoes gave me a sad look the other day. Can shoes do that? No, I don't suppose they can. But there they were  ~~ sad shoes and a lonely jump rope.

70 days had passed since I'd been in a gym. For the first week I was frantic. How was I going to maintain everything I'd gained for the past year and a half? Gradually I stopped feeling guilty about it and tried to put it out of my mind.

I grew even more miserable as I noted my gym mates posting photos of their workouts. They were motivated, I wasn't. I.
Just.
Wasn't.

Then I got an email notice from Josh Brown of CrossFit Viroqua. He was reaching out to see how I was doing. Our State was opening up yet I wasn't sure I could deal with being in a gym setting quite yet.

We met on Tuesday via Zoom [I'm pretty sure I stink at some of the tech stuff, Josh could only hear me.]

We talked about my goals and expectations. He asked what I had around the farm that we could make into substitute items for weights.
Post drivers
Tire Rims
Hay bale spears
Anchors

You get the idea.

This morning I got a message:
Beyond the Whiteboard
It was Josh explaining the WOD [workout of the day] and how I could modify it to work for my situation at home.

The first thing I did was sit there and hold onto my cup of coffee and do nothing.Then I reminded myself that I was the only person who could take myself to the Virtual Gym or in my case, my side yard.
And besides that, I heard Josh's voice telling me quietly, "You can do this Val."

Charlie was curious as I dragged out the mat and set a timer for a 5 minute jump rope warm up.

I started the clock and did the 15-12-9-6-3 reps for time:
Kettle Bell Goblet Squat
Kettle Bell Swing
400 meter run

I admit it felt weird and during the first 400 meters of running I had to chase the dog down and call him back after he took after a squirrel. But it all felt good.
I could have gone with a heavier weight, like the anchor, however I wasn't sure how my body would do after such a long leave.

[From the mat to mid hill on the driveway is about 100 meters I think. I will actually measure it out today but I didn't want to put off my first workout any longer.]

Josh's message this morning asked me to let him know how it went.

It went well. In fact doing it in an open air atmosphere was rather nice. Being held accountable was even better.

I feel invigorated, hopeful, and encouraged. I have some things to sort out. Like how to work out when it rains but I'll get there.

Most of all?
I feel inspired again. My shoes were happy. My jump rope was no longer lonely.

And I am back to working out with CrossFit thanks to a great coach.

Challenges...

This is the map of part of the Kickapoo Valley Reserve. I took the map of the southwestern topographic map and overlayed it onto the Tromp and Chomp running route that KVR put together.
The trail run can be an 8 mile run or a 13.1 mile run. I can say I am not a fan of half marathons so I won't even try it in a trail run.

It has been so many years since I even attempted something like this. But one of my CrossFit pals was talking about it and I decided a goal for Spring would be a good idea.

Now this sounds totally insane for me right? I went out the other day for a 'run'. Let's just say it wasn't a run like 7 or even 8 minute miles. That train left MY station a very long time ago. I left any devices that could record my 'time' at home and went out to see if I could still enjoy a 'run'.
Funny thing is. I followed my son's advice and I ran, toddled, jogged, moved...whatever you'd like to call it for 2.5 miles. When I struggled hard on a hill, I slowed to a hard fast walk and recovered to go again.

When I reached our mailbox, I felt really quite good inside and outside. My feet still felt light my legs were not heavy. Nothing was broken!

Okay, two miles and a half won't get me down an 8 mile trail run will it? So I ran again yesterday. Only a mile, as our CrossFit workout in the morning was a killer workout.
The first half of the mile was a struggle, like jogging/running through soup. The last half was light and easy.
I picked up the mail and headed down the slippery driveway thanking my ancestors for good knees.

My son Eddie, has done many trail runs and he is advising me on how to approach this goal. Run a bit, walk a bit because the terrain won't allow you to actually run when you are going over boulders, roots, and through mud.
And I have hiked these trails over and over that are on the map. I agree. Parts of Little Canada can be beastly and require my hiking skills.

These are some photos from a past winter hike...I was incredibly amused by the trail markers...
Horses upside down and broken bikes. Does this mean it is a really difficult trail?

A swift hiker can do well in a trail 'race'. But my goal is NOT a race against others. It is a goal of can I do it?
Can I get set this goal and achieve it just before I turn 64.
I like challenges and goals.
That is how I live my life.

No runs today or tomorrow. Perhaps on Saturday or Sunday. Unless I can get to KVR and hike this trail again. It is a fun one.

Work out of the day

I know my subjects here daily are all over the map. One day photography, another day something else. New experiments in Infrared, hikes, goats, farm work, dealing with an ill husband, and so forth.

That is how I operate. Last week was very tough and things didn't improve much this week at all. I felt myself being drawn into the dark hole of his depression and it scared me.
So put an extra effort to drag myself out of bed and get things done by not checking my emails in the morning with a cup of coffee. Instead I had coffee and went outside to take care of critters as the sun came up. Twice Charlie and I just took a walk to the ridge top and back to get rid of the cobwebs in my head.

I went to CrossFit every other day and this worked out well for me. I literally dragged myself there Monday feeling quite guilty for not being there for a whole week. But the snow/ice/rain/wind storm of 3 days kept me home anyway.
I did my WOD and felt refreshed enough to grab a Kona Coffee and some donuts for Rich on the way home. I was super charged and did book work and spreadsheets and watched as gloomy cold weather settled in outside as well as inside the house.

Wednesday was another workout day. Something fantastic happened. Coach Josh watched me prep for the dead lift and encouraged me to go up in weight. I was supposed to be able to lift 80% of my body weight for this. I kept adding a bit at a time until I was at 90 lbs. I was to do five reps of three with rest in between. I did it.
I did it.
And I did not feel exhausted. Coach looked at me and smiled. He gave me a thumbs up and announced to the rest of our crew that I'd PR'd with the dead lift. There was applause. I felt pumped.

Friday was even more special. Our work out consisted of Kettle Bell Swings, a 400 meter run, modified sit ups and repeat the workout as many times as you can in 25 minutes.
Sounds brutal doesn't it? After the third round the Kettle Bell Swings were a huge effort, I used my 400 meter run to catch my breath and loosen back up for the next round.
I blew through the beginning of the 6th round and sprinted the 400 meters, well as hard as I could. Something from my race running days whispered sweet nothings to my legs and I increased the stride and picked up the pace.
I literally flew [well, in my mind] and headed towards the door when Coach Luke called out the last seconds.

I made it inside and dropped next to my Kettle Bell and caught my breath. Sure I was almost done in, but the excitement of the 'chase' was there. For a few moments I thought for sure that I was not going to be able to do much of anything else all day.

Then I got a text from my neighbor. *Soccer at Washington Park 2:30 Adults vs kids*

I did my town errands and informed hubby that I was going to the Friday soccer games.

The point was, I was refreshed and renewed from a tough work out. I felt on top of the world.
I know it is due to the endorphins released into my body from a hard work out.

Endorphins are produced by the brain which trigger a feeling of a positive feeling, not unlike morphine. Your brain gets a positive buzz for up to 24 hours in some cases.

I think I even produced some extras while playing scrimmage with kids that are easily 50 years younger than I am for about two hours at our 'pick up' soccer game.

Yes, I woke up stiff this morning, but still in a great mood.
I think the sunshine added to that.

Plus the allure of going out to the woods at some point today to find some spring wildflowers. Or perhaps the thoughts of riding a mule....on their first spring ride.

Kudos for WODS.

Playtime

I have a younger neighbor with 3 children ages 5 and up. On Fridays she started meeting up with other moms and their kids to play an hour of soccer at a playground in town before the kids had to go to soccer practice.

I went last Friday and had a blast running with the kids and I even went to watch the kids do soccer drills after the 'free' play time.

I asked and was invited to come again this week. I'd pulled a muscle during the week but still wanted to go. I'd play to my ability.
There is something very inviting to be able to just go out and play. To me it was more like the games of kickball I'd played as a kid.

Last week we were the only people there. 4 adults and 6 kids. We laughed hard, played hard, and had a wonderful time.

This week something pretty neat happened. The original players were there. Another mom showed up.
Then a girl wandered in slowly and joined the game. Soon another boy stood off to the side and gazed at us on the field. He was asked to join in. From another direction another kid showed up, he joined in.

Two other kids took up places on the playground equipment and watched the adults against the kids and the chaos and laughter that ensued.
Someone in a vehicle stopped for a few minutes to watch also.

Playtime.
Just good ol' playtime. No electronic devices [I had to run to my car and grab my pocket camera so I could take this shot]. Just play.
Imagine that.
Kids and adults from 5 to 62 just playing.