Squad Day 82: I’m tired, but Let’s Get it

Of course I stayed up too late last night day dreaming about a Valkyrie Getaway. I feel no regrets, that dream is looking mighty fine. Sam sent me a message telling me she clocked my day dream post at 8:58pm her time, which means 11:58pm my time, which means I should have been sleeping. I was too busy dreaming, a true member of the Court of Dreams- I was up until Midnight with a smile on my face, thinking about how incredible it would be to have an Isle of Valkyries. I’m sure I’m not the only one who was up too late over it.

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So I am tired, but still somehow pumped for today’s workout. Maybe it’s the dreaming, maybe it’s the actual muscle soreness I feel through my back and shoulders and core; but I’m ready for today’s work. We have a 30 minute workout on Day 3 of Blade, a Total Body Tabata type workout, so I know I’ll be sweaty and super sore by the end. Don’t forget though, I also have my Core Reset portion to do, making this more like 45 minutes of work. I’m not daunted by that addition though, because I know how much it’s going to help me.

It’s back to freezing outside again, a 29 degree temperature plummet from yesterday morning. So I’m working out inside again. At this point I’m kind of used to it. Yesterday when I stepped outside to work out, I was immediately cold and did that shoulders-meet-ears scenario from the wind that bit through my layers. I’ve become sensitive to the temperature difference now, something I was trying to avoid by continuing to work outdoors. Exposure Endurance and temperature therapy is something many athletes do to help build their endurance and stamina, kind of like elevation training- they put themselves into harsher environments during training, so that when it comes right down to it- they are unstoppable and near God-like in strength and performance. Exercise outside in the cold makes me think of my favorite of the Norse Goddesses- Skadi, half giantess who lives in the wild forest, training always to be the best warrior and huntress. When I think of her, I see long dark braids tucked into a fur hat, I see a bow and arrow, and miles of mountains covered in snow and spruce trees. I can almost smell the frozen tundra and campfire.

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This of course just prompted some Winter Mindstilling, my favorite of the audios right now. I listened to it twice, because I love it so much. I miss Alaska with my whole heart every day, and this particular audio is like being able to open up my memories and experience them again in my head. The crunch of the snow beneath my feet. The trees bent over with snow, creating archways through the forest that sparkle in the arctic sun. Snowshoe hares lurking in the low brush, trying to blend in, the whisper of snow as it falls off a branch, or the bite of the cold on my face. I miss chasing the aurora with my husband and feeling my heart run away in my chest, watching them dance across the stars. Alaska is harsh even with all it’s beauty, and loving it the way I do makes me feel like maybe I’m the same, and that’s why I’m so drawn to it. You have to fight to live in Alaska, a much more ancient and wild fight than anywhere warm and civilized could offer, like Windhaven, it’s brutality creates an incredible, resilient people. I miss them.

With my memories feeling fresh as new snow, let’s hit the mat and warm it up a bit.

I worked Core Reset until my entire core was shaking, until every toe tap and leg lift and crunch-roll-down and hip bridge had me practically vibrating with effort. My abs are sore from yesterday’s round of this already, so it didn’t take long before the shaking began, but I just kept moving through it. I’m tired of being in pain just trying to stand, and while there’s not much to be done about the nerve damage in my feet, I can do something about my back pain and it starts with core work. 15 minutes felt like eternity, but I squeezed my eyes shut tight and breathed through it until it was over. Mindstilling over Muscle, just breathe.

I spent a few minutes stretching out my abs, obliques, and doing a few standing hip circles and shoulder articulations before I pressed play on Total Body. Took some deep belly breaths and checked my posture, made sure everything was lined up. Grabbed my weights, and got into it.

I forgot how hard day 3 is. Cauldron, I forgot how hard it is. We had a 3 round circuit today of weighted moves. And I felt my core in every single one of them. My abs were already sore from core reset yesterday, and then I did core reset again this morning before I got into Day 3, so that fire was already stoked. Add on 30 minutes of total body with the weights and I was shaking by halfway through round one. I paced myself this time, because the first time I did this workout I rushed through the moves and I was on the cusp of passing out. From goblet squats to lunges with an overhead pass, single leg crunches with a leg extension, and weight swings, and then a solid 1 minute plank at the end of each round….

The trickiest aspect today though, is that when I do core reset, I can’t eat first. The focus on those core muscles makes me feel like I’m going to ralph if I eat first. So today’s intense as hell workout, was done on an empty stomach. I haven’t done a fasted workout in years, and the way it had my adrenaline spiking was wild. I went from “HELL YEAH!” to “oh no I’m crying,” in .04 seconds. I held that damn plank though, I held it for every round for the whole minute. Shaking and swearing and dripping sweat onto my mat, I held it.

I’m still shaking all over and I cannot imagine walking 1.5 miles in my heavy ass boots right now, but off I go. Yrsa is making a variety of unknown sounds this morning to get outside and on our way, I better go before she starts Opera.