Miles, Octaves, Kilos, and Pounds

 Recently, My Sailor and I headed out to of dodge and into the mountains! Sneaking away for a weekend (likely his last free weekend for the forseeable future), we spent 2 nights at Lake Cresent Lodge in the Olympic National Forest.

We arrived well after dark (around 10pm) and in nasty weather. It drizzled off and on during the next day, but we got to enjoy some (unexpectedly long) hiking to Marymere falls and beyond! Well, unintentionally beyond....

 My Sailor is a bit of a shutter bug. He takes some great photos, so we took our time getting to the falls. Thinking we'd found a short cut back, we opted to take another trail into the woods.

Well kept log bridge....

 Sure that the trail would curve back around to the lodge, we plowed over ridges with small land slides, and a few less-than-well-kept log bridges.

Pretty sure there USED to be a railing here...

Blazing a trail just off the beaten path to do a little exploring

Perched on top of a gigantic fallen tree stump

Lake Crescent early morning

Did someone say adventure!

I'm always down for a little adventure though, even with 1/2 a wind pipe.

See, a week or so ago, I managed to launch myself into a bar while weight lifting. (The lift is called a Clean - which I'm sure you can find past videos of on some of my older posts.) While I made the lifts I was intending to do, I basically ended up with a nasty (and not uncommon) clothes-line-style injury to my neck. While it's not outwardly bruised, it swells up, and seems to have adequately partially paralyzed my vocal chords. I can still talk and all - but Chloraseptic and warm drinks are good friends of mine. A short trip to the ER the week before the trip proved that it's not truly dangerous to my overall health (as long as I can catch my breath), but it's caused me to slow down considerably. (I haven't executed a Clean in over a week, and with the competition 16 days away, I'll admit to some added nerves.) More than the change in my training plan, is the pain/strangled feeling I get when I try to sing anything in my upper range. Now, while this may not be a 'major issue' for me as Trainer Girl, it's been a very strange place to be... something (singing) that always came so easily to me, is currently cut off at the knees. An activity as simple as singing along in the car the radio is now painful if it's beyond an alto. So it's been a bit of a battle. While I seem to be SLOWLY regaining some range and respiratory endurance, the painstakingly slow progress (especially for something that is outwardly invisible) is difficult.  It's given me a new appreciation to what asthmatics must battle. That is not a battle for the faint of heart.

My Sailor Turned Shutter bug

Climbing between a few overgrown rocks about 10 feet up.

So I spent the entire weekend away from Bella and other barbells - and honestly, I stayed active enough in other ways. I didn't miss lifting. (Shocker - I know.) I mean, I was happy to get back to it on Monday, but it was fun to use all the fitness I've gained to the test in an every-day-way.

This week at the gym was been productive, despite my restrictions. I've been able to get back to running a bit, which bodes well for future Metabolic Conditioners. (After seeing people through them as my job, I'm actually REALLY looking forward to getting back to them, even if I'll be limiting my throat-aggravating activities for a while longer.) 

I can now safely say, I've got over 100 pound snatch, and I can do 105 now with near certainty.



But I'm still working at 110lbs... it'll be a real landmark for me once I break it. Now that the competition is breathing down my neck, my lingo is changing from "lbs" to kilos. Kilos - for the record - are much more depressing. Here I am, FINALLY breaking into the triple digit snatch... but I'm still almost out of the 50's when it comes to kilos. Doh! But no matter. I didn't get to 100 overnight, so if it takes some more time to get to 50+kg, then it takes more time. Every lift gets me closer.


Whether it's kilos, pounds, inches, or miles, there are some things you just can't hurry. Sometimes it just takes what it takes.