Timed Mile: 13 seconds shaved

Good afternoon one and all! As I am easing back into my athletic pursuits, Mat and I met at the Wellesley High School Track to work on a timed mile. If you recall, I did my first timed mile in September wearing a pair of leggings and a Matt Casell jersey and sucked wind as if on a wind turbine factory.

I enlisted Mat a few weeks back when I felt myself slide. He of all the trainers at CF seemed to be always stitched to my side and bitching about following through with the immortal words of Ben: FITTER, FASTER, STRONGER! And, while I hated him during metcons, he pushed me through metal barriers. So, I asked the boy, can you make me faster and more agile.

Most of our workouts entail just hardcore running. We normally begin with brutal steps climbing/running at the football bleachers and then the traditional CFNE stretching. And, this is where I shall invoke the Algonquin’s Table Dorothy Parker’s rhetoric:

What fresh hell is this? Because, Mat creates a fresh hell at each outdoor session. In true CrossFit form, the running drills are designed for intensity and endurance.

Perhaps my greatest take away at this point with Mat is how core breathing is. I am encouraged to breathe through my nose and exhale through my mouth. And, to be perfectly honest, this cognizant breathing has never left me on the short side of completing a workout. Don’t get me wrong, I cry like a baby and excoriate my former Brooklyn pizza eating ways, however, I complete drills and my recovery time does not include sleeping on the floor of CFNE for 30 minutes. I am walking, talking and evaluating with Mat what I can focus on next time.

However, as this is a journey and not a destination, I readily admit (and without much self-flagellation) that my timed mile decreased by only 13 seconds. And, I am stunned. I had approximately 18 lbs more on me in September, no form, no endurance and I finished in actuality more quickly than I did yesterday. Is this a joke from the fitness gods? Given that I do not want to supply more negative energy to my training,(except for this photo because in my darkest moments I feel like a fat fairy)

I will proffer that I felt strong yesterday. I did not stop running. I sprinted at the end and my half mile run was under 6 minutes. Cest la vie. Onwards and upwards.

On a different note, do any of you watch In Treatment on HBO? I watched an episode where Gabriel Bryne has a new patient (played by the wonderfully witty father on Frasier), Walter. Walter is a CEO of a big business in Manhattan. His presenting problem was lack of sleep. The episode continues where you discover that Walter simply is distraught because he holds onto too much responsibility and does not let a soul help him for fear of appearing weak.

Walter also reveals that his daughter has just moved to Rwanda and works at a Rape Clinic where she bears witness to unspeakable atrocities. Concomitantly, the daughter articulated to her father that she feels fully alive and that this calling is her own. The patient then demands Gabriel Byrne to answer whether or not Byrne would go “rescue” his daughter out of Rwanda.

This episode resonated with me in that often times people feel hard wired to not seek help. I know that when I first started this blog I was full of bravado and expecting to crush records quickly and powerfully. When that did not come to pass, I retreated.

What do people think about engaging others to help you meet fitness goals?