Monday
Skipped this workout at the gym because I was feeling SO BEAT after work (why? no idea) But I was bummed because it was one of my favorites that hardly ever gets programmed: “Bear Complex”
We’ll talk more about it later because I vowed to do it later on in the week if the opportunity arose and it did!
Tuesday
Hit the gym!
Strength:
Bench Press 5-5-3-3-3
(65, 75, 85, 95, 100 —- hooooo boy were my shoulders sore from Saturday’s Snatches! I felt old and crotchety doing this. Note to self: shoulder mobility, work on it!)
Metcon:
15 Min AMRAP
400m run
10 clapping pushups (I did scaled pushups)
8 Snatches (75lbs)
Completed 3 Rounds
After this workout though my knee was feeling kind of tender. And for no identifiable reason. BOO
Wednesday
My knee HURT this morning. It doesn’t hurt running or squatting or anything like that, but just walking around, it’s just tender right below my kneecap. Dr. Google says I’m dying. Not really. But then again I haven’t really consulted Dr. Google for fear that it will make me crazy. I’m foam rolling the quads/hams and icing like it’s my religion.
Thursday
My plan was to hit the gym, but I had to travel to Sonoma for work all day and by the time I got home it was too late. I could have run but I was BEAT and my knee was a tiny bit sore still. Funny how so much windshield time can make you exhausted but you are only just sitting down.
Friday
STRENGTH
Snatch
3-3-1-1-1 (65, 75, 85, 90, 95)
Snatch Pull
2-2-2-2-2 (95 for all reps)
METCON
Buy In:
50 Double Unders
3 Rounds of
5 HSPU – (scaled)
10 Burpee Pull Ups (scaled to burpess + banded pull ups)
200m run
Buy Out:
100 Double Unders
That was fun. And sort of awful since I hate burpees and pull ups and it took me a few minutes to get my double under rhythm which mean my ass was COVERED in welts afterward. But fun! 🙂
I decided on Friday night that I wanted to try running on my knee. Garrett and I headed out after CrossFit to a hilly street by our house. We did a slow one mile warmup and then did 10 hill repeats up this crappy hill that I can’t even fully run up yet (NEW GOAL! GET UP THE HILL!) It was good practice. And also awful. First double day. 🙂 Knee felt fine running. Afterward, still sore when I walk.
Saturday
I vowed to do Monday’s Bear Complex so I headed in to open gym to get some lifting in. The Bear Complex is fun, but pretty tough. This is what it looks like. A quick synopsis from Mel, since she also wrote about it this week coincidentally:
…it’s a workout made up of 5 rounds of a barbell series (a.k.a., “complex”) that includes 7 reps of the following:
power clean — front squat — push press — back squat — push pressYou do that SEVEN times to make up one round — and you do five rounds. If you’re doing it as RX’d.
HOLY CRAP that was hard. I did all 5 rounds with a 75lb barbell and my arms were JELLO at the end.
Sunday
I had a run on the schedule but my knee (at this point MY GOD DAMN GOOD FOR NOTHING KNEE) was still sore and that started to make me worried. I skipped my run and stayed home and did a cooking wod. 🙂 Also a Kettlebell Century Challenge (aka 100 Kettlebell Swings for time) with our 53 lb kettlebell. That was no slouch of a workout, but I would have rather run.
Workout Total: 4
CrossFit Workouts: 4 (3 in the gym // 1 at home)
Running Workouts: 1
Double Days: 1
And that was the week! Kind of disappointing, but it wasn’t like I was sitting home on the couch, so. Hopefully I’ll figure out what’s going on with my knee and be able to get in some good runs this week.
I’m so sorry about your knee! When I took up running my knee was the first thing to go even though I’d been an athlete for YEARS and never had a single knee problem. Have you tried a knee-brace or compression brace?
Aw, sucks about your knee! A lot of time knee pain can be traced to other muscle problems in your legs, both above and below your knee. Can you find a strength and conditioning specialist/sports med person?? I found a chiro (through our local CrossFit box) that is a cert. strength/cond. specialist, does movement screens to see where you’re lacking/hurting, and uses ART (active release therapy), which is like pinpointed massage while contracting and relaxing your muscles. He’s helped me with so much!! Plus he knows CrossFit and knows that I’m not just going to sit around and do nothing.
And I, too, love the bear workout! Don’t you hate it when your favorite workouts are posted for the days you can’t make it?? We deadlifted today, and I was gone! Boo.
Nice work on the bench press! We did that the other day too.. and I felt very clunky and sore afterwards.
Best of luck with the knee thing!
That sounds exactly like my knee issue from two years ago. Tender and sore right below my left kneecap. Ditto on the symptoms too. It got to the point where i was limping while walking but could run 5 miles with no pain. Kind of funny….but not really. Bit the bullet and hit a PT and we just worked on both knee flexibility and quad and hamstring strengthening without any running and took care of it in about 4 weeks.
Yeah, I’m thinking it’s probably a quad or calf issue just rearing its ugly head in my knee. I’m also thinking about seeing an ART practitioner just for fun though. With all the crazy stuff we end up doing it might be helpful to do some maintenance/preventative work.
BEAR COMPLEX IS MY BOYFRIEND. 😉
Holly, I had the same knee thing last year! It started for seemingly no reason and I reached the point where I could barely walk without discomfort. I mentioned it to one of the coaches at my box who used to run a lot as a former soccer player, and she brilliantly suggested mobilizing my calf — specifically the inside of my calf from below the knee to just above the ankle — using a lacrosse ball. After about 10 minutes of this, I felt such sudden and amazing relief. I really hope you’re feeling better, but if not, try this out: Just lay down, or sit, on the ground, place the lax ball on a short box for leverage, then go to town working out your calf. I like to do this whenever my calves are feeling tight or the areas around my kneecaps or ankles feel wonky, usually after a run or box jumps. Hope this helps!
GOOD CALL. I have very tight calves, so I will definitely try this!
I second what Mariah said. I’m an osteopathic physician down in Texas and I will say from personal experience and professionally, your knee pain may not actually represent a problem with your knee. Could be anything above or below, to include ankle/foot, hip, sacrum/pelvis or even spine misalignment/dysfunction. If it continues to bug you (and it seems like it already has), it might be worth your time and money to see a chiropractor who specializesin sports stuff, or try finding an osteopathic physician in your area that specializes in OMT (osteopathic manipulative therapy). D.O.’s do similar treatments as chirpractors but are liscensed medical physicians. Anyway that’s my plus, I do hope you get to feeling better and best of luck with your training! I’m looking forward to reading about your race!
Thanks Allison! I think that’s my plan. I actually have a hunch it doesn’t have anything to do with my knee and probably towards some calf tightness that I CONSTANTLY struggle with. Running more just probably means it’s manifesting itself in my knee. UGH. But thank you! I heeeeeeeeeeeeeart chiropractors, so really: any excuse to see one. 🙂
Uh-oh, sounds like you might have “runner’s knee.” I’ve had it off and on for a few years. And it sucks, because running FEELS SO GOOD and doesn’t hurt at all, but an hour after you’re done your knee just won’t cooperate. Ugh. I’ve found that if I run with a brace and do yoga regularly to keep my muscles strong and flexible it doesn’t cause any problems, but when my yoga routine falls away my knee makes sure to let me know its not happy. Good luck in sorting it out!