Last night was our office Christmas Party and we headed out to Belgo in Holborn.

OUTSTANDING!

What a night it was. Now, I don’t really drink and I especially don’t drink around colleagues or in potentially compromising situations. This can make for those really crappy nights where you’re sober but everyone else is leathered…which somehow isn’t as funny as you think it should be. However, last night was great. It was one of those occasions where somehow you sit with the right people and hit the right notes throughout. It was brilliant. I cannot remember laughing so much. One for the memories but definitely not for public distribution of the photos, sorry 😀

However, it did lead to an extremely late night where a few of us headed back to Watford on the Metropolitan line, only to realise we’d got the wrong train and ended up in Eastcote! Quick change to a cab and it was back in to base for midnight. By the time I’d sorted myself out and got my head down it was 0030 and I noticed my alarm clock telling me that I’d less than 5 hours sleep ahead of me before getting up to coach the morning ninja session.

BALLS!

It was therefore with a pretty foggy and sullen head that I crept out of my room, coffee in hand, to get in to my car and drive through the foggy Watford streets, half a flapjack crumbling out of my sleepy lips.

CF Watford 0600 Session

MetCon

“Double Helen”

3 Rounds for Time:

800m Run
42 x Kettlebell Swing @ 24kg
24 x Pull Ups

Time: 21:31 Rx

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Because of the experience of the group, and the lack of real complexity in the movements, I checked with the athletes and they were fine with me taking part this morning. I was also being shadowed by a new potential coach and definitely wanted to demonstrate by example, both in quality/virtuosity of movement but also in fitness from the front. My regular Helen PR is 9:51 Rx. To achieve 21:31 at this time of the morning, with a tasty uphill 200m in the run is pretty pleasing. I was pushed hard in the first 2 runs before I began to pull away in the Pull Ups which then left me fighting against myself in the last run. I paced the kettlebell swings too much and could have achieved 2 unbroken sets, choosing instead to try and save shoulders for the pull ups; I’m not sure that actually worked and I’ll try something different next time. The pull ups slowed me down, if I’m honest; I didn’t push myself as hard as I could have done and perhaps lost out on 15-30 secs overall there.

A great end to the week though. I’ve made real progress this year, most especially on the metabolic conditioning side of CrossFit; I have improvements to make on strength but that is a plan for next year.

Advent Calendar Fitness

It’s the 16th Day of Christmas: