Notes to My Coach...

In January of 2018 I started powerlifting with a coach, Obi-Dan-Kenobi.  These are some of my follow up emails to him detailing my workouts, asking questions, and providing snarky commentary.  I offer them up here with additional recipes, and resources I have used on the path to becoming a badderass than I was before.

Below is a series of emails I sent Obi-Dan when I realized that diet and nutrition were actually kind of a big deal in training.  

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Saturday, April 17th, 2018
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I had to take a little rest today after this trip to the gym.  My arms were literally too tired to type this up.
 
Deadlifts: 1x5 @ 135, 1x5 @ 175, 3x5 @ 175  (I’m giving this a 9 on exertion.  It felt completely manageable, but I was done.  This week I totally felt this in my quads.  When I engage the core, and push out of my quads I can do these with relative ease… I think Eugene was right.  It bears mentioning that today was an odd day in that I was really not jazzed about going to lift… which is unusual, because those are usually my favorite days of the gym going week.)
 
RFE Split Squat: 3x12 on each side @ 17.5 (I tried this with 20#, but that wasn’t happening.  I was definitely at a 10 when I was done with these… I hate these.)
DB Bench Press: 3x12 @ 17.5 (I probably could have done 20# on these… I was not maxed out at the end of them.)
 
DB Hammer Curls 3x12 @ 15 (This was a 10… these seriously kicked my ass… maybe I should have gone down in weight, but I powered through.)
BB Skullcrusher 3x12 @ 30 (I love these, always have.  Probably an 8.5.)
 
Fucking Farmers Carries (I honestly almost started crying half way through these.  I don’t know why… and I don’t cry a whole lot.)   Although, on a positive note, I can smash beer cans with my hand now. I almost broke one of my boyfriends really expensive bourbon snifters the other day.  And my callouses have hardened over, so those don’t really hurt anymore.  I actually didn’t even think about the grip on the deadlifts today until I was doing those farmers carries.
 
I had really low energy today… the deadlifts felt good, but everything else was a chore.  I usually do about 11 – 12 on the elliptical, but I couldn’t get over 9 today.  I actually think running outside tomorrow is going to be a good change, although the only PR I’m setting tomorrow is “longest time to run a 5k.”  However, it’s a Shamrock Shuffle, so there’s whiskey at the end…
 
On a happier note… there was another woman lifting today!  She was really nervous, and clearly didn’t have a lot of experience (she was struggling with the mechanics of how the machines work: setting and moving the pins, loading the bars, etc.  all the shit I didn’t know how to do six weeks ago).  She worked out next to me, and said she was really happy I was there because she felt really awkward and clumsy.  I totally forgot to tell her about the clinic. I’m making cards this week for the Facebook page because a lot of women ask me about what I’m doing, and are interested but all of them have some version of “I feel really weird being over in that part of the gym, and I don’t know what to do or how to start.”  We simply have got to change this.  
 
Strong is good Dan… it’s really useful being strong.  Just on a practical level… I can do shit around my house, in yoga, at Tae Kwon Do, that I just was not strong enough o do a month ago.  Women are at a disadvantage when they are weak… alright, I’m going to get off my patriarchal smashing soap box right now.
 
See you Tuesday,

 Claire

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Sunday, April 18th, 2018

Dan,
 
I’m gonna stop spamming you, but I had to follow up with this because it’s funny.  I ran my 5k today and hit a PR of under 20 minutes.  That’s a pretty big deal for me because I haven’t run at all since December.  I woke up this morning and I felt great.  After I ran though, I was totally tapped… I felt like I could’ve run farther, but I just didn’t have any energy.  It was exactly like I felt on Saturday when I was doing my farmers carries.
 
So, I went to go drop food off for one of my clients, he’s on the Bucks, and he loves to hear about my attempts at athleticism!  He’s actually really kind about giving me advise… I probably should pay him.  He’s the one that told me about the black and blue marks on my hands when I started doing the farmers carriers.  Anyway, I told him about feeling like I just wanted to start crying during the FCs on Saturday, and my total exhaustion after running today.  He was like… “you just said what is wrong, you said you have no energy, you are tapping out and you need more energy when you go hard.  There’s a reason we don’t play for more than two minutes… why do you think those big coolers of Gatorade are on the side?”  So I went home and read my sports nutrition book, and shit… he’s right.  So I spent the afternoon looking at nutrition timing, which you mentioned last week.  Who knew about the importance of carbohydrates and glucose?
 
I’m just laughing that I have been completely ignoring the whole nutrition component of this… I’m a fucking chef, you would think I would have included that in the plan from the beginning.  Okay, lesson learned.
 
Cheers,

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Wednesday, April 21, 2018

OMG… Dan, I found the best book in the world: Nutrient Timing for Peak Performance… I totally get it.  I read the whole fucking book last night.  So, today I had my little banana before I went for my swim (don’t really love bananas but whatever), and I ate some dried mango (76 on the GI index) after every 11 laps and after I finished… and shit I didn’t get tired, and I was totally not sore after!  Then I went home and had a big bowl of vegan gumbo (with 3 kinds of tofu in it… you would’ve loved it!)… I feel amazing.
 
I am totally consumed with the nutrition stuff. It’s funny because I had like 50 hours of nutrition training in culinary school, but that was 20 years ago… and I never really gave a shit.  But seriously, carbs get a fucking bad rap… and protein… we are protein obsessed.  I’ll save that argument for when I see you again, but I absolutely do not need to eat animal products to achieve this. I’m very excited about this… clearly!
 
We’ll see how it goes tomorrow when I lift.
 
Have a nice surgery!
 
Claire

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Thursday, April 23, 2018

Obi-Dan,
 
Man... I hope you are feeling better.  I was thinking about you today.You even get a little video of me doing my squats!  I know that will cheer you up!
 
Here were my numbers today:
 
Squats: 1x5x65, 1x5x85, 3x5x95 - This was easy... I think maybe it's timeto go heavier with the last set.  I don't know what you think about that.
 
Walking Lunge: 3x10x50 - This was also really easy... I am going to up the weight on this next time.
Pushups: 3x10 - Whatever, these are what they are.
 
DBell Shoulder Press: 3x12x15 - This was good... maybe could add more weight, but probably won't do it next time.
Single Arm Rows: 3x6x40 - This was good... maybe could add more... again, probably not next time though.
 
BBell Bicep curls: 3x12x30 - I start with these and I'm like, "yeah, that's too light"... then I get to about the 10th rep and I'm like "Yeah, that's good."  Again, probably in a couple weeks.
Cable rope pushdowns: 3x12x32.5 - Again, this was good for now, probably up it in a few weeks.
Farmers Carries - These were a lot easier today.  I can make it about half way around the gym without dropping them.
 
The nutrition thing is key here... dried mangos man... best thing ever.Seriously has changed the game for me.  I'm also not sore anymore.  There's a quote from the book I read:  "Right before, during, and after training, we think of fueling more than nutrition.  For all the rest of the meals, we think more of nourishing."  I love this quote because it's so close to what I researched in my PhD... except I was looking at the difference between "feeding" and "eating."  In the case of my research I was looking at "feeding" as an immediate response after disaster, and "eating" as the social and cultural process of rebuilding community and building resiliency once the immediate disaster has passed.  For some reason these two things feel the same to me... but I'm way off topic here.
 
One final thing... I've been taking my measurements since this whole journey started two months ago and here are changes:
 
Weight:  -5# (again, weight is not an issue for me, so I really don't care about this, but I have a feeling it would be more, except that I am turning fat to muscle.)
Waist: -5" (yep... 5 inches... that's kind of amazing to me)
Hips: -3"
Chest: -3" (boyfriend isn't overjoyed about that, but who cares) Upper arm, thigh, and calf are the same.
 
I'll be really interested to see how this changes this month with the switch in program and diet.  This will be the first month I have been completely WFPB vegan.
 
So... take stock out in tofu and dried mangos... and I hope you feel better.  I'll check in on Saturday after that lift.
 
Feel better!
 
Claire