Gone Floating!

I was excited this morning because I had some “me” time scheduled for later! But before I could go and enjoy some peace and quiet, I had to get through this!

Source

Skill: Strict press 1×10 E90S 90-95% of 1RM

That meant I should stick to 60# (90%) or 65# (95%) of my 1-rep max (67#). I managed the following reps:

5x 60#
6x 65# (I had to do an extra one because Coach Caleb said I had the slightest knee bending during my last rep, therefore making it a push press and not a strict press. I didn’t mind the extra work! 🙂

WOD: This one was interesting. I have to say, the burpees really broke the flow of this one and made it a challenging WOD. Also, for the first time, I did my strict pull-ups with the red and blue bands! No more green band for me! 🙂 I didn’t pace myself very well for the first round and was winded after that. I also did all my burpees granny-style. I used to be able to do more “real” burpees, but nit so much anymore and when I do, I just deplete the gas tank super quickly, so I’d rather pace myself on those and have some gas left for everything else. I finished up with a score of 166 (FG). That means 4 full rounds and I completed my 8 double crunches on the 5th round. I was so close to finishing the 5th round, all I was missing were the 14 box jumps. Next time, hopefully, I can get it done! I did, however, do all my push-ups from the toes. It really helps not to drop the knees onto the floor when you release your hands and I’m pretty sure that’s what got me through all the rounds!

I came back home to more laundry than I could ever care for, dusting, vacuuming and mopping. I was trying to get it all done before I had to leave to go floating. That’s right, I went floating! For mother’s day, my lovely hubby bought me 90-minutes in a sensory-deprivation pod. You float in water that is warmed up to 34°C (body temperature) and full of Epsom salt (think the Dead Sea floating and you’re close). The whole experience was perfect after a tough WOD. As soon as my time in the pod started, I shut the lights off and was anxiously awaiting for the music to stop. You see, I am a bit of a loner. I like people and spending time with loved ones, but my days are filled with loud noises either at work (all the alarms from the monitors, cpap, ventilators, phones, etc) or just plain loud noises at home (hello, I have two toddlers who love nothing more than begin screaming matches at 0730)!

To say that I was very much looking forward to 90 minutes of peace and quiet at Float House Victoria is an understatement. My husband knows me well and that was the perfect present for me. I truly enjoyed floating around without any stimuli. Some people are a bit put-off by having to wear the earplugs, but it’s something I do on a daily basis when I have to sleep after a night shift at home, so it wasn’t anything new to me. To be able to be in the dark, in complete silence (except for the sound of my heart beating) was delightful! I kept waking myself off because I was twitching in my sleep so much. Yes, I’m a twitcher and yes, I fell asleep in the tank… Numerous times! Haha! That just means that I was fully able to relax and let go. I truly enjoyed the healthy benefits of the relaxation, but also the Epsom salts were great on my sore and tired muscles! At first, I was thinking that 90 minutes was a long time to be in that tank, but when my time was up and the music came back on, I was sad to have to get out of there so quickly! I felt like all my limbs weighed a ton, yet I felt rejuvenated! I would definitely recommend it to anyone wanting to spend some quality alone time as well as for any athlete out there looking for some recovery. If I had one down side to say about my whole experience is that I would like the water maybe 1/2 or 1° warmer, but that’s just me, I like my water ~~scolding~~ hot! I also made up for that by having a nice hot shower getting out of the tank. Go see Erik (a friend of ours) or his wife Svetlana and let go of all your preconceptions to fully enjoy the float! It is amazingly refreshing and rejuvenating as well! 🙂