The Angry Typist

NUTRITION:

This is the point where I was starting to ween myself off Fair Life protein drink to meet my daily protein macro. It was SO exciting to be able to just eat enough on my own, but it still took a very conscientious effort but completely achievable now. The nutrition pre-logging in MyNetCalorie alleviated the ‘decision fatigue’ which also reduced stress around meals.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES:

Prepping for Murph and did a few dry runs. It’s still funny of what I think should be ‘manageable’ bordering easy in my head vs reality.

BACKGROUND: The “Murph” is an annual CrossFit Hero WOD performed to honor U.S. Navy SEAL Lt. Michael Murphy, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2005. It is a high-volume endurance challenge consisting of a 1-mile run, 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, 300 air squats, and a final 1-mile run, typically worn with a 20lb/14lb vest. The pull-ups, push-ups, and air squats can be completed in any order at any amount of repetition.

I was doing a ‘half-Murph’ and was going to scale the pulls up portion to ‘elevated box’ pull ups on a barbell on the rig thinking that would be ‘easy.’ It was not. I could not get past 15 without lying on the floor panting. I further modified to pull ups on heel.

My final scaled version of half Murph was as follows:

• 1 mile – Moderate pace
• 3 rounds of
  • 30-15-15 Pull Up on Heel 25
  • 50-30-20 Push Ups
  • 50-50-50 Air Squats
• 1 mile – last 600m increasing pace every 100 meters

SLEEP:

For the first time, averaged 7hrs 23 min of sleep for the week and only 1 day under 5 hours. This is a HUGE achievement for me! It was a bit of chicken and egg. The more I fret over enough sleep the more anxious I become on getting enough sleep and of course the more anxious, the less sleep I was able to get. It was a matter of being able to let go and trust the routine. I had accepted that all I can do is to follow the bed time routine which I have built and trust in it.

Q&A WITH NUTRTION COACH

QUESTION: What should my nutrition look like to fuel my body appropriately for Murph?

ANSWER:

PRE-MURPH NUTRITION PLAN:

• Eat about 60-90min before your workout with easy-to-digest fuel –
  • ~200–300 calories with a balance of carbs and protein, low fat/fiber.
    • Maybe a slice of ezekiel english muffin or bagel with 1 tablespoon of nut butter + 1/2 banana.
    • Or protein shake + ½ banana.
• HYDRATE: 12-16oz of water with sea salt or electrolytes. 

POST MURPH NUTRITION PLAN:

1-2tsp of olive oil/avocado for healthy fats. 

A full meal.

• 3-4oz of protein

• starchy carb

• fruit or veggies