Today marks the one -year mark for this blog.  It’s strongsarah.com’s blogiversary, which also means that today is the (4th) anniversary of  The Accident. That was a rough day, but it was also the start of something very cool. You just never know how things will unfold and evolve into something beyond your wildest imagination.

A look back at the past year is in order.  It has been a big year, most of which has been documented here. In the last 12 months I have evolved from kettlebell newbie to HKC instructor.  Not to be limited to kettlebell training alone, I became quite proficient at jumping rope, and also tried a Randy Couture MMA (mixed martial arts) workout that I loved.  I explored (and did not love) the Eat Stop Eat program. My kettlebell studio, Intensity Works, was conceived and opened, and I shared many details of that process. I worked through the Enter the Kettlebell (ETK) program twice and realized success with it,  nearly doubling my kettlebell pressing ability.  I struggled with physical limitations resulting from The Accident and worked around or through them. I even began to feel ready to register for the RKC Instructor course. Just contemplating that was a milestone for me. I feel pretty good about the last year.

The blog has been neglected a lot too. I didn’t want my posts to become too repetitive, so I stopped posting regularly when my workouts often looked the same.  When starting a small business became my focus, blogging dropped down the priority list.  Then, when a (cancer) bomb was dropped on my world, I started a new blog, strongersarah.com, which has received much more attention than this blog lately.

But, Happy Birthday to strongsarah.com.  I hope to be able to post many more workout triumphs over the course of the next year.  Possibly, I will even have the priviledge of posting my experiences at an RKC instructor weekend.  If not, maybe I will have at least registered for one by the time this blog turns 2.  I am grateful to all who have visited and commented and encouraged me here. This has been fun, and it is far from over.  You just never know how things will unfold, and I am excited to continue the adventure!

Several weeks ago I purchased an oddball sized kettlebell, a 14kg.  I have really been kind of a sucker for these in-between sizes.  I bought a  couple of 6kg bells for the studio,  a couple 10kgs, and now the 14kg.  It has been nice to have them to train with, when the jump between standard bell sizes was too much.

Last time through Enter the Kettlebell, I used a 12kg kettlebell.  Around the time I finished the program, I pressed the 16kg on a couple of occasions.  Then, I shifted my focus and began to lose a bit of weight.  I really haven’t tried to press the 16kg again lately, but instead have worked more with the 12kg and 14kg for presses.  I considered starting Enter the Kettlebell again with the 14kg but a couple of weeks ago, but struggled horribly to get through a 3 x 3 Clean and Press ladder. I ended up doing push presses or assisted presses for many of the reps.

Since then I have worked with the 12kg strictly, but haven’t spent too much time with it, only focusing about one day per week on pressing.  Today I decided to try a 3 x 3 Clean and Press ladder with the 14kg.  I really expected to have to shift to the 12kg part way through but totally surprised myself.  The entire 3 x 3 ladder went well, and I know I could even have done more.  I’m very happy to be getting somewhere with the 14kg kettlebell.  I used it for my easy snatch practice on Monday also, doing 112 snatches at 10L/10R/rest for 9:00.

My muscles don’t seem to know I have cancer.  That’s cool with me!  I really don’t feel like I have it at all.  And when I’m happily pressing my 14kg, cancer is pretty much out of my mind. That’s priceless. 

Meaning of “SARAH”

“Lady” or “princess” in Hebrew. This was the name of the wife of Abraham in the Old Testament. She became the mother of Isaac at the age of 90. Her name was originally Sarai but God changed it (see Genesis 17:15). In England, Sarah came into use after the Protestant Reformation.

From www.behindthename.com

pea –noun.

1.	the round, edible seed of a widely cultivated plant, Pisum sativum, of the legume family.

2.	the plant itself.

3.	the green, somewhat inflated pod of this plant.

4.	any of various related or similar plants or their seed, as the chickpea.

5.	something resembling a pea, esp. in being small and round.

From www.dictionary.com

Definition number 5, above, is the one that applies here.

This princess has a pea.

It’s a play on words: I have a tumor.

I found out Friday, February 12, 2010 that I have breast cancer.  It is small, pea-sized, and although it’s considered “invasive”, it most likely HAS NOT spread to any other areas.  I am having an MRI tomorrow to confirm that. I do know that the cancer is the type that is slow growing and also very responsive to drug therapy.  There is much good news within this story!

The reality is that for certain I will have to have surgery.  The extent of it will be dependent on the MRI results as well as some other testing, and my preference.  Less involved surgery would also require radiation.  Chemotherapy is a maybe no matter which surgery I decide upon, and the chemo decision will have to be made after the lymph nodes are studied (after surgery).

This stinks, no doubt.  I’ve worked hard to get in the shape I am in.  (I’d call it near-readiness for RKC, using the 12kg bell for snatches.) I will be out of the kettlebell game for a little bit.  But I am ready for this fight and I will be a cancer survivor! God did not bring me through this craziness, allow me to find my passion and build a business around it and begin to make a difference in others’ lives, for me to then prepare to die.  This cancer is just another chapter in my far-from-over story.  Watch and see.

Training will continue until surgery (which is at least a month away) and then will resume as soon as possible afterwards.  (You KNOW that’s true!)  So www.strongsarah.com will still continue to be updated with training news.  However, for updates on my health, tests, decisions, thoughts and probably WAY more than you ever wanted to know, I’m starting another blog: www.strongersarah.com. You’ll be able to get as little or as much detailed information as you want.  I chose the name because that’s what I’m going to be:  STRONGER, for having overcome another physical trial.  Please join me at www.strongersarah.com when you can.  And don’t worry about me!  I am STRONGSARAH!  

I’ve had quite a dilemma for the past several months.  I have been preparing for the Russian Kettlebell Challenge Instructor certification for almost a year and making good progress.  At a body weight of approximately 135 pounds, I would be required to use the 16kg kettlebell for the snatch test.  (To use the 12kg bell, a woman’s weight must be 123.5 lbs or below at weigh-in.)  It became obvious that snatching the 16kg was going to be a problem for me.  But not for typical reasons.

My accident in 2006 left a few permanent limitations with my hand and arm.  One of them is some numbness in my right index finger and thumb.  When I began training to snatch the 16kg kettlebell I ran into major difficulty.  The handle of the 16kg is significantly larger in diameter than the 12kg.  I could not seem to grip the 16kg well due to the numbness. After a few single-hand swings with the 16, my grip would fail. And it wasn’t improving with time.

So I made the decision to change what I could change, and that was my weight.  Although I had a fairly significant amount of weight to lose (I figured 15 pounds, so that I’d have some lee-way at weigh-in) and I was already below 20% body fat, I felt like it was the best way to get to RKC in the least amount of time.  So I began to refine my eating.

All the while, I kept working on my grip, just in case.  I trained as if I expected to be able to use the 16kg. I didn’t know for sure if I really could reach my goal weight and maintain the strength and endurance necessary for RKC, so preparing for the possibility of being able to use the 16kg felt like a safety net.

In a few months I had seen the weight loss I was after. I reached my goal.  In the meantime, I noticed the grip strength in my right hand had begun improving slightly.  I bought a 14kg bell to try to snatch and that went well.  For a few weeks I wondered: what would happen if I tried to snatch the 16kg? I had visions of major property damage and/or injury in mind!!  But then I began to think it was possible to someday snatch the 16kg bell.  And someday began to feel close.

February 7, 2010 I decided to go for it.  Without thinking too much, I grabbed the 16kg kettlebell with my right hand and snatched it.  I was in disbelief when I realized the bell was safely locked out over my head.  Then I repeated it.  And I did the same on the other side.  Surprisingly, it was actually easier on the right side!  At that point I knew that all that stood in my way from using that bell at RKC was time and practice.  If I could snatch it once, I knew I could train to fulfill the certification requirements.

Strangely, snatching the 16kg successfully somehow made me feel ready to go to RKC using the 12kg for the test.  One hundred snatches with the 12kg  in 5:00, though definitely not easy, was definitely doable and I had done it on several self-tests.  My weight was within the range of where it needed to be to use the 12kg.  The success I had with the 16kg gave me hope for long term continued improvement with all my kettlebell skills despite any lingering hand issues. No longer an issue of which bell I MUST use, it became a question of which bell I would PREFER to use.  What a great feeling!

After a lot of thought I have decided not to write this post.  At least, not to write it the way I had planned.  My idea was to write a post detailing the things that were difficult, or to be honest, nearly defeating, for me at the Hardstyle Kettlebell Certification event.  But I’ve decided that I’ll stick to my original purpose with this blog, which is to be a source of encouragement.  Whining doesn’t fall under the category of encouragement, in my book.

The things that were tough for me all stemmed from weakness within myself anyway.  Now I know some areas that I need to investigate further and/or bring up to standard.  I’m one step ahead having gone through this event, both in my technique and in my expectations for what it takes to succeed at RKC.  For this knowledge I am grateful.  Besides, our struggles are what make us stronger.  And I have stated that I’m a strength addict.  Time to act like one.

I am proud to be an HKC Instructor and I encourage others to pursue the title themselves.  I learned much more than I imagined that I would, and although I am nervous about beginning to train others in kettlebell technique, I know that I am prepared.  How cool for more qualified instructors to be out in the world sharing their knowledge of proper hardstyle swings, squats and Turkish Get Ups.  With any luck, maybe Jillian will run into one of us!

One of the three structured days in each week of kettlebell training outlined in Pavel’s Enter the Kettlebell is known as “heavy” day.  In the early weeks of the program, light, medium and heavy days are all very much alike.  Then in week 8 of 12, the pattern for the rest of the program is established, with one day being a light day, one day being medium and one day being a heavy work day.

Mental toughness factors in on heavy days.  It may not sound too daunting to read about, but in practice, hoisting a kettlebell overhead many, many times becomes not only a physical challenge but also a mental one. I’m sure it is  not unlike any other tough athletic practice, in which self talk can make or break the entire effort.

No doubt, during a heavy ETK day, my thoughts can become tainted with self doubt and/or slight insanity.   Here’s a sample of a few of my thoughts during today’s kettlebell practice: 

(Note my abbreviations:  Rg- Rung: Repetitions performed in a specific pattern.  On your first rung you do one clean and press on the right, then one clean and press on the left, followed by one pulling exercise (chinup/pullup or one single arm row per side.) On rung #2 you perform 2 presses on the right, 2 presses on the left and 2 pulls.)    Lr-Ladder:  A group of rungs.  Generally three to five rungs make a ladder.  A heavy day in ETK has 5 ladders with 5 rungs each.)

Lr 1 Rg 4 This kettlebell feels heavier than it did last time. Am I still recovering from being sick?

Lr 1 Rg 5 Made it through the first ladder, only 4 more to go.  Ugh 4 more!?

Lr 2 Rg 1 OK gotta blow through Lr 2 so I will only have 3 more ladders to go.

Lr 2 Rg 3 Ouch that was a bad clean.  I know how to do cleans.  What’s my problem?

Lr 2 Rg 4 Ouch gotta fix that bad clean.  RKCs don’t do that.  Gotta do better than that to be an RKC.

Lr 2 Rg 5 Almost done second ladder, push! And I have to do how many more ladders? Right.

Lr 2 Rg 5 This is taking a long time.  Who do I think I am?

Lr 3 Rg 2 I think I’m almost half way done.  Ugh. I’m not mostly done?????

Lr 3 Rg 4 I lost count, what am I doing?

Lr 3 Rg 4 Oh yeah I just did 3 pulls last time so I’m on Rung 4 now. FOCUS!! Don’t want to have to repeat a ladder.

Lr 3 Rg 4 Gotta watch the clean.  Lock out the elbow.  Don’t make stupid mistakes!

Lr 3 Rg 4 Only two more ladders, almost.  I’ll feel good later.

Lr 3 Rg 5 Two more whole ladders??????? I did this before but it’s so harrrrd this time.

Lr 4 Rg 1 Yeah next to last ladder!! One silly rep. Ha Ha!!

Lr 4 Rg 2 Keep shoulder down, don’t make stupid mistakes.  Focus!!

Lr 4 Rg 2 Am I on ladder 4? cool.

Lr 4 Rg 3 Why do I practice with kettlebells?  This is extreme.

Lr 4 Rg 4 Shoot. This is hard. Come on wrist, stay locked and straight.

Lr 4 Rg 4 Grip the bell HARD!!! Push!  Don’t want to have to repeat week 10!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lr 4 Rg 5 I am on the last rung of this stupid ladder thing.  I must get this last press. NOT going to have to redo!!!!!!!

Lr  5 Rg 1 Oh yeah!  Oh yeah!! I’m on the last ladder!! Oh, the swings are ahead.

Lr 5 Rg 2 Hee hee two presses.  Easy!

Lr 5 Rg 3 This isn’t a tough rung to get through.  Come on.  Can’t run out of gas.  But the swings are ahead.

Lr 5 Rg 4 Shoot.  My arm feels weak.  I don’t want to repeat this week.

Lr 5 Rg 4 I’m tired.  The swings are ahead.  Pavel is a bad, bad man.

Lr 5 Rg 4 I hope this stupid program pays off.

Lr 5 Rg 5 Last rung of  last ladder – this might happen.  Gotta make it through.  So hard to push.  I have to!!!!!!!!!

Lr 5 Rg 5 I don’t like this. 

Lr 5 Rg 5 Last press -come on YESSS!

AHHHHH!! Putting the silly kettlebell down, but in a minute I have to do the swings. . .

Thankfully, with the swing practice, there isn’t really much time for thinking.  It’s mostly counting and breathing and hopefully focusing on good form.  And glancing at the gymboss to see how much longer.  And then, finally, REST.

If you know me, you know I love lots of different kinds of training.  This means anything that involves moving weight — from simple bodyweight exercises to heavy barbell lifts to mma conditioning workouts.  It all pretty much qualifies as  my kind of fun. Though it’s certainly not the “be all end all,” the kettlebell has recently become my favorite training tool.  Here are five reasons why:

Top 5 Reasons Why I Love Kettlebell Training 

1. Kettlebell workouts are fast.  My typical workouts are about 20-25 minutes long (plus warm up and cool down.)  It is definitely possible to get an amazing workout in under ten minutes with the kettlebell.
2. Kettlebell workouts are complete.  Both cardiovascular training and strength training are accomplished at once.  Full body movements provide a workout for all major muscle groups. 
3. Kettlebells are portable and little space is required to get in a full workout.   Exercise in your basement, living room, bedroom, den, office.  Take your kettlebell outside.  It can go with you wherever you go (but beware of the rolling around in the back seat of your car!)  There is even a new backpack specially made for carrying you kettlebell with you on hikes or walks.
4. Kettlebell training is fun.  There is just something fun about swinging the kettlebell. And where I get a “this is fun- Whee!”  feeling from the swing, I get a different but equally fun “OH YEAH! THIS ROCKS!” feeling from the kettlebell snatch.  It’s empowering to be able to hoist a handled cannonball overhead. Multiple times.  Note:  the fun morphs into serious work  after a few swings and/or snatches, but that is not a bad thing.
5. Kettlebells are economical, at approximately $50 – $100 each.  We have all probably paid more than that for a good pair of running shoes.  Which one lasts longer?  You only really need one kettlebell to get started.

Just my top five.  I have a few (dozen) more in mind as well.  What are the reasons you love kettlebell training?

 This week I have been  following Week 6 of Enter the Kettlebell.   The clean and press ladders are going fine and I’m looking forward to adding another ladder to the practice next week.  I’m improving with my chinups, although not nearly fast enough to suit myself.  I need to get some better bands so that when I have to switch to assisted chinups I actually get some assistance.  (The band arrangement I have right now just is not cutting it.)  Until then, when I run out of steam with chinups, I move to bent rows.

The kettlebell swing and snatch training is going well, although some of the  swing practices are pretty crazy. Five seconds’  rest between sets of 25 swings?  That’s not a rest, it’s death avoidance!    Oh my.  But I’m getting through them.

Monday was “light” with 4 ladders, 3 rungs each of cleans and presses, plus the “pulls” as required in the ETK workbook.    Monday also included snatches.  They went well but I felt pain in my hands way too early in that practice, in my opinion.  This will definitely be something to discuss with Elise when I train with her again.

Tuesday was a variety day, and my practice looked something like a double workout from the Program Minimum part of Enter the Kettlebell.  The first part was kettlebell swings – 50 of them followed by a 1 minute jog.  No rest, just repeat until 12 minutes are up.  After a brief recovery I then did part two, 5 minutes of continuous Turkish Get Ups, alternating sides.  I used one of the baby kettlebells.  This was a killer day.  But I felt great the rest of the day.  Funny how that works. 

Wednesday was “medium day” from ETK.  It looked much like Monday, except there was swing practice in lieu of snatch practice at the end.  After burning it up on Tuesday, this was pretty tough, but I followed the protocol as required.  I also practiced  pushups and planks at the end, two exercises I’d really like to be better at.

Thursday was another variety day, and I used my heaviest kettlebell and did swing intervals at :30 on/:30 off for 12 minutes.  For active rest during the :30 off I did prisoner squats or alternating lunges.  Then I did 7 minutes of Turkish Get Ups, “naked” (no weight.) Doing them this way makes it much easier to focus on form and I’ve decided that I’ll do  them this way for a while.  Form matters so much more than how much weight you can hoist without killing yourself.

Friday was a rest day for me. Yay!! I needed it!

 
Saturday was a “heavy” day.  The clean and press ladders and pulls were the same but the swing practice was the heavy part.  This was the one with 25 swings and 5 seconds of rest.  Thankfully it only lasted 6 minutes.  Some really ugly thoughts came to mind when I was in the latter part of this practice.  But again, I made it through.  I have definitely developed some new respect for those who have completed the ETK program!

Sunday is a rest day. Looking forward to the rest and a little extra sleep.

I’m basically happy with the way my training went this week.  I noticed that I had to work hard on staying focused mentally as well as physically.  I didn’t really get this when people mentioned it before, but it’s clear now. 

No more fasting for me for the time being.  I need a steady supply of energy, and personally I find that my energy is significantly affected by fasting.  As long as I’m doing ETK, there won’t be room for it.

Moving on to week 7 of ETK (round 1) on Monday. 

Here’s the kettlebell workout that Elise showed me last week. 

Using two kettlebells, perform the following exercises once each, rapidly but maintaining good form:

1. Push Up (shoulders directly over kettlebells)
2. Up and into position–>Double Kettlebell Bent Row
3. Stand Up–> Double Clean (Dead Clean)
4. Double Kettlebell Squat

Go through this circuit 6 times then immediately run 1/4 mile.  Repeat x 4. 

Don’t have two kettlebells the same size?  No problem.  Select two that are near in size.   Alternate which side holds the heavier bell.

I also ended up throwing in double presses.  It seemed the right thing to do.

This will get your heart rate up there!

If you give it a try, let me know how it goes!

Recently Roy at Kettlebell Wall asked the question, what music do you like to listen to while using your kettlebells?  I think he got some good, and somewhat varied responses. 

I remember that Laura Pasik (and maybe others) responded that she didn’t listen to music at all while using kettlebells because she likes to keep focused.  I understood that and considered it briefly, but decided it wasn’t for me, as music has been a vital component to help me keep moving at high intensity in my workouts.  

Somehow my ipod battery had gotten dangerously low over the last couple of days.  I am new to this toy, and I’m still learning what to expect from the battery and how to know when it really needs to be charged.  I thought it had plenty of juice, but apparently my son had used my ipod yesterday and the battery was lower that I knew.

So about two minutes into my kettlebell practice today, the music died.  At first I thought maybe I’d forgotten to put the lock on, and had stopped the music by accident.  At my next rest period, I examined the gadget and learned the bad news:  battery gone.  So I quickly went in search of my back-up, a Sansa clip mp3 player which also runs off a rechargeable battery.  Part of the reason I replaced it though, was because it doesn’t hold a charge very long.  I had charged it once last week, but I soon found that it also was juice-less this morning.

No time to think about it further, it was time to begin my next round.  Ugh.  Suddenly the kettlebell felt heavier and the movements were more difficult.   Ideas of stopping the workout and resuming later with a recharged ipod passed through my mind.  With a full day ahead I decided to proceed.  I wasn’t a happy camper.

But then I realized that while doing the movements, I could hear in my head reminders – keep your wrist and elbow locked, abs tight, shoulder in the socket, focus on the bell, etc.  Although annoyed with the lack of a good beat to push me along, I understood why Laura does it this way.   Those cues are always running through my head when I’m doing my kettlebell practice –  even when I have the music, but they fade to the background. Perhaps they get quieted too much, or too often.

No question, my session seemed to last forever today.  I was sick of my “inner coach”  by the end and really tired of hearing my joints crack and pop!  But I probably used a little bit better form today.  

 For a second I considered making this my new routine.  No, for me the music is part of what makes the movements fun.  So I’m charging that ipod now.  But occasionally doing my practice ”quiet” would probably serve me well.  

How do your workouts go when you don’t have music?