Run the Mountain

Workout of the Day

AM – WOD 1:

10 minute AMRAP w/ partner

75 meter med ball run (20 lb)

Max KB swing (24 kg)

PM – WOD 2:

Run the mountain

Last night was something of a perfect storm in Iceland. City council elections and Eurovision occurring simultaneously meant that everyone was out late, partying into the not so dark hours of the early morning. I was one of them. Sven, Asta, and I didn’t get home til just shy of 5 and I had to be up at the Level I cert by 9. Ouch.

Thankfully the guys got us working early so my hangover didn’t last too long. The workout was scored according to the total number of kb swings done by the partner not running at the end of 10 minutes. My partner and I managed 231 repetitions. This WOD was a fun way to get moving and burn out some of the stuff that had me dragging.

This evening I met up with Annie to go run Esja mountain, a “must do” activity if you’re ever in Iceland I’m told. I managed to convince Joe, Jon, and Karrieanna (certification instructors) to join us with much the same argument. This was amazing. Such a brutal run, first of all. And really not purely a run—there was much walking. The path winds 3.5 km around and up the face of the mountain, climbing 800 meters in elevation. That means one thing: STEEP. I had no aspirations of trying to tackle this thing with any sort of aggressiveness, simply to stay with Annie all the way up. My lower back was smoked; my quads, hamstrings, and calves were completely burnt, and it took us 34 minutes to complete.

Of course, the view from the top was worth the pain, even though it was frigid and windy. There was a huge sense of accomplishment and enjoyment in in getting to the top.

As I write this my hips, and legs are only getting tighter. I was hoping to squat tomorrow, but I’ll have to see how things feel. A good night’s rest is certainly in order.