BLOG #5

Monday: Today was one of those days were things are just a little off.  I woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom.  On my way back to my rack I did not bend low enough and bashed my head on the frame of the metal bed.  I whimpered like a pathetic little animal and then just climbed back into bed and fell asleep.  The next thing I know it is time to get up for watch.  I missed my morning workout.  Whoops!  Luckily it was just some yoga and stretching.  I had to fit it in throughout the day.  I would throw in a sun salutation, warrior pose, tree pose, crow stand or some other equally odd named pose throughout the day.

In the evening I did a CT workout.  I warmed up and the first main set was 10 min at 210-230.  This was followed by some easy spinning and then 3x2 min at about 240.  Some more easy spin recovery followed by 3x 7 min pyramids that started at about 130 watts and increased to about 260 watts and then back down.  I finished this off with some more easy spinning.  Not a bad start to the week.

Tuesday:  I missed my alarm again this morning.  What has gotten into me?  I was able to get in an afternoon easy run around the weather decks.  It was slippery, but it was nice to actually move somewhere when I ran.  I started with just a pair of thin running gloves.  Sometimes I forget where I am.  My hands went numb within 3 minutes of starting so I had to run back inside and put on some more robust gloves.  I ran for 40 minutes and then got back to work.

In the afternoon, I just did an easy 1 hour CT spin session.

Wednesday: Alright, three in a row!  I missed three morning workouts in a row.  I just never want to get up.  I have a headache and I feel almost like I am getting sick.  I hope I stop this insanity soon.

Thursday:  I did a whole lot of nothing today.  I felt terrible.  I missed my alarm AGAIN.  Then I had to take a test in the afternoon.  It has been a long time since I have had to take any type of academic test.  I graduated 2 years ago with a BS in Electrical Engineering.  I did not enjoy my major, and after I graduated I swore off school.  Taking this simple test made me realize how important it is to exercise your mind.  Just like your body, if you don’t perpetually challenge it, it becomes difficult to engage it when you want or need to.  I was disappointed that I allowed myself get to a point where something not particularly challenging was so difficult to complete.  I have decided I need to challenge myself intellectually on a consistent basis.  I am not sure how or what I want to do, but I will let you know when I figure it out.  

Friday I got up and ran for an hour on the treadmill.  It was just a steady state run.  I did about 10-12 30 second striders.  Striders loosen up my legs and keep me from getting too bored. 

I had given up coffee earlier in the week.  As the days progressed, my headache intensified and my body was achy.  I knew it was not working out that left me feeling less than stellar (I really had not been doing much of that).  The only thing different in my life was the lack of caffeine.  I decided to get back on the coffee wagon, and suddenly I felt great again.  Does that make me an addict??  Oh well, I guess I could be addicted to worse things.

I was scheduled to do a brick that consisted of an hour long fairly intense CT workout, and then a :30 min easy run.  Unfortunately, we do drills every Friday that cut into my afternoon workout time.  When I say drill, I am referring to mock scenarios where we respond to different possible shipboard casualties such as fire and flooding.  The drills take a long time because we do on-scene training followed by debriefs.
 

After the drill I only had an hour to workout.  I got on the CT and did the bike portion of the workout.  Since I only had an hour I pushed it pretty hard.  I had jello legs when I got off the bike.  I call the walk you get after workouts like that the flamingo walk.  Your legs are so tired you have to concentrate and work harder to move your legs.  You end up over exaggerating every move and lifting your legs a lot higher then necessary.  You resemble a bird or a flamingo in my case.  Ok it really makes no sense, but I feel like a flamingo so it makes sense in my head.  After the ride I ate some dinner and then had to take care of some work before heading off to bed.

Saturday was probably one of the best days I have ever had underway.  I got up and completed a :50 min run on the treadmill.  I warmed up for :15 min and then did some single leg hops before I got back on the treadmill.  The main set was 6x2 min on 2 min easy.  The 2 min were at 3-5% incline at 5K pace.  I was tired, but I felt like the workout went well.  I stood my watch, ate some lunch, took a short nap and then did some swim specific strength work.  After that I jumped on the computrainer.  I rode for 2.5 hours and watched ‘The Runner’.  It is a documentary about David Horton, an ultra-runner, who ran the Pacific Crest Trail (trail that runs from Mexico to Canada) in 66 days.  He averaged over 40 miles a day for 66 days.  I can not fathom how someone can run that type of mileage, not to mention on some of the most remote and challenging trails in the US.  I love the documentary.  It is so inspirational.  Every time I watch it I can feel the emotions Dave must have been going through during his bold endeavor.  I felt amazing throughout the entire ride.  I wasn’t going hard, but I did a substantial amount of the ride at 160-170 watts and it felt really easy.  It could have been the great entertainment that put me in a positive mental state to have such a good ride.  Whatever the cause was I’ll take it.  After the ride I put some warm clothes on so I could do an easy :30 min run around the weather decks.  When I went outside I saw that there were a lot of people out on the ice and I had a great idea.  I ran inside and got some snowshoes out of the morale locker.  I had to wear this full body personal flotation device (requirement for going out on the ice) that was extremely restrictive and hot, but I was willing to take the discomfort for the sake of something new.  Down the ice brow I climbed.  I slapped on the snow shoes and went to town.  It was a lot harder than I expected.  The terrain was really uneven and the weather made it difficult to visually see the undulating terrain.  I expected snowshoeing to be aerobic, but it was an intense, chest pounding, quad burning workout.  I eventually found my zone and plodded along.  I did not think through my idea very well.  I wore very few warm items b/c I was so hot from biking.  I had a little ear warming headband on, thin running gloves, and ankle length running socks under my large snow boots.  I had brain freeze from the cold, my hands were numb, and my feet were bleeding from all the movement that was going on inside my boots.  Despite all of this I had an awesome time out there.  I never thought that I would one day be hundreds of miles from land on some random ice floe in the arctic running around with snow shoes on.  Kind of ridiculous, but still a ton of fun.

After the ice run I showered up, ate some good dinner and did a VERY minor amount of work.  I had that serene feeling you get after a really great workout.  That is when I found out I was back on the 0400-0800 watch schedule.  Now I have to go back to erratic sleep patterns.  Besides that small piece of bad news, it was a pretty awesome day. 

Sunday:  I was not surprised that I was not able to sleep last night.  No matter how hard I try to get to bed early, my body just will not let me.  Right as I was falling asleep it was time to get up for watch.  To shake out the cobwebs and get into normal human function mode I made myself a delicious double shot non-fat latte.  One of my random jobs onboard the ship is to manage our ship store.  We sell clothing items, toiletries, and most importantly coffee drinks.  This means I have a key and unlimited access to all the caffeine I could ever need.  I am so very thankful for that.  I am not sure I would have survived all the months I have spent underway if it were not for the Java hut.  Hello my name is Rachel Beckmann and I am a caffeine addict.

I stood my uneventful watch (I do like the peace and quiet of the 0400-0800 watch) ate some breakfast, and then took a LONG nap (I am talking 3 hours).  I finally pulled myself out of my warm happy place and worked out.  I began with :45 min of strength work.  I then got on the CompuTrainer for 2 hours of more spinning.  I finished the workout with two runner core circuits. 

In the evening, the ship held a Mountain film festival.  A compilation of outdoor adventure films were played.  I was only able to stay for a few before I had to hit the hay.  I did get to see an amazing first ascent film and an insane mountain biking film.

Enjoy and I’ll see you next week.  Oh and I owed you a picture from Dutch Harbor.