Comin' Round the Mountain...Again

Living on a sacred mountain for 10 days has had some interesting and unexpected impacts upon my sense of self–expectedly–but also on my body, body composition. Given I am finally feeling re-settled into my weekly/daily rhythms from the experience (nearly two weeks later now), it seems time for a little musing on what I’m learning on the CrossFit way, embodied dedication, etc.

Most significantly, my 56-year-old body was quite prepared for the rigors of primitive camping in community, with a base-camp and then three days ‘solo’ on the mountain. I’ve not lived on the land quite like this before, to be honest, so I learned a lot. I loved being reminded I am a mammal, like other mammals. Bodily waste is natural, normal, if needing coordination when camping in a community. Enter The Pooper (also know as The Shitter), the latrine trench dug a good 200 feet from any of us and the basecamp kitchen area. Covered up and buried upon our departure. But my body was so very well prepared. I loved picking out the site for my tent held gently between three juniper trees. I learned how to set up a diamond-shape-tied tarp, so I could sleep outside of my tent, in awe of all the stars. And I knew how to fuel and how to navigate uneven terrain for days on end. Functional fitness, to be sure.

It was heavenly to return to my family, my home, of course. Hot showers, familiarity, celebrations and listenings for all that wanted to be shared. What was interesting was the change in my body composition. Getting out of the shower, I noticed. I felt much leaner, trimmer, curious. I pursued more info with an InBody scan and voila! I was trimmer, leaner. I was nearly six pounds of fat lighter, same muscle composition, better metabolic rate. Interesting. I hadn’t even tried to monitor food intake that closely. There were two guide-assistants who were making our breakfast and dinners each day, creating remarkable feasts out of a camp-kitchen. I noted how focused they were on clean oils, proteins, fresh veggies, even living in the rough. So I just fueled as felt “enough.” Little sugar. No alcohol. Lots of fluids.

My guess? My body burnt a whole lot more keeping me warm every night. It sometimes dropped into the low 30’s, which meant I slept in layers, in a down sleeping bag, and I was cozy. But I think my body must have been working to insure I was cozy! There was also a three-day fast in the middle of the journey–a wilderness fast, it’s sometimes called, for a vision-quest. I wasn’t particularly stressed by the three days of it, though breaking the fast gently with water-forward foods was marvelous: miso-broth with vegetables, fruit, carrots and celery, hard-boiled eggs, stewed prunes, sauerkraut. My body adapted beautifully to communal clean-enough eating, then the three day fast, then the gentle, celebratory return. The last night of mashed potatoes and lamb stew was awesome. I’m still amazed at how the leadership sorted out how to cook for us all as they did. Expertise.

I didn’t enter into the CrossFit rhythms again until the Thursday after the Sunday I returned. I recognized my body was tired, wearied from all I had labored in, so just took each day slowly, with curiosity for what felt fun, doable. The Peloton was a gentle return to movement, heightened heart-rate, then even a sprints-intervals session I try to do weekly with Christine d’Ercole. Entering back into my CF box four days in was timely though. It felt good to move again, like that.

And today, after a good week of CF rhythms, I think I PR’d my Clean & Jerk (#120)! The week’s WODs have been well varied, which has felt good. An engine-burner on Monday (running, skiing), a deadlift ‘test’ (#220, close to recent post-injury PR, but wisely refrained) with two AMRAPs of DB deadlifts, bench press, jump rope, and box step-ups/box jumps. Actually took a rest day on Wednesday, feeling great for return to today’s C&J ‘test’ and a 10 min EMOM of T2B and push press. Missing the rig, I wondered whether I might be ready to try knee-raises again, but after 10 reps in the first round, my deltoid said NO. Okay. Alternating V-Ups then.

This week also felt like an invitation to return to an intermittent fasting (IF) kind of rhythm, though perhaps more accurate simply to say a “short eating-window on Wednesdays, pre-workout” weekly, for a while. I had forgotten the clarity and focus that come with fasting, which I then remembered on the Mountain. Fasting on Wednesdays, when Brian works evenings anyway, feels inviting. Dr. Stacy Sims makes a huge argument against intermittent fasting for active women, and I take her points well. And…I like the discipline of fasting for sacred purpose–clarity, focus, release of impulses or cravings for one day a week. There is research about the jumpstart it provides for metabolic rate, or so I vaguely recall…? Either way, “shorter eating window on Wednesdays” feels like a good practice for me, for a while. The fact that it gets me out of some always-on-Wednesday United community meals that are rarely clean-eating or attentive to dietary cautions? Added bonus.

So I’m comin’ around the mountain again–closer to the maintenance weight I like, exploring a bit of IF for a short while, reconsidering whether I want to have any PT input into my deltoid pain. My box is hosting the Festivus/TRU Challenge event a week from Saturday, so I hope to show up to staff/help, as needed. There is a silly event they/we do (apparently) called the Red Cup on November 8th. Beer Olympics–or whatever beverage you choose–red cups provided. Seltzer for me, probably, which will at least give me that same level of hiccups and burps from Beer Olympics days of old.

I’m blessed with all I get to do, with all it allowed me to experience on the Sacred Mountain. I’ll be listening for what, if any, fitness aims invite in the weeks to come.