Day 1 of ProTrack.
I would post a picture, but mostly it’d just be of me facedown in my bed giving myself a high five.
Then I ate some dinner, baked some bread, and hung out with almost all of my lovely roommates and that has given me a second pleasant breeze, if not a second wind. Our house is filling up and we’re acquiring furniture (kitchen table and chairs HOORAY!) so it’s starting to feel like a home now and that’s wonderful.
Oh, but right! About today. So let’s see…well actually, on Monday I had orien-no, that’s not true at all. I had nothing on Monday. I had hanging out with my friends and going swimming on Monday. C, N, and I–N came to visit on Friday–we found the best swimming spot! We…
Waaaait a minute.
This is all out of order and if I allow it to continue like this we’re not going to get anywhere. Or if we do, it won’t be pretty. Let’s shake it out and start again from the beginning, shall we?
FRIDAY. Right, let’s start with Friday. (Because obviously that’s how the week starts.) Okay, so on Friday Thursday (we’re starting on Thursday, just kidding) C and I drove up here and started to get the room settled. He was the greatest ever and helped me move things around. And then was patient when at 1 am I went, “NONONO, this isn’t right” and we had to move everything in the room again. And then again Sunday night after Mom and I talked over how to redo the room. (Yay Mom and Dad came to visit!) And then we had to move my bed roughly 7 times ‘cuz it still wasn’t quite right. Anyway, he wins the award for the most patient human being ever, ‘cuz I’m pretty sure I just woulda thrown my hands up and threatened to take away my bed if I couldn’t make up my mind. (Rest assured, everything fits nicely now.)
Then Friday was work study orientation and then that night N came up to visit (YAYYY!) and the three of us ate yummy food and invited some of the other ProTrack girls over to play a game and hang out. Saturday was awesome too: we found the best spot to go swimming. It’s about a 10 minute walk from my house and it’s off of the foundations of an old covered bridge. We figured the jumping spot is maybe a 10 or 11 foot drop down into the river. Yes, it’s super deep, yes we checked before jumping in. So that was good fun, and then (as I began to mention) T, T, C and I went out again on Monday. Playing with friends is the best. 
But let’s put on our business pants and talk some business, eh? Today was my first day! We had a few hours of orientation, which consisted of a lot of scheduling, info on health resources, getting to know the space and that sort of thing. We got a quick walk to the gym that we have a membership to and we started learning about what the community norms of the space are, so that’s good. We have a proper orientation to the gym later (I scheduled mine for tomorrow).
Then we got to do our physical assessments! I’m pretty pleased with how it went. Felt pretty on par with what I can normally do, so I think it’s a good honest baseline. It’ll be fun to track my progress through the year, though. I’m also going to try and track my conditioning constantly in my training journal. Anyway, tomorrow I’m going to my work study orientation, then to orientation at the gym, and then Members Only studio training time. (Like an open gym.) Updates to come!
Conditioning (or rather, skill assessment):
-5.5 pull ups (perfect form, if I do say so myself)
-1 pull over (didn’t pull up first, just levered)
-3 minute wall sit (like you’re sitting in an invisible chair, but with your back against the wall. Works your thighs like woaah.)
-2:30 min handstand against a wall
-4 hand-over-hands in a pike climb (sit on a mat with your feet out in front. Hold that position as you climb a rope/silks with just your arms)
-2 silks/rope climbs in 1 minute
-12 plank to hollow body splats. (I know what you’re thinking. “?!!??” I know, right? Okay, so you get into push up position with your toes pointed so the tops of your feet are on the ground. Then you sliiiiiiiiiiiiiide back as slowly as you can keeping a tight hollow body position until you hit the ground, like a slow-mo belly flop. It’s a vicious ab thing.)
Flexibility:
-pike (sitting): wrists to toes, palms flat against the bottom of my feet.
-pike (standing): palms flat, elbows softly bent, but mostly straightish
-bridge: (distance between feet & hands) 18″
-bridge: (distance between feet & hands, but with legs straight and together) 4′
-straddle against a wall: 3″ away from the wall, I think? Something close to that
-straddle, leaning forward: flat, belly on the ground
-shoulder flexibility (standing w/back flat against wall, raise arms up, palms facing each other over your head): wrists on wall
-right split: 4.5″ from the ground
-left split: 2″(I think? Or 1.5″?) from the ground
Sounds like a great beginning for an exciting year with the support of friends and family! Go for it. Love, Dad