What else is new? Box jumps!

Yes, box jumps, of course!
It's been just over 2 weeks since I first incorporated them in my leg workout.
Also an occasion to remember: When I first changed to this new gym, McFit, back in 2012, I was in workout-paradise, it was such an enormous improvement compared to my old gym which was really crappy but where I had wasted way too many years without ever making it to pro level then.
Yet still, McFit was nowhere as good then as it is now, it got some makeovers & new equipment over the years, and that box has been there for a year at most.

Time to count my blessings. I got to talk to one of the trainers lately, mentioning my new box jumps, and he said he can't do such functional stuff, especially involving jumping, because his knee caps are too mobile due to the ligaments in his knees being too loose. It's a genetic thing, the guy is about the same age as myself, in fact I think he's 28, not old at all. He also said running isn't for him for this reason. But he's a bodybuilder, unlike myself, and apparently quite happy with that.

Well, I'm usually being labeled a bodybuilder because I'm extremely muscular for a girl, and I don't mind being labeled that. But in a strict sense it's not what I am, because bodybuilders work out for mainly cosmetic results, with the goal of growing their muscles as much as possible.
Myself I'm a warrior, I work out for strength, speed, and general agility and physical prowess. I'm interested in what I can do with my body, not so much what it looks like. And for that reason it would be really, really disastrous to me if I couldn't do such things as the box jumps.

Today was leg day and I did them again - an exercise I really, really like to do!
What you do is, you can take a little run-up, then you jump with both feet simultaneously first right in front of the box and then onto the box. With both feet at once - else it would be easy!
I was at first a bit intimidated by the height of the box. You can tip it over onto its lower side, which I did in the start (and still do for a warm-up set), so it's just about knee height (I'd think ~18''). On its higher side it's just above knee height, about 22''.
The first time around it took me a while to work up the confidence to jump onto the 22 inch box. We also got a little metal platform that can be adjusted to various different heights,and in its highest position it's just about an inch lower than the box, so I did that first, yet still the box seemed more daunting. Eventually I did it though, and so I'm quite proud of this new conquest.

After mud battle :D

And this is my legs after running. Latest time: 12K in 63 minutes - sounds slow, but it's up into the hills, including very steep parts, and obviously some difficult terrain (mud, puddles, fallen trees across the trail, etc.).

Also, on Friday my new laptop arrived. I hope I'll finally be able to make videos, use Skype, and other stuff that can't be done anymore with my PC. But for now I can't even start it - because it comes from the UK and therefore requires an adapter for the power plug to use in Germany. I ordered such an adapter too, but that hasn't arrived yet. Couldn't have bought a German laptop because the operating system would be in German then. In some you can choose the language, but those are not under € 400.
I hope I'll get this one going in the course of the coming week!

I made this a few days ago, with blue goldstone beads.