Evil Wheels

Handstands Holds, KB Holds and Running

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Before I get into the details of my workout let me just say: The workout was great! So much fun. I loved it. All you CrossFit Boom Box-mates will be so happy you went! You can stop reading now if you attend CrossFit Boom. (that’s for you Briggs :D)

For the rest of the world. I will say if I had known what the workout was when I woke up, I probably would have set a new alarm and would have gone back to bed. But maybe not.

Running-isnt-easy

It’s not ground breaking news that I despise running. I find no joy, peace, comfort, etc. in running. I’ve tried to find an ounce of happiness in taking a jog or what have you and I find nothing. I know there are days that a RUN will be part of the scheduled workout and most days I still show up even though I don’t like it. And today’s WOD had running. And it’s cold outside. Bleh. Coach made it a “team” WOD. Maybe to motivate some of us but for me, well, I feel bad for my partner. That’s sad, isn’t it?

Midline: 30 evil wheels
These may be the longest reps ever. It takes way too long to complete 30 and I felt I was staying at a consistent pace.

Strength: Handstand hold 5 max effort times rest 2 min
I know, you are tired of hearing about the “wrist” but it is what it is and the wrist is feeling better. The pain migrated to my palm for the most part and although I do feel tightness and sometimes pain, overall still feeling better. So much better that I wanted to get into that handstand that I have been forced to avoid for so long. It was a little scary, not knowing if I could bare my weight on it but after a few moments of being SCARED, I finally did it. Whew! My holds were only about 2 to 5 seconds because it is weaksauce but it’s progress! Woohooo! Now if I could just clean some heavy weight.

3/5/14 WOD

3/5/14 WOD

Metcon: Team WOD 4 rounds as a team
Athlete 1 runs 400m and Athlete 2 holds a KB over head 2/1.5 Pood. Every time you drop the kb before your partner tags you in your team runs 200m together at the end.

And here is where I feel sorry for my partner. We were odd numbered so Coach T jumped in to be my partner. 2 POOD is a lot to hold over head for long periods of time. And yes I know 400m shouldn’t be a long period of time. But there are some factors to think about. 1. I suck at running. 2. I’m slow 3. I get worse as time goes on. So ya, a fast person might run 400 in a minute or less. An average person will fall under 2 minutes. Me? I’m over 2 minutes and then slower as more laps are added.

I started with the run to let Coach T be fresh for the first KB hold. It was smart. I was slow. 2:22 I think for my first 400m. I didn’t dare go 1.5 pood. That was crazy heavy to HOLD overhead. I went weaksauce again and just held the 25lb KB. Fortunately I did not drop the KB. Unfortunately, Coach T did so we had to run an EXTRA 800m. How’s that for fun? All cause I’m so freakin slow. Time: 8:09 with 4 drops. Doh!

In other news
PRETTY MUDDY RACE GIVEAWAY WINNER

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Sadly, I only had one entry. And so by default, she is a WINNER which makes me happy because she is a Mud Run, 5K, trail running JUNKIE! The total opposite of yours truly. So Marbella, CONGRATS. I will be emailing you a coupon code specific to the Family Wave for the Dallas event on April 26th! Yayayaya! Thank you for entering.

If for some reason you’ve been living under a rock and missed the giveaway you can still utilize the coupon code GIRLSGONESPORTY for $5 off your race entry. Thank you GIRLS GONE SPORTY and PRETTY MUDDY!

That’s a wrap!
So where are you all in your health and fitness goals? Are you floundering like I am right now? Are you on point? Are you telling yourself next week? Next month? Are you justifying that you have time because your vacation is in AUGUST (like me). Well stop thinking about it and just DO IT. Get on track. Get moving. Get to eating clean. You (and I) will feel so much better! Happy Wednesday!

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Can’t Stop Now

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It’s Day TEN of the Whole30. I am 1/3 of the way there and I’m still truckin’ along. And it’s a ROLLERCOASTER of emotions! Days TEN and ELEVEN are described as the ‘hardest days’. Yay for that, right? NO, not at all.

I’m really at a loss for words on how I feel. I don’t feel bad but I don’t feel super awesome at this moment. I’m doing the work, eating the foods but I’m just so blah. I’m definitely proud of myself for being strong for the past 10 days but I’m losing steam fast. I need a recharge. I have 20 days to go!

1/14/14 Lunch

1/14/14 Lunch

My food is still tasty and yummy but again losing the excitement! I definitely don’t want to become humdrum when it comes to my meals. Since we decided to do the pork recipe again, I’ve been slacking on making the sides for Week 2 from Weeknight Paleo. Until last night, which I was interested in making because I would be using Parsnips and Turnips. Turns out I DO NOT LIKE either one. So not my flavor pallet and now I have 3 containers full of root veggies I am not happy with. Part of me says suck it up and EAT IT but last night was a struggle. I was so over it, I didn’t even take a picture. How do I make roasted turnips and parsnips into a winning meal? Maybe Ernie will eat them all 😀

Turnips! Bleh!

Turnips! Bleh!

Two Days of BOOM Box
1/14/14
50 heavy Russian swings
Coach left it up to us to pick our own version of HEAVY. But we all know we need to still pick up his version of heavy! 1 1/2 POOD. I was very low energy last night and was not having much fun with these KB swings. I did 20 right off the bat and then broke it up.

Midline: Max Plank Hold (Everyone must accumulate at least 5 minutes)
Ugh. Planks are a pain in the arse. I held for 1 1/2 minutes before dropping and pretty much held the rest of the 5 minutes owed in increments of 30 seconds to 45 seconds. I’m not good with long holds of any kind.

1/14/14 WOD

1/14/14 WOD

MetCon: 800m run, 21-15-9 of Ring Dips and Strict Pull Ups,  200m sprint!
Oh for the love. You all know I despise running. It’s the worst. But GUESS WHAT? I trotted the whole 800m without walking or stopping!!! I ran it UNBROKEN. I haven’t done that in over a year! Mostly cause I’m a big baby, but also cause I’m just a little fatty who eats like shit! But now, with 9 days of Whole30 under my belt, I’m just a trottin’ away. I even got a little faster on my second lap! But my calves were smoked. Instead of RING DIPS, I was tasked with incline pushups on a bar set on the pull up rig. At first I was a little slow. Not sure my wrist would hold up but once I got comfortable I moved a little quicker. Pull Ups were super slow and took forever! I never thought I’d finish the 21, and that’s with BANDS! If it weren’t for me sucking at Pull Ups so bad I would have had a much better time. When it was time for the 200m SPRINT, it was more like a jog, walk, trot, walk, trot to the finish. Time: 24:32. Boy I’m slow!

1/15/14
I was really debating on showing up at 5 a.m. I laid in bed and had an internal conversation/argument with myself. My body is tired. My brain is awake. It’s cold outside. I could use another 1 1/2 hours of sleep. GET UP. GET MOVING. JUST GO. I should have played THE GRIND. I’ve shared this before but it’s just so darn good. Here it is again:

So I went and the parking lot is EMPTY. Where are my 5 a.m. peeps? Hellooo? So it’s just me and Coach T.

Midline: 30 evil wheels
Now that I have more faith in my wrist, I can roll out a little further. Not so evil today!

Strength: DL 4×3 Heavy but make it look good.
I worked my way up to 185lbs for my HEAVY. This shouldn’t be heavy to me because my 1RM is 235lbs. But today it was heavy. I was telling coach, that it’s not that I don’t think I can go heavier, but my HANDS hurt so bad. Just holding onto the bar with 150lbs hurts my sad old hands. Anyhow 4 sets of 3 at 185lbs was just fine for this morning.

1/15/14 WOD

1/15/14 WOD

MetCon: 4 min elimination (like 13.5) 3 rounds 30 Air Squats 10 Burpees If you don’t make the first cap you owe your coach 400m run on the spot. Go for as long as you can! DU Practice if time remains.
I knew coming in this would be deceiving. It’s easy movements but it won’t be an easy workout. I just didn’t want to run, at all. And it’s cold outside. 3-2-1 GO! Bam I did the first round in 1:07. I thought I could get get under a minute but on my 7th burpee I slowed down. Not good. Got up for the second round and the Air Squats felt like I was in QUICKSAND, no wait, CEMENT! I couldn’t just GO. I was struggling. I slowed down too much. As for Burpees, forget about it. Those were so bad. Time was ticking. I go for Round 3, look at the clock and was like, crap I have to run. I managed to get in 20 Air Squats before the 4 minutes was up and off I went. Boooo! Final: 2 rounds + 20 squats. That was a poor showing indeed.

That’s a Wrap!
Still excited it’s Day TEN and I’m going strong. Emotionally I may not be feeling it but I’ll get there. Soon Enough! In other news, I have a giveaway coming up soon! Paleo Parents is releasing a new book called 3Phase Paleo.

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I am in the middle of reading it myself, but when I’m done, I’ll be reviewing it here on my good ol’ blog and I’ll hosting a giveaway to one of you!

It’s Hump Day! Make it a good one!

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Love/Hate CrossFit

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve read articles bashing CrossFit and articles praising CrossFit. And everything in between.

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I’m pretty sure a lot of the CrossFit haters have never even attended an event or walked into a box. And maybe the few that have ran with the wrong folks. But on the flipside a lot of the CrossFit die hards are badass mofo’s that are so elite, I can only wish to be like them. They are those beautiful bodied people. The kind of people that belong in magazines. They are never average joe’s such as myself – With lots of flaws and lots of weaknesses. A few months ago, I wrote a post on Why I (still) CrossFit. I wish I was more “popular” in the blog world because I think my experience and who I am caters more to the AVERAGE person who is just looking for an active and healthy lifestyle but may never grace the covers of magazines.

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Truly, if you need/want a great EVERYTHING workout and you want a supportive community then CrossFit is something you should check out. There are lots of people out there with goals and a group is out there for every walk of life, but I really believe that the community I have found is one that is solid and that keeps growing. You can have so many different types of people connect on the same level even if you aren’t on the same physical level. Sure you’re gonna see silliness and sure you may see some instances of absolute ridiculousness, but as a competent human being you should be able to discern good coaching over poor coaching. Click here for what you should look for in a good box.

If the group thing isn’t your cup of tea, you can do CrossFit anywhere. But for me, I like sharing my success and failures with those who are learning and growing with me. Some folks have flown right by me, but are still there in support, cheering on to the last rep and some folks commiserate with me as we work towards our sometimes lofty goals.

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Regardless of what our goals are, or where you are at on your health journey, I believe that you gotta do something that works for you. But if you’re gonna bash CrossFit, you better have participated. And if you’ve read someone’s love for CrossFit but are intimidated because they have beyond the 6 pack abs, just know it’s not all about outrageous workouts or insanely perfect people. There’s a lot of people similar to me. The girl next door. Or in my case the mom next door.

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11/13 – 11/14 WODs
My body hates me, For real! Everything hurts. I told myself on Tuesday when I finally hit up the BOOM Box after a tiny hiatus that I would go Tu/Th and then baby step my way back into everything. I’m still a wounded birdy so I’m still limited. But by last night, I was so achy that I knew I had to WORK the soreness out. I was glad I did but I wasn’t sure if my bed would keep me hostage or if I would be able to walk this morning. I set my alarm anyways. Barely by the hair on my chiny chin chin did I make it in. Only to find out I’d be the lone ranger today.

It’s been cold in the mornings and it takes a while to get these old bones ready to go. My ankles, hips and shoulders are sooooo tight. And well everything else is sore.

11/13/13
Strength: Max distance sled pull in 30 seconds x3 3plates/2plates
Well it was still cold at 7pm but probably not near as cold as 5am! I have never like sled pushes, sled pulls, sled anything! And as refreshing as cool air can be, it can also burn your lungs. Whew it was bittersweet. In 30 seconds, my first and best run was for 220 yds. After that I got close but my butt was on fire! That pretty much felt like that was all the workout I needed. Time to go home.

11/13/13 WOD

11/13/13 WOD

MetCon: 3 min EMOM of 5 Box Jumps, 10 Push Ups, 15 Air Squats; 5 min EMOM 2 Power Cleans 225/135; 3 min EMOM 5 Box Jumps, 10 Push Ups, 15 Air Squats
But we had 11 whole minutes more of MetCon to complete. While 11 minutes doesn’t sound like a long time, why don’t you do the above work. I was barely finishing the reps in the minute. I’d get 5-10 seconds of rest and then bam, start again. No I can’t do Push Ups right now so I did Hollow Rocks. And to substitute for Power Cleans, I did Deadlifts. I completed all my rounds, but some of them were too close for comfort.

11/14/13
Lone ranger this morning! Boooooo! Who knows I may have had the best time. Ok really, I know I didn’t but one can hope.

Midline: 30 evil wheels
Not knowing what my wrist is capable of is scary. Just nerve-racking. I realized I could do 30 evil wheels, damn it! My abs will be dead in the morning.

Strength: Strict Press 5,5,5
This a no go so I did rows. I didn’t do too much weight. Started at 65lbs and ended at 80lbs. It did feel good to work my back vs. LEGS. Even though squatting is the best and deadlifting is nice… sometimes the lower body needs a break!

11/14/13 WOD

11/14/13 WOD

MetCon: 5 rounds of 10 Burpees, 20 Lunges and 25 Double Unders
Ya, not bad for 1 round. 5 rounds is a different story. Remember folks you want to kill this workout As Fast As Possible. To substitute for Burpees I did GHD situps. I thought the time it would take to get up and down from the GHD would hinder me, but who am I kidding, Burpees would hinder me just as much. The lunges were killer. Halfway through each round, my hips would just ignite and burn soooo bad. I just had to chip away and put that pain elsewhere. DUs weren’t too bad. I’d be so close to getting unbroken each time but would trip up close to 20. Doh! So frustrating. Time: 9:26

The End
That’s a little bit of everything don’t ya think? It’s almost the weekend y’all. Smile and be happy! Get active, eat clean, sleep and as always be AWESOME!

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