Friday

Friday – You’re my BEST FRIEND

I love Fridays. Unless you work weekends I can’t imagine why you wouldn’t like/love Fridays. This Friday however I was greeted at the BOOM BOX with SKIN THE CAT….?!?!? really, what the hell is that and with 100 BURPEES for time. I was already trying to sleep in this morning by sleeping through SNOOZE and now I have this insanity to do.

Ends up SKIN THE CAT isn’t so terrifying but something I am not able to do as of yet. It looks so simple but hell if I can do it. Below is a video of what it should look like.

I even hung out after class to attempt this movement more but it just wasn’t happening!

6/22/12 WOD

MetCon: 100 Burpees for time!
Ya ya ya…burpees AGAIN. Not my favorite but I’ve learned that they will always be there and I should just freakin get through them. I started off with a slow pace knowing that I had to do 100 and I didn’t want to burn out and really struggle with the last 50. I thought I even had a decent time of 8:43. I was feeling pretty good UNTIL the 6am class blew me out of the water! It’s good to have goals or ideas of what should be expected. 5am was just hoping to finish with no time in mind. 6am waltzes in and just kills it. I know it’s not a super big deal but sometimes it gets to me. If I had a goal time to shoot for would I be better? NO IDEA cause I am in the first round of the day! I can’t complain though because 5am is the only time I can really go so at least I’m putting in work. Sorry for the little rant, just feeling a little poor poor petrie today! Hahaha.

Moving on!
No baseball, no workouts, no plans! What a weekend this will be! Unless we just turn into couch potatoes and do nothing which won’t be very good. I have a house that needs some serious cleaning but I’d rather be outside PLAYING! So first thing tomorrow I think we’ll be hitting up the Arlington Farmer’s Market. I’ve never been because we always have something going on when it’s open. And I want to get there early before they sell everything and before it gets MELT YOUR FACE OFF HOT. This time I will take pictures because our last adventure to Homestead Farms was a fail in the pic taking dept. If I don’t get pics, blame Ernie, not me!

It’s supposed to be in the 100’s already for all of next week! It just barely officially turned summer and the TEXAS HEAT is here!

Hope y’all have a FAB WEEKEND! Eat Clean, Play outside!

Fun Friday and TREATS!

So I half lied because not all of this morning was a “fun” Friday at the BOOM Box in regards to working out. Today my body was just exhausted and the COLD weather decided to remind us it’s not spring just yet!

3/9/12 WOD

Back Squats and TABATA were on the whiteboard menu today. I was all fine and dandy to take it all on but my damn IT BAND on my left leg which has been pretty quiet and pain free was being WONKY this morning. I blame it on the cold because I haven’t had any problems in a few months. So I couldn’t pull of the weights I need to with Back Squats. I was kind of sad because I know I’ve gotten stronger and today I felt so weak. In the MetCon we had to do jumping lunges and well I could only half ass do those as well. My left knee wasn’t gonna make it to the ground each time. I still worked and TABATAs are always a beating so have no fear, I still got a workout! We did a round of jumping lunges, a round of flutter kicks and the round that counted was DEFICIT Pushups. Both hands are on plates and you go down till your chest hits the ground before you come back up. NO FUN my friends, NO FUN AT ALL. My arms are DEAD from yesterday and now we have to kill them with pushups. I opted out of RX and went to my knees because I’m lame like that. I struggled with those as well 😦 We had to take the lowest amount we completed in the 8 ROUNDs that we completed! Come on NOW. How sucky! My count dropped, and dropped and dropped some more. So after starting out with 13 in 20 seconds, I finished with 8 in 20 seconds. Today was a WEAKSAUCE DAY. Hopefully tomorrow and next week are better 🙂

It's kind of sad looking because 1. I'm no photographer and 2. I'm no frosting professional but it is TASTY!

Now for the FUN part of Friday! Today was Coach’s birthday so I decided to try out a new recipe that I found on Elana’s Pantry website. I test baked and tasted on Wednesday. My first round were a little overcooked. Not bad but not super great. Last nights batches were right on target! These are gluten free and paleo (well if you don’t eat dairy, don’t eat the whipped cream and if you do eat dairy it’s ORGANIC VALLEY so it’s good stuff).

I tripled the recipe for 2 dozen, YUMMO! Coconut Flour, Eggs, Agave, Celtic Sea Salt, Arrowroot Starch, Vanilla, Baking Soda and STRAWBERRIES!

I'm sure if you don't care for strawberries, any berry would do just fine 🙂

Adding the strawberries into the mix.

I'd be happy eating them raw! Hehe, I'm a weirdo, I know.

Voila, Ready to go to the BOOM Box!

The recipe makes 8 cupcakes so I tripled the ingredients to get a whopping 2 dozen to share with the BOOM Box BEASTS! These are kid approved and NON HEALTHY/PALEO eating people approved! One of our 5am guys doesn’t eat anything remotely healthy (or so he claims) enjoyed them so it was great to see that he wanted a dozen for himself! They are tasty and quick to make. The only thing to me was they were more “muffiny” than cupcakey. Which is fine by me. I enjoyed them very much but I just want to be clear so if you make them you can let me know if you felt the same way or if I just plain ol suck at baking them.

You can find the recipe here: http://www.elanaspantry.com/strawberry-cupcakes/

Mine weren’t as BEAUTIFUL as hers are on her site but ah well. I’m a work in progress!

I also made (as suggested) Whipped Cream Frosting. I’m not much of a baker so I have never made my own whipped cream. AND I WISH I HAD KNOWN/LEARNED SOONER on how easy it is to make! To frost 8 cupcakes all you need is 2 TBS of Agave Nectar and 1/2 Cup of Heavy Whipping Cream! I used Organic Valley Heavy Whipping Cream. I’m new to this so to me it was amazing how simple and easy it is to make. You put it in a deep bowl and get a hand mixer and mix away until you get whipped cream. Voila! Done SON! I was quite happy. My kids noted it wasn’t necessary to add whip cream to the cupcakes, they were good as is. I was really surprised. They did like the whipped cream but that’s how great they are, they don’t need the added sweetness 🙂

Anyhow. Hope your Friday turns out to be fun! Even if you have to do something crazy and obnoxious to make someone smile. Make someone else’s day fun too and yours is bound to be super FUN! I know enough with the word FUN! Have a great weekend folks!

She’s ALIVE, STREP THROAT took me DOWN!

Holy Guacamole strep throat brought me down for the past 3 days! I pretty much didn’t get out of bed for those days and I sure as hell wasn’t up to blogging. Plus if I did manage to scrounge up some topic it probably would have eventually led to how miserable I was feeling and who wants to read that crapola!

So it’s FRIDAY and I should be happy cause it’s the weekend tomorrow and it’s MONSTER ENERGY SUPERCROSS! LOL not everyone probably thinks that’s exciting but we pretty much don’t miss it. I’m just blah in general. I think it’s the dreary weather.

And to top off my Friday I don’t have any WODs to post or recipes to share and I’m pretty much boring. I just wanted to check in and let you know I didn’t fall off the grid. I’ll be back to the BOOM BOX on Monday ready to go.

Oh I did make some NON PALEO Valentine-y CAKE POPs and let me tell you I should have left off the “POPs”. Way more work. I thought it would be easier, not so much. But they ended up half ass cute. I learned some lessons for the next time if I do venture to do the cake pops again. I think I’ll just stick with cake balls though.

Beginning the "pop" process with lollipop sticks

Lookin OK except the RED ones... those were looking sad.

I was tired and lazy and this is what we ended up with 😦

Sorry for the LATE Valentine’s day stuff. Happy FRIDAY y’all! I’ll be back at this ol blog thing next week!

Feelin Fine Friday!

Yesterday afternoon and into the evening I wasn’t feeling so fine. My stomach was a grumbling and I was just feeling like crapola. I don’t know if I was fighting some bug that was trying to make a home within me or what. I didn’t eat anything out of the ordinary but I knew I was blah. So instead of coming home and getting to whipping up some fab dinner, I went straight to the couch! I was down and out for a couple of hours but once Ernie got home from the box and we got some fuel I got to feeling a little better. After a semi good night’s sleep I was FEELING MUCH BETTER!

2/10/12 WOD

And today’s WOD was a team effort so good thing I was feeling better. It’s not as OK to let my teammate down. If I let myself down I can deal with it on my own. I don’t like dragging others down though! LOL.

We started off with backsquats. I knocked them out alright but nothing super exciting or beastly. Moving on to the MetCon. Sled pulls and sprints! I’ve expressed how sled pulls and I don’t get along so well. But I figure the shorter distance would be ok. And for the most part it was better than I imagined in my head. But they do take a toll on you. Mel and I finished 3 rounds of sled pulls and sprints in 3:38. I’m thinking we did alright 🙂 But wait there’s more…BONUS ROUND relay.

We lengthened our distance (measurement unknown) and it was so much further than 100 ft! 3-2-1 GO and whaddya know Josh (opposing team) is standing on my sled. I went 3-2-1 NOWHERE! It was funny for a minute, maybe less, heheh as I yelled out I HATE YOU! LOL! I’m not nice! He finally jumped off and I felt I had some good speed. It was the turnaround point where I think my butt fell off and I wondered at what point did this flat parking lot get a hill! Mel and I took the win despite the cheating attempt.

I’m so happy it’s Friday! Tomorrow is a open box FUN DAY Saturday at the BOOM Box. Hopefully we’ll get a good crowd. If you’re in the area come on by to check it out. 9am! www.crossfitboom.com I’ll also be teaming up with my coach for an online WOD competition. I’m sure he’s not to stoked that pullups are part of the WOD and as of right now I don’t have a full on pullup :/ Ruh-roh … Anyone got a magic pullup pill or potion?

Hope y’all enjoy your weekend. Make wise eating choices…. the weekends are the hardest for a lot of us! See ya on MONDAY if I survive the weekend!!!

It’s Friday I’m in Love

TGIF! I never thought this week would end!!!! Yesterday I was declaring a week of SUCK and despite the dreary rain, today has started off really well. I had a better attitude this morning at the box, got out of the house at a decent time and HWY 360 northbound played nicely – Besides the typical work woes… woohooo it’s FRIDAY!

Todays WOD was a lot of legs. Back Squats for skill/strength and Squat Cleans for the MetCon! Yowsers! Much needed break from all the upper body. I was feeling strong in the Back Squats, really focusing on the little things. It was a 5, 5, 5+ session. 100lbs, 110lbs, 115lbs. On my last set though I got stuck at the bottom on my 4th rep. ARGH. I finished with 5 and not +anything. Ah well. I still moved the weight. And I didn’t let it stick with me for the rest of the workout! So that’s an improvement 🙂

MetCon: 2000lbs of Squat Cleans! Say what? So the idea for the MetCon is pick your weight and do reps that add up to 2000lbs. For example if you squat clean 100lbs, you need to push out 20 reps. I chose 70 lbs because I felt that was doable both in weight and reps without being easy and also not becoming impossible. 29 reps was my end goal and I completed it right at 5 minutes. I knocked at 10 pretty quickly. Then proceeded to 5 reps at a time. It wasn’t easy and I was left breathless. I don’t think I’ve ever done that many squat cleans but once I got a good rhythm and better form I felt pretty good about it all. I’ll be feeling it in my lower body later today and all day tomorrow I’m sure! But I finished my BOOM Box week STRONG and less whiny!

Tomorrow is field trip day. The pork belly we ordered is in and I need to go pick it up. Probably will add a few items to the order and take the kiddos along so they get a chance to check it out. Maybe even buy them a couple of burgers as well 🙂 And if I’m on top of it I’ll try to take more pictures! LOL, I’m forgetful as you probably should have figured out by now.

Have a rockin weekend! Push past your limits, go outside your comfort zone, do something new, and have fun!

I’m NO TRACK star but I’m feelin good!

It’s Friday Folks! Can I get a big WOOOOO?!? It’s been a super long week for some reason. But we made it, right?

Like I said yesterday, no meats to cook – Cause I’m a loser slacker forgetful person :/ So I decided on my way home I’d stop by Whole Foods and pick up some fresh items and cook for my Dad since he’s still on the mend. I had gathered up the few things I needed and got in line and low and behold… NO WALLET! I left it in my gym bag! Oh you can only imagine how irritated I became with myself. So I asked if I could write a check because I had my checkbook in my purse. SURE! So I write out the check and she waits for me to hand her my driver’s license. I looked at her and said I wrote down my DL number BECAUSE I DON’T HAVE MY WALLET that has my driver’s license in it along with my money! OH. Sorry I can’t take it then. WELL FREAKIN’ AWESOME, thanks lady! and I just walked away. Petty I know. Nothing to be frazzled over but for a good 15 minutes I let it get to me.

Moving on…. I ended up cooking my dad and kids some steaks he had out (not grassfed 😦 … heheh, I’ve spoiled myself), CANNED spinach (LOL cause he lives off canned veggies, I’m working on getting him transitioned to fresh) and some corn tortillas (he doesn’t quite get PALEO just yet). None the less he enjoyed his steak tacos as did the kids. And of course NO PICS! One day it will be second nature to photograph my stuff, I PROMISE!

1/20/12 WOD

Onto my WOD this morning… a RUNNING day 😦 Talk about fake it till you make it from yesterday! Skill strength was good. I got to really work on breaking down my Clean and Jerk and getting technique developed. So many darn things to remember. I really wish I had lifted previous to knowing what CrossFit was but I guess I wish I had been a gymnast too! Haha good thing about coming in with zero knowledge is that I can really gauge how far I’ve come. It’s great to watch my progress from pretty much nothing.

Our times. We took 3 minute rests in between and that is why the overall time is over 19 minutes.

And then the RUNNING. I did not want to run at all. 600 meters is far! Hahah, well not really but times 4 it is and I don’t like the running. I have not other choice but to suck it up and run. I did get 3 minute rests between which were wonderful and needed and I just re-iterate how much of a whiny baby I really am. I surprised myself with my times. My first run was 2:38. And what do ya know I got better with each run! 2:28, 2:34 and 2:25. Like the post title says I’m NO TRACK STAR at all but I know I used to not be able to run 400m in these times much less 600m. So YES I was feeling good! I’m getting faster and I’m not even trying 🙂 I know I’m trying in overall fitness but I am sure not trying in the running dept. Not intentionally. It’s amazing. Before you know it I’ll have a sub 8 min mile and I may learn to enjoy running….hahah well maybe I’ll get the sub 8 but I don’t think I’ll ever ENJOY running just to run.

It’s Friday y’all! And we have a busy weekend ahead. Ernie and I are volunteering at The Fittest Games down in Austin, TX. It’s the last in a trio of events that some local firebreathers have been competing at. An overall champion will be crowned so it should be a great event to attend. It’s also one of the final BIG events before the CrossFit Games Open. We were thinking it would be fun to watch in general and we figured if we volunteered it would be even better. Hopefully if I’m not too busy I’ll get some cool shots with my handy dandy iPhone and maybe a few stories to share as well. We will also hit up a comedy show tomorrow night because one of our favorite comedians Bill Burr is in town. What perfect timing! We get a nice little road trip, a CrossFit adventure and some good laughs all in the same day. I hope everyone has a GREAT weekend. It should be nice here in the state of Texas. I hope it’s nice everywhere else 🙂

DOWN & OUT FRIDAY

Nothing is worse than getting a poor night of sleep and then hitting your work out early in the A.M. and failing miserably at it. Yes I’m whining and crying. Feel free to move along in your day and come back on Monday where hopefully I’ll be less pathetic.

12/16/11

As you can see on the whiteboard… there is no “STEPH”. I didn’t even make it through my second round of back squats. My HIP, GLUTE and whatever else is in that area is super TIGHT and I just couldn’t get the weight up. So Coach thought it best I sit out on Grace 😦 Rest up, don’t get injured… all good ideas, I just hate feeling weak when I showed up to be strong. It happens I suppose, I just wasn’t expecting for my body to let me down today.

And that’s all I got for ya. All week has been drizzly, rainy and super gloomy …. hopefully with the sun peeking out today I’ll get in better spirits. But for now I am down and out!

Have a great weekend! Remember kids, JUST SAY NO! to grains, sugar and processed junk that your body doesn’t need 🙂 The weekend can be the hardest. Stay Strong.

Words from the Wise