Miss me?

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Eh, probably breathing a sigh of relief I’m not complaining every dog gone day. It’s true, I’ve been a slacker when it comes to getting out of bed or finding the motivation to show up at the Boom Box. That’s bad on me, cause I was doing so well.

Just so y’all know, as much as I like to whine and cry about each and every WOD, I am no cherry picker. I finally show up at the box knowing full well what’s in store and even though, 99.5% of me says stay home. That sick twisted .5% says stop mopin’ around and go. And what awaited me last night?

3/11/14 WOD
Gymnastics WOD: for quality 3 rounds 10 strict Toes to Bar or Jack Knife Sit Ups and 10 strict Ring Dips or Push Ups
I laugh at strict T2B. I barely have kipping ones! But I can do me some Jack Knife Sit Ups. Something about hanging from a bar that messes up my world. As far as Push Ups, I get so used to doing hand release that I forget what STANDARD Push Ups are. I can do a handful at a time, but it puts a strain on the shoulders.

3/11/14 WOD

3/11/14 WOD

MetCon: 5 rounds Run 800 meters 15 Clean and Jerks 135/95
Oh ya. You know I’m crying on the inside. But first off, I had to test that Clean and Jerk. So the bar was good. I could feel the tightness in the wrist but I could do the movement. I didn’t want to get too excited or push too fast, so I loaded 10’s on the bar and BAM I could do that weight too. But I could feel the tightness. So I stayed there. No need to aggravate the healing process. Plus I need to regain that flexibility. My elbows were a little low but I could do the work comfortably. Yay for Clean and Jerks! Booo for running! My first run was slow but steady. I didn’t walk or anything! Woo, me. But the rest were slow and half walk, half trot, a little jog, etc. For me the Clean and Jerks were light but again, no need to push the wrist too much. And by the 4th and 5th round after all the running, I was losing steam fast. This workout was a doozy. Time: 40:21, womp, womp.

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3/12/14
30 Heavy Russian swings
Only did 1.5 pood. Cause I’m lazy and didn’t want to pick up the 2 POOD.

Midline: Max plank hold
I’ve never been great at this, mostly cause I think too much on how I don’t like holding planks. Time: 1:33

Strength: Max weight Yoke carry 50 ft
It was cold and windy this morning. I was not wanting to do this carry. We loaded up 2 – 25lb plates, not too bad. But I can not hold the Yoke like I’m supposed to. It hurted the shoulders way too bad. So I carry it awkwardly. Add 2 – 15lb plates. Same awkward carry. Then we add another set of 15lb plates. I can carry it but they way my arms are, SUCKS, so the Yoke slides off my back a little over halfway. I was over it.

3/12/14 WOD

3/12/14 WOD

TABATA: Row (cal) and Burpees, post lowest reps
Well I started with the row and managed 4 calories for 6 of the 8 rounds, then on my 7th round let it drop to 3. Booo. Score: 3

My hips were smoked for Burpees and I had sweatpants on that were irritating me so I wasted my time taking off my sweatpants. Boo. Score: 2

That’s a Wrap!
So I’m glad I had back to back workouts. I needed to feel good about working out again. It’s funny how my most dreaded workouts (running involved) still make me feel awesome. I just get mental and lazy, I’m human. You are too. So don’t get all debbie downer when things don’t go right. Just get your focus back and get back to work. A friend of mine tagged me in the pic below and it’s so on point!

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I’m Squatted Out

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After two days of (heavy) Back Squats and Front Squats, I can squat no more. My legs are J-E-L-L-O! As much as I know how great squats are for you I do hope we are done for the week at the BOOM Box.

As for my wrist, it’s still a pain in the buttocks but it is what it is, right?

As far as the BOOM Box, instead of having my poor poor petri moments, I sucked it up and showed up last night and this morning. I just gotta push through and modify where I need to modify. I still have the work weight loss competition and WODAPALOOZA is a month and a half away.

10/22/13
Midline: 100 situps
It’s situps. Wooooo. Not sure how long it took me but I was chatty so I took some breaks :/

Strength: Press 3,3,3,3,3
Wasn’t sure how this would go with the hurt chicken wing but as long as I held my wrist vertical without letting the bar roll back, LIKE I ALWAYS DO, it was fine at lighter weights. Got to my max weight and I just couldn’t do it. So I dropped back down to 65lbs and finished it out.

MetCon: 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 Front Squat (185,135) 5-10-15-20-25-30-35-40-45-50 Lateral bar jumps
My legs are still smoked from the Back Squats on Monday. And I know I can’t do 135lbs for that many reps. My 1RM is 155 which is nice and all but 135 is still heavy. The idea was to Clean the weight. But that’s a no go for me. I tried to Zombie it out but I wasn’t comfortable.

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Example of a “zombie” front squat 😀

So I Frankensteined it and still struggled but managed to complete the reps at 85lbs.

Heheh Arnold showing you what I call a "frankenstein" front squat.

Heheh Arnold showing you what I call a “frankenstein” front squat.

The killer part was the Lateral Bar Jumps. We had to do 10 Front Squats, then 5 Lateral Bar Jumps, 9 Front Squats, 10 Lateral Bar Jumps, etc. After the 30 lateral jump mark, I was just smoked. I’d do 5 at time, 10 at a time, etc. And the Squats got easier. Damn those JUMPS! Time: 22:25

10/22/13 WOD

10/22/13 WOD

10/23/13
Midline: 30 russian Kettle Bell swings heavy
We sure are doing a lot of MIDLINE lately. I guess it’s good for me, right? The other day I used the baby 26lb KB because I didn’t want to wait for the second heat. Today I warmed up with the baby KB, then tried out the 35lb then went ahead and did the 53lb KB for the 30 reps. Boy did my back feel that. All the dang squats we’ve done. And me losing some form on Monday and my back is tired!

Strength: 10 min EMOM 5 Power Cleans 165/115
More stuff I can’t do and I LOVE Power Cleans! Ah well. I went with Deadlifts at the same weight. My grip is sucky but I didn’t have any other problems than that.

10/23/13 WOD

10/23/13 WOD

Conditioning: 3 rounds yoke push 100ft (yoke + 140/100lbs) sprint 200m rest as needed
When I was crusty eyed this morning I failed to see the 100lbs part of the YOKE push. Seriously. I have a hard enough time pushing the darn thing with NO weight on it. Coach T asked if I wanted to try it with 50lbs first. I said eh, I better try with 100lbs and if I can’t then I’ll drop to 50lbs. Surprisingly, I started pushing well. SLOW, but the thing was moving. I stopped several times after my big initial push but I made it to the cone and took off running. That took me about 4 minutes. My 2nd Yoke push would now be uphill and I really wasn’t sure if I’d move it this time around. But I did! WAY slower than the first one but it was moving. Talk about calves and lungs wanting to explode! That round took me 4:35. Still not bad considering how long my rests were on the yoke push. At one point, I even compared all my “pushing” to giving labor! Not even remotely close to the same kind of pain. But pushing with the same kind of gusto. For the third round, I was fully prepared to practice my non existent telekinesis. Maybe my brain would just move the Yoke. Sadly, I still have zero superpowers so I had to push it. For some reason it seemed lighter and I went much further on my initial heave ho. Took off on my trot and finished in 3:43! How’s that for being AWESOME?!?

In other news
You know I’m always rambling on about quitting with the excuses and just get moving. And maybe you recall me talking about walking around our building here at work with one of my co-workers. Maybe? Maybe not!

What I’m trying to get at is that any little activity is better than no activity at all. Sure I LOVE the CrossFit and will probably always love the CrossFit but I enjoy doing other things as well. And maybe you’re aren’t confident in doing too many things but if you can just take a lap around your neighborhood, then you are one step closer to a healthier you. You may start off slow but that’s ok. You will pick up the pace. We measured one lap around our building is .33 miles. When we first started we were taking well over 9:30 minutes. Now just a few weeks later we are at 8:10 minutes. My co-worker doesn’t live the most active lifestyle but with baby steps we’ll get there and sure enough progress is progress!

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We decided to take our lunch to some local walking trails yesterday. Not only was it a great mental break, we got some movement in too!

I did a quick search on the interwebs and mayoclinic.com lists some benefits for brisk walking:

  • Maintain a healthy weight
  • Prevent or manage various conditions, including heart disease, high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes
  • Strengthen your bones
  • Lift your mood
  • Improve your balance and coordination

So there you have it. Before you know it, you’ll be running, hitting up your local gym or even trying out CrossFit! Be a healthier you! It’s worth it, I promise ツ

And that’s all for today! Get moving. Eat clean. Enjoy life. And of course be Aaaawwweeesssooommmmeee!

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Get UP and Get it DONE

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In all my boo-hooing, up and down roller coaster of a fitness journey, the fact of the matter is that 95% of the time, maybe more, I SHOW UP. I do the work. I strive for better. I’m proud of myself for doing just that. I’m not perfect and it’s hard to NOT want to be perfect when it seems like so many other people out there have it figured out. They probably don’t, but it appears that way to me and I’m so far off the mark and sometimes I let that get to me. I’m learning not to do that but it’s hard.

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I’m just a small fleck in the fitness universe. A pixel in the blogosphere and just a mere mortal to all others. I have no superpowers or special skills. I’m a 35 year old woman. A mom who isn’t sure she always does the right things for her kids but does her best to make it work. A girl, yes, there is a uncertain little girl in me that wants the world but is scared. Scared of what, she’s not sure but the fear is there. But in the end, I’m a person who is just trying to live healthy. To be strong – physically and emotionally.

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To be someone my kids can look up to. To be an inspiration to others who want the same things. And I hope that when it’s all said and done, all you folks that do follow along get that. That you all truly understand this is my small space in the world for me to cry, rant, rave, laugh, goof off, do whatever. I’m not the next CrossFit Games Athlete. I’m not your next fitness superstar. Just a girl!

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Today this girl (slightly inspired by Biggest Loser) has decided to push through, to get the work done and just be the best I can in each moment that I can. Will I always be that? HELL NO. It’s hard as hell. It’s so much easier to be half ass. It’s easy to just not put the effort but I’m gonna try so much harder than I ever tried before.

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I think that with that mindset it helped me get through the BOOM Box this morning. Cause guess what? It was the BOOM BOX’s FILTHY FIFTY and it was downright dirty. I’ve never participated in this and it’s been over a year since I started CrossFit-ing. Here we go!

50 Box Jumps
50 Jumping pull-ups
50 Kettlebell swings, 1 pood
Walking Lunge, 50 steps
50 Knees to elbows
50 Push press, 45/35#
50 Hip extensions with green band
50 Wall ball shots, 20/14#
50 Burpees
50 Double Unders

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So I somehow hit snooze twice, ALMOST didn’t get up. But on the third time my alarm went off, had no idea! I see the clock and go OH SHIT. I’m LATE! It’s 4:47. Uh I need to be leaving at that time. Not just now brushing my teeth! UGH. I didn’t even know the WOD. Double UGH when I saw it. Go BACK TO BED STEPHANIE! Find your happy place. SLEEP! No, Get dressed and go. You’ll be late but go. And that I was, but only like 5 minutes late. I was GONE and in a hurry. I still had plenty of time to warm up and I was wide awake by then. We went over all the movements and set up our areas. It was go time and it was better attitude time and it was don’t worry about the work ahead just knock out the reps.

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Box Jumps kind of hurt this morning. It was cold and all of a sudden I didn’t feel warmed up but it didn’t take long. I really struggled with the first 15 though. After that I just knocked them out in sets of 5. I really didn’t have negative self talk or poor expectations. Surprisingly I don’t think I’ve ever done Jumping Pull Ups either so i had nothing to reference. Those weren’t so bad. I busted out 10, then 5, then random numbers but always more than 5. Done! Kettlebell swings – overhead. I was a little tired and the KB was a little cold. I typically can do this unbroken but today not so much. I did 15, 10, 5, 5, 10. I wasn’t happy with that but it happened that way. Walking Lunges is where I thought I would fall apart. My hips were burning around 30 lunges in. And negative self talk started creeping in because I knew Wall Balls were coming up and coming soon! UGH.

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Thankfully Knees to Elbows, which in my case was just get Knees UP took my focus off the Wall Balls. I was actually looking forward to the Push Press and knocked out 30 and then realized this is burning. I put the bar down, rested for like 10 seconds then did 10 more, rested again, then finished. We only have one GHD so we did hip extensions with a band. You step on the band, put head through band and up and down you go like a Good Morning without the bar. This was a great relief and a warm up for those Wall Balls! YIKES! I started off Wall Balls really slow. Someone asked about burpees and I was all “say what??? did I skip that, what burpees. I completely forgot about burpees but I didn’t skip them. They were just NEXT. I just thought I’ll end it all here with Wall Balls, I won’t finish! I wasn’t getting a good rhythm either but once I did, I just took them 5 at a time. I felt like much less cry baby once I got through them and even though I was slow I was still in a good place mentally. I’m almost done. Burpees up next. Burpees party of 50! They just have to get done. UP, down, UP, down and on and on and on. Will it ever end? YES YES the end is near. 50 DUs and it’s all over. I got 30 out of the way before my forearms and shoulders gave out. Then I got 9, then 11. TIME: 31:53 GOOD? BAD? NO CLUE. But after I regained my composure I felt good about the whole WOD in general. I kept thinking I could have done this better or faster but in the end that was a hell of a lotta reps so I’m good. If I was better at Knees to Elbows I might have had an RX by my name but that’s for another day I suppose.

Wooo, we made it to Wednesday! And it’s almost March. WOW! I’m just looking forward to that time change. I need my sunshine in the evenings! And I need warm weather. So let’s hurry up on that. As always have a beautiful day and BE SUPER AWESOME because I said so!

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Happy Early Thanksgiving!

Where oh where has this year gone? I am truly Thankful for just surviving day in and day out. That I’m blessed with my GREAT family and even you might think I’m just too whiny on this good ol blog that I’m really not that much of a downer! I enjoy everything and everyone in my life. I hope everyone does take the time to reflect on their blessings whether they be small or large. Happy Thanksgiving!

Now onto my BOOM Box morning of which I am thankful for as well. Being a CrossFit Junkie is made much easier when you love your box and the people in it. It’s not a chore to get up at 5am and get my butt whooped. I look forward to it unless of course my muscles are dying then I’m a little scared!

Skill/Strength: Press 5, 5, 5
Goal here was to get close to your max by your last set. I know my max is 70lbs… been stuck here forever and not sure why! But it is what it is. So after warming up I started at 55lbs. Not so bad. Moved up to 60lbs and still not so bad. Went for 65lbs for my last set and even then I only struggled on the last 2 but still “knew” I would get it up. Now I’m curious as to what my new PR could be!

11/21/12 WOD

MetCon: 100 KB swings (1POOD), 75 Jumping Air Squats and 50 Hand Release Push Ups
Seriously?!? My hips and legs are smoked from KAREN and 1.5 miles of running…errr… walking/jogging. We did work on some hip mobility but after doing the 100KB swings I was definitely fatigued. I knocked out 55 UNBROKEN, then started losing the forearms. Took a small break, knocked out 5, 15, 25. Don’t even get me started on the Jumping Air Squats. I was smoked. My legs are dead, my hips are dead and now my back is chiming in. Took me a lot longer than it probably should have if I were feeling 100% but I chipped away. Finally got to the HR Push Ups. I feel like I knocked these out alright. About halfway through my right shoulder started shouting at me but that’s gonna happen! Time: 11:14

On another note: Some giveaways may be on the horizon so there’s something to be excited about! Wooooo for free stuff!

Have a fabulous Holiday Weekend! Be AWESOME and support Pop Warner Football Team Arlington Thunder if you can… right here!

Day of Blah!

It’s just one of those days where you just rather crawl back into bed, call in sick and sleep or watch mindless tv. Too bad that I can’t just do that. I probably COULD but it wouldn’t be a wise decision in general. I also made the mistake of weighing myself and that does no good for anybody if you know it’s probably going to be bad.

I’ve been feeling thick, heavy, squishy, etc. And as good as I have been not worrying about the “number” on the scale I just couldn’t help myself. Backslider I am! I know why I did it…I’m having a hard time cleaning up dinners and also probably not eating enough in the day. And I totally splurged at my kids fundraiser last night at CiCi’s pizza. Over a year I haven’t been in a place like that and what do I do? Chow down like it’s a show down! And it’s not even GOOD! Wasn’t even worth it. So in my guilt I figured I’d weigh. WHY? Cause misery loves company. Even after the BOOM Box I still sit here feeling bleh.

Skill/Strength: Muscle Up Practice
I’m nowhere near a Muscle Up but coach made a good point that the progression work we do applies to a lot of different movements. It’s not like I don’t know that but sometimes it’s easy to lose sight of that when all you read is MU practice. I can do one thing at a time but when it comes to piecing it all together my brain goes wonky!

11/7/12 WOD

MetCon: HELEN – 3 rounds of 400m run, 21 KB Swings, 12 Pullups
This is my second time to do Helen. It was over a year ago and believe it or not I documented it. I used a black (THICK) band for pullups and a tiny Kettlebell. This time around I used 1POOD for the KB and did ring rows instead of pullups. If it weren’t for sucking at the runs I probably would have fared better. One day I won’t be writing about being horrible at running, I just have no will to want to be better at it at the moment. It obviously doesn’t help I was a piglet last night. Last year’s results: 14:17 This years results: 12:00 I seriously thought I would have fared better. I couldn’t remember my time from last year so it was a good thing I at least beat it! But after looking back I wish I had done A LOT BETTER instead of just better. Helen we shall meet again and hopefully it will be RX’d! and FASTER!

Foods: So I shared my major fail and I still can’t manage to clean everything up in general. I’m much better and getting closer to what my once disciplined self was but still not there yet. And in my whole struggle my oldest kiddo declared last night he knows he needs to straighten up the foods he eats and wants to do strict paleo starting Friday! I was like REALLY? STRICT? He says yes and well he’s 13 so that could change but just that little bit of enthusiasm helps me want to get back to being disciplined. I don’t know why mentally I just want to rebel but I do and I guess I’m finally getting over it. I had the scale to help me along. I guess it’s just a phase and it’s not the end of the world and I know it’s not hard to do the right things and I still manage to eat clean a good majority of the time. I’m just hard on myself which is part of it. I’m responsible for me and I have to own it. I need to tighten up the dinners and weekends and I’m good.

Now I just need a nap. In addition to eating poorly I slept poorly. I decided staying up late and watching American Horrow Story and Nashville were better options than SLEEP and now I am paying for it. Let’s all hold hands and pray that I get some sleep and stop eating crappy dinners! Hahah, THANKS! It’s almost FRIDAY folks! Let’s BE AWESOME!

Fab Friday

The weather has really cooled down around here, chilly for girl babies, i.e. ME and it’s great. One of my kiddos told me today was Fab Friday. They get a little bit shorter classes for the day and an extended RECESS, that is if you’ve been a good student all week! How fun is that? Can we do that in our grown up world please? It’s also FAB because today was Crazy Sock Day at their school and don’t you know I have a ton of socks that they were able to get crazy with. I love that one of my kids picked a BACON sock to wear on one leg and mulit colors on the other leg. I say leg, because they are knee socks and well knee on me and leg on him! I clearly ♥ my kiddos and their fun spirits!

Anyhow it was also not so bad of a day at the good ol’ BOOM Box! Kinda Fab there as well. I’ve said FAB so much I feel like it’s the word of the day from Pee Wee’s Playhouse… AAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!

Skill/Strength: 3 RM of Press
So I’ve been stuck at 70lb 1RM of Press for what could be FOREVER although not really, just in my head. And today was 3RM. I warmed up a bit at 35lbs then jumped up to 55lbs. Jumped to 65lbs and my lower body snuck right on in and I did a push press! YIKES, not good. Rest, Lacrosse Ball and Repeat. I’ve developed some sort of tightness/pain, whatever you want to call it, somewhere along my lat/shoulder, and well it hurts.

I roll it out with a lacrosse ball and wooowweee it sucks. I went back to my 65lb bar waiting for me and got 3 reps in but a little wonky on the last one. I didn’t have a left arm Chicken Wing today but a right arm weaksauce instead. I moved right on up to 70lbs, got 1 rep and wouldn’t you know it the damn Push Press showed up for rep 2. ARGH. I put the bar down, took a lil break and finally showed up to knock out the 70lbs. It was a little better than 65lb reps! I take that as another win 3RM at my 1RM weight, FAB! AHHHHHH!

MetCon: 3 Rounds of 1 minute KettleBell Swings (1Pood), 1 minute Ring Rows, 1 minute Wall Balls (14lb ball), 1 minute REST
KB swings are my strength for this WOD so I knew I couldn’t fail with these and I didn’t. I did the whole minute UNBROKEN all three rounds. I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it on that last round! Ring Rows after KB swings was no walk in the park, my first round was weak but I stepped it up on rounds 2 and 3. Finally WALL BALLS, my kryptonite. Last Community WOD there was only 10lb balls left to use and those were delightful for as much as a wall ball can be delightful. Add 4lbs to a med ball and it’s not so delightful! I really dragged ass on those. I don’t think I ever managed to get more that 13 in one minute. Not a good showing at all. Overall I ended with 186 total reps. Hopefully that was a challenging mark for the rest of the day but I can only hope.

Have a FAB (AHHHHH!) Friday Folks! Make it an AWESOME weekend and make AWESOME contagious!!!