The Games aka the OLYMPICS for CrossFit

If watching the CrossFit Games over the weekend just doesn’t want to make you start training and becoming a MONSTER right now I don’t know what will. (I promise I won’t bore you with my recap of the games.) And if you haven’t watched them you can log onto ESPN3 and watch recaps. Do it! NOW! But to me the CrossFit Games are a lot like when the Olympics come around and everyone is rallying for USA, wishing they had grown up their whole lives being a gymnast or track star. It’s that motivating. It’s that inspirational. Yet super defeating all at the same time! It’s all dreams for me at least. The I wish, I want, and the I could have been had I started 10 years ago!

Lindsey Valenzuela (photo: CrossFit)

I’ll be honest, I don’t know everyone’s story. I’m sure there might be someone like me out there that made it to the games, but on average, these ELITE athletes are young, fit phenoms or they were college athletes or heck even former professional athletes. I however am none of the above. Just a dreamer. But it still puts that little bit of excitement for me to want to push a little harder than just trying to be fit. To get that next PR or better finish.

Team Hack’s Pack UTE (photo: CrossFit)

Then I wake up and realize everything hurts. The muscles, tendons and ligaments aren’t youthful and immortal. I realize that I can’t even do any of the movements that these top CrossFit athletes are executing. So I drudge on, just hoping to be able to do a fraction of what they do, sometime, in the future, a long long time from now. It’s fun and I feel great but I’m not a spring chicken. I’m not a professional athlete! I joke that in 4 years I’ll be eligible for the Masters age group and maybe just maybe by then I’ll have it all down.

Camille Leblanc-Bazinet (photo: CrossFit)

For now I’ll just stick with trying to be a stronger me, no matter how long it takes!

7/26/13
Strength: Front squats 3rm
PR in the house for 3RM! Woooo! So we warmed up for a few rounds then got to business. I was feeling pretty good the whole way and finally got to 135lbs. This is my 1RM. 3 reps and I would be happy, happy, happy! And BOOM I hit it. So why not jump to 145lbs? It would be icing on the cake. But then I got nervous! This shit is gonna be heavy. I got under the bar and went to work. One didn’t seem so bad. I got this! 2nd one felt a little heavy but manageable. Number 3 was a NO GO. I got stuck and had to bail on it. DANG IT! I was so close to 3RM at 145lbs! I am, however, happy that I hit a new PR of 145lbs. That’s at 2 reps too folks! I’m excited for a new 1RM!

7/26/13 WOD

MetCon: 3 rounds of 400m Run, 100ft Yoke push, 3 Power Cleans 225/135, Rest 90 seconds between rounds
The only thing I like about this MetCon is the Power Cleans and the RX weight is above and beyond my max so I’m not even happy about those now. RUNNING and YOKE PUSH… double ick! My runs were mostly a trot/walk. And I hadn’t even ever pushed the Yoke on my own for that kind of distance. I wasn’t even sure I’d be able to do the workout. But I had a strategy. There’s a slight incline in the parking lot so I figured I’d make sure I’d come around so I would have to push the YOKE downhill. Hoping it would be easier. And my first time around it worked out. And although it sucked donkey balls, I survived. Got through my cleans (105lbs) and went back out for my run. Turns out my plan was ruined. With everyone else out running me the YOKE wasn’t in position for me to push it downhill so I had to push it up the incline! That’s what I get for trying to manipulate the situation. Total FAIL! I still got the YOKE going but my calves were on FIRE. I had to stop several times and thought I might die. It was a fight to the end on the 2nd and 3rd Yoke pushes. But the 105lbs weren’t so bad. Maybe this extra layer of fluff I’m carrying is helping. Time: 23:06

7/27/13 Community WOD
I don’t know why I keep showing up for these things! I get all excited because I do have fun in the end but I feel bad for my teammates, seriously! This WOD was no exception. We got into groups of 3 before we knew what was in store. As soon as it was broken down I wanted to sneak out and go back home. I apologized immediately for my suckiness and I’m pretty sure no one would want to pair up with me anymore!

3 rounds of Running around the complex (distance unknown, maybe 1000m), 75 Wall Balls, 75 strict Pull Ups

We all had to do the run, then we could split up the Wall Balls and Pull Ups. If only we could have split up the run. My team probably had to wait a good 3-4 minutes on me to just finish the Run. We tried splitting everything else up evenly. The problem with our team is that no one has a strict Pull Up. And we couldn’t use bands. So guess what? We pretty much had to lift each other up to get the movement completed. That’s a lot of lifting for all of us! We were smoked and I was feeling like a complete loser due to my running. Time: 43:00 something.

Maybe this Saturday I won’t be dragging the team down

7/28/13
Strength: Squats 8@65% 6@75% 4@85% 4@90%
Mondays I typically feel a little weak and the weight always feels a LOT heavy. But today I felt good under the bar. Maybe all of this consistency is finally paying off. Don’t get me wrong I KNOW it is paying off but I can see it and feel it now. So hitting those percentages and weights weren’t so bad and dreadful. Definitely a confidence booster, especially after that brutal Saturday showing.

7/29/13 WOD

MetCon: 75 HSPU Every time you drop you must run 400 m 20 minute cap. (the mod is 125 push-ups)
Well, well, well… Coach must be crazy or something. Or he just saw too many HSPU in the games. Handstand Push Ups are a reachable goal but I seriously need to drop some LBS off this body o’ mine. Once upon a time I could do a couple of Kipping HSPUs but now it’s just a laughable goal. I went with Push Ups. But guess what? I’m only good at Hand Release Push Ups. Where my whole body touches the ground. And this WOD had us doing regular Push Ups. Where my legs can’t touch the ground at all. That’s a whole new story and although once upon a time I could do a handful of regular Push Ups, it appears that I’ve lost it. I didn’t even manage to get 6 push ups before I failed and had to run 400m. UGH! All my squat confidence is now wittled down to nothing. The only upside is that I finally ran a 400 without stopping. But only that first one. All the rest were trot/walks. I struggled so bad with getting those push ups in. We had a 20 minute time cap to complete 150 and well I only completed 33. FAIL. I gotta work on those short range push ups now!

That’s all my recap for now. Can you believe it’s almost August? Holy crap! Where did this year go? It’s definitely been an off year for me. I’m trying to tighten everything up so I can finish 2013 strong but it’s flying by and my tightening is moving slower than I had hoped! I just gotta keep pushing and not look back! I encourage you to do the same. Today is as good as any day to start something new. Challenge yourself! Make a plan to come out to the BOOM Box this Saturday. I promise my feelings won’t get hurt if you don’t want to be part of my team. Just show up and have some fun! Eat Clean, Do Work and Be Awesome!

Putting in the WORK

I know, I know. I had this super duper I HEART CrossFit moment then I’m not posting again for a whole week. I don’t know where time goes but I’m here, I’m still putting in the work. Still showing up at the BOOM Box. And I’m still crying like a little baby when RUNNING pops up on the whiteboard.

So have no fear. I haven’t fallen into a giant hole of depression. I’ve just been busy! And just like everyone else, I can make excuses or I can find solutions. I encourage you to find solutions. I encourage you to find good health. I encourage you to get active. When Biggest Loser was airing I would always get teary eyed and happy for the folks. Now I’m on the Extreme Weight Loss season kick and to me it’s more inspiring but maybe only because it’s focused on one person.

And you get to watch their individual success and struggles… each person is so GUNG HO the first 90 days. They are amped. Then like most folks, it gets old, it gets harder, it gets complicated. But they have to fight through and they still have to put in the work. Chris Powell, in my opinion, is a great motivator. He can’t go run the miles for them though. Sure he can send them on wonderful trips when they hit goals but he can’t put in the work. I wish I could be the person that could surprise you with cool gifts and prizes. But I can not. I can give you a virtual HIGH-FIVE and a lot of woohooos and way to go’s! And really that’s what most of us need. We need a support system, someone to hold us accountable. And you need to find a reward system that doesn’t involve “cheat meals” or food in general. So if no one is on board in your personal life to help you change then chat me up and I’ll cheer you on. Or find an online community for that extra inspiration or an online buddy with your same goals. You may even find someone in a bootcamp, fitness class or running club. But you have to put yourself out there. You have to make yourself vulnerable. In the end it will only make you stronger.

In my roller coaster world of fitness, I’ve had friends, co-workers, etc… to help kickstart goals and in the end a lot of them wandered off (me included). We’d all start of strong and just disappear into excuses. When I finally made that decision to start my journey and not look back, I realized it relied all on me. No one else but me. I told myself I wasn’t going to let some workout kick my ass then go eat like crap. I started bootcamp with NO ONE. I didn’t know anyone there. I didn’t have any friends that wanted to show up at 5 am to workout. It was just me. I made friends and we shared in the same soreness and same results. It became fun. I started a food plan and all of our fast food habits and busy schedule didn’t mesh with it. So guess what I carried a cooler bag with me EVERYWHERE! It’s all possible. I found a support system in that group of bootcampers. My family realized the work I was doing and they jumped on my support team. So go DO WORK people! It will all fall into line once you make that decision to become a healthier you!

And now for what you all have been waiting for…. my Boom recaps! Hahah, ok so maybe you don’t care so I’ll keep it short and sweet.

7/11/13
TABATA Push Ups / Sit Ups
TABATA anything sucks. 20 seconds on, 10 seconds rest for 4 minutes of any movement. For us it was Push Ups and Sit Ups. I started off way too strong on Push Ups with 15. And I dropped from there on out. I believe I finished with 7 Push Ups in the last 20 seconds. UGH. As for Sit Ups I didn’t go all out for the first round and I can’t remember how many I did do but I know I ended up with 9. But I stayed pretty consistent in the 9-11 range.

MetCon: 12 Min AMRAP (get as far as you can) 40 Thrusters (115, 85) 6 Rope Climbs 20 Thrusters 3 Rope Climbs 10 Thrusters 1 Rope Climbs
I was thinking I would not survive. I went with 75lbs on the Thrusters, not know really how long it would take me to get through 40 and if I recall correctly I did them all in just under 5 minutes. Not stellar but I really suck at Thrusters so I was happy with my time. No such happiness for Rope Climbs. There is something in my brain that says if you loosen your feet to regrip the rope then my hands are automatically going to let go too. I know in reality this won’t happen but my hands stay on the rope in a death grip. So much that my hands were sore for days. So I only got 40 Thrusters in.

7/11/13

7/12/13

Strength: Front Squats 5@60% 5@65% 2×5@70%
Finally being in attendance on several front squat days has made life easier on me. I think I’m actually getting better now. Duh I know I’m getting better. Just have to show up consistently!

You can barely see the 75 but that’s my 1RM for Snatch!

Skill: Power snatch positional breakdown Metcon Power snatch 1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1
Same with Snatch. I’ve been present on days where we work on this movement and I’m getting a little more comfortable. I’ve always had this fear of dropping under the bar. I know, I have a lot of fears! I’m a headcase. I was stuck at 65lbs FOREVER because I’m scared. Finally for the CrossFit Open I was able to manage a handful of 75lb reps. But that was the last time in a long time I worked on that number. Today I worked up to 75lbs and made it official that I have a 75lb 1RM. I can get the bar up no problem. But dropping under the bar a whole other story. I need clear the fear and start getting that weight up!

7/13/13 Community WOD

We rarely know what rabbit Coach is going to pull out of the hat on Community WOD days and this was no different. He had has get in groups of 3 and handed out a chipper! Woo fun! NOT! Between the 3 of us we had to do 210 Wall Balls, 150 Over the Box Jumps and each Row a 1K. So if you know me at all, I suck at Wall Balls. I say it’s a short person issue but it’s just really a “ME” issue. Then I’m literally frightened to jump completely over the box so stepping over was acceptable. Then it was time for the row. Can I blame being short keeps me from being awesome at rowing too? I opted to Row the whole 1K without switching it up with my team. It was miserable. But I’m determined to get better at it. I can’t despise running and rowing. So I choose rowing! I know we finished under 35 minutes. I just don’t know the exact time. 33:34 or 34:33. Something like that. It was a beating 🙂

7/15/13

Strength: Squats 8@65% 8@70% 6@80% 6@85%

For real, we’ve been doing a shit ton of SQUATS. It’s good for me I know and I’m making it through but the reps and the percentages add up. And I’m surviving! PR I can’t see you yet but I know you’re there!

7/15/13 WOD

MetCon: 3 Rounds 12 DL 135/95 9 Power Cleans, 6 STOH, 3 MU (Scale is x3 dips)

It was a tough decision on if I wanted to RX or not. I’m still not 100% in regards to killing it. My wrists were a little sensitive and well I’m a baby. I went for 85lbs instead of the 95lbs. I always check with Coach first though. He’s pretty good at making sure we’re going to get work in and gauging our performance. So 85lb Deadlifts were so “light” and I thought Power Cleans would be too, but they felt a little heavy this time around and for 9 reps it wasn’t like it was 21 reps. Shoulder to Overhead was where I wasn’t sure how I would hold up. I know I didn’t want to drop the bar but I know the longer I hold it in a front rack position the more likely I am to fail. So pacing myself had to be key. I probably took too much rest in the cleans by dropping the bar too often but I really didn’t want to fail at STOH. I did scaled dips with a band and no matter what , your shoulders will fatigue! Time 11:30

7/16/13

3 rounds 800M sprint 150ft OH Lunge W/bar Rest 5 min 2×500 m row (rest as needed) aka HELL ON EARTH. Or at least that was my take on it.

1. I don’t like running. 2 My dislike for running has made me get worse. 3. I don’t like running.

Good runners probably run a 3 minute 800? Great runners probably run it in 2ish minutes? I’m not sure but sucky runners do it in about 5-7 minutes and mostly cause I was walking ! It was horrible and I’m not just saying that to say it. I KNOW I am horrible at it. And I do zero things to make it better. So I knew I had to do better at the LUNGES. And these were not going to be easy. I started off with a 45lb barbell. I made it almost halfway without stopping. My shoulders were dying. I then made several stops to the end. For the second round of Lunges I dropped to the 35lb barbell. With this weight I made it halfway without stopping! Great success! I then made it to the end with only one other stop. And for the 3rd round I again made it halfway without stopping and then finished without stopping! I knew I was dragging ass for the runs and had to make up for it somehow. After resting it was time for those rows. And it was too late to try to find a happy place. My upper body was smoked, my lower body was smoked. I was content with a 3 minute 500. I’m just glad I finished! Time for runs/lunges: 34:30.

7/16/13 WOD

7/17/13

Warm-up: 50 n 50 GHD, Yoke Push 50ft x 2

Booooo GHD. And didn’t have time Yoke Push… HOORAY!

Strength: DL 5RM

I was excited for Deadlift day. Way better than HELL ON EARTH day. That was until I got warmed up and started putting weight on the bar. I could feel my hamstring on my right leg. It wasn’t a horrible pain but it was enough to tell me to not push myself into injury. So I worked up to a 185lb 5RM. I know I could do more but I didn’t want a bum hammy. So I laid off and took it for what it was.

7/17/13 WOD

Skill/Metcon: If you are able to do the following movements you will go ME for the minute. If not you will work the skill of the move for 4 minutes straight. EMOM 20 Odd-PU/MU Even-Pistols

Yup it was all skill work for me. I am no bueno on the Pull Ups or the Pistols. WompWomp!

And there ya have it faithful readers. That’s my week! Go forth, get moving, eat clean(er), and BE AWESOME.

My Muscles Are Crying!

Day 1 (again) of getting back to it and my muscles are hating me right about now. I was already feeling a little grumpy after cutting out sugar. Imagine that. Not even 1 full day in and I could feel the sugar monster. And I promise you the temptations were in full force all day with the offerings of cookies and snacks. But I steered clear, which lately has been hard to do. So I am feeling confident that if I can turn away the treats that my mind is in the right place! Too bad it’s taken me 30lbs of extra fluff to get back to the right head space. But alas I’m there.

For dinner I thought I was going to have Freebird’s for dinner but Ernie “accidentally” passed it and we headed straight to Piranah’s – YUM! We had sushi and sashimi with some rolls that had special (sugar laden I’m sure) sauces. But I didn’t eat my weight in the stuff so I felt fine. No extra joy or misery. Just some good fish! Other than that I managed very well on the food front. Even got some sweet potato cooked up to eat post workout. Along with some ham for that protein. I’m not a huge fan of protein shakes and the ones that are good are filled with a bunch of crap so I am going to try to just bring the foods I need to eat to each workout. I may end up with shakes in the end but for now real food post WOD is my goal.

7/1/13 WOD
I was pretty anxiety ridden headding back into the BOOM Box. Two weeks feels like an eternity when it comes to getting under the bar. I was scared of Back Squats! Well not scaarrreeeddd, but really nervous.

Warm Up: 30/30 GHD
I’m not a big fan of the GHD, makes me dizzy and nauseous. Bleh! Anyone else have this problem? I know it’s good for warming up and stretching out everything but it is not a favorite of mine.

7/1/13 WOD

Skill/Strength: Squat – 10@60%, 8@70%, 6@75%, 4@80%
Well, well, well. That ended up being 100lbs, 115lbs, 125lbs and 130lbs. Typically our rep schemes are 5, 3, 1 or 5, 5, 5 but this 10, 8, 6, 4 just seemed like a kazillion squats! And I’ve not been squatting or doing anything really so I know it’s going to suck! Just warming up my legs were questioning what the hell was going on. By the time I got into my first set of 10, my left IT band and left quad were seriously hating me. I had to decide was this stop working PAIN or just shock and awe PAIN. In the end the burn was more of a HEY YOU MORON what are you doing to me. I seriously wasn’t sure if I was going to make it through. Believe it or not the fight or flight switch kicked in and the FIGHT won. I really really did not want to jump to 130lbs. And really that’s not super heavy. My 1RM is 165lbs. But after 24 reps of building up to this 130lbs I was on the verge of quitting. Once I got under the bar I knew I couldn’t quit. Slow and steady I knocked out the last 4. I pushed through and although my legs would leave me if they could I’m still here and I finished.

MetCon: AMANDA – 9-7-5 of MU and Squat Snatch 135/75
Doh! My legs are already dead and I’m supposed to do Squat Snatches! OH lawdy! I quit CrossFit now! Hehehe. Ok I didn’t quit but those thoughts did go through my brain. I’ve never met Amanda and she was no fun. I know my legs are complaining from all the squatting but my forearms, my shoulders, my lats, my traps… you name it! It’s all sore. Added Bonus I sit at a desk all day everyday. The excruciating pain that comes when I get up or sit down is pure BLISS!

But Back to AMANDA! So if you know me at all, I’m not anywhere near getting a Muscle Up! Not close at all! So I had to resort to pull ups and by the way I don’t have pull ups either! So banded pull ups it is! The nice thing about pull ups this time around is that my hands and shoulders are really rested. So I was able to get through these much easier than I thought. Maybe that 2 week break helped out a little bit! After 9 Pull Ups it was on to 9 Squat Snatch. I was hesitant to even do the bar since it’s been a LONG time since I’ve done a Squat Snatch. At first it was really awkward but I got into a nice groove. I only went for 55lbs. Probably could have done 65lbs but 75lbs would have been the death of me. I feel like not KILLING myself was the best option. 55lbs was no easy task but I could string a few together so I was happy with that. Time: 6:40

So I survived my 798797th Day 1. Hopefully I don’t have any more Day 1’s and/or have far less of them. I know it’s not about being perfect and I know it’s not about being boring and banning all junk. Life is life and life happens, but I have really let my habits go wayward. And it’s a struggle to get back to good health all the time. Speaking of HEALTH. I ordered a basic blood panel aka E-CHECKUP with Wellness FX. They had a special not too long ago to get a free one done at the nearest LabCorp. So I took them up on their offer. I ended buying another one for a follow up. So $25 and I get two e-checkups. With this basic checkup 25+ biomarkers are measured including a basic lipid panel, complete blood count, glucose, and thyroid. I know I could just go to my Dr. or whatever but this seems so much more simple and I didn’t have to deal with insurance or getting billed later. Naturally I wait till the day it’s about to expire to get my blood drawn. Wellness FX says it takes 3-5 days to get the results which are uploaded to their website. Low and behold I went Friday for the blood draw and by Monday (yesterday) afternoon my results were in! Woooo. Overall everything was in the GREEN and not the RED except for my Triglycerides and Glucose. Those were in the ORANGE! So better than BAD but not GOOD. Granted I’ve been eating like shit so it makes sense. I’m hoping with all the cleaning up I’m doing that I’ll have everything in the green when I do a follow up in 3 months. Wellness FX offers a physician consult over the phone, but since I feel like I can clean up my negative areas pretty quickly I’ll probably pass on the consult. They also offer more extensive labwork but at prices I can not afford at the moment. Originally I was concerned my Thyroid was out of whack because I am so cold when the average person is melting. But the thyroid levels they checked were in the green. That’s not to say I don’t have other crazy thyroid issues but for now I’ll stick with GREEN is good. And my bank account can’t afford otherwise!

That’s it for this pleasant July day in Texas! We are actually experiencing a cool spell with temps in the 80’s! Last week 100’s while we are in a week long World Series but this week when we have nothing it’s “cool”! Geesh! I’ll take it though 🙂 Have a super day. Be AWESOME and start something new in your life. A new activity, exercising, eating clean, playing with your kids instead of just watching them play! Do something fun!

Where does TIME go?

It’s been over a week since my last post! WTH? Where does time go? Just being a busy bee in my neck of the woods. Took a couple of steps towards the clean eating then took a couple of steps back AND then 2 steps forward and now we’re dancing! Still stuck in food limbo but also still making it to the BOOM Box when life isn’t getting in the way.

It all boils down to the fact that I need to get back to the 5am slot. Because if life happens, something comes up then I can’t make an evening class and I’m screwed.

I’m not complaining… these are 2 out 3 (kiddos) reasons life gets hectic. They make my heart smile!

Which was what happened to me on Wednesday. But the evening’s are sooooooo nice. I’m awake, more limber and in a better mood! If I don’t get back into my old Paleo/CrossFittin self, I’m gonna have to buy all new clothes. I’m back to FAT KID status and as much as I don’t like it, I’m just as a happy as as an antelope with night vision goggles sitting in my fat kid corner! Ok well HAPPY is an overstatement cause I am not happy but then I couldn’t steal that line from the Geico commercials!

I’m sure most of you are yelling at me to SHUT UP and just get back to it and if you’re not please start YELLING. One foot in, One foot out… it’s not working. It never will with me but holy geesh I’m just going in circles.

Fortunately I am still showing up at the BOOM Box and I know the saying goes you can’t out train a bad diet. But at least I’m still training?!? Right?!? Well I have a couple and only a couple of recaps for the past week.

5/16/13 WOD
Skill/Strength: Push Press 3, 3, 3+ @ 70%, 80%, 90%
Everything in my upper body has been taxed and the poor eating has left me with poor recovery. But I still fought hard for barbell. Worked up to the 90% which 85lbs for me and I managed 5 reps. Although I wanted more reps, my shoulders were saying NO MORE.

5/16/13 WOD

MetCon: 3 Rounds of Bar MU, 8 KB Snatches 55/35lbs
Instead of Muscle Ups, I did 3 rounds of 8 pullups. Still sucking at the Pull Ups left me with a much longer time than I had hoped. I didn’t work the 35lb KB and went for a smaller one. My left arm struggled but my right arm was a champ. Time: 9:56

Midline: 3 x Max Effort Sit Ups in 60 seconds with 45 second rest
My first go was 34 sit ups, then it dropped to 30 then to 29. Not too bad I suppose. I was still breathing hard from the MetCon!

5/18/13 OPEN BOX PARTY
We had a nice little evening soiree Friday night where there was working out, hanging out, food and prizes. I showed up to workout. Little did I know there were few there that were up for the whole working out idea. I guess they all already showed up for a class earlier in the day but still. Fish out of water for me It did weigh to my advantage though as we had a WOD to wonderful tickets to the Texas Rangers game. Primetime section/seating!

Hmmm, there are quite of few pics of me in this dead person pose.

WOD: Complete 50 Jumping Air Squats in 90 seconds, 40 Double Unders in 90 seconds, 30 HR Push Ups in 90 seconds, 20 Burpees in 90 seconds, 10 DL 205lbs for the ladies. Whichever male and female that could make it through won. And if more than one made it through then Coach added items like Bar MU for the guys. For us girls though, my superpowers of DUs came through for me. I got all the way through 16 Burpees. I was pissed I couldn’t get 20 in 90 seconds because in the past I have completed 24 in 60 seconds. You know it’s coming “FAT KID” in the house! Not sure I could do 10 Deadlifts at 205 in 90 seconds but I didn’t get the chance to try. I did however make it the furthest through the ladder and WON the Ranger tickets!

Post WOD we had some yummy burgers from Farm to Fork, lots of good fruits and veggies. It’s nice to hang out with all the BOX Buddies! I vote for more BOOM Box events!

Love these folks!

5/20/13 WOD
Strength: Deadlift: 3, 3, 3+ @ 70%, 80%, 90% of 1RM
Deadlifts were a little heavy this time around. I was getting through them ok but mentally I was ready to tap out. On my last round I wasn’t feeling it, HOPING for 6 reps and that’s what I did. My grip was falling apart fast and I just didn’t have the will power to go for more.

5/20/13

MetCon: EMOM for 12 minutes 5 HSPU (odd), 8 Pistols total alternating legs (even)
Everything was modified for this. It’s like doing downward dog push ups, well kind of. Your arms aren’t as far out in front of you and your heels are against a wall. But that inverted position is similar. And I did Pistols holding on to a bar for balance. My left IT band still plagues my knee bursa so that really sucks (HURTS LIKE HELL). Each minute I ended with 20-30 seconds to go but the humidity here in TX has got my number. I was drenched!

5/23/13 WOD
Skill/Strength: Band Sprints 50ft x 8 rest 30 seconds; Flying Sprints 50ft x 8 rest 30 seconds
We all know I don’t like running but 50ft I can tolerate. I don’t mind sprinting either and when it’s just ME working out even better cause no one is there to smoke my ass! Flying sprints felt like I was really flying after doing 8 rounds of sprints with a band and person dragging me down! Again the humidity is killing me. I know it takes time to acclimate but I was soaked through.

5/23/13 WOD

MetCon: 3 rounds of 40 Double Unders, 20 Ring Dips
I’ve been having DU chaos lately. It’s like I don’t know what to do for a second. Eventually it all comes back to me but each round I started off really poorly. With mutliple attempts and fails. After 3 or 4 no reps I’d finally get a rhythm and do them unbroken just took too long to get there. On my last round I only did 15, 15 and 10. My forearms, shoulders, triceps were fatigued and it was painful to just hold onto the rope.

As far as Ring Dips go. I was horrible. I did start off alright but fell apart quickly. My triceps kept cramping up so everytime I’d set up it was misery. I was using the green band for assistance and was only knocking out 3-5 at a time. That made my time out to be super slow. Ah well. Once I get out of FAT KID mode I should do much better. Time: 9:26

There’s a COMMUNITY WOD tomorrow if y’all are in the area. 9 am. Be there people. Come see our new home.

If I don’t see you or hear from you this weekend then have a good one. BE SAFE. Say thanks to our men and women that serve our country. Take care and of course BE AWESOME!!!!

Hangin’ In There

It’s been a busy couple of days in my little world. But we are making it work and I’m still showing up for evenings at the BOOM Box. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to go back to 5 a.m.! I know I need to just for the sake of having evenings free for doing all the things the boys schedules require. But it sure is nice to be awake during my workouts!

And in regards to a busy life, YES I have fallen prey to excuses and pure laziness. In my eating habits, I have become increasingly better but I can definitely still feel in my joints from all the poor eating whether I partake in it once or day or ALL day. It takes a toll on the body. Everything is inflamed. I once lived in a day to day world of dirty eating. You get used to the aches, pains, sleepiness, headaches, etc… You write them off as getting older, not enough sleep, and numerous other excuses. I can honestly attest to the fact that those aches and pains go away when you eat clean and move your body.

The SORENESS from working out doesn’t ever go away but that’s not a PAIN that plagues you. That’s a sign of getting stronger. And you keep moving and eating clean and the soreness does fade away AND the joints get better, your mood gets better, sleep gets better. Do I need to get back to that HAPPY place? YES HELL YES! Should you give it a whirl for 30 days, 3 months, a year… DEFINITELY! Will you fall down? Probably but who really knows but you. Your mind and body will fail you but it’s up to you to get back up and back on it. I’m sitting here in the corner like a sulking kid knowing that I’m hurting myself and it sucks. So I’m trying to get back there – back to feeling good, to performing well and to eating clean. It’s like starting all over except for the fact that I know the reward at the end. For those of you who haven’t made the decision to change, it’s hard to imagine what 30 days can do for you. Get up and get moving. Cut out bread one week. Cut out artificial sweeteners the next week. Or just jump in the deep end and go strict. It’s up to you. You know YOU. Make a better version of YOU!

Below are some links that I found interesting this week. I’m going to try and share more of what I read more often. I tend to read a lot of info and then just digest it for me. Sharing is Caring!

http://www.naturalnews.com/040325_Splenda_diabetes_artificial_sweeteners.html

http://eattoperform.com/2013/03/15/the-gradually-awesome-approach-april-simmons-blackford/

http://breakingmuscle.com/strength-conditioning/is-the-juice-worth-the-squeeze-how-to-get-more-with-less-in-your-workouts

As far as recaps. I’ll be short and sweet. I have 4 days to go over and I’m sure you don’t want to die of boredom reading them! So here goes it. By the way, all of the following WODS, I have sucked at! Which in the end should mean I will be getting better but this past week has been weakness after weakness for me. It’s defeating but I keep showing up.

5/9/13
Skill/Strength: SKIN the CAT and DU PracticeI can not skin the cat. I am horrible at this and my shoulders are dead. I felt super loserish because I was the only one who couldn’t do it at the 6pm time slot

I can however do Double Unders like a champ and worked on Triple Unders. Other than the one time I got ONE a few weeks ago, I can not manage to get another!

5/9/13 WOD

MetCon: Run 3 x 800m, rest 3 minutes in between run, 25 burpee penalty if over 21 minutesShould be an easy goal. Just run all 3 800m in less than 4 minutes. That didn’t quite happen. Poor attitude towards running = POOR RUNNING! I was horrible and not getting better. 25 burpees went really slow after all that running.

5/11/13 Community WOD
If I had known about the workout ahead of time I wouldn’t have shown up! More running! My poor partner, Eric, had to deal with my slow running!

5 min EMOM, run 400m, then with whatever time was left alternate minutes with Max Effort Sit Ups and Push Ups

5 min EMOM, run 400m, then with whatever time was left alternate minutes with Bar Hold and Push Up Hold (negative points if you fall from bar or drop to knees)

5 min EMOM, run 400m, then with whatever time was left alternate minutes with Max Effort of KB Swing and Jumping Air Squats

With my sub-par running I wasn’t able to get many reps. And I dropped from the Bar Hang which is -5 points. All in all we didn’t do too shabby I guess finishing with 243 reps.

5/11/13 WOD

5/13/13
Skill/Strength: Back Squat 3, 3, 3+ at 70%, 80%, 90% 2 min rest between set
Today it all felt heavy. But I ended with 5 reps at 90%. I literally forgot how to breathe today and was holding my breath way too much. Once I would breathe, the lifts were much easier! Duh!

5/13/13 WOD

MetCon: 21-15-9 of Toes to Bar and Ring Dips (modified Straight Let Sit Ups and HR Push Ups)
I’ve established that I can do TTB even if it’s one at a time but Ring Dips are a no go. So I busted out TTB one at a time like a beast with only a few NO REPS. And I rested too much on push ups! On my last round of TTB I ripped and it hurted! Bad! So bad that I didn’t show up for Tuesdays WOD. Time: 9:39

5/15/13Skill/Strength: 5 x 3 Pendlay Rows, 5 x 3 Floor Press, 3 x 5 band weighted pull ups
Pendlay Rows are awkard for me and it’s been a while but I worked up to 95lbs so that felt good. It feels like it’s been FOREVER since we did Floor Press so I wasn’t sure what I could handle. Again we worked up to 95lbs. By the 5th set I was struggling to get all 3 reps but again I knocked them out and was feeling strong after being weary. Instead of weighted pull ups and cause of my wounded hand I opted for Ring Rows. So we would start up with chest to rings and slowly lower ourselves down over a 10count pace before lifting back up. These were easier than negative hang pull ups but still sucked!

5/15/13 WOD

MetCon: 2 rounds of Max Reps of Push Ups 90 seconds, Pull Ups 90 seconds, Rest 30 secondsAbout 30 seconds in on Push Ups my left shoulder was in pain. I sucked it up as best I could but only managed 39 reps. INFLAMMATION from crappy foods. As far as pull ups. I knew I wasn’t going to get many so I went ahead and used the green band and did the best I could. 9 reps. My hand held up pretty well the first round. Towards the end my forearms were dying. For the second round I busted out 10 push ups really nicely and fell apart from there. I completed 31 reps. Moved to Pull Ups and may hand was just hurting. Only completed 6. Total: 70 Push Ups, 15 Pull Ups

It’s almost Friday! WOOOOOO! If you are in the DFW metroplex… CrossFit Boom is having a party tomorrow night. Come out and have some food, fun and more fun! Go out and move! And you know the drill… BE AWESOME TOO!

Showing Up

is half the battle. Finishing Strong is the other half. As I proclaimed, I have reduced the act of stuffing my face with useless foods and am getting closer to that Clean Eating train I was on for so long. It’s still not perfect (note the keyword REDUCED) but tons better. I already feel the everyday bloat diminishing. Cause you know if you’ve ever taken on clean eating for a while then stop, that gradually, if not instantly, you build that bloated, heavy feeling.

Although I didn’t shout it out, I also have tried to reduce my negativity towards myself in the box. I think mostly because I’m mad at myself for returning to a chunky state, that I know I have to come in with a better mind set and get work done. I’m not going to let the extra pounds bring me down. Although they do slow me down. So I must fight through a little harder and I can not do that if I’m Negative Nelly!

5/7/13 WOD
My legs were in some crazy soreness after Mondays insanity. Oh Jumping Air Squats how you hurt me. And to greet my sore jello-y legs were Sled Pulls! These are right under Wall Balls in my dislike column.

Skill/Strength: Sled Pull 5 x 50ft 90lbs/45lbs
The sled I was pulling had 60lbs on it, plus the weight of the sled = not a shit ton of weight but you know it’s still the sled. I can say that the parking lot is a lot nicer at the new box than the old box and I can say it was definitely easier to pull. I still don’t like them!

5/7/13 WOD

MetCon: 8 minute AMRAP 8 Ring Dips, 12 Burpees
The 8 minutes went super fast for this one. I WANTED to use the Green Band but opted for the Blue Band after some nudging. I know I NEED to use the Blue one but it’s hard to get multiple reps. I started off round 1 strong and fell apart after that. For the second round it was hard to get consecutive ring dips. By the time I did knock them out I was so beat down I didn’t even want to do burpees. My added chunkiness does not make burpees fun at all. Not that they were fun before but a couple of months ago I could fly through them! I was trying to just get 4 rounds completed but missed it by 4 reps. Final: 3 rounds 8 dips, 8 burpees.

5/8/13
Still sore from Monday, are you kidding me? But it’s Deadlift Day and I like Deadlifts. Once upon a time I dreaded them. I was stuck at 185lbs forever. My hamstrings didn’t like me very much and I was a mess. Now I enjoy them, everything but my hands. Cause they sure do still hurt a lot after that last set.

Skill/Strength: Deadlift 5, 5, Max Effort @ 65%, 75% and 85% of 1RM
I normally struggle with the math early at 5 a.m. but when I have all day to calculate my percentages it’s not so bad. But I am supposed to remember them properly. In my head I had 120, 140, 160. In reality I was supposed to be doing 140, 160, 180! doh! I realized that halfway through. So I got some extra warm up! I was thinking 120 was feeling pretty light 😀 Worked my way up to 180 and busted out 10 reps. Wooo! I felt good with that since it’s been a while since I Deadlifted!

5/8/13 WOD

MetCon: 4 rounds of 15DU/1TU, 15 C2B Pull Ups, 15 DU/1TU, 15 PushPress @ 115lbs/75lbs, 15 DU/1TU, Rest 2 minutes … 25 minute cap
All day I thought I won’t make it but I gotta try. Then I talked myself into knowing I will survive and it will be alright. I have only ever completed one Triple Under and after a few minutes of working on it, Coach said just do Double Unders. Fair enough. I can do 15 quicker than attempting one TU. As for the Chest To Bar Pull Ups, I used a Green Band just hoping for 15 Pull Ups. I started off strong getting my Chest to the Bar but as the rounds went along, they turned into pull ups. As far as the Push Press went, the decision was made to go at 65lbs instead of 75lbs. Good call cause I think that extra 10lbs would have really smoked me and not in a good way. I was doing big sets but not UNBROKEN, until round 4. I had to finish strong and I did. Every bit of me wanted to drop the bar but I didn’t. It was nice to finish STRONG! Time: 22:29!

Food Front: So like I said I’m slowing getting back into the Clean Eating. I have definitely tightened it up but still working on it. Back to eating breakfast and the FAST FOOD has been eliminated. Healthier foods are in place. Kudos to Ernie even for cooking me up some yummy Drumsticks last night. Paired with a spinach salad and I was set for dinner.

Tonight is running and I really don’t want to go. But running is my weakness so I probably should show up! Send positive vibes my way so I don’t punk out! Other than that… have a great Thursday. It’s my Friday! Wooooo. Go out and be AWESOME!

Lazy and Sloppy

Hello there, I know it’s been a few days since I’ve checked in and to be honest I think I like bombarding you all on a less frequent basis. (Is that even a sentence?) I may go back to a more daily thing but for now, every couple of days is my new strategy. If you have been around for the long haul you would know I was a daily blogger. I was on top of everything, my check ins, my workouts, my EATING!

2013 however has been lazy and sloppy. I guess it just reflects my everyday which = LAZY and SLOPPY. I did the Whole30 like a champ and everyday after that has been one failed goal/plan after another. I commit, declare it to the world (aka this blog), do good for a day or two then stomp it to the ground until it no longer resembles the awesome shiny plan I had in mind. I really think in the end it’s just me burning out but trying to hold on to NOT burning out. I’ve also had quite a few absences at the BOOM Box and many days of sporadic, not healthy, junky eating. Overall I’m not overeating but I’m not eating well. Which is a small win, cause I LIKE TO EAT… ALOT! And of course that starts the vicious cycle of feeling like crap, being tired all of the time, not recovering as quickly, etc. It sucks! But it’s a ride that I can’t get off of lately. I’m not stuck, I’m just not letting go of the bad habits.

Since I slept in on Monday, I showed up for the 7pm class at CrossFit Boom. It was kind of nice. I was awake. My body wasn’t all tight and achy and I felt rested. The downside was that I felt like my day had already worn me out some so I wasn’t as fresh as I actually did feel.

4/29/13

Skill/Strength: 10min Handstand Work
I was the only one there for 7pm so it turned into Stephanie needs a PULL UP work. I’m down to the skinny little blue band for assistance. But when you take away that band, I got nothing. I don’t know what changes in my head that says I can’t do it but there is a switch hiding and I don’t know how to flip it. Hell I can’t even find it! I’m close. So close.

4/29/13 WOD. Big difference when I’m at the end of the day!

MetCon: Run 800m, 18 Hand Release Push Ups, 9 Hang Squat Clean to Thrusters 135/95#, Run 400m, 21 HRPU, 7 Hang Squat Clean to Thrusters 135/95#, Run 200m, 24 HRPU, 5 Hang Squat Clean to Thrusters 135/95#

Looks brutal, IS BRUTAL! For one thing that’s a lot of running I don’t like doing. Add to that that I’ve been MIA for a couple of days and eating like shit. UGH. And sure enough that measly 800m was killing me. At least Push Ups are something I do fairly ok. Next up, THRUSTERS! Before we got started Coach wanted me to stick with a weight where I would go UNBROKEN for the first set of 9. Geesh, I wasn’t sure, so we went with 75lbs. Although I wanted to drop the bar I did not! I fought through and completed the goal set before me! Too bad I had to run 400m after that. I was smoked. I couldn’t breathe. To be quite honest I was ready to puke. Thrusters take everything out of you So I walked, then jogged, then walked, then trotted and so forth. It’s only 400m but I was so over it. I started off the 21 HRPU strong but faded fast. My shoulders were shutting down fast. When it came to Thrusters I know Coach wanted me to go Unbroken but I could only do 3 before I dropped the bar. Finished with two more sets of 2. Holy cow I was tired. The 200m was worse than the 400. I pretty much couldn’t get more than a trot and mostly walked. As for the 24 HRPU, I tried doing sets of 6 but only did one set of 6 and slowed to sets of 3 or 4. It was make it or break it time for those last 5 Thrusters. I knew I couldn’t let go of the bar and after 3 I was so close to dropping it. I just let it hang in my hands, which by the way is a bad idea, but I couldn’t drop it. Busted out the last 2 reps without letting go. Time: 17:20 Not a good showing for me but I finished the work and finished on a good note.

4/30/13
I enjoyed the sleeping in so much, that I thought I’d give 7pm another go. Not sure if I’ll stick with 7pm because it does takes a good chunk of my evenings and my kids are super busy at the same time so I may try to do a combo of 5am and 7pm. The good thing about 5am is that my workout is completed before my day even gets started. The bad thing about 5am is that it is so freakin early! And I’ve been doing the EARLY workouts since Feb 2011. It wears thin after this long.

Skill/Strength: 2 Push Jerk EMOM for 10 minutes @70% of 1RM Push Press
As I typed that I realize that may look like a foreign language to some of you. I know a few years ago when I first ever looked into CrossFit that’s what steered me clear of ever looking further into it. So please if you have any questions on anything that looks like jibberish, feel free to ask.

I warmed up to 65lbs which seems really light cause it is really light but that’s 70% of my 95lb Push Press. Soooo away we went 2 reps every minute for 10 minutes. My Push Jerk timing is not always consistent so Coach had me really focusing on getting the timing down. I was trying to rush through and getting really sloppy. The work still gets done but not as efficiently. It was a little bit of a struggle to correct my problems. I could understand and feel what I was doing wrong but I was having a hard time correcting it. The last couple of rounds I finally got it under control. I know a Jerk PR is in the near future!

4/30/13 WOD

MetCon: HELL … not really, just for me though. 4 min AMRAP of: 5 HSPU 10 T2B -rest 1 minute 4 min AMRAP of: 15 KBS 2/1.5 10 Pullups -rest 1 minute 2 min ME DU
Since I can not do Handstand Push Ups yet I had to do them modified and my rep count doubled because of that. The modified version was to have my feet planted on the ground but against the wall. I then had to walk out with my hands a certain distance. Then lower till head touches ground and push back up. I sooooo couldn’t do this properly. It was awkward and I failed miserably. After I did my 10 reps it was off to Toes To Bar. Well I can do them one at a time so I started chipping away. My last 3 ended up being like 10 reps because I couldn’t get both feet to touch bar! I didn’t even get 1 round in, womp womp. After we rested it was on to 1.5 POOD KB Swings. Those I can do. Yay. But then it was Pull Ups. And I had a plan to use only the tiny blue band and I stuck with that plan but I had nothing in the tank from my upper body. NOTHING! I didn’t fall back on thicker bands, I just struggled through and managed 6 reps. Again not even ONE full round, double WOMP WOMP! All I had left going for me was Double Unders. I got to about 35 reps and my forearms were screaming. It was hard to just hold on to the rope. My hands were fatigued. And it was a LONG 2 minutes. I got 83 reps which is better than I thought I was going to get after the initial 35 but I had wanted 100+. This is the price I pay for eating poorly and being lazy. It will come back, I know it will. It’s just a matter of time and a matter of discipline.

Well that’s it for now folks. I already know tonight’s workout and already want to bail! But I know I can’t so I should be there at 7pm. Also if you are in the area, CrossFit Boom is moving to a shiny new location about a mile from the current box! 2401 Callender rd Suite 111 Mansfield ,TX 76063. We should start working out there starting this Monday, May 6th. There will still be FREE COMMUNITY WORKOUTS on Saturdays as well. Just check out crossfitboom.com for more info.

I hope everyone has been enjoying their week so far. And I hope it ends with a bang! If you’re not moving, start moving! Take a walk, move some weights, JUST GET THAT BLOOD FLOWING! If you’re eating like crap, STOP! Ya I’m talking to me too about the eating part! You know the drill. Make that step towards a healthier life. It’s so much better that way. Cause right know I feel like poop! And I hate it. So stopping hating life and start living and loving it. Go forth and BE AWESOME!!!

Drive

Want to, desire, dreams, etc. It all boils down to what makes you tick. What are your goals and what are you doing to make them come to fruition. I’m a lot of talk I know with a mixed bag of happy and negative. I do put in work thought. I do know I tend to come across negative all the time on this here blog but I can tell you I’m not always negative. I’ve gone through all of this before in some form or fashion too but I figure it doesn’t hurt to talk about it again. I have 3 boys that I’ve put my life into. And what kind of men will they grow up to be if I was always raining on their parade. Truth is I have a great life. My world is complete. I don’t really need a pull up to have a happier life. I don’t really need to squat 200+ pounds but I want to! I really want to. How bad do I want it though is another question. Not bad enough to work on that stuff for hours daily. Clearly I show up to the Boom Box almost everyday and clearly I have made progress but I’m not winning the CrossFit games because I finally got a pull up. I don’t have the time, drive or want to actually focus on a goal that big. My goal is to be fit and healthy. GOAL ACHIEVED.

The rest of it is me nitpicking myself. The shoulda, coulda, wouldas in life. For me it’s always been 8000 of those little vain thoughts that plague me regularly. (stretch marks, jiggle, cellulite) They bring/brought me down. The didn’t allow me to love me for me sometimes. It was so bad I used to let those things hold me back from wanting to work out in public. I think maybe because once I was lean and fit and naive to body image. Then I became a much larger me. I was never so obese that I gave up, but I definitely got heavy and have never been comfortable with myself since.

I’ve worked on my mental side a lot and I’m a different person now in a lot of ways. I don’t obsess over the scale anymore. I’m not trying to revert back to the young, skinny me either. I’ve come a long way letting those things go but I’m starting to think they will always be there in some form or fashion, because I sure would like to feel comfortable in a swim suit. I doubt I ever will. And no I’m not searching for the YOU LOOK GREAT surface compliments cause I do KNOW what I look like. I’m not hiding behind something only to be all “hey I LIED look at me.” I’m just letting y’all know I’m still haunted by body image but at the end of the day I am living healthier than ever. I’m stronger than ever. And I’m hopefully teaching my boys to live that way the best they can.

And currently I mostly just want to put in the work at CrossFit (even if I still suck at it), eat healthy and laugh a lot! Cause laughing is good for everyone. Go ahead make someone laugh. Watch some funny stuff on the youtubes. Enjoy life.

With that said. It was hard for me to enjoy life this morning. The workout was not my favorite. I could have slept in. It was pouring rain. It was cold. And it was Muscle Ups… aka PULL UPs for those of us who don’t have MUs. Thrusters. Bleh and Toes To Bar! Go back to bed!

But nooooo…. I knew if I slept in on my weaknesses then how the hell am I going to get any better. So I dragged in. The best part of the morning was Deadlift work! Woooo.

Skill/Strength: 3, 3, 3+ @ 70%, 80% and 90% of our 1RM. For me it was 150lbs, 170lbs, and 195lbs. My hands are weak, my grip is crap. I don’t know why I have such a low tolerance to pain in my hands. Needless to say I did fine working up to my last set. And 195lbs is not longer HARD. But holy heckola it hurts my hands. I’m confident I could do more reps but my hands are cringing in pain. I hold on for 6 reps. I was hoping for 4 so I felt A-OK!

4/18/13 WOD

MetCon: 3 rounds of 3 Muscle Ups, 8 Thrusters (115lbs/75lbs) and 13 TTB. For me it was 9 Pullups instead of MUs. Ugh. I have the lonely green band set up because that’s my progress. And for a second I thought I only had to do 3 reps. It’s on the board 3 reps. Then realized oh shit, I must do 9! I did sets of 3 and my first two sets were great. My last set I struggled. I got to the barbell for Thrusters and pretty much wanted to quit. I did ONE and dropped the bar. Still not sure why but I did. Then I did 3, dropped the bar and did 4 before moving on. I KNEW I could do TTB so I approached them like I did for the Open. Get up there, get it done, drop. Get right back up, get it done, drop and so forth. It worked. Although 13 drops is not fun. And then it was back to Pull Ups for round 2. Coach had already pulled the blue band for me and set it up because my last 3 Pull Ups were horrible but I OPTED to go for green only! Look at me! Who knew I would make that decision. I was going along and got 3, then I had that crunchy pain feeling. My right hand was ripping.

I changed my hand position a little to salvage it the best I could and fought through. Onto Thrusters and this time I was going to go unbroken. At least I told myself that and it worked! Round 2 of Thrusters = Success. But now it was time to get on the bar again for TTB. And I chugged along one at a time. Then the left hand started to rip. And now I was just hurting. But I still had one more round of Pull Ups. I went for green band only AGAIN but could only muster 1 Pull Up with my hands falling apart. So I took a pause and got that blue band in the mix. It was much easier but my hands were hurting. Got to Thrusters and oh I didn’t want to drop the bar but I did after 3 reps. Dang it! Picked it back up and knocked out the last 5. Oh how I was dreading TTB. My hands were not happy. And I managed to knock out 10 in what seemed like good time. It was the last three that took me over 3 minutes to accomplish. I coudn’t help but focus on my wounded palms. I got a lot of NO REPS because I have a dumb left foot that doesn’t want to touch the bar! But finally after 20+ grueling minutes I finished. Done son. Can I go back to bed? Time: 21:33.

I’m tired and achy and my hands hurt. We’ll see what tomorrow brings. But this gloomy cold weather has got to go. I’m in TEXAS, it should be blistering hot already. I’m trying to overcome my Eeyore syndrome but today it is hard. I’m looking for the AWESOME I promise. So go be AWESOME yourself and LAUGH!

Hard to Focus

Life is busy. My life is crazy busy. I’m having a hard time staying focused on everything! In the end we manage just fine, having a good time in our world of chaos so that’s a good thing but my blogging falls behind! Maybe it’s better for me to be a little less in your face, then you don’t get sick of me 😀

As I’m trying to recap in my head 5 seconds before I type I can’t even remember what happened on FRIDAY! Thank goodness I take pics of the whiteboard or I might forget all together. But let me first talk about my EATING to PEFORM! I did really good during the week. Had some tweaks to make but overall hit the marks I needed to hit. But it was a big ol’ fail for the weekend! I wouldn’t say I didn’t eat too much or not enough but I didn’t eat balanced and I didn’t eat clean so 1 week wasted! I know, it’s not WASTED completely but I’m not gonna lie, eating to perform is not an easy task for me. A lot of food to be taking in and forget about planning when you are gone the whole day.

“Bulletproof” style

As of yesterday I’m trying out my coffee “bulletproof” style. I say style because I didn’t buy the UPGRADED coffee beans and I’m not using the MCT oil. If you don’t know what bulletproof coffee is then please click HERE to read more. Pretty much this is supposed to make life much more awesome and help me get those fats in that are hard to consume! Coffee, Grass Fed Butter and MCT oil is the magic concoction and so far so good. I was feeling pretty bleh yesterday and I did half the suggested portions. So I was feeling a little less than excited. But today I feel much more amped on it and alert. I had two separate servings of 8oz of coffee with 1tbs of KerryGold Butter and Liquid Coconut Oil (93% MCTs). It’s a lil different but not too shabby in the end. Going keep this up and see if I notice anything grand in the next few weeks.

4/12/13 WOD
Friday’s WOD was an 18 minute AMRAP team WOD. Probably the longest 18 minutes ever! It consisted of PULL UPs and Med Ball Sit-ups! BLEH! After a few rounds, my triceps were strained and dying. By the end they had died and my forearms were on their own deathwalk! It was miserable. But my partner Kristina stuck with it and we got 9 rounds + 5 reps. Not too bad for the pair of us!

4/12/13 WOD

4/13/13 Community WOD
As most of you know I do enjoy the community WODS, sometimes there is new folks, sometimes out of towners and sometimes it’s just a handful of us regulars but they always seem to be fun. I don’t know that I can say this time was fun! Hehe.

Teams of 3
5 rounds of 1 minute KB Swings, 1 minutes Overhead Plate Shuttle Run, 1 minute rest. YAY FUN! NOT!

Our team had 4 so two of us did the same movement together. While each of the other people were on the other station. That 1 minute rest station was NICE. The shuttle run NOT NICE at all. We took total reps completed for the final score. The way we did the 2 person movement was to split the difference of our final rep count. So I think I got 180 and Tristan got 186 so we said we had 183 reps. I think that was pretty fair in the end. Overall our team came in 2nd with 472 reps.

Since that went by so quickly Coach had us do DEATH by AIR SQUATS! We have never done that before and by 10 minutes he figured that it would go on forever so at the 10 minute mark he made us double up. instead of 10 reps we had to do 20 and at the 11 minute mark we had to do 22 reps. Well that gets you much faster and I only made it through 24 reps. That’s 111 squats.

4/16/13 WOD
I took Monday off. 6 days in a row and 1 rest day wasn’t enough so I took 2 rest days and low and behold I come back to a burpee, run, pull up WOD. Are you freaking kidding me. I wish I had the energy to wake up on Monday morning then I might have slept in this morning! Ok probably not, my weaknesses are definitely running and pull ups!

Skill/Strength: 75 Hollow Rocks, 75 Superman Rocks
I’m so much better at the Superman Rocks. My joke is that my belly is what allows me to rock so well! And more than 10 Hollow Rocks pretty much sucks!

4/16/13 WOD

MetCon: 90 seconds Max Effort of Burpees, Red gate SPRINT, 10 Bar MUs (but for me 30 pullups)
The Burpess. UGH! I got 25 in the 90 seconds. I’m sure I could have squeezed a few more in but my mind was already dreading the run. The red gate and back is about 3/4 of a mile. It’s not an exact but definitely close to it. Good thing is I didn’t stop the whole time. Most runs I stop and walk at some point. Some if that’s the one positive I can pull then that’s what I’ll focus on! Still slow though Got back to the bar and my lovely band assistants. Coach wanted me to do Kipping Pull Ups with Blue Band. Got 1 and it went downhill from there. So I moved up to Green Band and got 2. Woooo. Then I was getting nowhere. So I doubled up with the green and blue band and chipped away. Time: 18:09! Man those Pull Ups took forever!

After a few minutes of rest, Coach wanted me to do a handful of extra pull ups with just the green band. With a little rest and no pressure of the clock, I did 5 in a row. Woooo! The flip side is now I HAVE to use the green band only. No more double banding. It’s bittersweet. It’s progress but still bittersweet!

Hopefully tomorrow is a good CLEAN kind of workout and no more pull ups or running! Hehe, doubtful but hopeful all at the same time 🙂 Have a fantabulous Tuesday. And don’t be shy, go out there and be AWESOME!

Beat Up and it’s only Monday!

I feel like I got hit by a truck when in reality I was just beat up by some kettle bells on Saturday. My whole body is in a world of hurt and I still showed up this morning to the BOOM box. Although had KBs been on the agenda, I would have slept in for sure!

Saturday 3/2/13 WOD

3/2/13 WOD

Skill/Strength: Front Squats 1 x 5 @ 70%, 1 x 5 @ 75%, 1 x 3 @ 80%, 1 x3 @85% and 3 x 2 @ 90% of 1RM with 1-2 minutes rest between sets.
For me that was going to be 95lbs, 100lbs, 110lbs, 115lbs and 120lbs. Overall besides not keeping my chest up on a few reps I felt good at this weight. Hoping for a PR in the near future. It’s been a while since we tested so I HOPE I can get a little more weight on the bar.

MetCon: 9 Kettle bell Thrusters (24/16kg), 9 Knees to Elbow, 400m run, 18 KB Thrusters, 18 KTE, 400 m run, 9 KB Thrusters, 9 KTEWe warmed up with light weight but 1 POOD Kettle Bells in each hand? for RX??!!?? Uh holy wow, that’s gonna suck. I tried cleaning on KB then reaching down to clean the other KB and that was a repeated fail. Coach went over how we should clean both KBs up in one go and low and behold that helped a bit. Having 35lb kettle bells in each hand pretty much sucked. And now we were supposed to do thrusters with them. OOOOEEEEEEE. I struggled with the first 9, so I knew 18 was going to suck. I made it through the first 9 KB Thrusters and KTE alright. But when it came to the 18 I was slooooooowwwwwwww. It took me forever to finish those 18. I’m pretty sure some of the guys completed the whole WOD before I finished my 18. Those KBs were heavy and defeating. Besides some wall balls getting in my head last year this was the first time in a long time that I seriously did NOT want to finish the workout. On my last set of 9 TEARS welled up in my eyes. I was done. I didn’t want to clean the KBs cause it freaking hurt. I was just standing there staring into space. My forearms were swelling up and the whole side of my arms (deltoids??) were turning red. So not only was I just physically beat up, I was mentally beat up. And the baby tear I had got on Thursday turned into a full blown rip. I finally did finish. Literally 1 rep, rest, 1 rep, rest until I finished. Time: 22:48

OUCHY

Monday 3/4/13 WOD
I was still feeling the aftershock of Saturday’s workout. I did zero physical activity the rest of the weekend. So even though I’m still sore, I wasn’t feeling too bad. It would have been nice to sleep in but it’s the first week of the CrossFit Games Open and I can’t be slacking now!

Skill/Strength: Overhead Squats 3 x 3 @ 90% of 3RM
I was still sleeping this morning even after warm up and mobility work because I tried to jump up 30lbs from a lightweight warmup. Thankfully I realized I was putting on too much weight for my next warm up set before I tried moving that bar! All I was thinking was to get my 3RM which 2 weeks ago was 85lbs. I should have worked up to 75lbs and do 3 sets of 3. But did sleepy head do that? No she did 3 x 3 at 85lbs. Ooops, But I did it!

3/4/13 WOD

MetCon: 3 rounds of 20 Pull Ups, 30 HR Push Ups, 40 Sit Ups, 50 Air Squats. Time cap of 20 minutes.
Instead of doing strict Pull Ups with the green and blue bands, I did Kipping Pull Ups with the green band only. Although Pull Ups slowed me down, I got through the first round in less than 6 minutes. Three rounds is feasible. But the second round of Pull Ups got me. I was struggling. I knew I had to bust through the other movements to even come close to finishing in the 20 minute cap. Once I got to round 3, I knew it would next to impossible to finish and boy was I right. I only got through 13 Pull Ups before time was up. My forearms were smoked. My hand was hurting. And I was pissed I couldn’t push through. Score: 2 rounds 13 Pull Ups.

Although it doesn’t sound like I’ve had a good time, I was really glad I FINISHED the WOD on Saturday at the RX weight. I didn’t take a step down and I didn’t quit. And I may have wanted to complete the workout this morning but I did use only the green band vs. doubling up on bands. So if I have to take a few steps back to take a huge leap later on down the road then it’s worth it right?

I hope everyone is having a better Monday than me! It’s going to be in the 80s toady! It should be beautiful! Enjoy your day wherever you are and as always BE AWESOME!

Don’t forget to like my new blog Facebook and share me with your friends. Also know that I have AWESOME socks for sale. Let me know if you would like a pair. $13 a pair.

idrankthecfkoolaid

and it's good

pull ups

The Games aka the OLYMPICS for CrossFit

Putting in the WORK

My Muscles Are Crying!

Where does TIME go?

Hangin’ In There

Showing Up

Lazy and Sloppy

Drive

Hard to Focus

Beat Up and it’s only Monday!

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