Wall Balls …. We Meet Again

We’ve had a few WODs with Wall Balls in them lately but nothing too terrible. And although I dread them, I dread KAREN even more! That’s 150 Wall Balls AFAP! As. Fast. As. Possible!

So it’s a given that I’m gonna whine, cry and B!†©h about this freaking workout. Like more than ever. But damn it, I showed up at 5 a.m. KNOWING what was in store. So I feel, although I’m probably pretty annoying, that I’m allowed such moaning and groaning. Hehehe. Right?

2/21/14
Test Day
Strength: Push press 3,3,3 1,1,1
Yup Coach wants us to KILL our shoulders before we throw a medicine ball up 150 times. Yay fun! I went with Handy Dandy Multi-grip bar to alleviate wrist pain. This bar is a little awkward and even though I use it often, I never load it with weight as it’s already 65lbs on it’s own. But today we were going for HEAVY but I had to test the waters slowly. 65lbs isn’t putting any strain on my wrist but I wasn’t sure what more weight would do. Eventually I worked up to 105lbs and I was good there. I was a little less stable and didn’t want to push my good fortune at getting that weight.

MetCon: Karen – 150 WB 20/14
I don’t wanna but I gotta! At this point I didn’t care if I met the 15 minute time cap we had, only because we had 15 minutes left in class. My mind was prepared for a DNF. 3-2-1 GO. Hmmm the first 10, not so bad, 3 second break, next 10 not too bad either. Then 5’s from there on out. I felt good for the first 80 then slowly started falling apart. A lot of my MIND came into control vs. fatigue. But it’s no JOKE either way. Time: 13:23

2/21/14 WOD

This was a personal best for me. The last time I did an official Karen was a little over 2 years ago and finished in 14:37. And with all the ups and downs I’ve had on my journey… I was plenty excited to have a better time! But then I started thinking about some of the OPEN WODS where you had 12 minutes to do 150 wall balls, double unders and whatever else. I got 133 wall balls in 12 minutes last year! I was in a better place though. I tried beating myself up over it, but then shook it off and went back to being happy at a new PR!

PRETTY MUDDY GIVEAWAY!
Don’t forget to enter for a free entry into the PRETTY MUDDY GIVEAWAY! Invited your friends to enter as well. Or just tell them to use the discount code: GIRLSGONESPORTY for their $5 coupon code and cross your fingers that you win! For real though, I’m giving away:

2 standard race entries (up to a $69.50 value) – offered to two separate winners

2 family edition entries (up to a $45 value) – offered to two separate winners

What is Pretty Muddy?
Pretty Muddy is a 5K adventurous obstacle course mud run for any woman who wants to get outside, spend time with friends, and have fun. And believe it or not it was dreamed up by a pair of husbands that were looking to do something for their wives. Friendship, Fun and Fitness! They wanted to provide a stress-free environment where you can just let loose. It’s a 5K that you can run or walk. It’s not timed. And the obstacles are legit. Nothing to worry about. Just have fun!

HOW TO ENTER idrankthecfkoolaid.com’s giveaway

It’s simple.

1. Email me at idrankthecfkoolaid@gmail.com and tell me who you are and if you want to be entered into the standard race entry or the family edition entry. There is an EMAIL ME link on the right hand bar. The email you send me will be my way of notifying you if you are a winner.

2. And then comment on THIS POST that you emailed me! It’s that simple! I’ll be taking entries through end of day of 2/25 11:59 pm CST. I’ll pick a winner on 2/26. And should have entry codes for you by 2/28.

I will not use your email address for anything other than contacting you if you are a randomly chosen winner. I was provided my own personal race entry as incentive to host a giveaway but I would have hosted it none the less!

That’s a WRAP!
Happy Weekend y’all! Go forth, be active and eat clean! Your mind and body will thank you for it. I promise!

There is a CrossFit Boom Community WOD tomorrow at 9am as well. So if you’ve been itching to try something new, GO! It’s for all ages, fitness levels, shapes and sizes! And it’s FUN!

Grrrrr, WALL BALLS

Oh if you know me at all you know I have a great dislike for those darn wall balls, but I’ll get to those in a bit. Right now, I’m on Day 9 of my Work Weight Loss Challenge. I’m probably gonna try to stay off the scale until Day 30 and that will just to kind of gauge where one month has brought me. Overall I’ve done marvelous. I had one poor showing for dinner on Saturday but really that’s the worst I got and it wasn’t that bad! But boy was I craving SUGAR. I’m still having those sugar cravings but I keep telling myself it’s not worth it. So far that’s working just fine. Just STAY THE COURSE. 51 days to go!

I can already feel the snugness in my clothes slowly disappearing. Thank goodness, because I really didn’t want to have to buy BIGGER clothes because of my expanding waistline. I know for a lot of us that’s where the line gets drawn. But some of us just go out and buy those new clothes and just throw your hands up. The battle of the bulge wins! It doesn’t have to be that way. Clean eating and a little bit of movement will do wonders. All you have to do is take the steps to a better healthier you. For me I pretty much go cold turkey. But I know that’s not something everyone can do. So take those steps. Big or small! Below I’ve listed some things you can do to start the process. Please NOTE, I am not a Dr. or professional. And also know these are just baby steps which are better than NO STEPS at all!

1. Cut out sugary and diet drinks – sodas, sweet tea, diet sodas, other diet beverages. Boy I know that’s a hard one for some folks. Why the diet? There’s no calories. Well my friends, those diet drinks are still made of chemicals that are NO GOOD for your body. And to top it off the “fake” sugar still triggers the same response to your body and brain as if there is real sugar in your system. But in fact there is not SUGAR in your system. This starts a whole new bad reaction in your body.

After about a week of letting go of those drinks, you should be feeling ok about the whole situation. Please note that FRUIT JUICE is alright but only once a day or better yet, once a week.

2. Cut out Fried Foods. Let go of those deep fried yummies. Replace them with baked versions. I know it’s not the same but it’s not about being the same. It’s about taking changes to be a better you. Eventually, your taste buds change and you will appreciate food differently.

3. Try new vegetables. Have you ever had Cauliflower Mash? Or roasted Broccoli? How about Spaghetti Squash? These are all foods that you may not have tried, but should at least give them a whirl. These veggies cooked different ways provide nutrients you wouldn’t get from french fries or deep fried veggies.

4. Get moving. Take short walks around your block if you’re new to being active. Or try a new sport if you’ve just become complacent in your everyday activities. It’s important to get that blood flowing and those muscles working. Although I do enjoy CrossFit, you can find that NO EQUIPMENT is necessary to get fit. Body movements such as squats, lunges, push ups will do wonders.

5. Sleep. Proper rest is KEY to becoming healthier. Hopefully with eliminating foods and getting some exercise sleep will come more quickly but it may take some time. Make it a priority to get proper rest. This gives your body time to take care of it’s self.

Those are just 5 simple things. There a plenty more tips and suggestions but I don’t want to overwhelm you. If you’re starting from ground zero or trying to nudge that friend or family member into better health, just do something positive. You can see it’s not that hard. Remember we are grown. We make these choices. Make choices to feel good about you.

Since I mixed up the blog today, I’ll be short and sweet with my recaps.

9/20/13 WOD
MOBILITY: Calves, IT bands
Hurts so good! I never do enough mobility. So it’s nice to dedicate during class time.

Sprints: 3×400 m sprints (record times) If it’s raining we will row.
So thankful for RAIN. Rowing is much better and I need the practice. Unfortunately I only rowed well for the first 200m of each 400m, then I fell apart. I started of with great 500m pacing around 1:50 but by 250m I would be at 2:06, 2:19 and who knows. I think I averaged around a 1:40 400m. For some reason I left that out of the picture on the whiteboard

9/20/13 WOD

MetCon: 10 Rounds of 20 Sit Ups, 20 DU
Cakewalk! WRONG! After 5 rounds, I’m pretty sure I was somewhere right past the 5 minute mark. I’m thinking WOOOO, I got this. But right after 5 rounds, I started slowing down on those Sit Ups and messing up on DUs. Oh how it pained me to mess on DUs so much. It’s only 20. But fatigue does set in. Time: 12:36

9/23/13 WOD
I didn’t get any good sleep Sunday night so I totally missed the 5 a.m. My guilty conscience got to me so I HAD to show up to one of the evening classes.

Warm-up: 400 m run and 30 TTB
Run. Meh. Toes To Bar for 30. Double Meh. For me, it was 30 GHD sit ups.

Strength: in 12 minutes find 1RM Front Squat
I had just PR’d my Front Squat not too long ago, so I wasn’t sure if it was in the cards today. And 12 minutes is not long at all! WTH? Let the work begin. I was feeling extraordinarily good doing these. Front Squat is not by best lift. But today everything was feeling good. By the end everything was tired. And that was in just 12 short minutes. Good news is that I got a 10lb PR. 155lbs suckas! Wooooo! I’m a PR MACHINE, well lately I am. Not always!

9/23/13 WOD

MetCon: TEAM 15 min AMRAP 3 Rope Climbs 12 Push-press (185, 125) no rack Teams of 3. One person going at a time.
Rope Climbs are a NO GO for me. So 6 ring rows were in my future. We decided to each do 1 rope climb/6 ring rows and then move onto 4 Push Press each. This worked out really nicely. And when Darrin, our only team member doing rope climbs just couldn’t go anymore he moved on to Ring Rows. The only down time we really had was the transition between our two guys, Andy and Darrin, on the Push Press. Even though this workout was intense we each got a little break since only one person could do the work. I worked at 85lbs because I just barely 3RM at 95lbs the other day. Final: 10 rounds, 18 ring rows + 1 Push Press. 15 minutes flew by!

9/24/13 WOD
Warm-up: 100 ft yoke push, 50 hollow rocks
Nothing like a yoke push to wake you up in the morning. That gets the blood rushing and really widens those eyes. The Hollow Rocks are miserable since I’m still sore from all those Sit Ups on Friday.

Skill: 3 Snatch positions top down
I am always in need of good mechanics. And as long as it’s not Squat Snatching I’m GREAT! Add the squat and I’m a mess. So frustrating!

MetCon: 60 Wall Balls in the black (20/14), 50 Pullups, 40 Barbell Burpess, 30 Snatch (75,45)
I’ve said this before and I’m more than happy to say it again: WALL BALLS CAN SUCK IT! Oh my goodness, it’s been a while since we have done these ugly lil monsters. And my butt was not ready for them. There was just sadness all around me when I was only 10 in and ready to die. 50 to go. It was slow and miserable. I just don’t know when or how I will ever find peace with this movement. I knew I moved slow but I didn’t look at the clock to see when I finished. Probably for the best. 50 Pull Ups. Now this is where I typically drag ass. I can rest for minutes before getting on that bar. Maybe my anger from the Wall Balls helped fuel me me to knock out 50 reps. There weren’t awesome but I chipped away better than I have known myself to do. Then came the burpees and right around 10 something cramped in my back BUT only when I was jumping left over the barbell. It finally went away but it slowed me down mentally, because I’m a big baby, for a little bit. It was like I was in molasses doing those damn burpees. Finally to snatch. I thought I will do 5 sets of 6. It was a good idea for the first 2 sets. Then I dropped to sets of 3. I just didn’t have any PUSH in me to fight through so I was taking a lot of time between sets. Ah well. Time: 21:16

9/24/13 WOD

Barbells For Boobs
Y’all know the drill. I love B4B. I have met the people B4B helps. I have met the community that comes out to help. They are a non-profit organization that provides funding to pay for breast cancer detection services as a last resort for thousands of people who don’t qualify for assistance elsewhere. Their aim is to help anyone that needs it, anywhere, whether they are male or female, no matter what their age or situation in life.

It’s a good cause and I’m participating in BOOM for BOOBS at my CrossFit Box, CrossFit BOOM. I have set up my fundraising page over at B4B and am asking for you to donate to the cause. It doesn’t have to be much. $1 would help just as much as $20 would. If you are unable to help out this year, I get it. There’s lots of people asking for money for all sorts of things. But do know, this is an organization that works for those who get left out. They work hard and bring a great time on their Pink Bra Tour. So donate if you can or share me to friends and companies that are looking to help out. I have a $100 goal, but more than happy to go above and beyond. You can go here: HELP SAVE BOOBIES! Thanks!

The End!
Ya, that was a doozy today folks. It’s only Tuesday too! Argghhh! Well chip away at the day. Make a change in your life. Drink more water, get active, eat clean. But above all BE AWESOME!

The Early Birds Can Have Their Worms!

Last week I had planned to get back up and at ’em for the morning workouts but that failed. This week it’s a must that I start moving to the A.M. classes. My oldest has football that is interfering with the 5 a.m. time slot so I opted for the 6 a.m., taking this as a baby step before I hit the EARLY morning WODs next week when school starts.

And boy oh boy did it SUCK! I don’t want to be an early bird anymore. I want to be an ~~night~~ evening owl. I don’t know how I managed to get up so early for over 2 years. In the few short months I switched over to evening classes, I have become spoiled. There are good things for getting up so early, I guess, for example my workout is DONE. But I think right now that’s the only thing going for me Seriously, it’s better all around. The boys are going to be busy in the evenings and it will be too hard to juggle workouts around their schedules. And until I can become a stay at home mom, the 5 a.m class is just going to have to do. FOREVER!

So I did manage to stuff my face with all bad things and managed to avoid any real activity in regards to being fit. I cheered on my Boom Boxmates at Europa, so if that counts as a workout I’ll take it! No? It doesn’t? Damn it! I don’t even think I broke a sweat the whole weekend.

8/19/13 WOD
This morning was a different story. I was paying for all my food sins. Add the early morning groggy and I was just a HOT MESS!

Strength: Back Squats 5@65% 5@70% 5@75% 5@80%
I wasn’t too sure how the squats would go. Sometimes, on a Monday at 7 p.m., I think the bar is soooo heavy. So at 6 a.m. will it feel even heavier? Fortunately it wasn’t too bad. Worked my way up to 110lbs, 115lbs, 125lbs and 130lbs. And I felt fine!

8/19/13 WOD

MetCon: Fight Gone Bad – 3 rounds; complete as many reps as possible in 1 minute of: Burpees, KB swings (Russian) 70/53, Double Unders, Push Press (95, 65), Row for calories and Rest.
Oy vay! Was I ready for such misery? I think not! But I have no choice. And I was going RX. This is where the bad eating all weekend was going to show up. Burpees! I knew in my head I wasn’t going to kill myself with burpees. Got 16 my first round. and dropped to 12 reps the next two rounds. The Kettle Bell felt super heavy at 53lbs and I was struggling to hold on to that damn thing but managed to get 15-20 reps each round. I just couldn’t will myself to hold on for the whole minute and took way too much rest. Moved on to DUs and couldn’t get them going. Oh I was mad. The one thing I can get reps on and I’m failing miserably. Finally after 30 seconds in, I got some rhythm. Managed to do better on the following rounds. Then it was on to Push Press. I know I knocked out 10 reps easy, then slowed down a lot. On the rower I averaged about 10 calories each round. My rounds were close… 80 something, 90 something and 80 something. Final: 262 reps RX

I survived! We’ll see if how well tomorrow goes. Happy Monday folks! It’s a great day to start something new. So go ahead and do it already! What are you waiting for? It will only make you more AWESOME!

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!!!!

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!

Everyday I’m STRUGGLIN!

At least lately. I know, I know. When is this girl going to have a good inspirational post. Something AWESOME and badass? No clue. I’m in this loop of chaos that I can’t get out of it. I have more off days than good days lately. And it’s like once I’m sleeping in or eating poorly I don’t want to get back to the program. It doesn’t help that I am doing absolutely nothing to keep on track during tournaments or unplanned events. I’m just going to blame it on the inconsistent weather we are having here in Texas. It’s driving me bonkers. Rainy, COLD, warm, cool, windy, COLD, hot, drizzly, COLD! It’s almost MAY and there is still COLD weather lingering. My brain can’t wrap around it! Or I can really just blame myself for getting stuck in this spiral of laziness.

The bulletproof coffee did give me that satiated feeling and energy boost but after I tried it at the full recommended dose it wasn’t so good. I’m struggling getting back to it. And after our whirlwind weekend I’m still trying to regroup. Then it’s off to another whirlwind weekend of more baseball! Don’t get me wrong. Baseball and my kids is my happy place. I love it and wouldn’t change it for the world. But for the purposes of health, fitness and this blog it’s really cramping my style! And the waistline is ever expanding. And I’m not a happy camper about it. If you’ve stuck around long enough you know I can be disciplined but I think my brain is broken.

As for missing the BOOM Box on Friday and Monday AND Tuesday – well my hands were broken for Friday and Monday. After those rips I got on Thursday I was done. There was no way I was going to comfortably do a workout and get work done. By Tuesday my hands were healing up fine. And it was a Power Clean day. But it was also a Pull Up day. I was still planning on going, just doing something other than Pull Ups but I had a kiddo wake me up not feeling so hot and I actually struggled going back to bed. Must be all the bad foods I’ve been eating. So when the time came to get up and get movin, there was just an alarm reset and back to snoozeville I went. I didn’t even hit SNOOZE. Just reset the alarm. So sad!

So I pick the coldest morning in April to actually get up and make an appearance at the box. 37° is not my idea of fun. But I’ve already missed 5 days in a row. So I’m itching for a good workout.

Skill/Strength: Push Press 5, 3, 1+ at 75%, 85% and 95% of 1RM.That’s 70lbs, 80lbs and 90lbs for me. The one good thing about 5 days rest is well it’s FIVE days rest and my shoulders were feeling good. Got warmed up and started my rep scheme. Woo I was feeling strong. Maybe I should be a slacker more often?!? Hehe. Got to 95% and did 4 reps. I knew I had at least 1 or 2 more, but my concentration broke and I was done. That’s the worst! One little extra thought comes through and I’m done. But 4 reps at 95% ain’t too shabby.

4/24/13 WOD

MetCon: Helllooooo Annie! Activating Superpowers. Cause shit that’s all I got. For those of you who don’t know Annie, it’s 50, 40, 30, 20 and 10 reps of Double Unders and Butterfly Sit Ups. Those are about the only STRENGTHS that I have when it comes to CrossFit. Seriously my ONLY strengths. So frustrating but at least I do have that. 3,2,1 GO … I really was going for UNBROKEN in the first 50 DUs. I can do that many unbroken but not very often. I got to about 37 and had some trip ups in the last 10. Then chipped away at the Sit Ups. I can’t recall if it was during the 50 or the 40 of Sit Ups that I took my hoody off and that’s where I took too much time not working. But I was hot and flustered and well I should have taken care of that before the clock started! But after that, I just kept moving. I took a few short pauses during the Sit Ups but no LONG rests. Top time recorded for the BOX was in the 7:30 range so I was trying to at least come close. The last time I recorded myself doing Annie last summer was 8:40. I knew it was under 9 but over 8. I just wasn’t sure my exact time this morning though. My time today was 7:58! Dang it. If I had just sucked it up with my HOODY on I could have had a better time. At least I wasn’t worse from 9 months ago!

Happy Hump Day ladies and gents. Make it a great day. Well you know you should actually make it an AWESOME day. See you tomorrow, uh, I hope! Fingers crossed!

My hands hurt :/

Just recently my hands have been really sore. Not just sore on my callouses from hanging on the bar but sore in my palms, sore in my grip, etc. After talking with coach he suggested getting a rubber band and wrap it around my fingers and work with opening and closing my hand. I’m gonna give that a try for the rest of the week and see if it helps out. I know with time the pain will go away eventually but I’m hoping this helps work out the little muscles in my hand.

In other news, I did pretty well hitting my Eat To Perform targets and I had a sense of relief that I can do this. I CAN eat all this dang food and all the fat pretty easily. What was hard to eat was my Post Workout Meal this morning as it’s about double of what I’m used to eating and lately I have slipped off the PWO Meal anyways. They do suggest Sweet Potato Recovery powder from Simply Pure Nutrients that I may look into because I don’t know that I can always shove that much food down or that I even have the time too regularly. Just add water and I can drink some of those carbs! If anyone has tried it, let me know what you think about it.

Food Front
So with all this eating and adding FAT I finally got in the kitchen to get ahead at least a day so I wasn’t stressing out about what to eat. I also finally bit the bullet and purchased a digital scale. I’ve had an old fashion cheapo one and I never felt like it was accurate but I wasn’t really ever concerned about getting exact breakdowns of my food. With the digital I can easily track grams, ounces, ml which helps me a lot in trying to get an accurate count of my Carbs, Proteins and Fats.

So I cooked up chicken and beef, measured and portioned it all out. I also quick boiled some aparagus, broiled some eggplant, baked more sweet potato and got some kale prepped for salad. I’m also going to share with you how I cooked up my eggplant and a couple of chicken strips. I didn’t originally plan on this so I don’t have pictures of the food in the making. But if I wait to do that properly I may never post about it.

Broiled Eggplant
Super simple to cook and a vegetable I’ve only cooked once. For some reason I’m not drawn to eggplant so I rarely buy it and if I do buy it, it sits in the fridge till it’s bad. So this time when I saw two perfectly purple eggplants and bought them, I was determined to cook them up. And I’m not in the moment of life where I can take time to experiment a whole lot. Turns out this veggie is really easy to cook. Found this on NomNom Paleo. http://nomnompaleo.com/post/4739682522/broiled-zucchini-or-eggplant. She used Zucchini and Globe Eggplant. I’m not quite sure what GLOBE eggplants are but I just bought your typical eggplant that’s purple and odd shaped. I’m not as food savvy as MRS. NOM NOM but I can figure some things out on my own, haha.

Easy Breezy Eggplant

Really easy! I promise. Preheat oven to BROIL. Grab a cookie sheet. Line it with foil. Drizzle oil on to cookie sheet. Add salt and pepper to your oil. Cut your eggplant into even slices. Place on oil coated cookie sheet THEN flip eggplant so you can get oil and seasoning on both sides. Broil for 8 -10 minutes, flip halfway through. Once you remove the eggplant from oven you can add a little vinegar or lemon OR BOTH and you have scrumptious eggplant. We even tried coconut aminos and that was wonderful too! I’m hoping it holds up after sitting in the fridge all night.

Fried Chicken Strips
If you have ever fried anything you should be pretty capable to concoct something and season it to your likings. If you’re not a cook or scared of stepping out of step by step instructions, let me tell you, it’s easy to just do whatever. And that’s what I did with some chicken strips that I had.

I took the chicken strips and rubbed chili powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper and lemon pepper all over (use your favorite seasonings). I then took some egg white and put in one dish. And set up another dish with coconut flour, pepper and salt. I made sure the flour and seasonings were mixed well. Take your seasoned chicken, dip and coat it in the egg whites, then dip and coat in your coconut flour. I went ahead and took coated strip and double coated it. While I was prepping everything I had a pan heating up at Medium Heat with 2TBS Coconut Oil. By the time I was done coating my chicken strips the oil was hot enough. Place the chicken in the pan and let cook a couple of minutes (no touching) then flip after 2-3 minutes and let cook through on other side for 2-3 minutes. Really tasty fresh, not as tasty microwaved next day. But a quick and simple protein with some “cheat meal” flare.

Not the prettiest shot. I’m no photographer but it tasted yummy!

So now that I have my kitchen in work mode, I’m hoping I can just keep things rolling along! But now it’s time for the BOOM Box Recap. It’s short and sweet today.

Skill/Strength: 5, 5, 5+ @ 65%, 75% and 85% of 1RM Push PressLast week we found our 1RM Push Press and sadly even though I felt like I could have got more weight up, I only got 95lbs. So using that I was going for 60lbs, 70lbs and 80lbs. My warm up sets and my first round weren’t hard but everything was hurting in an achey kind of way. Finally at 70lbs it felt much better. Got to 80lbs and busted out 10 reps! I went for 11 and failed. Now my arms were really dead! It felt good though to get those 10 reps.

4/9/13 WOD

MetCon: 3X – 3 min AMRAP of 5 Burpees and 5 Knees to Elbows, 1 minute rest
3 rounds of that. UGH. It might not be so bad if I was good at KTE. But I am not. I did start off strong in regards to getting my knees up but by the end it was just get knees as high as possible. I dropped after each rep of KTE because my hands were on fire! Burpees are burpees. You just gotta do them. I ended up with a total of 9 rounds + 1 for all the rounds. So that’s averaging 3 rounds per round! Makes sense right?

It’s TUESDAY folks. And I’m already ready for Friday! That’s a problem 😀 Ah well, I’ll just have to chug on through. Hope y’all have a great day and of course BE AWESOME!

Welcome to the GRIND!

Hello Hello! No I’m not slacking again. I had jury duty yesterday and blogging fell off the to do list. But I did get my WOD in. Someone recently asked me HOW I DO IT? How do I get up every morning, check in at the BOOM Box, get the kids off to school and get to work. And I responded with “It’s not always easy and sometimes I do sleep in but 5 am is the only time I CAN go. There’s a fit kid in me somewhere telling the fat kid inside me to get up and move. I want to be strong for my boys so I get up and go. I want to put my all out there so they have no excuses for not trying or giving it their all.” That’s the best way I could explain it without going into full on novel mode. I want to be fit, healthy and THERE for my family. I don’t want to be hurt, broken and sickly. I want to be a better me for me, for my boys. I’m not always the most positive athlete in the box but hell I’m there. I show up. I put work in. Ahhh, there’s so much I could say but I would bore you and I’d just be a broken record. Just freakin do it! Go out there and work hard. Life life. Laugh. Cry. Smile. Relax. Love!

Right now my kids are in the heart of baseball season. We eat, breathe and live baseball 24/7. One of their coaches sent out a link to the team for the boys to listen to and I hadn’t really had the chance to hear it, but it’s loaded on their iPods and they listen regularly. The past couple of days we’ve been listening together in the car and it speaks to me probably more than the kids! So here it is. It’s a great motivator.

That’s right ladies and gents. Welcome to the GRIND! Man I love that video. It’s only my 3rd day listening/watching it but it will be a daily ritual. I love it!

On to my Boom Box reports. Taking a week off HURTS! I’ve already preached about not slowing down or taking time off and I did just that and it sucks. But it does motivate me to work harder (sometimes).

4/2/13 WOD
Skill/Strength: Muscle Up or Ring Dips
Ya, there’s no Muscle Up in my near future but hopefully in my future in general. I’m getting better at getting my hips working the movement right when we break it down to work on but there’s so much more work to be done. Focusing on ring dips is the goal for the moment. I can get up there and hold myself up there but the dipping part is where I have a mental panic. I can’t just drop without completely failing. I can’t lower myself down to pop back up. With a band, I’m AWESOME but that’s not that cool. I’m working on it. But it’s a SLOW work in progress.

4/2/13 WOD

MetCon: 7 minute AMRAP of 30 Double Unders, 10 Handstand Push Ups
My wrists and shoulders haven been shredded. The idea of doing a handstand push up hurts me. I still can’t do them but I’m getting better. I opted for using the box for a modified version of HSPU. Double Unders come relatively easy for me. I’m not a MASTER and I can’t do 100 unbroken. But I can get them knocked out quickly. I’m pretty sure I did my first 2 sets of DUs unbroken. Most of my time was wasted climbing onto the box and setting up for HSPU. Plus it seriously sucks to be winded and being inverted. It’s so much harder to breathe! The rest of my DUs were sets of 10’s or 15’s. Fatigue set in my triceps halfway through, I didn’t even want to hold the rope. 7 minutes isn’t that long but I was feeling every second of it. Score: 6 rounds + 10 DUs.

4/3/13 WOD
It was RAINING this morning and it felt so good to be in bed. I was 90% sure I wasn’t getting out of bed. And the MetCon was SPRINTING. It’s raining. SLEEP! The legion did not win. I got up and put my feet on the ground and didn’t look back!

Skill/Strength: 15 minutes to find 1RM Push Press and 3 X 8 Jumping Good Mornings.
As typical for me I get stuck with my 1 rep max weights. Although I’ve Push Pressed 105lbs before, I can’t seem to get back there. And I’ve been stuck at 95lbs. I’m OK with it for now. Like I said my shoulders are toast. My whole upper body is smoked. I know I can do more weight, it’s just not happening today. More dip, more drive. MOVE FASTER. All those things in my head. Get the bar up and all momentum stops. Not sure where that brake is in my head but I want it gone!

4/3/13 WOD

MetCon: 4 x 400, Rest 1:1 (100% effort)
So it was still raining and pretty steady when we started so we opted for the rower. I’m no more of a rower than I am a sprinter. And we haven’t rowed in a while. I wasn’t sure where I would end up. ROWING is tough cookies man. I think being short doesn’t help. But of course that’s my excuse. If I was tall, I’d probably say that’s the reason. I’m too tall. I was taking turns with Leigh. I rested while she went and she rested while I went. I didn’t pay much attention to my times but I think I averaged 1:30 splits. Faster than my 400m sprint, that’s for sure. Woooo I was beat down. My forearms, shoulders, biceps, triceps, and quads were dead. I need to row more!

I’m tired today. Maybe the rain. Maybe the WODs. Just heavy eyes. This is a first week of 5 days in a row. Not sure if I can HANG! But I’m gonna try. You will all know how it turns out. Plus it’s 13.5 DAY! The last CrossFit Games OPEN WOD will be announced and we can all go back to our normal, anxiety free (ha) lives. I know I gotta step up my game. I gotta put more focus into my workouts and I HAVE TO GET BACK to at least a 90% if not 100% clean eating regimen. AGGGHHHH! So much to work on. My first year I started off GREAT. My 2nd year has been half ass. I need to end my 2nd year of CrossFit strong. NOT half ass! Anyhow, that’s where my I need my head to be, let’s see if I can actually get there.

Happy HUMP Day! Make it AWESOME!

Get UP and Get it DONE

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.

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.

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!

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.

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

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.

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.

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!

Wore out!

I am T-I-R-E-D! Exhausted! I think I’m just trying to cram too much in. Work is typically laid back but we are in tradeshow season so I’m extra busy and not sitting at my desk all day. Then at home, I’m trying to make a gazillion cakeballs and that’s a whole different kind of stress. It’s not bad stress but I’m staying up later and I carry all the tension in my upper back and shoulders. They are hurting. On top of the 5 am workouts, I am TIRED!

This morning was extra chilly at the BOOM Box. Where did my 50° mornings go? Seriously back in the 30s. I’m not a happy girl. I had no motivation to do work. I’m really surprised that I didn’t stay home. The workout for the day was 12.3 from last years open!

Before we started we worked on TTB and Box Jumps because that my friends makes up 2/3 of 12.3. I tried working on not reloading once I hit the ground from box jumps. But I still haven’t found those super springy legs yet. I’ll just have to fight through those pesky box jumps. And well I still haven’t found my TTB. Sigh, that’s one more thing I need to get back to working on. So close but they are hiding from me.

2/13/13 WOD

MetCon: 18 minute AMRAP of 15 Box Jumps, 12 Push Press and 9 Toes To Bar. 20″ for box jumps and 75lbs for push press. Coach T wanted us to do a weight for push press that we felt we could do unbroken. Well I didn’t think I could do 75lbs unbroken. So I went with 65lbs even tried to get away with 55lbs but that wasn’t happening. I couldn’t do 65lbs unbroken either! And it hurt. I should have warmed up more because a lot of the hurt went away with more reps so I know it’s not an injury, just tired ass muscles. My Toes to Bar didn’t magically come at 3-2-1 either. It was really a Debbie Downer kind of morning.

OUCHY!

Then I tried to break my shin on the box jumps, which I have never done before. I’ve missed and banged up right below my knee but today I went for all the marbles, drew blood and stained my NEW and AWESOME Reebok compression socks Ernie got for me for Valentine’s day. Womp, Womp.

At least they weren’t the white ones! 20″ isn’t even an issue for me when it comes to box jumps. I was not feeling it today though. Total reps: 166. When I saw Coach G after the workout he asked me how it went and I had nothing positive to report. It was bad. He asked how I did last year and I couldn’t remember. But I did look back in my posts and found this. A little more optimistic version of me who did freaking 75lb push press but only got a score of 96. Ugh. Still just made me more blah for the day! But it also reminded me after reading about Sherry, why I love CrossFit – COMMUNITY! I may be a big baby but I have a great box full of wonderful people that inspire me and challenge me even when I just want to throw a fit.

Can I get a do-over? Pretty Please? I promise I will be awesome the rest of the day! I will not think about my banged up shin anymore. I will knock out a gazallion cake balls tonight and I will eat clean! I will for sure enjoy my REST day tomorrow! Done son! Gotta regain awesome! You GO BE AWESOME as well! Happy WEDNESDAY!

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