My first weekend Post Whole30

I have a little less than 2 weeks left and then baseball chaos ensues. I feel like I’m in a good place though to survive ballparks and the food that comes with them. I off-roaded in the food dept this weekend. More than 2 meals, doh. But I didn’t go overboard or eat too much. In the end it’s my neglect to portion sizes that get me. And my love of the sugars. Fortunately though I didn’t go bonkers. And I didn’t even indulge in the cake ball madness. Only to taste some new flavor combos because my taste testers were not around. I did good y’all! I typically would have overindulged till I was sick to my stomach.

My kids have been on me. They know I like to eat. And they know I like to eat all the things. But when offered burgers for dinner from a little burger joint down the road, I kindly said NO, I have food at home to eat. I do have will power, I do!

The BOOM Box
Y’all should really come check out our Community WODs. They are so much fun and we all have a good time, even if at times we aren’t sure if we’ll even complete the workout. We always do and there’s always a great support system.

2/8/14
There was a nice group that showed up on Saturday and coach spared us from running in the cold. He did not however spare us of lots of reps of stuff. Teams of 4 to complete 100 Handstand Push Ups, 100 KB Swings, 100 Wall Balls, and 100 Shoulder to Overhead. We could “spot” our teammates on the HSPUs which we did with just one person! That’s a lot of HSPU, assisted or not. Then we just busted out sets of 10’s or 20s in the other movements. I don’t recall our time exactly but it was in the 13 minute mark I believe.

But we weren’t done, Coach had us race a 500M row. Not just row 500 but unstrap and run to a wall 30ft away. We have 4 rowers and had about 4 or 5 heats. The heat I was on, was all ladies. I’m not so good on the rowing so I figured I’d turn up last. The whole time everyone was yelling how we were all neck and neck. I thought no way, I’m so short and so slow. Turns out we all did finish with in seconds or less… so it was all about who got their feet unstrapped first. And to my surprise and almost falling on my face, I made it to the wall first! My legs were dead!

I got to be the example as Brett explained Warrior and Warrior 2.

Yoga followed that and Brett, our yoga instructor took the opportunity to really teach us more as most of us are beginners. It was nice to really break down different movements and to learn and understand we will always be at different paces as well as hold movements differently. I still lack in many aspects of yoga, but I’m getting better each time I hope.

2/10/14
For some reason, whether I have good reason or not, I’m struggling getting to the 5am class on Mondays! So I managed to hit up 6pm. And it was all about the MODFICATIONS.

Midline: 30 T2B Strength
Still got these, but still not stringing them together. But today was a MONDAY and I just wasn’t feeling it!

Strength: Back Squat 8×3 @80%
I’d much rather do lots of sets of low reps than a few sets of high reps. So this was nice and my HIPS weren’t completely jacked!

2/10/14 WOD

MetCon: 8 min AMRAP of 20 Thrusters 95/65, 10 HSPU, 20 Hang cleans 95/65
And this is where the modifications came in. 20 Push Ups instead of 10 HSPU. I can only do Thrusters with the bar right now and I can clean more weight than with proper technique. I can only do the chicken wing clean. So Coach asked if I could do 55lbs and I said I’ll try. Well that was dumb. I forgot in a split second I can’t properly clean the bar. So that hurted. So he decided to have me do STOH with the weight already racked. I said sure! 3, 2, 1 GO. I went to get the bar and go overhead and I couldn’t do it. The damage had been done and my wrist was not happy. So I looked at Coach while everyone was gettin after it, like I can’t do it. So I went to Push Ups while he figured out a modification for me. I did KB Swings in lieu of Hang Cleans and I did a Thruster mod with dumbbells. Final: 3 rounds + 20 Push Ups

That’s a Wrap!
I’m looking forward to some warmer weather at the end of this week but right now I just want to hibernate! Are you staying strong to clean eating or giving in? Remember every meal is a fresh start so don’t let a slip up drag you down for the week. Don’t forget to be awesome in all you do!

Falling apart!

Seriously folks, I was in bed last night, moments before falling asleep and I had an itch on my back. Of course I went to itch it but when I did, I felt like I broke a rib when I reached around to get that itch. It freakin hurt! So I laid there hoping it was a temporary pain but it looks like it was sticking around. After about 10 minutes of not moving my dumb butt was going to try and roll over on my side of said hurt rib and I about died. This is no bueno. But I’m thinking there’s not much I can do but try and sleep. I’d find a comfortable position, then roll over and be stuck short on breath. I don’t think I actually broke a rib but I feel I pulled something.

Woke up this morning and it still hurts. Why am I so fragile all of a sudden? Can I just be 21 again and be invincible? Please!

12/10/13
Despite traffic woes, I made it home in time to cook dinner for the fam and hit up the 7pm class at the BOOM Box. And I totally had spaced on the WOD and forgot there was RUNNING involved. Yay!

Skill: 10 min Handstand practice
No handstands for me. Instead PISTOLS was my skill work. I’m weaksauce and fear I will never have a pistol

MetCon: 3 rounds of 400 m run and 15 Squat Clean Thrusters 135/95
I’m finally happy to have a busted up wrist. SQUAT CLEAN THRUSTERS are NO JOKE! I was charged with plain ol’ Front Squats. And I was not looking forward to the run. Oh how I envy you cold weather runners. I see you merrily running along when I’m driving to and from work. But it’s so cold. And I don’t like running.

12/10/13 WOD

I start off for my first 400 and I’m feeling ok. Until I realize my face might freeze off. But it didn’t feel so bad. I almost made the whole 400 before walking but fell short. Got back inside with thoughts of 8 and 7 for my squats, but reality set in and I did 3 sets of 5 at 75lbs. 10 more lbs than I worked with a few WODs ago. I still am uncomfortable not being able to rack the bar with my hands. By my second and third round my runs got slower but I feel I knocked out the squats at a better pace. Time: 15:44.

12/11/13
I wasn’t sure how mobile I would be with my “broken” rib. After some warming up, which helped I was able to do most everything we worked on. Warming up with the PVC was limited and squatting in general was uncomfortable, but nothing I could work through.

Skill: Snatch 20 min emom; Odd minutes: squat, Even minutes: power
My modifications was working the Power Snatch technique with the PVC. I’m happy my wrist can go overhead into snatch position. As much as I struggle with this lift, I’m still looking forward to using a real bar with some weight.

For the Odd minutes I worked on Deadlifts with Snatch grip. I worked up to 115lbs. Too bad my actual snatch is not this. I know in theory it should be but I scared.

12/11/13 WOD

MetCon: 10 min AMRAP of 5 Burpees, 10 KB swings, 15 Jumping air squats
For burpess, I did the good ol’ flat left hand and fist right hand. My poor knuckles hate me. I had ZERO idea of how many rounds I’d complete but Coach T had a nice idea for counting rounds. He threw out some cones and lined them up. As I completed a round I would just kick the cone. Pretty nifty I think. Better than chalk or walking over to the white board.

Of course the first round was great. Then I was pretty much mentally done. Fortunately I just kept chipping away. Sometimes slow, sometimes with conviction. My legs and hips were smoked pretty fast and I struggled most with Jumping Air Squats. Final: 6 rounds + 5 burpees + 8 KB Swings.

Hump Day!
That’s all I got for the now. I’m feeling good about staying consistent as far as workouts go, now if I could just get my eating on lockdown. I’m still on the lookout for a chef to cook all my meals and of course be FREE. Hahaha. I wish. I guess that’s me. I have to get motivated to cook GOOD CLEAN FOODS regularly. When I do cook, it tends to be clean. But there hasn’t been much cooking going on for myself Hope you all have a Happy Wednesday. Be AWESOME!

Icemageddon 2013 @!$$%&*!@***

Thank goodness the ICE is melting away. For those of you who don’t know, I live in TEXAS. We don’t get nice fluffy snow to play in. We get ICE. And we get ICED in. No fun. I fell several times on the ice, once even trying to catch myself with my bum wrist/hand. That HURT. But so far no further major issues. I’ve been a caged bird. And to top it off, I had to get my AC/HEAT unit replaced on Monday. So after a cozy stay at my dads for 4 days. I had to return to my freezing cold home while I got a whole new system. Brrrrrrr. But all is better now that I have a heater that works and the roads are drivable…. for the most part.

At least the kids had fun!

11/5/13
Last week I left off saying I was going to miss Thursday workout, but due to the incoming weather, all afterschool activities for my kids got canceled and I got to make an evening class at the BOOM Box.

3 sets of 100 ft sled pull backwards (3/2) plates and 20 Air Squats AFAP, rest 2 minutes between efforts.
Out of the 4 of us there, I was the only girl. With 2 sleds I was pulling the sled with the 2 weights. But by my 3rd pull, there was 3 weights so we could get out of the freezing cold weather. Instead of taking off the weight, I just pulled it. And OMG it was freakin hard. And of course it was on the uphill of our parking lot. I thought I’d just be tough and I think it almost killed me! It was only an additional 45lbs but it felt like an additional 100lbs. Coach saw me struggle and was going to rescue me but I just dug in and finished. Kind of felt good to finish strong like that. The 20 Air Squats after that were so miserable though.

12/5/13 WOD

MetCon: For time – 250 m row, 30 kb swings (2/1.5), American, 500 m row, 20 kb swings, 1000 m row, 10 kb swings
Before we got started I tested out the KB swings at a lighter weight. American standards are to get the KB overhead. With my wrist still being wonky, I opted for Russian swings which are at eye level. I still did the 1.5 POOD though. The first row didn’t go as bad as I thought it would. I don’t recall my time exactly but I’m pretty sure it’s one of my better times. It was all downhill from there. I suck at rowing but oh how I wish I was good at it. The first set of KB swings weren’t too bad. I did 15, 5 and 10. I just didn’t feel like I had a good grip. The 1000m row I thought was going to kill me. There was a handful of times I was literally fighting internally with myself on if I should stop. I’m glad I didn’t stop but it wore me out. For my last set of KB swings, I just had to keep telling myself HOLD ON. DON’T STOP. It was struggle to the end. Time: 13:35.

12/6/13 ICEMAGEDDON has arrived.
After a lot of bs’ing and statements of bravery at Thursdays WOD, there was a decision that if the roads were driveable then we would have a 5am class. It’s fortunate I’m not far from the BOOM Box. And it was fortunate that the white stuff on the ground was slushy at 4:30 a.m. The slush didn’t stay slush, making FRIDAY, SATURDAY and half of SUNDAY miserable!

Mobility: Hips and Shoulders

MetCon: 20 min AMRAP of Elizabeth 21-15-9 Squat cleans 135/95 ring dips
Of course I had to modify. I did Front Squats and Push Ups. I still don’t have the wrist mobility to rack the weight so I’m over there Frankenstein-ing it. My squats are week. I think I only had 65lbs on the bar and I was STRUGGLING! I did closed fist Push Ups instead of the ring dips. I started off strong but had to resort to scaling down to my knees.

12/6/13 WOD

Elizabeth is normally just 21-15-9 for time. But this icey morning called for an AMRAP. Woooo fun. It was a perfect beatdown before the CABIN FEVER, STUFF MY FACE WOD commenced for 3 days straight. I managed to get through 2 full rounds + 5 reps into the 3rd round of Squats.

12/9/13
Once my heater was installed and my bones warmed up, I figured I get a WOD in. I had a killer headache at 5am, probably from all the junk, and just couldn’t get moving.

Strength: Back Squat 3×5 @80%
I may not have the flexibility to rack the bar for front squat but I now have some flexibility for back squat. I didn’t get NEAR my 80% but I was able to FINALLY hold the bar for the Back Squat in general! WOOOO!

12/9/13

MetCon: 3 rounds 1 min at each station HR Push Ups, Box Step Overs 20″, Hollow Rocks, Jumping Split Lunges, Ring Rows, Rest
This was Fight Gone Bad Style. I did mention I stuffed my face for several days right? This wasn’t going to be pretty.
My Push Ups were a hybrid of my left hand being flat on the ground and my right hand in a fist. The Box Step Overs were dizzy-ing. The Hollow Rocks SUCKED DONKEY BALLS. I probably did best at Jumping Split Lunges even though I paused frequently. And RING ROWS were a butt whoopin. I had a low score of 310 reps. There were names on the board at over 500 reps… WTH?!?!? I bow down to you beastly folks.

The End
And then there’s today. Where my roughly over an hour drive into work turned into 2.5 hours. I should have just stayed home. Let’s hope my drive home isn’t so miserable. There were reports of people being stuck in their cars for 24 hours on Friday evening. SO GLAD I didn’t attempt that trek! It’s good being back at the BOX consistently. And hopefully I can get on to cleaner eating now that the depression is wearing off. I hope you all are doing well, staying on track and of course BEING AWESOME!

I’m Squatted Out

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

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

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

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

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

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

Example of a “zombie” front squat 😀

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

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

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

10/22/13 WOD

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

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

10/23/13 WOD

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

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

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

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

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

Maintain a healthy weight

Prevent or manage various conditions, including heart disease, high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes

Strengthen your bones

Lift your mood

Improve your balance and coordination

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

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

Forced Rest Day

I need a good massage ASAP! I could very well be falling apart. Can I blame the cooler weather for my joints and muscles wanting to flee from my body? Saturday I finally made it to a Community WOD… Woohooo! But Sunday I woke up and my left shoulder was dead. DEAD I tell you. It was a struggle to put on my seat belt all freakin day. Much less get dressed, put on a hoody, lie down, etc. Needless to say when 4 a.m. rolled around yesterday, I assessed that I was going to be worthless for the 5 a.m. WOD. I did make it in to an evening class and now my legs are dead after Squats and my shoulders are hating on me now after lots o’ Push Ups. Today has to be a rest day for me.

But let me backtrack a couple of days and catch you up on my workouts. Cause I know you’ve all been waiting anxiously for such! I wish It’s ok. You all have lives. And probably more exciting than mine!

10/4/13
Test day: Max rope climbs in 5 minutes
Yup that’s right folks, I’m still scared of the rope and the climbing of the rope. It sucks. Coach had me work on some things but I still have that fear. So for me it wasn’t rope climbs, it was: lie on the ground and pull myself upright using the rope. I’m pretty sure this is what killed my shoulders. With DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness), I didn’t feel it till Sunday

10/4/13 WOD

MetCon: Death By 10 Meters
It’s been a while since we’ve done Death by anything. And Death by 10 meters shows up. A few weeks ago, I did my own death by what I assumed was 20 meters. maybe less? I didn’t have an accurate measurement. But we did for this MetCon. I know we’ve done this at the BOOM Box but I have no record of it, so it was a loooong time ago before I started blogging. I found a post where I did it on my own last year and holy heckola I got 14 rounds! And for this MetCon I got 15 rounds. 20m shy of completing 16 rounds. I guess improvement is better than NO improvement right?

10/5/13 Community WOD
Sprints and Burpees. Or should I say JOGGING and BURPEES. So I walk up for 9 a.m. at a local high school and there’s a handful of us warming up but there’s 2 overachievers there already for the Endurance group that showed up at 8 a.m. Hehe Jokes ladies. Y’all are awesome and I’m only envious! Jordan happened to even be more awesome and stick around for whatever Coach was going to cook up for us. Burpees and Running! Team WOD. Ugh. Poor Jordan was my partner. Not only did she just run 78o898 miles, now she has to do more running and have the worst partner EVER! Ah well, it is what it is.

So here it goes, 50 burpees, 200yds, 40 burpees, 160yds, 30 burpees, 120yds, 20 burpees, 80yds, 10 burpees, 40yds.
As a team we had to complete the burpees so we split em up. But we had to run as a team and not split up the run. We were on the football field so we ran the 100yds and ran back. Did burpees then shortened the run by 20yds and run back. We didn’t get a time but I’d say we did alright. The runs were a struggle. I started off burpees like a champ but faded fast. Thank goodness we surived. We then moved on to playing on the monkey bars (which I suck at), and playing around on the different outdoor stuff the high school has. We ended with scaling a concrete wall. NOT FUN. Ok it was fun when I could get my chunkalunk butt over but not fun when I couldn’t. The wall had an incline, so I could clear it at the bottom where it was shorter and in the middle. But at the end where the wall is taller than me, it was a NO GO.

10/7/13
Strength: 4×8 @75% 2-3-min rest
Even holding the bar for back squats was putting a strain on my shoulder but it wasn’t bad and I worked on it in between sets. Still sucked though. The Squats weren’t any more fun. There’s something about 8 reps that seems so hard. It’s not and it’s only 75% but I struggled. The easiest set was the 3rd set. For some reason, I was down and up pretty quickly. I guess it took a little bit for my brain to realize it’s not so bad.

10/7/13 WOD

MetCon: 8 Rounds of 10 Front Squats (95,65) and 12 HR Push Ups
Sounds like a ton of fun doesn’t it? Light weight on Front Squats and not too many Push Ups. Well my first round was completed in 26 seconds! Woooo and then my second round took over 30 seconds and then who the hell knows. My shoulder was dying. My right palm was tightening up on me. I was a mess. I was really hoping for sub 10 on this but I just couldn’t pull my squats together as fast as I hoped! Final: 10:49 RX

Boy oh boy do my QUADS feel the fire! Pretty much I look like every ounce of me is broken when I get up from my desk. It’s such a pathetic site I’m sure

Barbells For Boobs
I’m only $15 away from my goal of $100. Woooooo! Thanks to Vicki, Nicole and Melanie, I’m almost there! Thank y’all!

DONATE TO HELP SAVE BOOBIES

Our B4B event BOOM for BOOBS at CrossFit Boom is only 4 days away. I’m begging and bribing for donations! For a $10 donation, I will send you a pair of AWESOME socks! I have 4 pairs left. So the first 4 folks to click here: HELP SAVE BOOBIES and donates $10 will be a proud owner of some freakin awesome socks! Sounds like a win/win to me! So if you are able to donate, then I thank you and appreciate ya. If you are unable to donate then please take the time to share my fundraising page with your friends and co-workers!

So you might be asking what does B4B do?

Their organization helps to SAVE lives through the early detection of breast cancer, regardless of one’s age, gender or ability to pay. Barbells for Boobs is 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.

DONATE TO HELP SAVE BOOBIES

Done Son.
That’s it for today y’all. Me and the lacrosse ball need to get really close today. I hope y’all are keeping up with mobility as well. It catches up to you FAST if you don’t stick with it! Don’t forget to drink you water! Half your body weight in ounces people (200lbs = 100oz of water) DO IT! NOW! And you know the drill BE AWESOME!

Being Consistent

Consistency does pay off. I know it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that but I think all of us will try to make excuses for everything if we let ourselves. Just because 2 weeks of trying to eat better and exercise isn’t showing any results doesn’t mean that the 3rd week, the week you may have quit, wasn’t going to be your “golden” week. It may even be the second month. But you will NEVER know if you QUIT!

I’m pretty sure most of us always want those INSTANT results. In a time of growing technology, the faster the better! Quick food, quick apps, quick everything. Quick weight loss and body results are just fantasy! The stuff we see in magazines. The mid day shows that promise and guarantee weight loss without putting in the WORK that it really takes to achieve those goals. We all want the easy route. Who doesn’t want that route? Only thing is, it’s not easy. EVEN if one of those gimmicky plans worked, it would only be for the short term. Why even bother? I want results and I want the results to stay. I was on track, being the most awesome I have ever been and then I derailed. Big time. Gained some LBs and woke up and said WHOA where did those come from? Well they came from stuffing my face and showing up to the Boom Box like once a week. My consistency went down the drain and I was a HOT MESS and it was ugly.

Now I’ve cleaned up MOST of my eating, not all but most. I promise, FOOD, it’s a bad addiction sometimes. But I’m cleaning it up and I’m CONSISTENTLY showing up to the BOOM Box and whaddyaknow…. my progress is showing up in WODs and in my strength. Again, this doesn’t take an expert to know that putting in work will make you better, stronger and faster (well faster is questionable in my case :D). But it’s something that I know we all just put to the side. We make excuses. We justify our poor eating habits and lack of exercise through busy lives and schedules.

With my dedicated 4-6 workouts a week and at least 80% clean eating, heavy weight is becoming easier light weight. PRs are here. And I’m feeling that confidence come back that comes with killing WODs. Although I’m still a MAJOR work in progress, it’s coming along. Much slower than I was planning but it’s coming along none the less!

8/6/13 WOD and my 2nd ever DNF (womp womp)
If you look closely at the pic next to my name there is NOTHING. No time recorded. It was a sad day for me mentally and physically. I had just flown through Power Cleans at 95lbs and was feeling great and was actually looking forward to the Kettle Bell Swings and Toes To Bar.

8/6/13 WOD

I’m not great at TTB but I’ve made some progress and I’m getting them knocked out even if it’s only 1 at a time. It wasn’t till my last round of TTB that I just lost all my energy, juice, mojo, etc. My toes weren’t touching that bar. I struggled a lot in the round of 15 but managed to finish. I thought 9 more wasn’t out of the question. But for this day, it was completely not going to happen. Not in the class time anyways. I probably had 50 ALMOST TTB but only managed about 5 for that last round. The next class was already starting and I wasn’t going to be able to knock out the last 4. I knew I didn’t have it in me. And I realized that it was going to be OKAY if I didn’t finish. I wasn’t going to get kicked out of the BOOM Box. No one was going to tell me I was a loser, except for me of course and the world was going to keep on spinning. It did take the wind out of my sails for a few hours but I realized I did 41 TTB in about 20 minutes which in the end was pretty GREAT for me who sucks at the TTB. I felt much better the next day and I know that I made progress.

8/7/13 WOD
I wasn’t sure how I would feel walking back into the BOOM Box after sucking so bad the day before but I was fine. The WOD wasn’t for time. There was just work to be done.

MetCon: 3 rounds of Row 250m and 8 Box Jumps 40in/30in THEN 3 x 8 @ 90% of 5RM Press and 1 x ME @ 70% 4 sec negatives

We worked on Box Jumps and well I’m scared of the box and I don’t know why but I am. I jumped a few times on the 20in, then a few on the 24in, then just stared at the 30in. Went back to 24in and put a 25lb plate on top. Made it. Put another 25lb plate on top. Made it. Ok I’m good right there.

8/7/13 WOD

That was till we rowed. It was only a 250m row As Fast As I Could Go. But it was enough to take some JUMP out of my legs. So I took one of the 25lb plates away and jumped on the one. That probably made it a 27in jump. I didn’t measure. But I finished!

We moved onto strict Press afterwards and 65lbs was my 5RM from the week before so I went off that. Each set started off great but it was always at the 6th rep where I felt it hit me. Still got through the last 2 reps but the weight felt so HEAVY. My shoulders were dying by the end and I wasn’t sure how long I’d last with those negatives. I started off feeling like this will be easy but I only managed about 12 reps. My triceps were on FIRE!

8/9/13 WOD
Strength: Front Squats 4 @75%, 3×4 @80%
That puts me at 110lbs and 115lbs. Surprisingly this was feeling pretty good. I didn’t struggle. Woohoo, getting stronger.

8/9/13 WOD

MetCon: 5 rounds of 9 Deadlift 85lbs, 6 Power Clean and 3 Power Snatches
I can DL 85lbs easy breezy. Power Clean 85lbs fairly well but it’s a NO WAY on the Power Snatch. Theoretically I should be able to do it. But that Brain of mine likes to get in the way. But I needed to settle on a weight I could do. So I warmed/worked my way up to 75lbs. My current best. And it felt good. So I stepped up to 80lbs. DONE! PR right there. I thought well hey I got this, so I added 5 more pounds and maybe just maybe I can do this RX. Got the weight to my eyeballs and failed. There was no dropping under that weight. Boldly I decided I would work with 80lbs. Good or bad idea. I wasn’t sure till the clock started. I failed on my first 2 attempts in the first round! I should drop weight is what I immediately told myself. But I gave it one more shot and although it was sloppy I got the weight up. Took some deep breaths and finished out the 3 reps. Still debated if I should drop in weight and talked myself into staying at the weight. It wasn’t a matter on if it was too heavy, it was just a matter of me doing it. Plus it was only 3 reps at a time. Again these weren’t the prettiest Snatches but I wasn’t HURTING or feeling like I was going to be hurt so I stuck with it. 5 rounds was not an easy task. That’s 45 Deadlifts, 30 Power Cleans and 15 Power Snatches, at a Personal BEST I might add! Time: 10:53

8/10/13 Community WOD
Finally a Community WOD that didn’t involve running! I was so excited! Of course until Coach explained what was going to go down. And then, and then and then. That’s all I heard. Teams of 4; 2 guys, 2 girls. 50 Thrusters each (my once favorite now least favorite movement). While the guys are going the girls will be holding Kettle Bells (35lb) overhead. Girls can’t drop the KB and if they do guys must stop doing Thrusters. Girls can transfer KB but only from overhead position. And no one can let the barbell touch the ground! DOH! That’s a lot of weight not being able to touch the ground. Who knows how long this will take. Our guys, Kyle and Micah, did great. Breaking up their sets nicely and not dropping the bar. Us ladies did fine managing how long we held onto the KB before switching. Once the guys were done we had to change the weight on the barbell before continuing. Almost moved too quickly removing weight but it all worked out fine. I went first on the Thrusters (55lbs). Annette and I decided to start of with sets of 10 and if we had to drop to sets of 5 then so be it. Just do the work. I was feeling great doing sets of 10 until I finished my 3rd set. I knew I wouldn’t survive that again. So I said I HAD to do sets of 5. This way I wouldn’t quit or be tempted to drop the bar. I moved as fast as I could. RUNNING wasn’t involved, I had no excuses! I think Annette and I had a good pace going and a good way of transferring the bar between us. I know our guys weredoing just fine holding the 53lb KB. Never let it down. Time: 12:05! FInally KILLED a Saturday WOD.

8/12/13 WOD SQUAT HEAVY DAY
Strength: Back Squats; 5 @70%, 5 @ 80%, 2 @85%, 3 @90% and 1 @100%
Everything was feeling AWESOME till I got to 2 @85%. IT felt so HEAVY. Manageable but HEAVY, so I wasn’t sure what 3 @90% would be. Guess what? It felt lighter than 85%. So weird but definitely good. So hitting the 1 rep at 165lbs was great! Really looking forward to a PR!

MetCon: 3 rounds of 400m run, 15 Ring Dips and 10 Burpee Handstand Get Ups
UGH! more running. If it weren’t for the running I would have beat this WOD up, no problem. But there was that run. Each round. And they were ugly slow runs. I went with the Green Band for the Ring Dips. My shoulders are sensitive creatures and I didn’t want to blow them out. My first round I did 10 and 5. My second round I did UNBROKEN! And my third round I went 8 and 7. As for Burpee Handstand Get Ups, they weren’t miserable but they weren’t fun. I’ve explained in the past I have a hard time breathing heavy and being UPSIDE DOWN. It’s just hard to breathe when you are out of breath. I knocked these out in sets of 5 each round. Just to regain some composure. I surely didn’t want to fall over out of dizziness or something worse. Time: 21:20. The runs did me in

8/12/13 WOD

How’s that a for a week of ups, downs and all arounds? I’m slowly getting back into everything and I’m struggling and succeeding. All part of it. Learning and growing. Being consistent! Hopefully I’ll get back to a more normal blogging schedule as well. This once a week posting is sad. So hopefully I’ll get back to more of daily thing. Who knows. Have a happy and joyful Tuesday. And until you see me again… next week?? hahah, Be AWESOME!

Diary of a Wimpy HIP

My Hips don’t LIE. They BURN! Well just my right side.

Back in 2011 when I started my journey of better health and fitness, my lame-o right HIP started giving me issues. I thought I had injured my hip flexor but never really checked it out as it wasn’t severe pain and it was intermittent. Then CrossFit came into my life and my sad BIG HIP was just always nagging at me. It hurt sitting, it hurt standing, it was always hurting. It didn’t hurt when I was working out though at first. Then I could feel it limiting me in my squats. Coach gave me some mobility exercises but it wasn’t going away. So I went to Airrosti which was heaven on earth. They worked my whole hip/glute area. It was painful but relief at the end of my sessions. They asked if my HIP popped randomly and I said YES my whole life. Aha, they said. They asked if it just started hurting now that I’ve become super active. Of course my answer was YES. I mean the popping sometimes hurts but I wasn’t doing much by way of regular beatdowns prior to 2011 for quite some years. They told me I had an impingement. And that all of this new activity was taking it’s toll. Yay ME! I guess YOUTH is golden because I was super active all through high school and never had any problems. They said I would probably always have HIP flexiblity issues. BUT with proper stretching, foam rolling, etc I should be fine and I should be able to manage any future issues.

Of course after focusing on the stretches they gave me I was feeling much better and I was such a go getter in general with my mobility. Then I got to feeling better more often, got bored sticking with the mobility and just became reliant on the necessary post WOD mobility at the box. And guess what? All that HIP pain is creeping it’s way back in. Why oh why am I such a glutton for punishment? Why can’t I just roll out and stretch when I’m watching TV? The past several WODs at the BOOM box have brought my HIP issues back to life and now I need to focus on being better at mobility. I just need to stop being lazy and get back to it! I sure as hell could eat a tub of ice cream while sitting in front of the TV so why won’t I just get on the ground and get to it!!??!!

8/1/13 WOD
Skill: Double Unders
Easy breezy! I got these. I’m learning to pace myself and have them under control whether it be fast and knock them out or go slower and take my time. I’m not great at doing more than 50 UNBROKEN but that comes with lots of practice. And lots of practice is something I don’t do! It’s my one superpower in CrossFit and I don’t focus on extra work with DUs because I have so much more to figure out!

8/1/13 WOD

MetCon: AMRAP 7 min, Up Ladder by 5 of Jumping Lunges and DU; Rest 3 minutes; Max Effort Unbroken Pull Ups
I’m feeling good about this WOD. My knee is less inflammed due to proper CLEAN eating so I even feel good about JUMPING LUNGES which when on a poor diet hurt like hell. The goal is to do 5 of each for Round 1 and increase 5 reps for each round after. So Round 2 will be 10 reps each, Round 3 will be 15 reps each and so on. It was round 3 when I was into the lunges that my HIP started to shut down on me. It was burning no matter what I did. I had to slow my roll. I had no explosion. I kept going just at a much slower pace. Fortunately I can knock DUs out so. And as long as I didn’t stop on the Jumping Lunges I felt like I would still do well.

When the 7 minutes was up we got a 3 minute rest and then it was onto max effort Pull Ups. I got my bands up there and waited for our rest to be over. My max effort was only 10 Pull Ups. I wasn’t feeling it and it showed. Final: 7 rounds + 6 Lunges + 10 Pull Ups

8/2/13
Strength: Front Squat 5@65% 4@75% 3@85% 3@90%
With my new PR weight that puts me at 95lbs, 110lbs, 125lbs and 130lbs. And amazingly I did pretty well through all the sets. The last few do get heavy but not impossible. It really does feel good to know I am getting stronger.

8/2/13 WOD

MetCon: 10 Rounds Team WOD 5 DL (275/185) 10 HR Burpees
Deadlifts YAY, Burpees BOOOO. This was a team WOD, so 1 person does a round, then your partner does a round. We had 3 folks on our team which had two of working at once. I opted for 155lbs because well my Hamstring is achy and my Hip is achy and there’s not a need for injury. I felt like the first 3 rounds of Deadlifts were smooth and quick, but my last two sets were pretty slow. As far as Burpees went, I only did OK on the first two rounds. The last three rounds I would get 5 reps easily then struggle with the last 5. Burpees are not my friend. Time: 9:50

8/5/13
Strength: Squats 6@70% 6@80% 3@90% 2@90%
I grouped up with some stronger ladies today which helps get me through all the reps mentally. As the saying goes “Iron sharpens Iron”, it helps to watch others move heavier weight. It helps me focus on my goals and that I too am capable. With time and work, I’ll get there.

8/5/13 WOD

MetCon: For time – Lunge 300ft, 400m Run and 50 Jumping Air Squats
Sigh! Lunging is not my strength. I can manage to get through them but I never enjoy them. This however, was going to kick my ass and that my friends, it did! So we go outside and Coach says we’re going to lunge around the parking lot and showed us the route we should take. THAT IS NOT 300ft Coach! And he responds, no probably more but that’s the route you’re taking. It may be 450ft. Who knows. GREAT! So lunge distance is UNDEFINED and all I know is that it’s a long ass distance. Talk about HIP being on FIRE. I wasn’t even halfway around and I was not happy. How could this suck sooo much?!? I don’t have an answer except that I need to work on that HIP mobility ASAP so lunges aren’t so brutal. Add a 400m CRAWL to that and I was just ready to call it quits. But wait, there’s more! 50 JUMPING Air Squats. Just that extra evil that I needed added to the workout. I busted out 10 and 10, then 5’s. I only took short rests in between but my overall time was so slow. Time: 14:18

That’s all for now ladies and gents. Eating clean is becoming more, eating junk is becoming LESS. Consistency at the BOOM Box is paying off! I just need to add MOBILITY back into the equation. Have a super duper TUESDAY and don’t forget to be Awesome!

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!

Let the Games Begin (and other stuff)

Can’t believe the CrossFit Games are here for 2013. Where did the year go? The best of the best are at it again and they get to start off with Swimming and Muscle Ups. I’m not a good swimmer and I sure as hell can’t do a MU. I can only look forward to maybe being able to compete in the MASTERS a few years from now. EVEN THEN, I would have to start seriously training now and eating like a champ. So far away from that idea though!

The athletes competing this week are AMAZEBALLS. I’m looking forward to the rest of the events to see how everyone pairs up. I’m especially interested in what women will rise to the top. It’s some tough competition out there. I’m rooting for Lindsey Valenzuela! She is insanely AWESOME!

As far as I go, I’m still struggling with Don’t STUFF your face with junk issue. When I eat a good meal, it’s good and full of all good things. And when I eat a bad meal, it’s not just bad, it’s the worst. I’m still showing up to BOOM and putting in work. Definitely not outtraining a bad diet. But still pushing myself. I just wish I was pushing myself in the right direction with food

7/18/13
Strength: Sled pull around the building
There was quite a few of us so instead of Sled Pulls, I got to push the YOKE for an unknown LONG distance with a partner. Nicole and I pushed our happy little hearts out. It sucked. My hamstrings and calves were dying!

7/18/13 WOD

MetCon: AMRAP 10 min 30 DU 15 Power Snatches 75/45
This totally whipped my butt. I had a hard time getting my Double Unders in a good rhythm so I had a lot of unnecessary rests. The Power Snatches weren’t difficult but after 15 then going into DU’s my shoulders were just fatigued. I had high hope for a better score but I didn’t pull through. Final: 4 Rounds + 30 DUs RX

7/20/13 Community WOD
Oh wonderful Community WOD day. I keep showing up for these beatdowns. I should just sleep in! JOKES! By the way, if you are nearby you should totally come and have some fun with us! It’s FREE!

So we worked on Max Box Jumps and well I have troubles with 30″ and higher. And for the day that wasn’t even going to happen. It’s not fun trying to get an extra 30lbs up on that box.

As for the WOD, we partnered up in teams of 2. Coach told us one person would hang from the bar while the other person did Thrusters FOR FIVE MINUTES. When the one person dropped from the bar you would switch out. Leah (my teammate) and I decided to save our hands and just do sets of 10 for Thrusters and switch out. This was probably a good idea cause I’m not sure I would have held on to the bar much longer than that. We probably lost reps but again, it sounded better for the good ol hands. WE didn’t know what the next challenge would be until about 30 seconds before the 5 minutes was up. YIKES. So it turns out to be Handstand Holds and Burpees! Oh Lordy! Breathing hard and being upside down sucks! And that’s what happens when you pair Burpees with Handstands. This was by far the weakest moment. Again we went 10 reps before switching out. Our transistion was much slower during those 5 minutes. For the final 5 minutes, we did Overhead Barbell Holds and Air Squats. This was probably the better of the 3 movements. Only cause I can bust Air Squats out. We started off strong then started breaking it up into smaller sets. The time seemed to fly on the last 5 minutes. Overall we had 277 reps. I think the burpees really slowed us down the most. Still a lot of work in 15 minutes!

7/22/13
Strength: Squats 8@65% 8@70% 6@80% 6@85%
Again with the high rep Squatting. It’s good for me I know. But for some reason it always feels heavier on Mondays!!!

7/22/13 WOD

MetCon: 20 min AMRAP 100 Push Up buy in; 10 Thruster 10 C2B
Say what???!!?? 20 min AMRAP and 100 Push Ups to kick it off! Yowsers! So I started off with 20, then 10s, then 5s, then 2’s and 3’s. I didn’t even look at the clock to see how long it took me. I just know it took forever. I really wasn’t sure how Thrusters would be now that my shoulders were wasted. I honestly was too tired to even care! I did 5 and 5 then moved on the banded pull ups. I moved through the first round fairly quickly then ran out of gas. I stayed with the 5 and 5 for the next two rounds. Then switched to 5, 3, 2 and added a band to my pull ups. It was a struggle at the end. Final 4 rounds + 7 Thrusters

7/23/13
ME yoke Zercher
I had no idea what this was and once I saw the demonstration, I was like NO WAY!

I probably had the same pain face!

So one of our smaller girls managed to pick the Yoke Up and carry it so I knew for sure I could as least get the job done. I had no idea how taxing it would on my forearms and well EVERYTHING! Now it was time to add weight and I thought for sure I couldn’t barely hold 175lbs of the YOKE on it’s own. Now add 50lbs? Geesh! I tried and I got it up. Walked about 2 feet then I was done. I couldn’t get it back up and moving. At least I tried and had some success.

MetCon: 4 rounds of 25 DU, 30 KB clean&jerk 53/35lb, 200m run
Double Unders easy. 30 Kettle Bell Clean & Jerks with 35lbs = NOT EASY! 200m RUN = WALK.

There are two 24lb KB and the rest are 35lb, 53lb or heavier. I got stuck with 35lbs. And boy did it suck/hurt. As soon as one of the other ladies was done with their 24lb KB I ran over and scaled down. So much better! Only problem is I already killed my arms from the heavier KB and I have bruises to prove it!

Just the beginning. OUCHY!

So painful. I stayed doing sets of 5 or 10. Only sets of 5 when I was using the heavier weight but sometimes sets of 10 with the lighter weight. I don’t think Coach was too happy about my back and forth but I feel like it all equalled out in the end. The runs were walks at best. My last run was a trot the whole way in. Thanks Andy for keeping me motivated! Time 24:21.

7/23/13 WOD

Whew, that’s a lot of work put in over the past few days. Looking forward to more. Remember to keep moving. Send me happy and positive thoughts in regards to eating CLEAN cause right now I suck at it! And dont’ forget to be AWESOME today!

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.

idrankthecfkoolaid

and it's good

Squats

My first weekend Post Whole30

Falling apart!

Icemageddon 2013 @!$$%&*!@***

I’m Squatted Out

Forced Rest Day

Being Consistent

Diary of a Wimpy HIP

The Games aka the OLYMPICS for CrossFit

Let the Games Begin (and other stuff)

Putting in the WORK

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