sad face

Just as I suspected, close out has gotten the better of me.  I had plans to go to the endurance wod Thursday evening, then got called in to work.  Friday I was going to go to 615 and then do my running, but sleep monster was no where to be found, and I got maybe one solid hour of sleep.  When I eat crap that sleep monster likes to hide out somewhere, Friday night I was doing well until the neighbors banged on the door at 3am.  I have been working 10-12 hours a day since then, so have not had the time I would like to work out.  After today's shift I am attempting to return to normalcy with eating habits, and hydrating today in preparation for tomorrows workouts...after all I have one month and 11 days officially till the challenge, with a beach trip, and Thanksgiving thrown in there...so in other words, I am behind.

ask me about my running!

So my running was embarrassingly slow today...like I wouldn't let Dave write my score on the board...like if John wasn't with me, tears would have ensued. It is now very very very uncomfortable to be this slow.  So we have an action plan for me to run 3 days a week in addition to my crossfit.  This should build up my wind so lifting should get easier as well, I just need to stretch a bunch as the past two days of running have left me wrecked.  I had it in my brain that I need to do endurance the 3 hours after/before crossfit, but with my schedule and the fact that it gets dark early, I am just going to do it right after or before crossfit depending on what time I go.  I tell you so you can ask me how my running is going. In the event of rain it may be rowing. (cause that sucks too) I rowed 2k on Sunday, and thought I PRd, but it was not the case.

To track my progress...here are my November running goals:
10 minute mile (yes I am that slow)
2:00 400m which I know is manageable as the last time I ran 400m repeats I got them to 1:47...but lately in wods my 400s have been 2:30 plus... so 2:15 in wods.

There is also a 5K the day after the challenge...it is a terrible day to run, in addition to it being a hilly 5K, but if I run it I don't have to work it...so I would like to run that one sub 30.

lulu doesn't make you faster...

This week at Crossfit Durham is coaches week, meaning each coach gets to make up their own torture.  Monday I was a hot mess when I woke up.  I was pretty tired and thought back to last week when I felt this way and had a terrible workout, and decided to let myself sleep in as we were taking flo yoga at work, and thought I could do some skill work before class.  I forgot several things and had to run up and down stairs and in and out of rooms several times and ended up arriving just in time for class, so no skill work for me.  Yoga was pretty good though, it was a slower paced class, so while we didn't get to work on sun salutation or standing lunges etc, I did get a good stretch.  Yesterday I was planning to take body flow with a friend, but that fell through.  I wasn't feeling quite 100% so I opted to take a nap rather than go experience the torture that was bodyblasters.  It combined my slowest exercises, burpees, pull ups and knees to elbows, and I imagine that would take me almost forever.

Today we had a vicious little workout from coach Ashley, who is the sweetest little thing, but has an evil torturous streak when it comes to workouts.  It was 8 rounds of 3 overhead squats, 3 back squats, 3 push press, and 3 front squats followed by 200 m run with 95lbs for boys 65 for ladies.  So if you thought that out it is a mile of running, with a lot of squats. The lifting part I enjoyed, I got through most rounds, the last round I didn't brace properly and bailed on an overhead squat.  The running made this just out of my wheel house.  I need to work on my running and this was a helpful reminder.  I ended up walking some because I simply could not breathe, I am pretty sure I let myself get worked out and forget about breathing, and then panic and have a crazy breathing pattern.  And as you can see from the title, my new lulu pants did not help me in any way.  They are said to "reduce bounce" which just means theyre tight...but they are super cute, so I hope I at least looked stylish trudging up and down that hill.  So from what I hear we have some more hellacious workouts coming up, so I am gearing up for this week.

#WIN!

Small victory...I tried on and purchased a dress thinking it was a large....got home and it was a 4!!!!

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This past week...

Oh geez it's been a while.  This week felt crazy, though it was a short work week technically, but I just got yesterday off so I recharged and am preparing myself to work basically the rest of this month.  Last month with close out, I worked 12 hour days the last week of the month, and diet and exercise fell off, but I won't let myself do that this month, I prepped food that will last me at least through the weekend, and then will go from there with next week's meals.  I am finding it very necessary this week to eat clean as I have put on a few lbs...(which also makes pull ups/push ups etc harder) and have had very low energy.  After my day off I feel a bit recharged, so we shall see how the week goes.

This week felt good in  terms of workouts.  The beginning of the week we were gung ho about getting all the group exercise classes at work done.  We took Body Step on Saturday.  I am not a step person, not because I am uncoordinated, I just dislike it, but the instructor was great so she made it almost fun.  We took Total Body Conditioning Monday, which was more my speed, there were 12 stations, and we did 3 rounds of a minute at each station.  I may make another appearance there just to switch things up.  We did Body Flow on Tuesday which is a fusion of yoga pilates and tai chi.  I forgot how much I actually enjoy that class, it is a nice stretch combined with some flowy almost dancey things, and have plans to take it again with another coworker. 

I am enjoying crossfit a lot this week.  They hosted the Pendlay Olympic lifting seminar on Saturday which I was sorry to miss, but this week and for the next six weeks we have been focusing on oly lifts a lot.  I went on Sunday and the lift was front squats and then we did the most miserable amrap that involved squat cleans which made me want to vom after all the heavy front squats we did so I sucked it up, but I was impressed that after the long day I had Saturday that ended with 2am hot dogs in Raleigh I was even up and at em enough for class. 

Wednesday we worked on snatches for the lift which I worked on comfortably at 53# for 20 reps.  The workout after that was 21-15-9 overhead squats, pull ups and push ups.  None of that was working for me, so I probably should have stayed in bed like I wanted to but oh well. 

Yesterday we worked on split jerks, which are just unnatural to me.  I worked up to 95 and stayed there.  I can complete regular jerks comfortably there, but we figured out that I was jumping forward rather than just down, so working on that, and then followed with front squats and worked up to 150.  The wod was 5 rounds of 15 hang power cleans and burpees.  Goodness I hate burpees, but I was able to complete the last round unbroken.  I asked John if it was normal to have a bruise from the cleans, he said yes, but when I showed him it was only on one leg we figured my form needs a  little evaluation. 

Today we worked on snatches again.  I started with 53, and then a boy asked me to switch bars with him.  I normally use a women's bar (33#) for snatches because I can build with real plates from a lower starting weight, but when I switched I jumped to 65#.  He told me to brag about lifting more than a boy...so here you go.  Working at 65 was a little wierd because the bar is a bit thicker than I ever use, but I finally got it after a little bit.  My landing was a bit wobbly so Stew had me focus on catching my balance and then squatting, then putting  the movements together, and working on never looking down, not even to put your hands on the bar, which was harder.  I got a few more solid ones and then stopped at a pretty good one.  The wod was a 12 minute amrap of pull ups, push ups and double unders.  The first round I did amazingly then promptly slowed down, so I just need to work on pacing. I probably could have worked a bit quicker, just a mental thing/my arms didn't want to work all the time.  I may have miscounted, but I counted 6 rounds (I'm just confused because I thought I was a round behind Renee who had 6, but she did too many double unders).  I took the most glorious nap ever, and then made it to work.  I will be at work all weekend, so will miss the workouts, but have big plans to do some endurance stuff.

Can I also mention how excited I am about the opportunity to wear my sweater dresses (though I don't like the cold weather).  I am not so excited about pants but maybe some clean eating with perk me up about that.   

JOY!

I have started several different posts about this week, but I am in a little bit of a funk.  Crossfit has been going okay, but at work we have to take all the classes on our group fitness schedule by the end of the month, which means 18 classes in 18 days.  The part I struggle with is the fact that I am not "in shape" enough to breeze through all of them, and even though I have been taking exercising twice daily all week, I am  still 2 pounds heavier than my most recent "heavy" weight.  So instead of wallowing in it, I am finding joy in the little things.

-I was able to snatch 83 pounds.  It was a pr, and just made me happy to think about throwing elementary school Lindsay in the air, and catching her over my head in a full squat.  That is awesome if you ask me.
-I really like workouts with cleans in them, I didn't think they were my best lift, but maybe.  I feel strong when I can rep them out.  My working weight in them seems to be a higher percentage of my 1RM, or maybe I have a ridiculous 1RM I have yet to find.
-Yesterday Ron and I ended up at the same crossfit class.  We are both friends with John (my husband), who is strong and fast and awesome.  He can eat whatever he wants and lose weight. Ron and I don't have that luxury, (though he is strong and fast and awesome as well).  Ron is also a hard worker, and his own hype man, so when we got to ring dips at the same time and repped them out it was fun, as before that I was splitting them up, but with Ron counting, I knew I couldn't stop.
-Today we get to take zumba, which I am fit and coordinated enough for, it is pretty wrong that I am excited to see the boys outside of their comfort zone.

I will find more. (cause I am awesome)

Hi.

If you knew all the things going through my head during a wod, you would wonder how I even finished in the time it takes me.  I come from a dance background where you think about the music and the story and just living through the music, even with dance team competitions you think about where you need to attack and breathe and lines and spacing (and face).  This is nothing like how you need to prepare for crossfit.  Today during my workout I was thinking about how much my back hurt, how much I couldn't breathe, and how slow I was going. 

Today's strength work was deadlifts.  I like deadlifts normally. Today wasn't that day, I miscalculated in my warm up sets (I am sensing a trend) and then had to make up ground to get to my working sets.  Once I got there I had to drop back down.  I am not sure where I finished, I dropped from 195, so I think I was working around 175, though it felt much heavier than the warm up I did at 165, so who knows.  The workout was 21-15-9 deadlifts at 50% 1RM, and box jumps.  I used 125 for the workout, as my previous 1rep max was 255.  Dave said this workout should feel something like Fran (21-15-9 thrusters and pull ups) with nothing left in the tank at the end.  I paused in the first set of deadlifts twice, the second set twice, and the third set once.  My box jumps were nothing like consecutive, and while I was spent at the end, I know there was a bit left in the tank.  Dave said I just need to get my mind right because I am able to do more (did I mention I took a water break), but for some reason, when I am in the middle of a  workout I feel like I can't keep going cause I can't breathe or my back hurts, or my hands hurt or whatever excuse I can come up with.

I'm giving myself the two months till the challenge to quit the negative thoughts.  I'm thinking I might start working out only to the Rocky IV soundtrack so I think about Rocky running through snow and carrying logs, which makes 45 deadlifts seem like nothing. I am also applying this focus to my diet as it has been poor the past few days.  I am pretty bored with my usual spaghetti squash with sauce and need to think up new options. I am out of town this weekend, so this was my last workout of this week, but next week I am back at it better than ever!

are you gonna swing that?

Monday's workout brought front squats, kettlebell swings and running. On Sunday night I overhear John making plans to ride with Ron to 8:30 crossfit (which he knows is my class of choice).  I told him we could ride together, but then when he didn't wake up on time on Monday morning, I regretted that decision.  We arrived a bit tardy with the class already warming up.  I jumped in (literally, for double unders) and then tried to do a little bit more.  I am usually the last one lifting, probably cause I like to take long breaks, so I don't like to start too late.  The strength work was finding a new 1 RM in front squats.  I worked pretty well through the warm up sets of 3 and then got to my onesies.  I was having trouble with my math, but had a goal of 180 as a new  1RM.  I did sets of one at what I thought was 150 but was really 140.  I got a little worked up and worried about 165, but hit that, but by then everyone was setting up for the wod.  I only really had time for one more lift.  Ideally I would have done 175 and then 180, but picked up the 180, got scared, screamed and put the weight down.  Sigh...I guess next time.  It is frustrating because it is all mental, for some reason it is scary to me to fail on them, but it is just about the failure, not a fear of getting hurt, because I know I won't get stuck under the bar (like I have in back squats)

The metcon was 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 heavy kettlebell swings and running 50 meters (though the 50 meter mark was half way to the 200 meter mark).  Prescribed swings were 52.  I felt like I could do it, one of the new guys looked at my kettlebell and asked if I was gonna swing that, so then I knew I could do it.  But on the 8 round, I had to drop it, so I dropped to an unmarked kettlebell, which we are thinking was probably 44, but then I went back up on the 5 round.  Next time all 52.  My hip and back have been out of whack lately.  I have been getting adjustments, icing and foam rolling but I guess not enough, so things like KB swings, wall balls, and olympic lifts aggravate it.  I am thinking adding more core work will help but we shall see.  I also had trouble breathing through this.  While I am not a strong runner, I think this may be cold related.  I have been developing something that won't turn in to a full fledged sickness, but have a headache that won't quit, and sore throat.  It is not enough to take medicine, just feel a bit crappy.  I took this morning off in favor of more sleep, so hopefully I can kick it by tomorrow.

that trick Cindy...

This morning I woke up feeling like I got run over.  Just about every muscle in my upper body is sore, my lower body is kinda sore, and my throat was also sore.   The muscle pain I know for sure is from that trick Cindy.  That workout is as many rounds as possible (AMRAP) in 20 minutes of 5 pull ups, 10 push ups, 15 squats.  I am not a fan of bodyweight exercises as I feel I have more of it to move. My PR on the board for Cindy was 7 rounds, because I couldn't get consecutive pull ups.  My goal for yesterday was 10 rounds, and I came up just shy at 9 rounds and 5 pull ups.  My pull ups felt great, I did at least the first set  unbroken.  Push ups were ugly, but I did them, they certainly took up the most time for me and were my limiting factor today.  Squats are squats, I hate them but can do them okay.  After the wod I also worked on overhead squats, so I am not really sure the cause of my soreness, could even be Friday's work for all I know. 


I woke up late on Saturday to workout because Friday I went to bed late, and as a result ate probably the worst preworkout meal ever (pasta in a sort of creamy sauce) which always makes me think of Michael Scott eating fettucine alfredo and then running a 5k and almost dying.  So I figured the rest of the day would be my last hurrah for crappy eating.  I got some nachos, and John and I went to Shiki for dinner for some amazing sushi. John is still medium about sushi (but he loves me so he took me) so we got more tempura rolls and those always seem to have more spicy mayo which my stomach does not like (but boy is it good).  This morning I am pretty sure I felt the effects of that, but at least the need for it is out of my system.  I did my prep work for healthy eating this week, so I will be on track with it, with no excuses. 

I actually signed up for the challenge yesterday, and am oddly getting excited.  I certainly have a lot of work to do, but I am looking forward to it.  My goal this year is to complete all the workouts (last year I DNFd on one because it took me longer than the allotted time period).  But it gives me focus, and something to work up to.

Later gators!

...and I'm back!!

After my fight gone bad fiasco, John suggested I take a week off, I thought he was a bit off on that, but 4 consecutive 12 hour days did not make waking up at 5:30 am easier to get there at 6:15.  But today was the day, the start of a new month is always a little more motiviating.

This morning I was a tad tardier than I like to be, so I only got through a few push ups before Stew announced group warm up.  We did some med ball drills (dislike) and then were ready to work.  Today's strength work was the snatch.  With snatch I don't always follow the prescribed sets (not gonna lie) but I was pretty close today, we did sets of 3 reps at 40, 50, 60 and 75, and then 5 reps at 90% of 1RM.  My recorded 1RM is 78.  I did a few reps with the 33# bar, then added tens to start my sets at 53.  Everytime I start these I am reminded that I need to work on my overhead squat, but after a few attempts I felt more comfortable and got my stride.  I completed my 5 reps at 73, and they felt okay, so I was happy.  What was to be my 5th rep got shaky so I did another and finished on a good note.  The wod was Annie, 50-40-30-20-10 of double unders and situps.  I did okay, I was shooting for sub 10 but got 10:17 which I believe is still a pr for me.  Double unders were not so bad, though sit ups were slow.  I enjoy the 6:15 class because there are more people to keep pace with, if only it meant getting more sleep. 


I have also decided to do the Carolina Crossfit Challenge in December.  I'm not doing this because I think I will beat everyone, but because it is a good time.    Last year I competed and did clean and jerks for the first time with 95 pounds, and toes to bar for the first time in a wod.  It was a good time and after I felt more motivated and encouraged.  This year I hope to just complete the wods, and give myself something to work toward.  The days when I don't feel encouraged to eat clean I can think about that and have a little bit of a push.