Happy Thanksgiving back!

So as Thanksgiving is the gluttonous holiday that encourages to eat ridiculous amounts of food, Crossfit encourages us to do ridiculous workouts  before and after to conterbalance the effects.  Yesterday's wod involved a lot of bodyweight exercises and a 500 m row.  By the end, I could not use my arms, but it felt great.  I scaled a bunch, with push ups, ring dips, and scaled back the turkish get ups, but I finished in a respectable amount of time.

Today we did a painstorm wod. We were to lift our bodyweight ground to overhead for as many years as we are old, and double under for 100-age times 10...so for me that is 28 clean and jerks at (really heavy) and 720 double unders.  I scaled back to middle school weight, and as we could choose our own strategy, I did my clean and jerks first, and then used the rest of 30 minutes to complete double unders, but as my feet wanted to get in the way of the rope, I struggled with stringing them together.  I ended up with only 253 double unders, so my strategy may have been flawed, but still a great workout.

Last week I was able to deadlift 223, which is not quite near my max, but more than I have lifted in a year.  That day we did a wod involving box jumps deadlifts and pullups.  There were a bunch of us in attendance...like a lot like I had to hunt for a box to jump on.  In the middle of the wod, a smaller, newer member yelled to Dave who was coaching, "I am one of the shortest people here, why I am I the one of the few jumping on an Rx box (20 inches)."  It took all I had not to comment on the fact that I outweighed her by (at least) 50 pounds yet I was doing pull ups without a band, but Dave politely replied, "because you can".   I understand that her comment came out of pride, and doubt that it was meant to be hurtful, but it rubbed me the wrong way.  I was not using a 20 inch box because when I got to the boxes, they were all gone... pick your battles.  But suggestion to all crossfitters, compare you to you, and leave everyone else out of it...

I leave you with this photo of myself:

sometimes Dave gets some good shots, but this was the worst, first of all I paused so many times at the top for a good shot.  and if you were wondering, I see my poor form, my legs are a bit far apart, my back is rounded, and my hips are high, but i still had a commenter, a trainer, not a crossfitter, one I have done training sessions with (that is saying a lot at a globo gym as not everyone is qualified) but still UGH.  But check out my arms, and my legs I imagined to be quite fatty are actually kinda diesel... and look at my eyeballs! so large!

Go me!

I have had a medium amount of success at crossfit the past couple of days. I had another fun weekend where I skipped working out (Sunday was beautiful and I skipped because I thought it would be cold oops!) i planned a two a day for Monday, the regular wod began with deadlifts. I am still reworking form so I stayed light on those and for the wod as well 15-9-6 6-9-15 deadlifts and burpee pullups. I knew this would take me a while as I am slow at everything but I finished in 27:12 just about fifteen minutes behind EVERYONE else. I came back in the evening for the endurance wod which was 500m row repeats. Paul suggested my goal be about ten seconds slower than 2:15, and I did much better than that at 2:19, 2:15, 2:13, 2:12, 2:11, 2:12 and grand finale 2:05... Did you forget about my slow score? Yeah me too.

Today I planned for a morning session but when I slept through that, chances of making the evening session were slim but I made it. Strength work was the push press, I had to ask dave where the pr board was as I have no idea in which of my 4 wod books I would find it. My pr from the board was 105, I worked up to that then did a conservative five pound jump. I hit it. I told rich I would ring the bell later but went up by ten. I hit it. I went up another ten. I hit it. Are you counting? Twenty pounds!!! The wod was another valley style, 21-15-9 800 m run 9-15-21 wall balls and push ups, I finished just five minutes behind most, but I was satisfied!

Surprise pr!

I have been quite medium lately... this weekend was amazing meaning I are and drank whatever, day drinking turned night drinking on friday, bojangles each morning, and just plain old crap all weekend. So this week getting back on track was quite the challenge. I didn't feel much like working out the beginning of the week, but made myself workout yesterday. it was medium. Today I made myself go again for endurance. The workout was a 2k row. Allison asked what our times were and I couldn't reference but was thinking high nines. She told me to shoot for 915...i went 909 so go me!!!! I went back to my old notebook and my last 2k was 952 in march so hooray for 43 seconds.

swings and snatches

Today's strength work was the kettlebell snatch.  We were to snatch amrap without putting the bell down, I started with a 25# weight and only got to 9 because it was owie on my hands.  The next two sets I did 17, better, but not that many, I have a hard time going to that scary place.

The wod was 6 rounds, 20 swings, rest 30 seconds, 15 box jumps.  The box jumps reminded me that my legs hurt from the weekend.  The swings let me know that my form is terrible.  I had been avoiding them the past little bit due to back pain, but today discovered (what Ashley had been telling me all along) that the back pain was a result of poor form when swinging.  So I worked on form, with a light kettlebell.  It was still hard.

mia

I have been mia...as my computers have been at the repair shop (aka my brother in lawss) and i haven't really felt like blogging.  I am in a slump. Some things have improved (like my pull ups kinda) and somethings have deteriorated into an abyss (my deadlift) somethings have stayed pretty medium.  I have gotten faster at some running and slower at most wods and I just don't know.  My diet has been good and sucky, I am thinking I need to do a whole 30 or something, but at this point I can fit it in before thanksgiving, but i know I will cheat next weekend for homecoming, so blah.  This is where I am in recent memory:

We did an endurance wod that entailed 10 jumping air squats, and sprinting 200m.  We were supposed to do it 10 times.  I did 9 as I was slower than most and Paul felt pity on me.  I struggled with walking after that.

We did an endurance wod that involved kettlebell swings and sprinting.  I stopped in the middle to go to the bathroom.

We did fran. The strength work before was front squats (my favorite) but I was too nervous for fran, and everything felt heavy. Then we did fran, my time was 3:30 slower than my pr.  It was embarrassing.

Today I ran a 5K. I was passed by: an old man, people pushing strollers, 3 men wearing weight vests (who also did burpees and squats during the race, a one legged woman, and a skinny fat couple who ran walked the whole thing, also embarrassing.

I'm back!  I think.  This weekend I am in a wedding, and the dress is a bit snug.  I would like to have the freedom to drop it like it's hot, so I have been focusing on proper eating and making it to the gym, even when I don't wanna, if only for the week before. 

Yesterday I planned to make it a two a day, and head in for one of the morning sessions, but sleep monster said NO. So I headed in for 6 PM planning to just do the wod, as the endurance wod was a partner wod, and I dislike those.  But I was lured in, and was able to complete the wod on my own.  So, I  am not really sure what the world is coming to, but I paid a man to yell at me while I ran in the rain.  The wod was 200 m, 400m 800 m, 400 m, 200 m.  If as a partner wod, they alternated and ran one more 800.  My  split times were 55 s, 2:10, 5:00, 2:10?, 30 s!!!!!!!!!!!!.  And even now I doubt myself, as my math may have been off, but no really, I ran 200 m in 30 seconds. GO ME!  Not bad for having missed endurance for more than a month.  I then stayed for the wod, even though Amy Scott tried to get me to celebrate Dr. Shirey's 100 # Snatch(!) with watermelon cocktails.  The strength work was hang cleans, which I will admit I slacked off on. and then the wod, 15-10-5 man makers, with 50 double unders in the middle.  It was crazy! It took me the longest of everyone, but I did it.

This morning I made it in for the 7:15, they had an abnormally large class, and didn't seem as excited for all the new faces, one said, we were just spoiled by 3 person classes... I have been a member almost forever, and used to have 8:30 basically to myself, but the more the merrier (I think) as long as you are not psycho about everything.  The strength work was the jerk, I did two at 65, and decided my back wasn't working, so just foam rolled, for the rest of the strength.  The wod was 21-15-9 push press, ring dips, push ups with shuttle runs in the middle.  I opted to go very light weight as my shoulders were still hurty from yesterday, with the 33, and ring dips I would have done a blue band with a skinny purple just in case, but that wasn't available so I just did green.  Doug called me out on the shuttle runs, as I didn't see that the purpose was to turn around, so I just ran straight through.    So with the wod heavily scaled, I finished first.  Go me! (kinda)

John has decided he wants to compete in the Carolina Fitness Challenge, as Jonathan Denton will compete if he does!!! But this means diet will be under control. 

sooo...um...

I am still here. I still have a blog.  I still exercise...kinda.  I have battled sickness, busy-ness, and now injuryness but I will make it through.  Last week some time I hurt my back, I believe from hyperextension while doing a jerk.  It has left me having a hard time moving, as your back connects everything together (like mayo on a sandwich).  That combined with my eating junk for the past few weeks has left me feeling kinda junky.  I am travelling for the next three weekends, so I am having a bit of a hard time working on eating my best, though I know that is going to be the best way to help decrease inflammation and get back to normal. 

Workouts have been meh to medium.  I had some good moments, like my 30 unbroken double unders which Amy Scott describes here.  I've had some terrible ones, where we were doing Elizabeth (21-15-9 squat cleans (with 95#) and ring dips) and it hurt so bad, but I decided it better to quit rather than drop weight as I have never done it without the Rx weight, even though I can't do ring dips rx, so who cares. 

I took a dance class with my bestie James  who choreographs for Beyonce and a bunch of people 10 years younger than me,we then went out on the town and then I made him teach me video choreography until 4 am.   I thought I was back in school (cause that's what I did in college every day) and now I am paying for it. 

But I will get back at least to normal.  Focusing on eating better.   I worked out this morning when I didn't wanna cause I knew I would feel better and I was right.  I just need to remember that daily. 

I am still alive

My computer is broken broken broken, hence my lack of postings I will just post a few things I am excited about...

I prd annie, 50-40-30-20-10 double unders and abmat sit ups. Sub ten, which has taken me a considerable amount of time to get to.

I was sick for a good week. Saturday morning I got out of bed and just could not make it to the gym... Anf that lasted until yesterday when john made me go to the gym.

I prd my kettlebell snatch. 52 pounds!!!!!!

Thats all.

:('''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

So I left the gym in tears this morning.  In the middle of the wod, or I shouldn't say middle because I couldn't finish the first round.

Sarah Glass' birthday wod:

21-15-9

bodyweight back squats

power cleans

pull ups

100-75-50 double unders. 

We first worked on muscle ups...then warmed up for the  wod.  My back has been jacked up again, so I was planning to go relatively light for the back squats, much less than my actual bodyweight which was surprisingly high last i checked.  I decided to just use one bar for both and do 95.  The back squats were fine, the power cleans ended up one at a time.  I also decided to complete my volume training for pull ups last night, so the pull ups in the wod were rough on my hands.  Once I got lapped once and freaked out I couldn't control the tears.  I got through 18 pull ups, told Jack I couldn't do it, cleaned up my bar and left.

The last time I cried at the gym, it was me and two coaches, and I at least completed the wod.  Today I just got so frustrated because nothing was working, and embarrassed because I felt like the only one, and mad at myself for not attempting to finish.  I scaled a ton so I didn't know how to make it easier other than to do less.  Not my brightest moment...

My guns

Today my boss commented on my lovely shirt, to which I replied "thanks, my guns almost don't fit".  Another coworker jumps in to tell me he had never heard a girl reference her guns before. yet another announces that I reference my guns (aka venus and serena) more than anyone he knows, male or female. For that, I am proud.

WHAT I LIKE A BOUT ME!

Coach Ashley has challenged us to number the things we love about ourselves.  Crossfit by nature attracts competitive people looking for a challenge who want to better themselves. So really when we are all awesome people, we get around other awesome people that can do different things we can think they are some how more awesome, rather than different awesome.  Often times we think about the things that we can not do, or the things we are not, rather than celebrating what we can do.  Here is my list of ways that I am awesome, with links to some other awesome people.

1. I got ups.

2. The work I have put into my pull ups shows in my back.  I probably should look at  it in the mirror more often.  I am working toward Beatrice Yaxley ness, she has L pull ups and chest to bars coming out of her ears... once she decides she wants to be able to do something, she does it. She also took some awesome pictures of my wedding before we knew each other... (small world no?)

3. Did you get your ticket?  (TO THE GUN SHOW)  I have always had well defined arms, though I have not worked that hard to maintain them.  

4. The 11th skill is my specialty... I am not scouring my closets before each workout, i just happen to own things in coordinating colors, and enjoy fun tshirts.  I also spend more time at the gym than dressed casually, so the fun tshirts I enjoy purchasing are worn to the gym.

5.  I am not a runner like Colleen, the funniest person at Crossfit Durham if not all of North Carolina who is qualifying for Boston again, but I have put some work into my running and have made major improvements.  I am not quite at Nelly status (she runs the streets of Durham...barefoot...badass and also has dancer feet i would kill for), but I ran a 5K (the farthest I have run since that one day in college) and I am still alive.  I then walked it with Melinda who is currently kicking cancer's ass...she is kicking butt and taking names, and sharing her experience through a wonderful blog, which will no doubt help many others in her position... She also has a head for long hair, super cute short hair or no hair at all.  

6. I am strong... though not as strong as the amazing Ashley Denton...who also has the abs of a goddess...(and is an amazing and motivating coach) 

7. I still have my split... I took a dance class a while back in which I got hurt, which stole my spirit and dream that I can just pick back up and go right back to where I left off, but I know deep down I still got it, just like Amy Scott...who will rock the sh#* out of some wings and a time step, and can hula hoop and roller skate like no one I have seen before. 

8. I can also do this

9.  I like my hair cut.

10.  I am a part of the Crossfit Durham community.  We have an awesome group that supports and motivates each other.  and we are all amazing. :)

owie.

I had an oops last week where I succumbed to the crap food available at work, (FREE ICE CREAM SANDWICHES) and found my jeans too tight.  I went in this week focused and ready.  I had a plan for two a days on Monday and Wednesday for endurance, Tuesday morning, and then Thursday off.  This week has been tougher than I thought.

Monday
push press 3 sets of 20.  This requires muscular endurance on which I am still working... The goal was 50-  60 % 1RM (105) so I should have been working heavier than the 33 I used, but I completed all sets and felt challenged.

Wod
50 thrusters (35)
40 double unders
30 KB swings
20 backwards lunges with overhead weight
10 burpees

This took me a while as I was having mental problems on thrusters, as my legs were a bit sore from the weekend.  The double unders I got in 32 and 8.

Endurance
10 minutes, 30 seconds on 30 seconds off.  I ran 1100 m in that time.  Which means I should be able to run my mile much faster (I think?)

Tuesday
50 six count burpees....squat, plank, push up, squat, jump and clap. yes gross.

wod
8 rounds
200 m run
10 pull ups.

after getting lapped on my second round I asked Doug if I should drop to 5s on pull ups. He said I should use a band, I said I dontwanna, he then set up my band.  It was a day I should have stayed in bed as I had a sassy attitude, and did not feel better about myself after struggling through it but what can you do.  My new cute shorts were riding up the whole time I was running, so I ran kinda slow, it was rough all around.

Today:
work to a single clean.  My new pr from 2 weeks ago was 135.  I attempted 133 but couldn't do it.  I am super ridiculously sore today and I intended to go in early to foam roll but then didn't.

wod
AMRAP 12 minutes
5 kettlebell snatches
5 goblet squats.
each side. if you put the kettlebell down you had to do 5 burpees.  I got through 4 rounds unbroken...then Phil brought me a heavier kettlebell, so I just did my burpees then I did my rounds in onesies, then managed the last 2 unbroken.

My body hurts.

Get that shhh...

This video is from a year ago it says... i think more cause we did a crossfit total at some point and i beat this by 20 pounds. This wasn't pretty, there is some back rounding, and I don't like my outfit (jk) but I did it. I don't know that I could do this today. I have been trying to figure out what I want to accomplish, and all goals lead toward just being better... plan to follow.

BIRTHDAY WOD

So today is my birthday.  Some time after my last birthday people at crossfit starting requesting birthday wods, so of course I needed to hop in on that.  Some people use their age for the number of reps or rounds, but I am too old for that mess, I don't like anything above 6 reps of anything.  I picked out a wod we had done before and left me upset, I vowed to do this Rx the next time, and I almost made it.

5 rounds
5 power snatch (start with bar  on floor and catch overhead with wide grip)
5 burpees
5 power clean (bar starts on floor and catch at shoulders with arms bent)
5 ring dips
5 thrusters (bar is at shoulders and squat and then push the bar overhead)

This was supposed to be heavy, 135 for boys, 95 for girls.  The limiting factor is typically the snatch, I can do everything else no problem at 95, but my snatch is not quite there.  I opted for 83.  I went at 6:15, and Stew was kind enough to offer options for those that didn't want to make everything else seem too easy.  I said no, one bar is to be used, challenge yourself some.  I understand that some people are unfamiliar with the movement, but still want a challenging workout, I will give that a pass. But I also was not the coach, so some opted to sub something else for the snatches but knew they were under judgment.  I do thank everyone who put up with my djing and criticism, and rocked it out.

she's got legs...and they hurt.

I have been super lame with blogging...part laziness, part husband stealing my computer, part busy ness and all the powers combined and I haven't written in weeks.  I have been working out semi regularly, last week I was derailed by a flat tire, sleep monster, holiday weekends, your mom, fun weekends, you name it, but I seem to be back in the habit this week.

Some highlights, Memorial Day Monday we did Murphy, (run 1 mile, 100 pull ups, 200 push ups, 300 squats) I went with the intention of doing half by myself or attempting the whole thing broken up, but when I got there, Kim asked me to be her partner so I did.  I PRD MY FIRST MILE.  (I don't know if you caught that) Not crazy fast, but sub 10, for which I was proud.  Then we broke everything in half, she works much faster than me so was just hanging around after she finished the squats and picked up some slack.  The second mile was UGLY.  I walked not even 400 m in, I couldn't catch my breath and decided to finish the 800 and quit.  Jonathan was at the door and said "hey you have another 800", (how did he even know with so many people) I told him I couldn't do it, then Lindsey Caley (who had finished the whole thing 30 minutes prior) came and so politely encouraged me to finish, then Ashley Denton came out and said, think about the people who died for you (can you really say no to that?), so Lindsey and Kim joined me for my last 800...

I don't remember anything else but today.  My legs hurt already. I attended my first 7:15 class and made it to work early, so this may work out for a regular class attendance, as I somehow woke up with no alarm.  I guess some people were sloppy with form over the weekend (not me) and caused Dave to go on a back to basics (mean) streak with programming.  I missed yesterday which involved push ups, but today was 10 air squats on the minute, for 10 minutes, then 4 minutes of 20 seconds on 10 off of air squats, then the wod was 30 wall balls, 20 knees to elbows (3 rounds).  Were you counting? 100 + my tabata I averaged 12 so about 96 + 90 = gross! I am pretty sore at just 12 hours so we shall see what doms brings me.  I am hydrating and fish oiling and vitamin cing thanks for asking.

catching up

Again I fell off the blogging wagon, but not the working out wagon.  Last week I was having an off and slow workout week.  Everything felt slow and I was having a bit of a hard time.  This week I feel much better, I have also made a bigger effort diet wise, which may have something to do with purchasing a bridesmaid dress that leaves no room for dropping it like its hot unless an extra inch or two is missing from my hip area.

Sunday we did a partner wod, ring dips and squat cleans, my partner graciously carried us, and basically did twice the amount of cleans.  I was kinda depressed about that, and was planning to two a day Monday, but sleep monster got me, and I only made it in for endurance, I PRd an 800 m run at 4:31, but then the rest of my splits were 5 something.

Today was quite ambitious.  I woke up to make the new endurance wod at 6:15.  Paul is still happy at that hour of the day.  We worked  a bit on drills, then got to running.  The wod was double this if you run faster, but I ran 1 mile rest 3 minutes, run 800 m, rest 2 minutes run 400 m, rest 5 minutes, run 1 mile.  The goal was to run the second mile faster but I didn't quite get it.  My times were 10:05, 5:08, 2:09, 11:08.  Paul encouraged me to run faster, and I could push a bit harder when someone passed me, but I struggled to keep up, so for next time I will work on my turnover.

I went to work, then returned for the 6 o clock wod.  We started with squat cleans.  I decided this morning that a bodyweight clean is a good goal, I got to maybe freshman year of college bodyweight with 135.  145 didn't want to go past my knees but I will get it there, and then maybe we can meet in the middle.  The wod was 21-15-9 box jumps and ring dips.  The box jumps were supposed to be tall but I neglected that and went with a 20 inch box for speed, and finished in 5:35.  Dave told me I should have gone higher, I told him that I went fast so it was fine.

I then went to my charleston class.  It was interesting because the other people in my class were talking about being tired from the lindy class before ours.  I know this may be breaking news but EATING WELL AND EXERCISING GIVES YOU ENERGY.  I also learned that I have a hard time following, maybe because I am a bit elitist.  I am almost like the boys that don't listen to the lady coaches when they try to coach bench or squat, (not really they are just rude) I found myself trying to lead which worked well with the other students, but the teacher kept saying, you need to just... and i would finish, let you lead.  I did have fun though.

i planned to attend yesterdays morning session but on seeing the wod i new it wouldnt work out.

30 burpees
30 toes to bar
30 sdhp
run a mile
30 sdhp
30 toes to bar
30 burpees

my fresh legged mile is ten minutes...my burpees are slow and ttb take me a while.. before i started i told dave to just let me gut through it.  i guess i missed out on the metabolic conditioning aspect but i just wanted to get through it.  i never do ttb on my own and this was my chance to do them.  it was kinda sad in that it took me into the next class time and the clock got turned off on me twice but i survived...
 

hi.

So last night's endurance session was my most dreaded time trial, the mile.  We did our regular warm up stuff, which included an 800 m warmup around the baseball field on the one day all year there is a game, which meant running through the wafting aroma of hot dogs, beer, and barbeque aka torture.  Once we finished that we started our time trial.  I opted for two runs around the 800m loop because that is the course I know.  I finished the first loop in 5 minutes, and ended up at 10:08.  Erin was gracious enough to subtract 3 seconds and officially make it 10:05 as the people of Durham seemed to not hear me run up behind them (because of my jungle cat like running style) or yell "RUNNER ON YOUR LEFT RUNNER ON YOUR LEFT OR RIGHT OR IN THE MIDDLE I DON"T CARE JUST MOVE", I guess they are the people that get killed in scary movies for being dumb.  I wanted sub 10 minutes and got a bit defeated at the 5 minute split.  However, a PR is a PR and I guess I can be excited about it.  

Once I got home I figured out the reason I hate and dread the mile...It takes me back to summer training for dance team in college, the only time I have had to run a timed anything since middle school.  Our loop was not quite a mile we later figured out. I was somewhere in the middle of the pack (of 12 or so girls) and as we rounded the corner by the baseball field I crossed from the curb to the road to avoid tripping but i still ate it pretty bad.  I was bleeding from the hip (so deep it was white)  and the knee.  I got up and still finished in 8 something, not in last place, but after that ran much more cautiously.  I also still have my bullet wound looking scar on my hip.  

I completed the regular wod at suboptimal efforts.  The strength work was 3 sets of 20 reps of back squats.  My first set of 95 felt hard but manageable, my second set felt medium until my back pain, I guess I squat unevenly as it was only one side. I did not even attempt a third.  The wod was amrap 12 minutes 30 double unders 15 push ups.  I haven't done a double under in 6 weeks (the last time was the last games wod) so they were troublesome at first, I completed pushups from my knees but they were still quite challenging.  

GO ME!

So I am faster.  Six weeks of work, and I feel tons better about my running.  I am excited to see what the next six weeks holds.  We started the workout with ring work, static holds, inversions ball ups, skin the cat, etc.  I am still working on my ball up (which is basically pulling your legs up so you are hanging upside down in a little ball) I have to catch my foot on the rings to get up there, but I was able to skin the cat (or at least almost).  I would like to be able to do multiples, but it requires the ball up skill.  

this is what i look like inverted.

Then the fast part.  The wod was AMRAP 15 minutes, 400m run, 50 sledgehammer swings.  So who doesn't love sledgehammer swings.  I need to work on swinging the hammer harder, they got weaker as I got tired, but I did not stop.  My runs felt good... I was out of breath, but I pushed through the pain.  My self talk wasn't that amazing, I first thought about just running fast, but my thoughts strayed a bit until the last run, when I caught view of really pretty clouds in a sunsetty sky, and got a bit distracted and probably ran faster.  My runs were all in the 2:00-2:10 range which is much faster than my normal wod runs which I was quite pleased with.  

its been a while...

soo... to catch you up...

i did a games wod...5 power cleans, 10 toes to bar, 15 wall balls. it was probably the grossest wod i have done. i did 4 rounds, as toes to bar are not my specialty.  mike and i discussed my hip pain during mobility, he suggested it was from not engaging glutes while running...paul and i discussed my hip pain after mobility he suggested it was from leaning at the hip rather than ankle and then demonstrated how when he thinks of lindsay running he thinks of a hunched over funny looking run.

i did a running wod... 6 rounds of 2 minutes off one on. we ran in the back so we couldn't exactly track mileage, paul ran 1.75something...maybe i ran a mile and a little bit of change. part of running in the back was to make us not think about how far we were running...paul and erin discussed their joy while running, all i think about is not being able to breathe, but they say that is wrong... i will now think about things like how beautiful the day is, how quick my feet are, and how cute my outfit is.

i went to the grocery store post run and almost didn't make it, walking was a challenge. i iced but it still is not quite right.

i did a running warm up. i went to endurance on thursday and simply warmed up and decided i couldn't continue.... still old lady hip.

i did a games wod. i got through 3 thrusters, and could not get my chest to the bar for pull ups...so i scored a three. i will get a chest to bar pull up for my may goal.

i did an endurance wod...paul had a brilliant partner wod idea, 125 wall balls, 125 burpees while the other partner runs 200 m.  Paul made us pick our own partner and i made myself the last kid picked, because i didn't want to slow anyone down, but i luckily ended up with a really fast partner.  she carried us, and we finished in 14:56...i did maybe 2/3 of the wall balls, but like maybe 25 burpees. Paul asked for a different strategy, and it would be, i do wall balls, she does burpees.

running and stuff

Last night I went in for endurance which was 3 rounds of tabata running...(8 rounds of 20 seconds on, 10 seconds rest) with 4 minutes rest in between.  Erin promised that this would make us faster if we tried hard, I did.  We were running on the grass behind the gym so it was easier on the joints, but I worry about my knees as there are uneven patches of land so I worried about a misstep but I am still alive.

This morning we had a large 11:30 class due to the holiday...and it is sadly probably the last 11:30 I will make in a while cause I have to do this silly thing called work.  The warm up was pretty tough, 10 GHD situps, 10 GHD back extensions, 10 pull ups 5 ring dips...2 rounds.  Pull ups are easier when I am warm so they take me forever when part of a warm up, So I got through most of the warm up before we started the wod.

4 rounds
500m row
15 sledgehammer swings
15 box jumps
15 abmat situps

We went in two heats, so I went in the first heat so that I didn't have to do it after hollow rock to supermans.  I claimed an end rower to stay out of other's way, but ended up between Greg and Jack, and that is probably the best way to feel slow.  I ended up the last person in my heat, by kinda of a lot...but not the slowest for the day.  My rowing splits were pretty good for me in the beginning but slowed, but my box jumps got better.

freakin mondays

When I cheat I go all out because when I eat well it is super clean...and like Liz Lemon says, "I was gonna go to the gym later so I deserve a treat." So I have been cheating like crazy and decided I would get back to clean eating Monday...

I woke up to find that during my binge fest the scale crept up ten pounds. For sure not ten pounds of muscle...and really not sure how it creeps cause I know what Im rating and should know the consequences but still I'm surprised. So the day starred out rough but I packed lunch and snacks so that was good.

I have a newish schedule so I will probably be hitting up evening classes. I started with endurance to find it was a two mile time trial...gross! We did all our warm up stuff then started the run. I opted for four 800m loops. 1st loop I thought man I feel pretty weak this is tough gross...lap two okay maybe I got it then I got lapped and got sad and thought I might ask Erin if I could quit...third lap sucked till the second half when I realized I was pretty much done. Then I got lapped by the last set of everyone... and I got sad. I still pushed the last lap but it still wasn't fast enough. I finished in 22:50 which is I guess kinda good for me...but it was just defeating to be a good five minutes slower than everyone else.

I tried to redeem myself with the regular wod. We started with tire flips so I flipped the biggest one. Bench is also rough cause the hills are for some reason comparatively weaker in bench... my max set was 85 and I managed two. The wod was amrap 12 minutes 5 deadlifts and 10 toes to bar. So the dreads were supposed to be 1.5 bodyweight...instead I used 175 which was still heavy. Murphie and I went head to head so I spent a lot of time just watching her lift (it was awesome). I got through 5 rounds but it was the first time I managed all my toes to bar rx. I was satisfied with my score but it didn't quite make up for the run....

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open wod + PAINSTORM

This week's open wod was quite the experience... I mentioned it in my last post and completed it on Friday, as I was planning to be out of town on Saturday.  I got to the gym a bit late, so I didn't get the chance to warm up like I normally would as I had to get started before class time, but could count on the 60 burpees to get going.  So I hit my head on the first burpee.  Not too bad, but it did hurt and therefore did each burpee far enough away and maybe too far because I would have to step to the bar, then jump over it.  My limiting factor was how slow I do burpees...I got through them in 9 minutes and change, and had time for 2 overhead squats which actually didn't feel that bad.  I wish this wod was 10 minute time limit, any order you like, 1 point per burpee, 3 per squat, 5 per muscle up.  oh well...I just need to get faster.

Yesterday as we did not end up traveling I went just to cheer, which is more fun than doing sometimes.  It was a good wod to watch, but also frustrating to see people get defeated.

Today we had a painstorm programmed...3 7 minute rounds, carry 1/2 bodyweight 400m then for the rest of the 7 minutes 2/3 bodyweight ground to overhead amrap.  So...I usually factor off 150# which is more or less what I weigh...kinda...sometimes.  With the sandbags I used 50 which was heavy...I did learn to put the heaviest bag on top, closer to midline. I used 95 for the ground to overhead.  I didn't take my time really...but the 400m took me on average 5 minutes, and ended up with 17 ground to overheads which I was happy with, though everyone else basically tripled my score but whatevzies.

AND I WAS RUNNING!!!!!

Following all that running on Monday, Wednesday was so wonderfully a running wod...

Run 1600m (that's a mile yall)

rest 3 min

run 1200m 

rest 2 min

run 800m

rest 1 min

run 400m  

Yes 2.5 miles. It was gross though manageable.  I finished the mile in 9:57 so go me! for making it under 10...I finished the 400m in 2 minutes flat...so obviously had some pacing issues/kept a bit of gas in the tank, as last week's 400m time trial was 1:52...I will get this running thing figured out!

Last night we also had a social at Wheels...Durham's local roller rink.  So yes I do own my own skates (best $5 purchase ever at Dicks sporting goods) so no I don't regularly skate, I went once maybe 2 years ago...or was that three? and before that...8th grade? I was thinking about not going as I don't feel that great about being on rollerskates but I am glad I did because most people aren't that great...and we were the only people there aside from the regulars.  So Amy is pretty awesome...she can skate backwards, and roller dance...and the wind blows through her hair as she goes... There were also regulars who can moonwalk, dougie, spin, etc... it was pretty interesting because this is like their gym...they have their own skates...carry a gym bag...and hit the rink on a weeknight. I did get a good workout in I feel.

Tonight because of all of our hard work at the rink (or the 4.5 miles we have run this week) Erin gave us a bit of a break at endurance.  Row 5 minutes, then 20 seconds on 40 off for 5 minutes, row easy 10 minutes then repeat intervals.  It was still challenging, and good to just move and focus on form.  

Tomorrow I am going to do the open wod...pretty scary. 60 (!!) bar facing burpees (so drop to the ground push up hop up...then over the bar) 30 overhead squats with 90(!!) pounds and then 10 muscle ups.  Like I told coach Jack...I have this splinter in my palm that will hinder my muscle ups...though my dream would be o just finish the squats.  My max is about 95... from the rack. I will just give it what I got!

my little sleepopotamus did the wod today...he got through a muscle up...and now he's all tuckered out! (he is quite impressive as he has only made it to the gym to do the open wods because he works to make us $$)

somebody had a case of the mondays...

I skipped Sunday's workout...as it was a ton of running...and laying in bed watching movies with my husband sounded better.  We then hit up brunch at Weathervane which is likely to become a Hill family Sunday tradition... then I kicked off my summer ladies luncheon habit at Milltown where fries were just the starter, and then my husband decided he was too hungry to wait for me to cook so he got takeout from Nantucket, and I being full from the day decided ice cream was perfect for dinner.

When Monday rolled around I surprisingly had no desire to get back on track.  My breakfast was not so bad, though not the perfect preworkout meal, and my workout was just so so.  We worked on bench and I did pretty well.  The wod involved hang power cleans and pushups with your legs on a box.  I can barely do regular push ups so I just did that, eventually ending up on my knees and scaled the cleans because trying to push yourself when already lazy is not the easiest.  However after the workout I was ravenous...I ate lunch, dessert, and then got another snack (from cookout i don't know if you can call it a snack).

So I didn't wanna go to endurance...but I needed to.  And when I got there I didn't wanna do it...but I did. (one day i am going to get a prize for it.) But it was tough.  We warmed up with an 800m run, and running drills...then the worst running drill ever was our work out...a ladder...
200m rest 1 min
200m rest 1 400m rest 2
200m rest 1 400m rest 2 800 m rest 4
200m rest 1 400m rest 2
200m
When I say it, it doesn't sound as bad, and it doesn't even look that rough on paper...but it was TERRIBLE. if you think of each piece as an all out effort...and it was 1.5 miles of all out effort blah.  I finished it and for that I am proud, because I almost didn't make it...however I know I haven't replaced my water, and I didn't sleep well last night, so I skipped working out today, though it is a wod I would like to make up, double unders and pull ups...

why i love crossfit...

Following Monday's endurance wod, I planned a post on how much I loved crossfit, but Amy beat me to it with this... This is the start to why I love crossfit, though it may be much less eloquent, witty, and/or grammatically correct....

1. Monday's endurance wod involved running 100, 200 and 400m sprints.  Some of us are better at some sprints than others (my 100 was 0:16, 400 1:52), but everyone is so supportive of everyone, and everyone cheers for everyone, and everyone does a good job, because everyone expects everyone to do  a good job, and that good job is relative.  I now look forward to endurance, (though I had to skip Thursday cause my legs still didn't work)

2. Wednesday I walked into the gym to my biggest fan vaccuming (I cannot figure out how to spell that...is it a word?), the two old men working out, while gospel music blared, Gabe benching like a million pounds, and I found Ashley in the corner...she too was surprised as to what she saw.

3. Tuesday Tripp chose music to lift to and his choice was Hank Williams...

4. Saturdays have been dedicated to the crossfit games open wods. Today I walked into a very serious heat, it was quite fun to cheer for....pretty sure I like cheering more than doing but who wouldn't?

5. I surprised myself by getting 13 reps in the open wod (5 minutes as many reps as possible of squat clean and jerks (165/110))  My previous 1 RM was 120, Wednesday I did the wod and got 9 reps though my legs were quite sore, today I squeezed out 13...

6. Also before the wod, I witnessed some impromptu swing dancing, it was awesome...there has also been break dancing, and what Troie does to pump himself up (dancing?) all of that makes me happy.

7. Today while driving I saw so many people running...(so many is probably 15)...Only one of them looked happy, but he was probably the only person that seemed to be good at running.  I wanted tell all the others to go to crossfit, because although we may be in pain...and whine some (who...not me?) we all have a good time and like being there.

that's all.

hi again...

So it has been a while...my internet has been weird, I have been working, I have had little motivation...there are several excuses for not having posted in a while.  But all quite valid... I use a mifi card to connect to the internet at home, and it just died, there were cell phone salesmen in my home last week and none could figure it out, so theres one excuse.  I did join the library today, so go me!

I temped for the past week and a half at a 9-5ish job...so my normal morning workouts were not happening, my afternoon motivation is not quite as strong, because #1 I get ravenous, and if I have not packed a snack it gets bad, #2, I get tired, and was able to talk myself out of it a few days.  Last week I did make it to endurance on Monday and Thursday (let me know if you need my address to send me my trophy/cookie/parade) but on Monday instead of doing the 7 pm wod like I'd intended, I warmed up, had no place to lift, so sat that out, warmed up my lift for the wod, and packed up and left.  Thursday I didn't wanna stay but I did, then Friday I did wod #2 for the crossfit open.  It was a rough one AMRAP 15 minutes, 9 deadlift (100#) 12 pushups, 15 box jumps.  This wod was tiring but the limiting factor is pushup ability, (mine is poor).  I made it through 2 reps shy of 6 rounds. I was proud of myself as that is the most push ups I have done in a while.

I have been working on my push ups, yesterday and today I did a ladder of 1-10 push ups.  We also had push ups in the warm up, and the strength work was bench, so I am preparing for soreness.  This is a new Wendler week.  I kinda didn't make it all the way through the last cycle, press is the only thing I did, so I increased that number, but I will just start everything over again, so I worked bench off a 90 1RM and got 5 reps on my as many as possible round which I was happy with.  The wod involved push press and L pull ups.  Push press I went down to 45#, and then L pull ups are near impossible, you must hold your body in an L position and pull, I attempted but it wasn't happening, so I subbed knees to elbows, I actually got a few in, but most were KalmostTE.  It took me a long long time.  This afternoon I plan to go back for endurance, and it is a glorious North Carolina spring day (which means it is HOT) so SUNS OUT GUNS OUT!

hello again!

So it has been a while...I will start from today and work my way back... We just returned from a trip to Philly with which I am falling more and more in love.  John and JBoone went to go to the NCAA wrestling championships, and I tagged along and got to hang out with family.  I will make a confession...when we planned the whole 58 I did not plan on going to Philly, I in fact attempted to deter John because he was planning this trip, so I cheated a few (okay kind of a lot).  Some cheats were worth it...late night cheesesteaks from Geno's (I shared with John), not worth it... my dinner at Cheesecake Factory which didn't seem so bad but left me feeling terrible, but I am glad to be back to my regularly scheduled eating.

Today I thought Crossfit would feel pretty terrible, but it was not so so bad.  Today was supposed to be week 3 of wendler, but it was my week 1 for squats. All sets up to my 85% set felt medium, but the thought of the last set was so terrible to me I only did 2, and did not apologize for it, I mentally did not prepare properly... The wod was 4 rounds of walking with a sandbag overhead, and 35 squats...it was gross.  I then stayed for endurance, with new coaches Paul and Erin, awesome athletes in and out of crossfit... They are pretty tough, we warmed up with an 800 m run and some running drills and some sprints...and THEN we worked on either rowing 2K or running a mile.  I chose to row as I have some serious shin splints and miles scare me...we first went over some rowing technique which was pretty helpful as I don't know that I have had much specific training since I first learned to row... I finished the 2K in 9:52 which may actually be a PR... I am going to make a more concerted effort to make it to endurance twice a week...

I also technically signed up for the crossfit opens.  When I did it, there were only 2 girls signed up, and you need 3 for a team, which was my reasoning... Because we went out of town, I had to do the first wod (AMRAP 10 min 30 double unders, 15 power snatch (75/55) on Wednesday... though I must  have still been pretty tired as I set up my bar incorrectly, and made it through a perfect set of double unders and a few snatches before we realized the error...so I had to start over.  I only got through 2 rounds and 25 double unders, and because HQ had so many issues with the site, they are extending the deadline, and I plan to take advantage of this, as I know I can do  better!! (but really, I don't believe the error caused me to suck it up)

11- By any means necessary....

So... Ashley said she was gonna do another crazy wod.  I can't quite keep up with Ashley and the others that tend to show up for her crazy ideas YET, but I will get kinda close...you are a product of the company you keep.  Today only me, Paul Pi, and Ashley came to participate in this ridiculous, so I ended up wodding by myself.  The wod was one of Crossfit Harlem's black history month series. On paper, it was so unassuming, I saw it a few days ago and thought it was pretty interesting...

UNBROKEN
50 front squats
50 push press
50 back squats
50 overhead squats
50 thrusters

5 burpees every time you drop the bar or rest more than 10 seconds, 30 seconds rest between each exercise.

Every time a workout requires you to avoid burpees I end up doing a million.  I didn't really count but probably ended up doing about 100...We dropped my weight down to 35 somewhere during the overhead squats, and it took me somewhere between 45 min and an hour...(the clock was only set for 15 minutes, I am not sure if it repeated 3 times or more... This is a lot of mental gaming which I need to improve on obviously...But I definitely got a workout in...

FOOD...
Medium.  I haven't had serious cravings, and I am pretty good with my trader joe's trips...I have had problems where I have gotten stressed out during the day and have not eaten enough, but I am working on that.  I have also made poached eggs...and I am pretty much a fan, though today I made poached eggs for me, and a veggie scramble for john and let mine cook too long, so I missed out on yolky goodness but still good....

today's breakfast...

Day 7

So I am a week into my paleo eating... I have lost some lbs...though I am not sure where from, I feel better about eating, I just can't quite keep my energy level up for working out.  I have felt sluggish, and haven't recovered quite as well as I would like, my back has done the thing where it gets tight and prevents hip thrusting movements (everything in crossfit).  Things I will focus on from here on out: eating more food, especially more fat  , drinking more water, taking my fish oil.  I believe those will help, and this is just a part of my body getting used to something different (and motivation to not fall off the wagon).

We went out for a birthday brunch to Southern Rail yesterday, and I picked out my meal ahead of time...I was a bit limited in my options as most things had biscuit or potato or grits etc.  This seemed to be my best option...Benny and June (get it...eggs benedict??? or does benny order it in the diner?) poached eggs, lump crab meat, spinach, it came on toast with pesto spread, with hash browns and salad...

This is how it is normally prepared...with an extra biscuit...

This is mine...still pretty awesome looking no?

Two of us ordered this way and we got crazy looks, but whatevs...It was pretty satisfying and I didn't miss the bread, though I almost speared a hash brown when Denise went to the bathroom, and longed a bit for the tots at the next table... and poached eggs may get added to my repertoire... I will go to Melanie for lessons, as she learned those first. Does that seem weird to you too? My first eggs were scrambled, what about you??

day 2 continued

Yesterday evening I decided to switch things up and head to the regular gym for some good old fashioned aerobics... I originally went to go to yoga, and then saw one of my favorites, Body Attack was right before and decided to hit up a double feature. The best way to describe body attack is if I asked you to think about old fashioned aerobics... a lot of jumping around, a few grapevines, some high knees and kicks and my favorite the flying motion where you hop on one leg and send the opposite arm and leg out (get it? no doesn't matter).  I did the class for some fun.

For those that don't know me, my preferred method of exercise is dance, due to limited class offerings that fulfill my crave for good music, movement that feels good, challenging exercise and a good release, I crossfit.  It fulfills all of it in a different way, as does group fitness.  Body attack has good music, some fun movement that makes me cheesily smile, but for some odd reason, no one else. My mistake yesterday was thinking it would make my legs feel better, all the jumping makes my calves tight and we did like a million hammie curls and those were the worst, so I decided to skip yoga, as it was power yoga and a lot of energy is required.

I got home and collapsed on the couch and didn't move for a while, I needed nourishment, and couldn't decide what to eat.  My day 2 of paleo did not go as well as day 1.  I ate breakfast, then couldn't decide what to eat for lunch/got caught up in doing some work and picking up my sunglasses.  I ate a little snack to hold me over, then spent time making a chicken, and some meatballs.  It took longer than I anticipated, and ended up only eating two meatballs and some sauce before heading off to class.  I neglected to pack or eat a post workout meal when I returned home, so I was a ball of mush...When John got home he gave me a snack and then I ate a couple more but not a real dinner...so day 2 fail!  I also commented to John that paleo is easy for him because he has someone to prepare all of his meals and snacks for him, to which he replied you can do that too (but that person is me) :/.

day 2.

So last night about 9 pm my body started hurting...so this morning I decided to take a rest day...The culprit? I guess deads and snatches...and maybe the rowing from Monday evening.  Yesterday's workout was just lifting and jumping which makes me happy...We started with snatches, I worked up to a working set of 3 at 73#, I attempted 83, but I could not get it over my head and steady, it was quite certainly a mental problem, because I could get it to the top, and I can definitely overhead squat it, so ho hum...

Then we worked on deadlifts.  I have been quite concerned with the whole Wendler 531 situation... I know the program makes you stronger (yes!), but I was concerned about where to start, as each cycle you add 5# to upper body movements, and 10# to lower body, which sounds like a little, but had I started this program 8 months ago when I hit my deadlift pr, I would have a 335 dead (not to mention a 130 press) which is freaking huge.  So my concern was starting too low and then taking forever to get back to previous numbers, or trying to start too high and failing reps.  So yesterday Sarah and Lori were there so I just worked in with them, which solved my problem of not knowing where to start.  They worked at 15 under my max, and if I was alone it would have been 30 under.  I worked up to a max set of 5 reps at 185 which is more than I have done in a while, and John discovered that I breathe weird, so now that it is under control maybe I can get more.

Today is day 2 of 58.  I so far feel good, but also have been bombarded by Domino's flyers on my door and in my mailbox.  John criticized me yesterday for chewing a piece of gum, and then he asked for one.  I don't normally chew gum, so whatevs!

the last supper...

I woke up this morning tired and not wanting to workout.  I started by cleaning up my apartment some, but the task got daunting, the maintenance guy stopped by and I wanted to make sure he got everything, so I skipped 1130, but made it in for 5 pm.  We started warming up with 100 sledgehammer swings.  There is something so satisfying about swinging a hammer, and I hope to one day be able to swing it like Tripp who doesn't need to use a top hand guide, just like Thor. They got tiring after about 50 though...

We started Wendler 531 programming today, and I am excited about the change.  This is a great way for me to make sure I get all the major lifts in every week, and track it in an organized way, and GET STRONGER! We worked on press today which sucks.

The wod was 10 down to 1 chin ups and push ups.  I hopped up to the bar to see if I could go unassisted on the chin ups, but the reverse grip feels so wierd, so I used a band, and did girlie push ups to keep it quick.

I stayed for endurance (go me!) which I hope to make at least a 2 time per week deal.  Today we rowed 20 seconds on, 50-40-30-20-10 off, 3 rounds of that.  I made it a total of 1373 m.  I should have strategized better,  as I didn't know the total amount of time, so I didn't have a goal for meters, but tried to keep splits at 2:00, (which didn't quite happen) but feel like I could have squeezed out some more meters if 1500, or so was my goal.

So tomorrow we start our clean up whole 58 (we go out of town on day 59, so I make no promises for 60 days).  I have spent a good amount of the weekend thinking of meals to savor in my nonpaleoness which means I have also have had heartburn for the past four days... I am now sick of eating crap, so I am excited for a clean up.  My concerns are my meal planning skills which are currently lacking, I usually go to the grocery store and buy what is on sale, so at this point I am prepared only for a couple days, but it will probably also take a bit to get used to 2 paleo eaters in the household.

seven...

So the other day I heard some people in the gym talking about this crazy wod they were gonna do...I said hey that sounds cool and somehow got myself involved in the shenanigans... The Seven is a hero wod in honor of 7 CIA officers killed by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan.  If you think about how badass you need to be to be in the CIA and multiply that by 7 per officer...then to the next power for being killed doing something knowingly dangerous for the USA then times it by a little more.

The Seven...
7 handstand pushups
7 thrusters (135/95) I did 75
7 knees to elbows
7 deadlifts (245/205) (145)
7 burpees
7 kettlebell swings (70/52)
7 pull ups.

So it is a terrible wod if I get excited for the bodyweight portions of it.  HSPU's you either can do or can't do...I can't so they weren't that bad, I should have gone heavier on the thrusters as they were challenging but not terrible, my knees don't quite touch my elbows, but soon.  The deads were terrible.  I have some tightness in my low back so I know I was using my back rather than my legs, something to work on...burpees were a rest, Kettlebell swings were probably my favorite part...and pull ups were pull ups.  Badass Ashley finished in 32 something while I was on round maybe 3.  After round 2 I figured out I wasn't going to finish in a timely manner anyway, so I finished at round 4 in 49:01.

Then Gabe and Chad decided to do 11:30, which involved deadlifts and Annie.  I had enough deads, but wanted to do Annie, so I sucked it up.  The warmup felt fine, and then I tried to go light on deadlifts, but my back said no thank you...so I just used that time to mobility and roll out.  It came time for the wod, and I started but couldn't get even 10 double unders together, I got through 50, sat down for situps and my body didn't work so I called it a day.

So while I am disappointed that I didn't finish, or even get anywhere close to Rx, my body hurts enough for a regular wod.  I would like to attempt this again after my whole 58 to see the improvement.

catch up...

My internet has been being weird the past week/I haven't been creative enough to post.  I am going to attempt a summary of the past week but I will start with today.

4 rounds
500m row
3 rounds cindy (5 pull ups 10 push ups 15 air squats)
I was worried about this taking me absolutely forever, but I scaled the push ups, and was able to finish in 31:40. I just kept trucking and had some fast fast ladies to chase. My pull ups felt good (thanks to Lori's pull up ladder) I just lost grip a couple times.

This week has been pretty rough as two coaches had birthdays, so we have had some ridiculous wods, including one that went 9-15-21.  We have done pull ups either in the wod or warm up three days this week, so I was leery about going today, but I think my pull ups are finally improving.  I was able to deadlift 205 off the ground which is the first time in like 6 months, so I still kinda have it.

John and I attended Ashley's nutrition seminar on Saturday.  He decided that he was gonna try a whole 30.  I said I would take advantage of having a partner so we are doing it together.  I mentioned that I probably should go longer as I slip up into bad eating habits so now we have gotten ourselves into a whole58.  Why? so yes I have some LBs to lose, but I also believe this is the best way for me to eat, I feel better physically and mentally...

a lotta pushups...

Today is a gorgeous North Carolina day, it is supposed to hit mid 60s, it is just quite windy.  Today at crossfit Ashley led us through an easy kettlebell warm up...which is a bit of a funny as she had received comments that her warm-ups were too hard, which I didn't really agree with, and then the strength work was overhead squats.  Lori was in class today, so I worked with her hoping her brute strength would rub off on me.  I got up to 95 and couldn't keep my core tight enough, I know I can do it as I have done it before so it was a mental issue. I did manage to drop the bar and let it roll into my shin, but nothing like the last time I did that.  

The workout was an interesting format, max reps of push ups, then run 50 m, rest only as long as it takes you to walk back to the push ups.  I knew I couldn't get that many on my toes so I did knee push ups for this, and had trouble sliding as we worked out outside (because it is freaking gorgeous)...but it was on an incline.  I got up to 83 push ups and was satisfied with that.  The torturous part was the smell of french fries wafting over to our area, now I want some bad.  

VD!

Today John and I competed in the VD challenge at Crossfit Durham (couples throwdown official title).  The prize was a gift certificate to Dos Perros and a fancy trophy (the one thing our apartment decor is missing) and while we came in dead last, we had a ton of fun.   We figured out a few things about ourselves along the way.

The first wod was

Partner 1 (me) eats 15 hershey kisses
Partner 2 rows 1000m
both do 20 abmat situps
Partner 1 rows 800 m
20 situps
Partner 2 rows 600 m
20 situps
partner 1 rows 400 m
20 situps
partner 2 rows 200 m
20 situps
Partner 2 eats 10 mini Reese's cups

1. The Hills are not good at eating fast.  I was dead last in eating the kisses, when Jed next to me was done I still had like 8 left, most others found the challenge in unwrapping, I was really good at that part... John wasn't that quick either.  While I don't like losing, I don't take it personally that we just eat slow, we made up some time on the rows, John did much better than me.

2. This Hill doesn't like the cold, or mud...both is gross.

The second wod was:

AMRAP 10 minutes
10 burpees
25 m walking lunge

but with our legs tied together like the worst three legged race imaginable...

3. We do burpees (drop to the floor with chest to deck, stand back up and hop) completely different.  I found my leg going out before his or after, so eventually I just lifted my leg off the ground, and let his carry mine until I could figure out the rhythm. While Paul provided excellent counting and coaching skills, we still ended up last in this one.

We still had fun, and went back to do a ridiculous wod with Ashley, but as my stomach was still not quite right after the milk chocolate I was an excellent cheerleader.  John trucked through like a champ...(Ashley crushed it)

Amrap 40 min:
1. 300 double unders

then

2. run 100 m
10 clusters (95/65)
10 box jumps (30/24)
10 burpees
run 100 m
10 burpees
10 box jumps
10 clusters

It was quite beastly looking, and while I would like to try it, I can't see myself doing this one alone, or convincing any of the people that did it today to do it again...Jonathan and I cleaned up their bars and boxes as they didn't look like they were moving any time soon...

lindsay gets crafty!

so my photography skills need work, and i have no idea how it uploaded sideways or how to fix it...

Oh you thought this as a fitness blog???? I have had some bonus time lately and a ton of projects that I wanted to try I'm just putting a bit more effort into it. I purchased my seeing machine in April and have yet to put it to really good use. When I was younger I sewed ribbons and elastic on ballet shoes but that is the extent of my machine use so this has been a challenge to learn on my own.  My mom has probably had her fill of random sewing questions...

This project took a max of fifteen minutes and now I have a place to hang earrings so I can see them... I was searching for my tar heel earrings for the game and while I only found one, I found a bunch of other earrings I love but haven't worn in a while.  I was inspired by this tutorial... I used an IKEA frame I had laying around, $2 worth of lace and an old t-shirt...and yes I crafted the earrings as well, while they aren't my most creative gems, they were within reach.

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no wod is okay...

This morning I woke up earlier than planned, and had trouble falling back asleep, so I resorted to coffee, and started my day, by the time we got to crossfit, I had a bit of lack of motivation, so I wasn't quite prepared to warm up or do work, but I kinda got myself ready to go.  I decided to make up the deadlifts from yesterday.  it was a tough battle to decide not to go yesterday, but I needed that rest day, but DOMS was a bit of a beast today so my legs felt pretty tight from Monday's wall balls.  I have kinda come to terms with my poor deadlifting abilities lately, but am determined to get back to my 1 RM (255) and then some.  I was hoping today for maybe 215...maybe just maybe 230...but I couldn't pull 200 off the ground...tell me where does 56 pounds go, how do I lose that??????????????? It is frustrating as I don't really know what was different then from now... 

The wod today was:

40 30 20 push ups (i pushed up from my knees to avoid the snake...i hate snakes)

50 40 30 double unders (I realized today my rope is DOOK blue and am now on the market for a carolina blue one and swirly wirly laces)

30 20 10 back squats (my legs were in rebellion so I did 45 instead of the Rx 65)

This was tougher than it looked in writing, (as they all are) so I trucked through with the slowest time on the board today womp womp as usual.  a nap may be in order. 

take a wall ball to the face!!

I've never been in a fight... and only have one person that has ever wanted to fight me and so I did think of strategies in the event that I had to use them... I think now if I ever had to fight someone, best case scenario it would happen in the vicinity of a crossfit gym.  I would stun them with a med ball to the face and then do what I needed to do...why might this work? Because I took one to the face today and it surprised me pretty bad, but I kept it moving.

Yesterday I realized that I had been 3 days in a row, with a semi rest day the day before that and two days on the day before, so while I felt well, I could take rest without feeling bad...Then I saw the strength work was snatches, and I haven't been able to work on them this year due to knee issues and scheduling so I wanted to go...except the wod was Karen, 150 wall balls for time.. and numbers above 20 freak me out, so 150 is crazy.  I was perfectly happy doing things around the house relishing in being home, when John called to have me deliver a phone to him at work...I figured I might as well make it worth my while, so I went to workout.  I debated the endurance wod but then thought about multiple rounds of 8 minutes and decided against it.  My snatches felt medium.  I started at 53 which felt amazing but then as I got higher I found myself power snatching and riding it down, I don't know why I kept going higher, but next time will stay low for efficiency.  Watching Phil get a pr was pretty awesome as his form is pretty amazing, but today wasn't my day...So I whined about the wod, to anyone who would listen, I would have shouted it from the rooftops... but I am trying to do better about how I talk about things I don't want to do.  As expected 150 wall balls is pretty terrible.  My initial strategy was kinda 10 at a time, but that went to crap.  Once I got to 75 Dave kept an eye on me, and we found I did the second half as fast as the first, so really I could have gone faster, but it is such a mental thing, and you  have to be sure to throw it properly each time, because hitting myself in the face or missing the wall really screwed me up.  All in all I am glad I did it and got it over with, though 14:37 is not the time I was hoping for and would like to try to do it faster but don't see myself doing this on my own time.

stupid shoelaces....

I love walking in to a huge class at crossfit, especially with some of my favorites.  Colin coached and lead us through a squatastic and push uppy warm up, in which Paul filed his callouses and offered gum to the cllass. The skill work was on double unders, I planned my outfit poorly as my pants (and underpants cause you wanted to know) would not stay up...then my shoelaces messed me up...  So I love shoes as I have a great appreciation for them and have several pairs. If I had it in me I would go back to school for design and work on making super cute functional shoes for all fields (dance, fitness, and fashion), I just feel that physics and or biomechanics might be necessary and I can't.  My point with this, I have a pair of Nike frees and Saucony racing flats that I had to special order...why can't these shoe companies get it together, I shouldn't have to double knot my shoes and still have to tie them in the middle of a work out!!!!!!!!!!!! Paul told me about elastic shoelaces I could by, but I am in the market for the swirly wirly shoelaces you purchase for children...I used to pair mine to match my slouch socks.

The workout was the chief.  As many rounds as possible in 3 minutes of 3 power cleans, 6 push ups, 9 squats, rest one minute, for a total of 6 rounds.  I have been going through my old notebook which will not stay together, and typing up my wod book, so I know my rounds to beat was 15 1/3.  Yesterday I managed 17, but I didn't Rx my push ups, as I started snaking in the first 3 minutes.  I have been trying to analyze when my performance started to suffer, and I haven't quite pinned it, but I did notice that we often did cash in and outs, which we don't necessarily always do, and I am pretty sure I have been much more lax in my warm ups so the past few days I have made sure to cash out with at minimum my pull up ladder, I also am working on a core movement as well, yesterday I did sets of 15 situps then head stands.

Melissa of Whole 9 posted this awesome article today as well... There are times when I upset myself too much about things that go on at the gym, but really it is one aspect of my life...not me as a whole.  I am also an awesome wife, a bomb cook and baker, a snazzy dresser, a hip aunt Z, and shwerking dancer....thanks.

go me!

I was feeling a bit better about life and exercise since my last post.  I figure I just need to work a bit harder everyday and then I will get there.  Nutrition is still a work in progress, I figure once I have a regular schedule I will be better about regimenting myself.  Friday I worked at 530 am which is just so freakin early, and then had an interview at 12 so I wasn't able to attend my morning classes, which somehow just feel better to me.  By the time evening hit I was ready to lay on the couch and watch movies, but John made me go.  The strength work was overhead squats, which I haven't done in some time.  My previous 1RM is around 95... and we were working on percentages, so I started with 45, then went to 63 and my wrist went crazy and I only go through three reps.  I worked my way back up but only ended at 63.  I need to be sure to warm my wrist up, and ice it or it does funky things.  The wod was 9-7-5 deadlifts and muscle ups.  I subbed 2x pull ups and ring dips, and my 1RM has been 255 for a while yet I haven't been able to hit that recently.  I have been trying to work my way back up to that, but the rx of 75% would have been 195, and I know I didn't have that, but I do feel I could have done at least 175 instead of the 155 I did.  But it works out better as pull ups take me a while, so I was still the last one done 17:27.  I did my pull up ladder after that, but had to resort to the blue band for muscle failure.  John left me at the gym so he could do an appointment so I worked more on headstands and handstands.  We are going to DC in April during cherry blossom festival, so I would like to feel comfortable in my free standing handstand for photos.  I have trouble because I get scared, but I just need to work that out, I know I can hold it because I can kick up to the wall and pull my legs away, so go a way fear!.

This morning I got up and at em even though my bed was mighty comfy.  The strength work was 50 chin ups which were a challenge after yesterdays pull ups in the wod and the extra credit.  I am not sure I got through all 50.  The wod was 50 box jumps, 50 kettlebell swings, 50 sit ups, 50 db hang power cleans, 800 m run, 50 back extensions.  I am working on changing the way I feel about chippers, or numbers above 20, so I will tell you I LOVE CHIPPERS AND 50 REPS OF ANYTHING!!!!  I was able to jump all reps of the box jumps though it took me a while longer, the swings I broke up as I was surprised by some soreness, the situps were fine.  I went light on the cleans which was better for me to keep it moving, but I do feel I could have gone heavier.  The run I surprised myself by running in short sleeves, and was able to "sprint" the last 200 m, back extensions I just did the abmat because the GHDs were all taken.  I finished in 20:23 and was happy with that.

:(

So...I broke a plate.  I should have known better than to start with an already cracked plate, but thought it was a small crack, and didn't expect to go crazy throwing weight around.  The workout was death by cleans, so you do a power clean on the 1st minute, 2 on the second, etc... we were to go until fifteen minutes, and if you missed a round you continue to 5 each minute.  I remember doing this wod a while back in the old gym with just me and John.  I remember beating him, and getting somewhere above 10, I thought 15.  Yesterday I got to round 8, and the plate would no longer stand up, then I failed on round 9, though I don't think it was a result of the plate.  I used 75 pounds, but thought before I started that that could be conservative... I went back to review my notes, on October 31, 2008 I did 13 rounds, with 65 pounds. Proof that I am regressing.  I am also majorly hurting today, my poor form yesterday is evident today as my biceps are hurting real bad. that's all for now.

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kick him in the shin!!!

it has been a little while...last week Thursday we worked for a one rep max on back squat.  I thought I was over it, but I am still scared.  I think I worked up to 145, and then everyone seemed to busy to ask for a spot, which I  know is silly, but whatevs...so right now my 1RM back squat is about the same as my 3RM front squat...  Friday we did a special new exercise superman to hollow rock. So you lay on your stomach with arms and legs in the air, then roll over to your back with arms and legs in the air, for a super core workout.  I still have bruises on my hip bones always use a mat for things like that is what I learned.  The workout was 5 rounds 20 double unders, 25 abmat situps and then 30 kettlebell swings.  We had an awesome group with some of my favorite crossfitters, but for whatever reason I couldn't get my swings consecutive, and I know that is nothing but mental, but I had a great group to cheer for me when I was the last one still going.

Today I opened the gym so I worked 5:30 to 10...then debated whether I wanted to work out, and did the right thing.  We had Paul for today's awesome guest star who provided additional entertainment (he said "if I had a child I would name him Beyonce")...(Ashley usually provides some like the title of today's post).  We worked on ring dips which I trying to learn to love, today we did 50 strict reps, I used a blue band, some of the reps got hairy so I tried to go to green but that was too much.  For the wod I did yesterday's which was 20-18-14-->2 double unders, with 1-->10 kettlebell (heavy swings).  Again played some mental ping pong during the wod and finished in 11:28.  I worked on my pull ups with a ladder using the red band.

So yes, sometimes I get tired and actually need to catch my breath, but not as much as I stop.  I am thinking I may add unbroken skill work, like kettlebell swings, box jumps etc. maybe knowing I physically can do these things will make them easier to think about, wah.

straight beastin it.

so my biggest fan's name is john, then all the coaches at crossfit, and my mom but those are all assumed... so my biggest fan that is not related or paid for is a maintenance guy i believe I have only seen twice but each time he has nothing but nice things to say.  The first time he only saw me working out because I was the last one and he said "man you straight beasted it" I think maybe I was doing overhead squats or .  Today he saw me again and said "hey I didn't know you still came here...you are the one in the picture on the wall lifting all the weight...with the legs".  (That does happen to describe everyone on the wall as we are all blessed with legs)  But I will admit sometimes it is nice to have an extra cheerleader...and here is the photo I believe he was talking about....

(those are my legs)

Today's wod was AMRAP 15 minutes 10 box jumps then alternating pull ups and push ups to finish out the minute.  Boy was it tough...I got through my first round of box jumps and half of the second with actual jumps and then stepped up for the rest of the wod.  I lost count of my reps, I know I was at 37 before I lost count maybe at round 8? 

Also today we lost a pioneer in the fitness industry.  Jack Lalanne was the awesomest man ever. (that's it)

push ups sit ups and squat cleans (o my!)

So last night I developed a new symptom of not being able to breathe so I had a hard time getting to sleep but made it up in time for crossfit.  Colin was coaching so of course he lead us through a parkourish climbing jumping crawling warm up.  We had to jump across three boxes, hop over the 31 in box (we could use the other box for assistance), jump over the side bar of the pull up station and then climb under the other and crawl back to the start.  I like his warm ups as they are challenging and stuff we don't normally get to do, but sometimes one part of it kicks my bottom, in this case the crawling (wierd right).

The strength work was squat cleans in sets of 5 which I hate, but the website told us we didn't have to do touch and go reps, which made it more manageable.  I worked off a one rep max of 120, which is the highest I have ever clean and jerked, but I have never maxed out on cleans alone.  So my sets were 68, 83, 103.  I complained the whole way through, but got through all the sets.  Workout was 50 push ups, 50 GHD situps.  Push ups took me a while and when it was time for me to sit up the GHDs were all taken (darn) so I did 70 abmats, and finished in 8:19.  After I somewhat recovered, I worked on pull ups and did my first unassisted pull ups this year, as I am finally able to jump up to the pull up bar.  I only squeezed out 5, but baby steps.  I feel like my knee is back to normal...of course now my wrist is doing funky things but that is more manageable.

Also this weekend is the Charlottesville Superfit Games.  Last year John and I trekked up to VA in the blizzard we had last year, (VA got twice as much snow).  We got snowed in, but had a great time.  I looked at the wods and they are crazy brutal.  Like AMRAP chest to bar pull ups with a med ball between your legs...as part of one wod, and squat clean thrusters, air force wod style with chest to bar pull ups on the minute.  I am sad I didn't get to experience it this year, but with everything that derailed me this year, it would have been a bit more than I was ready for.  I just know that if I can focus with diet and workouts and not beat myself up, I can be ready for a whole lot more next year.

That's me last year...reppin out 77# thrusters...after burpees before failing on hspus.  I still can't do handstand push ups why? but I am much closer than I was here.

boo sickness.

So I do not get sick.  Maybe a sniffle here or there, but I cannot remember the last time I had anything that lasted longer than a day, so I can't remember ever calling out sick from work, or spending a day in bed.  I will say it is a result of taking awesome vitamins, eating relatively well, and working out.  I also think being exposed to all sorts of germs at a gym for the past four years have helped, oddly enough. (When H1N1 first broke some lady came in saying she was over it, knowing she worked out regularly before she knew she had it passing it around and there are more crazy stories like that)  But this week something knocked me on my bottom.  At first glance when I felt kinda off, I thought it was diet related.  I kinda fell off my whole 30 horse this weekend which explained the headache and general lethargy. But when I woke up on Wednesday with a fire in my throat I knew it was not right.  I spent two and a half days in bed, and now am somewhat over it.  I have not had much of an appetite, and when I have I have been working on noodle soup (yeah if you do not have paleo soup ready you are s.o.l. (in my opinion)).  I tried to eat a chick fil-a meal and couldn't do it (told you I fell off/at least I didn't eat the whole thing :/).  So tomorrow's workout looks truck throughable (just keep swimming).  I will attempt three paleo meals and a workout and kick this thing for good!