Quick recap on my workouts so far this week...
Monday:
Kelly: 5 Rds:
400m run
30 Box Jump @20"
30 WB @ 14# to 9' (no marks where I was hitting the ball... maybe to the 10' but am not really sure but at least for sure I was hitting the 9)
Time: 31:03 Did this one by myself after I coached all day. Was pretty grueling but I made it through and in a decent time especially considering my slow ass running pace and my fear/hatred for WB.
Tuesday:
45 min mobility work in the am, then a few hours later did my first oly session with Coach Takano. Worked up to 73# snatch for 2 reps, then back off to 63# to work at for a few more. Then worked up to a 95# clean and jerk. Coach said I need to work on snatch balances and muscle snatches because I'm swinging the bar up and above me and need to push myself below the bar better. For cleans, he said I need to work the clean deadlift pausing below the knee for 3 sec, then above the knee for 3 sec. Wants me to work on the snatch drills at 75% and clean drills at 85%. Takano said he expects me to begin lifting significantly heavier weights which is exciting. Also said that my thighs will get thicker (totally fine with me, it'll just make my waist look smaller in comparison). And that I might need to start eating more in order to keep up with heavier oly training. Sounds awful ;)
Wednesday:
Filthy Fifty:
50 Box jumps 20"
50 Jumping pull-ups
50 KBS @ 24# (is this right?!)
Walking Lunges 50 steps
50 KTEs
50 Push press 33#
50 Back extensions (subbed 50 good mornings with 33#)
50 WB @14#
50 Burpees
50 Double unders
Time: 28:14.
[PREV Filthy Times.... 11/6/09- 38:01, 5/13/10- 32:07. Good to know I'm steadily improving!!!] Push presses were fast as a mofo, felt awesome on those. Did 20/10/10/10 all way faster than I've ever done before. Wanted to go 25/25 but broke them as soon as i started to slow down, rested a sec or two and got back at it. WBs were better then expected, I really have finally gotten to a place where these aren't the worst things in the entire world. Yaaaay! KTEs were sad but I'm still nursing a huge ass tear in my left hand center of my palm which made repping these painful... so I pussed out to save my hand.
Can't decide what I'm gonna do today - rest day, snatch/clean drills or do heavy metal since it's my favorite workout at TCF with my favorite coach and this is the last time he's coaching it before he leaves to coach at another gym.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Friday, June 24, 2011
Jackson Alexander is the cutest baby name ever
i can't believe I missed his birthday. it made me miss cfc and my family more than ever. july 16th can't come soon enough.
sigh.
sigh.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Dragging ass today
9:30am - got outta bed. Decided to go to the 10am to wod, but ended up chatting with other members instead. Yep. That kinda day.
12:00pm - double char burger (prob still only about 6-8oz meat) on a lettuce wrap with guac, tomato and grilled onions. sweet potato fries.
1-4:30pm - Nap. Holy shit that's a long nap. I took a nap so long I'm not sure it even qualifies as a nap anymore. And I was still damn tired after waking up. My alarm went off to wake me at 1:45pm and I shut it off and decided to sleep as long as I needed (expecting to sleep another 30 min. whoa.). And then I woke with a stupid headache. wtf?
6:30pm - grande iced red eye with heavy cream + 1 splenda. Hoping this would cut the headache. Either that or the 2 aleve kicked it by about 7:30pm. Would've gone away faster if I'd taken advil but I knew I was gonna wod at some point so didn't want to do the advil.
7:00pm - a-coach.
7:55pm - BCAA
8:00pm - TCF Baseline WOD: 500m row, 40 air squats, 30 sit-ups, 20 push-ups, 10 pull-ups. Time: 5:14. Happy with my row pace was good - 1:45 for the first 250m, b/w 1:50-1:55 for the remainder. Sit-ups were fast, everything else was okay. Took short 2-3 breath breaks so I could string reps as fast as possible, pullups were 3-3-4.
8:00pm - a-coach MCAP class. Super fun. Hope I can do more of these classes.
9:45pm - egg white omelette with carmelized onions, garlic, dill and chives plus a mixed green salad with red and golden beets, a T of avocado oil, 1 rounded T goat cheese, sea salt and pepper. These dinners are easily my favorite meal of the day. I really like switching my omelette times to dinner time during the week.
12:00pm - double char burger (prob still only about 6-8oz meat) on a lettuce wrap with guac, tomato and grilled onions. sweet potato fries.
1-4:30pm - Nap. Holy shit that's a long nap. I took a nap so long I'm not sure it even qualifies as a nap anymore. And I was still damn tired after waking up. My alarm went off to wake me at 1:45pm and I shut it off and decided to sleep as long as I needed (expecting to sleep another 30 min. whoa.). And then I woke with a stupid headache. wtf?
6:30pm - grande iced red eye with heavy cream + 1 splenda. Hoping this would cut the headache. Either that or the 2 aleve kicked it by about 7:30pm. Would've gone away faster if I'd taken advil but I knew I was gonna wod at some point so didn't want to do the advil.
7:00pm - a-coach.
7:55pm - BCAA
8:00pm - TCF Baseline WOD: 500m row, 40 air squats, 30 sit-ups, 20 push-ups, 10 pull-ups. Time: 5:14. Happy with my row pace was good - 1:45 for the first 250m, b/w 1:50-1:55 for the remainder. Sit-ups were fast, everything else was okay. Took short 2-3 breath breaks so I could string reps as fast as possible, pullups were 3-3-4.
8:00pm - a-coach MCAP class. Super fun. Hope I can do more of these classes.
9:45pm - egg white omelette with carmelized onions, garlic, dill and chives plus a mixed green salad with red and golden beets, a T of avocado oil, 1 rounded T goat cheese, sea salt and pepper. These dinners are easily my favorite meal of the day. I really like switching my omelette times to dinner time during the week.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
First day of what will be my new lead coaching schedule + cheat-tastic
5:45am - venti red eye with 2 splenda
6am- 8am - a-coach
8:30am - grande red eye 1 splenda
9am a-coach
10:45am - wod! 10 min AMRAP: 10 WB, 5 dead-hang pullups
Total rds: 8 + 4 WB.
12pm - 3.5 oz grilled chicken breast over mixed greens, home roasted peppers, carmelized onions, grilled eggplant with avocado oil and balsamic (YUM)
3:30pm - 3oz grilled chicken breast
5pm- 7pm - a-coach
7:45pm - egg white omelette with chicken sausage, carmelized onions on top of brocoli. with two fried eggs on top :) Yum. Omelettes for dinner. Who knew I would love them THIS much?! (or fried eggs so much i'd put them on top of eggs!).
Sometime after dinner, I was craving a dessert. I thought, I know, coconut milk + chocolate protein powder. That'll do it. I even added a touch of heavy cream. Didn't satiate me. So I thought, okay, something else not so cheaty... well, I roasted a shit ton of beets today. So... beets and goat cheese. I even threw a few blueberries on top. Nope. Didn't help. At this point, I'm not even hungry I just want something sweet and I work out really hard and it's not like I have a competition coming up soon and i think it's fucking allowed once in awhile.
And I was so pissed about the non-satisfying "cheats" that were taking up room in my stomach. Mad that I'd wasted room in my tummy for that shit when I could've just skipped all the bullshit and gotten something that I actually wanted.
So I'm decided. I'm having two cheats per week. And not "cream in my coffee" cheats but an actual real cheat. Not like a whole day of cheating or a whole meal gone wild, but a cheat item that I want and that I'm excited about. That I'll work to earn.
So I went to the frozen yogurt place and got fro-yo, all kinds of flavors (cookies n cream, chocolate cheesecake, and mint) with fat free brownie bites and reece's cups on top. And then, I finally felt better. Like I'd rewarded myself. And, no, I don't feel bad about it at all. I actually feel better, knowing that I'm going to allow myself some leniency without shame going forward.
6am- 8am - a-coach
8:30am - grande red eye 1 splenda
9am a-coach
10:45am - wod! 10 min AMRAP: 10 WB, 5 dead-hang pullups
Total rds: 8 + 4 WB.
12pm - 3.5 oz grilled chicken breast over mixed greens, home roasted peppers, carmelized onions, grilled eggplant with avocado oil and balsamic (YUM)
3:30pm - 3oz grilled chicken breast
5pm- 7pm - a-coach
7:45pm - egg white omelette with chicken sausage, carmelized onions on top of brocoli. with two fried eggs on top :) Yum. Omelettes for dinner. Who knew I would love them THIS much?! (or fried eggs so much i'd put them on top of eggs!).
Sometime after dinner, I was craving a dessert. I thought, I know, coconut milk + chocolate protein powder. That'll do it. I even added a touch of heavy cream. Didn't satiate me. So I thought, okay, something else not so cheaty... well, I roasted a shit ton of beets today. So... beets and goat cheese. I even threw a few blueberries on top. Nope. Didn't help. At this point, I'm not even hungry I just want something sweet and I work out really hard and it's not like I have a competition coming up soon and i think it's fucking allowed once in awhile.
And I was so pissed about the non-satisfying "cheats" that were taking up room in my stomach. Mad that I'd wasted room in my tummy for that shit when I could've just skipped all the bullshit and gotten something that I actually wanted.
So I'm decided. I'm having two cheats per week. And not "cream in my coffee" cheats but an actual real cheat. Not like a whole day of cheating or a whole meal gone wild, but a cheat item that I want and that I'm excited about. That I'll work to earn.
So I went to the frozen yogurt place and got fro-yo, all kinds of flavors (cookies n cream, chocolate cheesecake, and mint) with fat free brownie bites and reece's cups on top. And then, I finally felt better. Like I'd rewarded myself. And, no, I don't feel bad about it at all. I actually feel better, knowing that I'm going to allow myself some leniency without shame going forward.
Monday, June 20, 2011
I chose to work on HSPU and DU in the same day?
Goals worked on today: HSPU. DU consistency.
Goals? What goals, you ask? How can she work on goals that she hasn't already established and posted, you ask? Because while I haven't finalized them yet, for fucking sure I need to work on HSPU, since I don't have 'em. To be posted once established.
12:00pm - egg white omelette with grilled chicken and carmelized onions. 1 1/2 c coffee + 1 splenda + non-dairy (3g sugar) creamer.
2:30pm - about 15 min hip mobility work, mixed in with 4 sets of 100 single unders. 4x25 double unders. The sets of 25 were not unbroken, but worked to sets of 25 before breaking. Kind of a frustrating day with these. Sigh. My 2nd set of single unders were unbroken though. Yaay for small victories! I was sweating before I even started the HSPU work, it was hella hot in there. About 5 min shoulder mobility work. Then, HSPU skillwork: Attempted 10x3, with the 10th set until failure, unbroken using one blue band and one green band (green band around my shoulders). I did 3-3-2-3-3-2-2-3-3-8! Wasn't thrilled when I had to drop on my 2nd rep but was STOKED about hitting 8 in a row. I rested about three-four minutes maybe before my last set, so 8 was pretty exciting to hit. I didn't mean to rest so long but two other coaches came in and we were talking... oops. Wasn't even going to attempt that last set b/c I'd cooled down and wasn't sweating or red in the face anymore but Emily said to, and I figured what the hell. Yaaay!!
4:15pm - APS Protein shake (23 g protein, 3g carbs, 3g sugars, 2g fat)
6:00pm - 1.25 oz no added sugar apple chicken sauage link (eaten while preparing my salad), 4 oz. grilled sea bass on top of arugla, mesculan greens, carmelized onions, home roasted peppers. Maybe 1 T. avocado oil, 1 T. balsamic.
6:45pm - coffee + 1 T no sugar cocoa powder + bit of heavy cream + 1 splenda. I'm so TIRED! Like every day I'm tired. EFF. Also, 2 t. fish oil. I keep forgetting to take this shit.
8:00pm - Worked on shoulder mobility for about 5 min to open up. Then worked on butterflies for about 10 min. Felt much stronger on this ever before. The pulls to get my chin over the bar were easy I just needed to get a consistency in my swing so I'd land in the same place time and again. Chuma said I need to drop from the top, not swing like a kip. Felt good, am certainly making progress. Did a few warm-up reps of SDHP and Clean & jerk @ 33/53/73# to prepare for the wod. Probably should've done a BJ or two but whatevs those were only @ 20" and I forgot.
Metcon: 15 min AMRAP of
10 SDHP @75#
20 BJ @ 20"
10 Power Clean & Jerk @ 75#
20 BJ @ 20"
Total Rds: 3 RDs + 3 SDHP.
Wrapped up with some hamstring (Chuma's hammies were tight so I showed him a few stretches) and hip flexor mobility work for about 15 min.
10:33pm - egg white omelette with spinach and 1.5 oz no added sugar apple chicken sauage link (plus icnnamon & nutmeg). And a fried egg on top. Mmhmm, you heard me. I put a fried egg on top of my egg white omelette. I almost felt ridiculous for adding a fried egg to an omlette... until i tried it. Yep. Delicious. I wasn't even gonna eat b/c I didn't feel hungry (until I started cooking) but I didn't wanna feel super hungry tomorrow when I got up, so figured eating was a good idea.
Goals? What goals, you ask? How can she work on goals that she hasn't already established and posted, you ask? Because while I haven't finalized them yet, for fucking sure I need to work on HSPU, since I don't have 'em. To be posted once established.
12:00pm - egg white omelette with grilled chicken and carmelized onions. 1 1/2 c coffee + 1 splenda + non-dairy (3g sugar) creamer.
2:30pm - about 15 min hip mobility work, mixed in with 4 sets of 100 single unders. 4x25 double unders. The sets of 25 were not unbroken, but worked to sets of 25 before breaking. Kind of a frustrating day with these. Sigh. My 2nd set of single unders were unbroken though. Yaay for small victories! I was sweating before I even started the HSPU work, it was hella hot in there. About 5 min shoulder mobility work. Then, HSPU skillwork: Attempted 10x3, with the 10th set until failure, unbroken using one blue band and one green band (green band around my shoulders). I did 3-3-2-3-3-2-2-3-3-8! Wasn't thrilled when I had to drop on my 2nd rep but was STOKED about hitting 8 in a row. I rested about three-four minutes maybe before my last set, so 8 was pretty exciting to hit. I didn't mean to rest so long but two other coaches came in and we were talking... oops. Wasn't even going to attempt that last set b/c I'd cooled down and wasn't sweating or red in the face anymore but Emily said to, and I figured what the hell. Yaaay!!
4:15pm - APS Protein shake (23 g protein, 3g carbs, 3g sugars, 2g fat)
6:00pm - 1.25 oz no added sugar apple chicken sauage link (eaten while preparing my salad), 4 oz. grilled sea bass on top of arugla, mesculan greens, carmelized onions, home roasted peppers. Maybe 1 T. avocado oil, 1 T. balsamic.
6:45pm - coffee + 1 T no sugar cocoa powder + bit of heavy cream + 1 splenda. I'm so TIRED! Like every day I'm tired. EFF. Also, 2 t. fish oil. I keep forgetting to take this shit.
8:00pm - Worked on shoulder mobility for about 5 min to open up. Then worked on butterflies for about 10 min. Felt much stronger on this ever before. The pulls to get my chin over the bar were easy I just needed to get a consistency in my swing so I'd land in the same place time and again. Chuma said I need to drop from the top, not swing like a kip. Felt good, am certainly making progress. Did a few warm-up reps of SDHP and Clean & jerk @ 33/53/73# to prepare for the wod. Probably should've done a BJ or two but whatevs those were only @ 20" and I forgot.
Metcon: 15 min AMRAP of
10 SDHP @75#
20 BJ @ 20"
10 Power Clean & Jerk @ 75#
20 BJ @ 20"
Total Rds: 3 RDs + 3 SDHP.
Wrapped up with some hamstring (Chuma's hammies were tight so I showed him a few stretches) and hip flexor mobility work for about 15 min.
10:33pm - egg white omelette with spinach and 1.5 oz no added sugar apple chicken sauage link (plus icnnamon & nutmeg). And a fried egg on top. Mmhmm, you heard me. I put a fried egg on top of my egg white omelette. I almost felt ridiculous for adding a fried egg to an omlette... until i tried it. Yep. Delicious. I wasn't even gonna eat b/c I didn't feel hungry (until I started cooking) but I didn't wanna feel super hungry tomorrow when I got up, so figured eating was a good idea.
SoCal Regionals wkend!
As usual, getting to watch an event as exciting and awe-inspiring as Regionals I got excited. At North Central Regionals I was focused on two things: judging and supporting my team members while they fought for their rankings as members of the elite.
This weekend however, I watched and cheered. I had no personal vested interest in anyone making it in to the games (preferences of course, Kris Clever is one of my all-time favorite badasses, Becca Voigt, Kenneth Leverich, Tory Morgan, Josh Bridges of course, and new favorite Heather Scaglione...
...Heather Scaglione separated her shoudler during Amanda (WOD 5). She was ranked 5th in the SoCal Regiona and so continued competing - moved on toWOD 6 where she rowed 20 calories one-armed, compelted 30 burpees one-armed, 40 GTO @ 35# screaming and fighting to complete every single rep using both arms, and completed some TTB - which to me were the most impressive things I've ever seen. She had to use her left arm to lift her right arm and place her hand on the pull-up bar, and then held on for dear life and completed a series of TTB. BADASS does not even begin to describe this girl and her ability to fight through adversity. Holy fucking shit.
...plus new friends of mine or friends of friends like Shirley Brown repping CF Los Angeles whose team ranked thirs, yaaay!!, Jason Friendman, and Kathy Borkoski. Amazing work these people put themselves through.
So this weekend I had a lot more time to think. Time to think about what the hell I am doing with my life. And I realized that I have this amazing opportunity to really do whatever the hell I want to do right now. I've felt so trapped much of my life following in other's footsteps or following along for the ride... and now it's just me. And really, for the first time I am asking myself,
What do I want to do?
I mean, I've asked myself that before, but generally I have no real answer. "I have things I like, to do, but nothing specific that I really want to do." I've said that shit a thousand times. Not today though. Today, and really thanks to an awesome convo with this girl Allison whom I really like from TCF over the weekend that got this line of thinking started. I wanna train. Myself. I wanna get stronger, faster, leaner, meaner, than ever. I wanna chance to compete in the Games, whether as an individual or on a team I don't care, I just wanna be up there. Can I get there? Who the fuck knows. But I'm strong. And with improved tecnhique and serious training... maybe. If I can go from not being able to run 800m to picking up and running a half marathon, why can't I? I love CrossFit. Everyone knows this. So why shouldn't I try and really make it my life? Competing, coaching, training? Maybe one day I'll get good enough and train trainers for HQ.
I generally avoid posting goals or things that seem inconceivable, or even admitting them aloud because I may not achieve them. But fuck it, if you read my blog then you probably already love me and will love me regardless of me achieving my goals, and maybe you'll be a positive influencein HELPING me reach my goals. And if not, who really cares what you think? I can probably beat you up anyway ;)
This weekend however, I watched and cheered. I had no personal vested interest in anyone making it in to the games (preferences of course, Kris Clever is one of my all-time favorite badasses, Becca Voigt, Kenneth Leverich, Tory Morgan, Josh Bridges of course, and new favorite Heather Scaglione...
...Heather Scaglione separated her shoudler during Amanda (WOD 5). She was ranked 5th in the SoCal Regiona and so continued competing - moved on toWOD 6 where she rowed 20 calories one-armed, compelted 30 burpees one-armed, 40 GTO @ 35# screaming and fighting to complete every single rep using both arms, and completed some TTB - which to me were the most impressive things I've ever seen. She had to use her left arm to lift her right arm and place her hand on the pull-up bar, and then held on for dear life and completed a series of TTB. BADASS does not even begin to describe this girl and her ability to fight through adversity. Holy fucking shit.
...plus new friends of mine or friends of friends like Shirley Brown repping CF Los Angeles whose team ranked thirs, yaaay!!, Jason Friendman, and Kathy Borkoski. Amazing work these people put themselves through.
So this weekend I had a lot more time to think. Time to think about what the hell I am doing with my life. And I realized that I have this amazing opportunity to really do whatever the hell I want to do right now. I've felt so trapped much of my life following in other's footsteps or following along for the ride... and now it's just me. And really, for the first time I am asking myself,
What do I want to do?
I mean, I've asked myself that before, but generally I have no real answer. "I have things I like, to do, but nothing specific that I really want to do." I've said that shit a thousand times. Not today though. Today, and really thanks to an awesome convo with this girl Allison whom I really like from TCF over the weekend that got this line of thinking started. I wanna train. Myself. I wanna get stronger, faster, leaner, meaner, than ever. I wanna chance to compete in the Games, whether as an individual or on a team I don't care, I just wanna be up there. Can I get there? Who the fuck knows. But I'm strong. And with improved tecnhique and serious training... maybe. If I can go from not being able to run 800m to picking up and running a half marathon, why can't I? I love CrossFit. Everyone knows this. So why shouldn't I try and really make it my life? Competing, coaching, training? Maybe one day I'll get good enough and train trainers for HQ.
I generally avoid posting goals or things that seem inconceivable, or even admitting them aloud because I may not achieve them. But fuck it, if you read my blog then you probably already love me and will love me regardless of me achieving my goals, and maybe you'll be a positive influencein HELPING me reach my goals. And if not, who really cares what you think? I can probably beat you up anyway ;)
Friday, June 10, 2011
Angie and Helen
I'm not tracking my nutrition today. I ate well, I just don't feel like it. I'm in a weird place with nutrition right now. And I don't really feel like getting into it. I will, at some point, but I'm not really in the mood... plus I have no idea what times I ate at :)
I did Angie yesterday for the first time.
[Angie = 100 pull-ups, 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats]
Time: 23:43
I think I could do Angie again and shave some time off - I went ginger with my pull-ups, breaking them up into doubles mostly to preserve my hands since I was using the bar that tears my hands the most. I also took it easy on push-ups b/c I wasn't sure how 100 would feel so broke it into mainly doubles as well. All rests were super short 1-3 seconds at most during push/pull-ups, prob 3-5 secs on sit-ups and air squats. Felt good about limiting my rest times but would now like to limit the rest stops and hit it harder and preserve myself less. Now that I know how it feels I can hit her harder next time.
I followed that up with Helen today, even though I did her the other week.
[Helen = 3 rds: 400m run, 21 kettlebell swings @ 1 pood, 12 pull-ups]
Time: 12:01 PR!
Helen felt good, I'm still a shite slow runner but hopefully after doing more sprints this summer I can cut this time down. I super wussed out on pull-ups rarely chaining any and never chained more than 3 b/c my hands were pretty messed up from Angie. I opened up a blister in the palm of my left hand warming up, so in order to avoid opening up anymore that I started yesterday I changed my grip up and held the bar higher than usual - more in my fingers than palms, which gave me four new blisters (one that opened during the wod). Sooo, yeah my hands are pretty fucked right now. I have about ten separate places on my hands that hurt, only two requiring bandaids though, and those should be fine by tomorrow. The tender places just toughen up and the open blisters just need a day to heal so who cares if my hands look like shit and I have to take a day off lifting? I could use the forced rest anyway (if I were to take it).
I also benched twice this week. First time going for a new 1RM... ended at 127# but am pretty sure I coulda had 133# but my spotter didn't want me to drop the bar on my face... can't really be mad at that... or at least in my head I shouldn't be... but I am a little disappointed. I want to be pushed to my extreme. I don't want someone allowing me or enabling my failure. Let me fight for it! I wanna struggle. I need to struggle to hit a 1RM. Don't get me wrong... I do not blame her for me not getting it up there, I just wish she hadn't put her hands on so early. If it's coming down or if I call out for help, grab the bar, but the bar never went downward, just hovered. Hovering means I'm still fighting. Let me fight. And, I shoulda said something. I hate it when I don't speak up. But, I just wasn't comfortable enough to say anything to her about it. She makes me a little nervous about stepping on toes/corssing boundaries/etc, and she's been there coaching much longer than I've been a member there, so I just kept quiet. There's always another day, right? The second day I benched instead of going for a new 1RM, I just did a bunch of reps at lighter weights so that the next time I go for it I can get 133# without question. Previous PR was 125, so not a huge increase but feels good to hit a new PR even if it's small. New PR beats the hell outta failing a prev PR!!
Both my Helen times and Angie times landed me a space on the leaderboard at this non-CFC CrossFit, which feels good (I think my Helen time got me up there today... but I'm not 100% sure on that. Def sure on the angie time though). Makes me proud, personally. It's weird though - while I'm personally gratified by making the leaderboard, other people seem to be way more competitive about it than I am. Billy S wrote an awesome article awhile back on the CFC blog Conundrum expressing how I feel about competition... to sum it up- I wanna do my best. And I want to beat you. But, I also want YOU to do your best. And that last part... I dunno... I don't know that I think everyone here feels that same way.
Every day in the box, you come in and you work. You work with whatever the fuck you've got that day - based on what you ate, how you slept, your mood, the weather for fuck's sake. I may beat you today on the same workout you can beat me on tomorrow. That's life, dude. And, don't get me wrong, there are lots of people here who are supportive and seem geniunely happy when others do well. But there are also some who seem threatened or irritated, or even in disbelief when others hit the leaderboard and I just don't really understand that. Seriously, while it's cool to be on the leaderboard, it doesn't mean anything more than beating someone in any other workout. I can be first or last in any of the WODs throughout the week but no one gives a shit about that b/c it's not one of the 16 or so randomly chosen WODs that make up the leaderboard. You know why I did those WODs this week? Because angie was programmed (we do leaderboard WODs every wednesday), and Helen I did b/c one of my friends was coming in to do it, and I really like WOD'ing with people. I like to compete, I like to chase, I like to lead... I just like to workout. Plain and simple.
I dunno. I like this place, I do. I have just been a little miffed recently about a few things. And, I miss CFC. It'll be good to be back this weekend. I have a busy summer and lots to look forward to. I'm just, I dunno, just venting I guess.
I did Angie yesterday for the first time.
[Angie = 100 pull-ups, 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats]
Time: 23:43
I think I could do Angie again and shave some time off - I went ginger with my pull-ups, breaking them up into doubles mostly to preserve my hands since I was using the bar that tears my hands the most. I also took it easy on push-ups b/c I wasn't sure how 100 would feel so broke it into mainly doubles as well. All rests were super short 1-3 seconds at most during push/pull-ups, prob 3-5 secs on sit-ups and air squats. Felt good about limiting my rest times but would now like to limit the rest stops and hit it harder and preserve myself less. Now that I know how it feels I can hit her harder next time.
I followed that up with Helen today, even though I did her the other week.
[Helen = 3 rds: 400m run, 21 kettlebell swings @ 1 pood, 12 pull-ups]
Time: 12:01 PR!
Helen felt good, I'm still a shite slow runner but hopefully after doing more sprints this summer I can cut this time down. I super wussed out on pull-ups rarely chaining any and never chained more than 3 b/c my hands were pretty messed up from Angie. I opened up a blister in the palm of my left hand warming up, so in order to avoid opening up anymore that I started yesterday I changed my grip up and held the bar higher than usual - more in my fingers than palms, which gave me four new blisters (one that opened during the wod). Sooo, yeah my hands are pretty fucked right now. I have about ten separate places on my hands that hurt, only two requiring bandaids though, and those should be fine by tomorrow. The tender places just toughen up and the open blisters just need a day to heal so who cares if my hands look like shit and I have to take a day off lifting? I could use the forced rest anyway (if I were to take it).
I also benched twice this week. First time going for a new 1RM... ended at 127# but am pretty sure I coulda had 133# but my spotter didn't want me to drop the bar on my face... can't really be mad at that... or at least in my head I shouldn't be... but I am a little disappointed. I want to be pushed to my extreme. I don't want someone allowing me or enabling my failure. Let me fight for it! I wanna struggle. I need to struggle to hit a 1RM. Don't get me wrong... I do not blame her for me not getting it up there, I just wish she hadn't put her hands on so early. If it's coming down or if I call out for help, grab the bar, but the bar never went downward, just hovered. Hovering means I'm still fighting. Let me fight. And, I shoulda said something. I hate it when I don't speak up. But, I just wasn't comfortable enough to say anything to her about it. She makes me a little nervous about stepping on toes/corssing boundaries/etc, and she's been there coaching much longer than I've been a member there, so I just kept quiet. There's always another day, right? The second day I benched instead of going for a new 1RM, I just did a bunch of reps at lighter weights so that the next time I go for it I can get 133# without question. Previous PR was 125, so not a huge increase but feels good to hit a new PR even if it's small. New PR beats the hell outta failing a prev PR!!
Both my Helen times and Angie times landed me a space on the leaderboard at this non-CFC CrossFit, which feels good (I think my Helen time got me up there today... but I'm not 100% sure on that. Def sure on the angie time though). Makes me proud, personally. It's weird though - while I'm personally gratified by making the leaderboard, other people seem to be way more competitive about it than I am. Billy S wrote an awesome article awhile back on the CFC blog Conundrum expressing how I feel about competition... to sum it up- I wanna do my best. And I want to beat you. But, I also want YOU to do your best. And that last part... I dunno... I don't know that I think everyone here feels that same way.
Every day in the box, you come in and you work. You work with whatever the fuck you've got that day - based on what you ate, how you slept, your mood, the weather for fuck's sake. I may beat you today on the same workout you can beat me on tomorrow. That's life, dude. And, don't get me wrong, there are lots of people here who are supportive and seem geniunely happy when others do well. But there are also some who seem threatened or irritated, or even in disbelief when others hit the leaderboard and I just don't really understand that. Seriously, while it's cool to be on the leaderboard, it doesn't mean anything more than beating someone in any other workout. I can be first or last in any of the WODs throughout the week but no one gives a shit about that b/c it's not one of the 16 or so randomly chosen WODs that make up the leaderboard. You know why I did those WODs this week? Because angie was programmed (we do leaderboard WODs every wednesday), and Helen I did b/c one of my friends was coming in to do it, and I really like WOD'ing with people. I like to compete, I like to chase, I like to lead... I just like to workout. Plain and simple.
I dunno. I like this place, I do. I have just been a little miffed recently about a few things. And, I miss CFC. It'll be good to be back this weekend. I have a busy summer and lots to look forward to. I'm just, I dunno, just venting I guess.
Monday, June 6, 2011
well i DID buy new running gear...
1pm-ish (forgot to write it down) - 4 oz turkey burger, 2 whole eggs. Some veggies. 2 c. coffee + cacao nibs with a bit of heavy cream and sugar. The cacao nibs were an interesting twist that I threw into the coffeemaker with the coffee grinds, but made the coffee tasty but extra bitter. Oh well. Good try, anyway. 1 T. almond butter.
2:45pm - 9.5 oz coconut water + put on my new CEP compression socks. They're hot pink... so even if they don't work I'm gonna look toally cute as I die running the longest distance I've ever run today.
4:30pm - I RAN A HALFMARATHON ! I'm not even kidding. I jogged the first mile as a warm-up- in 10:14. Then I kicked it into gear and yet miles 2-4 were actually really tough to get into. Way tougher than usual because I had some severe tightness as I tried to flex or extend my right foot. SO tight it impeded my running and I had to stop frequently and stretch it out. Yikes. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to continue, so popped in my ACCEL gel because at this point I needed something to do besides stretching the damn right foot, and actually I think it helped my body push through somehow. Probably a mental thing, since accel gel isn't designed to improve flexibility of tight joints... whatevs - I would've tried anything to make the run better at that point! By mid-way through mile 4 I finally got into my run, felt good, and stuck to a pretty consistent pace between 8:30-9:30/mile and didn't need to stop again to stretch until I got to mile 7. Mile 7 felt like the hardest mile to run. I was just exhausted. Definitely the worst mile of the run for me. I wish I had had another ACCEL gel or something to eat or drink at this point of the run - I think I would've been fine after some added energy. Once I got into mile 8 the run got a bit easier, but then I realized that I was totally thirsty and dehydrated (so glad i read Born to Run and the Paleo Diet for Athletes b/c I knew that the salt crust that was forming all over my body meant that I was dehydrated, and needed water and salt). I found a locker room inside a golf course (yes, i snuck onto the golf course and no i do not feel the slightest bit ashamed of it), and drank some water from the water fountain. Aaaaand, I remembered needing salt in order to actually get rehydrated but wasn't sure how to get salt when there wasn't salt around... so I licked my forearms a few times. Again, totally serious here. They were covered in salt from my sweat drying up... I figured this was a good solution. Also, it made me feel a little bit like that guy who drinks his own urine in the desert - Survivor Man or something? - except waaay less gross. Miles 9-13.1 were just about finishing. I wasn't winded in those last miles, just had tired ass legs. Again, I think if i had refueled my body I woulda been fine.
I've never ran more than 6 or 7 miles before. I hadn't done ANY running-specific training, but I CrossFit at least 4-5 times a week. I'm not thrilled with my time, I definitely expected to go faster and I think the first 4 miles took maybe 40 minutes or so, which is way below what my pace should be b/c of the tightness and repeated stopping to stretch. The second half was slower than I wanted b/c I kept stopping to walk once a mile or so for 15-20 seconds not because I was winded but b/c my legs were toast. But, um...
I finished a half-marathon. On my own. On a Monday. For kicks.
I. RAN. a HALF.MARATHON .
I am ridiculously proud of that. I fucking love CrossFit.
2:45pm - 9.5 oz coconut water + put on my new CEP compression socks. They're hot pink... so even if they don't work I'm gonna look toally cute as I die running the longest distance I've ever run today.
4:30pm - I RAN A HALF
I've never ran more than 6 or 7 miles before. I hadn't done ANY running-specific training, but I CrossFit at least 4-5 times a week. I'm not thrilled with my time, I definitely expected to go faster and I think the first 4 miles took maybe 40 minutes or so, which is way below what my pace should be b/c of the tightness and repeated stopping to stretch. The second half was slower than I wanted b/c I kept stopping to walk once a mile or so for 15-20 seconds not because I was winded but b/c my legs were toast. But, um...
I finished a half-marathon. On my own. On a Monday. For kicks.
I. RAN. a HALF.
I am ridiculously proud of that. I fucking love CrossFit.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Back to the IF grind... Weds and Thurs
So, I realized this weekend that I'm doing IF without any specific goal in mind, and that isn't going to really work for me, unless I'm intending on making it a lifestyle change, which I'm not.
Eff.
So I'm working on figuring out exactly what I want from this so that I can focus my nutrition and WODs somehow. Right now I'm basically working towards getting stronger, faster, and leaner... but other than that I don't really have any specific goals, so how will I know if I'm actually achieving any goals if I have nothing to mark my progress against?
So, that's on my plate to figure out. This week. Until then...
...Back to the usual...
Wednesday...
6am - wake-up. I got 5 hrs of sleep yesterday on the plane and then went to bed at 1030 last night, so no surprise i woke up early!
8am - 8oz mate tea.
10am - 16oz mate + ayurvedic chai tea.
10am - a-coach
1:15pm - break-the-fast. Baja Fresh shrimp fajitas (no cheese or tortillas, just ~8oz shrimp, sauteed onions & peppers, pico de gallo, jalepenos, and some guac and sour cream). Tasted pretty damn salty and I was craving sugary dessert afterward for about 30 min-1 hr. 24oz iced black tea.
4:15pm - wasn't sure I was hungry yet but wanted to eat before I worked out and wanted to eat relatively far away from my WOD. ~4oz chicken and homemade salsa. fish oil, multi-vitamin, 3x vitamin C, quercitin, and stinging nettle (last 2 for allergies).
6:00pm - 10g BCAA
6:00pm - Helen (3 Rds: 400m run, 21 kbs @ 1 pood, 12 pull-ups). Meh. Pushed well in rounds 1 and 2 but really fell off on rd 3. Thought I was for SURE going to puke on the last run so dialed it back a bit. KBS unbroken in rds 1 and 2, 10-11 in rd 3. Broke not because I had to b/c of muscle fatigue but b/c I was really trying not to puke. Right around 9 minutes or so I wouldn't say I hit the wall but I will say I just couldn't push myself like I could in the earlier minutes. Need to work pushing through this 8-12 minute metabolic pathway for sure. Time: 12:32
7:15pm - 7ish egg whites, brocoli, clover sprouts, cooked with 2 T coconut milk. Didn't actually finish my dinner so not really sure how much I ate. Probably 6-7 egg whites worth.
8pm - Coaching class. Designed to teach the a-coaches the Team CrossFit way of teaching movements. Discussed squats and press mostly.
9:05pm - 1 paleo cookie (walnut flour, honey, cinnamon, egg whites) made by one of our members. Not bad.
11:05pm - now. i'm a little tired, and starting to get hungry. i'm going to bed.
--
Thursday
9:15am - wake up. Oops. Forgot to set my alarm. What a long night of sleep!
10:30am - 20 oz iced mate + ayurvedic tea
11am - started working into push presses intending on hitting a metcon with approx 15 reps of 85% of my 1RM, but had trouble getting under 100# - couldn't get my wrists under the bar... weird. just felt weak and super inflexible. Decided that meant I should take the morning off and just used the lacrosse ball on my wrists/forearms/lower triceps for about 20 minutes. OUCH. And obvi necessary.
12:45pm - mixed greens, 4 oz. steak, portabellas, sauteed onions and peppers, bit of cheese. Large mocha americano (americano plus a bit of cocoa powder... yum) with a little half and half (no heavy cream available).
3:00pm - few bites of yellow cake with chocolate frosting. Yum. I mean, oops.
5:00pm - 10g BCAA
5:00pm - Heavy Metal WODs...
3 rds of 200m run & 10 burpee pull-ups,
then 10 minutes to work up to 93# clean & jerk,
then 25 min capped metcon of:
4 C&J @ 93#
3 wall-climb overs (climb over a 6 foot fucking wall!)
10 shoot-throughs (on paralettes do a push-up, shoot legs forward with hips bridged, then paralette dip, then shoot the legs back through = 1 rep...surprisingly hard),
3 reps woman makers (with 15# dumbell in right hand do a push-up, stand & squat snatch with dumbell then stand, switch dumbell to left hand and repeat = 1 rep)
Finished 2 woman makers shy of 4 rds at 25 min cap. Finished out the 4th rd after time cap.
7:20pm - 6oz salmon burgers with sauteed onions, mixed mushrooms, asparagus, and brussel sprouts finished off with an egg on top. Used avocado oil to cook the food, a bit of balsamic vinegar on the veggies, and sea salt to taste. The bruseel sprouts didn't really add to the flavor combo, but didn't really retract either. Everything else combo'ed nicely.
Eff.
So I'm working on figuring out exactly what I want from this so that I can focus my nutrition and WODs somehow. Right now I'm basically working towards getting stronger, faster, and leaner... but other than that I don't really have any specific goals, so how will I know if I'm actually achieving any goals if I have nothing to mark my progress against?
So, that's on my plate to figure out. This week. Until then...
...Back to the usual...
Wednesday...
6am - wake-up. I got 5 hrs of sleep yesterday on the plane and then went to bed at 1030 last night, so no surprise i woke up early!
8am - 8oz mate tea.
10am - 16oz mate + ayurvedic chai tea.
10am - a-coach
1:15pm - break-the-fast. Baja Fresh shrimp fajitas (no cheese or tortillas, just ~8oz shrimp, sauteed onions & peppers, pico de gallo, jalepenos, and some guac and sour cream). Tasted pretty damn salty and I was craving sugary dessert afterward for about 30 min-1 hr. 24oz iced black tea.
4:15pm - wasn't sure I was hungry yet but wanted to eat before I worked out and wanted to eat relatively far away from my WOD. ~4oz chicken and homemade salsa. fish oil, multi-vitamin, 3x vitamin C, quercitin, and stinging nettle (last 2 for allergies).
6:00pm - 10g BCAA
6:00pm - Helen (3 Rds: 400m run, 21 kbs @ 1 pood, 12 pull-ups). Meh. Pushed well in rounds 1 and 2 but really fell off on rd 3. Thought I was for SURE going to puke on the last run so dialed it back a bit. KBS unbroken in rds 1 and 2, 10-11 in rd 3. Broke not because I had to b/c of muscle fatigue but b/c I was really trying not to puke. Right around 9 minutes or so I wouldn't say I hit the wall but I will say I just couldn't push myself like I could in the earlier minutes. Need to work pushing through this 8-12 minute metabolic pathway for sure. Time: 12:32
7:15pm - 7ish egg whites, brocoli, clover sprouts, cooked with 2 T coconut milk. Didn't actually finish my dinner so not really sure how much I ate. Probably 6-7 egg whites worth.
8pm - Coaching class. Designed to teach the a-coaches the Team CrossFit way of teaching movements. Discussed squats and press mostly.
9:05pm - 1 paleo cookie (walnut flour, honey, cinnamon, egg whites) made by one of our members. Not bad.
11:05pm - now. i'm a little tired, and starting to get hungry. i'm going to bed.
--
Thursday
9:15am - wake up. Oops. Forgot to set my alarm. What a long night of sleep!
10:30am - 20 oz iced mate + ayurvedic tea
11am - started working into push presses intending on hitting a metcon with approx 15 reps of 85% of my 1RM, but had trouble getting under 100# - couldn't get my wrists under the bar... weird. just felt weak and super inflexible. Decided that meant I should take the morning off and just used the lacrosse ball on my wrists/forearms/lower triceps for about 20 minutes. OUCH. And obvi necessary.
12:45pm - mixed greens, 4 oz. steak, portabellas, sauteed onions and peppers, bit of cheese. Large mocha americano (americano plus a bit of cocoa powder... yum) with a little half and half (no heavy cream available).
3:00pm - few bites of yellow cake with chocolate frosting. Yum. I mean, oops.
5:00pm - 10g BCAA
5:00pm - Heavy Metal WODs...
3 rds of 200m run & 10 burpee pull-ups,
then 10 minutes to work up to 93# clean & jerk,
then 25 min capped metcon of:
4 C&J @ 93#
3 wall-climb overs (climb over a 6 foot fucking wall!)
10 shoot-throughs (on paralettes do a push-up, shoot legs forward with hips bridged, then paralette dip, then shoot the legs back through = 1 rep...surprisingly hard),
3 reps woman makers (with 15# dumbell in right hand do a push-up, stand & squat snatch with dumbell then stand, switch dumbell to left hand and repeat = 1 rep)
Finished 2 woman makers shy of 4 rds at 25 min cap. Finished out the 4th rd after time cap.
7:20pm - 6oz salmon burgers with sauteed onions, mixed mushrooms, asparagus, and brussel sprouts finished off with an egg on top. Used avocado oil to cook the food, a bit of balsamic vinegar on the veggies, and sea salt to taste. The bruseel sprouts didn't really add to the flavor combo, but didn't really retract either. Everything else combo'ed nicely.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
North Central Regionals. BAM!
I don't even know where to begin when speaking about this past weekend's North Central CrossFit Regionals. What an amazing adventure this past weekend was. I got to...
spend five nights with two of my closest friends (the lovely and talented Ranison), who I've actually grown closer to since moving my ass out to LA...
watch one of my favorite people in the world, jonny Vu, step up and lead of one the biggest (and certainly The BEST) events I've ever been a part of...
cheer/scream/clap/support alongside my family (everyone from CFC) if ever I had a free heat...
cheer on the woman who, of all the people i've ever known, inspires me the most... E-Diesel, herself (seriously erin, you amaze and inspire me, and as soon as i am back in Chi on the regular -you, alison and i are going to do active and non-CrossFit things weekly!)...
surprise everyone by getting up to sing the national anthem for the biggest crowd of people i've ever sang for... i would've told you guys i sang before but it never came up... and maybe you know this about me, maybe you don't... but i'm actually kinda shy and don't share that much about myself... well, at least i used to be... i'm working on getting over that...
see gina bust out about a million double unders like they were nothing...
judge the WODs of some CF badasses I've watched in past years and aspire to WOD-like, for firebreathers like Stacie Tovar and Megan John...
scream like there's no tomorrow while watching George absolutely kill a 255# thruster (holy SHIT that's heavy)...
watch emily squash her box jump fears by not letting a little toe-stubbing get in the way of her crushing that wod...
see young Nate step up and fight for his right to be named one of the fittest men in our region (i can't WAIT to see what he can do next year)
witness stephanie and elisabeth conquer weights (95# snatch) and movements (muscle-ups and HSPUs) which were new to them...
catch kurt's focused give-it-all-he's-got row face from all the way across the hall...
see elisaBEAST a-kill-a-wod bust ass and fight her way to earn a place as one of the FIFTY FITTEST WOMEN IN THE WORLD...
watch glenn coach and support steph through the muscle-up wod like a true teammate...
read the most awe-inspiring article by our superman, Alex Nettey, that teaches us all what we are fighting for, how we can make it happen for ourselves, and reminds us not to let ourselves give up or give in...
What I learned most this weekend is that I love my family. I love every minute of being with CFC, and I am incredibly proud to be a member of the greatest box out there. Yeah. I said it. And it's true. CrossFit Chicago is the most amazing community and I couldn't live without it. I am a life-long CFCer, no matter where I live, no matter what. If I open my own box I will STILL have a CrossFit Chicago bumper sticker and it will still be where my heart lies.
Which brings me to my last thing. One last and most important thing. Rudy Tapalla. You gave this to us. You started it all and you brought our community together. You trained us and taught us to love each other, push each other, support each other and it is because of you that we were together last weekend. I can not begin to thank you for what you have given to us. To me. For how you have changed my life forever. For the better. Your box is what got me through the darkest time in my life, and I will always be indebted to you. And now, when my life is happy and wonderful and full of goodness, CrossFit is still what carries me through and what gives me the most joy in my life. Thank you. Love you. Best. Coach. Ever.
spend five nights with two of my closest friends (the lovely and talented Ranison), who I've actually grown closer to since moving my ass out to LA...
watch one of my favorite people in the world, jonny Vu, step up and lead of one the biggest (and certainly The BEST) events I've ever been a part of...
cheer/scream/clap/support alongside my family (everyone from CFC) if ever I had a free heat...
cheer on the woman who, of all the people i've ever known, inspires me the most... E-Diesel, herself (seriously erin, you amaze and inspire me, and as soon as i am back in Chi on the regular -you, alison and i are going to do active and non-CrossFit things weekly!)...
surprise everyone by getting up to sing the national anthem for the biggest crowd of people i've ever sang for... i would've told you guys i sang before but it never came up... and maybe you know this about me, maybe you don't... but i'm actually kinda shy and don't share that much about myself... well, at least i used to be... i'm working on getting over that...
see gina bust out about a million double unders like they were nothing...
judge the WODs of some CF badasses I've watched in past years and aspire to WOD-like, for firebreathers like Stacie Tovar and Megan John...
scream like there's no tomorrow while watching George absolutely kill a 255# thruster (holy SHIT that's heavy)...
watch emily squash her box jump fears by not letting a little toe-stubbing get in the way of her crushing that wod...
see young Nate step up and fight for his right to be named one of the fittest men in our region (i can't WAIT to see what he can do next year)
witness stephanie and elisabeth conquer weights (95# snatch) and movements (muscle-ups and HSPUs) which were new to them...
catch kurt's focused give-it-all-he's-got row face from all the way across the hall...
see elisaBEAST a-kill-a-wod bust ass and fight her way to earn a place as one of the FIFTY FITTEST WOMEN IN THE WORLD...
watch glenn coach and support steph through the muscle-up wod like a true teammate...
read the most awe-inspiring article by our superman, Alex Nettey, that teaches us all what we are fighting for, how we can make it happen for ourselves, and reminds us not to let ourselves give up or give in...
What I learned most this weekend is that I love my family. I love every minute of being with CFC, and I am incredibly proud to be a member of the greatest box out there. Yeah. I said it. And it's true. CrossFit Chicago is the most amazing community and I couldn't live without it. I am a life-long CFCer, no matter where I live, no matter what. If I open my own box I will STILL have a CrossFit Chicago bumper sticker and it will still be where my heart lies.
Which brings me to my last thing. One last and most important thing. Rudy Tapalla. You gave this to us. You started it all and you brought our community together. You trained us and taught us to love each other, push each other, support each other and it is because of you that we were together last weekend. I can not begin to thank you for what you have given to us. To me. For how you have changed my life forever. For the better. Your box is what got me through the darkest time in my life, and I will always be indebted to you. And now, when my life is happy and wonderful and full of goodness, CrossFit is still what carries me through and what gives me the most joy in my life. Thank you. Love you. Best. Coach. Ever.
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