Team Bug Zappers

I am a sales person's dream. Just imagine the following scenario:

I am walking around Woodfield, minding my own business, trying to decide if I should purchase those new pink Pumas or buy some new black pants for work. I think to myself: Black pants are necessary; however, Pumas are so much more fun and they're better for pose running. I pause, exactly two seconds too long, one foot inching towards the Puma store and the other towards Express, when a sweet, confident voice calls out to me: "Why hello there. Would you like to purchase this new iPhone?

I shake my head: "No. No thank you."

Mr. Confident is fully dressed in his AT&T polo and smiling. My 'no' has had little effect on him: "But it is fully featured - with a large touch screen; it holds up to 10,000 different applications, includes full Internet service, plays music and can practically wash your hair for you."

I remain semi-tough. "No thanks," as I turn to head back towards Puma.

Mr. Confident interrupts my departure, again: "But it comes in a variety of colors, including blue, lime green, orange, purple and pink."

Wait. What?

I stop, turn and head over to the counter, which Mr. Confident has littered with colorful iPhones. My eyes widen and both my Pumas and black pants are forgotten as is my two year contract with TMobile: "You say it comes in pink?"

While this situation did not actually happen (and is a bit exaggerated), there is some truth to it. I can often be easily talked into purchasing and/or doing things. (Apparently, Dare did not do a very good job with me in the whole "peer pressure" department.) Take for example this past Saturday.

I went into the Fort early Saturday to get in my final rowing WOD. I finished the WOD right before Team Saturday was about to start; I headed downstairs to grab my things so that I could go shower and get ready for the Cubs game that afternoon, when Bill asked me if I was going to stay for the workout. I looked over at my boyfriend, who was standing in the doorway, his bag over his shoulder, ready to go.

I shake my head. "No," I tell him and then walk towards the entryway to grab my purse and sweatshirt.

Jennie then stops me: "Are you working out?"

I peer back up at the whiteboard. It's the OPD Team WOD we did several months ago: 400 meter run - 80 deadlifts, 80 box jumps, 80 push press - 400 meter run. Me likey.

Begrudgingly, I tell her "no" and inch towards the doorway before Bill chimes in much like Mr. Confident from above and says that I have to stay to help even out the numbers. Once again, I look over at my boyfriend, who is still standing in the doorway.

"Do you care if I stay and workout?" I ask over the growing noise in the Fort. He shakes his head; I smile, and just like that I am a part of another Team Saturday.

Jennie and I partnered up. We scaled a little more than perhaps we should have, but we were both tired from the row we had completed earlier that morning; we also designated ourselves "Team Bug Zappers" because of all Jennie's mosquito bites. Regardless, when Bill gave us the 3-2-1-Go!, we were both ready to gut out the workout.

Long story short, we kind of flew through this. We completed the WOD in under fifteen minutes and we won the team challenge. Personally, I always enjoy pairing up with Jennie because she makes me work harder. (A little motivation and competition never hurt anyone if you ask me.) As a result, my primary focus (beyond winning) was to try and match Jennie in reps. I think I succeeded for the most part, and lucky for both of us, our pretty Team Bug Zapper picture will soon grace CrossFit Fire's mainpage for last Saturday's post.

For the record though, I should probably still work on that "peer pressure" thing.

Let Them Not Eat Cake.

I ate some cake today for my birthday, and then I decided I needed to give up sugar again. (I'm an addict.) So... anyone up for a two-week challenge?

No?

Come on.

It'll be fun.

No?

Fine. I'll do it by myself.

This time I'll let you know what I'm doing on a daily basis. It'll probably keep me in check. Damn puffiness...

Friday's Episode: "Caleb"

It was my birthday Friday, and while I usually hate my birthday (for reasons I do not care to get into here), one good thing did come out of it: I was able to pick the workout of the day.

Originally, I had wanted to do the rowing, burpee, running workout from the tryouts; however, Bill suggested that we stay away from rowing because a lot of people had been completing the extra rowing workouts for the team (Again, we'll talk about this later.) Not wanting to be difficult, I emptied out the corners of my brain for a good WOD. I quickly narrowed it down to three:

• Harco: Four rounds for time of: 200 meter sprint, 20 jumping pull ups, 30 push ups, 40 sit ups and 50 squats


• Michael: Three rounds for time of: 800 meter run, 50 back extensions, 50 sit ups


• Caleb: Eight rounds for time of: 400 meter run, 8 walking lunges and 8 box jumps (24")

Well, I eliminated "Harco" because I just kind of didn't feel like it; I eliminated "Michael" because I didn't feel like substituting supermans for back extensions; and so I settled on "Caleb." I had done this workout during my second week of CrossFit and wanted to see how I had improved.

In a nutshell, of course, I had improved tremendously. Not only did I beat my old time but I also did the box jumps prescribed; whereas the first time I completed the WOD, I did not. In addition, to improving my time; I was able to spend some time with the Graveyard Gang, which is like living in a sitcom itself. Here's some of the highlights from Friday's episode:

• Garth, shirtless of course, hauled ass and crushed this workout. Yes, it is worth both italicizing and bolding this word; he did that well.
• Tom reminded me mid-third or fourth round that I had no one to blame except myself if I was hating my life at that moment or if my legs were tired or sore tomorrow.
• Both of the gentlemen mentioned above were talking some major booty chatter (aka talking trash).
• Matt went outside to run beside my brother Nate on his last 400 meters, and when Nate reached the 200 meter point or so, he took off like someone stuck a hot poker on his butt, leaving Matt behind him. It was something to see.

All in all, it was an eventful morning, a good workout and a great start to my birthday. I loved the WOD, although I can't say the same for anyone else except for maybe Brian. Everyone was nice enough to wish me "Happy Birthday" throughout the day (I went in to the Fort later for rowing practice) but they also were not shy about telling me they hated my workout (e.g. Mark, Jennie, Season, Zach, Bender, etc.). I'm sure they will have their revenge though someday and our positions will be reversed.

On a side note: Thank you all for the birthday wishes and to those of you who were able to make it out on Friday night. I had an absolute blast and it was by far the best birthday I have had in a very, very long time (not exaggerating here either). So thank all of you. It meant a lot to me. *Tear*

Some Solid Advice

If you don't follow Coach Rip's quote of the day, then you should. Yes, I'm just going to be that pushy about it. Here's a good one from yesterday that I felt was worth repeating:

On resting in between reps:
It varies with the length of the set. Five's or fewer get a breath to reset. Longer sets might take two breaths. During the last few reps of a true 20RM squat, just do what Jesus tells you.

There you have it. Some solid advice from a very quotable and knowledgeable man on resting between reps.

Cindy & Mr. Tuesday

During my first official week back at the Fort, we've been having fun with AMRAP workouts. Monday, we did "Cindy" and Tuesday, we did... well I don't know what his/her name was but s/he sucked. Anyhow, back to Cindy.

For those of you who have forgotten dear Cindy let me re-introduce you:

"Cindy"

In 20:00 AMRAP of:

• 5 pull-ups
• 10 push ups
• 15 squats

Now, I hung out with Cindy not too long ago and was able to complete, ten rounds - five pull-ups and eight push ups. When I realized that Cindy and I would be hanging out again so soon, I was adamant about matching my previous number of rounds, if not beating it. Lucky for me, this time I wasn't pressed with the task of counting my rounds (I have number issues, if you couldn't tell) and was able to simply mark my rounds on the whiteboard. While this wouldn't seem like a big deal, it was for me in the respect that I was able to just zone out and focus on pushing through all the suck and getting as far as possible. In the end it paid off: I completed twelve rounds plus five pull ups. I matched and exceeded my goal. Yay for me.

Now onto Mr. Tuesday (that's this WOD's new name; I just made it up). Mr. Tuesday looked something like the following:

In 20:00 AMRAP of:

• 5 thrusters (40 kg/30 kg)
• 7 hang power cleans
• 10 sumo deadlift high pulls

This workout was hard. I had made the mistake of coming in early for rowing practice (joined the CrossFit Fire rowing team; we'll talk about this later) and then had to watch the women's class go through this workout prior to my own. The whole scenario was a combination of flushed cheeks, sweaty faces and angry "I-f*^&in'-hate-this-workout" looks in everyone's eyes. Needless to say, this did not instill me with much confidence. So when Stacy asked me whether or not I was planning to do the WOD prescribed, my answer was more or less: "Do I have to?"

Well, I sucked it up and did the prescribed women's weight. I set my bar up between Zach "The Mayor" Mitchell and Clark (I don't have a fancy name for him. Sorry.) and across from Brian (No fancy name for him either), and then waited for the "3-2-1-Go!" Again, I was nervous but I was set on gutting out as many rounds as possible and drawing on all the man power surrounding me.

You know what? It worked. Wild Bill was yelling at The Mayor throughout the majority of the WOD, letting him know when he could and could not rest; Clark was beside me being his bad ass self (In the end they both completed over eleven rounds. Can we say "impressive"?), and Brian was across from me, zoning out and pulling out round after round. Not wanting to be completely outdone, I drew on their energy and focused on getting as close to ten rounds as possible (Bill constituted this as the number we should shoot for).

In the end, I completed seven rounds plus five thrusters and six hang power cleans, which I was fairly content with. Eight definitely would have been better but I was on my way. Next time though.

Holly's Honor and Bill's Brainchild

Everyone after the WOD. Don't we look like we had fun?

I went to the Fort this past Saturday for some "Team Challenge" fun. It was Holly's last day at the Fort before she returned to school, and to commemorate the event, Bill came up with the following workout:

In Teams of 5 or 6 you must complete the following:

• 1 lap around the building tire flips (400lb tire)
  
• 250 wall ball shots (20/14lb) - no scaling
  
• 250 double unders
  
• 250 burpees
  
• 250 calories on the rower
  
• Sled drags - each team has 230kg of plates. All plates must be dragged 50 meters to the end of the parking lot, stacked, and then drug back.

You could complete the movements in any order, and everyone could be working at the same time. Each team only had one wall ball target, two jump ropes, and one rower.

Bill assigned the teams and I was fortunate enough to be placed with The Garth Show, Matt (Weltzer), Jessica and Jeanne. While we were strategizing, it was decided that The Show and Matt would complete the tire flips as well as begin moving the heavy weight on the sled drags while Jessica and Jeanne rowed and completed burpees. I was designated the jump-roper of the group (Is that even a word?) and was assigned the task of 250 doubles unders. After that, we would complete the other exercises as needed.

I'm going to overexert my influence/power here and speak for the rest of my team: Bill's brainchild did not disappoint. This was an epic WOD (and my legs still hurt). Here's how this went down for yours truly.

I completed all of the double unders by primarily doing sets of 10-15. For some reason or another I had trouble stringing more than that together after awhile. Once I was finished with the double unders, I moved on to the wall balls, simply because Jessica and Jeanne were still upstairs rowing and doing burpees and I didn't know what else to do. During the wall balls, I attempted to keep time with Jennie as much as possible (which did not work, let's be serious) as well as realized my deep love for powerful fans (Jennie was smart enough to turn on the fan in between sets). Jessica soon left Jeanne on the rower and came downstairs to to help me out with the wall balls. We decided that we would switch back and forth for a couple of rounds before heading outside to help Garth and Matt with the sled drags.

In the end, we were able to finish in second place with a time just over 39 minutes. All around though, everyone did a phenomenal job, and did I mention that my legs still hurt?

Here are some more pictures from Saturday:

Me completing a sled drag while the rest of my team follows to help, and The Garth Show showing his support for his team as only he could mid-workout: Shirtless and throwing love signs.

Jennie and I not hiding our sadness about Holly's leaving at her going away party. It was very sad. People shouldn't leave us. Look what it does.

PS: Good luck, Holly! Come visit us soon!

Stick a Fork in Me. I'm Done.

Usually, I refrain from using cliches in my writing but today I was at such a loss for words that I resorted to taking the easy way out. I did a little experiment today. I worked out like I used to before I started CrossFit. I did this for a number of reasons:

1. It was cold, windy and it looked like rain, and I did not feel like being outside or potentially getting caught in a rainstorm.
2. As a result of number one, I did want to go to the park, run outside, etc.
3. I did not feel like scouring the Internet for WOD's or making up my own. It was early and my brain has been feeling mushy from all the critical/analytical thinking I've been doing lately.
4. I wanted to see if this could be something I could go back to on occasion until I go back to the Fort full time, which I was thinking would not be as soon as I would like.

So today I completed 45 minutes of step aerobics and 35 minutes of yoga. Let me tell you - it was an experience.

In regards to the step aerobics, I was mid V-Step when I realized that I was completely and utterly bored. My awesome playlist didn't even help, and I kept getting thrown off because the aerobics instructor kept doing a Native American war cry. It didn't make sense to me, particularly since the instructor was clearly not Native American; it also made me miss my Indian friends from college. I digress though. Regardless, the combination of pasted smiles and war cries just seemed superfluous.

The yoga... well, I didn't mind the yoga so much. My muscles have been feeling kind of stiff lately and all the stretching helped. I also was incorporating the full push-up while transitioning from up dog to down dog (What's up dog? Yes, up dog is an actual movement. I appreciate the set up but I'm kind of busy at the moment.) as well as was able to pull off the Warrior 3 and Half Moon Pose without falling, which I have never done before. So there was progress in terms of flexibility and balance there, which I will take.

What I will not take is another moment of stepping up and down on a stair while some peppy aerobics instructor tells me to "Smile" because I'm burning inches. I'm sorry but I am not burning inches. Yes, I am sweating; yes, my heart rate is up, but I am not burning inches. I'm probably not even burning centimeters. As a result of this experience though, I have made an executive decision: I'm going back to the Fort full time next week. No more globo; no more videos; no more kicking my own ass. Stick a fork in me; I'm done.














PS: I'm pretty excited about it too.

Keep on Keepin' On

I haven't blogged for the past couple of days because unfortunately I haven't worked out in the past couple of days. I've kind of been engrossed in my preparations for the upcoming semester and allowed myself a couple of unnecessary rest days. As a result, when I made my list of "things to do today" this morning, I was adamant about getting a WOD in before my afternoon meetings. Well, when I realized I had unfortunately left my book and list of travel workouts in my car (and I didn't want to go get them because then my book would be forever on my desk opposed to taking its needed steps back to the shelf at the Fort), I began scouring the web for potential workouts. Lucky for me I didn't have to look too far, as this is what the coaches at CrossFit Twin Cities provided me with:

• 50 push-ups
• 100 meter row
• 40 push-ups
• 200 meter row
• 30 push-ups
• 300 meter row
• 20 push-ups
• 400 meter row
• 10 push-ups
• 500 meter row

Since I do not have a rower stashed in my basement (I have a canoe in my garage but that's not the same thing), I decided to go with, you guessed it, running. Admittedly, I did not want to make the exchange as it was a bit blustery this afternoon and I dislike running when it's windy; however, I sucked it up and altered the workout in that respect.

After measuring all my distances out beforehand (I learned my lesson), I ventured out onto my front lawn to start doing push-ups. I was particularly pleased with my first round of push-us because I cranked out twenty, which is a lot for me. Unfortunately, thereafter the most I was ever able to string together was six or seven. Also, I actually did a lot of one rep push-ups because, well, I suck at push-ups and because I wanted to continue doing chest to floor or at the very least, nose to ground.

In regards to my running ability, I was a bit off. I'm not sure if it's because my legs have been in a permanent sitting position the past two days or maybe it was just the dang wind, but I was kind of dogging it. In fact, it wasn't until I reached my 400 and 500 meter runs that I actually felt like I was even beginning to hit my stride.

In the end, the whole ordeal took me 23:44, which I guess I have to live with even though I don't particularly want to. Life isn't fair though, as we all know, because it it was, I'd be amazing at pull-ups, cleans, have a sub-5:00 Fran time and be able to keep myself from eating too much almond butter. Guess I'll just have to keep working on it, and I guess I'll just have to keep on keeping on.

A Whole Lot of Random: Cleans, Mr. Big, Sled Drags & the Green-Eyed Monster

Yesterday, I went to the Fort and we were doing cleans as a part of our strength workout. As far as my cleaning ability goes, I am better with a vaccum than I am with a barbell; however, I'm trying to be positive (Yay cleans!) and improve my form so that I can cross cleans off my list as something that I am less than stellar at. It would actually make me really happy to be good at cleans. Lucky for me, I have Bill and Jennie there to pinpoint my exact problem and then outline the correct steps to correct it. Also, lucky for me, Mr. Big came on the satellite radio yesterday in between sets so that Jennie and I could have a sing-a-long. I realize that Mr. Big is the atypical workout song but it helped lighten my mood in my otherwise frustrating situation.

Unfortunately, Mr. Big had to go away with the rest of the 80's (of course, that is otherwise very fortunate in many cases), and I was immediately brought back to present day to complete four sled drags across the drive. I'm kind of weird, but I like sled drags, even when Mrs. Yundt is beside me and kicking my ass. (She is speedy, people... and super strong and looks fantastic. In fact, I'm pretty sure I'd hate her if I didn't want to be like her.) Regardless of Speedy beside me and the green-eyed monster gnawing on my quads, I only remember the time of my last sled drag, which was 20 seconds to drag the tire across the driveway.

Overall though, it was more of a successful day than not. I got some great advice on correcting my clean form, did fairly well during handstand practice (yeah... we did those too), got to drag a tire behind me (which oddly enough I enjoy) and was able to listen to some Mr. Big. If that's not a good Monday, I don't know what is.

Tom Cruise Cra - I mean: "Tom 'Mohr' Crazy"

Tommy Mo invited me to go on a little field trip to globo gym this past weekend for an early morning Saturday WOD. I had been planning on attending "Team Saturday" at the Fort but then decided that stretching out my punch card for as long as possible may be a good idea. Besides, I knew that Mr. Mohr probably had something equally intense in mind so I would still be getting in a great workout. I was right on both accounts. Here's the WOD the madman himself came up with:

Tom Mohr Crazy

500 meter row

30 bench press (bodyweight)

1000 meter row

20 bench press

2000 meter row

10 bench press

Geez. Feel like you're going to row the Mississippi? Because I did at 6:15 in the morning this past Saturday. This was a tough workout. Lucky for me though, Tommy was right there shouting advice and pushing me the whole way, and even luckier for me, I scaled accordingly so that the whole ordeal was over in under 25 minutes.

On a side note, I should mention that the best thing about Saturday wasn't that Tommy Mo provided me an awesome workout and some great coaching - but he also made an amazing breakfast for some of our other CrossFit Fire family members and I. Thanks Tom for a great Saturday. You're. The. Man. Always a pleasure :)

Check us out: "Hi Globo, this is what results look like."

...Of course, we are both wearing CrossFit tshirts.

Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde

Contrary to my posted image, I do not hate yoga. Actually, I quite enjoy yoga because it is calming and it does help develop some body strength and flexibility. On the other hand, I am not the biggest fans of yoga instructors. I realize that the yoga philosophy and practice is to release tension and to focus on balance and healing the body; however, I find it difficult to find equanimity while I'm trying to twist my body into human pretzel. So... as far as aligning my inner chakras goes (or whatever that means) - I think I'll leave that to the yogis - but for other reasons, I don't believe I will abandon yoga just yet.

In terms of comparison, CrossFit and yoga are polar opposites. They are the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of exercise: "Hello Intensity. Meet Calmness." Arguably though, I believe that my yoga practice has, in some cases, helped me with my CrossFitting. For example, like I mentioned before, yoga increases flexibility. Increased flexibility will help you correct form on certain lifts and other exercises. Also, yoga helps build strength, particularly in your core and your back. In fact, the only reason I can do planks well is because I used to do them constantly as a part of my yoga practice. Regardless of my own plank ability, a strong core is necessary for so many of the exercises we do as CrossFitters. In addition, yoga helps you increase your grip strength, endurance and joint-range of motion as well as helps improves some of the following:

• Cardiovascular efficiency
• Depth perception
• Reaction time
• Sleep
• Balance
• Integrated functioning of body parts

There are whole lists out there advocating the psychical and psychological (yes, here we get back to that whole idea of "equanimity" thing) benefits of yoga, which I will not get into or bore you with. Moreover, I'm not going to sit here and tell you that you need to make yoga a regular part of your CrossFitting. Some parts of yoga are already a part of your CrossFit workout regime (think planks, handstands and other stretching exercises - granted, it's not a lot but it's something). Regardless, if you are looking to increase your flexibility on a large scale, adding some yoga to your regular workout regime may be the way to go. (I used to be about as flexible as a piece of concrete and yoga has helped me considerably.) However, if you do decide to give yoga a try, just remember that you have no right to get angry with me because I warned you about the aligning of your chakras mumbo jumbo. Besides, if you try yoga, you're not supposed to be mad anyway. Unleash your fury in standing tree position - don't direct it towards me.

Nicole's Revenge

Remember last week, how I tried to do a variation of Nicole (aka Nikki) only to realize that I had incorrectly measured the length of my run? Remember then how I tried to make up for my error by completing that horrendous walking lunge, sit up, pull up workout in order to practice my pull ups? Well apparently, Nicole didn't appreciate my dissing the latter part of her workout. Apparently, she is very protective of her shins and so she, like any evil villain, waited, biding her time before seeking revenge. In fact, she waited until I was completely oblivious before she pounced. It was much like the video below:

See how horrific the experience was for me? Well, it wasn't exactly like the video but you could imagine what it would be if it was. Regardless, the experience was still rather traumatic.

So when I walked into the Fort and saw Nicole there, I was nervous. Okay. I admit it. I was kind of scared. My pull ups aren't strong and I (honestly) didn't want to spend the whole twenty minutes running. I know I can run. I want to get better at things I'm bad at. Of course, I realize that Nicole was there for that very same purpose but the whole "max pull up thing" freaked me out. It wasn't a pleasant feeling.

In the end, the video was not too far off: I did run pretty fast; however, in regards to pull ups, I only did 43 on the red band. My only consolation was that I somehow cranked out fifteen reps on my first round and that I didn't ever drop below five. Lucky for me though that I can still run fast, because had Nicole been able to catch up to me in her hockey mask and chainsaw while I was on the pull up bar, I would have been a goner.

On another note: Jennie, I am really sorry I kicked you in the head (she was helping me get into the band). It was an accident and I wasn't trying to get back at you for making me do the workout. Promise. Please don't come after me like Nicole.

Miss Productivity

When I woke up today, I decided that it was necessary for me to be productive. For one, school is quickly approaching and the more prep work I do now, the more time I have for life. For two, I was supposed to meet a friend in the afternoon for a little joint birthday celebration. (I told her that we could just celebrate her birthday twice, but she was not having it.) The combination of these two circumstances led me to a conclusion that I needed to quickly decide on a WOD to do and get after it. As a result, I decided to go with a workout that I had seen on the CrossFit headquarters discussion forum sometime last week:

• Run 1 mile
• 80 burpees
• Run 800 meters
• 40 burpees
• Run 400 meters
• 20 burpees

Well, when I added up the burpees it didn't make sense to me just to do 140. If you're already doing 140, why not just add the extra ten and do 150? Or maybe I'm the odd one and just have this thing about numbers. Who knows? Regardless, I did change the WOD slightly so that it would calm my apparent OCD and came up with the following:

• Run 1 mile
• 75 burpees
• Run 800 meters
• 50 burpees
• Run 400 meters
• 25 burpees

I'll just tell you outright that I don't know how long the WOD took me. When I finished I was disgusted when I realized that I had apparently failed to activate the button on my iPod stopwatch like I thought I had. (Okay, I was kind of pissed off as I laid there, sprawled out on the grass with sweat dripping down my face). Either way, it was a good workout and probably one I'll have to do again in the future, just so I can add my time to my record book.

Monday Thing(s)

CrossFit Thing(s):

Complete the following for time:

• 100 ft. walking lunges
• 21 pull ups
• 21 sit ups
• 100 ft. walking lunges
• 18 pull ups
• 18 sit ups
• 100 ft. walking lunges
• 15 pull ups
• 15 sit ups
• 100 ft. walking lunges
• 12 pull ups
• 12 sit ups
• 100 ft. walking lunges
• 9 pull ups
• 9 sit ups
• 100 ft. walking lunges
• 6 pull ups
• 6 walking lunges
• 100 ft. walking lunges
• 3 pull ups
• 3 sit ups

= 29:21

Good Thing(s):

• I finished under 30 minutes, which was my primary focus, albeit my time is far from impressive.
• At least it was and still is nice outside.

Bad Things(s):

• I was distracted by the various people walking in and out of the school by the park.
• I wore gloves and I still messed up my hands, although this time I have torn blisters on my fingers rather than on my palms.
• On that same note, I spent too much time being a baby about my hands.
• I can't kip or do deadhangs for s&%t. My timing is off on the kip. Advice please on either. Anyone? Please...
• Because my attitude towards my progress with working out, especially regarding pull ups, is something to be desired at the moment. I have been feeling very unmotivated lately, which is problematic on a number of levels.

Other Thing(s):

• If pull ups were a person, I'd kick him or her in the shins and then run away.

A Field Trip to Globo

I have cabin fever. Strange, I know, considering that it is August and am able to spend plenty of time outside; however, my occasional pop-ins at the Fort over the past two months have not seemed to be enough lately. (They are a tease if anything. It's like hanging a cookie in front of a diabetic.) For one, I feel like I keep doing the same workouts and movements over and over again - just in different order. Sure, my push ups are getting a lot stronger, as are my burpees, pull ups (which I would continue to work on religiously, even if I was at the Fort on a regular basis), sit ups, air squats, jumping pull ups, etc. I'm not complaining about this, on the contrary. I'm very happy with some of the progress I've made on these basic movements because CrossFit is essentially built around these movements. But something has happened, something I never ever ever thought would happen in all my CrossFitting days: I am bored.

Yes, I said it: I am bored. So when it was raining the other day and I realized I wouldn't be able to beat myself up outside, I was at a loss of what to do. Yeah, I could do more burpees, but wait - I did burpees on Monday and on Wednesday; I could do sit ups, push ups, squats, supermans and pull ups but I did those every day this week too as a part of either my workout or my warm up; I wasn't about to go running (even if it hadn't been raining), or use my homemade wall ball in the house (I'm just guessing that would not go over too well). So... What to do? How about a field trip to globo? *Hangs head* Okay...

When I arrived, I paid the day fee and began meandering around the gym checking to see what kind of equipment they had. I wandered around for about ten minutes before I found the glut/ham machine hidden amongst rows of other useless machines; I also found an interesting version of a dip/chin up machine. I used both of these machines as well as did push ups and air squats during my warm up and then began wandering around again, trying to decide what to do and ignoring the slew of high school boys and other guys who were in the gym who occasionally gave me the odd glance.

Finally, I decided that I would work on my push press because they had done these the other day at the Fort; however, instead of brawling over the bar with various teenage boys, I decided to use dumbbells. This decision was also inspired by the fact that they did dumbbell push press at the Games this year in the Stadium WOD. I had heard that they were supposed to be more difficult because the weight is no longer necessarily evenly distributed on either side and the dumbbells made it more difficult to stabilize your core. Regardless, I decided that I would do five sets of five and then move on to a short metcon.

Side note: To be honest, I felt kind of silly while I was doing the push press with the dumbbells. Not only did I feel like I was being watched (I was unfortunately the only female in the entire facility), but I was worried about my form and so I was trying to watch myself in the mirror. Granted, I wasn't kissing my biceps after each rep, but I kind of felt like a meathead even watching myself in the mirror.

Once I completed the push presses (I stopped right after 80 lbs - my hand was hurting and I bitched out), I began wandering around again, contemplating what kind of metcon I wanted to do. Originally I had hoped that they would have a rowing machine so that I could do the 500 meter row, 21 burpees, 400 meter run WOD; however, I was out of luck. They had no rowing machine, and I was about two steps from substituting sumo deadlift high pulls before I realized I had no idea how many reps I should do or what weight I should use. In the end, I decided that I should quit meandering around and just figure out what the hell I should do. I was tired of being there and tired of feeling like a weirdo; however, I figured since I felt as such, that I should also confirm my either imaginary or actual oddness in the minds of the teenage boys around me. So I did 21-15-9, burpees and box jumps.

The metcon was nothing spectacular by any means but it sucked in its own right, and when I was finished, I got out of there as quickly as possible. I had an icky feeling. It wasn't pleasant. Moreover, the whole experience, made me kind of sad for two reasons: 1.) It made me miss the Fort even more; 2.) Those globo regulars have no idea what they're missing.

Hello Nikki. I, mean, moron.

Last week, CrossFit's "Nicole" made an appearance:


In 20:00, AMRAP:

• Max Pull ups
  
• 400 Meter run

I saw this WOD and the first words out of my mouth were "Ew." Can you guess why? Exactly: Max pull ups. They did a workout similar to this a few weeks ago at the Fort as well, which was max pull ups and sprints I do believe. I also believe I was horribly relieved I was that I decided not to go to the Fort that day because I would have been running a lot. Regardless, after knocking myself over the head a few times about this WOD, I decided it would be better for me to do it than skip it. I did, however, decide to do a variation so that I wouldn't running copious amounts (remember my "no more running" deal?) and would rather be focusing on my pull ups.

Instead of regular "Nicole," I decided to hang out with "Nikki" for awhile:

In 20:00, AMRAP:

• 10 Pull ups
  
• 400 Meter run

Sounds reasonable, right? I thought so. I figured that this way I would spend more time concentrating on my pull ups and my kipping instead of running. It was a nice thought - in theory. The only problem was that I estimated my running route before I started, and when I went back to check the exact distance, I found that I ended up running about 600 meters opposed to 400. (Nice work, Brit. I should probably call this workout "The Moron" instead.) The only good thing about my mistake is that it helped me understand why I only completed five rounds. Guess I'll just have to do this one again - correctly - when my hand heals. Yes, I tore my hand again. See? What'd I tell you? Moron.

Not the brightest crayon in the box, are we?

The Head Case

There is something wrong with me. (Well, actually there are a lot of things wrong with me, but I'm being specific here.) Yesterday, while I was at the Fort and we were practicing our Power Cleans, I kept having college basketball flashbacks. I could see the bleachers filled with people donning white and blue, the giant bluejay over the court designating this Bluejay Country, and the refs herding the other players around the free throw line; I could feel the fabric of my jersey clinging to my wet skin, the way it scratched against my shoulders when I'd tuck it under my bra straps, and, most importantly, I could still hear my coach's voice ringing in my ear from when he called me over while both teams set up for free throws:

"You're not in high school anymore, Brit. Wrap your head around it, get back in there and shoot the damn ball."

Apologetically, these were words I heard often. So what does my former college basketball coach's words of wisdom have to do with power cleans? All high school angst aside, the latter part of his advice is still as true for me today (particularly yesterday) as it was so many years ago: I am (or am sometimes) a head case.

Throughout high school and college, I was a respectable athlete. I was never a stud, but I was decent. In fact, in some cases, I seemed to have some kind of untapped potential that (no matter how much my coaches tried to coax or even scream out of me) I could never get to and a lot of that seemed to be because of my head. Now, I'm not trying to get all sad and throw some sob story at you because I don't have one. I've come a long way in regards to confidence in my abilities since that freezing day in February so many years ago. Yes, I still have a way to go but we all struggle at some point or another with our confidence; however, the point I'm trying to make is that so much of what we do in athletics, and particularly in CrossFit, is mental. Take yesterday's strength workout for example.

We were completing three sets of three power cleans. I did one rep at 30 kg just to see how it felt because I haven't lifted in awhile. It was too light so I moved onto 35. I did three reps at 35; it still felt pretty light and so I then bumped it up to 40. I did three reps of 40 and then was told that it still looked too easy for me. So we put 50 kg on the bar. I stepped up, thought to myself "This is going to be heavy," and sure enough, epic fail - not once, but three times. Jennie then suggested that I end on a good note and try it at 45 kg. I did one rep and then failed the remaining two. Now, I know that my form was a little off and prevented me from catching the bar, but there was a part of my epic fail that was all thanks to my head. I had cashed out too early; I thought it was going to be too heavy - and guess what, it was.

This brings me back to my original point: So much of what we do at CrossFit is mental. If you believe that the push ups are going to suck; believe me, they are really going to suck. If you believe that you can't run that 10k, then you're right. You'll be walking while dozens of other people pass you by. Further, if you believe that you're not going to be able to complete those handstand push ups, then be sure you have a spotter nearby because you're probably going to fall on your head (Side note: You should probably have a spotter around anyway. Be safe, people.) Yes, CrossFit is physically tough, but it's just as Michele Vieux of Crossfit Invicus said: "In CrossFit, mental toughness is maybe even more important than your physical ability or God-given athletic talent. CrossFit requires mental toughness to be able to perform at YOUR peak level" ("Mental Toughness" King CrossFit). You hear that? You need mental toughness in order to perform well. Weird.

While you may be saying "No duh, Brit" to my latter point, we all need to be reminded from time to time that it is sometimes our head and not our abilities that are holding us back. Confidence comes from good performance, and with practice and persistence, you will eventually gain the needed confidence to perform at your peak level. Here are some other tips that Vieux provided (and I've only very slightly altered) to help you through those difficult times:

1. Psyche yourself up, not out: Think about what you need to do to complete the task at hand and NOT how hard or heavy it is going to be. Don’t let fear hinder or block your performance.
2. Don’t hang onto prior mistakes or failed attempts: Instead use them as learning devices and stepping stones to success for your next try.
3. Set a goal: It may be a pace time per round, completion of the WOD in under a certain amount of time, getting in a set number of reps completed before resting, giving yourself the best prep for your upcoming race, or even keeping a fellow member within your sights. Remind yourself of this when you want to stop.
4. Start next round or exercise BEFORE assessing if you need a rest: Getting in at least a couple of reps of the next task not only gives your mind a confidence boost but also gives your body a chance to assess if you still need the break. Sometimes moving in a different way can relieve some of the stress on your tired body parts.
5. The countdown: Stick to it! If you do need to rest, no problem, but give yourself “the countdown” of a preset time limit in which you solemnly swear to restart your WOD. ("Mental Toughness" King CrossFit)

These are all good points and are ones we should heed as CrossFitters. We all want to perform well, especially in regards to those WODs, movements and lifts that we feel we are less than stellar at. Now, I fully intend on taking Vieux's eloquent advice and applying it to my own workout regime as well as continue telling myself what I tell Jennie all the time in regards to running and she aptly pointed out to me about my cleaning: "Take that [insert chosen hated WOD, movement, and/or lift here] and own it."

Zoology Lesson #2: The Raccoon

I am very sneaky.

With their bandit mask and ringed tail, raccoons are one of the most recognizable creatures in the United States. The raccoon is native to the US and used to live primarily in mixed forest areas; however, due to their adaptability, raccoons have now been found in coastal marshes, mountainous regions and even urban areas, where they are considered pesky. Their so-called pesky behavior stems from their foraging nature. Raccoons are omnivores, feasting on foods such as nuts, plants, small fish, and amphibians; however, their bandit-like behavior and adaptability is more than just a source of frustration for some urban and country dwellers. Due to its nocturnal nature and masked appearance, the raccoon is also a well-known trickster figure in Native American mythology, misleading men and women astray from their original path and just generally continuing to be a pain in the butt.

I encountered one of these tricksters the other day. I had come up with a WOD that I thought was relatively low key according to CrossFit standards; however, my seemingly "low key" workout was very misleading, and had I known I was going to suffer another animal attack, I would have taken better measures to protect myself.

"The Raccoon"

25 Burpees

4 Rounds for Time:

• 25 Air squats
  
• 25 Push ups
  
• 25 Sit ups

25 Burpees

As previously mentioned, "The Raccoon" seemed rather harmless at first, almost cute in an unassuming way; however, our encounter was a bit misleading and he turned out to be kind of tricky and an all around pest.

For instance, it took me about 18 minutes too long to get rid of the raccoon. The push ups were my primary problem, the next portion of burpees were my second. It also didn't help that the damn thing bit me somewhere in round four because when I completed the WOD, I looked in the mirror and found that I was beginning to resemble the creature himself, which, personally, I hope doesn't last too long. It's just not a very good look for me.

Me becoming the raccoon. No, I don't know why I'm smiling.