Adventures in CrossFitting

Some (Knee) Highs and Some Lows

2010-03-09T20:40:00.004-06:00

I'll keep this brief. Today for strength we did deadlifts (5-3-1+). The first five reps were to be at 75% of your one rep max; the set of three was to be at 87.5%; and the one-plus was to be your one rep max plus any additional reps. My numbers looked like this: 82.5 - 96 - 110.

Now, I did not do additional reps of my one rep max. Instead, I climbed the weight up slightly. I did an additional rep at 111 and then another rep at 113, which I was pretty pleased with. Yay for personal records. It must have been my new knee highs.

After the strength workout we then moved on to probably my least favorite named workout of all time: Angie. (For a rundown of my last experience with Angie please go here: An Ode to Angie).

Now there may be some psycho-- I mean, really cool people that enjoy Angie's company through 100 pull ups, push ups, sit ups and squats; however, I am not one of them. My dislike for Angie is based on the fact that my hands have a tendency to explode whenever she's around, which did happen today when I was halfway through my pull ups.

However, since I am too stubborn to quit, I kept going; I finished the pull ups, moved on to the push ups, struggled through those and then went through the rest of the WOD relatively quickly. All in all, I finished in 26 (something), which was a heck of a lot better than what I did it in last time (32-something). I'm just guessing that Angie laid off just a little because of my socks...

I still don't like her though.

A Pride Check with a Side of Redemption

2010-02-18T21:07:00.009-06:00

I'm back in the blogosphere (at least for tonight) and decided that it was necessary for me to comment on my experience at sectionals this past weekend in St. Louis. I am just warning you: There were some highs, and there were some definite lows.

Personally, I always like to start with the bad news first. (It's the whole rip-off-the-band-aid-quickly mentality. The faster you go, the less it'll hurt.) The bad news is that I got crushed by the first WOD of the competition. For those of you who aren't familiar with this little number, let me spell out it for you:

The Airforce WOD*

20 Thrusters (30 kg)

20 Sumo deadlift high pulls

20 Push jerks

20 OH squats

20 Front squats

*Every minute, on the minute, the competitor must complete four burpees.
*20:00 DNF

Guess who DNF'd?

Um... that would be me.

I did my first set of burpees and thrusters like a damn maniac; however, the weight started to catch up with me and the clock started ticking faster and faster, I lost momentum and found myself doing far more burpees than any person would ever like to do.

In the end, the OH squats did me in (I swear they are taking pull ups place as my ultimate enemy), and I found myself (very upset but) glad that the clock buzzed, indicating that my performance (or lack thereof) was over. I then retreated to the stands where I could hide amongst the rest of the crowd to await my second beating of the day, which consisted of a 5:00 AMRAP of clean and jerks at fifty kilos.

In short, I was not confident about the second workout at all. At that point in time, I hadn't cleaned over 56 kilos and the first WOD hadn't really boosted my confidence about my abilities as a CrossFitter. Regardless (because I'd rather have someone break my legs than quit for no reason other than pride; I am that stubborn/determined/possibly not very smart), I made my way out onto the floor, telling myself that my main goal was to get ten or more and to not waste any reps.

Well, I actually exceeded my expectations. Although I did fail two reps, I was able to get sixteen clean and jerks before the time elapsed. I was personally happy about what I had accomplished, albeit it was far from impressive in comparison to many of the beasts that were there. Little did I know that I would soon redeem myself at least slightly on the third workout.

The third workout was the 54321 WOD. We did five minutes of rowing for calories, four minutes of box jumps on a twenty inch box, three minutes of squat snatches at twenty kilos, two minutes of wall balls at thirteen pounds and one minute of handstand push ups. My numbers looked something like this:

Row: 65 calories

Box jumps: 115 (I was a box jumping machine.)

Snatches: 15 (Eh. I rested with these.)

Wall balls: 25

Handstand push ups: 0 (I can only do two on a good day, and my shoulders were cashed from the day before.)

Total: 220

Now 220 may not seem all that impressive, but I did manage to win my heat. I also tied for the twelfth best female score in the third workout. Not too shabby for a girl who got her ass handed to her the day before if I do say so myself. Personally, though, I think it was the fact that I didn't wear a shirt that made me do so well. Garth may be onto something... (PS: I have zero idea as to what I'm looking at in that picture. Lord knows why they put it on CrossFit TNT's site.)

Overall, I did not qualify (let's get serious); however, it was a good experience. It was exciting and I loved being able to watch everyone else compete. Everyone from the Fort did an excellent job, and I'm so proud that I get to associate myself with CrossFit Fire [CFF] and the people that go there (yes, this is the overly sentimental part of my post). Plus, I'm even more excited that Pete and Stacy get to move on to Denver. There will be more good things to come, I'm sure, for both Pete and Stacy and for the rest of the firebrethers at CFF. And with that, I'll leave you with the words of a wise elder: GFO (That's "game f8&^in' on", for you non-CrossForters).

CrossFit Total

2010-01-27T10:41:00.003-06:00

Yesterday we completed the following workout:

CrossFit Total

Back squats
Press
Deadlift

You are allowed three single attempts at each movement, in which you want to achieve your single rep max. In order for a rep to be deemed as successful, it must be in one fluid motion. Your total is the sum of each max rep.

I had never done the CrossFit Total before and was excited to do it. I had watched some of the five pm class go through the WOD and wanted to know where I was at strength-wise. Everyone was putting up some serious numbers and I wanted my name right alongside them.

I obviously started with the back squats, warming up and maxed at 76 kg (PR). After that I moved on to presses and then maxed out at 42 kg (another PR). Finally, I went onto deadlifts. I had to beat 102, which was old personal record, and had to beat 105, which had kicked me off the record board. Luckily, I was able to pull out a 110, beating my old PR by eight kilos. Awesome.

Overall, I was pretty happy with my final number (228) and am looking forward to the next time the Total comes around.

"You can cry, but you can't quit..."

2010-01-27T10:40:00.004-06:00

Monday, was awful. Although I wasn't necessarily that sore on Monday, I was definitely still feeling the effects of the three WOD competition on Saturday - that and I suck at all three of the movements scheduled for Monday: OH squats, pull ups and push ups.

The workout looked a little like this:

Strength: "Power Snatch"
1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1

30 - 35 - 40 - 41.6 - 42.6 PR

Not that my snatch PR was all that significant (my old PR was 42), but I do think that it affected me just a bit when it came to the WOD.

WOD: The Trifecta of Evilness

21 -15 - 9 of:

OH Squats (35 kg)
pull ups
clapping push ups

Now, I'm not really sure what the hell I was thinking but for some reason I decided to do the weight prescribed. And during the first portion of the workout I felt okay about it. I completed eleven reps right out of the gate; however, as soon as I went to snatch the bar back up to complete the remaining ten, I knew that I was in for a long one.

Long story short, (and this is a hey-uge understatement) I struggled through the rest of the workout, so much so that I was nearly crying by the end of the WOD. Both the boyfriend and Jennie told me it was painful to watch: It was painful to live through too. What was good about the experience is, that despite the fact that I hated my entire being through the majority of the workout and I was on the verge of tears throughout my last nine OH Squats, I pushed through the suck and finished the damn thing. Because it's just as Bill told me once: "You can cry, but you can't quit."

Four Men & a Lady

2010-01-26T21:32:00.007-06:00

This past Saturday Pete, Matt L., Garth, Tom and I (along with the coaches) all woke up a little earlier to compete in a three WOD extravaganza in order to help us prepare for sectionals. Bill took the three workouts for the day from a competition that had been done earlier in Utah. The workouts looked a little like this:

WOD #1
For time:

500 m row
440 m run

TIME: 3:57

WOD #2
For total reps:

:90 clean and jerks (35 kg)
:30 rest
:90 ring dip push ups
:30 rest
:90 front squat (35 kg)
:30 rest
:90 burpees

TOTAL REPS: 65

WOD #3
For time:

440 meter run
10 deadlifts (65 kg)
20 box jumps (24")
30 kettle bell swings
40 wall ball shots (14#)
50 meters of OH walking lungs (10 kg)
400 meter run

TIME: 12:52

Overall, it was a great experience. Although I wish another female would have been there, it was great to workout with the guys. They're uber competitive and really pushed me to do better. (I was only disappointed that I wasn't able to show them all up in the last WOD when I was in the lead for a good ten seconds. ) All in all though, I did okay. When Bill calculated the final numbers I would have finished eleventh overall out the the 27; moreover, if I hadn't messed up on my final run (I was so excited I was in first place I forgot to run around the cone), I probably would have finished somewhere around sixth place, which is kind of exciting.

"We all go a little mad sometimes..."

2010-01-22T20:52:00.009-06:00

I realize that I've been absent from the blogosphere for the past month or so. Oddly enough, one would assume that with school out that I would blog more frequently; however, I seemed to take a vacation from all things associated with writing over winter break and am now just returning to your regularly scheduled blogging.

I could give you a brief highlight of the exciting things I did CrossFit-related over break. Unfortunately though, none were all that impressive or exciting (with the exception of my little excursion to CrossFit Rockford with Pete and Stacy, which resulted in some very sore legs). Other than that, (oh... and doing far too many burpees and sit ups on a cruise ship), I cannot recall anything that I did that was overly spectacular (except that I PR'd on my press, clean, and back squat and now hold the record or weighted ring dips).

I can, however, recall suffering from a moment of insanity. Here's exactly what happened:

I was sitting at my desk thinking, as I sometimes (rarely) do, and was poking through old emails when I came across one from CrossFit HQ for the CrossFit Qualifier in February. I opened the email, studying the confirmation number I had been issued for being listed as an athlete's guest and began thinking some more (which, I might add, is almost always a bad idea).

As I was sitting there thinking about all my insecurities and vice versa, I had this Norman Bates moment. It was literally as if someone took over my body, directed my mouse to the CrossFit Games site and then began signing me up to compete in the Qualifier. Little did I know that my body snatcher succeeded. Because when I finally returned to reality, I found that $100 had been deducted from my bank account and I learned I would be receiving a medium shirt as a valentine from CrossFit HQ.

Oh my God, Mother! What did you do?!

That's right. Mother signed me up for the Qualifier. (Lord have mercy on my soul.) However, now that I am in this situation I plan on making the best out of it. I've got nothing to lose. Besides... I like to think that all CrossFitters are a little mad anyway.

We are not, however, creepy.

I Wish I Had Greek Blood...

2009-12-16T19:17:00.005-06:00

Do you ever walk into the gym knowing that the workout is going to crush you? It's that slight mental tick that gets in the back of your mind, nagging and reminding you that you will probably regret the next five to ten minutes of your life and making you wish that it was your rest day. Today was one of those days.

I was (un)fortunate to know what I was in for when I arrived at the Fort. The boyfriend had informed me earlier what the WOD was and so I was (somewhat) mentally prepared for the Suck Fest that I had bought front row tickets to. I was also (un)fortunate enough to have arrived just before the second heat of 5pm-ers. As soon as I walked in I said "hello" to Steph (Rasmussen) who was getting drink. She responded with a "hey" and then quickly answered Bill who had just asked her what weight she was using for the workout.

"I'm going RX'd," she said as she ventured back over to her bar under the loft.

"Damn," I thought (okay, I said it aloud) as I took off my jacket and put on my other shoes. "That's a lot of weight."

And it was. The workout was (after completing 5-5-5-3-3-3 of back squats) was the following:

12 - 9 - 6

Deadlifts (140/95 kg)
Thrusters (60/40 kg)

Goal: 3-7:00
DNF: 10:00

I waited in the lobby as Bill called the 3-2-1-Go! and watched this whole thing go down. It looked tough, and as I watched everyone crumple to the ground at the end of the WOD, I really wished that I had taken today as a rest day. Heavy weights are not really my thing. Despite this, I took a deep breathe and headed upstairs to warm up.

I went through one of our old school warm ups: I rowed for a little bit, did a couple sets of ten pull ups, push ups, sit ups and back extensions. The group then did some mobility drills and then set up for the back squat.

In regards to my back squat, I felt pretty good. I'm not exactly sure what my one rep max is but I was able to do three reps at 65 kg. Moreover, it was only on my very last rep that I felt like the weight was about to crush me.

Then came the workout. Since my single rep max deadlift is 102 kg, I decided against trying to do the WOD RX'd. It wasn't going to happen. I did, however, decide on 80 kgs and to do the thrusters at the prescribed weight. Here's how this debacle went down:

Round One: I repped through my deadlifts and then went to do my thrusters. The result? Not so much.

Round Two: I did three sets of three on my deadlifts and then went to do my thrusters. Again... not so much; however, I did manage to catch Pete (the other Rasmussen) out of the corner of my eye going RX'd and yelling "time" just as I was about to drop the bar on my head. (So jealous).

Round Three: I did three and then three sets of one and then moved onto my thrusters. This time, WOW. I practically did drop the bar on my head, twice, and then followed suit, crumpling to the floor when I finally reached "six".

Overall: 10:08 = D.N.F.

Needless to say, I was not able to go RX'd like either Rasmussen. Heck, I wasn't even able to finish. I'd be embarrassed but I was (and am) still tired. I wish that I had Greek blood.

So Much for The Show

2009-12-15T19:21:00.004-06:00

I arrived at the Fort today and was greeted by the strength workout of hang power cleans and a metcon consisting of burpee box jumps and sit ups. Had it not been for the fact that I finished school today, I probably would have been bothered by the hang power cleans and burpee box jumps, especially after last week's debacle (my shoulders hurt for days); however, today I was ready to take on the WOD.

The class started by doing some mobility drills and then moved onto the strength portion of the workout. I retreated into my little corner and began working on the following:

Hang Power Cleans
3-3-3-1-1-1

30-35-45-47-49.6-51.6

To be honest, my first couple of sets were pretty easy. It was when I moved up to the 45 kg that it began to feel heavy; however, this did not deter me. I've been struggling with breaking the 50 kg barrier for some time, and I wanted to push my way through. I figured that working my way up slowly was the way to go. So after cleaning three reps at 45, I went to 47, then to 49.6 and then completed 51.6. Both subsequent reps felt fairly strong and I was very pleased with the fact that I was able to break 50.

After basking in my (I think PR glow) accomplishment, I began setting up for the metcon, which was an AMRAP in 15:00 of ten burpee box jumps and twenty sit ups. Again, I grabbed a box, ab mat, my book and then found my way back to my corner. I set up everything, including opening my book to a blank page so that I could keep track of my rounds. My goal was simply to try and keep a good pace so that I could continue to rep through both movements (that and try to not let Stacy crush me).

When Bill finally gave the 3-2-1-Go!, I was ready to go. I was able to maintain a good pace throughout the workout and was even able to hold my own when Season accidently kicked me in the head. (Just for the record, it didn't hurt). Anyhow, in the end I was able to complete eight full rounds plus ten burpee box jumps and eight sit ups. Stacy still crushed me (she completed nine full rounds) but there was a silver lining. I beat The Show by one rep. Heck. Yes.

Taking the Crazy Train to So. Dak.*

2009-12-02T21:53:00.008-06:00

Although it has been awhile since this past weekend, I think it is still necessary for me to comment on my little field trip to CrossFit Sioux Falls. Last Wednesday, my brother, sister-in-law and I hit I-90 for about seven fun-filled hours to make it home for the holiday weekend. Thanksgiving went well and on Friday I headed out to participate in the Black Friday activities; however, before then, I made my way over to CrossFit Sioux Falls for a quick WOD.

When I arrived, I was greeted by one of the owners, Chris. He let me in on what we were doing that day, told me that one of their CrossFitters was actually visiting the Fort (awesome - exchange program), and then let me be to complete the warm up, which consisted of three rounds of box jumps, kettlebell swings, and walking lunges.

After completing the warm up, all of us congregated around the white board to conquer the following beast:

Trevor

In teams of four complete the following, for time:

300 pull ups
400 push ups
500 sit ups
600 squats

*Only two people may work at a time.

I was lucky enough to be paired up with three awesome ladies (Jeri, Becky and Sarah). Jeri and Sarah set themselves up on a band on one side of the jungle-gym contraption (seriously... it was kind of weird as I could feel the entire thing moving beneath me as I was kipping) that was in the middle of the floor and Becky and I set up on other. We were given the 3-2-1-Go! and away we went.

I was particularly pleased with my pull up portion of the WOD. I cranked out twenty pull ups my first time out (heck yeah!) and then Becky and I proceeded to switch back and forth after completing ten reps each. Granted, I wasn't always able complete ten at a time, but I did feel rather accomplished that Becky and I completed more than half of the pull ups.

In regards to the rest of the workout, I was relatively pleased with myself. As someone just coming in, I wanted to make sure that I carried my weight and didn't let my team down. I felt that I sufficiently did so, with maybe the exception of push ups. I felt as if I struggled a bit. At the moment, I tried to remind myself that I was doing chest to deck push ups in sets of ten, but I hated feeling like the deadweight. This was probably why I was determined to fly through the sit ups, completing fifty my first time out and then finishing subsequent rounds in reps of thirty, and then continuing cranking out squats, doing sets of thirty until we were all confident that we had gone over on our reps. I guess that counting problems aren't limited to the Fort.

Anyhow, overall it was a great experience. The ladies on my team were awesome and I thoroughly enjoyed the WOD. What I did not enjoy was that I was sore for three days afterwards. Guess that's what you get for taking the crazy train to So. Dak.

*So. Dak. was the old post office abbreviation for South Dakota. According to my South Dakota friends it's much cooler to say So. Dak. than South Dakota. Who am I to disagree? It's more fun to say...

You Never Forget Your First

2009-11-17T08:14:00.008-06:00

It was about 12:30 pm when I found out that we were doing "Fran" that day. I was sitting at my desk, checking my email and resting my brain before my afternoon class when my boyfriend text me: "We're doing Fran today. Graveyard Gang [GYG] just confirmed it." Thanks GYG... seriously.

I had been debating whether or not I even wanted to go to the Fort considering that I had gotten up at about three am; however, the text quickly changed my plans for the evening. It wasn't everyday that Fran came around, and despite how scary she is, I was sure that today would be my first time Rx'd. As a result, instead of heading home to my warm, comfortable bed, I went to the Fort to meet Fran (21-15-9 - Thrusters (30kg) and pull ups).

The five o'clock class was just finishing up when I arrived. Fran's presence was undeniable; everyone seemed to adequately hate their life. Even when the five pm-ers left, there was a nervousness permeating throughout the Fort, and with good reason: Like I said before, Fran's main goal in life is to make you hate yours in less than ten minutes.

We were going to complete the WOD in two heats. Kelli and I decided to pair up and paper-rock-scissored who was going to go first. I won (*sigh of relief*) and Kelli tackled Fran first. I counted; I cheered (and I became even more nervous) as I watched Kelli duke it out with Fran and then fall to the floor in a small heap.

Finally it was my turn. I grabbed my bar, telling myself that I was going to have to make up time on my thrusters to make up for my pull ups and trying to control my nerves. All I wanted was to finish in 10:00. Needless to say, I crushed that dream and did better than I ever expected.

Throughout my thrusters felt strong. In regards to pull ups, even though I wasn't always able to string them together, I do feel that I am able to get back on the bar relatively quick and crank out one at time. In the end, I only hung out with Fran for 7:12, which is close to what I did last time with the blue band. Needless to say, I was very happy even if I did suffer from the "Fran cough" for the rest of the evening. Totally worth it.

I'm not a player; I just crush alot... (Part 2)

2009-11-13T10:03:00.005-06:00

Us with the Chamber and the big scissors before the WOD. Congrats guys!

If you read my previous post, you know that I did two named WOD's this past week: Nancy and Helen. While my Nancy experience was not as exciting as I hoped, my time with Helen proved to be well spent.

I went to the Fort Wednesday morning to attend a special moment in CrossFit Fire history: The Chamber of Commerce was coming to the Fort to officially welcome Bill and Jennie's business to the community. It was a celebration of sorts, for all of us (We love you guys!) and to celebrate (and impress the hell out of the Chamber members), a group of us were going to do a workout.

Originally, we were going to do a WOD that included seven rounds of body rows, push presses and something else (I don't know what it was - I didn't do it); however, after seeing the turnout (there were about ten or so of us), Bill decided that we were going to do Helen instead.

Helen

3 rounds for time:

400 meter run

21 kettlebell swings (16 kg)

12 pull ups

Immediately, I was nervous and excited. I held the Fort record with a time of 11:18 and was now put in the position to defend my spot. Regardless, I kept my nerves in check, promised myself that I would beat my old PR, and then focused on channeling those nerves into the workout.

Once everyone and everything was set up, we lined up at the edge of the building to begin the first run. Bill called the 3-2-1-Go! and I was off.

My first run felt exceptionally strong. I was the second one back into the Fort right behind Pete and cranked out my kettlebell swings. I finished them unbroken and then moved onto my pull ups. Surprisingly, I was able to complete eight in a row before I needed to drop off the bar. I then quickly did the remaining four and turned to my second run.

Although my second run wasn't as strong as my first, I still felt okay with it. I knew I was making good time and as I re-entered the Fort for my second set of kettlebell swings, I felt even more confident about beating my old PR. When I got to my pull ups, I had to break them up more than the previous round, which slowed me down a bit; however, I still able to complete them and then set off on my third round.

Overall, my third round was continuation of the second. I completed my run, did all my kettlebell swings unbroken and then broke up my pull ups, finishing my last three one at a time. But when I dropped off the bar my final pull up and fell to the floor, sucking air, I felt great. Really freakin' tired but great, and when Bill called out 10:29, I was both amazed and elated. I beat my old PR by almost a minute. I crushed Helen like I didn't crush Nancy.

After everyone completed the WOD, I was sitting there writing in my book, still excited about my time and particularly about my pull ups. For those of you who know me and my struggle with pull ups, then you know its been a long and trying war (and unfortunately, the pull ups have won more battles than I have); however, that seems to be changing. Who's the bitch now, pull ups?

I'm not a player; I just crush a lot... (Part 1)

2009-11-11T08:51:00.006-06:00

I was quite the player this week. I did two of the Nasty Girl WOD's: On Tuesday, I did "Nancy"; on Wednesday, "Helen."

Nancy

5 rounds for time:

400 meter run

15 OH squats (30kg)

16:17 (at 25 kg)

When I arrived at the Fort on Tuesday, I had every intention of doing Nancy prescribed. Sure, my OH squats are not my strongest lift, but I figured I could make up time on the 400 meter run. I practiced a few with just the fifteen kilo bar and then then brought out two five kilo plates to test it out at 25 before moving up to thirty. As I practiced my OH squats, Bill wandered over to my lifting space under the loft. He watched me intently, taking note of my form, as I held the weight overhead and then squatted beneath it. After completing a few reps, I set the bar down and anxiously waited for the assessment. Bill would determine whether or not I was ready to move up to the prescribed weight.

"Your OH squats are getting better," he told me.

Heck yes! I thought, trying to contain my excitement. I was going to be able to do this WOD prescribed my second time ever doing it and at forty pounds heavier.

" But -"

Dammit, the voice in my head grumbled. There had to be a "but."

"... your knees are still shaky sometimes. I wouldn't do more weight than that."

"Okay," I responded dutifully as I watched my prescribed Nancy dream shift itself back into the "undone" column on my mental Nasty Girl Rx'd checklist. Bill knew better than I did.

Who was I to argue? So I set myself up, promising that even if I didn't get to do the WOD prescribed, I was at least going to crush it.

And (kind of (okay, not really)) crush it, I did. I say "kind of" and then "not really" because obviously I would have liked to do better and I can admit that my time was not that impressive. I am slow at OH squats because I'm preoccupied with my stupid knees and I wasn't able to make up that much extra time on my runs.

What was good was that I was almost able to do all of my OH squats unbroken. I crushed that dream too when I dropped the bar with two reps left on my last round. (Two stinkin' reps). Luckily though I was able to get back on the bar quickly and crank out the last two before my time crept any further.

Overall though, I was able to practice some good OH squats without dropping the bar on my head (yay) and was able to keep Stacy on pace, who did do the WOD prescribed and now holds the women's record at the Fort (atta baby!). So all was not lost - and unbeknownst to me, I would be able to prove myself on Wednesday and to a group of spectators, nonetheless.

My Magic Shoes(?)

2009-11-09T19:58:00.007-06:00

After a long day trapped under an avalanche of papers, I managed to crawl myself out of the rubble. Yes, my eyes were tired, my brain felt mushy but I persevered, and I was now off to exercise my body instead of my mind. I wanted to get in a rowing WOD before the actual workout so I quickly put on my shorts, tall socks, tshirt and began shuffling through my closet, searching for my running shoes when I saw them, sitting there like a ghost from my long forgotten basketball past: My Air Jordans.

I loved these shoes. Correction: I love these shoes. They are Jordans (by far my favorite basketball player ever); they are retro, and they are pink. I bought them over four years ago for my sophomore year of college basketball and was never able to get rid of them, despite the negative effects of that season. That is, however, a whole other story; the story here is that I couldn't resist. I pulled on my Jordans, smiling the whole time, and headed out the door.

When I arrived at the Fort, I ran upstairs to complete the rowing WOD, feeling confident that my pink sneakers (yes, they are retro shoes; a retro term is necessary here) would help me crush the workout:

Five rounds of 1000 meters with 3:00 intervals:

Round 1: 4:15.5
Round 2: 4:14
Round 3: 4:20.5

As you can see I did not complete all five rounds. My failure to complete the WOD, however, was not my Jordans' fault, although I think subconsciously I did blame them a little (cute shoes but bad memories). It was rather that I am slow and did not allow enough time to complete the WOD. Regardless, I think my subconscious took over because I changed my shoes to complete the following strength workout and metcon:

Strength

Four rounds of max rep ring dips:

7-7-5-6 (All unassisted)

Metcon

AMRAP in 12:00 of:

5 Hang Power Cleans [HPC] (55 kg)
7 Box Jumps (24")
10 Clapping Push Ups

6 rounds + 5 HPCs + 7 box jumps + 2 push ups

In regards to both the strength WOD and the metcon, I felt pretty good. I managed to stay fairly consistent with my ring dips and was simply pretty excited about the fact that I didn't have to use the band. As for the metcon, I was pleased with the fact that my cleans are getting stronger and faster. I didn't do the prescribed weight (I only did 40) but was happy regardless. There were several times during the WOD that I felt myself dropping under the bar more quickly, which is really exciting for me considering that, that is my biggest problems with my cleans.

Unfortunately, I also scaled my clapping push ups. I substituted with chest to deck push ups; I can do clapping push ups but I can't do them consistently, hence the scaling. Besides, I figure once I get more consistent I can work my way up, and my push ups are getting stronger, which is all I can ask.

As for the box jumps - oh the box jumps - I nearly killed myself on my first rep of the first round. I rammed my knee into the edge of the box leaving an ugly, odd-shaped bruise and then damn near did it again on my second rep. Luckily though I managed to pull myself away before I felt flat on my face and/or tore open my leg/knee/shin.

Now you're probably wondering what the heck my super awesome Jordans have to do with this. Well, on my drive home, while I was contemplating my box jump failure, I decided that had I wore my Air Jordans that I probably would have not failed miserably. I mean, they're Air Jordans, right? They're supposed to make you jump higher. As a result, I have decided that I will need to break out the Jordans for the next time we do box jumps. They're a little overdue for some air time anyway.

Magic powers? We'll see.

If not, they still look cool...

And I'm Back...

2009-11-05T22:10:00.006-06:00

For those of you who used to read my blog (I use past tense because I've been absent for awhile), I'm going to attempt to get back to your regularly scheduled blogging. As I mentioned before in passing that school has a tendency to take over my life. To be frank, not much has changed; however, with the semester winding down and my brain continually on the fritz, I am planning (and hoping) that getting back to my blog will help me maintain a sense of balance in my hectic life.

OK. So enough with the blah blah blah about school and back to what really matters: CrossFit. This week so far I have deadlifted, power cleaned, front squated, push pressed, and done more ring dips than a person cares to do in single day. Add tall box jumps, sit ups, running and body rows to the mix and you've got an amalgam of three days worth of WOD's.

Strength-wise, my power cleans and push presses are coming along nicely, especially my power cleans. I'm feeling much better about my cleaning ability, and I am determined to make myself love (and crush) them. Front squats - eh, not so much. I have trouble driving up with my elbows. On the other end of the spectrum, in the metcon area, my box jumps, runs, body rows and sit ups are still relatively strong and feel that, in many ways, they are improving, which is all I can ask.

Everything aside, I'm excited about where I'm going CrossFit-wise and hope that I am able to frequent my lovely blogger space more often. Also, the next time I get some time off, I promise to post something more witty.

Consider the Ta Ta's Saved

2009-10-26T14:46:00.005-05:00

Yesterday, I ran in the Care 4 Breast Cancer 5K Run/Walk. Overall, I felt pretty good about the race, even though I did not beat my previous time. I came in about 24:00, give or take a few seconds based on the lack of clear timing (there were no chips to measure the exact time). Regardless, my run went much smoother than my 10k debacle. My legs felt loose, despite the 30 minute delay and cold weather, and I managed to maintain a decent pace throughout. I also apparently placed second in my division, 25-29 year olds, as well as placed 12th overall. So that's cool.

I realize that I sound rather nonchalant about my second place win; I do think that it's pretty cool. I've never won anything like that before, and there were over 1000 runners present. I think though that I was more disappointed that I didn't beat my previous 23:12 PR. Regardless, win or lose, consider the ta ta's saved.

The Coolest Thing I Did Yesterday...

2009-10-17T09:08:00.005-05:00

No, it wasn't the deadlift/burpee workout from the Games, although that was pretty sweet. I did the WOD (5 rounds for time of 5 deadlifts (70 kg) and 10 burpees) in 4:57. It was a creeper. Those burpees are killer after round two of deadlifts, and based on my wanting to lay down after only 5:00 minutes, I'd say it was fairly successful in kicking my ass. However, this was not the coolest thing I did yesterday. The coolest thing I did yesterday was teach my Aunt's five year old grandson how to do burpees.

I was downstairs cleaning up my living space (I actually taught him how to vaccum as well - whole other story though), when Connor came downstairs to pay me a visit. He was showing me how he could do jumping jacks when I asked him if he had ever done a burpee. He shook his head "no" and then I took my teaching opportunity. Here's the final result (I apologize for the sideways video... Not sure what happened...):

Although he didn't always jump up on his burpees, I'd say Connor did a pretty good job. He is five. Now all I need to get him to do is eat broccoli.

An "Ark" Sandwich

2009-10-12T19:07:00.006-05:00

I headed to the Fort for this past weekend for another Team Saturday. Mark R., Clark and I teamed up for the following WOD:

"Team Ladders"

400 meter run
3 rounds:

burpee ladder
box jump ladder
wall ball ladder

400 meter buddy run

The ladders worked like this: Clark did one burpee, Mark did one burpee and then I did one burpee. Then Clark did two burpees, Mark did two burpees and then I did two burpees. This went on until we reached six burpees. We then moved onto box jumps and wall balls and completed them in the same fashion.

Overall this WOD was great because it allowed for just enough rest to really crank out the reps. Clark and Mark definitely kept me moving. So much so that the "Ark" Sandwich (Clark and Mark rhyme, my name doesn't, you get the picture...) was right behind The Garth Show, Stacy and Super Dave the whole time. In fact, we were going head to head going into third round before The Show pulled ahead into buddy run.

Then - it was over. Even though Clark and Mark were able to carry my fat butt all the way and that we were able to finish in 24:00, we did not prevail. At least we have a cool name.

At Least it Wasn't Kalsu

2009-10-10T11:00:00.000-05:00

This morning I woke up to complete the following evilness:

1000 meter row

5 rounds for time:

10 pull ups
15 OH squats (40/30 kg)
20 kettlebell swings (20/16 kg)

1000 meter row

I finished this WOD in about 29:00. I don't recall the exact time because I started 5:13 later than the first group and I couldn't remember how many seconds followed my 34 minutes. Regardless, I did finish under 30, which is good, but we can both agree that my time is far from impressive, especially with scaled OH squats.

All in all, I kind of hated (and was absolutely terrified of) this WOD. I saw Bill put it on the board last night before I left and then spent the night dreading the next morning. It was kind of a mind f*&%. It also didn't help that I was tired from all my busy-ness yesterday. I will admit, that even though I did kind of hate this workout, I was glad that I didn't have to do Kalsu.

Thirsty Thursday*

2009-10-09T08:09:00.004-05:00

Yesterday, I was a busy day at CrossFit for me. I rowed, worked on my presses, did a makeover of "Cindy" and set a new handstand record. The entire thing made me a little thirsty, although not in the traditional way that one would think of "Thirsty Thursday." Anyhow, I digress. Here's how my Thursday at CrossFit went down:

To start off I was late getting to Fort. I arrived just as the Ladies' Class was beginning, and instead of changing quickly and jumping in, I decided to catch up on my rowing. There were three rowing WOD'S posted on the board: Tabata Rowing, 15:00 minute row at 90%, and another interval row. Since I did Tabata Rowing earlier in the week after finishing the burpees on the minute WOD (which I did terrible in by the way (rowing, not necessarily the burpees), I decided to go for the 15:00 minutes at 90%.

I grabbed my book, iPod and headed upstairs to spend some quality time with the rower. Once my feet were all strapped in and I put on my jam (a song not the sugary goodness that is jam), I was out for the long haul. I tried to focus on keeping a steady pace, particularly since I feel like my rowing ability has been less than spectacular lately, and to maintain good form. The bulk of the row went fairly well, although I did not get as many meters as I would have liked. My initial goal was 3500 meters and I tapped out at 3303.

After my rowing extravaganza, I went downstairs, wrote my meters on the board and then waited for the seven o'clock class to start. I practiced my handstands a little bit before Bill corralled all of us in for mobility drills and then the strength workout: Presses (6-6-6).

Since the rep scheme was high and I still have troubles with my press, the weights I used looked something like this: 25-30-34.6. I was going to try to go for 37.2 (my arch nemesis in the press world), when Bill reminded me that 34.6 was close enough to 37.2 at that rep scheme and that if I added just a little bit of weight to my presses that eventually I'd break through my 37.2 roadblock. I conceded. I'm typically not one to argue, and we still had to do the metcon. As a result, I decided that it would probably be better if I saved my energy rather than ruin myself on the strength WOD.

Needless to say, I was glad with my decision. The metcon was like "Cindy" but it wasn't. Instead of being AMRAP in 20:00, it was 15:00, and instead of doing fifteen squats, we did fifteen box jumps. Since it was Cindy-like, I figured that maybe I could get through seven or eight rounds, since I was able to complete ten or so with true-Cindy.

When Bill gave us the 3-2-1-Go!, I think I was either A) Really excited or B) Really stupid. I quickly went through my first two rounds. I did my pull ups and my push ups unbroken. I was feeling good: My pull ups felt fairly strong, even if they weren't chest to bar like specified, and my push ups had good depth (Bill told me; I asked). My box jumps are once again improving (for some reason I went through this stage where I felt like I kind of sucked at box jumps), and I was just trying to continue to maintain my frenzied pace.

Then round three came. I did my pull ups and went on to my push ups. I did seven and then the true suck fest set in. I began breaking up my reps more frequently for the rest of the third round and the subsequent rounds, doing reps of three, two and even one. As a result, I was only able to complete seven full rounds, plus five pull ups and seven push ups. I was able to reach my seven-eight round goal but for some reason or another I was upset that I wasn't able to reach eight. It was those dang push ups... I tell you...

After completing the WOD, I meandered about for a little bit and then decided to work on my handstands yet again. The Show was there and asked me if I wanted him to time me. I shrugged: "Why not?" And then began my attempt to beat my previous record board time of 20.94 seconds. My first attempt was not pretty, and my second attempt was even uglier. My third attempt, however, lead to my 24 second even handstand. I guess, three times is a charm.

All in all, it was a pretty successful (and busy) Thursday, and just reading over this, I feel like I did a lot. Okay, I did kind of do a lot. Regardless, it was a decent day CrossFit-wise.

*There were no liquid carbs (beers) or paleo margaritas consumed after the completion of these WODS. Okay, I had a couple sips of a margarita. That was all though.

Long Stories, Short

2009-10-07T21:03:00.005-05:00

CrossFit-wise, here's what has happened to me this week:

On Monday we worked on our clean and jerks before moving onto burpees on the minute. My clean and jerks my reps looked a little something like this: 45-47.2-49.6-52.4 (EPIC FAIL). I'm still having (weird... who would have thought?) trouble dropping under the bar. Trying to work the split jerk helped a little, but I was still having issues with my knees and such. As for improvement - I think I'll just have to keep practicing because I'm not really willing to eat a whole chocolate cake like Boyd did (this apparently helped him).

As soon as we finished the clean and jerks we moved on to burpees. Now, I was not one to be deceived by this workout. I remembered all too well when we did pull ups on the minute (that WOD was like the bane of my existence) and how quickly the "suck factor" entered into the picture. Oh no. I was not one to be deceived and so, my game plan was just to do as many burpees as possible. Oh, and try to beat Garth by one rep because he apparently quit during the morning class (this obviously did not work - but you can give Jennie and I credit for trying). In the end, I did fourteen rounds plus seven burpees. During round fifteen, my ankle went all haywire on me and this prevented me from cranking out a few more at the end, that and the fact that I wanted to be done.

On Tuesday, we did some deadlifts (yay!) and "Helen." For the strength portion we were to complete four, three rep sets leading up to 75% of our one rep max (100 kg for me). Well, after completing my 70, and Jennie informing me that it looked too light, I decided to complete another set at 80. It felt good and I smiled.

As for "Helen," I really wanted to beat my previous time of 11:18; however, I was not able to do so. I would like to attribute my lack of PR to the deadlifts and the 45 mile per hour wind that we had to run in. My "Helen" time was 11:34. As we can both see that is not better than 11:18, and as much as I would like to blame deadlifting and the wind, I begrudgingly admit that I just didn't get it done. Oh well, maybe next time...

Saving Ta Ta's for Time

2009-10-06T11:32:00.004-05:00

Hey, I thought I would give a shout out to all of us CrossForters (or anyone else who may possibly read this) out there. A few of us (i.e. Garth, Audra, Matt L., Brian, Tommy Mo (maybe), I, and hopefully more) are planning on running a "Care for Breast Cancer 5k Run/Walk" in Crystal Lake on Sunday Oct 25th at Lippold Park 8:30am.

Please visit the following link to register: Care for Breast Cancer 5k Run/Walk. The registration fee is $25, I believe. Also, we may be getting some tshirts (yay for tshirts!) See the side panel for the actual design. In addition, please shoot me an email if you would like one at bjansen8@gmail.com (let me know the size if you are contacting me - they are men's American Apparel shirts) or you could order one from the widget as well. I'm assuming that the more we order the less expensive they will be. However, my guess is that they will probably amount to $20.

The Safe Word is "Banana"

2009-10-05T20:15:00.008-05:00

This past Saturday I encountered a new spin on an old favorite: Red Rover. When I was a kid, I used to love playing Red Rover. As a result, you can image my excitement (or fear) when I saw the following posted on the board:

In teams of 3, AMRAP in 20:00:

Person A does 10 burpees

Person B does 10 kettle bell swings

Person C sprints 50 meters

One point is awarded for every successful sprint. The sprinter cannot run until both the burpees and the KB swings have been completed. Person C can only switch tasks with A or B when standing next to them. (KB swings and Burpees were set up at either end of the parking lot.)

Bill divided up the teams. I was placed with Brian and Matt (L.). As Matt went to set up some kettlebells, Brian and I were discussing strategy. I suggested that we come up with a code word for when we were either done with our reps or when we wanted to switch movements. Brian immediately came back with a scene from Family Guy and suggested the word "banana." Although I do not watch Family Guy, I figured I could work with that. It was much more original than holding up your arm to indicate that you were done with your reps, which is actually what we ended up doing... Which is fine, really it is... Boring... But it worked... Anyway....

The WOD went relatively quick. I started out at the kettlebells and stayed there for nine rounds before sprinting to the other end to start burpees. After that my poor counting skills came back to haunt me, so I simply focused on finishing my ten burpees as soon as possible until the boys wanted me to sprint back to complete more kettlebell swings. I would tell you how many burpees and how many kettlebell swings I did but I wasn't paying that close attention (remember the lack of counting skills?). I did, however, only complete four sprints in those twenty minutes.

In the end, Team Safe Word "Banana" completed 27 rounds. Unfortunately, two other teams also completed 27 rounds. As a result, Bill called for sudden death. One, ten kettlebell/burpee/sprint to the end of the driveway.

Once again, I was sent to complete kettlebell swings, while Matt did burpees (he is a burpee machine) and Brian ran (hello Señor Lightening). I did the kettlebell swings fairly quickly and then Brian and I waited for Matt to complete the burpees. We looked on as Tommy Mo cranked out his burpees just a little ahead of Matt and waited for the signal (the raised hand... ugh). Regardless, Matt's hand shot up within due time and Brian darted to the other end of the driveway, leaving everyone else trailing behind him.

As soon as he reached the other end of the drive, I threw up my hands, victorious, and yelled: "Banana!" I'm not sure if either of my teammates heard me, but it just felt right.

A Brian Pyramid: Congrats on your first win, Brian.

Another One Bites the Dust

2009-10-02T07:48:00.006-05:00

For some reason or another I had an aching for some Queen this morning. I think my longing stemmed from the fact that it is the end of the week (finally) and I did crank out a WOD early this morning. As a result, here is "Another One Bite's the Dust" for your viewing and listening pleasure.

Today, I somehow managed to get my butt out of bed early enough to make it to the 5:30 am class. While I do enjoy working out in the morning (the GYG is always interesting and Zach always offers great advice), I often feel bad because I seem to be incapable of making it to the Fort on time. I would like to blame my parents but that is another story entirely in itself and not really fair either. I digress though. Regardless of my tardiness, I was able to join in the morning festivities.

I started with a brief 300 meter row to warm up before moving on to the morning's strength workout:

Presses

3-3-3-3

25-30-35-39.6 (Epic Fail)

For some reason or another, I continue to have trouble with my presses. I've been stuck at 37 forever and can't seem to get past it. Now, I realize since I am still feeling the side effects of "Angie" (b&^%h) and haven't been getting a whole lot of sleep may have something to do with it, but it's still frustrating and I feel like those are excuses rather than the real reason. In any case, after my epic fail, Zach had me do a max rep of presses at 25 kg. I did 20, halfway got to 21 and then put the bar down. I felt cashed, as I should have, and as Zach reminded me after I waited a minute and tried to rep more out only to fail.

It was successful though in that I was given another way to try and improve my presses so that I can finally break that 37 barrier. And as I went to set up for the metcon, I felt more confident and aware of what I needed to do in order to improve.

The metcon we did today consisted of the following:

10 Cleans (60 kg/40 kg)
50 Sit ups
8 Cleans
40 Sit ups
6 Cleans
30 Sit ups
4 Cleans
20 Sit ups
2 Cleans
10 Sit ups

I did the workout at the prescribed women's weight (40 kg) and finished in a little over eleven minutes. I was shooting for sub-eleven; however, seeing how cleans and I are not BFF's, I was incapable of doing so. My quads were wrecked after doing the first five (The first five! I'm blaming Angie...) and then I kept worrying about my form.

I want to be better at cleans (like really, really want to be better at cleans). However, I think I'm just going to have to practice them before and/or after class in order to really get that form down, so that I can (hopefully) crush WODs like this in the future.

Anyhow, it's another week down, another WOD down, and it's on to Team Saturday tomorrow.

An Ode to Angie

2009-09-29T22:21:00.010-05:00

To my dear friend, Angie,
whom I saw earlier today.
Your presence was unnerving
and made me want to run away.

Pull ups by the dozens? And
a hundred push ups to follow?
Before forcing me to do sit ups
that make my core feel far from hollow?

And to top it off with squats,
when my body already feels like jelly.
It'd be okay if it weren't for time,
and if you weren't a b*&^# about me being smelly.

I can't help it that I sweat a lot and
that my hands started to bleed.
It was my first time RX'd tonight;
this isn't the support I need.

I know that my pull ups and push ups
could be much stronger,
and that I should have repped through my squats faster
instead of sandbagging and taking longer.

But everyone was watching me
and I felt a bit self-conscious.
Not to mention, a little aggravated I was the last one standing
and feeling a bit nauseous.

Nonetheless, I persevered
and finished in just over thirty,
falling to the floor,
feeling sweaty, bloody and dirty.

You are one nasty girl, Angie;
I think you scare me more than Fran.
Now please leave me alone for awhile,
so that I can take care of my torn hands.

A Short CrossFit Fairy Tale

2009-09-28T21:58:00.005-05:00

Once upon a time (today), we did the following WODS; this is how I did:

Overhead Squats
3-2-1-1-1

30-35(1)-35(2)-37.2-40

"Isabel"
30 snatches for time

5:22 at 35 kg

To be brief I still need to work on my form. In regards to the OH Squats, I need to focus on locking out elbows and my core rather than worrying about my squat form so much. As for the snatches, I need to really focus on my pulls, jumping the bar overhead and dropping underneath it (weird I would have that problem with dropping underneath it *screws face up into fake confusion*). However, I was practicing my snatch form a little bit after the WOD and, strangely enough, they felt stronger than when I was actually doing the workout. Apparently my fairy godmother was helping me out after the fact, which I suppose is okay.

The End.

Brittany World in Five Minutes or Less

2009-09-25T09:37:00.005-05:00

Remember awhile back when I mentioned that school was taking over my life? Well, it has not really gotten any better and may not for at least another week. As a result, I figured I would give you all a crash course in what's happening in "Brittany World" since I haven't been as diligent as I would like to be with my blog lately. So here has what has happened to me this past week in five minutes or less.

Saturday: I ran a 10k. My goal was to run the race in somewhere between 45 and 50 minutes; I finished in 55 minutes exactly. Needless to say, I was less than pleased. Throughout the entire race, my feet and legs were heavy. I was never able to find a good (and/or comfortable) pace; instead, I felt drudged down and tired. Lucky for me, my mom's apple pie made me feel better.

Sunday: I took a rest day and spent the majority of it driving seven plus hours back home from my parents' house in Minnesota. I also ate like crap. I'll chalk it up to emotional eating from my less than stellar performance in the 10k and my lackluster "I'm on vacation" claim.

Monday: I went to the Fort. We completed push presses; my highest was 50, which I'm not sure if it was a PR or not. We also did seven rounds of 10 box jumps (30") and 10 SDHP (30kg). I finished the WOD in 5:48 and thought I was pretty bad ass because I thought I had beat Stacy. Then I realized that she had done 35 instead of 30 and I was immediately humbled. I also did not recognize that I had, in fact, made it back from vacation because I did eat some cake. Whoops.

Tuesday: We worked on our snatches. Like last time, Stephanie and I shared a bar (even though she can lift far more than me). I did reps of 3-2-1-1-1. I completed 30-35-40-40-and then failed at 42.2 before moving onto the WOD, which as three 6:00 AMRAP rounds of 25 double unders, 10 sprawls and a 100 meter sprint. I was able to complete three full rounds each time as well as about fifteen double unders (give or take a few). I was also able to get my puffy butt back on my diet. Hello - better eating.

Wednesday: I had every intention of going to the early morning class but then decided it would be more to my benefit to go to school early. The result? A rest day. It was also a good food day too.

Thursday: I went to the state park across the way since I wouldn't be able to make it into the Fort. I turned on Phil (my iPod + Nike guy who talks to me and records my time). According to Phil, I ran 6 miles in 50 minutes. Now why didn't I do that last week? Ugh.

Oh. I ate well yesterday too. It feels good to be back on the perimeter and out of sugary, puffiness Hades.

Friday aka Today: I'm currently grading papers and deciding what WOD I will do on my own if I have time before going to my other job. I'll let you know what happens.

Okay... so that's all I got for you. I would have made an exciting video for all of you to watch regarding my week but that would have taken more than ten minutes and I unfortunately have to go back to grading papers. See you all later.

America Runs on Dunkin'...

2009-09-18T08:00:00.006-05:00

Wanted: The "Hunger" Monster (and donuts)

...and I run on beef and eggs, more or less. (I apologize; I bought a black coffee at Dunkin' Donuts this morning and the label is almost literally staring me in the face). Although I have been continually keeping track of my calories this past week on the DailyPlate. I'll just let you in on how I've been feeling lately.

Honestly, I feel pretty dang fantastic. Although I've been having some major cravings lately (let's just say it's a woman's issue), I have managed to stay relatively far away from that furry orange creature they've labeled as "hunger" on the Weight Watchers commercials (see above) and limited my indulgences to almond butter and 85% dark chocolate (both of which I might add are delicious). I've also somehow managed to stay on a regular eating schedule. I've fasted every day this week so far for at least twelve hours in between eating times.

Personally, I like fasting. I get to eat a lot and then I don't have to worry about food for awhile. My random teaching/working schedule sort of works well with this method. I think this is because when I'm at school, I would rather focus on school and catching up on my work (Because let's be honest: No one actually likes to grade papers when they have the opportunity to do, well, anything else beside grade papers). Regardless, I think things are working out pretty well and that I am seeing some difference (albeit very little) even though I refuse to weigh myself.

Now you're probably wondering: Why would she refuse to weigh herself? Isn't that part of the challenge? Well, yes it is, but I would rather wait to weigh myself until absolutely necessary. I have a tendency to obsess over my weight (like really obsess) whenever I weigh myself because it is never low enough for my liking. As a result, I try to go by how I feel rather than what the number says on the scale. It's my way of keeping my sanity.

Anyhow, that is how my eating habits have been lately. I should also mention that I did the burpee/running WOD yesterday morning in my front yard. It was horrible, and by horrible, I mean kind of awesome.

The Rundown

2009-09-16T20:52:00.007-05:00

It's official: School is taking over my life. As a result, I have not had a lot of time to write my blog. So... here's the rundown on this past week:

Friday, I did "Helen" prescribed for the first time. I completed the WOD in 11:18. Needless to say, I was very excited.

Team Saturday, we did 200 meter partner carry and then three rounds of 2:00 of muscle-ups, power cleans (bw), and air squats and then another 200 meter buddy carry. Lisa and I teamed up for this and she was nice enough to carry me for about 300 meters. In the end though, we did not come out on top but we did get 200 reps. Yay for us.

Sunday, I played with my new toy I received for my birthday. My toy, the iPod+Nike chip, fits within my new kicks and measures my pace, calories, distance, etc. It even lets me play a power song to get me going (bet you can't guess what it is...) Anyhow, I decided to jog a 3K, which I completed in a little less than 15 minutes. After running my 3K, I decided that it wasn't enough and then jogged for an extra 20 minutes. According to Phil (the voice on my iPod), I ran 2.5 miles. I'm not going to argue with him.

Monday, we did two rounds of 500 meter row and AMRAP pull-ups. Essentially, we were paired with someone and competed against them. While one person rowed, the other did pull-ups and vice versa. Jennie and I were partnered up (guess, who won?) My rows were far from impressive (around 2:00 each) and I was able to crank out 20 pull-ups both rounds (which I was fairly happy with considering pull-ups are my arch nemesis).

Tuesday, we first did overhead squats [OH squats] (3-3-3) before moving onto "Karen." True to form, while OH squatting, I nearly dropped the bar on my head and fell on my ass. However, I did OH squat 25-30-35 kg. I'm not even sure if 35 kg is a PR or not. Personally, I was just glad that I was able to practice my snatch form.

Onto "Karen." Also true to form, I lost count, got confused, and I'm almost positive that I did at least 10 extra reps. Regardless of my counting ability, I did manage to crank out the workout (however many reps I did) in 10:00, which was 1:46 better than my previous time.

Finally on Tuesday (Tuesday was a big day for me), I did a rowing WOD. I completed three rounds of 1:00 on, 1:00 off, 1:00 on, 1:00 off, 1:00 on, and 1:00 off. All in all I rowed 2252 meters (or something like that).

Today (Wednesday), I took a rest day. I wanted to workout in the morning but, like I said in the beginning, school has taken over my life. Instead, I decided to read student papers rather than CrossFitting. Of course, I would have preferred to do the latter but you can't always get what you want.

Food Update

2009-09-12T11:44:00.003-05:00

Friday Foods
Here's the low down on what I ate yesterday. These are all approximate values.

21 whole almonds
burrito bowl (extra chicken, guacamole, hot salsa, iceberg lettuce)
1/2 cup veggies (yellow squash, green/red pepper, zucchini)
1/2 lb burger w/blue cheese
2 slices of bacon
2 paleo margaritas
2 regular margaritas

Saturday Foods
Again, all of these are estimates:

1/4 cup whole almonds
3 eggs
2 tbsp of guacamole
3 oz of sausage
1 oz hamburger
1/4 cup strawberries
1/2 cup blueberries
1/4 cup chili
mixed nuts w/raisins
2 paleo margaritas
1 Irish car bomb (thanks, guys)

Fell Down Seven Times, Got Up Eight

2009-09-09T22:00:00.000-05:00

Today was not a good day for me CrossFit-wise. For some reason or another I was just exhausted when I arrived at the Fort, and it didn't help that I wasn't exactly mentally prepared for the tasks laid out in front of me: 2000 meter row time trial (9:03.2 = absolutely terrible for me), three sets of five weighted ring dips (2.5kg - 5kg - 10kg (PR)) and nine rounds of nine body rows and nine push ups (10:02). It actually wasn't until I was done with the WOD that I actually felt a little more energetic and felt up for more strength and skill work; however, since it was getting late and I didn't want to interrupt the Ramp-Up class going on, I decided to go home.

On my drive home I contemplated my performance, going back and forth between scolding myself and reassuring myself that I was trying to change my diet and that everyone has their (in my case, really) bad days. However, my mule streak kicked in (thanks Grandma) and I decided that I would have to do an additional rowing WOD to take back my title as well as put myself up there on board for weighted ring dips. I know it doesn't seem like much but it makes me feel better about the whole situation.

"Now stick out your butt like: 'Haaaay!'"

2009-09-09T21:09:00.002-05:00

When I arrived at the Fort yesterday for the ladies class, my eyes were immediately drawn to the strength workout: Snatches. All perverted humor aside, I was actually excited to try this. I had never done the movement before, so when Jennie began going over the form, I was paying close attention.

She broke down the movement, starting with the high pulls and then overhead squat position before putting it all together. Jennie really emphasized sticking out your butt when starting, in a position I would now like to deem as the "Haaay! Position." I digress though.

We did 3-2-1-1-1 reps of Power Snatches. I completed three reps at 25, two at 30, failed twice at 35 (the first time because my grip was too wide and the second because I fell backward when I was dropping underneath) and then completed my last single rep at 35 (about time!). Needless to say, I was determined to get that 35, especially since the weight didn't seem all that heavy. Once again, it was my form holding me back. As it seems I may have the same problem with my snatch (seriously, get your mind out of the gutter) as I do with my clean and push jerks: I still need to drop under the dang bar. Regardless though, I liked the movement and am excited to keep working on it.

As for the actual WOD, we did the following:

Five rounds for time:

15 deadlifts (50% of your single rep max = 50kg)

30 double unders

My time? Nine minutes, which I was relatively pleased with. It helped tremendously that I repped entirely through both movements my first round and was able to crank out at ten deadlifts each subsequent round (except for the last one where all I did was nine) and primarily sets of 10-20 on my double unders. Of course, there were moments where I didn't get 10-20 reps and was only able to complete sets of five or so, but those moments were few and far between. I actually felt good about my jumping rope ability yesterday.

Anyhow, in the end it was a good quick metcon, and just for the record (*cough* Tommy Mo *cough*), there was no sandbagging involved.

All of us lovely ladies posing for the camera.

All us lovely ladies ready to dead lift

On another note: Mariah just came back for her first CrossFit WOD since she had her baby. Welcome back!

The Better Body Challenge

2009-09-09T12:14:00.003-05:00

I've decided to take on CrossFit Fire's 60-Day Better Body Challenge. So... as a result, I've decided to let you all know what I am eating, which I would rather not do but whatever. It's part of the rules, so I guess I will follow suit on this one.

I've give you just a general overview of what I'm trying to accomplish. Essentially, I'm working on leaning out rather than losing weight. As a result, I am trying to follow the fat/carb/protein/calorie ratios that Bill laid out for me this past spring, with one exception: I'm trying to limit my carb intake to about 20 or so. I will probably end up asking Bill for more advice on this or to reconfigure my ratios, but for the time being, my ratios look something like this: 113 grams of fat; 45 net carbs; 81 grams of protein; 1521 calories total.

If you want to check out what it is I'm eating, feel free to look at my profile on The Daily Plate. It's got all my dirty details up there. Also, if you have any good recipe suggestions, feel free to send them my way. I like to try new things when I get the chance. Also, any advice as to how to incorporate more fat into my diet would be helpful as well. Wow... I never thought I would ever say that...

One last thing: One of my co-workers brought homemade zucchini bread to work today. It looks delicious, don't get me wrong, and when she offered me some, I felt bad telling her that I don't eat bread. Her response? "That's not good." My response? Nothing. I didn't feel like getting in a nutritional debate with a PhD.

Food Update

2009-09-07T19:35:00.003-05:00

I have been SO good all week and then today I crumbled: I had a piece of key lime pie.

Dangit.

Back to the drawing board.

Monday Funday

2009-09-07T19:05:00.003-05:00

For Labor Day, we did a special team challenge for Monday's WOD:

1 mile run
Seven rounds for time:

10 weighted walking lunges (20 kg/15 kg)
5 burpees

1 mile run

Well, I was excited when I saw this workout. There's no reason to explain why. To prepare for Monday Funday, I warmed up by rowing 500 meters, cut the sleeves off my tshirt, slipped on my new kicks (thanks boyfriend) and teamed up with Tommy Mo. Our strategy? Go as fast as you can and try to keep up with The Show.

When Bill gave us the 3-2-1-Go!, Tom and I were off. I started out ahead of Tom but he quickly made his way past me. I then spent the rest of first mile trying to catch and then pass Sparky, which I managed to do both. I'm not sure how fast our first mile was and I'm kind of sad about that because I would have liked to know whether or not it was sub-seven.

In regards to the walking lungs and burpees, well, they were just what they were. The burpees allowed for a little bit of rest and the walking lunges took a dueling on my legs. Fortunately Tom was counting and we finished them sooner rather than later. All we had left then was catch up with The Garth Show and Matty-Lo.

The first 200 meters or so of that second mile run sucked. My quads were tight and I was having difficulty keeping form on my run. I could actually feel myself heel striking. However, soon enough my legs started to loosen up and I was on the move again. Tom quickly moved out ahead of me, which left me trying to keep him in my sights throughout the rest of the run.

I'm not sure how long the second mile took either but unfortunately Tom and I were not able to catch Garth and Matt. I pulled into the Fort at 22:07, almost two minutes after the speed demons, and then fell to the floor in order to celebrate second place and the fact that we were done.

Personally, I think my new shoes helped my run with the big boys; I felt that fast.

Team Barbara

2009-09-07T18:57:00.004-05:00

Saturday was "Team Barbara":

In teams of two, complete seven rounds of the following:

20 pull ups
30 push ups
40 sit ups
50 squats

*Only one person may be working at a time.
*Reps may be distributed however the team sees fit.

Bill put Super Dave and I on the same team. Our strategy? Go until we need to stop, and then switch. While we kept to this throughout the WOD, we both tended to stick with our strengths. Dave did more pull ups and push ups while I did more squats and sit ups.

In the beginning, it seemed that we had a pretty fair lead on all the other teams but then out of nowhere Tom and Jamie caught up and passed us. I'm blaming round three or four when Dave and I had some minor counting problems. It just goes to show you that every second counts. Regardless, it was a good WOD and Super Dave and I were able to finish second.

Friday Goods

2009-09-05T21:12:00.009-05:00

Thursday was Kilo's birthday and, as a result, he was able to pick the WOD for the following day. I'm not sure if he saw this WOD somewhere or if it was of his own creation, but it was awesome. We started out with some deadlifting, three sets of five (65-75-85), before moving onto the following:

Kilo's BDay WOD

With a 400 meter run in between each three rounds:

3 rounds for time:
7 deadlifts
7 box jumps

3 rounds for time:
5 deadlifts
5 box jumps

3 rounds for time:
3 deadlifts
3 box jumps

Like I said, "awesome," right? Well, I thought it was. Deadlifting, box jumps and runs are all good in my book; however, I was a bit hesitant to go too heavy during the WOD because I didn't have a whole lot of energy (It had been awhile since I had eaten, let's just say that). As a result, I did not go at the 85% of my five rep max that day (72 kg). Instead, I went with 60 kg so I wouldn't be completely gassed round four and so that I would be done in the 15-20 minute cut off period.

During the WOD, I'm not sure if it was actually the lack of food, if it was completely mental, if it was just the workout itself, or if it was all of the above, but the weight started to get to me more than I would have liked. In the end, I finished the WOD in a little over twelve minutes, and then I went home and ate. I had a good breakfast (some eggs and sausage... yummy); I had had a good workout. Friday was a good day.

Bawl Baby

2009-09-03T10:39:00.007-05:00

I went to the Fort Wednesday for the routine WOD, and I have to admit that my performance was not nearly as exciting as our visitor Jar_n 's (insert your vowel here; I don't want to spell his name incorrectly). I can't deadlift so much weight that the bar is bending. Jennie and I even tried to pick it up together and it was a no go; however, I digress.

On Wednesday, started with the push jerk (3-2-1-1-1) before we did this little number:

AMRAP in 12:00:

5 handstand push ups [HSPU]
10 body rows
15 heavy kettlebell swings (32 kg/24 kg)

As far as the push jerks go, I did 35-40 - 45 - 50 - 52.2 kg, which was a PR for me. I'm not sure if I could have done 55 or not, my form is not the best on my push jerks. I have the same problem with them thatI do with my cleans: I need to quit being such a baby and drop under the bar more.

In regards to the WOD, I was able to complete five rounds plus five HSPUs, ten body rows and ten kettlebell swings. I did my first round of HSPU with just the 25 kilo plate below my head. I repped through them but knew I would be struggling (and I was afraid that I would face plant into the plate: I have issues with looking through my handstands) if I tried to maintain that depth, so after a rep or two my first round I put the ab mat on top of my plate. Unfortunately, it was then too easy. I should have gone back to using just the plate at that point but the fear of crushing my face took over and I stuck with the ab mat.

As far as kettlebell swings go, I also have some form issues, which were easily remedied. I wasn't bending over far enough, and I appreciated Bill correcting my form during the WOD because it helped with that 20 kg bell.

In regards to the body rows - well, they were body rows. I did them. I got through them and really don't have much to say about that. Overall though, it was a good workout. I just wish I hadn't sandbagged on the HSPUs. I'm such a baby.

Row, Thrust & Jump

2009-09-02T15:29:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I went into the Fort after my afternoon class to complete my first rowing WOD for the week. Essentially it was "Tabata Rowing," where you complete a number of rounds (I did eight), twenty seconds on and ten seconds off.

My score looked something like this: 98-96-92-89-88-87-87-88. Let me tell you, I was struggling with the rows after the fourth round. When I hit 92, I promised myself that I wouldn't go below 90. Well... as we can see that did not happen; however, I was glad that I at least kept my numbers in the high 80's. Overall though, I'm not going to lie: It kind of sucked and I wish that I had had someone there rowing beside me. Perhaps, if I someone else had been there beside me, then I wouldn't have dropped below 90.

After I finished my little rowing excursion, I set out to complete some heavy thrusters (35 - 40 - 45) before moving on to the following metcon:

10 Thrusters (60 kg/40 kg)
50 Double Unders
8 Thrusters
40 Double Unders
6 Thrusters
30 Double Unders
4 Thrusters
20 Double Unders
2 Thrusters
10 Double Unders

Well, I did the prescribed women's weight (40 kg). I'm not sure if I was overzealous or what, but it was heavy. It is weight... Anyhow, I kind of struggled with my thrusters, particularly after my first round. I'll be honest, I did a lot of one, two and three rep sets. After the first ten, I was simply unable to string together more than that.

On the other end of the spectrum, my double unders felt okay. They are improving, which is all I can really hope for. I've been focusing more on using my wrists rather than my shoulders and have seen quite a bit of improvement, although the most I am able to string together is about twenty, give or take a few. Regardless, improvement is improvement.

At the end of the day, I finished this metcon in 12:03, which I'll live with because I have too. I suppose I'll just have to keep working on my superhero status.

Day 2: No Sugar Challenge

2009-09-02T10:26:00.001-05:00

I ate a dried cranberry and some berries. Does that mean I lost? Please say "no..."

Dammit! I'm so weak.

Cleaning with Frustration

2009-09-01T08:12:00.006-05:00

When I walked into the Fort last night, I knew exactly what to expect. The boyfriend (Matt: Look at that Tom. I gave him a name. *Smiles*) gave me the heads up on the WOD, most likely to help me wrap my head around it. As most of you know, I put my cleaning ability right up there with my pull ups; however, when I walked into the Fort that day, I was determined to clean 50 kg, a weight that has been alluding me for some time now.

The strength workout was 3-2-1-1-1 of power cleans. I did three reps of 35 kg; two reps of 40; one rep at 45; one rep at 47.2 and then moved onto 50. I stepped up, took a deep breath, told myself that I was going clean 50 kg, and then set up for a new PR. Then my lack of form stepped in. My problem this time wasn't dropping under the bar or my elbows but rather I didn't jump high enough and pulled my arms into the scarecrow position too soon. In the end, my new PR was actually an EPIC FAIL. It was frustrating and so I decided to channel that frustration into the metcon.

The metcon also included cleans, this time hang power cleans. The metcon consisted of:

7 rounds for time:

3 cleans (85% of PR = 40kg)
6 box jumps (mid-thigh = 26")
200 meter sprints

Essentially, I wanted this workout over and done with. I was annoyed with my lack of results during the strength WOD; I had a headache and was just generally not in the best of the moods. It didn't help that I felt like I had someone screaming in my ear throughout the duration of the workout. It also didn't help that after I finished I realized that my box was only 22" instead of 24" like I had thought, and so my box jumps were not as tall as I wanted. Regardless, I finished the WOD in due time, in a little over fifteen minutes, 15:11 to be exact. It was a tough one and I was glad when it was over.

On a side note, I will get that 50 kg clean if it kills me. Seriously.

Day 1: No Sugar Challenge

2009-09-01T08:07:00.002-05:00

Day 1 has a checkmark beside it. Woo hoo. Onto Day 2...

Team Bug Zappers

2009-08-31T16:00:00.000-05:00

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.

2009-08-30T19:43:00.004-05:00

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"

2009-08-28T14:48:00.007-05:00

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

2009-08-28T14:18:00.006-05:00

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

2009-08-25T21:31:00.012-05:00

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

2009-08-23T17:26:00.013-05:00

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.

2009-08-21T11:25:00.009-05:00

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:

It was cold, windy and it looked like rain, and I did not feel like being outside or potentially getting caught in a rainstorm.
As a result of number one, I did want to go to the park, run outside, etc.
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.
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

2009-08-20T21:17:00.011-05:00

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

2009-08-18T12:52:00.012-05:00

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"

2009-08-17T09:05:00.010-05:00

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

2009-08-15T08:18:00.020-05:00

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

2009-08-13T20:02:00.011-05:00

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

2009-08-11T15:30:00.004-05:00

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)

2009-08-10T10:48:00.010-05:00

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

2009-08-07T13:02:00.009-05:00

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.

2009-08-05T17:02:00.009-05:00

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

2009-08-05T06:55:00.012-05:00

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

2009-08-04T07:06:00.016-05:00

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.

A Run with The Garth Show

2009-07-31T10:30:00.001-05:00

I told The Garth Show about my running excursion the other day and suggested that we take a field trip with some people to check out the trail sometime. Garth is very enthusiastic about taking on - well - pretty much everything CrossFit related but he's also a strong runner. I figured he would probably be up for a challenging run and would also probably help me trick others into going as well. So when I told him about the trail, he was up for it - but he also posed his own challenge, a trail, which amounts to about a 10K, at one of the nearby state parks, 6 am, this Thursday (yesterday).

Now I was a bit hesitant simply because I have been running too much lately and realize I need to be working on other things; however, I've never really been one to step down from a challenge either. I guess in this case the id won out because there I was 6 am sharp, standing in a wooded parking lot, getting ready to run with The Show.

I was standing there, one of my earbuds when Garth asked me if I was ready. I kind of nodded, still a little distracted by my music, and he took off. Not to be left behind so early in the game, I began running and fidgeting with my music as I ran. Once I found the appropriate playlist, I focused all my attention on keeping time with him.

During the run, I felt that I did a fair job of keeping up with him, although there were times where I was worried that I was slowing him down; however, he kept me going at a good pace, especially during the many hills we tackled on the way. Overall, it was a good run and a good track. We punched out 5.6 miles or a 9K in about 45 minutes. Of course, he finished ahead of me (was there ever any doubt?) but I was able to be right there behind him. It wasn't as an eventful run as my run the other day but it was a great workout, and we both decided that we'll take on the Lake Geneva trail someday too - just to mix things up a bit.

Now: No. More. Running (at least for a little bit...)

Feeling Dirty?

2009-07-30T08:14:00.007-05:00

When I looked at Tommy Mo's blog yesterday and saw that they did "The Filthy Fifty" at the Fort, I decided it was time for a little visit. Despite the fact that "The Filthy Fifty" is a tough workout, it is actually one of my favorites (I know... Crazy, right?). I enjoy chipper workouts though because once you finish that movement - you're done with it. There are sometimes when I'm going through however many rounds in WODs and the last thing I want to do is 21 more burpees or 30 more cleans, but I digress. Here is the outline for yesterday's WOD:

"The Filthy Fifty"

50 Box Jumps (24")
50 Jumping Pull-Ups
50 Kettlebell Swings (16K/12K)
50 Walking Lunges
50 Knees to Elbows
50 Push Presses (20K/15K)
50 Back Extensions
50 Wall Ball Shots (20LB/14LB)
50 Burpees
50 Double Unders

Well, let me just tell you how this went down. I completed the WOD as prescribed. My pacing throughout the box jumps went well and it was similar in regards to my walking lunges. I flew through my first 25 reps of my jumping pull ups and then nearly repped through the remaining 25; it was a similar situation in regards to both my push presses and back extensions. I did rep through my kettlebell swings (heck yes!). My double unders were okay, but I needed to push through them faster. Then there was the knees to elbows (K2E), wall balls and burpees.

Remember that wall I ran into before during that other WOD? Well, I bumped into it on my K2E, ran straight into the damn thing on my wall balls and then did it again on my burpees. My form on K2E's could have been a little better; they were decent but I wasn't focusing on laces to bars as much as I should have; instead I was focusing on not swinging (I'm not sure which is more important, but it's most likely the former). As for the wall balls, I don't know what happened except that I hit a wall at this point in the WOD last time. Guess, I need to focus on my wall balls, especially the pacing, because I unfortunately cannot rep through those beasts like Tommy Mo. As for the burpees... Well, I think Matty-Lo was absolutely right when he said: "Those are the worst 50 burpees you will ever do." And just like Forrest Gump said: "That's all I have to say about that."

In the end I finished in 32:19, which I felt okay with since I improved from 33:05. I had wanted to reach 30:00 mark but it may have been wishful thinking. Next time though, next time things will really get dirty.

Happy Trails to Me

2009-07-28T09:00:00.001-05:00

I'll just say it: I know I've been running too much lately. Last week, I did sprints and a 5K, and I usually jog a mile as part of my warm up. I plan on mixing it up a little more but I had the opportunity to do a challenging run yesterday that I could not pass up, so please be kind.

My mom is currently visiting from Minnesota, and so my aunt and her were heading up to Lake Geneva, WI, to take a boat tour of the lake. Yesterday, they had spent part of the day in LG too but had walked the shore path, which is 26 miles around the lake. Now, I remember this path. I walked the entire route once before back when I was younger and stupider, and it's a combination of perfectly manicured lawns, beaches, stone paths, concrete walkways, dirt trails through woods, and a whole lot of hills; there are beautiful houses to look at, boats to pine over, people to dodge, rocks and trees to jump over and stairs to run up. It's 26 miles of walking/running heaven or hell, depending on your point of view. But what got me was that the trail aspect of it. I am sick of running on asphalt/tracks/concrete - and being older and stupider, I decided I needed something different and something different was exactly what I got.

I should preface that I actually have no real record of how far I ran. The trail is not necessarily marked very well and I do not own a pedameter, but I do believe I ran at least six miles total (to and from) based on one sign I saw. My point was though was to run for a half an hour and then turn around to meet my aunt and my mom back at the docks. It was far from your typical CrossFit WOD because I do not know necessarily how far I ran or how much time it took me (I forgot to turn off my stopwatch when I finished); however, I wanted to test out the trail before trying to con other people into coming out there with me, and test it out I did. Here is a list of what happened to me while on and after my run:

I ran through some pleasant boggy areas; my shoes and socks are now coated in mud;

I nearly ran over a couple of walkers, a gardener and an elderly gentleman taking pictures;
I tripped over a loose rock on a patio and fell down. Luckily, only my pride was wounded and not my hands or the knee I landed on;

I got lost and ended running at least an extra 200 meters at least both up and then downhill;
A bee stung me. In all my 25 years, I had never been stung by a bee until yesterday. Seriously, that sucker came out of nowhere and it hurt. (Stupid bee.)

When I finished, I walked up to my mom and aunt, who promptly told me that they had found some nice summer dresses I needed to try on. I'm sure that the workers at the store were absolutely thrilled when the sweaty/dirty girl in knee highs walked through the door. Luckily (for both the store owners and for me), we bought everything I tried on (Yay for new clothes).

So there you have it. It was a fairly eventful run and morning, and I'll probably go back once I figure out the exact mileage, have a specific time to go for, and when it gets a little cooler so I don't get attacked by more bees.

The Side Show & Some Notes on "Cindy"

2009-07-26T11:15:00.012-05:00

I've become a frequent visitor to one of the parks in my current place of residence. I haven't spent this much time at a park since I was lifeguard two summers ago, but just like when I was a kid, it's proving to be a good time. Now, I use the term "good" loosely primarily because I'm frequenting the playground to get in a WOD, which means I'm trying to kick my own ass. Aside from this - the monkey bars are great for pull ups; there are some tires set up that I can use for agility drills; there's a nice running route; some bleachers for running stairs. I'm not going to lie; it's a pretty decent setup. My only complaint is the strange looks I seem to get from those who encounter me.

Granted I don't particularly pay attention to my spectators when I'm focusing on my kip or trying to get full extension on my push ups; however, it's those moments in between when the sweat is dripping into my eyes and I'm staring up at those monkey bars that I just want to focus on cranking out more pull ups. For example, the other day, this same situation occurred; however, instead of focusing, I was distracted by the five year old who just got off the slide, looked at me and said: "Grandpa, what is that lady doing?"

"Cindy," I replied under my breath before jumping up and doing a few more pull ups and the moving on to my push ups. "I'm doing 'Cindy.'"

Now had I not been in the middle of the workout, I may have smiled at him and told him I was just working on improving my pull ups, told him they make you stronger, all that nicey nice stuff. The problem is that I'm sure I didn't particularly look all that nice while I was working out - not unless you think sweat, dirt and grass stains are the newest look for fall (hey, to each their own) - and I'm sure my smiling at him probably would have made the grandpa make a beeline for the car rather came off as a friendly gesture. Regardless, I'm assuming that I probably made their trip to the park a little more interesting, even if I was the side show.

On another note: About Cindy. Cindy is another workout that helps you measure progress. I met Cindy at my very first day of CrossFit, and let me tell you, I've come a long way. When I began CrossFit, I was using the green band for pull ups and didn't get much depth on my push ups. When I did Cindy the other day, however many glorious months later, I did the workout prescribed and completed ten full rounds plus five pull ups and eight push ups. It was nothing spectacular but compared to where I was when I began and my ongoing battle with pull ups, I was okay with this; at least I broke double digits. I only wish that I had at least reached twelve rounds. Guess, I'll just have to push myself a little harder next time.

July 21st = Good Day

2009-07-22T09:47:00.007-05:00

What's that? Yesterday was fabulous? How right you are.

I'll keep this brief. Yesterday was terrific for three reasons and only one was non-CrossFit related:

I got another teaching gig at one of the local colleges (Huge for me and for obvious reasons).
I ran a 5K in 23:12, a time that was almost three and a half minutes faster than than the previous leading female time on the record board.
I made the record board for doing seven pull ups in a row, which I know is nothing compared to a lot of people - but it's a big deal for me, so lay off, okay? Just let me enjoy my moment.

Now I'm done patting myself on the back, and I'll get back to practicing things I'm bad at (i.e. more pull ups, cleans, push ups, presses, etc.). It's not as fun, but what can ya do?

Progress Report #1

2009-07-21T12:47:00.007-05:00

So you're probably wondering how my no grain/no sugar challenge is going. Let me tell you...

It's not.

When I began the challenge, I was rockin' it. I made it through the first week relatively crabby-free. It was when the weekend rolled around and my friend in the City beckoned me to come down for the margaritas and Mexican food that began my eventual sugared/carbohydrated demise.

I am exaggerating a bit when I say "demise." It's not like I've gone sugar/carb crazy and began stuffing my face with Cheetos and chocolate chip cookies. On the contrary, cutting grains out my diet has been the easiest part of the challenge; however, summertime and Summer Shandy go well together, especially on weekends. It's not that I drink a lot or even very often anymore but it's still enough that I can tell a difference in how I feel and how I look.

The same is true in regards to the sugar. Although I did indulge a bit this past weekend, my sugar related problems have otherwise been limited to the meat, marinades and spice rubs that I've been cooking with. I know this seems otherwise inconsequential, but I can tell a difference between the first week of my challenge versus this past week and realize that I need to get back on track.

I realize that I may be trying to do too much, especially since I am trying to count calories too, and this may be part of my problem. I also realize that my home is not entirely Paleo friendly either, which also adds to the difficulty of the situation; however, in the end, unless you're Super Dave (who cut everything cold turkey), changing your diet is hard. Moreover, it takes time to phase things out, and in that respect, I feel that I'm doing okay. I've phased out grains (bread, pasta, cereal, etc.) and almost all dairy (I do eat cheese on occasion) and other processed foods. So in that respect, all is not lost. Now all I have to do is focus on fine-tuning, which I think can be the most difficult part since it's often easy to overlook minor details.

Now, I am in no way done with the challenge because I am trying to think long-term here; however, I am going to try and do better at taking this challenge more day by day and to not beat myself up if I screw up. Instead, I'll focus more on getting back on the wagon and getting back to where I felt fantastic.

The CrossFit Continuation of Awesome

2009-07-20T08:57:00.014-05:00

Three things:

I went to the Fort this past Saturday for "Team Saturday."
We did the Stadium WOD from the CF Games.
It was awesome.

We started out with a short 800 meter run, mobility drills and some burpees because The Garth Show failed to introduce himself to Darryl, a visiting CrossFitter from Buffalo, New York. We then we all waited anxiously as Bill determined the teams.

I turned out to be pretty lucky that The Show failed to introduce himself to Darryl because I ended up being on a team with him, and I wouldn't have remembered his name otherwise. Jeff and Stephanie rounded out the rest of our team, and I was feeling pretty confident about our chances. All the teams seemed pretty evenly matched.

After everyone was sorted into their respective teams, set up began. It took longer than I think anyone anticipated; for some reason there were mix ups with where teams were competing and so on. Regardless, we got it all sorted out and were soon in our places to begin the workout. Just as a reminder, the Stadium WOD consisted of:

Stadium WOD

30 Wallballs (20lbs/14lbs)

THEN

Row 300m
30 Box jumps (24")
30 KB swings (24kg/16kg)
30 Push press / Push jerk (40lbs/25lb)

THEN

30 Deadlifts (225lbs/135lbs)

Since there were a limited number of 20 lb wall balls, we did a stagger start with the teams. My team was one that started later; however, when we got the 3-2-1-Go!, Stephanie was off, repping through those wall balls like a mad woman. I was the next to go, then Jeff, and then Darryl. We were all there cheering each other on throughout, driving each other to do better. It was your typical CrossFit continuation of awesome.

After finishing the wall ball portion of the WOD, we moved onto our respective stations. I went from rowing, to box jumps, to push presses, to kettlebell swings. Out of all the exercises I was most pleased with my kettlebell swings and push presses. I almost repped through both exercises. I was less pleased with my box jumps and rowing. I was able to get a good string of about 12 box jumps in and then ended up having to stop every so many reps rather than pushing right through. As for the row, I'm not sure what I was doing there, but I know I could have rowed faster. Then came the deadlifts.

I love deadlifts. They are by far my favorite lift, and I felt pretty good about my pacing throughout, especially since I hadn't done them in awhile. I only had to stop twice and it was due more to my grip rather than feeling overly tired. Stephanie, on the other hand, was like "Psh. Who stops on their deadlifts?" and then repped right through all 30 of those beasts.

When we called "time," I was proud of my own and especially my team's performance. Stephanie had been a deadlift machine; at one point, I saw Jeff popping that kettlebell up like it was nobody's business, and I remember looking over at Darryl while I was rowing and thinking, "Daaaaaaaaaammmmnnnn." Let me tell you, Darryl took out those push presses faster than a mugger in Central Park. It was awesome. What made it even better though was that these were the only things I witnessed from my own team. The other teams were equally intense and focused.

On other teams, I saw Zach, Jennie, Beth and Stacy all crushing the deadlifts; I witnessed Tommy Mo and Super Dave flying through the wall balls, and got to watch Jessica and Garth cranking it out on the rower. All around, everyone did a phenomenal job. It was great to see such intesity and hard work from everyone.

After all was said and done though, it wasn't until I was writing down the WOD on a stolen piece of paper (my book is at home), that I noticed that my team had won with the time of 18: 12. I do believe that my response was: "Wow... We won." All nonchalant and such. It felt good though, and I must admit, we look pretty good holding that belt too.

Jeff, Stephanie, Me, & Darryl

Brit's Paleo Kitchen

2009-07-16T14:48:00.013-05:00

Rather than going into the Fort, I decided to take a rest day yesterday and to spend some time in the kitchen.

I decided to look up some paleo recipes and stumbled upon the following:

Spicy Pecans

Ingredients:

4 teaspoons cinnamon

1-1/2 teaspoon ginger

3/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne

2 egg whites

1/4 cup raw honey

5 cups pecan halves (or walnuts)

Directions:

In small bowl, combine cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and cayenne. In large bowl, whisk egg whites until frothy; add honey, whisk again just until egg whites and honey are combined. Add nuts a cup at a time in the egg and honey mixture. Remove and toss in the spices. Repeat again until all the nuts have been coated. Spread on 2 lightly greased baking sheets; bake at 250-degrees for one hour, rotating sheets halfway through baking, or until coating is crisp and nuts are fragrant. Let cool.

Needless to say, I was excited. I heart pecans and spicy food. So I took myself to the kitchen and got working.

I didn't make the full batch yesterday because I was worried whether I would like them or not. Nuts are expensive, and I didn't want to ruin my delicious pecans without knowing how they were going to taste. As a result, I only did three cups instead of five. I also subsituted this ground three pepper seasoning for the cayenne pepper just because I couldn't find any.

The result? They were pretty darn good, although they were more sweet than spicy. There was a hint of spicy that went well with the honey, cinnamon and nutmeg, but I feel like the the recipe's title was a bit misleading. I don't know. I keep contemplating... I can't pinpoint the flavor. I will, however, throw myself under the bus and eat some more just so I can give you a better review. I'd do that for you.

"Excuse me, wall. I didn't see you there..."

2009-07-16T09:11:00.009-05:00

The metaphorical wall I ran into yesterday.

I had a hard time motivating myself to workout yesterday. I had planned on making my way to the Fort or a playground (I'll explain later) when I realized that time had slipped away from me that afternoon. So instead, I hit my long list of vacation WOD's, began perusing, and then decided on the following WOD:

100 Jumping Jacks

75 Squats

50 Push ups

25 Burpees

I figured it would be a nice, quick metcon since I was pressed for time, and I was right. I was done in a little over ten minutes, 10:19.3 if you want specifics. I did the jumping jacks unbroken, nearly did three sets of 25 unbroken squats (I was a little better at working through the suck on this yesterday), and then bumped into a wall when I got to the push ups.

It was not that my push ups were bad. They were chest to floor; however, I initially wanted to try and do all of my push ups in sets of ten. I was feeling overly ambitious, what can I say? That, of course, did not happen and I ended up breaking down my reps to sets of five and then sometimes even three. My sets of three appeared when I felt my form breaking down. I was coming out of my push up, up dog style (I'm being serious here - this is a legit yoga pose). Not good, and not wanting to get struck down by the CrossFit gods, I did a few extra push ups to make up for those that were less than spectacular. Then came the burpees.

So if I bumped into a wall when I got to the push ups, I freaking ran into the wall headfirst when I reached the burpees. My arms and my legs were not feeling overly friendly at that point, and I was unable to do them unbroken like I wanted to, even with pacing. Needless to say, I was a little disappointed in my burpee ability yesterday.

All in all, it was a good, quick metcon, (and wow... I NEVER thought I would say this...) but I really want to get some lifting in soon. Seriously, never thought I would say that...

Track & Field Day... By Myself.

2009-07-15T14:12:00.007-05:00

I decided to go to my local high school yesterday to use the track. I decided to do a workout that I have been hesitant to do on my own ever since I quit attending the gym regularly:

4 Rounds for Time:

400 meter run
50 air squats

I'm not sure why I have been so hesitant to do this WOD. I'd done it before. In fact, I had even made an attempt to do this on my own prior to yesterday and ended up only making it halfway through the first round and deciding I wanted to do something else. Regardless, I decided to give it another try.

To warm up, I began with a simple 400 meter run. I then moved on and did 2 sets of 15, 1 set of 20: sit ups, supermans, push ups and air squats (no, I'm not sure why I did more squats). I then got a quick sip of water, shook out my legs, got my stopwatch ready and convinced myself that I really wanted to do this workout.

I quickly switched the song on my iPod to make sure it was good enough to start out on, pressed the button on my stopwatch and gave myself the 3-2-1 Go! Instantly, I was off, trying to imagine I was chasing after someone to keep me motivated both on the runs and on the squats, especially the squats. For some reason or other, I find/found it rather difficult to keep myself moving through those squats without someone next to me. I kept trying to force myself to do two sets of 25 each time, but found myself resting more than I would have liked (I really need to work on pushing through the suck). I also tried to imagine Bill yellling at me, telling me that I wasn't going to beat Kris's time (this is what happened the previous time I did this WOD), but it was still difficult. Imaginary yells and people just aren't the same.

Although my time did improve slightly (13 seconds), I do believe that had I had someone else there that I would have completed the WOD faster. Like I said before, but for some reason, I had a hard time with doing this workout by myself. Even though I haven't been particularly fond of working out alone lately, completing other WOD's alone has not been a trial like this one. Luckily though, I forced myself through this and did show some improvement. The whole experience did reinforce one thing for me though: I need to get back to the gym. Kicking my own ass is just not very fun.

Angie with a Broken Heart

2009-07-14T09:42:00.010-05:00

When Fran's boyfriend broke up with her, this is what we were left with:

"Fractured Fran"

9 Round for Time:

5 Thrusters
5 Pull ups

Sure it's still the same Fran, just a little broken up and a little disjointed. Don't feel too sorry for her though. She's still kicking it. All she needed was to switch things up for a bit, move some things around and get through the pain a little faster until she got completely back on her feet and back to her old ass-kicking self. The same is true for most women, and our for our other good CrossFit friend, Angie.

Angie, like Fran, is another staple workout. On a good day, you are supposed to complete 100 pull ups, 100 push ups, 100 sit ups and 100 air squats for time; however, when Angie goes through a bad breakup or is feeling a bit broken up, she looks more like this:

5 Rounds for time:

20 Pull ups
20 Push ups
20 Sit ups
20 Air Squats

I ran into Angie last week when she was feeling bit down. Her boyfriend had just broken up with her. I offered to ruin my no sugar/no grains diet and eat pizza and ice cream with her, but she was not having it. She wanted to workout instead. So me, being a good friend obliged as long as she promised that I could do jumping pull ups instead of regular pull ups because my long legs make if very difficult to kip in the doorway. She agreed since I was being so nice, and we went on our way.

About 15:30 minutes later, I was done hanging out with Angie. Can you believe she yelled at me the whole time during my jumping pull ups so that I nearly had to rep right through them? I realize that this is displaced anger, but really. Also, she didn't let up about my push ups either. Apparently after getting ten in a row after nearly every round, that sets of two and three are not acceptable. (I happen to agree with her, but don't tell her that.)

Regardless of my current ill feelings towards Angie, I do think I helped her feel a bit better. She seemed rather pleased with herself when she left, almost happy that I was laying on the floor panting. I honestly believe she'll be back to her oldself in no time actually; however, until then, get that girl some ice cream. Seriously.

Zoology Lesson #1: The Badger

2009-07-10T09:11:00.015-05:00

Awww... Ain't he cute?

Today kids, we'll be talking about the Badger. The badger is short-legged, heavy set carnivore that is a part of the weasel family. They primarily shelter underground in intricate burrows, which are otherwise known as "setts," and may either live alone or in clans of 2 to 15 (www.wikipedia.com). While the badger may appear to be cute and cuddly, they can be fierce animals, particularly when they go up against gophers, wolverines, Chief Illiniwek, wildcats, Spartans, and so on. They will also go to any lengths to protect themselves and/or their young, in which case, they look more so like this:

"Grrrrr... Don't f*&^ with me."

Now kids, if you ever encounter a badger that looks like the one pictured above or if you encounter a badger that looks like this:

3 Rounds for Time of:

30 Cleans (40kg/30kg)

30 Pull Ups

800 M Run

Make sure that you either run away or have a really big stick with you to take that sucker down.

I had an unfortunate run in with Mr. Badger yesterday. It was not pretty. I think he knew I was from Minnesota. He was fiesty; those jaws clamped down on my legs as I was trying to clean and front squat and would not let go, and then he crawled up my arms and sat on my shoulders, growling in my ears as I tried unsuccessfully to kip him off. Luckily, I was able to escape him for a bit when running. His short legs don't carry him very fast, but whenever I finished those 800 meters there he was - waiting, baring his teeth, and growling at me to go faster.

Eventually, I was able to outrun Badger; however, the whole ordeal took much longer than I hoped. It was more of a mental battle for me; it has been awhile since I have taken on or been attacked by an animal. Next time I'll be more prepared though and be sure to carry a big stick with me just in case I need to knock him out.

To Hell and Back - For Time

2009-07-09T08:48:00.032-05:00

The CrossFit Games are this weekend. Hundreds of athletes are travelling to Aromas, California, to duke it out in the desert in order to determine "The Fittest Man/Woman on Earth" as well as the top CrossFit Affiliate. The team from CrossFit Fire is leaving today to participate in the Affiliate Challenge, which includes three qualifying workouts on Friday of: A 500 m Run Relay, Max Sets of OH Squats and Pull Ups WOD, and The Stadium Workout, a WOD that includes wall balls, rowing, the push press, kettle bell swings, box jumps, and deadlifts.

Personally, I'm anxious to hear about the relay (still love running) and what kind of terrain they will have to run on and can't wait to do the Stadium Workout sometime. If there was ever a workout made for me, the Stadium Workout may be it. I pretty much love every aspect of that WOD except for maybe wall balls, which I only like as a friend. As for the max OH squats and pull up WOD, I'll leave that workout to those who can crush OH squats and pull ups because I am not that girl. Regardless, I am excited for our team (who I'm sure will do phenomenal – we've got a great group of people out there now) and just a little bit sad that I am only able to be a part of it from the sidelines.

For those of you who don't know this, I tried out for the affiliate team. As evidence by this and previous posts, I obviously did not make it because I am not heading for sunny California, and I did not make the team for good reason. I got smoked in the tryouts by the two other women. It was like being Slowpoke Rodriguez in a race versus two Speedy Gonzalez's. Guess who won. Regardless of this fact, I was still amazed and pleased at what I accomplished at the tryouts, which I will explain in further detail momentarily.

We completed the following WOD's for the women's tryouts:

One round for time of:

10 Clean & Jerks (60/40)
1 Sled Drag (20/15)
8 Clean & Jerks
1 Sled Drag
6 Clean & Jerks
1 Sled Drag
4 Clean & Jerks
1 Sled Drag
2 Clean & Jerks
1 Sled Drag

One round for time of:

50 Double-unders

21-15-9 reps of:

Overhead Squats (40/30)
Box Jumps (24")
Pull-ups

50 Double-unders

And we were supposed to complete a third workout, which was:

Three rounds for time of:

500m Row
21 Burpees
400m Run

Long story short: I had never done 40 kg cleans or 30 kg OH squats in a workout. The load was just a little too heavy for me in both instances (before I had only done about 35 kg cleans in WOD's, 45 kg cleans at a max 3 rep and 25 kg OH squats). Also, if you've ever read my blog before, then you already know that pull ups and I do not get along. (I seriously don't know what their problem is. I try to be nice and they just mess up my hands). In addition to the heavy weight and my arch nemesis, there was blood (I put a big gash in my leg when I dropped the bar while I was OH squatting and tore calluses on both my hands during pull ups), there was sweat (a given), there were no tears, almost (almost doesn't count though people), and I did hate my entire being several times throughout both WOD's (see the picture below for proof). Despite all of this: I completed both workouts. I did it.

Let me say it again just because it makes me feel good: I did it. I was apprehensive about both of these workouts even before I did them because neither played to my strengths. The row, burpee, run WOD was more my style; however, I did it (I know, I keep saying it...). I cleaned and OH squatted more than I ever had before. I was setting PR's in a workout. Can we say "awesome"? I also didn't stop doing pull ups even when I finally noticed that both of my hands were bleeding (surprisingly it took awhile). And don't even get me started on the people that helped me get through both WOD's. Their support was instrumental in my finishing. Through it all though, all the blood, sweat and almost tears, all I could think about was finishing and getting to that point where I could say I went to hell and back and did it for time.

In the end, my only complaint was that I didn't get to complete the row, burpee, run WOD, even though I understand why we didn't do it and appreciate that Bill did not want me to die. However, I will do that workout. And Bill, if you're reading this, I want that WOD on my birthday (August 28th - mark it on your calendar) and to have "The Eye of the Tiger" played on repeat throughout the duration. Okay, maybe not throughout the whole workout, but at least one time.

Oh... and one last thing: I don't plan on cheering from the sidelines at next year's Games. I don't care if I have to look like that picture below everyday to get there either.

Me hating life during my last set of double unders in the second WOD.

Burpees for Cash

2009-07-08T09:20:00.009-05:00

If you've been following the CrossFit Games site (http://games2009.crossfit.com/), then you would have noticed the other day that Amanda Miller of CrossFit Fairfax held a little burpee fundraiser to help pay her way to this year's Games. The plan was people would donate a certain amount of cash for every burpee done (without resting) within 10 minutes. Sounds awesome, right? Heck yeah it is, and what makes it even better is that she plans to donate any leftover money to the Fisher House, which provides housing for military families while their loved ones are in the hospital. The whole concept is ingenious, and I applaud her for her efforts and hopes she kills it at the Games. Good luck Amanda!

I've provided the link to the video here: Amanda Miller Burpee Fundraiser: [wmv] [mov]. Watch it. This woman is bad a$$, and it's not just because of her tattoos. She did 131 burpees in 10 minutes. I don't care who you are. That's a lot of burpees.

On a side note, I decided to do this WOD yesterday (AMRAP in 10 minutes of: Burpees without rest) just to see how I measured up. What I tried to pay particular attention to was the pacing of the WOD. Miller mentions in her video that she had a difficult time pacing this workout. I'm with her on this because I tend to go full out, crash and then do sets of five or so; however, I found that pacing myself helped me simply because I rested less than I normally do. And yes, unfortunately I rested for a few seconds here and there.

In the end, I did not reach 131. Let's. Get. Serious. However, I did break a hundo - 102, which I am happy with at the moment. Now... I only wish that people were donating cash to me so I could go to the Games and watch...

Row, Row, Row Your Boat

2009-07-07T10:28:00.002-05:00

I received a disturbing email from my coach, Jennie, yesterday. It read: "Emergency! The new girl crushed our 2K meter row records! Get to the Fort STAT and let’s show her that the veterans RULE! :)"

From that moment, it was on, and I quickly assured Jennie that I would be at there that night to regain the title back from the newbie. When I arrived, I immediately went to check out the times on the board. There were only two times that were relatively close to my previous 8:31.5. One was a newbie (8:42.3) and the other was a veteran (8:40.5).

I do admit that I was a bit relieved. I was still in first place with my old time. Now all I had to do was defend my title. The only problem was that I was worried about the fact that I had taken the past three days off and hadn't rowed in awhile. Regardless, when Bill yelled at all of us to head upstairs to the rower, I drew in a deep breath and set my sights on reaching 8:25.

Before we started rowing, Bill gave us some tips about pacing ourselves. I stored the information in the back of my mind, ready to implement his suggestions when I reached the allotted checkpoints. I would keep a steady pace until I reached 800 m, at 800 m I would speed up to the point where I was rowing just a 500 m pace, and at 500 m I would go "balls to the wall," as they say at the Fort.

As soon as I heard the "3-2-1-GO!," I was off, and let me tell you, it felt good. I was focused, determined and maintained a good pace throughout. I was able to pick up my pace at all the allotted check points and finish in 8:23.1, two seconds better than my original goal. When I finished, I was (tired but) happy with my time and with my improvement since the last time we did this workout in April, despite my recent lagging diet and lack of gym time.

And yes, I was also pleased that I beat the veteran and (especially) the newbie. It's not that we vets don't like newbies. We want all of the newbies to do well. *Looking down* We just don't want them to do better than us…

Stay Puft? I Think Not.

2009-07-06T00:34:00.015-05:00

Dr Ray Stantz: I tried to think of the most harmless thing. Something I loved from my childhood. Something that could never ever possibly destroy us: Mr. Stay Puft!

Dr. Peter Venkman: Nice thinkin', Ray.

If you've ever seen Ghostbusters (and if you haven't, you need to), you know that Venkman's response was dripping with sarcasm. Sure, in regards to context Venkman's sarcasm stemmed from a 100 year old demon's supernatural attempt to destroy New York City, however, based on early lines in the movie, Dr. Venkman was also fully aware of the dangers of sugar. Case and point:

[Inspecting Dana's refrigerator for paranormal activity]

Dr. Peter Venkman: Oh, my God. Look at all the junk food!

Dana Barrett: Oh, dammit. Look, this wasn't here...

Dr. Peter Venkman: You actually eat this?

You see? Miss Barrett's eating habits were less than spectacular. Venkman knew this, and I'm sure Miss Barrett knew it too; she was just too preoccupied with ghosts living in her refrigerator to notice or care, which is completely understandable considering the circumstances. My point though, is that I have been eating like Dana Barrett and thinking like Dr. Ray Stantz lately in that sugar can't hurt me (even though I know better). For example, I was a bad girl yesterday, and this was why:

Dark chocolate cake;
Sausage and mushroom pizza with ranch dressing;

Ice cream.

If there was ever a trifecta of evilness to put into your body, this may be it. I was fortunate enough to miss the smorgasbord of Paleo Hades (if you're unfamiliar with eating Paleo follow the link: http://www.paleodiet.com/) that went on at my house on Saturday because of work; however, there is this little thing, you have probably heard of them, they're called "leftovers," that brought down my weekend to a whole new level. If there is a Food Hell, I think I reached the Fifth Circle yesterday, since I seem to hate myself by eating this way (by the way, whoever can tell me what epic I am referring to gets ten points and a Paleo cookie).

If I wanted to, I could come up with a whole mess of excuses for my less than perfect eating habits. Sure, I don't have demons living in my fridge but it was a holiday weekend and I've had a lot going on – parties with friends, music festivals, boating trips, work, little sleep and so on and so forth. Regardless, I'm sick of making excuses for myself. I admit it. I haven't been as focused on my diet as I should be, and believe me, I'm already feeling it. See that picture of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man? Yeah. That's exactly how I feel right at the moment: Puffy and gooey - like someone just took an air pump to my body and filled me right up. I actually feel kind of sick. It's not pleasant.

To take care of my current puffiness though, I plan to get back on my diet – starting today. There's no reason for me to tell myself that I'll start tomorrow. If I start tomorrow, then I will tell myself that I will need to start the day after that, and if I tell myself that I'll start the day after tomorrow, it will become the day after that. For this situation, as for most situations, (and I apologize for the cliche) there is no better time than the present. It also comes at perfect timing because a "No Grains/No Sugar Challenge" was just recently posed at the Fort. Three weeks, just a measly (or incredibly long, depending on your perspective; I prefer the former - positive thinking, people) 21 days, without grains or sugar. I'll take that challenge. Heck, I'll even take some pictures and post them for people to see my progress after the three weeks (sorry if I scare anyone) because in the end it's your diet that is going to take you to the next level of fitness and is also what is going to bring about the best results. You don't need a CrossFit coach, a personal trainer or dietitian to tell you this. It's common sense. Eat junk - look and feel like junk; eat well - look and feel well (and dead sexy).

I'm starting my 21 days today, and I'll update you periodically throughout to let you know how it's going. However, I'll challenge you to do the same: Cut grains, dairy and unnaturally occurring sugars/processed foods (I'm still eating berries, but that's it) out of your diet and let me know how you feel three weeks later. I will commiserate with you if need be, but I promise, we will both feel better and be one step further from staying puft.

Beware of Chipmunks and Bad Times

2009-07-01T16:52:00.010-05:00

I heart running. So when I saw the 10k listed on the CrossFit main site today, I was a happy girl. I haven't been for a (semi) long run since March, when my brother, sister-in-law, and I all decided that it would be a good idea to suck it up and run the 8k we had signed up for despite the spectacular snowstorm that had happened earlier that morning. Like that lovely day in March, today's weather conditions were not exactly ideal, albeit they were much, much more tolerable. It has been overcast all day (there seems to be a thunderstorm looming; however, it had, and still has, yet to come to the party) and it's kind of cool outside. Regardless, I concluded that I would try to match my 8k time at the state park across the way rather than run 6 times around my neighborhood, which would have amounted to a 10k. I made this decision for three reasons:

I wanted to see if my time was better than my last 8k;
I figured I would get a better workout running the trails and hills at the park rather than simply just running the 10k on pavement;
All I had to worry about at the park was getting attacked by a chipmunk (which could possibly happen if you are familiar with my past relationships with animals) opposed to running into chatty neighbors or sharing the road with cars.

I quickly made this decision though (and was quite pleased with it), grabbed my iPod, some water and then took off to hang out with Mother Nature for awhile.

When I showed up at the park, my next big decision was which direction I should take on the trail. If I went right, then I would be running primarily uphill; if I went left, I would be running downhill. Well, I opted for uphill, because I figured that's what the CrossFit gods would have me do (and I figured it would make my legs look better), and then started out on what I thought was a relatively decent pace considering the length of the run, the fact that I was running on gravel and was going to be encountering a number of hills.

I did not check my stopwatch until the very end of the run. Had I, I probably would have picked up the pace, especially towards the end when the long sloping hills were starting to get to me. Instead, there I was just chugging along - zoning out with my iPod, avoiding chipmunks and praying that I wouldn't get caught in a torrential downpour. When I finally came up on my self-proposed finish line, I sprinted ahead and then hit the stop button on my stopwatch; I looked down, excited to see my time. My excitement, however, quickly diminished: 50:38.

Wait.

What?...

I was running 10 minute miles? Since when? When I ran the 8k back in March, I finished in 43:00 (which I wasn't happy with either, mind you, because I was shooting for 40:00), but when I ran the race in March, I had to dodge 13,000 other people, raindrops, ice, slush and puddles whereas today all I had to worry about was having a run in with Alvin, Simon and/or Theodore. Granted, today I was running on an uneven surface and took on several hills, but still… 50:38? I'm embarrassed, even as I write this…

Regardless of my head shaking and tinge of shame, I now have two new missions to add to my list: Improve my 8k time at the park and see what my time would be simply running on pavement. I also think that next time I will invite (or con) someone into coming with me to keep me on pace and to use them as a basis for comparison. Of course I will take volunteers; if you or someone you know would like to go for a little run in the park with me sometime, just let me know. I just can't guarantee that I can (or will) save you from any animals should they attack. Woodland creatures aren't overly fond of me. Just ask the donkey, the bird, the horse, the goat...

The Many Faces of Fran

2009-06-30T09:08:00.006-05:00

So thanks to Tommy Mo and the good people at CrossFit Milford, I have this long list of workouts that one can do while on vacation. While I am not technically on vacation, I do not have weights at my house and do not have the means to purchase them (If I did, I would just go to the gym. Der.) Anyhow, on this long list of fabulous workouts, I noticed a familiar name: Fran [insert scary music here].

Now if you're a CrossFitter, you know exactly who Fran is and all about her diabolical plan to make you hate your life in 10 minutes or less. For those of you who don't know Fran, let me introduce you:

"Fran"

21-15-9 reps for time of:
Thrusters (40 kg for men/30 kg for women)
Pull ups

Fran here is a staple workout for CrossFit, so it shouldn't come to anyone as a surprise that one would want to hang out with her for a little while on vacation. As a result, "Invisible Fran" was born.

Like her visible counterpart, the reps are the same and the workout is for time. However, you're supposed to substitute air squats for the thrusters and push ups for the pull ups. Sounds great right? Wrong. You can't kick someone that is invisible. Nonetheless, I took on "Invisible Fran" yesterday and finished her off in 2:30 and then ignored the fact that some CrossFitters can finish regular Fran in less than 3 minutes. I felt okay about my "Invisible Fran" time mostly because my push ups are getting stronger. On the other hand, I was not as pleased with my time on my own variation of vacation "Fran."

Like I said, I decided the other day to do another variation of "Fran," which I dubbed "Franny" because I imagined this is what a younger, more innocent Fran was like. I substituted chest to bar jumping pull ups (stupid pull ups - ugh) for regular pull ups and did thrusters with a 10 pound bar to practice my form. For the record, yes, I lied a little bit about not having equipment. I have an Iron Gym (the only "As Seen on Television" thing ever worth purchasing) and a 10 pound bar from my cousin (Which is pretty much nothing; we all know that kids.) I also intend to make a homemade wall ball out of an old basketball and some sand. I'll let you know how that goes. Anyhow, I digress. You know what I found out though? I found that Fran was not very nice when she was younger either. I finished this workout in 3:40, went "eh" and felt just a little bit disappointed in myself primarily because I felt that I should have completed the workout more quickly than I did. Oh well. Room for improvement, right? Right.

Well, there you have it. There are just a few faces of Fran, even though one is technically invisible. I'm just hoping that someone makes up a French version that we can call "Francesca." It's just fun to say.

The Happiest Place on Earth

2009-06-23T18:42:00.006-05:00

My coaches, Bill and Jennie, were out of town on their honeymoon in Costa Rica (so jealous…) for about ten days and so I decided to stop back into the Fort their first day back to chat and see how their trip went. To be honest though, I was just as excited to go to the Fort as I was to see Bill and Jennie. It had been two weeks since I had been there, and I missed the place more than I ever expected, which is a lot to say considering how I used to hate to go to the gym.

Yes, I said it. I used to hate to go to the gym. I actually almost actively avoided going to the gym unless I was shamed into it by my basketball or volleyball coaches in college, and when I was done playing collegiate sports, I was never too keen on going back for a number of reasons. First, I disliked lifting weights; it never appealed to me. I didn't want to get bulky and I found it horribly boring. Second, I disliked the indifferent/snooty/overly perky (pick your adjective) employees that didn't really seem to care about what you did or your progress. Third, I disliked the guys (and sometimes girls) who stood in front of the mirrors to check themselves out; and finally, to add to my gym misery, the treadmills were usually full and there was always something bad on TV. All I ever wanted to do when I went to the gym was zone out with my iPod, run however many miles I was running that day, do some ab work, and then leave. In fact, I disliked the gym so much that the only time I went consistently after I stopped playing sports was during the wintertime, when going for a run in 30-below Minnesota weather seemed just a little extreme. Other than that, I stuck to my regular running schedule and mixed in yoga, Pilates and the occasional aerobics video. At least if I got sick of the instructor on the video, I could press the mute button. CrossFit changed all this though – for the better.

I now love going to the gym (and miss it a lot), primarily because the Fort is everything Globo Gym is not. There is an energy about CrossFit that is infectious. There is a competitiveness and camaraderie that accompanies this type of programming compels you to work harder and to share in not only your own successes but also of those around you. I no longer want to drown out the people beside me with music. There is also no artificial one-on-one relationship with a trainer. It's a coach, who makes it his or her priority that you get the most out of every workout and who actually cares about your progress rather than just counting your reps. In addition, my former hatred towards weight lifting has changed completely, and I've discovered that I love lifting heavy s&%# off the ground or pressing it over my head. Pull ups are still not my friend, but that's another story and I'm working on that…

I could go on but I think that you get the overall idea, and I think that Jennie summed it up perfectly when she said: "[The Fort] is a magic place where people get sexier every time you see them, friendships are made, and successes are celebrated." Seriously? Who wouldn't want that? It sounds like Disney Land - only better.

Just Don't Kick the Dog...

2009-06-17T13:18:00.009-05:00

Long story short: The recession is not my friend. I lost my second job almost two weeks ago and after some thought I decided that I would take a break from the Fort. However, mostly because I am addicted and can’t bring myself to work out like I used to (aerobics, yoga and running just aren’t as fun anymore), I am not taking a break from CrossFit. I’ve decided to go back to many a Forts' CrossFit roots and have been primarily working out in my garage and completing workouts posted on both the main and different affiliate sites. I have also had some help from my pals at CrossFit Fire (Yay! I haven’t been forgotten!).

Tommy Mo(hr) sent me the workout below. It was his own creation, and I imagine him laughing evilly when I told him I would do it today. The workout, which I’ve rightfully named after the legend himself, was:

“Give Me Some (Tommy) Mohr”

100 Single unders (Sub: 25 Double unders)
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 of:
Burpees
Sit ups
Push ups
100 Single unders (Sub: 25 Double unders)

I did sub the 25 double unders for the single unders and then plowed through the workout in both my driveway and basement. It was wicked for me (Pairing burpees and push ups – ugh – I was having flashbacks of the burpee-jumping squat-push up workout) and for my dog, Boo. I accidently kicked him Round 6, mid burpee and sent the poor little guy flying across the room. (I’ll send you the vet bill, Tom). I finished the entire WOD though in about 11:40, which I thought was pretty decent when I saw that he did it in 9:38. For those of you who don’t know this, Tommy Mo is an animal and gives nothing less than 110% at every workout. He is kind of my hero *tear*.

Overall, it was a nice, quick metcon and one that I’ll probably do it again in the future sans dog kicking. Keep them coming though, Tom; we won’t get to the 2010 Games by taking it easy.

My dog, Boo, taking a much needed rest after today's WOD.

Catching Mara

2009-06-16T21:32:00.010-05:00

The clan at CrossFit Twin Cities

I went on a little pleasure cruise this past weekend to the Twin Cities to visit some friends. While I was there I decided to check out one of the local CrossFit gyms. There were a number of them to choose from but CrossFit Twin Cities [CF TC] won out when I realized it was only about fifteen minutes from my friend’s house. I arrived early and was greeted by a couple of the trainers. I quickly introduced myself, signed the waiver form (they were having an open house and made all participants fill one out), and waited for the workout to begin. As I was sitting there I was looking about the gym when I noticed a small group of four or five kids, probably anywhere from ten to thirteen hanging around by the mirrors on the far wall, checking out the posted workout. This group quickly grew and soon there were probably twenty or so kids filtering in and around the space. I knew that this place taught Taekwondo from their website but didn’t know that there would be so many kids present. This was my first introduction to CrossFit Kids.

One of the coach’s quickly went over some of the basics of CrossFit before explaining the workout. Those who were there for the time were going to do 100 wall balls (or a scaled version of Karen) while regular CrossFitters were doing a variation of Barbara. The workout, which was to be named after whoever had the best time, it ended up being called “Harco” (a combination of Harrison and Cole who finished the workout in 21:06), for that day was:

“Harco”
4 rounds for time of:

200 meter sprint
20 jumping pull ups
30 push ups
40 squats
50 sit ups

Let me just say that this was a killer workout. I’m sure the combination of lack of sleep, a bad food hangover and seeming 800 degree gym didn’t particularly help me but to be fair, the people at CF TC don’t mess around. For one, these kids were AWESOME. It was amazing to see so many of them working at such a high intensity and dedication that up until that point I had only witnessed in adults. They all completed the prescribed workout, some even doing kipping pull ups instead of the jumping ones, busting their butts the whole way, passing by all the adults (myself included) and completed killed it. In fact, during my third round I was going head to head with a twelve year old girl on my sit ups with the coach yelling: “Don’t let her catch you, Mara. Keep going.” On a side note, I have to admit, I hated Mara a little bit for being ahead of me. Please don't tell her mom...

Secondly, I have to say something too about the coaching at CF TC. All of the coaches were great and their type of coaching (with maintaining appropriateness to the kids), with a combination of encouragement and a bit of banter, was motivating and continuous throughout the entire workout. There were about three of them walking around the room and each one of them had their say while I was busting through the workout. One made sure that I kept my toes on the ground while I was doing my sit ups, another did push ups side by side with me on my last round just to make sure I wasn’t sandbagging it, and the third continually yelled at me to be sure to “Represent Illinois.” All three of them were everything I expected CrossFit coaches to be: Knowledgeable, motivating and ready to jump on your a*% if you were doing something wrong or they felt you weren’t working hard enough.

All in all, I had a great experience at CrossFit Twin Cities. If you want to check them out, I've included a link to their website. I suggest you look them up if you're ever in the Cities area: http://www.crossfittc.com/. Anyhow, the overall experience was everything I hoped it to be and more, even if I didn't catch Mara (She beat my by a few reps! Argh!) and was beaten by a bunch of twelve year olds.

People Actually Blog About Working Out?

2009-05-02T14:01:00.007-05:00

It was a Friday afternoon. I had just gotten done teaching my morning literature class and was taking a short break before settling in for the rest of the afternoon to grade papers. I did the things I would normally do: I turned on my computer, checked my gmail account, responded to a message my sister had sent me on Facebook, checked both of my school email accounts, and then went to the CrossFit Fire's website to see if it had been updated from yesterday. Sure enough it had, and I settled in to read my trainer's comments on yesterday's workout of the day [WOD].

Sure enough, the post went over the WOD, the movements and then made some comments about the people who were there for the workout. Smiling I read the post, soaking up each word and forgetting that my quads were still stiff and sore. That's when one of my co-workers walked past saw me and asked me what I was reading.

"I'm reading the blog from the gym I go to?" I responded.

His eyes suddenly widened and his eyebrows would have disappeared if not for his receding hairline.

I quickly backpeddled, noting his interest and trying to find the right words: "Well, it's not a typical gym. It's CrossFit, and - "

"Wait," he said, his eyes and his eyebrows returning to normal and interrupting me before I could even begin my spiel on functional movements, intensity and so on and so forth. "People actually blog about working out?"

I shrugged and nodded: "Yeah. But - "

"I'm sorry," he said, interrupting me again and then began laughing. "That is just too much."

He walked away after that and left me sitting there feeling a bit confused and, to be honest, kind of angry. I honestly didn't understand what was so funny. It didn't make sense to me: Why wouldn't people blog about working out? I mean, people blog about everything on the Internet: Cake decorating, photography, nutrition, travel, aliens, body snatchers, kittens - you name it. So why wouldn't people blog about working out? Both fitness and nutrition are essential to healthy living, and in a society that is largely overweight, why wouldn't a forum on a topic or topics that are actually good for you be worth reading about?

Perhaps it is because I work in academia, or even just because I teach English, where interest in exercise and nutrition seems to be few and far between, but there sometimes (key word here: sometimes) seems to be some kind of prejudice against people who enjoy fitness and exercise and are concerned with their nutrition in general. The whole "meathead/airhead" label attached to personal trainers, aerobic instructors, athletes, and exercise enthusiasts for some reason continues to persist, even as people all around the country are trying to find a way to fit proper exercise and nutrition into their lives and attain the meathead/airhead body. However, the label, like all stereotypes, is misleading and insulting. Yes, of course, there are those men who stand in front of the mirror working on their curls just so they can see what their biceps look like when flexed, and yes, there are women who wear their tight little yoga outfits, bounce around just to flaunt their flat stomach; however, this vacuity is not necessarily the norm, and there are some individuals and communities that are fully committed to understanding the science behind proper fitness and nutrition and finding the best methods to reach optimal health.

CrossFit, like I was trying to tell my colleague, is one such community. It's philosophies are centered around functional movements, movements you use in your every day life (squats, push ups, pull ups, etc.), and performing these movements at a high intensity; it's program "delivers a fitness that is, by design, broad, general, and inclusive, [and their] speciality is not specializing" (CrossFit.com). The workouts and their movements are varied but their design and implementation is far from being random. Instead, they are aimed, scaled and performed to help elite athletes, military members, bikers, gymnasts, housewives and whomever to reach their fitness goals.

I don't know, maybe it's just me, but if you don't have your health, then you don't have much. Also, I don't see how something that has the potential to improve your overall quality of life wouldn't be worthy of talking about. But to make a long story short and to answer your question Mr. Anonymous Co-Worker: "Yes." People actually blog about working out. And, unfortunately, it's only too much for you because you don't understand the potential it has to change your well-being or your life.