Welllllll............I'm back after a brief hiatis from blogging. Today is my first set of home games and the weather is absolutely gorgeous out. Apparently our team brought back some nice weather from Florida. I apologize for those of you have been reading up on me for not keeping you posted. Sometimes life happens and you realize that some things may take precedent over others. My season, my team, and my job were one of my main concerns for the past month. Now that I have made it through preseason and our spring trip I can reflect back on what has been going on with me in the realm of this 90 day challenge.
Although it may seem that I have given up on the 90 day challenge with my lack of attention payed to the blog and small challenges set forth by Jay, I have been keeping up with it in my own way. Today I weighed in under 170 for the first time in roughly 3 years. Oh what a glorious feeling! I have been IF'ing for the past few weeks (Florida was a bit difficult-ALERT-85 degrees and sun for 8 hours does not a good IF make.) I almost passed out on the first day. So I decided to go to my normal eating habits and try my best to keep in clean. I had Chipotle roughly 3 times! I have also surprised myself each week in my performances in the first 3 Open WODs.
12.1-84 Burpees
12.2-74 Snatches
12.3-7 rounds+27
The strides that I have made over the past few months have given me the upmost confidence that I CAN do anything that I put my mind to. Movements that were taking me months and months to get are finally coming to fruition. Don't get me wrong, they still need work, but I can remember back when I first started and was staring in awe at people and now I can actually do some of those movements!!
ANYWHO! I know we have less than 20 days left. I am mentally preparing myself for the after picture. I'm glad I have a tan. I am pretty sure at this point I don't consider myself in the running for any big prizes. However, this is in no way me pulling out of the race!! I think credit needs to be given to those that have been completely strict through the 90 days. I know I haven't! You all should be commended/given a purple heart/hugged for a full day. That takes some major discipline (which I know I need to work on still). You are inspirational people and truly deserve to be recongnized for what you have accomplished. I look forward to seeing your transformations and reading about what you have achieved over the 90 days.
Here's to the next 20........and the lifestyles we will continue even after it's all over.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Albany Crossfit knows how to Throwdown-A reflection
As I sit here with the worlds largest bag of ice on my leg I figure now is the best time to reflect on the Tri-State Throwdown that was held at Albany Crossfit this weekend. First and foremost, I want to thank all of the coaches, judges, and volunteers that worked there fine fanny's off to make it such an amazing event for all of us involved. From the t-shirts to the monster workouts it was a great experience for all. Getting the chance to compete alongside some of the best athletes in our area and gym was such an honor.
My week leading up to the competition was a bit hectic and overwhelming. I had received some extra duties at work and I am coming up on my first game with my team in 2 weeks, so I had a lot of other things on my mind. So needless to say when WOD 1 was posted on Wednesday night my stress level heightened significantly. 8 minute AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) of 9 box jumps (24") 6 Handstand Pushups and 3-125lb front squats. Box jumps and front squats, what more could a girl ask for! Handstand pushups? I knew they were going to happen at some point, but knowing they were actually going to be in the WOD was like drawing Alabama in the first round of the NCAA tournament. A blow to your excitement level. Thank god I have made such amazing friends and have such fantastic coaches at ACF. Janie Wilkinson, Erika Wilson and Kia all helped me out leading up to Saturday on form to get at least one. Janie reached out to me the next morning knowing I was frustrated and said to meet her Friday to just try kipping and I'm so glad I went because I hit my first HSPU and jumped up in utter amazement and excitement and hugged Kia. I for sure thought that was never going to happen for as long as I ever crossfit. I put a lot of focus on pull-ups working up to the competition, so sadly my HSPU didn't get the attention it needed. All I needed to do was pray for 5 more to occur once in competition mode. Wellllll.....no such luck. I told my judge Maggie Doyle that this was going to be a rough one, thanks for sticking through it with me! I got my first on my 2nd attempt and then failed for a solid 7 minutes to get another. Up....slam.....Up.....slam. I was a chiropractors nightmare. WHY CAN'T YOU JUST PUSH YOURSELF UP AGAIN!!!??? That was my constant thought. Not a great start to my first individual RX competition, but I needed to remember that it was a PR for me. I had done an HSPU in a WOD for the first time ever, holy crap what is going on?!
(SIDENOTE-I wrote on my hands DON'T STOP to keep reminding me that no matter what was going on or how many times I failed or no rep'd I couldn't stop. I wouldn't have been satisfied if I sat through the WOD and gave up. If I kept pushing who knows what could happen. I suggest this tactic for future competitions.)
Well, Debbie Downer over here left and did a little sulking after the WOD, but had her spirits renewed by her friends Lindsay and Shelley that showed up to cheer me on. They couldn't believe I was even attempting what I was doing and were really supportive. I was so happy that they had come, it really meant a lot to me. I had to shake it off and know there was plenty more to come and I needed to be ready for anything. WOD 2 was announced about an hour later. As I was sitting there and Kevin was telling us that the Rec division was doing GRACE (my all-time favorite of the girl WODs) my heart started pounding in excitement. Are we doing GRACE RX??!! HELL YEH.....and then this happened. Kevin said that yes we would be doing 30 Clean and Jerks in our workout, but in order to even get to your first set of 10 you would have to do 20 chin over bar pull-ups. Heart....falls....to.....butt. I had just gotten kipping pull-ups a week or 2 ago, so doing 20 was going to be a slow and steady process. I was the tortoise amongst many hares in this WOD. HUGE shout out goes to my judge TK. I told him that this was going to be tough for me and I was probably going to be hitting them 1-2 at a time. I then requested that he keep yelling at me, loudly, and with profanity. BOY DID HE DELIVER! Every single pull-up he was in my face, chalking me up, and telling me to get the F*#$ back on the bar. I had a competitor/judge love moment. I kept staring at my hands and pushing through. Just get me to those clean and jerks, something I can do well!! My first 20 pull-ups ever later I got to the bar and ripped through 10 c and j's. Here we go....20 more. And there TK went, screaming and yelling as I did singles with probably the biggest kip known to man. I may have had crotch to bar at some point as I was swinging all 174lbs of me up to that bar. I heard so many people yelling for me to keep going and to push. Thank you all so much for that, you were my motivation to keep going. With 20 seconds left I finally got back to the bar again and did 4 clean and jerks, and then looked down to the whitest, most bloody hands I've ever had. They were ripped to shreds, but at that moment I didn't care. I had just done 40 pull-ups in a WOD. Yet another PR. On to the next one, dear God let it be something in my wheelhouse.
And there it was. My pride and joy. The strongman axle bar. Laying on the ground in all its glory with a huge pile of weights next to it. Here we go, something I can do!! I knew that the day was going to be one of the biggest challenges I would face thus far in my crossfit existance, so I knew that I had to capitalize on opportunities where WODs had movements I could do well in. 1RM axle clean and jerk was just that opportunity. Most of the room was like, what in holy hell is that? How do you even do it? That is how I feel when I see people fluttering on butterfly pull-ups, welcome to my world!! WOD 3 was a two parter-6 minutes to achieve a 1RM axle C and J, 4 minutes rest, then 6 minutes to row as far as you could. I had 16 minutes to black out and use every ounce of my body to do well in 2 events I knew I could excel in. 3, 2, 1....GO! I put 135 on the bar right away just to get a weight established. Hit it. Ok, I'm going to attempt 155. I get it up to my shoulders....push! FAIL! NO!! You can do this! I get it up to my shoulders and fail again. What is happening, get under the bar! I had a minor freak out moment and decided I should try 145. I heard other people hitting 130 around me so I knew that I had to do something and fast. I got 145. At this point I thought back to the time I visited up at Lake George Crossfit and had a WWDD (What Would Dirk Do) moment. Screw it, go big or go home. Let's hit a PR and get 160 right now! Boom, up to my shoulders. I waited for a second, composed myself, reset my hands and knew that I needed to get a huge push from my bottom half because my shoulders were smoked from the HSPUs and pull-ups. Big breathe in......BAM! Holy crap! If you have ever hit a huge PR in front of a crowd of people before you know the excitement that you feel when it happens. Unbelievable. I dropped the bar and said some profanities to it because that axle was a big time female dog that day and I just slapped it. I was going to try for 170 but ran out of time.....on to the row. I got set up in my rower and was telling my judge how much I was shaking from just doing that. Then over walks TK, my knight in shining armor. He apologized for not being at my C and J but he said that he knew I was gonna need him more during the row. (Earlier I told him that I wanted to personally request him as a judge for the remainder of the day because he was just the motivator I needed). The row began and I was just trying to stay in a zone, block everyone out, don't listen to what people are doing on the lifts. TK was yelling at me to stay under 2:00 pace for as long as I could. I stayed at 1:58 for about 3 minutes and then started to teeter between 1:58 and 2:10 until the very last minute. I heard TK say to my judge that he was going to start screaming and cursing at me 10 times more than he already was. I knew I had to put everything I had into the last minute. I felt like my legs were going to shut down, but knew I need to keep going, I wanted to get over 1500 meters. 3, 2, 1......1515 was my finish and I rolled off the rower to the ground. I gave it my all....I hoped it was enough. THANK YOU TK, THANK YOU. I can't even explain how much I appreciated you coaching me through that row. Back in the summer there was a moment when we were rowing in class and I'm pretty sure Dean came up to me and started throwing me back and forth on the rower because my form was so crappy. I can't believe how far I have come. That is what these competitions are all about.
I was ready to call it a day, WOD 4? What do you have in store for us? Oh...pistols? Ok, cool. Oh wait, we have to do them alternating on each leg? Oh....well that's unfortunate because I can only do them on my right leg which I figured out on Thursday. It looked as though I was going to be ending the competition just as I had started it. Fighting my way through one movement until the clock ran out. WOD 4 was the following-3 rounds of 7-185lb deadlifts, 14 pistols, and 21 unbroken double-unders (jump rope passes under you twice on each jump). I knew no matter what this was going to be a rough day in the office. Even if GOD entered my body and got me to do 7 pistols on my left leg, 21 unbroken double-unders was also going to be a serious challenge. I think my max is 15. I looked at my judge Julie Duncan and said that I would be doing left leg pistols for the entire time and I did just that. for 5 of the 6 minutes we had to complete the rounds I tried and failed. Down....fall. Ok, lets try holding my leg....nope, fail. At this point I started laughing. Thanks for hanging in there with me Julie! This is what I signed up for, deal with it and move on. As the clock ran down I could feel the pain building up in my leg. It was hurting pretty bad. As I pimp walked off (also known as a limp) I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes, why am I crying? Well, what I didn't tell you was that before the WOD I was told that I was in 8th or 9th and that I needed to do well and I could qualify for the 5th WOD. I don't know what I was expecting of myself, but I think I was just briefly disappointed. But then I said, stop it, you are an idiot. This was your first ever RX individual competition, you are lucky you didn't place last. Come back down to reality for a moment and look back on the day. I had so many firsts and PR's. I have been working towards pull-ups for 7 months and I did 40!!!!
The last WOD with the top 8 was the eliminator and let me tell you it was such an amazing site. I got to watch some of the people I look up to the most in the gym represent our community so well. Theresa "Booty" Lang and Miwa Andrus-you two are my idols. I am in awe of your talent and I look up to you both so much. Tiff, what can we say about her?! Your fight and drive through the whole day and that final WOD was the epitome of crossfit. I don't feel I deserved to be in any type of division with you all, and I am truly honored to be able to work out alongside you in our gym. I learn something new from you all from every conversation we have or WOD we hit.
Big shout outs to Crystal Colvin and Angie Ahr. My heat buddies. You girls rocked it out. Mark Sheehan, my male twin. Watching you do big lifts is awesome and I got so excited when you hit that axle. Tom Burkhart grabbing 1st place on the row! Barbara Sessa, my high school phys ed teacher who absolutely rocked the Masters Division. I was so happy that we had this opportunity to see each other after all these years. I can't wait to track you through the Open, Regionals, and Games. To all the coaches that competed-Kim, Viv, and Nikki. I loved getting to see you compete, you all did amazing. To all 90 day challengers that left their comfort zone and kicked some serious AAAASSSSSSS! Michele Sano, 2nd place, what what!! You are amazing girly :) Brian Mulvey, so great to see you and watch you compete!!
Thank you to all of the coaches and athletes that have helped me to get to where I am today. I have a laundry list of movements to work on and I can't wait to heal and get back to work. The second half of this 90 day challenge is going to be used to the fullest.
ps-How come no one ever told me that when you WOD all day and take your shirt off your stomach looks 10 times better than it did when you woke up that morning? I am doing 2-3 WOD's before any type of bathing suit activity from now on!!
pps-signed up for the Crossfit Open today.....ish just got real!
My week leading up to the competition was a bit hectic and overwhelming. I had received some extra duties at work and I am coming up on my first game with my team in 2 weeks, so I had a lot of other things on my mind. So needless to say when WOD 1 was posted on Wednesday night my stress level heightened significantly. 8 minute AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) of 9 box jumps (24") 6 Handstand Pushups and 3-125lb front squats. Box jumps and front squats, what more could a girl ask for! Handstand pushups? I knew they were going to happen at some point, but knowing they were actually going to be in the WOD was like drawing Alabama in the first round of the NCAA tournament. A blow to your excitement level. Thank god I have made such amazing friends and have such fantastic coaches at ACF. Janie Wilkinson, Erika Wilson and Kia all helped me out leading up to Saturday on form to get at least one. Janie reached out to me the next morning knowing I was frustrated and said to meet her Friday to just try kipping and I'm so glad I went because I hit my first HSPU and jumped up in utter amazement and excitement and hugged Kia. I for sure thought that was never going to happen for as long as I ever crossfit. I put a lot of focus on pull-ups working up to the competition, so sadly my HSPU didn't get the attention it needed. All I needed to do was pray for 5 more to occur once in competition mode. Wellllll.....no such luck. I told my judge Maggie Doyle that this was going to be a rough one, thanks for sticking through it with me! I got my first on my 2nd attempt and then failed for a solid 7 minutes to get another. Up....slam.....Up.....slam. I was a chiropractors nightmare. WHY CAN'T YOU JUST PUSH YOURSELF UP AGAIN!!!??? That was my constant thought. Not a great start to my first individual RX competition, but I needed to remember that it was a PR for me. I had done an HSPU in a WOD for the first time ever, holy crap what is going on?!
(SIDENOTE-I wrote on my hands DON'T STOP to keep reminding me that no matter what was going on or how many times I failed or no rep'd I couldn't stop. I wouldn't have been satisfied if I sat through the WOD and gave up. If I kept pushing who knows what could happen. I suggest this tactic for future competitions.)
Well, Debbie Downer over here left and did a little sulking after the WOD, but had her spirits renewed by her friends Lindsay and Shelley that showed up to cheer me on. They couldn't believe I was even attempting what I was doing and were really supportive. I was so happy that they had come, it really meant a lot to me. I had to shake it off and know there was plenty more to come and I needed to be ready for anything. WOD 2 was announced about an hour later. As I was sitting there and Kevin was telling us that the Rec division was doing GRACE (my all-time favorite of the girl WODs) my heart started pounding in excitement. Are we doing GRACE RX??!! HELL YEH.....and then this happened. Kevin said that yes we would be doing 30 Clean and Jerks in our workout, but in order to even get to your first set of 10 you would have to do 20 chin over bar pull-ups. Heart....falls....to.....butt. I had just gotten kipping pull-ups a week or 2 ago, so doing 20 was going to be a slow and steady process. I was the tortoise amongst many hares in this WOD. HUGE shout out goes to my judge TK. I told him that this was going to be tough for me and I was probably going to be hitting them 1-2 at a time. I then requested that he keep yelling at me, loudly, and with profanity. BOY DID HE DELIVER! Every single pull-up he was in my face, chalking me up, and telling me to get the F*#$ back on the bar. I had a competitor/judge love moment. I kept staring at my hands and pushing through. Just get me to those clean and jerks, something I can do well!! My first 20 pull-ups ever later I got to the bar and ripped through 10 c and j's. Here we go....20 more. And there TK went, screaming and yelling as I did singles with probably the biggest kip known to man. I may have had crotch to bar at some point as I was swinging all 174lbs of me up to that bar. I heard so many people yelling for me to keep going and to push. Thank you all so much for that, you were my motivation to keep going. With 20 seconds left I finally got back to the bar again and did 4 clean and jerks, and then looked down to the whitest, most bloody hands I've ever had. They were ripped to shreds, but at that moment I didn't care. I had just done 40 pull-ups in a WOD. Yet another PR. On to the next one, dear God let it be something in my wheelhouse.
And there it was. My pride and joy. The strongman axle bar. Laying on the ground in all its glory with a huge pile of weights next to it. Here we go, something I can do!! I knew that the day was going to be one of the biggest challenges I would face thus far in my crossfit existance, so I knew that I had to capitalize on opportunities where WODs had movements I could do well in. 1RM axle clean and jerk was just that opportunity. Most of the room was like, what in holy hell is that? How do you even do it? That is how I feel when I see people fluttering on butterfly pull-ups, welcome to my world!! WOD 3 was a two parter-6 minutes to achieve a 1RM axle C and J, 4 minutes rest, then 6 minutes to row as far as you could. I had 16 minutes to black out and use every ounce of my body to do well in 2 events I knew I could excel in. 3, 2, 1....GO! I put 135 on the bar right away just to get a weight established. Hit it. Ok, I'm going to attempt 155. I get it up to my shoulders....push! FAIL! NO!! You can do this! I get it up to my shoulders and fail again. What is happening, get under the bar! I had a minor freak out moment and decided I should try 145. I heard other people hitting 130 around me so I knew that I had to do something and fast. I got 145. At this point I thought back to the time I visited up at Lake George Crossfit and had a WWDD (What Would Dirk Do) moment. Screw it, go big or go home. Let's hit a PR and get 160 right now! Boom, up to my shoulders. I waited for a second, composed myself, reset my hands and knew that I needed to get a huge push from my bottom half because my shoulders were smoked from the HSPUs and pull-ups. Big breathe in......BAM! Holy crap! If you have ever hit a huge PR in front of a crowd of people before you know the excitement that you feel when it happens. Unbelievable. I dropped the bar and said some profanities to it because that axle was a big time female dog that day and I just slapped it. I was going to try for 170 but ran out of time.....on to the row. I got set up in my rower and was telling my judge how much I was shaking from just doing that. Then over walks TK, my knight in shining armor. He apologized for not being at my C and J but he said that he knew I was gonna need him more during the row. (Earlier I told him that I wanted to personally request him as a judge for the remainder of the day because he was just the motivator I needed). The row began and I was just trying to stay in a zone, block everyone out, don't listen to what people are doing on the lifts. TK was yelling at me to stay under 2:00 pace for as long as I could. I stayed at 1:58 for about 3 minutes and then started to teeter between 1:58 and 2:10 until the very last minute. I heard TK say to my judge that he was going to start screaming and cursing at me 10 times more than he already was. I knew I had to put everything I had into the last minute. I felt like my legs were going to shut down, but knew I need to keep going, I wanted to get over 1500 meters. 3, 2, 1......1515 was my finish and I rolled off the rower to the ground. I gave it my all....I hoped it was enough. THANK YOU TK, THANK YOU. I can't even explain how much I appreciated you coaching me through that row. Back in the summer there was a moment when we were rowing in class and I'm pretty sure Dean came up to me and started throwing me back and forth on the rower because my form was so crappy. I can't believe how far I have come. That is what these competitions are all about.
I was ready to call it a day, WOD 4? What do you have in store for us? Oh...pistols? Ok, cool. Oh wait, we have to do them alternating on each leg? Oh....well that's unfortunate because I can only do them on my right leg which I figured out on Thursday. It looked as though I was going to be ending the competition just as I had started it. Fighting my way through one movement until the clock ran out. WOD 4 was the following-3 rounds of 7-185lb deadlifts, 14 pistols, and 21 unbroken double-unders (jump rope passes under you twice on each jump). I knew no matter what this was going to be a rough day in the office. Even if GOD entered my body and got me to do 7 pistols on my left leg, 21 unbroken double-unders was also going to be a serious challenge. I think my max is 15. I looked at my judge Julie Duncan and said that I would be doing left leg pistols for the entire time and I did just that. for 5 of the 6 minutes we had to complete the rounds I tried and failed. Down....fall. Ok, lets try holding my leg....nope, fail. At this point I started laughing. Thanks for hanging in there with me Julie! This is what I signed up for, deal with it and move on. As the clock ran down I could feel the pain building up in my leg. It was hurting pretty bad. As I pimp walked off (also known as a limp) I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes, why am I crying? Well, what I didn't tell you was that before the WOD I was told that I was in 8th or 9th and that I needed to do well and I could qualify for the 5th WOD. I don't know what I was expecting of myself, but I think I was just briefly disappointed. But then I said, stop it, you are an idiot. This was your first ever RX individual competition, you are lucky you didn't place last. Come back down to reality for a moment and look back on the day. I had so many firsts and PR's. I have been working towards pull-ups for 7 months and I did 40!!!!
The last WOD with the top 8 was the eliminator and let me tell you it was such an amazing site. I got to watch some of the people I look up to the most in the gym represent our community so well. Theresa "Booty" Lang and Miwa Andrus-you two are my idols. I am in awe of your talent and I look up to you both so much. Tiff, what can we say about her?! Your fight and drive through the whole day and that final WOD was the epitome of crossfit. I don't feel I deserved to be in any type of division with you all, and I am truly honored to be able to work out alongside you in our gym. I learn something new from you all from every conversation we have or WOD we hit.
Big shout outs to Crystal Colvin and Angie Ahr. My heat buddies. You girls rocked it out. Mark Sheehan, my male twin. Watching you do big lifts is awesome and I got so excited when you hit that axle. Tom Burkhart grabbing 1st place on the row! Barbara Sessa, my high school phys ed teacher who absolutely rocked the Masters Division. I was so happy that we had this opportunity to see each other after all these years. I can't wait to track you through the Open, Regionals, and Games. To all the coaches that competed-Kim, Viv, and Nikki. I loved getting to see you compete, you all did amazing. To all 90 day challengers that left their comfort zone and kicked some serious AAAASSSSSSS! Michele Sano, 2nd place, what what!! You are amazing girly :) Brian Mulvey, so great to see you and watch you compete!!
Thank you to all of the coaches and athletes that have helped me to get to where I am today. I have a laundry list of movements to work on and I can't wait to heal and get back to work. The second half of this 90 day challenge is going to be used to the fullest.
ps-How come no one ever told me that when you WOD all day and take your shirt off your stomach looks 10 times better than it did when you woke up that morning? I am doing 2-3 WOD's before any type of bathing suit activity from now on!!
pps-signed up for the Crossfit Open today.....ish just got real!
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
A Note to Competitors......and my breakdown-two part blog
Dear first time competitors,
I am writing this to you to say that myself and everyone else competing this weekend were you at one point. I am going to tell you a little bit about my experience in my first cross-fit competition to hopefully take some nerves away.
This past summer I was standing in class minding my own business and scratching my shoulder. As I was said scratching Kevin was asking the class who was going to be signing up for the throwdown. Apparently my scratch looked like a hand raise, and suddenly I was signed up to compete. This turned into a one month long crazy spell where I was scared shitless on a day to day basis. I was still pretty new to the process and had not completely drank the cool-aid yet. However, I wasn't one to quit and was interested in seeing what a competition entailed. Let me tell you all, it was one of the best days I had all year.
I entered the day with very low expectations for myself. I looked at those I was competing against and recognized them from classes and immediately doubted how well I would do in the day. I also didn't know a soul at the time, so I was pretty much alone the whole day until I convinced one of my friends to stop by and hang out with me. The person I was then is completely different from who I am now, and I have the competition to thank for that. It was a great day with amazing competitors and I ended up meeting some great people that I consider good friends of mine at this gym. I was completely inspired and so freaking amazed with what I had accomplished in the day that cloud 9 didn't even describe it.
In closing, competitors, get ready for one of the best days you will ever have, pushing yourself to limits you never even thought of. WODs in the heat of battle are way different than WODs in class. Have fun, be a crazed beast, and kill it!
Now here is the part where I need to take some of my own advice. Over the past week and a half I have entered every single WOD with the worst mindsets I have ever had. Last week I allowed a lot of my outside frustrations with work/life/etc get to me and I haven't been able to shake it. On top of that I was experiencing my wrist pain again that I had about a month ago. I was unable to complete my Wendlers presses due to the pain, along with any overhead heavy WODs. I decided not to do anything overhead for the rest of the week since I knew I needed to heal for the competition.
Well folks, today I hit my breaking point. Almost cried after squat cleans today, no lie. I have not felt like myself in a WOD for over a week and today was my limit. Mentally, I need to get myself back on track. I cannot allow outside distractions to ruin my mood for the WODs. I need to remember what I am trying to accomplish and that when I go to ACF I have fun. That is why I enjoy showing up to classes each and every day. When I stop having fun, is when I realize I am not being myself.
So here is the deal, if anyone sees me not having FUN on Saturday-slap me, hard. I won't be mad, you can even follow it up with "you know why!"As of tonight I am officially going to remove my head from my ass and get back on track and ready to have fun challenging myself. This will be my first time going RX in a competition alone. I competed RX in the Fall Face Off, but this time it's different. But I know I am not completely alone because of all the amazing supporters and friends I now have from my experiences here at crossfit. Something I didn't have at my very first competition.
GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE, HAVE FUN.......BEAST MODE!
Friday, January 27, 2012
The Filthy 50-The most WOD drunk I've ever been
I'm going to preface you all for my Filthy 50 journey with how I began my day. I woke up bright and early and had breakfast before heading into work for 7:30, my team practices at 8am on Fridays. I had the usual, one egg and two egg white omelet with spinach, bacon, almond milk and a banana. When I got to work I realized I had forgotten my lunch-fail. I was pretty busy for a Friday and didn't want to eat the crap at school so I dealt with it. One of my players brought me over some chili she made at about 3pm, but I knew what was on the horizon for me so I didn't really have any of it for fear it would end up all over the ACF floor. I did this for the good of everyone at the 5pm class. You are all welcome. As I went through my day I truly got the feeling as to what IF'ing would be like. I had a coffee that kept me running all day, but I was extremely jittery. Not sure if anyone knows this about me, but any type of caffeine will keep me up and running for a solid 3 days straight. I have no idea how you insane people drink 5 cups a day. My heart would run out of my chest grow arms and punch me in the face until I was unconscious if I ever did that. IF is short for Intermittent Fasting, many people usually go 16 hours without eating and then eat a few meals in an 8 hour block (usually in the afternoon/evening). If I messed this description up at all I apologize. I am just beginning to learn about it and may give it a try for the last month of the challenge. It will be pretty easy for me to accomplish because the first week I am in Florida coaching so I will be distracted at games all day. I need to do more research first though. Stay tuned.
So on to the Filthy 50. This workout is the following:
50-20" box jumps
50-Jumping Pullups
50-35lb Kettlebell swings
50-Walking lunges
50-knees to elbows
50-45lb push presses
50-back extensions
50-14lb wall balls
50-Burpees
50-Double Unders (jumprope goes under feet twice at each jump)
So here it goes-shout out to Michele Sano for being my warm-up partner. We had to hold each others legs and jump in place at one point. Jay was laughing, I wasn't. After the warm-up we got settled in at our box and I decided to go first....3.....2....1....go!
I flew through the box jumps hitting them almost unbroken. Great start, then to the jumping pull-ups. Your legs are already like, eff you stop jumping. I'm just trying to get my double chin over that bar as fast and consistent as I can. I broke them up in sets of 6-10 depending on how I felt. Done, onto KB swings. I think I was one of the first to the swings so I was pumped. I broke them up into 25 and 25 or 25, 15, 10. I can't really remember this part because this is where I kind of began to walk around like I was wasted. After those were done I hit the lunges, easy peasy, I love lunges. And then knees to elbows happened. My hands were sweaty as all hell, kind of like a hand hold on your first date at the movies. Just awfully inappropriate. The chalk bucket was on the other side of the gym so I tried my best to use chalk I saw on the floor, so basically hand me down chalk from the past classes. It worked wonders.....not really. Those were broken up in sets of 5-6 and then sets of 3 because my grip was slipping. Finally finished. Off to the presses. I scaled up to 45 lbs for the extra challenge. I broke them up 25, 15, 10. They went pretty fast. Next were back extensions also broken up 25, 15, 10.....holy hammy burn. At this point I was trying to chase Booty who passed me at K2E and not let Shye catch up. By chase, I mean turtle crawl. I drunkenly waddled into what then turned into approximately 12 minutes of pure hell. Wall balls, 5 sets of 10. Heavy breathing was happening and I was severely light headed. At this point I was kicking myself for not eating all day. I was officially hallucinating. After that bitch slap was over you got another by our good friend the Burpee. I don't know if I would really call them much of Burpees, as it was more like a dead fish flop to ground, pop up, wuss jump and clap. These took me what seemed like most of my adult life. Thank you Theresa for coming over and motivating me through my last 13, I needed that. FINALLY THE END....double unders. Thanks to Kia I had a rope to use and was determined not to scale this workout. I finished the Filthy 50 successfully hitting all the double unders, which was a first time for me in a WOD. My longest string was 15 in a row and I have no idea where my energy came from to finish them, but I was so glad to be done. Hell yes, my first Filthy 50, completed in 28:05. I will see you again and hopefully destrominate my time since now I know what I'm getting myself into.
I walked around post WOD in a complete haze. I cheered on Michele and others as they finished and pounded a butt load of water. I just kept walking around for a bit like I was 18 years old at 2am in the bars of downtown Albany, not really knowing what just happened. I was by far the most WOD drunk I had ever been. Sweating like a prostitute in church and barely able to concentrate on foam rolling. Unsure if operating my vehicle right away was a good choice, I stopped in the office to hang with Kevin and Sean. They commented on how badly I was sweating still. Obviously, I was looking good. During my time visiting I managed to completely zone out for a few seconds just staring at a spot on the table. I came to when I realized Sean was making fun of me. I think I sat through what seemed like the worlds longest conversation about t-shirts and shortly after this Jay humped my arm which woke me up and decided I should probably get going. Thanks Jay, Love you :)
So needless to say the Filthy 50 is a test of your strength, stamina, agility, endurance and beats every piece of your body. But most importantly it's about challenging you up mentally and seeing just how far and how fast you can push yourself without ever giving up. 9 months ago, when I first started, I would have given up and definitely would have scaled reps to 30 or 40. Today, for my first time ever doing it, I did all 50 reps of each movement. Truly a testament to what I have been trying to accomplish every time I come to ACF. I can't wait to keep on working towards my goals. To BE BETTER THAN YESTERDAY. I love this box, I love this sport!
So on to the Filthy 50. This workout is the following:
50-20" box jumps
50-Jumping Pullups
50-35lb Kettlebell swings
50-Walking lunges
50-knees to elbows
50-45lb push presses
50-back extensions
50-14lb wall balls
50-Burpees
50-Double Unders (jumprope goes under feet twice at each jump)
So here it goes-shout out to Michele Sano for being my warm-up partner. We had to hold each others legs and jump in place at one point. Jay was laughing, I wasn't. After the warm-up we got settled in at our box and I decided to go first....3.....2....1....go!
I flew through the box jumps hitting them almost unbroken. Great start, then to the jumping pull-ups. Your legs are already like, eff you stop jumping. I'm just trying to get my double chin over that bar as fast and consistent as I can. I broke them up in sets of 6-10 depending on how I felt. Done, onto KB swings. I think I was one of the first to the swings so I was pumped. I broke them up into 25 and 25 or 25, 15, 10. I can't really remember this part because this is where I kind of began to walk around like I was wasted. After those were done I hit the lunges, easy peasy, I love lunges. And then knees to elbows happened. My hands were sweaty as all hell, kind of like a hand hold on your first date at the movies. Just awfully inappropriate. The chalk bucket was on the other side of the gym so I tried my best to use chalk I saw on the floor, so basically hand me down chalk from the past classes. It worked wonders.....not really. Those were broken up in sets of 5-6 and then sets of 3 because my grip was slipping. Finally finished. Off to the presses. I scaled up to 45 lbs for the extra challenge. I broke them up 25, 15, 10. They went pretty fast. Next were back extensions also broken up 25, 15, 10.....holy hammy burn. At this point I was trying to chase Booty who passed me at K2E and not let Shye catch up. By chase, I mean turtle crawl. I drunkenly waddled into what then turned into approximately 12 minutes of pure hell. Wall balls, 5 sets of 10. Heavy breathing was happening and I was severely light headed. At this point I was kicking myself for not eating all day. I was officially hallucinating. After that bitch slap was over you got another by our good friend the Burpee. I don't know if I would really call them much of Burpees, as it was more like a dead fish flop to ground, pop up, wuss jump and clap. These took me what seemed like most of my adult life. Thank you Theresa for coming over and motivating me through my last 13, I needed that. FINALLY THE END....double unders. Thanks to Kia I had a rope to use and was determined not to scale this workout. I finished the Filthy 50 successfully hitting all the double unders, which was a first time for me in a WOD. My longest string was 15 in a row and I have no idea where my energy came from to finish them, but I was so glad to be done. Hell yes, my first Filthy 50, completed in 28:05. I will see you again and hopefully destrominate my time since now I know what I'm getting myself into.
I walked around post WOD in a complete haze. I cheered on Michele and others as they finished and pounded a butt load of water. I just kept walking around for a bit like I was 18 years old at 2am in the bars of downtown Albany, not really knowing what just happened. I was by far the most WOD drunk I had ever been. Sweating like a prostitute in church and barely able to concentrate on foam rolling. Unsure if operating my vehicle right away was a good choice, I stopped in the office to hang with Kevin and Sean. They commented on how badly I was sweating still. Obviously, I was looking good. During my time visiting I managed to completely zone out for a few seconds just staring at a spot on the table. I came to when I realized Sean was making fun of me. I think I sat through what seemed like the worlds longest conversation about t-shirts and shortly after this Jay humped my arm which woke me up and decided I should probably get going. Thanks Jay, Love you :)
So needless to say the Filthy 50 is a test of your strength, stamina, agility, endurance and beats every piece of your body. But most importantly it's about challenging you up mentally and seeing just how far and how fast you can push yourself without ever giving up. 9 months ago, when I first started, I would have given up and definitely would have scaled reps to 30 or 40. Today, for my first time ever doing it, I did all 50 reps of each movement. Truly a testament to what I have been trying to accomplish every time I come to ACF. I can't wait to keep on working towards my goals. To BE BETTER THAN YESTERDAY. I love this box, I love this sport!
Monday, January 23, 2012
No more lunges in my jeans!
Has anyone had a pair of jeans that you really liked to wear, but suddenly you need to do some lunges and stretching to get into them? This week was an awakening for me in the clothing department. I noticed that the number on the scale increased a little bit over the past two weeks which really got me upset because I had lost in the first week. I have been eating better than I ever have and work out 5-6 times a week. How is this happening? I emailed a friend about it and they were my voice of reason saying it's probably muscle and water weight. So I felt better, but still upset because I have a goal weight I would love to hit by the end of the 90 day. Katie Hunter posted about a similar problem, but she then told us that her pant size has gone down since the challenge began. AWESOME! So it got me thinking. I went into my closet and pulled out some of my "lunge worthy" jeans and tried them on. Easy fit, no lunges necessary. They were jeans that I had purchased around my first Marathon. A few months ago I was seriously stretching, pulling at the waist, and sometimes had a plumbers crack when I attempted to put these suckers on. So you can imagine how excited I am to learn that my wardrobe has increased to a few extra pairs of pants and some tops. My chest size has gone down a little too, which may not be the best news for the males out there, but for me I'm happy with that. So lesson learned out there and for others in the challenge. Don't judge your progress by the scale. Look at your body and see how it's changing. Are your arms getting more definition? Forming an ab? That's way cooler than a few extra pounds on the scale.
This week I began a new strength program as well. It is called 5/3/1 by Jim Wendler. It includes the following excercises-Dead lift, Press, Squat, and Bench Press. I am working on all but the bench press. I did my presses and deadlifts this Tuesday at Cutting Edge and was completely smoked. I did a similar program like this in college and saw results there, so I am sure this one will do the same. I will thank Jay Von Guinness when my lifts have all increased immensely! If anyone is looking to increase strength look into this program. Really easy read, I can send it to you.
I also hit Elizabeth this week. For those of you that are unfamiliar with her, it is 21-15-9 Reps of Squat Cleans and Ring Dips. RX weight is 95#'s. I have not done this workout at that weight before and I have a goal to do at least the weight RX if I can't do the body weight movement RX. So I did. The first 21 were ok, not too bad, but not great either. 15 reps were slower and I was stringing them together 2-3 at a time. 9 reps was like MURDER. I unfortunately only got to 8 because my back completely seized up on me in a pain I had never felt before. I looked up at Sean who was screaming at me to pick up the bar and just told him I could not continue. I was so upset because I really wanted to finish, but I knew that my physical health was much more important. Here is the learning process that occurred for me. Erika suggested I use the reverse hyper to stretch my back out. I did a few reps of 8 swings and then foam rolled for a while. I woke up the next morning pain free. It was actually the best my back has felt in weeks!!! Mobility and stretching is so important to what we are doing, so I not only have tried to focus on my workouts through this challenge, but how well I am recovering. Extra time warming up and post WOD foam rolling stretching has made me feel so much better and I am even feeling more flexible. So when you think you should just rush out of the gym post workout, remember to take some time to take care of yourself because you will appreciate it much later.
I will admit now that I cheated....BAAAAAAD this weekend. If anyone knows me well enough there are just some things in life that I truly enjoy doing and one of them is having beers and watching football. Due to the fact that the Giants were one step away from the Superbowl I just couldn't help but indulge. AND THEY WON!! So......it's probably going to happen again in 2 weeks, so I will be eating clean and punishing myself for the pollution I went through by doing some extra running workouts. I will be absolutely cheating again on the National Holiday knows as the SUPERBOWL. Dock me points, but I will make up for it with some extra pavement pounding :)
Monday, January 16, 2012
PRESEASON
For those of you that do not know much about me, I am a college softball coach and tomorrow we start our first day of preseason practice. Preseason??!! You may be saying, isn't it too cold out? Where can you possibly do that in the Northeast? Well, my team along with all of the other colleges in the country will be taking our softball skills and drills into our gyms for the next 6-7 weeks. All the hard work and time spent will be put to the test once our season begins when we play our first set of games down in Florida in the first week of March.
So where am I going with this? Well, I can't help but consider what I am currently doing in the 90 day challenge as my preseason training. As of May 2012, I will have been crossfitting for 1 year. I am a freshman, about to enter into my first attempt at the Crossfit Open that starts at the end of February. Preseason is the time to focus on all aspects of the game that you need to win. You pick your weaker skills and give them extra attention. My team spends a lot of time working on baserunning and will sometimes focus on hitting the outside pitch for an entire practice. As a crossfitter I volume train my bodyweight movements and work on technique for my Oly lifts. I think of myself as a walk-on freshman. I wasn't recruited. I turned to crossfit because I had not lost my competitive edge and love the feeling of being a part of a team. Most college walk-ons have that same desire. I am going to work my hardest to improve myself and my skills to show my coaches that I am serious about the game and what I am working towards. Maybe I will get the opportunity to show what I can do, but if I don't I am not going to give up. I will keep working hard and supporting everyone else around me that is working towards the same goal. As a member of the competitors team at ACF/CCP I know that we are all eligible to help our team qualify for regionals. Each week when I hit the Open WOD I am going to give everything I have to do the best that I am capable of. You never know what can happen in the heat of battle.
My schedule is about to get pretty hectic and I have mapped out every workout I will attend for the next 3 months along with my practice schedule. Since I have two preseasons at one time, my focus must increase as my goals have now doubled. They may be different from the outside, but from the inside they are very similar. My stress and workload will be increased greatly so it will be important for me to stay on track and keep myself motivated. Best of luck to everyone in your preseason training!!
Updates: This week I had a bit of a hiccup and fell off the food wagon. Just one meal, so don't worry, I'm right back on. I blame the NY GIANTS and the 8 other females I watched the game with on Sunday. If only there was a video camera filming what may have been the funniest 3 hours of football ever. All hardcore fans, all screaming and cheering, all talking about how nice looking their butts were.
I have taken up couponing. I have found myself in the grocery store almost every other day because I either run out of something, or have an idea for the best dinners ever! So I think that some savings are in order! FYI bacon wrapped scallops are like the candy bar of seafood treats. Absolutely delicious.
I did Bikram again this week. Note to self-don't do Bikram after a WOD. You will be exhausted. I took some extra rest this week. My body was speaking to me.
Lastly, I hit FRAN and gymnasty on Saturday. Fran was 4:53 with 65# and ring rows. Gotta get those pullups!!! Gymnasty was awesome. I did my first kipping ring pull up, and then did a few more. That was the highlight of my week.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
I came, I cooked, I Bikramed
WE DID IT! Ooops....nope....wait.....too soon. Well it's been a week and I survived. Thinking about making myself a t-shirt (cough, cough, wink, Cean Olsen). I must admit that the first few days I was starving, added a few extra snacks and veggies at dinner in there and I got it covered. I think the recovery from the binge express I had on New Years Eve lasted much longer than necessary. Melissa Warner told me I was having a Gluten hangover, I mean I definitely had a regular one on New Years day, but I agree with her on the gluten one mid week. I'm pretty sure I could have slept through the first week of this challenge no problem. But thankfully, I didn't, because a lot of great stuff happened!
First off, I made some good starter food for myself this week. Turkey/Beef chili with peppers and mushrooms, turkey meatballs (just using an egg white and seasoning), and brussel sprouts with bacon. I also made some trail mix for the movies consisting of dried cranberries, raisins, almonds, sunflower seeds, banana chips, coconut chips, and Enjoy Life Mini Chocolate Chips. How am I doing Mom? Speaking of Linda Meacham, I'd like to thank that lovely little lady for helping me through the process and calling me after it was over to, 1) make sure I was alive and 2) see how it all came out. She is quite the kitchen guru, getting most of her favorite recipes from the ex-con we know and love, Martha Stewart. Ever since that jailbird entered her life her cooking went from good to amazing. I no longer have to soak Linda's meatloaf in ketchup due to the recipes of Inmate 55170-054. Just kidding Mom, I love you and I hope I can become the amazing woman and mother that you are someday. You will most likely receive phone calls from me next week when I decide to break in my new crock pot.
Secondly, I had some great workouts this week with some pretty radical people. Yes, I used the word radical. You see I have tendency to use the F-word far to often as a descriptive tool so I am digging deep into the vault for some better vocabulary these days. Anyway, back to the workouts. This week I did a total of 680 air squats, 300 push ups, 190 ring rows, and 120 wall balls. So I did some work on my horseshoe and butt this week for sure ;) Mid-week I got to hit "Jeremy" with Erika Wilson. She was AWOL for 2 weeks on the holiday vacation of a lifetime, so it was nice to reconnect and hit a WOD (WOD=workout of the day) with her. After that we hit a 1RM dead lift in which I PR'd at 275 and "the worlds strongest nugget," as I have so dubbed her, hit 305!!! She's ridiculously awesome! Saturday, I ventured to Lake George Crossfit and hit a WOD with Caitlin Hickin. I don't get to see her as often as I used to in good ol' 7pm classes so it was great to get a chance to workout together again. The WOD was tabata(this means 8 rounds with 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest) box jumps(24") and kettle bell swings (44lb) with a 2 min. rest then 4 rounds of 400m run and 50 air squats. This is not my best of WODs because running after doing any type of leg work is just insane and I usually feel like I can't breathe and have 300lbs strapped to my ankles. After the WOD, Dirk, owner and main squeeze of Caitlin asked if I wanted to do a 1RM Split Jerk. Taking the opportunity to get some one on one coaching I did and couldn't have been more thankful. I PR'd by 20lbs at 175, which is actually my body weight, so I was super pumped. I hit 165 which was already a PR and then kept going up. Failed on 170, but Dirk said for me to jump to 175 because if it was competition I would do just that. Two fails later and I was determined to hit the lift. I just heard Dirk getting me psyched up saying "quick hands" and "get under that bar"....big breath 1, 2, 3 BOOM! Hit it and was super excited about it.
Within the realm of crossfit, we are encouraged to try new sports. Today, I did just that and went to a Bikram Yoga class at Hot Yoga Saratoga. What? Yoga's not a sport is it? Ummmm....check yourself people because Bikram was like a full body workout on crack in the hot lands of the South. It should be on ESPN instead of poker. So, anyway, as a first timer I was super intimidated as I walked into a jam packed class of experience yogis. I was greeted immediately by the heat that slapped me in the face as soon as I opened the door. I searched for a spot in the room and found myself smack dab next to the mirror. Hey pretty lady, you get to stare at yourself for the next hour and half! If anyone has taken a yoga class with me you will know that my mat is bright pink and has a massive Playtex Sport Tampon logo on one side of it. So naturally I prayed as I unrolled my mat that this was not showing, but of course, it was. I quickly flipped my mat over and sat down on my big striped beach towel next to my gallon of water. I was the sore thumb for sure. Soon the instructor Cindy came in and asked me if I had done yoga before and told me that if I needed to stop, I should lay down, but not to leave the room so I can learn to get acclimated to the temperature. The woman next to me turned and said the following "welcome to hell." I wanted to high five her for that comment but I don't think that's proper yoga etiquette. The class began with a breathing exercise in which I must admit I wanted to laugh so badly, but instead participated and watched what everyone else was doing because I obviously did not. Then we went into poses. After the warm up I was ready to lay down and call it a day, but I charged along consistently wiping the sweat off my body and re hydrating every time I could. By the time class was over I felt like I was flying. Yoga high, just in a cloud of "what the hell just happened to me?" This continued for a while, which unfortunately led me to leave the ATM without my debit card. Epic fail...way to go slugger :( But anyway, Bikram rocked and I plan to do it consistently throughout the 90 days to improve my strength and balance as well as increase my flexibility.
Finally, I would like to close this blog by saying that I successfully have not had any alcohol since New Years and I plan to keep it that way. If I do, it will be a simple glass of red wine. This may cause me to be a bit of a hermit, but I think my wallet will appreciate it. My body feels great and I lost 2 lbs this week. I love seeing the changes that my body has gone through since crossfit has entered my life and I am slowly beginning to accept my body for what it is. Strong! I'm never going to be super model skinny, frankly I think I would look weird that way. Having muscles doesn't make me any less feminine than the next person and I love crossfit for embracing that concept.
Week 2 Goals: Keep working on Oly lifts before or after the WODs, use my crock pot, volume train pull ups, save a polar bear, gain more knowledge on nutrition, take chances, Hit FRAN with Shannon, and maybe write a mid-week blog since so much stuff happens throughout this process!
First off, I made some good starter food for myself this week. Turkey/Beef chili with peppers and mushrooms, turkey meatballs (just using an egg white and seasoning), and brussel sprouts with bacon. I also made some trail mix for the movies consisting of dried cranberries, raisins, almonds, sunflower seeds, banana chips, coconut chips, and Enjoy Life Mini Chocolate Chips. How am I doing Mom? Speaking of Linda Meacham, I'd like to thank that lovely little lady for helping me through the process and calling me after it was over to, 1) make sure I was alive and 2) see how it all came out. She is quite the kitchen guru, getting most of her favorite recipes from the ex-con we know and love, Martha Stewart. Ever since that jailbird entered her life her cooking went from good to amazing. I no longer have to soak Linda's meatloaf in ketchup due to the recipes of Inmate 55170-054. Just kidding Mom, I love you and I hope I can become the amazing woman and mother that you are someday. You will most likely receive phone calls from me next week when I decide to break in my new crock pot.
Secondly, I had some great workouts this week with some pretty radical people. Yes, I used the word radical. You see I have tendency to use the F-word far to often as a descriptive tool so I am digging deep into the vault for some better vocabulary these days. Anyway, back to the workouts. This week I did a total of 680 air squats, 300 push ups, 190 ring rows, and 120 wall balls. So I did some work on my horseshoe and butt this week for sure ;) Mid-week I got to hit "Jeremy" with Erika Wilson. She was AWOL for 2 weeks on the holiday vacation of a lifetime, so it was nice to reconnect and hit a WOD (WOD=workout of the day) with her. After that we hit a 1RM dead lift in which I PR'd at 275 and "the worlds strongest nugget," as I have so dubbed her, hit 305!!! She's ridiculously awesome! Saturday, I ventured to Lake George Crossfit and hit a WOD with Caitlin Hickin. I don't get to see her as often as I used to in good ol' 7pm classes so it was great to get a chance to workout together again. The WOD was tabata(this means 8 rounds with 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest) box jumps(24") and kettle bell swings (44lb) with a 2 min. rest then 4 rounds of 400m run and 50 air squats. This is not my best of WODs because running after doing any type of leg work is just insane and I usually feel like I can't breathe and have 300lbs strapped to my ankles. After the WOD, Dirk, owner and main squeeze of Caitlin asked if I wanted to do a 1RM Split Jerk. Taking the opportunity to get some one on one coaching I did and couldn't have been more thankful. I PR'd by 20lbs at 175, which is actually my body weight, so I was super pumped. I hit 165 which was already a PR and then kept going up. Failed on 170, but Dirk said for me to jump to 175 because if it was competition I would do just that. Two fails later and I was determined to hit the lift. I just heard Dirk getting me psyched up saying "quick hands" and "get under that bar"....big breath 1, 2, 3 BOOM! Hit it and was super excited about it.
Within the realm of crossfit, we are encouraged to try new sports. Today, I did just that and went to a Bikram Yoga class at Hot Yoga Saratoga. What? Yoga's not a sport is it? Ummmm....check yourself people because Bikram was like a full body workout on crack in the hot lands of the South. It should be on ESPN instead of poker. So, anyway, as a first timer I was super intimidated as I walked into a jam packed class of experience yogis. I was greeted immediately by the heat that slapped me in the face as soon as I opened the door. I searched for a spot in the room and found myself smack dab next to the mirror. Hey pretty lady, you get to stare at yourself for the next hour and half! If anyone has taken a yoga class with me you will know that my mat is bright pink and has a massive Playtex Sport Tampon logo on one side of it. So naturally I prayed as I unrolled my mat that this was not showing, but of course, it was. I quickly flipped my mat over and sat down on my big striped beach towel next to my gallon of water. I was the sore thumb for sure. Soon the instructor Cindy came in and asked me if I had done yoga before and told me that if I needed to stop, I should lay down, but not to leave the room so I can learn to get acclimated to the temperature. The woman next to me turned and said the following "welcome to hell." I wanted to high five her for that comment but I don't think that's proper yoga etiquette. The class began with a breathing exercise in which I must admit I wanted to laugh so badly, but instead participated and watched what everyone else was doing because I obviously did not. Then we went into poses. After the warm up I was ready to lay down and call it a day, but I charged along consistently wiping the sweat off my body and re hydrating every time I could. By the time class was over I felt like I was flying. Yoga high, just in a cloud of "what the hell just happened to me?" This continued for a while, which unfortunately led me to leave the ATM without my debit card. Epic fail...way to go slugger :( But anyway, Bikram rocked and I plan to do it consistently throughout the 90 days to improve my strength and balance as well as increase my flexibility.
Finally, I would like to close this blog by saying that I successfully have not had any alcohol since New Years and I plan to keep it that way. If I do, it will be a simple glass of red wine. This may cause me to be a bit of a hermit, but I think my wallet will appreciate it. My body feels great and I lost 2 lbs this week. I love seeing the changes that my body has gone through since crossfit has entered my life and I am slowly beginning to accept my body for what it is. Strong! I'm never going to be super model skinny, frankly I think I would look weird that way. Having muscles doesn't make me any less feminine than the next person and I love crossfit for embracing that concept.
Week 2 Goals: Keep working on Oly lifts before or after the WODs, use my crock pot, volume train pull ups, save a polar bear, gain more knowledge on nutrition, take chances, Hit FRAN with Shannon, and maybe write a mid-week blog since so much stuff happens throughout this process!
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