LBBS...Betcha Don't Know that Acronym

LBBS is Low Bar Back Squat. You're welcome. I know you always wondered what that Acronym stood for.

Today was a WOD from heaven for me.

5RM back squat then 2 sets of 5 @90% of 5RM
then coach-led core work

I walked in, Nick was coaching (which is always a good day), warm ups weren't hideous, and I got to lift with two of my favorite peeps at CF. That, and--painful as it is--I love coach-led ab work. Oh, and we cannot neglect the fact that Nick played COUNTRY MUSIC the whole time we were there. I might as well have been at home on my couch with a bowl of ice cream, I was so happy. Oh, and he started the ab work Tabata with "Sweet Home Alabama." I guess I'm stronger than I realized because I was not thinking at all about the plank that I was holding, but rather about singing every word to the song accurately. That was the fastest Tabata WOD I've ever done! Thanks Nick!

We discussed the difference between the high-bar and low-bar back squat. I used the low bar position today as I had very recently done a series of high bar squats. I executed a final weight of 135 pounds before running out of time. I would have liked to have lifted another round or two.

After the WOD the kids were finishing up their class, and so we hung out for a while and worked on things like butterfly pull-ups and double-unders. You know, the normal stuff.

God. Bless. CrossFit. It was a perfect day at the box. Fun WOD, good friends, country music, and butterfly pull-ups. What? Yeah. I'll get them eventually...Thanks Wendy for showing me how. You're awesome. For reals.

Looking Back, Looking Forward

Yesterday Nick let me know that the kids' memberships need to be renewed. That means my membership renewal is coming up very soon as well.

When I signed up last year (I can't believe it's been that long), I was so very out of shape and so desperate for help. I knew that the hefty financial commitment would at least guilt me into going--no $10 per month "LA Fitness" running on treadmills and Zumba classes for me. No...I would jump into the deep end first and swim or die trying. I'm not direspecting  Zumba--it actually looks fun. I am disrespecting treadmills, make no mistake, but I digress. I took the hefty plunge and signed up for one whole year. Six months was not enough--it would have been too easy to excuse myself if progress was taking longer than I hoped. Two days a week were not quite enough. I needed a regular commitment for a longer period of time. I signed up for three days a week for one year.

Dan asked, "Are you sure?"

Say what? "Never match wits with a Cicilian when death is on the line," nor question me when I've made a decision. (insert chuffing noise here)

I have a lot of thoughts and feelings concerning the completion of one year, and while I haven't reached that point just yet, I do have to begin to consider seriously how I want to approach CrossFit in the future. Do I increase the days I go? How far do I want to take this? Do I ever want to compete? What does optimal fitness look like for me?

Now it is time to evaluate, ponder, pray (yes, I actually pray about these things, because God cares about every aspect of our lives), and finally decide. By next month's end I will have a new contract with CFW, new goals, new challenges, but quitting is not among the options.

Today was a baseline check-in plus 1 mile. My last recorded score for this WOD was 5:24. Once I got started with the WOD, however, I had to wonder if that was accurate.

500 m rowing
40 squats
30 situps
20 pushups
10 pullups
time: 6:23

There were several things going on that might attribute to the slower time. One is that the last time I had my #1 CF buddy, Justin, cheering me on, and I always work better when he is there. The second factor is that I had to pause several times on the squats, as my lower back was still very stiff from a tough deadlift last night. Oh, and I just looked back at the blog post for that WOD--it was the pull-up bands. I'm using a skinnier band than I used to and today those pull-ups were tough. All of these factors probably contributed.

With the one-mile run my total time was 21:03. This was after walking to the track to catch my breath, and that after dawdling a little, not realizing that we were not supposed to take a breather between the WOD and the run. I thought they were separate. With all that taken into consideration, I probably ran about a 10-11 minute mile. Slow, I know, but...today I ran the first unbroken mile I have ever run in my life. I have run a mile at CF before, but never unbroken.

In spite of still feeling like I am constantly at the back of the pack at CF, I look at days like today and realize just how far I have come. I have always hated running. Hated. Running. I have always hated it for the very reason that I was feeling on the first, second, and even third laps. Then I started thinking, "I did that one, I can do one more." Every lap I completed, I would count it and then think to myself, "Okay, one more" until all of them were done and I had not walked one step of that mile. 

Tonight I will celebrate this literal milestone. Here's to a great weekend!

**Wait...I have run an unbroken mile. I have run two. I used to jog around my mom's neighborhood when I thought I wanted to take up running when I was about 22. That was a very brief flirtation with running and so insignificant that I actually forgot it when I posted this. Still that mile is huge for me!

That Was Fun!

I personally didn't find it "fun," but today's WOD was hard, effective, and made me really feel like I had done something good for myself.

The person who DID find it fun was the effervescent Sara Jo who did her very first CrossFit WOD with us after crushing Kinetic Bootcamp! She even said the words "That was fun." Good job! Hope you continue to find all the WODs as fun as today's.

Today's WOD was "Hope"
3 rounds, 1 minute per movement

burpees
power snatch (50#)
box jumps
thrusters
chest-to-bar pullups
rest 1 minute

I set a goal for myself of 150 reps, and I got 154!

Love This Article!

 I read this article today The 10 Things That Will Happen When You Begin CrossFit, and every. single. word. is true. Wish I had written it myself. Anyway, take a minute and read it. Then go sign yourself up, but do it before you read the next paragraph. Then when you get home, you can read how your life is about to change.

Glad I'm on a rest day today because this is today's WOD at my box. It's beastly. I already plenty sore from yesterday. This would have put me in the wheelchair. 

Just. Keep. Moving.

Today's WOD

4 rounds for time:

12 pullups
20 m walking overhead lunges, 25#
12 dumbell snatches
20 m walking overhead lunges, 25#
time: 20:28

It really doesn't look that bad in writing. When I started out, it didn't feel too awful, but by the end of the second round, I felt like I would never finish. Oh, right...I forgot. Lunges hate me. I don't exactly hate them--there are other movements that I dislike a lot more than lunges, and 20 m doesn't sound all that far. But when you're carrying 25 lb over your head, it's far.

I kept moving through the WOD, breathed when I needed to, but tried very hard not break for too long. Even so, I was the last one finished. I wasn't the last one done by a little bit, but by a lot, but on days like today I don't mind so much. This was one of those days when nearly the whole class was there, cheering me on every step of the way, pushing me not to give up, not to lose my focus. When I finally finished, I was completely spent, dripping sweat, sucking water down. It felt great. I knew I had given it every last bit of strength I had.

It's days like today when I can really get my head around the concept of competing against myself and no one else. I'm sure that nearly everyone in my class is stronger and faster than I am, but I really can't care about that. Today I proved to myself that I am stronger and better than I've ever been. I didn't blog about it, but yesterday I did multiple rope climbs in a WOD--a total of four. That is huge for me. Today I lunged with 25#, which was the Rx weight--another huge milestone. I have friends there who cheered me through--friends who know my fitness strengths and weaknesses, who even notice things like the huge knot on my shin from a plate bouncing back and hitting me--and they care. They're proud of me and I'm proud of them. It was a great day at the box.

Thanks Candace, Emily, Justin (who did the last 20 m with me), Tami, Fabby, Jen, Rachel, Dan, and everyone else who cheered for me. You're the best!

Hotshot 19 Memorial WOD and Fundraiser

 

This week my son and daughter participated in a fund-raiser selling raffle tickets to support the families of the 19 firefighters who were killed in the Arizona wildfires. Members of the CrossFit community pitched in to help, and to participate in a memorial WOD to remember the men who lost their lives. Unfortunately my daughter could not do the WOD because she was under the weather with a cold, but my son completed the entire WOD.
"Hotshot 19"
6 Rounds
30 squats
19 power cleans (Rx was 95#, he used 55#)
7 pullups
Run 400 m
time: 54:13
I am so proud of his determination and commitment to completing a very difficult WOD which, practically speaking, was not scaled for the kids at all. They did the same moves and the same number of reps as the adults.

It was amazing to see such a well-organized community effort go towards helping these families who are mourning the loss of husbands, fathers, brothers and friends. Our CrossFit Kids raised $2,200 to support this cause, and you can still donate at the website here. CrossFit corporate broadcast the community workout that was held in the hometown of these men. You can watch it here, but be forewarned, you will need a tissue or two or three.