Whole30 Day 15: Halfway There!

Whole30 is halfway done as of today! 

I didn't log or blog anything last week--I totally stayed on plan, but was simply too busy and forgot to write things down. I also took a week off from WODs so as to rest my foot. Even though I had done no running or jumping, my foot was feeling pretty battered from going back to my previous workout schedule, and I guess it was just a little too much. I felt like I had a hot stick in my ankle and heel all week. Ugh.

The busy week did run me down a bit, and by Friday I was ready for a break from cooking. We decided to venture out and try to find some food that was as close to Whole30 compliant as possible, and I had a 1/2 cobb salad. I forgot to tell them no feta, and so it wasn't 100% clean, but very, close I think. No ill effects as a result.

This weekend I made a delicious pot of vegetable soup but ran into a problem when I remembered that my mixed vegetables had both corn and peas in it. It's something I never gave much thought to, but then this program is making me think about every ingredient I ingest. I subbed it for just green beans and okra. It went something like this:

10 cups homemade turkey stock (made from a happy turkey who lived a pastured life)

1/2 head green cabbage

4 lg. carrots

4 stalks celery with leaves

1 medium onion

2 lg. cloves garlic

28 oz. diced tomatoes

2 small white potatoes

1 16 oz. bag green beans

1 16 oz. bag okra

1 tsp (approx.) herbs de provence

2 tsp palmfuls thyme 

2 bay leaves

2 - 4 dashes hot sauce

dash of coconut aminos (optional--I almost ruined the soup by adding too much)

salt and pepper to taste

3 TBS gelatin (optional) 

Cook until all vegetables are tender and then add shredded cooked chicken. 

Yum.

Progress Report: After two weeks of eating the Whole30 way, I can say that I am still doing just fine. The most difficult part is having to have the endurance and forethought to plan and prepare every meal for thirty days straight. I don't want to have to succumb to the "need" to eat out which will most certainly cause me to make a compromise.

I continue to get the best sleep I've had in ages. Anyone who has ever suffered from insomnia understands that you cannot place a value on sleep until you can't get it.

Someone told me today that they can tell I'm losing weight. Cool. I don't know for sure yet, but my pants are feeling more comfortable and one pair is even feeling baggy. 

I am not suffering from any seasonal allergies, which is kind of a miracle for this time of year. 

My skin broke out last week (detox? could be hormones) but has cleared up nicely this week.

Overall, I feel awesome. 

Today's WOD:

1 RM back squat: PR at 190#

3 rounds for time:

   20 calories row

   25 pushups

time: 9:44

Whole30 Day 4: Pancake Salvation and the Timeline

Right, I get it. There are no pancakes for Mom today. There are grains and honey and all kinds of psychological no-nos associated with this breakfast classic, so I'm not consuming. Don't think I fell off the wagon that fast! Buuuuuuuuut....

Soon after I started giving up grains and eating a more paleo-style diet, we still found that we missed our Saturday morning routine of pancakes and sausage or what-have-you (read BACON).
I started experimenting with recipes for gluten-free or grain-free pancakes, and have developed this recipe that the whole family loves. We have never missed crummy, nutrient-void pancakes loaded with pseudo-maple-flavored-can-you-even-call-it-syrup again. This recipe will help the other members of your family make some positive changes while you are doing the same for yourself. If you have kids, these may well save your sanity.

The secret is not in the stack of flap-jacks dripping with syrup, but in the leftovers. I made a huge batch of these this morning for two hungry kids and stowed the remaining pancakes in a container. Now tomorrow, for breakfast or snacks the kids can grab a pancake, smear it with almond butter or peanut butter, a drizzle of honey and bam! Tummy is full. It saves me a whole lot of suffering when they have a really healthy alternative to turn to and I don't have to be involved in the "Mom! I'm hungry!" thing. My kids are not eating a completely paleo diet. I do permit gluten free, nutrient dense (clean) foods such as this.

I didn't really feel tempted by the pancakes. Today. I had another hard-boiled egg. This could get annoying, but since I'm already not a huge breakfast person, hard-boiled eggs are normal fare for me anyway. I don't need a lot in the early part of the day. I'm also finding that adding a teaspoon of coconut oil and some unsweetened coconut milk to my coffee almost negates any need for breakfast. Today I was not hungry until 11:30 AM, at which point I ate the egg. But that's just me. I suppose for some it may be a very challenging meal to have to constantly negotiate.

So, it's day 4 and I feel like I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. Whole30 is kind enough to publish a timeline that tells you what to expect, and so far I'm having a very easy time of it. Day 4 is the "Kill all the things" phase. I didn't want to kill anything today, so I think that's, you know, pretty good. Maybe tomorrow something will die, but honestly, I felt pretty amazing. I felt a bit sluggish during my WOD and apparently forgot how to count to ten, but never mind. It happens. Here is today's log entry:

Day 4:
B - BP coffee, 1 egg
L - Chicken broth with gelatin added YUM! Steak and spinach
D - leftovers, so another taco sweet potato. no guacamole. sad.
S - almonds, 2 slices ham

WOD:
2 RM power clean 105# (lame-o. It's all in my head!)
3 rounds with 9-minute time cap
   5 cleans
   10 knees to elbows
   15 KB swings
max burpees in time remaining: 17

Whole30, Day 3 - Oh, the Sleep, the Sleep, the Sleep!

That was my first thought waking on the morning of day 3. And for that matter on day 4 since I am writing this a morning late.

I had forgotten how sweet and deep a sleep I get when I'm not ingesting toxins! As much as I hate to say this, I know that wine is my biggest culprit, and two glasses of wine, if not timed perfectly in the evening will wreck my sleep pattern, causing me to wake at 3-4 a.m. and lose hours of sleep. Then why do I insist on continuing to do this? Which is more valuable?

There are these ceremonies in life, little markers of the day that on a psychological level, help me to pass the time. The first is my coffee ceremony in the morning. This is perhaps the greater addiction. I have clung to my coffee routine since my sophomore year in college. The problem that I have with this is that I cannot stand black coffee. In my younger years I needed coffeemate or loads of sugar (blech!) Since starting to eat a healthy diet I have gone to organic half and half or raw milk and stevia. Now I am learning to like bullet-proof coffee made with coconut oil and coconut cream. It's actually pretty good.

The wine routine is a little easier to deal with, but I still feel the loss. When I start to cook dinner in the evening and my husband gets home for work, I love the atmosphere of relaxed conversation, food on the stove and a glass of wine. There isn't really any substitute for what goes in the glass...pellegrino? meh. I'm okay with it, but yesterday for the first time I had to steel my resolve a bit and just allow myself to miss the wine. But when I wake in the morning, realizing that I slept so well and didn't wake even once in the night--the payoff is worth it. Everything is clearer and easier to deal with when I'm rested. That alone is going to be my motivation when I miss my little routines.

Day 3 Log
B - Bullet-proof coffee, 2 hard boiled eggs much later in the morning
L - 1 chicken thigh, green (leftovers from day 2)
S  - almonds (as usual!) though I allowed myself to get a little too hungry in the morning and ate a few too many almonds. When I saw that I was eating more than my serving size I quickly prepared lunch so that I wouldn't snack too much.
D - 1/2 sweet potato taco. This is a half sweet potato stuffed with chili (no beans), ghee, guacamole, tomatoes, cilantro and jalapeño. It is an old standby that we have made since our first paleo challenge, and it is one of our favorite meals. 

WOD - Baseline WOD with my son. Had planned to get to the gym, but also wanted to do a simple baseline bodyweight WOD to measure any progress at the end of Whole30. Together we did:

3 rounds for time:
25 push-ups
25 sit-ups
25 overhead squats with a PVC pipe
time: 11:31

Whole30 Live Blogging...Go!

Today my husband and I started Whole 30 - a month-long challenge to eat a strictly paleo, completely unsweetened diet. There's no wine either. Or half and half in my coffee. I can live without sweeteners. I can live without wine. I have a really hard time not having half and half in my coffee, but there's coconut milk, so I'll make it.

We've been tossing around the idea of doing Whole 30 for a while. Our box had a similar nutrition challenge in January, but I wasn't ready...What? Not ready? Our coach asked me today why I hadn't participated (I had even expressed interest at the time it came up), and he gave me that "oh, c'mon look" until I explained...

I just realized that my last post on this blog was nearly a year ago, in April 2014, when I talked about what I want out of CrossFit. It was a milestone of sorts, and it was timely. I didn't know that I was about to walk through a very difficult season.

That said, from that time until now has been a difficult season. My mother, who had suffered for some time with Alzheimer's endured some very rough medical issues, and then passed away in early October. Around the time of her death, in the midst of supporting my family, continuing to homeschool, and grieving, I found myself going through life at about half-speed. In November I injured my foot and have been walking around with a nice case of plantar fasciitis. Ugh. Just...ugh.

So I continued my workouts with about half my heart and brain caring. Then last week something snapped, and I realized that I'm done living a half-life. Weight that I had worked so hard to keep off has definitely caught back up with me, and I am not at all what I'd call in "fighting form." My strength is up, endurance is down, and I look and feel like I'm overweight...it is time to start Whole 30. 

I chose Whole 30 because I learned of it when we did another paleo challenge as a gym during my first year called Whole Life Challenge. I did really well on Whole Life Challenge, but there was too much stuff you had to do to earn points, and competing with others for weight loss is not something I enjoyed. At all. With Whole 30, all I have to do is mind the food and read stuff. I don't have to log my minutes of mindfulness, mobility, workouts, etc. Just the food and drink.

So...here we go: Back to the Accidental CrossFitter, if the name still applies. It's been 2 1/2 years nearly since that first fateful post. I am not the same person in many ways, and CrossFit is a big part of that.

TODAY:

Coffee w/ coconut milk

Breakfast (Post WOD): spinach, carrot, some berries, 1/2 banana, diluted coconut milk, egg, and gelatin smoothie. (had to eat it on the run, so while they discourage smoothies, I'll just have to live with myself and break that not-quite rule sometimes.)

Lunch: Cobb Salad over mixed greens using this dressing, which is really, really good!

Snack: handful of almonds, 1 clementine

Dinner: Steak, 1/2 sweet potato, broccoli

WOD:

2 RM back squat (high bar) 180# (PR)

4 rounds (scaled from double under because of my foot) 

- 250m max effort row

- 10 deadlifts at 155# (Rx)

Time: 9:41

CrossFit Roadkill

My son and I have an ongoing game in which we attempt to come up with an original, awesome name for the box we own in our minds. Today he came up with the best one yet:

CrossFit Roadkill


Because indeed that is how I felt after today's WOD.

21-18-15-12-9-6-3
thrusters
burpees
knees-to-elbow
20 minute time cap

I made it to the 9 rep round, completing 4 thrusters in that round. My score was a total of 201 total reps.

In two days I mark the one-year anniversary of starting CrossFit as well as embarking on the first of the four-week "CrossFit Classics" series in which we will do a different one of "The Girls" each Friday night. Helen, Fran, Elizabeth and Isabelle.

I expect that I will feel like roadkill after these. Here's to pushing myself a bit further than before...

CrossFit Roadkill
© 2013 
Kelly Mine

Setting Helen Straight

The other day I posted this post about how CrossFit is more than a gym. I mentioned that as a family we did Helen and showed this photo of all of our scores.

Notice that I have "four rounds" written under "Helen." The three ticks under "Kelly" and "Matty" indicate that we had completed three rounds and Hubs did not make a tick mark for the fourth round. So, we did exactly what was written on the board. We all found it to be a very challenging WOD, and I was okay with my time...until...

The next day I proceeded to tell my good friend my time, etc. and she compared my time with hers...Oh. wait. Her worst Helen time was 15 minutes and some change. Whaaa? I'm not that slow! I mean, yes, I KNOW I'm slow, but that was ridiculous. All week long I puzzled over this. How is it that all three of us were in the 20-plus minutes range?

Then yesterday as we were driving to CrossFit, Matt was looking in his WOD book and suddenly shouted out, "Mom! Helen is only three rounds!"

Need I say more? I was relieved to know that I was not the slug that the score seemed to reflect. Slow, but not a slug.

Also, in case you were wondering about how I would feel after yesterday's nemesis WOD, (I am pretty sure you weren't but anyway,) I woke up this morning sore, but not severely. I am noticing as the day goes on, however, that I am increasingly sore in ways I have not experienced since doing CrossFit. It causes me to realize that, much as I don't like running, I really need to do much more of it.

Today I had the wonderful privilege of working out with my favorite buddy, my son. Because he missed one of his classes this week, he was allowed to join the WOD with me (with my supervision). Today's WOD was:

1RM OHS (mine was 80#, his was 60#)

then, 15, 12, 9, 6, 3 up and over box jumps and OHS @ 50% 1RM

Matt absolutely crushed this WOD. He came home feeling great about it and I was so happy for him. I know I've said it before, but I love doing CrossFit with my family. There are few activities in this world that bring us closer. The concept of going through that hardship and helping, encouraging, and congratulating each other through the process builds a sense of team and camaraderie that few families have the opportunity to experience. Exercising together may be one of the most valuable things a family can do together...more on this later, but if you haven't considered this for yourself or your kids, please do. You will not regret it.

Facing My Nemesis

Thursday is not my day to WOD. I usually go to CF on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and if I get around to it, squeeze in an additional WOD at home during the week. I had not been to the box all week this week because of schedule stuff. I still had done two WODs at home, so it wasn't like I was slacking.

There are days when I see the WOD and think, "Oh, I really want to do that one!" and I will go out of my way to show up. Those are usually days that are fast and furious and involve a barbell, or power lifting days. Those are never, ever days that involve running or pullups. Those two things are my least favorite things in CrossFit, the two bitter enemies of my progress, and the things that keep me coming in last. When today's WOD was posted, however, I knew I had to go.

8 x 1 lap sprints
following sprints, 100 pullups for time

The sprints were one lap around the track which is 130 meters, I think. After each sprint, we were to rest for the same amount of time that it took us to run the sprint.

After the sprints we paused for a minute or two and went into our pullups. Using my bands, the first ten weren't so bad. Then, strangely, my left forearm started hurting, and getting through those 100 pullups was an exercise in pure mind over matter. There were moments when I truly considered quitting because of the lactic acid burn in my forearm, but by changing my grip every so often and just willing myself through it, I finished in under 15 minutes, which was a victory. Under normal circumstances I think I could have gone faster, but in this case, I was okay with my time.

It was pretty funny, actually...I knew I wasn't injured, but that I was just experiencing a muscle cramp of some sort. I have been working on pullups at home this week, and my arms were probably just not really in the mood for 100. As I walked back into the gym, I tried to move my hand, but it was cramped into a claw-like position, not fully open and not closed. I tried to open it but could not move my fingers. When I got into the gym, my friend had some Voodoo tape and did some magic on my arm and it felt better immediately.

Wow...so I faced my two worst enemies of the last year today in one WOD. At least I know that I can survive these things. As my husband said, "What can't you do?" Well, nothing, really, if I put my fears aside and dust off the ol' work ethic. Today was proof of that.

CrossFit: More than a Gym

One of my favorite WOD buddies is moving. For the last year Fabby has been coming consistently to the same 9:00 class that I attend, and bringing her adorable baby girl. It has been so much fun to work out with her and to get to help her with her little one for all these months. We have watched the little punkin go from "tippy," sitting up and grinning, to "toddling," into everything and still grinning. I know that next week is going to feel very bare without them at that class...

My point is, however, that in a CF community, you aren't just seeing faces at the gym. I have forged relationships with people that I would never have met or considered potential friends in my usual circles. It was a lovely hodgepodge of people that got together and enjoyed lunch and margaritas together to celebrate Fabby and the time we have spent suffering together!

Then there was this weekend. CrossFit Impavidus held a Teen Gauntlet competition and several of the guys from our box competed, including one of my son's regular workout buddies from his class. I originally had thought it might be a good idea for him to compete, but decided I would like for him to check out the situation first. When we got there, it was so amazing to see how glad our friend was that we were there, and I was so happy to be able to support him in this effort. I was also amazed that I had a voice the next day, after nearly screaming my head off for these kids! Even so, it wasn't just classmates that showed up, but even adults from our box who don't have kids came to cheer on the teens and encourage them.

Then there was today, which happens to be "Columbus Day." In my mind it is the lamest excuse for a day off ever invented, but even so, it was a federal work holiday (haha, the government has been furloughed for two weeks) and the box had "holiday hours," meaning only two classes. "Holiday hours" + an overcrowded box + an inevitable hero WOD = no class for me that day. I don't enjoy working out in a crowd, so we stayed home and did Helen as a family. Matt and I did the WOD first while hubs tended the clock and Molly cheered for us. Dad did the WOD next and the rest of us cheered our heads off for him. It was hard--half of our 400 m run is uphill! But we all survived and enjoyed the results of that WOD together as a family.

sweaty, but still smiling!

CrossFit has become so much more to us than just the gym where we work out. It has become friendships, relationships, a team, and an important component to our family life that brings us closer and keeps us healthy both in mind and body. It's more than just a gym.

Hahahaha! See this post about what I learned later this week about Helen!

Dead Lifts Always Lift My Mood

I remember two dreams I had last night. One was that two of the coaches at our box who happen to be dating got married and they were ridiculously happy and sort of annoyingly  cute about it all, and I was ridiculously happy for them. I don't know if that will happen, but I'm all about marriage and happy people. I'll keep my fingers crossed. I know it isn't all as simple as I would like it to be...

The second dream was not as happy. I dreamed I was struggling through pull ups--again.

I went to CrossFit glad not to have to face the overhead bar again, that pull-ups were not on the menu, but I was in no mood for a WOD. Even so, it was a best-case scenario for me...

Today's WOD was:
5 RM dead lift, then 2 sets at 90%

So I kinda PR'ed at 200#. I'm pretty stoked. There are days that I just stink at CrossFit. I run slowly, I can't do pullups or ring dips, I am the last one finished if there is anything resembling lunges...but on lifting days I don't come home feeling bad. These are not the stinking days. Go home y'all. I'm the beast today.

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!

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!

WOD Programming: Better than Yesterday!

Our WOD today is a huge improvement over Wednesday's WOD. I didn't go yesterday, so my title is a tad off...

4 rounds
25 double unders or 75 singles
15 snatches (Rx 65) (I did 55#)
time: 12:34

I was pleased with both the WOD and the score. I am beyond sore in my shoulders, neck and arms. Snatches get me every time.

What Keeps Me Up at Night

Yesterday's WOD:
5 rounds for time
6 muscle ups
8 shoulder-to-overhead (Rx 105, I did 65#)

I did what I could. Obviously I had to scale because I have neither a muscle-up, nor multiple reps at 105# yet. My one-rep max is 105 for a clean and jerk, 110# for a power clean. Everything felt as heavy as the humidity was thick yesterday morning. Not my best day at CrossFit.

Taking another step back from a muscle up, let's consider the things I cannot do yet, let alone a muscle up: an unassisted pull-up from a dead hang, an unassisted kipping pull-up, unassisted ring dips, any form of chest-to-bar unless attached to a very strong band, pushups on my toes v. knees (without "snaking" up from the floor), handstands, handstand pushups, inclined pushups from a box, for that matter. Clearly that is a long list of "don't haves yet." For that matter, sometimes I still struggle with proper squat position.

I do emphasize the "yet" because I know that these things will come with time, and that it's a matter of building upper body strength. I have never been a powerful person in terms of brute strength, and yet I have been astonished at what I have been able to accomplish so far. I have gone from an original dead lift of 125# to 215# in less than one year. Something is getting stronger, of that I have no doubt! There are other momentous milestones as well, such as climbing a rope, box jumps, proper kettle bell snatches, nailing difficult PRs in all areas of weightlifting, running the track without keeling over, unassisted jumping pull-ups, learning how to use the GHD machine, getting the first double-unders, shaving three minutes off of my original benchmark WOD. There is so much.

What keeps me up at night are WODs like the one I encountered yesterday. I was instructed to use a band strapped to the two rings and form a sling, lie back on it, and do a "transition" to a muscle up--12 reps in lieu of the six prescribed actual muscle ups. I understand the coaches want to push us out of our comfort zones sometimes, but I am beyond a beginner in this area. I cannot do a ring dip comfortably yet, and so to ask me to do a complicated set of movements into a locked-out ring position is fairly ridiculous. I believe it is difficult for some of the coaches to fathom that someone could actually be as weak and inept as some of us are when we begin CrossFit. I'm not exactly a beginner anymore, but I'm not what I would consider even "intermediate." I was not offered a viable scaling option, so I had to make my own, which I'm not sure was very useful. I did as many transitions as I could, but felt I was struggling so much with the band that I was losing intensity in my WOD, so I did as many assisted ring dips as possible until I could no longer lock out my arms. I came home from my WOD thinking "help? a little help here...?"

That said, I would love to know some real progression exercises that would take me from feeble weakling on the rings to maybe, possibly, someday accomplishing a muscle up, or at least a bar M.U. Then again, what does a 40-something mom of two kids need to do a muscle up for? I'm not actually sure that a muscle-up is something I'm putting on my bucket list. I'm open to someone convincing me that it should be there. There is a comment section for stuff like that.

Which, by the way, I know y'all read my blog. How about dropping a comment now and then? (I can see the page hit count going up, up, up, so you're not invisible! Just admit that you read this crummy blog and leave a comment.)

NOW I'm sore

DOMS. Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness. Mmm hmmm. I am learning that magnesium and zinc supplements can help a lot with this, and so it looks like an epsom salt bath may be in the cards for me today!

Sunday after church I did this WOD with my son. That evening I checked the CFW Blog to see the next day's WOD and it was remarkably similar. Oh, okay. That's kinda funny, but cool--at least I'm on the right track when I combine moves for my own programming.

It went:
6 rounds
6 KBS
6 box jumps
6 pull-ups

time: 8:32 (it took me a few seconds longer than my 21-15-9 WOD because I had to strap in for the pull-ups each round)

 Monday morning I was not sore at all from Sunday's workout. Monday afternoon I was not sore at all from the combination of the two WODs. In the middle of the night last night I was tossing and turning and aware that my whole upper body was just...sore. Nothing acute, just sore. sore.

I actually love kettle bell work because it is such a whole-body experience and I know that everything is getting worked. If I had to choose the absolute minimal equipment for a good workout (and I currently am building a little collection of CF gear) kettle bells would top the list, everything ranging from 20-53 lbs. Currently I use a 35 lb. bell. When I started I couldn't swing that thing without endangering myself. Now it is just right, and soon I expect I will be ramping up when they say, "go heavy."

I also really love having a box in my arsenal. Step-ups and jumps are especially good for me because I have had such limited hip mobility coming into CF. I always feel those moves later in my lower back and hips, but in a good way. I know I'm getting stronger. I can now do all of the jumps that a WOD requires and for many of them I am bounding rather than stepping back off the box.

Two days and two favorite moves, lots of sore muscles. It's all good.

CrossFit at Home

My favorite component of CF is not the workouts, it the fun I have doing it with other people and the relationships that are being forged in puddles of sweat. This applies even more so to my family, as we go on this fitness journey together.

"The family that sweats together, sticks together."

What? EW! That's nasty. It may be true, but I'd rather not think of the literal implication there.

Anyway, my favorite workout buddy is my son. Admittedly, he smokes me on every single workout, but he encourages me so much, and doesn't allow me to let up on my intensity or my form. Today we did a WOD together in our garage that we wrote for ourselves:
Buy in: 1 rope climb
then: 21-15-9
20" box jumps
KBS @35#
pushups

Son's time: 6:47
Mom's time: 8:26

We are slowly gathering equipment at home. We have not spent much money on exercise gear because we use the box, but our membership only allows me three classes a week. As I have progressed, I sometimes feel the need or desire to work out more than three days a week, or if I miss a day I want to have the option to have a decent workout at home. So far we have accumulated an adjustable kettle bell, some light kettle bells for the kids, my husband built us a box for box-jumps and step-ups in the same dimensions as the standard CF boxes (20x24x30), we bought a Rogue pull-up bar for my son's birthday, and my husband happened to catch the sale on 10' climbing ropes from the CrossFit games. Our rope just might have Rich Froning's sweat on it! This is very inspiring, indeed! While the standard rope climb is actually 15-20', it is good to have the rope to just keep practicing speed, agility, and skills. Two pulls gets us to the top, so for a WOD we would just double the number of rope climbs, as I can do a 15' in four pulls.

So, here's to a home box and the best WOD buddy ever!

Crawling out of my Funk...

It was a great WOD today. I wouldn't say that I crushed it, but I did well. We did something a bit different with a coach-led warmup. Typically we just do the warmup as it is written on the board at our own pace, then come back together for class. Today we were given no information, but were led through the warmup and coached through the moves.

Okay, I'll make a confession here. Recently I may or may not have been getting a little lax in my warmups. I may or may not have been giving them my best effort, I may or may not skip a rep or two on occasion. Today, however, there was none of that. I was being watched. I shouldn't need that, but it really helps, and today when I left, I felt that I had really earned my score and that my whole workout was legit.

Today's WOD

Strength: 1 RM front squat (previous PR was 105#) Today's new PR: 135#

1/2 Cindy (10 minute AMRAP)
5 pullups
10 pushups
15 squats
7 rounds + 4 pullups, which is one full round plus improvement from my previous "Cindy"

Okay...maybe I did crush it, but I still have a long way to go...

What Will It Take?

This post is going to sound a little schizo because my last post was Could I Love CrossFit More? That was a great day and I was truly inspired by my kids' amazing performance in competition, but this is a bit more personal. It's been a week since my last WOD. Since my last visit to a coach-led workout, I have been camping with the family and beginning the school year with my homeschooled children. We have eaten camping food (and you know that includes s'mores), eaten ice cream, and basically had our last hurrah for the summer. It was fun but it took its toll, albeit minor.

Even before I left, however, I was feeling CrossFit Discouraged. There is no denying that I have made significant gains since starting CF nine months ago. However, I thought I would be further along than I am. I still feel much heavier than I want to be, though I have gone down a pants size since I started, and I have finally broken my dependence on the scale. Ideally I would like to shed another size or two, if possible. This is not pure vanity--this is also practical. I feel heavy. I want to feel easier, lighter, and more agile than I do. There is a bit of vanity tucked in there as well, but that is certainly not the only motivator. I would like to achieve my first unassisted pull-up. I would really love to enjoy running more. I still despise it. It hurts. What is it going to take to get there? I think I'm really afraid to find out, because it's not like I'm not already working harder than I ever have before at getting fit.

When I came back from camping I felt exhausted because I don't sleep much when I'm separated by just a thin sheet of nylon from bears lurking just outside. I also felt extra fat for not having been eating well or doing much strenuous exercise (tubing down a river for four hours doesn't count in my book.) I tried to get back in the groove on Sunday with some work on my deadlifts. I maxed out at my current PR, but did not surpass it - 215#. Today I did the daily WOD:

21-15-9
overhead squats (OHS), kettle bell swings (KBS)
time: 9:07 @ 55# and 35#

My husband came in during the WOD to pick up my daughter and happened to see a few of my squats. He mentioned that my form was pretty bad. Yep...it may have been. Squats are not my forte--I have trouble keeping my chest up. Didn't help my mood any.

Two more days to go this week, and I'm hoping my bad attitude takes a hike. I need to get my head back in this game. I need to cook some really amazing meals that are paleo / real food / leave me wanting more. I need to get started on the "Breakthrough Challenge" that we will be starting in a couple of weeks at the box. I need some...help.

Could I Love CrossFit More?

...Maybe, but at the moment it's hard to imagine. Anyone mom who reads this will understand that anything that is good for your kids receives your highest praise and devotion. Anything that makes you a better mom is something worth being committed to. Today I am basking in all of this! Here are just a few of my favorite photos from our box's first CF Kids competition.

90-second max effort ball slams

90-second max effort shuttle run

90-second max-effort tire flips. Support from brother!

more tire flips

boys shuttle run

max effort...bring out the beast!

thrusters

The 5 events

I could not be more proud of the way my children threw their hearts and souls into that competition. Five WODs in one day! I am completely impressed with their strength and endurance, and I think that they surprised themselves with what they were able to do, also! All of the kids did so well, and the parents were all brimming with pride, from all I could tell. Some of them were given to cry with each new rotation. I won't mention who (Michelle) but we do understand!

The truth is that they inspired me so much, I found myself pushing extra-hard in my WOD today. It was a tough one! Here it is:

21-15-9 (Rx 65#)
SDHP (sumo deadlift high pulls)
Push press
Front squat
time: 14:28 @60#

What? 60# I wrote 55# on the board and realized as I was driving later that I added 10 to my 50! 50+10=60, does it not? Dang! I should  have just Rx'ed it! I have yet to Rx a WOD, but I'm so. stinkin'. close!

Anyway, I'm a stronger, better mom today because of CF, and my kids are stronger better kids. I could not be more grateful for what this has done for our family! Thanks CFW!

Here are some more photos from the competition:

Love seeing this effort!

Support from Coach Evy!

Goofy girl!