that sucked. but in a good way.

Today’s WOD was insane.  Hardest I’ve seen so far no question.  Had a few moments of thinking I may just die…  but the big mural on the wall at CF Division reminded me “be relentless”.  Pre-reading the details last night online, I fully expected the run to be my “recovery” phase and the pull-ups to be my nemesis.  Not quite the case…  the pull-ups ended up being the cardio recovery and the run kinda sucked more than I expected.  The WOD:

“Hotshots 19″
Six rounds for time of:
30- Squats
19- Power Cleans #135/#95
7- Strict Pull-ups
Run 400 meters

** I had to scale this insanity back a little, it was a full house at the box today so I ended up with a #45 bar and loaded #10’s on it.  It was still a crap load of weight for me, especially as I got deeper in the rounds!  Also used a green band for the pull-ups and switched up my grip a few times.  My right shoulder is considerably stronger when it comes to pull-ups…  Clearly another thing to add to my list of “goats”.  I saw stars at times, but I regrouped and kept going.  I walked like a drunk between the power cleans and pull-ups a few times, but again kept it together and kept going.  The 5th and 6th runs felt difficult to get enough air by the last 100m…  but hey

I didn’t want to go.  I didn’t want to hear the classic “3, 2, 1, GO!!”  But all said and done, I’m so happy I did 🙂  This WOD was a special one.  It reminded us all of how lucky we are to be alive and healthy.  To be a part of such an amazing team of athletes.  To be a “part” of something bigger…  Today’s WOD was done by crossfit boxes all over today as a memorial for the 19 firefighters killed earlier this year.

logically speaking

This morning was bad-ass 😀  Skill was 10 rounds of 1 rep deadlifts, starting at 50% of 1RM and building up to good and heavy territory.  After the first few rounds with the 45lb bar and a pair of 10#s, coach looked at me and said “strip the 10#s, throw on the 25#s”  I felt all

to be finally lifting something respectable 🙂  From there, the weight just kept adding until I reached my last 2 singles @ 145#!!  For years I’ve had a mixture of love and fear when it came to deadlifts.  Back in 2010 I was working out with a friend who trains others as well and performed 2-3 deadlifts no problemo, then lifted and threw out my back.  Bad.  I remember him telling me that he didn’t know how it happened cause my form was perfect.  I had dropped to my knees immediately and was stuck on the floor for a good 15 minutes before I was able to wriggle my way back to my feet.  It sucked.  I was out of commission for a while after that and the fear of deadlifts stuck.  When I mentioned this today after showing the first hesitation at a heavier weight since joining CF Division, coach gave me a great pointer.  “Lift your hips when you are in the set-up position” she said.  When you let your hips drop, the initial movement needed to get the bar off the ground will come from your lower back instead of your hammys.  Engage your hammys right from the start!”  duh!  Makes perfect sense 🙂  So add weight I did, and I was able to deadlift heavier than ever before 🙂  New PR baby!  145# deadlift!

focus forward

My rambling my be messy and all over the place today…  I’m dealing with letting go of something my heart has held on to for far too long.  Sometimes blogging is good therapy…

I don’t even know what day it is anymore…  Summer throws my regular work routine all over the place.  I worked at Sport Chek yesterday, but today is NOT friday?  What??  :p  Anyways, after a good full day of clean & press, power snatch, squats and deadlifts of random product at Chek, I booked it home to make the 6:30pm WOD.  Just made it!  Got stuck behind two bad accidents on the highway and after almost two hours in the car, I ran through the door at CF Division just in time!  I’m a morning person… would way rather show up for a 7:30am WOD than a 6:30pm one, but I didn’t have another option yesterday and I was really looking forward to the workout.  First time attempting to determine my 1 rep max of anything 🙂  Yesterday was Squat Clean.  As usual, I heard “Kate!  Open your HIPS!!” a good 100 times, but I still got quite a few hi-5’s, so I’m making progress.  From yesterday’s efforts, my 1 rep max is currently 90lbs.  🙂  Ok.  I have a starting point.  Also discovered that I’m not the only one who has been falling asleep ridiculously early the past few months.  Maybe there’s a reason!  Chatting with a few fellow crossfitters post-WOD, a bunch admitting that since joining they just can’t seem to stay awake past 9:30-10:00!  HA!!!  It’s not just me!  I will not longer mock myself for my sleep patterns similar to an 80-year-old.  😀

Today’s WOD was awesome fun too 🙂  I need to put some time in to working on double unders though.  I gave it a shot pre-WOD, but kept whip-lashing myself.  Coach gave me a hard time for looking at the ground and once I focused on looking straight ahead, my regular jump rope abilities improved enough to sustain a good pace with minimal trips :p  Today’s WOD was:

3 rounds, 1 minute each exercise, AMRAP:

– deadlift 75#

– single arm dumbbell push press (switching arms every 3 reps) 25#

– box jump 20″

– hand-release push-ups

– double unders (or regular)

– rest

~ total reps completed – 605  (kinda cheating I guess since I didn’t do double unders)

I was sweating like CRAZY.  Hot out today, but I’m getting better at surviving despite that I think.

So, a co-worker and I are planning a “trash the scale” party.  I’ve had some days lately where something has convinced me it’s a good idea to get on the damn thing.  Most times this has resulted in my wish that I lived way higher in my building than the second floor so tossing the dumb scale off the balcony would result in its ultimate obliteration.  Not the case.  But it needs to suffer.  After a two WODs last week that had me finding the need to “scale” (not the evil kind) my workout when I started seeing stars, coach suggested I write down everything I eat for 3-4 days so he can take a look and maybe make some suggestions.  Nutrition is one of my loves…  I’m endless fascinated by how it shapes our lives.  I’ve learned how to eat to help with some of the symptoms of MS, now I’m looking to learn what modifications can be made to also eat to perform.  🙂

I used to post lots of food pics.  Used to get heckled for taking lots of food pics.  Any idea why that has subsided?  When life gets busy, I just don’t have the time to cook up masterpieces every day any more.  No one wants to see pictures of the random combinations I have come up with lately, trust me.  Also, writing out my food for the last few days I’ve discovered there’s huge repetition.  What can I say…  I don’t have someone to cook for anymore.  No need to strive to impress when it’s just me.  :p  I have cut out sugar though 🙂  Today is day 7 and I don’t feel like a drug addict going through detox anymore.

 

 

weekend re-cap

I don’t know why I’ve been blogging vacant for a bit…  I’ve had lots of fun stuff to write about, but somehow no inspiration to do it.  It’s raining today and work is slow, so I’ll make an effort now 😉

** no joke…  so slow earlier that a co-worker and I got into the idea of a plank challenge with sh*t stacked on our backs.  I lost 😦  but lasted over 3 minutes with printers stacked on our backs…

So with all my excitement and enthusiasm in learning kipping pull-ups, I learned that I need to work on my strict pull-ups before getting into that sorta fun.  Boo :p  I was getting somewhere with it, but just couldn’t seem to get the last pull part I needed to get my chin over the bar.  I trust my coach completely though.  Gotta learn to walk before you can run…  So, pull-ups will be a mission of mine now so I can get to the point of being worthy of learning to piece it together with the kip.  This article was posted on the Crossfit Division facebook page a little while ago which further emphasizes the point my coach was trying to get across…  Gotta build strength from the ground up before jumping into something that is somewhat bound to create injury:

http://21crossfit.com/2013/08/19/why-i-havent-taught-you-to-kip/

Today I got through benchmark WOD # 2,

Helen: 3 rounds, for time

– 400m run

– 21 kettlebell swings (red tape? Didn’t check what the weight is?)

– 12 pull-ups (w/green band)

finished in 20:33 drenched in sweat and breathing like I’d never set foot in a gym before.  It was AWESOME 😀

Also completed my 3rd mud run of 2013 on Saturday, Mud Hero.  Same idea as Spartan and Warrior, but not 6km, not as hilly, better obstacles than Warrior, but not as challenging as Spartan.  Spartan is still my favorite, but I think Mud Hero could be my second…  I saw this one as a bit of a test to my time spent getting into the crossfit life since I haven’t run my usual 5km, 3x per week like I used to.  It was great though.  Pushed through the course without a challenge and crossing the finish line thought “it’s over already? sigh…”  Lol

 

kip it together

Ok, the title is so lame I had to use it.  It amazing I have friends!  haha

They say it’s all connected, and I feel like I’m learning how true this statement is more and more every day…

How does a blog post begin?  Today, it all started as a point form list of random thoughts that were swimming around in my mind begging to get out…  Luck is on my side when I am able to filter out the really off the wall sh*t before hitting “post” though.  Sitting on a patio in the sunshine, drinking from the hidden bottle of water I smuggled in to the coffee shop and munching carrots and celery sticks I clearly also snuck in, apparently unnoticed 😉  I was fair… I bought a coffee in exchange for the use of their patio.  Only lasted there for maybe an hour though.  Blogging on an iPad is awkward.  I need to get a keyboard…  Christmas is coming (sort of) I guess.

After two days of sitting in a van carting my sister and all here stuff out to her University apartment, I was eager to get back into my usual routine today.  In two days we drove 16+ hours but I don’t get to spend as much time with my sisters as I would like, so it was all good 🙂  Plus we had a gorgeous drive through Algonquin park 🙂 Although I was constantly on the lookout, didn’t see any moose.  I sat on my BUTT for two days straight, yet when I walked into my apartment last night just after 8… I was EXHAUSTED.  haha

 

Today’s WOD was a good one, heavy focus on technique with no time cap.  5 rounds, 6 reps each of dead lifts, hang clean, front squat, push press and back squat.  I felt like I was moving well today, although there was a little self-abuse with the first round of push press.  Bashed myself in the nose driving the bar up, and caught the bar a little too heavy on my collar bone on the way down.  The nose survived, got what looks like a big hickie on my sternal extremity though :p  I think that’s what ya call it…

I’m closer today than I was yesterday.  Today after the WOD, I spent 10 minutes working on one of my “GOATS”.  (still not sure the meaning behind that expression, but whatever)  Anyways, one of my GOATS.  AKA one of my weaknesses, there’s a loooong list, but today I attacked kipping pull-ups.  I didn’t succeed, but I was satisfied with the progress I DID make… and I sure won’t stop trying.  My hands hate me right now but I finally have a use for the freezer burned bag of corn I’ve been meaning to throw out…

OH!  Chatted with Dave after the WOD too and clarified my question of how do double unders relate to real life.  His answer was along the lines of “when you’re tired as fawk, but still need your mind to keep focused, you’ll understand.”  Gotcha!  The conversation continued from there into other areas of life where the appreciation for what goes on within the box will become more and more evident.  There is good reason behind why we do what we do.

Why do I crossfit is a question I’ve asked myself more than once… Or more so, what is it about this insanity that I find so appealing? A few reasons come to mind:

– in everyday life, one of the main things that holds me back from accomplishing all that I am capable of is my own self doubt.  I let my mind talk me out of trying things.  I face this shit in pretty much every WOD and push so far past that garbage that there really is no turning back.  Doing this over and over I hope will help me push past hesitations outside of the box as well…

– At CF Division I have found a group of people who share the my same appreciation that you have to put in hard ass work to see results.  It’s a great group of people who encourage and support each other and don’t descriminate if you aren’t lifting Rx, jumping as high, running as fast, etc.  Fitness gives this high that makes it hugely enjoyable and somewhat addictive. I’m going to throw another quote in here, but will leave the author anonymous on this one.

I get OFF on this shit!!

After dragging myself out the door for the 7:30am CF class, I had the whole last day of my mini vacation to get my world ready for another work week.  Cooked, cleaned, etc.  Prepped my fridge for on the go food…  don’t want to have a repeat of this morning’s pre-crossfit breakfast.  Munched the egg, then dashed out the door with the sweet potato slice and homemade breakfast sausage in my hand.  Classy girl, I am not…

don’t judge a book by its cover

Am I just being the difficult one?  When I find something I’m excited about, should I just keep it to myself to not annoy others?  I feel like those in glass houses should not throw rocks…  I think talking about something you are passionate about in blog form is not something anyone should feel guilty about… Rambling goes on through the use of my blog to prevent boring my friends to death in person.  I’m passionate about health and fitness.  That’s just who I am.

I guess a little explanation might be helpful here.  I received a few comments yesterday that I found really difficult to swallow.  Comments about how “crossfitters look down on any other type of fitness and think they are better than the rest of the world.”  Wow, what a heavy stereotype.  I don’t consider myself to have any of those feelings…  I’m just loving the new challenge I’ve found and appreciating the crossfit “family” I have been so warmly welcomed into at CF Division.  One of the other comments that stuck with me a bit was “people who crossfit talk about crossfit… over, and over, and over…. Maybe you should look for new friends who are interested.”  Another harsh assumption.  Again, one of the reasons I blog.  Yesterday felt a little like coming out of the closet all over again…  Or trying to explain myself when I first adopted the Paleo life and others thought my choice to take care of my own health was a form of judgement on them.  I now have three strikes against me it seems.  Gay – check.  Paleo – check.  Crossfit – check.  Yesterday was a hard day.

Today is a new day.  Enough of that garbage.  Yesterday’s WOD was – for time:

– 50 pull-ups (got to 35 with the band, then switched to ring pull-ups)

– run 400m

– 21 Power Snatch (loaded on the training wheels again… 35lb bar w/5lb plates)

– run 800m

– 21 Power Snatch

– run 400m

– 50 pull-ups (rings)

Translation – Whole lot of SUCK, with intermittent running breaks.  Kipping pull-ups are on my list of things to accomplish.  Not that I think they are easier, but they are fun to watch someone do!  Haha.  Although I was kicking myself at the time, it’s probably a good thing I didn’t provide myself the option to escape cause when I got to the FIRST run portion, I just wanted to run AWAY!  After completing Fran two days prior, my hands were still pretty sore, and the 50 pull-ups (even the scaled down version) were not fun.  I talked myself out of running away though and finished the WOD in 20:55.  After all, my new car was there and my keys were inside the box.  :p

first benchmark – done!

Yup.  I get it now.  Yesterday I was introduced to Fran for the first time.  Never a good sign when you confess to the fact that it’s a first and the rest of the people at the box get all excited.  “I love seeing someone meet Fran for the first time!!” was one response, and “OH… you’re going to have funnnn!” had to be my fav.  It was… uh… ya.  I’m searching to come up with a way that conveys my feelings appropriately.  I’m getting really used to the same suggestions I always have yelled my way “be aggresive Kate!”  “POP your hips to get the weight up!” &   “Stop trying to use your ARMS!” are becomming a daily ritual.  My head understands, my body says… “meh, not feeling ya”.  I don’t want to be an excuse maker, but after tearing my hip flexor on the left side years ago, I’m stiff as hell and just don’t react as quickly as my mind would like to think I do.  Once I got rolling though, my arms started to fatigue and my lower body had no choice but to do it’s share.  Fran consists of rounds of 21, 15 & 9 reps, for time:

– thrusters 55lbs (Rx was 65!  I was only a little 5lb plate per side away! :D)

– pull-ups (using the green band for assistance)

I completed all 3 rounds in 6:44 and managed to not cry.  Barely.  I was awfully close though when it came to the third round of pull-ups, trust me :p  In the end I felt AWESOME 🙂  My first benchmark workout, done!  And I didn’t die.

This morning I packed my lunch and made myself a green shake for the road.  Not that I expect wonderful things from my salad in a cup, but I know it’s super healthy and doesn’t taste bad.  However, when you get a message from a friend with a picture of their amazing looking breakfast of sweet potato, fried egg and a little piece of steak… suddenly my green drink seems rather disappointing.

My cup of tea

Last night I whacked my elbow in the change room before the WOD. Hurt a bit, but more of a pain was the fact my hand went kinda numb.  Not overly comforting when heaving a bar overhead… Crappy pic, but I had this odd looking bump thing…  My fish’s name is Dr. Tom.  He was taking a look.  (Please ignore my organized chaos in the background, k?)

Today’s workout was awesome 🙂  Redeemed myself after the double-unders sh*t show yesterday.  I really need to get my sh*t together on this one.   When the alternative to 50 double unders is 150 regular jump rope, seems enough incentive to learn…  like now. I got home all pumped up and ready to spew a crapload of blog ramblings, but was in desperate need of a shower first.

A few years ago my chick and I got into the habit of going to the Toronto zoo fairly regularly.  Great opportunity to hang out and take pictures together of all the animals 🙂  That’s not where I’m going with this…  ever been to the zoo?  Doesn’t even have to be the Toronto zoo, I’m sure they’re really all the same…  Well, this morning when I got home from the box, the smell that seemed to be following me around reminded me of the gorilla enclosure at the zoo.  It was pretty horrible, but what can I say??  I worked really hard…

Anyways, back to the workout details.  Today we warmed up with 500m row, 15 toes-to-bar and 50 candlestick crunches.  Google it.  Crazy sh*t.  Then the WOD was a 20 minute AMRAP of:

– 400m run

– 15 deadlifts (85lbs)

I killed it!  Finished 7 rounds and felt awesome from start to finish.  I love to run, so while a bunch of the others were whining about how every piece of todays WOD sucked, I was in my element for once.  Cool down was another 1000m row and I left for home with a huge smile on my face 😀

weekend re-cap

What a great weekend 🙂  I crammed a ton into my two days, as always, but had a good time doing it.

Saturday I got up bright and early (as always) and went to the local farmer’s market where I picked up some fresh veggies, took some random pics and people watched to my heart’s content.  I have a co-worker who likes to travel to Montreal from time to time and raves about the bagels you can get there.  When I saw a booth in the market building that claimed to carry authentic Montreal bagels, I sent him a pic as a joke.  I didn’t even consider at the time that not the whole world is up at 7 am on a Saturday…  Oops!

I just wanted to beat the crowds…

Also needed something to keep my mind occupied so I would stop wondering what workout was in store for the day.  Weekends are TBA.  I had that confirmed for me by Sunday.  Saturday’s WOD at 10am was ok.  Didn’t have the “That was AWESOME!!” feeling I usually have I don’t think though.  It was an OTM style workout, but every 2 minutes instead of every 1.  3 – wallballs, 5 – power cleans, 7 – burpees.  My power cleans felt GREAT, but otherwise it was ok.  Saturday evening hung out with a friend and went to the driving range / bating cage.  I sucked :p.  At both.  But with equal level of sucky-ness right handed and left.  At least I’m consistent.

Sunday was back at the box for another 10am WOD.  This time I can definitely say…. That was AWESOME!  Started with 20 consecutive back squats.  That was not the awesome part.  That was just hard.  :p  Then we were paired up to complete:

15 rounds “Cindy”

– 3 pull-ups, 6 push-ups, 9 squats

50 front squats

15 more rounds “Cindy

– 3 pull-ups, 6 push-ups, 9 squats

It was wicked fun and hard at the same time, but the team challenges I swear my mind just shuts out any doubt or possibility of wimping out.  Sh*t yo!  Breaking things down, I completed 45 pull-ups, 90 push-ups & 135 air squats.  PLUS 25 front squats, and the initial 20 back squats.  No wonder I was completely exhausted after this one.  And hungry enough to eat everything in my fridge…

happy friday!!

Today, I redeemed myself 🙂  Went to a 7:30 WOD and all I can say, now that it’s all done and over with… That, was AWESOME!!!  😀  Man was I ever thankful that it had nothing to do with the rope though.  My hands and leg are still sore and healing from yesterday.

For today, we crammed a LOT into the hour!  Started with 8 rounds OTM, 4 reps back squats @ 75-80% of our 1 rep max.  I don’t have record of what my 1 rep max is yet (like, for anything), so I picked something that I felt would be challenging – 75lbs.  I thought to myself, I maybe could have handled 85lbs, but when it came to the last round and the ante was upped to “max reps”, 75lbs was good!  Then we got to play with box jumps 🙂  seated max height box jumps.  A new love!  I nailed a few reps the 24″ box height, with 2x 10lb plates stacked on top.  Didn’t have a measuring tape in my purse, so I’m not sure exactly how high that was.  (aside – if you don’t know me, the thought of me with a purse would leave anyone who does rolling on the floor laughing)  I do know that one more roll of the box, to the 30″ height, was the breaking point for my mind…  I hate when it quits on me before I’ve even tried…  I got over it, cause next we got in to our actual WOD – 10 rounds AMRAP:

30 sec – box jumps (20″)

30 sec – kettle bell swings (35lb)

30 sec – rest

Total reps – 255

Holy crap!  Intense!  But awesome 😀  And I didn’t even lose count.  That in itself can be harder than the workout itself…  Don’t judge me :p

One thing I really appreciate about crossfit (among a million others) is I’m really learning to not shy away from things that seem hard or daunting either physically, or even mentally.  When I couldn’t get my head on track with the 30″ box, I didn’t give up… the 24″ w/2 plates was really not that much smaller, but it was a way of working around the barriers I had faced and succeeding anyway.  Small victories can be just as important as big ones… 😀

I’m feeling “bloggy” today, so I’ll toss a Paleo note in here as well.  Two days ago I decided to make this fun sounding recipe from Pinterest.  “Spaghetti squash crusted Quiche”.  Sounds good, right?  I should premise this a little… I’m a smart kid, but man do I have dumb moments at times!  Thankfully, I manage to keep most of my not-so-smart thoughts in my head…  Anyways, Quiche.  So I pressed the cooked spaghetti squash into the pie plate, filled the “crust” with some mushroom, onion, broccoli, and bacon, then poured in the egg whites and popped the whole thing in the oven.  After about 30 minutes (I think), the Quiche was set and my apartment smelled yummy.  The dumb moment – I cut the first piece and thought to myself “hey!  where did my crust go?!?”  Hey genius…  there was nothing in there to hold the crust together, so the squash essentially just made the whole thing kinda mushy.  Long story, but I don’t recommend this bad boy.  Skip the squash all together…  The little muffin tray egg cups I usually make are more flavorful anyway.