Open season, Open mind

Ok… this should have been pulished yesterday.  Better late than never!

Thankfully spell check had my back today!  Apparently heavy squats bring on a case of the dumb.  Talking to a customer this morning I kept mixing up my words too.  If only there was a live version of spelling/grammar check…

So, I’m days behind on WOD logging but I’m just going to summarize and even might skip a few days.  They are all recorded in the good old-fashioned pen and paper format and I’m almost ok with it.  A few days ago my ribs started spasming/throbbing again.  First I battled through 2 nights of trying to sleep with what felt like daggers wedged in my sides, then I got my sh*t together and got to the Chiro Saturday.  After a good cracking, there was relief at last.  But it didn’t last.  Yesterday I said to hell with it and went to the box for the Sunday WOD anyway.  I scaled the hell out of it, but despite the wave of spasms in the warm-up that I joked and claimed to be just contractions, when all was said and done I felt a LOT better!  Maybe just needed some mobility to regain my mobility!  I haven’t posted for a little bit cause I’ve been down on myself for getting myself injured this close to the start of the Open.  I had a bit of a moment of reflection last night though where I came to terms with things and realized it was a good reminder to not take myself so seriously.  Like, seriously!  Not like I’m competing to hopefully make Regionals!  It’s a personal challenge and meant to be FUN.  So this year, that’s my plan.  I’m not going to stress out about what the WODs may be.  I’m not going to beat myself up if I don’t live up to my own expectations either.  At CFD, whether you are signed up to record your scores or not, you STILL complete the Open WODs on Friday.  So that’s how I’m going to look at it.  It’s another Friday WOD.  A non-scalable one, but the goal is just to do the best I can do.  Just for ME.

Sun Feb 22:

AMRAP, 8 minutes:

0:00-5:00 MAX reps Burpees

5:00-8:00  MAX reps Squat Clean Thrusters   #55

Result – 60 / 26

Ever considered what you would do if you had to scale a burpee?  Well… I needed to reduce the amount of spine flexion, so I lowered to the ground in control, pushed myself back to a plank, and stepped my feet back to my hands.  It was NOT easier, but didn’t jack up my hear rate like a traditional burpee so I was actually able to keep a consistent pace for the entire 5 minutes 🙂  I’ve decided that the burpee should have its name changed.  Kipping push-ups makes more sense!

Fri Feb 20:

Teams of 2, 3 rounds:
40- Wallballs (20/14)
40- Sumo-Deadlift High Pulls (75/55)
40- Box Jumps Overs (24/20)
40- Burpees
40- Calorie Row
Rest 1:00 Between Rounds

Time – 30:35

 I LOVED this!  Like, a lot.  I’m just twisted like that.  AND… my fav. part was quite possibly the burpees.  What?!  I know!

ok… 1 people like this.

Thurs Feb 19:

Part 1. Front Squat
5 – 4 – 3 – 2 – 1  #145*

Part 2. For Time:
1K Row
*On the Minute, 3 Squat Cleans (135/95)*

*NEW front squat PR 🙂

Bailed the first #145 attempt.  Got it up “out of the whole”, then time stood still and so did the bar!  “um, ok.  It’s not moving.  Like, at all.” went through my head before I dropped it.  Laughed about it, shook it off, cheered on a few others for a few minutes, then stepped back to the bar and killed it.  Slow, but in control and successful.  🙂

Tues Feb 17:

Teams of 2
AMRAP 5-4-3-2-1:
10- Pull-Ups   10 5
10- Hand-Release Pushups
10- Power Snatches (75/55)
Each Partner completes 5 AMRAP’s individually – 5/4/3/2/1 minutes.

No more ring pulls for this kid.  Coach Dave may never let me scale to that version again.  My hands may hate me for that.

Nutritional face plant

Tuesday night I had a handful of chocolate chips for dinner. It was a small handful, and they were good. Wednesday I went on a sushi date. I need to get my sh*t together, the Open is a week away!  But… Thursday I PR’d my front squat.  So at least I maybe somethhing good came from my diet melt down. Or despite it at least.  We’ll talk about some awesome WODs later.  It’s already past my bedtime.

It could be all random coincidence, but Im starting to think when I eat crappy I injury comes my way. Hopefully my Chiro appointment tomorrow will put my ribs back where they belong again. They’ve been bugging me for a few days, but since the box vet told me I’m not causing any damage to keep working out (it’s just painful), I’ve obviously carried on. Although I think today’s 60 burpees were pushing it. Got suckered into a RU core tabata death march after the WOD and almost wondered if I’d ever get myself back up off the floor :-p

time for play

Ok, time for the good stuff!  Cause no fit bit escapes the snow and ice for sun a sand and a km of ocean front trail to do nothing but lay in the sun for 7 days 😉  Day 1 was pretty chill after a crazy month leading up to vacation time, but then it was game on 🙂

Day 2 I got my first ocean breeze run in 🙂  I had been looking forward to it for months!  The salty ocean air, the palm trees, the brilliant blue sky… oh right!  And the humidity.  😮  It kinda kicked my butt more than I had expected, but it was still wonderful.  Day 3 I stepped on a piece of glass and cut my foot pretty deep 😦  Sigh… that put a bit of a wrench in my runner runner plans.  So We went to the gym instead, which I had also intended.  Worked on my snatch.  Kept things light and worked on the “pieces” – deadlift, hang snatch, hang squat snatch, power snatch, snatch balance, power snatch (w/squat).  My game plan had been to work this movement a LOT while away, but I still felt like I was missing something.  Also realized that without the help of a knowing eye, I could be just grinding my bad habits deeper and deeper into my mind.  So I decided to take a step back.  However, I DID work every day on my handstands!  Note to self – next time I set myself this wicked little goal to spend a week practicing handstands on the beach, I will take into consideration the factors that don’t come into play in a gym environment.  The WIND was a big one!!  And the technique Coach Dave mentioned once of using your fingers as control is drastically less effective when the sand just shifts and says “you’re on your own!”.

I brought my new rope along.  The one that I currently hate cause it’s so light in comparison to my orange beast that it feels like I’m just willy-nilly spinning empty handles.  I brought it along with every intention of finding our little happily ever after.  Day 3 glass cut fell in just the right place that kept my rope in my suitcase.  However… I DID work on my pistol squats 🙂

Day 4 made it back to the gym.  Drooled a little over a totally good-looking french girl wearing a Crossfit something-or-other tank top.  I tried to talk to her.  Fail.  My little French paired with her pretty much non-existent english was just not happening.  But we shared a bar 😀  ok…  there was no magical moment.  The gym only had 1 bar.  Besides, bartender Antonio had already asked me to be his bride.  He wanted a wife, I just wanted a piña colada…

Day 6 I decided “eff it!” and laced up the runners again.  I had come to the conclusion that my foot was not going to require amputation and could just suck it up for another little trot around the island.  And I was bored with jockeying for a few inches of floor space in the tiny hotel gym.  Starting to really miss my home box…

Day 7 back out for the last island run 🙂  My foot didn’t fall off after day 6, so why not!  Plus running was a little window of “me time” and let me feel a little less guilty for the spoonful of Nutella that may have found its way into my hand on day 6.  Come on!  I made it to day 6!  That’s an accomplishment all in itself.  Also didn’t have even the smallest bowl of ice cream.  A spoon or two from my mom’s bowl, but ice cream isn’t my weakness.  Or ANY of the breads, cookies, cakes, donuts, etc.  The sun queen is a cookie monster.  My weakness was the bag of trail mix we brought from home.  Yup, that bad boy was GONE within the week.  Mom made a comment at one point “I only got a few handfuls!”  Not my fault. Not like I hid it – you snooze, you lose.  I should have hidden it though.  From ME.

Success!! Dedication pays off 🙂

A little R & R

Ok, more like a lot! Rest can turn into rest-less in excess. Unless you’re new here, you should know how well (noooo) I deal with ONE rest day… But we were in paradise 🙂 so I’m not really complaining.  Just might be looking to shake things up a bit next time around.

My mom and I have always believed that we travel well together.  Both non-drinkers and not huge into the party all night scene.  We both enjoy exercising while on vacation, walking on the beach and falling into a routine of early morning coffees and lunch at the beach BBQ.  Yet the last few years I’ve felt like there was an incompatibility that I just couldn’t put my finger on.  I think this time around it came to me…  I think everyone goes on vacation with a specific purpose or goal.  And I think it’s deeper than just the general “I like adventure!” or “I just want to relax” cause while we both went into each of the trips we’ve taken together preaching a common goal of relaxation. Yet there were smaller intricacies that were just not satisfied.  I realized this year what my mom’s entire trip motivation is, and got a clearer understanding of my own by recognizing what it isn’t!

My mom is a sun worshiper.  That is ALL that’s on her mind while on vacation.  Comments such as “I just want to sizzle and fry!” or “When the sun’s out, I don’t want to go for lunch/to the beach/for a walk/(insert anything that doesn’t involve laying on a pool chair cooking yourself)” were frequently dropped.  A sun worshiper’s MAIN goal while on vacation is to come back tanned the darkest shade humanly possible.  And it’s never enough.  While I DO enjoy the sunshine, and got myself caught up in two enjoyable books while away, I’m not sure I fall into the sun worshiper category.

The joke for years has been – Better finish that book before the trip is over!  Cause I’m not likely to touch it again until the next vacation. It’s sad, but true.  Took me two years to finish The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo… It’s as if vacation is the only time when my mind can detach enough from the 100s of other things that swim around in there in everyday life to focus on reading.  So as the days wore on, and the pool chair boredom grew, these moments became more and more frequent.

My MAIN goal for my vacationing is – a memorable vacation.  I like to come back and have lots of great memories 🙂  Don’t get me wrong, there are a few!  Haha!  Like… one of the bartenders from the swim up bar asked me to marry him.  A few times.  Poor guy… I didn’t have the heart to tell him he was barking way up the wrong tree.  He wanted me to stay in the Dominican with him and the minute I got off the plane in Toronto and heard we were forecast to have -30 degree wind chill for much of the weekend, I considered getting right back on!  One thing I’ve always wanted to do since I was pretty young was go horseback riding along the beach.  It almost happened this year! There was a place within walking distance from the resort where we could have joined a group, but I without boring you with the details, it didn’t happen.  Next time it WILL!

Anyways… Before I fall into my old habits of leaving a post in the draft phase eternally, I’ll just share a few picks that speak for themselves. Riu Bachata, Puerto Plata was amazing 🙂  I’d recommend it to anyone and hope to get back there again one day.

Mmmmm…. Coffee 🙂

 

Last note – entirely random useless fact… If you’re a chocolate covered almond fan, good for you. I’m not. I think they taste like dirt. Anyways, ever bit one in half just enough that the chocolate pulls off the almond?  Those are some ugly looking nuts! I’m not talking occasionally either, it seems to be a common occurrence. The reject nuts become your beloved treat. Someone one day must have said “what am I to do with the gnarly looking almonds that no one will want to eat? I know!! I’ll dress them up all fancy with a chocolate coat!”  Don’t judge a book by its chocolate cover? I will, thank you!  You’re not fooling me.  Chocolate covered dirt.

part of me

I might actually get a second post in later today.  Or it could happen tomorrow as well.  I have a lot of stuff I’m trying to sort thru in my mind that writing usually helps with.  I’ve gone back and forth a little on my chat session with AM from last week.  In many ways, I really do like learning more about what MS does but some parts are hard to acknowledge and even harder to accept.  I guess it’s just sinking in heavier and becoming more REAL.  This week has been about trying to find a way in my mind to deal with it all.

This post is a hot mess.  I’m well behind on my fitness logging, but it is what it is.  AND… as of this morning, despite the ridiculous snow we got over night… I’m 5km away from my goal!  Trudged thru the mid-thigh deep snow to my car, kicked enough out of the way to open my door, got a car’s length back from my parking space, and got stuck.  Good times!  Since I knew the WOD was cancelled, it meant there was less of a rush to pick up my running buddy.  And lucky for me the maintenance guys were nice enough to come help me dig the rest of the way out!  LOL what a morning!  Needless to say, when we arrived at the track around 6:30am there were very few cars in the parking lot and even fewer bodies on the track.  Still a great run 🙂  95km down, 5km to go.  And 3 sleeps till Dominican.

Mon. Feb. 2:

5km run (6:30am ish)

CFD – SNOW DAY!

^^^ Not entirely sad about the 7:30 WOD being cancelled.  81 burpee-box-jump-overs?  😮

Sun. Feb. 1:

5km run (7:30am)

CFD – Yoga

Sat. Jan. 31:

AMRAP, 20 Minutes:
20- Pull-ups  ring pulls
20- Burpees 
20- Squat Cleans   55/65/75/85/95
**add weight to cleans each round

Result – 4 full rounds + 6 squat cleans

Partners in crime with my running buddy once again 🙂  We’re both competitive enough for that extra little push, but not to the extreme where it’s no longer safe or fun.  What, what?!?  #95 squat cleans??!!  That’s right! 😀

Fri. Jan. 30:

5km run (6am)

3 Rounds of:
500 Meter Row/Sally
12- Kettlebell/DB Thrusters #95/#65  #20 DB
21- Toes to Bar  <<– yucky!

Time – 15:22 (I think!)

During the first row I’m pretty sure my legs moaned at me for the pre-WOD run.  Went pretty light with the DB thrusters, but my goal was control on these.  My left shoulder likes to get all crazy when using free weights for overhead shtuff.  Still got a good workout!!  My armpits were sore for a few days haha

Thurs. Jan. 29:

Part 1. Front Squat: Build to a 10-Rep Heavy  #105
Part 2.  On The 2:00 x 5 Sets:
10- Calorie Row 
5- Front Squats #135/#95   #75
AMRAP Double-Unders in Time Remaining

Score was to be # of DU.  I did get some, but no clue how many!

5km run (3:30pm)

Wed. Jan. 28: 

5km run (6am)

~CFD REST DAY~

Tues. Jan. 27:

“Amanda” 9-7-5:
Muscle-Up   transitions
Squat Snatch #135/#95   #55

Went in to this one with a plan in my head to use #65 for the WOD.  During the warm-up, modified that plan to #55.  Still landed on my BUTT for the very first rep after the 3, 2, 1 – GO!  For most likely the first time, I didn’t let it phase me.  Stepped back up to the bar and finished the WOD without incident.  That’s my victory for the day.  Or maybe even the week!

Mon. Jan. 26: 

5km run (6am)

7 Rounds:
10- Push Jerks #95/#65
10- Kettlebell Swings 70lbs/53lbs   #35
100 Meter Shuttle Sprint 
Rest 1:00 Between Rounds

With the snow and ice outside, the shuttle run was to the end of the box (inside) and back.  Twice.  When I arrived, I took one look at Coach and declared “This kid will NOT be sprinting.  Just so we are clear.”  lol  But you know I did for the last round…