nice surprise

Generally speaking, good start to the week 🙂  Got to the box this morning feeling like a bit of a zombie after not falling asleep till later than usual.  Just couldn’t get myself to wind down from hockey.  Speaking of hockey… I got to the arena a bit early for once cause our game wasn’t till 7:00.  Was standing watching the game before ours when someone gently grabbed my arm.  I casually turned around and Amanda’s smile was waiting for me.  🙂  Nicest surprise!

Ok so today… grumbled to myself through the warm-up, but once it came time for the WOD I got into my rhythm more.  Failed a bunch of reps in part 1 and maybe it was cause I was too tired to argue with myself, but I didn’t get all stuck in my head and have to walk away.  Tried again, sometimes twice… but PR BABY!!!  Ok, we were supposed to keep them power cleans and I squatted the heavy ones, but still!!  Looking back at things now, today was a pretty big deal.  One of my biggest challenges when cleans get heavy is getting under the bar fast enough and catching the landing.  Today a few were caught really low and I still didn’t panic and bail 🙂  Another nice surprise!  Maybe I should lift with a tired brain more often?  Hmmm… maybe not.  As for part 2… #95 is the new #75 😉  The first few rounds weren’t pretty at all.  After a pile of squat cleans I felt like I’d forgotten how to power clean, but survived.

Mon. May 30:

With a running clock starting at:
0:00- 25:00 Minutes: Find a 1 RM Power Clean   #120
25:00 Minutes- 30:00 Minutes: REST
30:00 Minutes- OTM for 10:00 Minutes: 2- HEAVY Power Cleans   #95

*last minute: MAX reps  8

Post WOD – 5km run (NOT fast and not really fun, but DONE)

After my run is where the morning went from good to generally good.  Stretched and wandered to the change room to shower with my head down looking at something on my phone.  Looked up enough in the change room to think “why is there a dude in here?!?!” Then it sunk in that the real question was “why is there a chick in here?!”  Yup.  I walked right in to the men’s.  Well, I was wide awake after that!!  And pretty embarrassed although I’m not sure how many people even noticed.

Saturday Amanda finally came to check out a WOD with me 🙂  I never pushed or bugged.  Crossfit has enough of a reputation on its own for being cult-like at times and although I really wanted to try working out with my chick, I wanted it to be her idea.  I was so little-kid-excited when I got the text “so… I’m curious about crossfit”!  Anyways, when the Saturday WOD was posted I was kinda bummed out cause it lacked any and all of the crossfit movements that are fun and exciting and different from anything else one could try, but we still enjoyed it 🙂  Even the airdyne wasn’t entirely horrible (although I would have picked the row).

Sat. May 28:

In Teams of 2, AMRAP in 30:00 Minutes
1 Mile Run
150 Burpees
150 Calories Row/Air Dyne
*Must run together
*Partition reps and calories as needed

Result – 124 cal. Airdyne

Pretty impressed with my chick 🙂  Not a gym person and generally only really runs in short bursts chasing a soccer ball, but together we did pretty awesome on this one!  I picked up more of the burpees around the half-way point, but everything else was shared pretty evenly.  The partner WOD concept is a work in progress.  Leaving your partner standing around waiting for 3 minutes of the airdyne isn’t ideal… then I just feel like I need to put in 3 minutes and want to die after 1.  “Coast” just isn’t in my vocab.  Although I kept the same calorie count in my minute as my partner got in 3, so I didn’t feel like a slacker in my own mind at least and I kept that info to myself cause I was really just happy to get my girl out to the box!

run from it

Wed. May 25:

For Time:
200m Run/Row/Airdyne
50ft Handstand Walk/Bear Crawl
Rest 60 seconds
200m Run/Row/Airdyne
40- Wallballs
Rest 60 seconds
200m Run/Row/Airdyne
30- Burpees
Rest 60 seconds
200m Run/Row/Airdyne
20- Pistol Squats   Push-ups
Rest 60 seconds
10- Power Snatch #155/#105  #65
Immediately following, For time:
200m Run/Row/Airdyne
50ft Handstand Walk/Bear Crawl
40- Wallballs
30- Burpees
20- Pistol Squats   Push-ups
10- Power Snatch #155/#105  #65

Time – 27:13

Disgusting.  No other way to describe this really.  The most appealing part in my mind would have been the pistol squats if my hip flexor hadn’t been kind of bugging me.  I wanted to do them anyway (love!) but Coach Rachel’s voice of reason told me to be smart.  Sigh.  Of course, I still went straight from the box for a 5km run before work, but made sure to stretch LOTS after.  This routine could workout!  6am WOD, 7:15-7:50 run, shower, work at 8.  Perfection!

Tues. May 24:

Part 1. 10:00 Minute Tabata Airdyne/Row (:20 work / :10 rest)
Part 2. 4 Rounds (not necessarily for time…load is more important)
10- Front Squats (unbroken) HEAVY   #105
200′ Sled Pull HEAVY  3x #45 plates

I find it pretty entertaining that when there’s a 2 part workout it often feels as though part 2 all but erases any recollection of there being a part 1.  If I hadn’t checked back to the CFD site, I probably would have just typed out the front squats and sled pulls…  But the Tabata happened too!  And kinda sucked.  Found a buddy and did the first 10 rounds on the rower and the second 10 on the Airdyne.  Just like many other higher volume heavier lifting days… I got home from this one STARVING.  The usual breakfast of sweet potato and eggs?  Yup, but still hungry.  The ridiculously good coconut peanut butter I discovered while in Florida and made the mistake of purchasing when I got home?  Yup, that happened too.  Still hungry.  Drank a ton of water trying to ignore it, practiced guitar till my fingers hurt, finally got my sh*t together and finished unpacking from the trip… Still hungry.  And a Quest bar called my name relentlessly.  That’s another thing I simply should never buy… and don’t judge for my unpacking almost a week after getting home I’ve been busy!!  Anyways, after falling down the Quest bar rabbit hole I felt so guilty… so I grabbed some gym shtuff and stopped in at World on my way to Chek.  After a casual 8km trot with epic people watching entertainment, I felt better about my nutritional landslide earlier 🙂 Summer is coming.  That sh*t can’t happen.

sunshine and laughter

This is pretty much just a vacation recap and more for my own recollection later on than anything else.  I already touched on the little crossfit component, but a brief follow-up on that… OMG I was sore!!  LOL my quads screamed going down stairs until at least Friday and my traps are still a knotty mess.  But I LOVED it 🙂  Another note… I spent 5 days quite nearly pain-free in terms of nerve pain bullshit.  It was kind of unbelievable after years of torture.  Walking in the cool ocean water felt amazing and living without any need for socks or shoes was heaven.  I need to win the lottery… the ocean is calling me back.

Got back in the very early morning this past Wednesday from 5 days on Anna Maria Island 🙂  It was AWESOME!  My mom even kept the degree of crazy to a reasonably low level with only a few temper tantrums when I didn’t do exactly what she wanted.  The weather was perfect aside from the last day which started with an incredible thunder storm and was thick and humid throughout.  The kind of day that makes it a little less painful to leave the island paradise.

Saturday was one of the few days we had stuff planned.  Went to Orlando to watch the National Women’s Soccer League game Orlando Pride vs. New York Flash.  Ok, I’m kinda hooked.  At first I just enjoyed the people watching and the chance to spend a day with Amanda, but the game was so good I can’t wait to go to another one.

After game day the whole intention of the rest of the trip was time by the ocean and take things as they come.  Took the double kayak out ONCE.  Walk the beast to what was supposed to be the calmer side of the island – NO SIR!  So turned around and walked it to the other side.  Yes calmer, but after dragging it through the sand, getting it into the water, quite ungracefully scampering ourselves IN (somehow without flipping it!!), we paddled around for like 10 minutes and got bored!  LOL!!  Back out of the water, back through the sand, back up the road to the house, and back to the beach to hand out with a couple of noodles!  That was the WOD.  The “sled” drag through the sand was tough!!  Especially in flip flops… Although pretty sure accompanied with lots of laughter.

Last full day on the island ended with a neat sunset.  Wasn’t the brilliant pink and red it could have been, but the reflections and clouds that painted the sky were still quite impressive!  Sunset beach walk was followed by a little impromptu jam session with Amanda and my cousin Luke who I haven’t seen in like 13 years.  Very cool!  Will definitely look to do that again some day.  Hopefully sooner than another 13 years…

Last minute dinner plans before the mad dash to get our rental car back on time.  Not enough time to go sit and eat something somewhere.  Not the type to hit a fast food place.  No opportunity to cook or prepare anything in the car.  So… whole chicken??  DONE!  Geeks 🙂  But it worked!

When the flight was delayed like 2 1/2 hours cause of the storm that hit I was pretty relieved we opted for the chicken!  Hangry is not a nice way to end an awesome vacation.  Crisis averted!  There were some pretty long faces in the airport when the status of our flight changed to “delayed” and the eta grew farther and farther away.  At least two Canadians found tons to talk about and laughed the whole time…

Crossfit Bradenton

First WOD in another country!!!  Not that I’ve tried many places other than CFD, but it was neat to hit a local box while on vacation.  Crossfit Bradenton was pretty similar to what I’m used to and they were welcoming to drop-ins.  The coach was great, we warmed up as a group and everyone was very supportive of each other.  🙂  Great to see a similar amazing atmosphere exists outside of CFD as well.  Plus the WOD sounded pretty great so on our last day in Florida, my awesome girl encouraged me to check it out 🙂

Tues. May 17:

 Part 1 – 3 rounds of: 10 reps of sumo deadlift #145

Part 2 – For time: 21-15-9

24/20 in burpee box jump over

front squat at 115/85 lb (no racks)

Result – 9:13 Rx

LOVED this one!  And Amanda took a ton of pics 🙂  One WOD and I think I at least doubled the number of good crossfit pics I have of myself.  Score!  Anyways… the WOD.  My goal going in to part 2 was unbroken sets since the weight wasn’t huge.  Near the end of the 21 reps I was shaking… but didn’t want to clean the bar again so I paused at the top and kept moving.  A wicked humid day meant a sweaty mess and my legs were toast by the end but still pretty pumped.  Sandbagged the deadlifts a little, but knowing the day also had hours of sitting in a car and an airplane I made that choice with a clear conscience.  Today is the dreaded “day 2”.  My legs are not overly impressed and stairs are the enemy.

tidbit

First… if you read this and have Instagram, PLEASE take 18 seconds to “like” this post!!  I’m trying to demonstrate the positive impact a dog can have in a workplace:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Henry's (@henryscamera)

Second… WHY does the Prowler kick my butt so bad??  Seriously?  I mean, it’s been pretty heavy the last 2 times we’ve pushed it but it destroys me.  After my 4th round today I crumbled to my knees for a good 30 seconds before I could stand up again.  Dirty.  Then there were HEAVY deadlifts?!  #175 felt ridiculous today, which it should not!  **note – there was a lot of sarcasm in there (as usual), cause as much as I hated the WOD, I probably loved it more.  30 handstand push-ups sweetened the deal for sure.

Good weekend, hope yours was too!  Ball hockey double header on Friday was another love/hate situation.  The second game had a donkey on the other team who whacked at me with his stick a few times until I told him to eff off.  My foot is black from one of his hits.  Dude?!  Came home Saturday to work, but went back to Burlington Saturday night to see Amanda sing/play with a friend’s band 🙂  Then a surprise guitar lesson Sunday before jam session.  Not sure how I feel about lessons with a friend, but it was a thoughtful idea which could turn out awesome in time.  My nerd in Kitchener just taught me so much in my first month of lessons… and didn’t try to force theory down my throat.

One thing that helps make Mondays more awesome – they are the start of 4 crossfit days in a row 🙂  I’m still an addict.

gratefully fooled

Crossfit is the headliner today no question!! An impromptu trip to Burlington on my way home from dinner with my dad and sister last night voided any chance to make the 5am class this morning, but things happen for a reason sometimes I guess.  Got to the box just in time for the 7:30 class and was the only car in the parking lot aside from Coach Rachel.  Eek!  1 on 1 = it’s just YOU kid!

Thurs May 5:

Part 1. 5 x 500m Row: Alternate with a partner until you have both completed 5 rounds in total

OR 5x500m row with 2 min rest between*

Part 2. “Heavy Grace” 30- Reps Clean and Jerk for time #225/#155  

Result – 9:36 #95

*goal was to maintain consistent split time for full 500m – 2:06 / 2:04 / 2:02 / 2:00 / 1:56

The last 500m row killed me! It wasn’t that much faster than the rest, but the only round that I struggled hard to keep the split the whole way through.  Then a quick rest, a short warm-up and into a “heavy Grace”.  Fantastic trickery!!  I read the posted weights and thought “pffft!!  We’ll be scaling that nightmare!”  When I dropped the bar after my 30^th rep, Coach Rachel got all excited… You just did Grace Rx!!!  Oh shit!!  First time 😀 Amazing!!

In a bit of a round-a-bout kind of way I got my 4 CF workouts in this week 🙂  Made it to CFD Monday, Tuesday and Thursday and did a variation of the posted WOD at the World on Wednesday.  Just can’t make the 7:30 time slot at CFD when I have to work at 8!  A new schedule is coming though which includes 6am Wednesday classes!  Double header again this week at ball hockey tomorrow.  It’s a little disturbing how excited I am about that I think.

Wed May 4:

5km run

3 rounds, not for time:

40 good mornings  #40 bar

15 DB bicep curls  #15

20 reverse lunges  #40 bar

10 bent over rows   #40 bar

The second part of this ^^ was long and tedious and really weird to be doing after all this time in a gym.  Good though.  And my hammys HURT today, so it was effective I guess!

I should really stick to animals. I mean, I kept Dr. Tom happy and healthy for more than 3 years.  I mean, I think he was happy but it’s hard to really tell with a fish… And Yuko shared an incredible almost-year with me.  But plants are just not my forte.  I got a comment from my cleaning girl this week – Um, the plant upstairs is dead.  LOL!!  Yeah.  Amanda brought me a cactus to kill a few weeks ago too.  Very kind, but I don’t like it’s chances of survival even though it’s a cactus.

on the fly

Life is good.  And BUSY!!  😮  Still working on the balance component, but the tides are always changing so I’m learning to just adjust on the fly rather than looking for the regular routing and rhythm of things.  It’s exciting and fun and exhausting at times, but good 🙂  Making it to crossfit 5 times a week just isn’t in the cards right now, but I’m ok with that.  Managed mon-thurs last week, which I think I can maintain.  A puppy sitting opportunity came up last week, so I had Peanut with me from Sunday till Thursday and didn’t get to World to run at all but did get in a bunch of good walks 🙂

Friday morning Amanda and I headed across the Peace Bridge into New York state for a little road trip/soccer game action.  I’m not the soccer super-fan my chick is, but love the road trips 🙂  With our own little car karaoke and laughing at getting a little lost a few times and some quality road trip snack prep it was a great 2 days away from every day life.  *Car karaoke does not include me singing 😉  Not loud enough to be heard anyways lol!  Side note – hey Mother Nature!  It shouldn’t be that cold on April 29th.  Just saying…  My toes didn’t warm up for like 2 hours after the game.

Sunday was Acton ball hockey.  I’ve officially learned that I can’t work till 5 in Waterloo if I intend to get to a 6:00 game on time.  Especially if I have any hope of warming up!  Without traffic it might have been possible, but of course someone had to break the 401 a little.  If you aren’t from Ontario, you probably have no idea how commonly that happens so I guess I should have known better.  It wasn’t a waste though!  I got there only a few minutes into the first period and got a nice goal 🙂  Plus I learned that although I’m sure it’s not exactly legal, it is possible to change into a sports bra while driving.  Ok not legal at all.  And the guy in the truck next to me got more of a show than I’d been hoping for… but it’s doable.

Check it out!  More than half way through my post and I haven’t even really talked about working out!  Bored?  Last week may have been the wrap up to our long and heavy WOD phase, although I hope not entirely cause I really enjoyed it!  Long and heavy, but a sh*t ton of rowing and airdyne too!  Coach Dave teased at one point that he never sees me anymore.  A bit of an exaggeration…  Also teased that girls make us weak.  That’s true in some regards, but not entirely.  And he was totally just joking around in both regards 😉  Weaker?  Not in terms of crossfit.  Crushed 10 rounds, 3 reps #135 back squats last week.  PR’d my snatch.  Strict pull-ups are getting “easier” (ha!)

Back to today.  The WOD that left me laying on the bench in the changeroom contemplating if I was going to live or not for a good 10 minutes.

Mon. May 2:

Tabata Airdyne: 4:00 Minutes of 20 sec on 10 sec off
Immediately after
AMRAP in 5:00 Minutes
7- Box Jumps 24/20
7- Hand Release Pushups/Handstand Pushups
Cash Out: Prowler Push with a Partner, 5 Rounds Each alternating GO HEAVY and GO 50′ down then 50′ back and switch  – 4x25lb plates 😮

Tabata anything can get nasty.  First few rounds – meh… 20 seconds is no big deal.  Then comes – jeez… we’re only half way?  Followed by – OMG!!  20 seconds feels like forever and the 10 second rest is too short.  Airdyne anything IS nasty.  Period.

Part 2… meh.  No amazing but not entirely awful.  And sandwiched in between the other two it really wasn’t that bad.  It was the cash out that killed me.  OMG the prowler!  Here’s another reason I WOD at 6am.  Gives me time to talk myself out of barfing, have a cold shower, get my composure back, and make it to work like everything is cool 😉