1 step forward, 10 steps back

About 10 days ago I headed out for my morning run at the favourite trail with wonder pup.  It had been a week of tough workouts mixed with a few other trips to the same spot for the same purpose.  This was one of the hardest runs so far.  My head was battling a few other wars as we trotted along, but the biggest one had to do with my decision to join in on a group Whole Life Challenge at the box.  I was intrigued when the idea was first thrown out there, but not completely sold even after I had coughed up the $$ and registered.  I figured, what have I got to lose?  It was when I logged my starting measurements that my commitment was LOCKED IN.  When the hell did I get so FAT??  And more so, how did I let it happen??  I’ve been down this road before.  I’ve been along the path of getting rid of clothing that no longer fit, but last time I was getting rid of stuff that was too big.  Recently I realized it was time to get rid of the skinny clothes I will never again fit in to.  Not that I want to be a stick, but everyone wants to look good naked.

I took my frame of mind as the reason for my run struggles.  There was a point on one particularly gnarly uphill where my legs screamed “I hate you.” but were quickly silenced with “I hate YOU more!”.  That was Saturday.  By Monday I could hardly walk.  If you’ve been around a little while, I’ve complained about my hip before.  I’m coming to the realization that when it comes to any sort of war you fight with your own body, sometimes having the last word is not a win at all.  I’ve pushed on and scaled WODs to be able to keep exercising, but the hip is still angry.  It finally came to the point yesterday where Coach Sharon asked me to make a deal with her to only mobilize and work on accessory stuff until at least Thurs.  Give the hip some time to recover.  I know she’s right, but my head needs crossfit.  I was happy with the compromise that at least still allowed my to go to the box.  Today I spent an unbearable amount of time on the Airdyne.  Sally, as Dave calls her, and I might become friends over the next week or so.  She’s a dirty b*tch and I feel like I could barf pretty much every time I get off, but she’s also the only form of cardio that doesn’t require hip extension.

Bla, bla… boo-hoo…

Exciting bit!  Last week I did Cindy as Rx for my first time!!  Completed 11 rounds + 5 pull-ups!!  My lats and chest hurt for days.  It was awesome.

Bump in the road

I’m going to change things up a bit in terms of the format of my posts.  I get that my WOD summaries are really not all that interesting for anyone.  Could consider it one of those “ya had to be there” kinda things.  So… my random chaotic content will now be mostly extracted from the “data” and spewed out before I get into the nitty-gritty.

Hey Coach Dave… How many birthday cakes did ya get bro?  Haha!  This weekend kicked off with our CFD Thanksgiving get together, complete with a post-birthday cake for the one and only Coach Dave.  Last Wednesday a bunch of peeps got together for a birthday dinner and Russell Peters show.  Then it seemed like every time I logged into the old facebook over the weekend, there were new pictures of Dave and yet another cake!  Haha!  Maybe that’s just the benefit of your birthday falling around a holiday like Thanksgiving?  Mine just falls on father’s day from time to time.  I always considered that a bit of a rip-off rather than a benefit :p  Ok, now I’m just being a total punk.  My back hurts.  Cut me some slack.

Back to the weekend.  I place all the blame on the pumpkin pie.  Well, truth of the matter is I should place the blame on my lack of will power to resist the pumpkin pie.  But it was the 3rd day in a row that I’d had to see/smell its wonderful goodness.  It was just a little piece.  And I didn’t eat the crust.  Still… FAIL.  It didn’t even taste as amazing as I had psyched myself up for.  But the biggest fail was the next day when all I wanted to do was sleep.  *** amendment note required – My aunt put wheat berries on the salad!  I picked around most of them, but tired of that process quickly.  Today, I googled.  Wheat berries CONTAIN GLUTEN.  Ok pie, you likely weren’t deserving of all of the blame.  Yesterday was ridiculous though.  I was in bed probably around 8:30.  Justified it to myself cause I knew today came with a 4:15am alarm.

We had a perfect weekend for Thanksgiving 🙂  hope my fellow Canadians enjoyed it!  Yesterday was my only day off and although it wasn’t a sunny one, it was perfect weather for a little run.

WTF?!  My back is messed up again.  Disclaimer – this injury has zero to do with crossfit.  Not the first time my back has been screwy this year, but that wasn’t crossfit related either.  I’m not making the claim that you can’t get hurt crossfitting, but I AM making the claim that my coaches are very careful to make sure everyone who picks up a bar, grabs on to the pull-up rig, touches a wallball, etc, has all the tools needed to perform safely and avoiding injury.  Nope, I didn’t hurt myself digging for a new deadlift or squat PR.  I hurt my back chilling in my pjs last night, watching tv and rolling on my foam roller.  Brilliant.  Woke up this morning with random knee-buckling-hard-to-breathe spasms every time I’d flex my spine.  I CAN’T be broken right now!!  This Saturday is our “Nightmare on Mill Street” team competition in Kitchener!  So of course, I got in the car and headed to the 6am WOD.  Not to DO the WOD, but to spend some time working to get things moving again.  Any sort of impact hurts (running, jumping, dropping off the bar) but otherwise the situation improved as I kept moving.  Read Coach Dave’s mind and scaled the WOD appropriately.  Then sent a message to the box vet with a big “pleeeeeeeease… will you see me today!”

Tues. Oct. 14:

AMRAP 12 Minutes:
50- Burpees over the Bar    push-ups
30- Power Snatches (#135/#95)    #10? training bar
10- Muscle-Ups/ Chest- Bar Pullups   MU transitions

Score – 1 round + 50 push-ups + 13 snatch

Oddly enough, despite all the back bull sh*t, I felt like I was moving pretty well today.  As the catch for the snatch (hehe) started to get uncomfortable, I switched pretty seamlessly into squat snatches.  Granted, I wasn’t moving any weight…

Sun. Oct. 12:

Front Squats:

3 – 3 – 3 – 3 – 3 – 3 – 3

# 105 – 105 – 110 – 115 – 120 – 120 – 125

Pretty sure that #125 is a new 3RM.  Actually, pretty sure I’ve never done more than #105 for multiple reps but I could be off my rocker.  Still… although #105 felt heavy right from the start today, I had a kick-ass partner that I just sort of followed along with as she added weight each round.  Thanks Colt 🙂  #yousostronggirl

Fri. Oct 10:

Orange is the new black? Well, 6am is the new 7:30. In my little world anyways. Only way to make crossift and Cambridge co-exist. Not that I mind really, but Friday coffee WOD is at 7:30 😦 Today it just wasn’t meant to be. Don’t worry, I got slightly heckled for this but my reason behind missing it had to do with the friday night CFD Thanksgiving, so only mild disapproval from Coach Sharon.

Part 1. 5 rounds, resting 90s between: 300 Meter Row/Sally 50 Meter Prowler Push (#90/#45) 300m row + #45-#45-#90-#45-#90

Part 2. Close Grip Bench/Floor Press: 10-10-10-10-10 #75-#85-#85-#85-#90

Part 3. Tabata – Bench press (#95/#65) Rx – min. 6 reps/round

Part 4. Banded Tricep Pushdowns: Accumulate 100 Reps (Arms are going to get BLOWN UP)

Thurs. Oct. 9:

So, I may have a new friend. Not a best friend though… Her name is Kelly and she’s a bitch, but I respect her for that.

“Kelly”
5 rounds:
400 Meter Run
30- Box Jumps (24/20)
30- Wallballs (20/14)

Time – 28:17 Rx

AND… I didn’t even cry during the wallballs! I thought that was just sort of my “thing” when ya threw wallballs into a metcon. Maybe it’s just a Fight Gone Bad thing? Yup, last year at the Toys For Tots fundraiser, I cried through the wallballs. I’m not ashamed.

in stride

Whole30 day 10!!  Double digits baby!!  😀

My days are starting to have a timeline all their own.  Today:

4:10am    BOING!!!!  WIDE awake!  And the random commentary in my head begins.  One side grumbles a WTF at the time and WHY am I not sleeping and shoots some nasty thoughts at the hotel catering service from the event I was at last night cause I’m guessing they mixed up the regular and decaf coffee labels.  The other side is full of energy and bouncing off the walls with random unfinished thoughts.

4:30am   Catch up on my email including the daily WOD post.  Supposed to be my rest day, but wait!!  😮  Find a new 1RM deadlift??  B*tch please!  Tomorrow can be my rest day…

8:00am   Prepped an awesome lunch with the pulled pork that just finished doing its thing in my slow cooker.  Followed lunch prep with a kick-ass breakfast of seasoned, grated sweet potato (like, stolen off the tex-mex leftovers from yesterday.  They had too much.  I didn’t feel bad.), homemade breakfast sausage and 2 fried eggs.  Mmm…  Good food makes me happy.  Happier than sugary food cause I’m not still looking for something else to eat after.  Win.

9:00am   Get to work, still wide awake and full of energy but the Kill All the Things mentality still lingers it seems.  I’m suddenly annoyed when I hear the key turn in the door signaling my assistant has arrived.  He made it through yesterday.  Today he might not be so lucky.

11:00am   Why the hell am I so hungry?  Haven’t had a super hungry day in a while…  I didn’t even lift this morning.  WAIT!!  I’ve been up almost 7 hours.  Right, that.  Looks like lunch will be an early one today.  Just to be safe… otherwise something might have to die.  Butternut squash in the toaster oven means a good hour to rope DK into some pistol squats between customers.  Do you like pistols?  I do!  🙂  Threw in a few rounds of 5 reps per leg post-WOD yesterday and my left butt cheek is sooooore today!  Love it!

Between pistol squat practice we had a few waves of customers.  I just dealt with a customer who looked exactly like this:

No word of a lie!  She was pleasant enough, but I think her angry cat expression is permanent.  Remember all those things your mom told you growing up?  Don’t sit too close to the tv, you’ll go cross-eyed.  Don’t swallow gum, you’ll end up with a big gum ball in your tummy.  Don’t eat cookie dough, you’ll get worms.  (duh mom, they make an ice-cream that comes with cookie dough)  AND Don’t make that face, it’ll get stuck that way.  That last one may have actually been true!  Poor woman.  I laughed a little in my head…  Don’t judge me.

1:00pm   yeaaaah!  Lunch time!  Sooo good!  First time making pulled pork without a drizzle of maple syrup and it tastes FANTASTIC!  Noted for future reference.  Sugar NOT needed for awesomeness.

1:10pm   When is nap time?  Seriously?   zzzz…

2:45pm   I surrender.  Coffee time.  Third cup of black, steamy goodness today.  :-p  I’ve cut out lots of bad stuff.  Coffee is staying.  I pick my battles.   Mmmm… Heaven in a brown paper cup.  Coffee brings out the common sense in me too.  I will be taking today as a rest day as originally planned.  I almost let myself get caught up in my excitement that I could possibly PR my 1RM deadlift today, but I’ve come to my senses.  I just picked up a barbell for the first time in 12 days, post back troubles.  I can PR next week instead.

4:00pm   Why do organic bananas have such thick peels compared to the non-organic ones?  Did you know that in the last decade there have been NO reported hospital cases of injury from slipping on a banana peel?  Only time they cause a problem is when you hit one playing Mario Kart :-p  Love that game…  and my mind wanders on…  Some days it amazes me that I manage to get my sh*t together enough to make it through a work day productively.

7:30pm   Leftover Tex-Mex is kinda like leftover chili.  Tastes even better the next day.  BUT old habits die hard.  I’ve been totally clean since starting this challenge, yet found myself craving some sort of treat…  Maybe cause I’m tired.  Might be lucky to make it to 9:30 tonight!

p.s. don’t worry.  no treat.  just munched on a baby cucumber instead.

 

day at the bar

Tuesday June 2:

Whole30 day 9 🙂  The smile means you caught me at a good moment.  Based on the Whole30 timeline, I should be experiencing:

Day 8-9: For the love of Gosling, my pants are TIGHTER.

But I’ve recently discovered that Lululemon studio pants are wicked comfy and totally pass-off-as-work-pants appropriate. Anyways, I had all but come to the conclusion that I was just not meant to fall into the group of people who found the timeline to ring true to their own experience. Then today happened. Out of nowhere too, cause it should have been a great day. I woke up feeling great. Got to the box for my 7:30 WOD where I actually picked up a barbell for the first time in what felt like 100 years. 😀 I was so over the moon excited! Ok, I was still smart. I used a whole #55 for the hang cleans and #45 for all the snatch business. Didn’t phase me. I picked up a bar!

With a continuous clock running:

0:00- 10:00: AMRAP 10 Minutes:

Up ladder of 5-10-15-20-25-30…

Wallballs 30/20 #20 (first 5) / #14 remainder

5 Hang Power Clean, 165/115 between every set of wall balls. #55

10:00- 15:00: REST

15:00- 30:00: Snatch Complex:

Work up to heavy set of: Power Snatch + Hang Squat Snatch + Squat Snatch #45

Result – AMRAP: 25+23

Left the box feeling like a rockstar, but within minutes of walking into my store the “Kill all Things” mode kicked in.

Well, maybe not all things… but certainly my assistant. One of my biggest pet peeves is when you are trying to tell someone something and they feel the need to chatter away the entire time. I kinda snapped at him, felt bad, apologized, (I think!) and realized maybe I just needed to eat something :-p Fail. I don’t eat before going to the box in the morning anymore. So post-WOD I’m starving. Starving = bitchy. Post-breakfast, the angry kid subsided some. My assistant still might die today though.

Food, glorious food. I’m going to share my latest awesome recipe find Paleo Tex-mex Casserole but first let me throw in a little disclaimer. I got home from work last night around 6:30 and thought it was a great idea to whip this up for dinner. It sounds simple and easy enough, but let me tell you… it’s TIME CONSUMING! Lots of veggies to chop. Made my own taco seasoning cause I’ve pretty much concluded that at least for the next 21 days I will not be using any store-bought options. Also pulled out the food processor for the sweet potato grating. Not a chance in hell I was grating those monsters by hand. At 8:00 the casserole dish finally headed into my oven and the thoughts running through my head were along the lines of “you better ROCK MY WORLD dish!! Or someone’s gonna get hurt.” Maybe that’s where today’s angry side started? Anyways… I waited patiently (haha! ya right!) for the damn thing to finish cooking and finally had some dinner at 8:45. OH MY GAWD!! Worth the effort! Worth the wait! Soooo good! If you happen to be wondering “what? no pic? and this girl calls herself a photographer…” Dude! I was hungry and it wasn’t the prettiest dish I’ve made. But pretty doesn’t win the taste test. Here – I’ll borrow one:

broken and rebuilding

First… salad may be healthier than a burger and fries, but much harder to eat while driving…  Even texting only requires one hand.

So, another Henry’s Exposure Show is in the books.  THe weekend was perfect blue skies and toasty warm temps, which did not work to our advantage.  After the seemingly endless winter, I really don’t blame people for opting to spend time outdoors rather than rummaging through my “Deal Zone”.  This being said, we did have some super-busy stretches with a line 30 ft long for 3+ hours on Saturday.  I s’pose when you bring Chris Hadfield in as the keynote speaker, you can expect some decent attendance.  And some decent customer temper tantrums too.   The only total wench I ran into this weekend insisted repeatedly that I was NOT going to make her pay the tax.  Bite your tongue Kate…  I looked past her and asked who was next.  She paid the tax.  All in all, good times and good weekend.  Except for having to toss most of the food I brought when the “waiting list” for a fridge appeared to be smoke and mirrors, and I wrecked my back somehow.  Spent 15 hours Thursday hauling boxes and bins.  Messed around with some over-head squats with the 9ft rolls of backdrop paper with a fellow CF friend, all good.  Then Saturday night, when I’d had enough of the hotel life and opted to drive home, something slipped in my back while on the highway.  SO annoyed 😐  After 4 non-crosffit days, I was super-bummed to have to extend the break cause of my back.  Sometimes it seems as though it never friggin ends.  Physio squeezed me in yesterday thankfully and I was nuked (heating pad) and shocked and things loosened up a bit.  This morning though it took probably 10 minutes to get coffee started cause every time I reached to grab the filters from the cupboard, I ended up on my knees waiting to be able to breathe again.  Arg.  The coffee filters have been relocated to the counter.  They can stay there till this goes away.

Today I couldn’t take it any longer and headed to the box.  “I’m here 🙂 but I’m broken :(” I told Coach Dave.  As always, he didn’t miss a beat.  Today was deadlift day (LOVE) which I clearly was in no shape to do, so I played along with the prowler push and sled drags in part 1 which both felt ok.  Probably because there was hardly any weight on them, but my legs still felt it.  Then I crawled my way onto the GHD machine for back extensions and sit-ups.  After all that mobility, my back felt good 🙂  “Aren’t you glad you decided to come??” asked Coach Dave?  There wasn’t much that would have kept me away today 😉

Got a text from Coach Sharon yesterday “It’s yours!!”  😀  The “It” she is referring to is my very own condo!!  Pack your castle Dr. Tom!  We’re moving!  WOOT-WOOT!  Gave my notice today at my apartment and now it’s just about the waiting game until the July closing date…  but my life is taking shape 🙂

Speaking of shape, well sort of, I’m overdue for a nutritional reset.  I’ve had this in the back of my mind for a while now, but after a weekend where my good healthy intentions went down the toilet after having to throw out much of the food I prepped for the show and the more than once that M&Ms found their way into my mouth while I was simply reaching for a few raisins and almonds…  NOW it’s really time.  There’s no hiding when I sneak chocolate.  My face breaks out like a teenage boy.  They weren’t even that good.

Anyways, focus McDowell.  I had been thinking about getting back into the Zone Diet, but I wasn’t ready to commit to weighing my food.  ALSO, while it’s very portion-controlled, I didn’t find that one strict enough to keep me completely away from sugar.  So… I’ve made a 30 day promise to mysefl in the form of Whole30.  Today is day 2, wish me strength!  Last night I made a batch of Chorizo meatballs that were AMAZING!  This came after the realization that I just don’t think I’d make it 30 days on salad alone.  Also made a batch of cilantro lime cauliflower rice that came out better than ever.

Maybe because of the absence of sugar in my life yesterday?  Everyone has their own set of challenges…  so far I’m fighting to not think about Quest bars, and maybe a weird one – GUM!  The Quest bar thoughts make me realize I was eating them too often.  Woke up yesterday (day 1) already thinking about wanting something sweet.  Damn you M&Ms!  Got past it and thankfully woke up without that thought today.  Rule of thumb – unless you make it, raise it, or pick it… pretty much everything has sugar in it.

It’s only day 2, but the other thing I’ve noticed is my fuzzy brain is fuzzier than ever.  Went to my store today to catch up on a little project I didn’t get to yesterday.  Walked through the door and forgot why I was there.  Left the store in my work shoes.  Stopped for some groceries on the way home, forgot half the stuff I had gone in for.  Hopefully this bit improves or I’ll be wandering around lost somewhere by the end of the 30 days!

Ever done Whole30?  

What did you think?  

Is fuzzy brain common?

oh yes I can

I think my mind is so exhausted post-1.4.5 that it isn’t all that interested in formulating an opinion on that little treat of a WOD.  Or maybe it’s payback for the mental warfare I went through during the 21 thrusters.  Yesterday, after opting out of my option to tackle 14.5 on Friday with the rest of the troops, I headed to the box to complete what I had committed to.  84 thrusters and 84 burpees all by myself.  This was an ugly little wrap up to the Open, but a good challenge for everyone involved because of the mental test it provided.  I won’t say I enjoyed it.  I really didn’t!  However I would do it again.  Coach Sharon dealt me the question the day before “see how you feel and really try to figure out WHY you want to do it and if it’s worth it”.  I put some serious thought into this and came to the conclusion that I wanted to prove the doubt in my own mind wrong.  I wanted to prove that I could overcome the thoughts of “you can’t!” or “you’re not good enough”.  But I also know well enough that injury comes first and I am working at listening to my body.  That’s a whole different kind of “you can’t”.  So I went in to Monday with the moto “Either way, no regrets.”

Here’s a new approach.  A deconstruction of the mental process in relation to 14.5.  Just consider we’re taking a look into my messed up mental process here :p  It may be ugly.  The profanity will be kept to a minimum for posting purposes, but I assure you that while I’m the kind of person who rarely swears out loud, in my head I can be considerably less censored.

Thurs March 27 – before the WOD was announced:

“please, please, PLEASE don’t let it be super hip-invloved!  Mine is broken.  Please let it be a WOD I can do!”

Thurs March 27 – after the WOD was announced:

“damn it.  Maybe I can still do it – no you can’t you idiot.  Your hip is broken.”

Friday March 28 – regular Open WOD time:

“this sucks.  Is this even doable this regardless.”

Friday March 28 – after watching a few fellow CFD members get killed by 14.5:

“OMG!!  WANT TO DO IT!!”

Saturday March 29

“You’ll be good to go by Monday 🙂  You got this!  You can pace yourself through the burpees and 65lb thrusters are doable.”

Sunday March 30

“ok… you’ve had too much time to think now.  What if you CAN’T do it?  No one at my box recorded a “did not finish”.  What if you are the first?  Spinning makes you dizzy.  You hate thrusters.  Burpees suck.  Maybe you should just stay home…”

Monday March 31

“if you just don’t go, maybe no one will notice.  What if you make a total fool of myself somehow?  You would be the first one to trip and land on your face jumping over the bar.  What if you can’t do a 65lb thruster? – shut up.  Go to the box.  The rest will just happen.”

Monday March 31 – WOD time

3, 2, 1 – GO!!

thrusters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

“ok.  You can DO this!”

drop the bar

“oh wow.  maybe not!  What the hell were you thinking??  How many more are there?  Like 100?  Feels like 100.  You should have warmed up better.”

7, 8, 9, 10

“Did you drink enough water?  Why does the bar feel so heavy now?”

11, 12, 13

“so much for the plan!  what happened to 7, 7, 7?  you know what happened!  you suck.  should have stayed at work.”

….

20, 21

“it’s a friggin miracle!  Never have burpees been so welcome!  Ok, sticking to the plan here.  Pacing the burpees.”

16, 17, 18

Coach Jenna – “just a few more McDowell!”

“shit no!!!  Then it’s back to more ‘effin thrusters!  Pace the last few even more…”

1, 2, 3

“well, you’ve really thrown all planning out the window haven’t you?  3 reps at a time?  Poor Jenna.  We’ll be here all day”

Coach Jenna – “just breathe McDowell!  and pick up the bar!”

“OK.  She’s RIGHT.  There’s no turning back now.  Brain – SHUT UP!!!  Body – whatever you DO, don’t you DARE STOP!!”

4, 5, 6

“but – auto pilot, please take over. – OK”

DONE!  22:23 😀  I didn’t trip over the bar.  I only had to drop the bar once when I couldn’t get it locked up overhead.  I can promise you I was opening my hips cause I’m feeling it today.  I fought through a few moments of crazy dizziness.  Best part – I didn’t GIVE UP!  I win 😀

new fav.

 

Tried out a new recipe last night that was 110% worth sharing.  Picked this one cause I had a cauliflower hanging out in my fridge that was getting a little tired and as hard as I tried, I just couldn’t bring myself to make some pizza crust.  Just not feeling it.  Also happy to find an alternative to the usual cauliflower rice.  Ever made that crap?  I did.  Once.  My apartment smelled like garbage for days after.  Like brussels sprouts bad, only worse!  So not worth it.  I mean, cauli. is ok, but not that good.  Wow, I’m rambling.  Maybe because I decided it was a good idea to skip the 6am WOD this morning cause my hip is still bugging me and 14.5 is announced tonight.  My mind is in need of another outlet 😉  My body may need the rest day, but my brain absolutely craves the box.  Might head in for 9:15 to hang out with the foam roller and work on some pull-ups…

Anyways, this was the most amazing meal I’ve made in a long time.  That has absolutely nothing to do with the lack of culinary creativity I’ve suffered from recently either.  Also opted to borrow a pic from the site cause the photo I took was horrible but at the time I was hungry and didn’t really care enough to take another.  DK is my foodie pal at work.  We decided a while ago that sometimes you just get so hungry that it can make you irritable or angry.  We also decided that “hangry” was the perfect word for this.  I wasn’t quite at that point last night, but whatever.  Juli B from paleOMG knocked it well out of the park with this one.  Super easy too.  Trust me, worth trying.  Wait… here’s a pic 🙂  and the link.  Enjoy!  (my opinion… doesn’t need the onion.  but that’s just my opinion.)

paleOMG Mexican Rice Bowls

reconnected (I hope!)

What better way to start the Friday off than:

5 Rounds For Time:
400m Run
30- Wall Balls 20lbs/14lbs  – 10lbs

No, for real.  A comment that’s not even dripping with sarcasm this time.  I enjoyed this one 🙂  Didn’t even cry during the wall balls.  I wrote my time on the board at the box, but don’t remember what it was.  I wasn’t last though 🙂  I think 3rd of 6 actually.  Oh!  New policy at the box – if you are LATE, you can either wait until the next time slot, or perform 150 wall balls.  😮  Eek!!  Thankfully I’m generally there early, but that would suck!  Got me thinking… wonder if I could use that technique to get my employees to show up on time?  Hmmm… (haha!  might be considered hommicide by some)

Ok.  I think I finally have things fixed at home.  I’ve been without internet since Saturday and the string of blog ideas crammed into my head has been ridiculous.  I’ve managed to scoop some free WIFI action a few times to get some posts out, but I’m still days behind 😉  AND… days off with no internet suck.  Tuesday I was awake at my usual 5:30 am but after a bunch of cooking-catch-up and my 7:30 WOD, I was searching for things to do with myself.  Sigh… I need to find another hobby.

Come Wednesday I was restless.  Tossed on my running shoes for the first time in… well, forever, and headed out for good run.  Considered heading to GoodLife cause it was kind of chilly out (yes, I’m a wimp when it comes to the cold) and the membership that is fully paid for the year has been collecting dust.  However… figured my post-color me rad chalk-covered shoes might just get me kicked out anyway.  Did a pretty good job brushing the chalk off though…

Then post run, just cause I read the WOD online (obviously) even though it was supposed to be my rest day…  I decided to get in one round of the 21 box jumps that were on the menu.  Well, improv box jumps.  And not until after crashing once and smashing my shin into the concrete wall.  Yup, not sure which is more fun, hitting a box or a wall.  Apparently, that’s just how I roll.  I am getting pretty good at crashing with little to no blood loss though 😀

  Another little victory I guess…  Thursday I went to the farmer’s market and managed to show enough self-control to prevent myself from caving to the squash temptation.  It wasn’t easy… they were 6 for $5!  Come on!  But I reasonded with my squash-hoarding side… I still have 4 at home I need to cook first 😮

jack of all trades, master of none

So, the whole idea behind this post is to touch on a topic that came up last week during one of Coach Dave’s morning sermons.  The discussion related back to the ten elements of fitness and the goal to become good at all, rather than an expert at one.

CrossFit workouts train your body in all 10 of these components of complete fitness:

Cardiovascular/Respiratory Endurance- The ability of the body systems to gather, process, and transport oxygen. Stamina- The ability of the body to process, store, deliver, and utilize energy. Strength- The ability of a muscular unit, or combo of muscular units to apply force. Flexibility- The ability of maximizing range of motion at a given joint. Power- The ability of a muscular unit, or combo of muscular units to apply maximum force in minimum time. Speed- The ability to minimize the time cycle of a repeated movement. Agility- The ability to minimize transition time between one movement pattern to another. Coordination– The ability to combine several distinct movement patterns into a singular distinct movement. Balance– The ability to control the placement of the bodies’ center of gravity in relation to its’ support base. Accuracy– The ability to control movement in a given direction or at a given intensity.

Courtesy of CrossFit Inc.

That being the case, growing up I clearly was looking at things from a totally different point of view.  Whenever I came across something that interested me, I liked to dive right in and focus on becoming a specialist.

First came swimming… from a young age I focussed on gaining all the training and badges required to get my instructor’s certification.  So much so, that by the time I was ready for this level, I was still 3 years too young and could only work as an assistant instructor.  Waiting 3 years is an eternity when you are a child.  So, after a little while, I looked for something else.  I had already started investing my time in to horses, so when I got bored with the swimming, it was an easy transition.  Of note…  I grew up with a single mom.  I was never destined to be one of the “rich kids” riding around on the best pony money can buy.  However, with some hard work and dedication I was able to gain the experience I needed to still have quite a successful go at the world of show jumping.  Unfortunately, throwing your leg over the back of a horse doesn’t come without its share of injuries.  Especially when you become the kid who gets to ride all of the crazy ones.  I was fearless, but with age this just sort of wears off.  When a fall in 2001 landed me with a broken vertebrae and separated shoulder.  I continued teaching, cause that was something I could do while I recovered, but the sands shifted for me and my confidence was never the same.

Then came snowboarding.  Same deal.  At this point, I had moved in with my dad and his new family and was lucky enough to enjoy a few winters with a membership at a private ski club.  Spent every weekend at the hill.  Self-taught involves it’s share of mistakes, but it was the only option.  Soon, I was certified as an entry-level instructor.  Then came even more time at the hill, teaching old ladies who were used to a casual coast down the hill as two-plankers to let loose a little strapped to a snowboard.

After growing up and moving away from home, I soon discovered that many of the hobbies I had known and loved as a kid were EXPENSIVE.  But the adrenaline junkie in me needed a fix.

So… mountain bike racing fulfilled that craving.  24 hour and 8 hour team relays to be exact.  Flying down a steep slope through tight single track was quite the rush, but again did not come without its share of injuries.  Not the major kind like the horse fall, but I still have a pedal-bite scar on the back of my calf that will likely be there for life.

And of course ball hockey.  But while I have gone through seasons of intense hockey-packed schedules, this one I will never consider myself a specialist in.  I have been lucky enough over the years to play along side some AMAZING players though.

So now, after dabbling in pretty much everything that caught my attention in my first 30 years, I’ve found something I dig that I can concentrate on without becoming a specialist at any one thing in particular.  :p

just let it go

“You’ve got to just let it go… holding on to the anger or frustration will affect the rest of your workout, the rest of your day, your weekend…  Just let it go!” 

Words of wisdom from Coach Sharon this morning while I was beating myself up inside over not being able to lift the weight I had set out to do.  Another “feel the #boxlove” this morning.  Our coaches are awesome 🙂  Borrowed this from the CF Division website this morning:

“Our community is amazing”

We help each others. We support each others…. You are a CrossFitter, we understand you.

Nuff said.

Back to my rant.  Not every day can be a PR… Monday I had one of those days where the stars aligned and everything came together for me at the Box.  I squatted and pressed the weights I had set out to with ease.  Today was a totally different story.  While I did screw up the proper load by #10 to match week 2 of phase 1, I got “stuck in the hole” and had to drop the bar on the FIRST REP!  WTF??  I was mad :p but as usual, Sharon was right.  I dropped the load to #95 and got through 5 of 7 sets before we made the decision that I should abandon the back squats for the day and take some time to focus on stretching and strengthening my left hip flexor.  Still crushed the strict press (3 rounds @ #65, 4 @ #60) and switched out # 125 deadlifts for the front squats.  Not like I can’t load up again next week, so long as the hip flexor cooperates.

So the back squats can suck it.  :p

OH!  I didn’t post anything yesterday.  Maybe because my day was a bit messy in terms of schedule.  Went to my usual 7:30 at the Box.  We did an “easy flush” kind of workout (according to Coach Dave.  Not many seemed to agree with this claim though)  Which started with a 400m sled drag.  Rx for this bad boy was body weight.  Right.  How about #100?  I somehow managed to grind it through that load despite the wicked occasional jab in my hip.  Then we had a snatch sequence:

5 Sets across of: 1 Power Snatch + 1 Squat Snatch + 3 Overhead Squats

First round, I fell over with the overhead squat.  Then got my sh*t together and made it through, but with just the #35 bar.  Overhead squats suck.  Period.  And the snatch is still the unicorn which I will continue to long for a chance of riding. One day…

AND… it’s the Friday before Thanksgiving weekend in Canada.  The days of big family meals on such events drew to an end when my grandparents passed away, but still doing the dinner thing with my dad and sisters tomorrow night.  Think they are even coming out to my hood for a good Paleo feast a la Kate 🙂  Should be good times!  Still tossing around different ideas of what the heck I’m going to cook…  squash of course is a given.  (especially since I maybe couldn’t resist another trip to the pumpkin farm yesterday.  I’m an anti-hoarder… except when it comes to squash.  And brussels sprouts.  Sigh…)