round and round

BUSY week!  Busy summer actually… I have a week of WODs to catch up on logging, and some other stuff on the go as well.  As always, nutrition is on my mind.  Well I guess more accurately, food is on my mind like pretty much all the time and I still want to be smaller again.  Those thoughts seem at war within my head pretty much every day.  I’m working on setting up a nutrition consult kind of thing with Amanda’s intro coach at CFC.  That’s her thing and I’m really interested to hear her spin on things.  From when we first chatted, she told me to keep a detailed food diary so myfitnesspal and I have become reacquainted after quite a long break.  Old things come back in style, right?  Anyways… my kryptonite is peanut butter and Quest bars (still, I know).  BUT… all in I’m getting like 900-1,100 calories a day!  So am I not eating enough?  Or just not the right shtuff?  PB is really calorie dense, so…?  I don’t know.  Obviously.  Anyways, looking forward to getting a new opinion and hopefully finding something that helps me fit into clothes as I would like again.

Thurs. July 28:

Every 30 seconds for 25:00 Minutes:
1- Squat Clean and Jerk, Approx 70-80% of your 1RM

#100!! (woot!!)

Yes, that’s 50 reps.  1 at a time… and 30 seconds goes by SO fast!!  I remember getting to 20 and thinking “yeah! 20 done!” immediately followed by “oh crap!  30 left!”  By the time we reached 40, it got tougher to stand up out of the squat clean, and my jerks became mini jerks with a strict press to lock the bar out but I made it!!  Went in to the box with a game plan of hopefully attempting 90-95lbs and crushed 100 😀  The happy dance that played out in my head was pretty awesome.

Wed. July 27:

3 WODs in 25 hours. 😐 Hungry and my quads are a bit unimpressed, so opted for a light run this morning to flush things out.  Run felt great 🙂 could have just kept going if I didn’t have to get to work!

Tues. July 26:  6am CFD

Back Squats: 9-6-3-6-9
Heavy 9, add weight, heavy 6, add weight…heavy 3, then try to use the same weight on the way back down

105-125-145-125-105

ONLY person to show up for the 7:30am class meant a private session with Coach Jamar 🙂  Sometimes, not appreciated… but on a heavy day it’s totally cool!  I was torn when it came to the set of 3 if I could put another pair of 10lb plates on.  Jamar asked “what are you thinking?” and when I told him that he said “well, you’ve said it now you have to ;)”  It was awesome!  Kicked myself a little later on for not going a little heavier!

Mon. July 25:  7pm CFC

Buy in – EMOM, 10 minutes:
Front squats: 1 pause squat, 1 squat
*add weight each round

Started with 75lbs and ended with 135lbs.  Can’t remember who I got there though!

WOD – 3 rounds, for time:
6 ground to overhead #75
12 box jump overs
24 KBS
48 double unders
2 minute rest

Time – ??

Mon. July 25: 6am CFD

With a partner…Aternate reps
AMRAP in 5:00 Minutes
2- Squat Cleans #185/#125  #85
(you do 2, your partner does 2…)
Rest 2:00 Min
AMRAP in 5:00 Minutes
5- Shoulder to Overhead #185/#125  #85
(you do 5, your partner does 5…)
Rest 2:00 Min
AMRAP in 5:00 Minutes
10- Deadlifts #185/#125   #85
(You do 10, your partner does 10…)
Rest 2:00 Minutes
1 Min Burpee Over Bar   18
Rest 1 Min
30 Sec Burpee Over Bar   10
30 Sec Rest
15 Sec Burpee Over Bar   6

I wish I remembered all the details for this one but life has been so busy I’ve slacked on recording stuff regularly 😦  I DO know we did pretty awesome!  Over 50 reps squat cleans, I think 65 shoulder to overhead and 120+ deadlifts.  This being said, 85lbs got HARD.  Especially for the shoulder to overhead, but stuck with it 🙂  Sit down before you read this… I LOVED the burpee portion 🙂  Or maybe I’m the one who should sit down.  Or lay down till that feeling goes away?

stop stalling

Finding the perfect title shouldn’t be the make or break…

Today I’m actually being responsible ish and taking a partial rest day.  Like, I went to the 6am WOD but am NOT going for a run as well.  It sucks.  Or I suck at this.  Or whatever… Anyways SP called me out for limping into the box this morning and I will admit that although I’ve managed to coast along in a state of just slightly injured for quite some time now, I need a little break before it becomes just injured.  10 days from the next CFD comp… Can’t have that!! So I’m sitting on my little postage stamp sized balcony writing random chaos and working on some pretty awkward tan lines.  I don’t get to see the sun as often as I’d like… I’ll take it 🙂  By the way, I did sit on my couch last night with ice packs on my sore hips and put in a good effort foam rolling my angry IT band this morning so I should get some brownie points for that as well.  And today’s WOD didn’t really include legs…

Tues. June 14:

4 sets of:
Row 25/20 Calories
Rest 1:00 Between Rounds

Bench Press: Every 2:30 seconds perform: 3-3-3-3-3-3-3

100-100-105-105-105-110-110

Dumbbell Bent Over Rows: 10-10-10 #25
Dumbbell-Weighted Abmat GHD Sit-Ups: 15-15-15

GHD sit-ups cause it’s going to be one hell of a long time before anyone is going to talk me into weighted abmat sit-ups again.  Still recovering from last Tuesday, and I like the GHD 🙂 We worked in groups for the bench press part cause we only have 3 benches.  I was pretty happy I kept up will Coach Rachel up until the very end.  I got 1 rep at 115, then couldn’t get the bar more than like 3 inches above my chest.  Still pumped 110 felt totally doable.

Florence and the Machine concert Friday night was AWESOME 🙂 don’t know why I didn’t take a camera… So unlike me… But the crowd was like nothing I’ve ever seen at the Molson Amphitheater before! To stand and look out over the lawn section was like looking at a where’s Waldo game.  Nothing but a sea of heads.

This might be just my sleep-deprived brain speaking, but I’m considering I might need a rest day.  On the bright side, it’s been a good ride 🙂 I have still been taking Wednesday and Sunday off from the box typically, but Wednesday has become my longer run day and Sunday is also run-my-butt-off at ball hockey. Saturday’s that I have to work I get a run in before my shift, and the ones I don’t work have been partner WOD days with my chick 🙂

Right?  Well… Even though I played a great game last night, including scoring our only goal, I felt like my shoes were filled with cement for a chunk of the first period.  May have been a lack of pre-game fuel… Brought a normal breakfast to work, but didn’t consider lunch or the fact that I had to race right after work to get to my 6:00 game… Peas and coffee got me through.  Odd combo, but I’ve come up with worse…

Came home and slept crappy, then got up at 4:30 to head to the box. Not much gas in the tank, but got through a challenging WOD and fell into my now typical routine of straight from the box to a run. For at least 10 minutes my body questioned “are you effed?!?!” But got over it for the rest of my pretty casual 5k.  I’m just tired.  Tonight is pretty low key though so there’s opportunity to actually get to bed at a reasonably early time 🙂

Mon. June 13:

5 Rounds, 1 Round is 3 Min followed by 3:00 Minute Rest:
30- Air Squats
20- Deadlifts #155/#105  #85
10- Shoulder to Overhead (Press/Push Press/Push Jerk/Split Jerk) #155/#105. #85
Remaining time in that 3 min Max Meters on the Rower

I don’t have a whole lot to say about this one. After round 1 it hit me that there were still 4 more. The air squats and deads happened pretty quick, but the shoulder to overhead was tough. Shaved things down to #75 for the last round when my push jerk went out the window

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!

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.

just cause

Here we go again with getting “stuck” in the draft phase…  Without pictures, life would be boring.  I keep waiting till I have a chance to add some.  No more waiting, but no more looking for the perfect image to support my text :-p  Haha!  Side note – I got 2 compliments on Sunday at hockey 🙂  I was having a total “I just feel like a fatty and Whole30 is really not worth all the self-torture” day, to the point I nearly decided “screw this!  If I’m going to be unhappy with how I feel even when I eat super-squeaky-clean, then I’m going to be happy with eating chocolate and ice cream and maybe even that damn Oreo cookie I was craving a few days ago”.  When I got to hockey one of my team mates, Tink, introduced me to a friend she brought along.  Friend whispered something and Tink just laughed!  “She said you’re JACKED! And asked why I don’t look like that!”  Tink told me.  LOL!  I totally blushed.  That was exactly what I needed to hear that day.  The other compliment was from the time keeper who for some reason asked my age and was surprised by my answer.  “You don’t look 32 at all!!”  she said 🙂  I guess I should mention that I got myself into a conversation with the time keeper while sitting in the penalty box…  Shit happens :-p

Tues. May 5:

Teams of 2: 3
60- Chest to Bar Pull-Ups
60- Calorie Row
15- Synchronized Overhead Squats (135/95)  #70
10- Synchronized Overhead Squats (155/105)  #80
5- Synchronized Overhead Squats (185/135)   #85

Time – 16:35  (Moi, Tara, Julio)

Dave’s “treats” post-WOD

20x burpee box jumps

YEAH!!  I feel like I haven’t box jumped in forever.  This being said, my wrists were toast after the OH squats and I nearly did a face-plant with my first burpee…

Confirmed – my body is begging for a rest day.  I’m kind of ok with that 🙂  Means I’ve either been working hard, or sleeping crappy and not drinking enough water…  I’m hoping it’s option A, although it may be a combination.  I wouldn’t say I’ve been not sleeping well, but the last few days I almost launch out of bed earlier than needed.  Could just be the change in the weather (finally!)

————————————————————-

Thanks to the valiant efforts of a larger-than-normal Tim’s coffee, I’m finally feeling a little less like I was run over by a truck :-p  Two days in a row I’ve let myself fall into Coach Rachel’s trap and left the box in a mental fog haha!  It’s a good trap, but has its moments.  The new an “improved” schedule for May got rid of my usual Sunday morning WOD and replaced it with Open Gym.  Left to my own devices, not much is usually accomplished in Open Gym, but when Rach asked “heyyyy Kate!  Wanna join our partner WOD??”  I couldn’t say no.  Rachel’s programing sometimes can bring out the competitive side for me of “can I even do that??”

Mon. May 4:

Part 1. Squat Snatch: 3-3-3   #75 (x1, #65×3)
Increase load after each set <– not today!

Part 2. Front Squats: Work up to a HEAVY set of 3 reps   #135
Then drop the load 10-15% & REP OUT   #105 x18

Took Yuko and Syrup out to pee.  When I came back in Amanda asked “Do you want to work out??” with a big smile on her face.  Umm… didn’t we just… Ok!

For Time:
150 Double Unders   350 Singles
75 Push Press   #35

Time – 6:35

Then 100 walking lunges just cause.  My lower half had just recovered from the 200m walking lunges on Friday, so what the heck?  Why not!

Sun. May. 3:

In partners – Rest while partner works:
100m Row + 25 Burpees
200m Row + 20 Burpees
300m Row + 15 Burpees
400m Row + 10 Burpees
500m Row + 5 Burpees

Rest 5 minutes

1 Mile 800m run

Rest 5 minutes

OTM, 16 minutes:
ODD min – 3 Squat Snatch     #55
EVEN min – 3 Clean & Jerk (split)    #55

And an hour later, I grabbed a speed-shower and booked it to work.  15 burpees in I was dying LOL  Decided to cut the run in half considering I knew I had to run my tail off at hockey later.  I don’t regret the decision!  It took like half the day to recover from…  my cardio has gone out the window 😦

In other news—

While I wouldn’t necessarily consider it a milestone worthy of celebration, there’s definitely an opportunity to reflect…  March of 2015 was 10 years since I was diagnosed with MS.  It’s been an interesting ride, no question although I still consider myself incredibly lucky.  Since about a week after the shock and devastation of hearing those life altering words “You have MS.” I’ve made it a goal to manage the disease in a way that allowed me to continue being me.  For the most part, nutrition and exercise have helped me succeed with that.  Frame of mind has played a big part too!  I won’t say there haven’t been some bumps in the road, but I’ve made it this far 🙂

Another landmark – April 2015 marks 10 years working for Henry’s.  After 10 years, I’m still in a position where I can honestly say I’m proud to work for the company I do.  I’ve worked hard to climb the ranks and earned my stripes honestly.  I’m good at my job, but not cocky about my awesomeness :-p  Here’s where the 2 milestones tie into each other.  If you’ve followed along with my ramblings for some time, you should agree that I’m pretty open about the MS thing.  I share my experiences pretty openly, especially through my blog, but there are battles that I deal with regularly which I keep to myself.  Especially in a working environment.  I’m currently in the position where I need to hire 2 new sales associates.  Generally speaking, not much intimidates me at work.  I have no issue speaking up and voicing my view in a group of managers like at the meeting I was at this week.  I have no issues speaking to my staff in either a group or individual setting.  All of these people know me though.  When it comes to speaking to a new audience, such as performing an interview, I get nervous.  Sound dumb?  I have speech issues at times.  Could be an MS symptom, which is quite common, or also could be a result of the ridiculous number of concussions my poor head has experienced.  When sitting alone with a new person, it’s frustrating and a little embarrassing when I know exactly what I want to say, but somewhere between my mind and my mouth the message gets lost.  I’ve stared blankly.  I’ve spit out all the wrong words.  I’ve slurred, regrouped, restated, all while apologizing repeatedly.  It’s awkward and quickly beats down my confidence.  An interview should be easy and comfortable.  My intention is to get a feeling of how the applicant handles a new interaction and how easily they can carry on a conversation.  One of my applicants last week mentioned “sorry!  I’m a little nervous!”  The thought that crossed my mind – “You’re nervous?!  I’m just praying my brain cooperates and I don’t make myself look like an idiot!”

purely random

Wanna know why this didn’t get posted yesterday?  There I was, sitting on my mom’s front porch just typing away and waiting for the time when I had planned to head to the airport when my phone lit up.  “We just landed!” was the message staring back at me!  SHIT!  Half an hour early?!  When does that happen?  Stuffed my iPad in my bag and bolted to the good old YYZ (Pearson Airport).  By the time I got home last night it was after 10, way past my bedtime :p especially since I knew I would be hitting the 6am WOD today!  (of note – I drove pretty much the WHOLE way home thru a thunder-storm.  Wicked lightning, but further proof to my claim.  Keep reading, you’ll understand.)

All, good.  Just means I can share some additional randomness.  First of which comes in the form of a confession.  For a week or more there has been banter going around the box about starting another round of Whole30 on September 1st.  When the idea was first presented I agreed to participate, but as time marched forward I became less and less sold on the idea.  I’m not alone.  While some have signed up for the real deal, a bunch of us have made other goals and commitments.  The barriers I was facing in my own mind had to do with the facts that A: Whole30 really isn’t that much of a change from how I eat now & B: I don’t want to give up gum.  How dumb is that?!?!  SO my goal for September is to log my food everyday and cut back on the amount of nuts I eat.  I don’t even want to quantify this reality to MYSELF let alone my blogging world.  Let’s just say, I have a problem and September will be my month to work on it.  Starting September 2.  That’s today.  Yesterday my brain formed its own little rebellion against the whole idea of going through another Whole30.  It was bad, and there was chocolate involved.

It’s always darkest before the dawn.

More random – I’ve come to a conclusion through my years of working with a variety of different people that – ONLY women are capable of refilling a stapler or toilet paper roll.  I think this goes back to the “double X” thing again.  ARG!!

Back to business.  This morning’s WOD was another sweat-fest.  Thank GAWD I got there for 6am cause I would imagine it’s only going to get hotter!  Enjoyed a gorgeous sunrise during each run, was actually getting in some kipping pull-ups too until my hand ripped 😦  Bummer!  Finished the WOD with ring rows.

Tues. Sept. 2:

“Eva”
5 rounds:
800 Meter Run
30- Kettlebell Swings (70/53)   #35
30- Pullups   20 reps/round

Time – 36:47

———————————————————————————————————

Happy Labour Day 😀 I usually hate stat holidays, but today things were in line to be awesome.  Coach Dave posted last night – Open gym from 9-11!!!  I flew up from the couch I was so pumped 🙂  Then the plan for the afternoon was to spend a few hours “horsing around” before heading to Brampton to pick my mom up from the airport.

Got to the box about 9:45 with a game plan and ready to sweat.  Hot as he’ll again today and sooo humid I was sweating by the time I changed into shorts and tossed my hair in a pony tail type thing.  I don’t usually go to Open Gym. I like the structure of our scheduled WODs with pre-planned warm-up and succession of movements, but there was no chance I was staying home today. Previo

usly my plan had been to go recreate “Death Valley” (sans sandbag) from the Throwdown. But I wanted to LIFT!!!  So I did.

Wed. Sept. 1:

warm-up  500m row

Spend 10:00 working up to a heavy 1 rep – Hang Clean   #95

— REST 5 MIN —

5 Rounds, not for time:

Double Unders practice

5 Overhead Squats   #75

10 GHD Sit-ups

— REST 5 MIN —

3 x 30 seconds Handstand hold

PR BABY!!  Worked up to a 3 rep of #85.    Hit that 3 times, then to #95 and did THAT 3 times as well 🙂 Coach J came over and gave me a good piece of wisdom: “you’re catching the bar with your arms! And then getting under it.  If you can get comfortable getting your elbows up FAST and catching the bar with your BODY, you’ll be able to go much heavier!”  Ooooooo!!! Ok! Something to work on 🙂  Backed off to #75 pounds for my OH squats, and glad I did!  I bailed at the end of round 3, and again in round 4, but cleaned the bar back up and carried on. Biggest challenge I found – getting my body to “settle” enough after the double unders (whip lashings) to lock the bar out over my head and SQUAT!  I need to give myself a little more credit than that today actually. I got a whole bunch of double unders 😀  Left the box in the best mood ever (as always)

#apartofsomethinggreat

Post awesome morning at CFD, the wheels fell off my well planned day a bit. Despite a few text messages sent to inquire about the afternoon horsing plans we made all of 24 hours ago, I got no response and was totally stood up. Arg.  Sooo… I headed to Brampton early and my other ride, who strangely enough doesn’t have a name even after a year together (talking about my car now) got its annual hand washing. Yes, annual. That’s cause it’ll be a year before I forget how much I hate doing it!  It’s the one hour of my life that I hate myself for buying a white car too. I swear the thing gets DIRTIER as you start washing!  Or the dirt is just more noticeable. Whatever it is, he’s all gorgeous and pearly white again 🙂 note- it will rain tonight. That’s just how I roll, and I’ve learned to accept that. I wash my car, it rains.  I leave my sunroof open a crack while at work to avoid the near death from leaving my gym clothes in the car after a sweaty morning WOD, it rains.  I get gas, the price goes down drastically within hours.  I have pretty awful parking lot karma too. I must have been trouble in a past life or something. But things happen. I’m over it.

showdown action

Sometimes I really just don’t have anything to say.  This is NOT one of those sometimes.  I’ve had a TON of stuff going on this past week, but my blog abandonment has been mainly due to the fact that I’ve been a total train wreck when it comes to the mile a day challenge.  After my last rant about how destroyed I felt after Coach Will’s “Sparta” WOD, I not only fell off the wagon, I think it was more of a dive-head-first kind of thing.  Monday post-Sparta I WOD’ed.  Tuesday I had the WORST mile time possibly ever, making it in just under 10:00 minutes.  My legs felt unfamiliar and stiff and heavy as cement.  Wednesday I had every intention of getting out to try the crossfit place my sister goes to up in penetang, but my body was JUST starting to feel recovered from Sunday so I opted out of that. And my mile too!  😦  Thing is, my mind was already in preparation mode for Saturday!

Wednesday night I was nominated for the ALS ice bucket challenge.  Hopefully this makes up for my tues/wed slacking!

#ALSicebucketchallenge

Annnddd…. Anti-climactic. You’ll have to skip on over to Vimeo or wait forever until I’m down with coughing up $60US per year. Don’t think that’s in the cards at the moment. Sorry 😦 it was awesome! Coach Dave dumped a bucket (containing a WHOLE bag of ice. So much for the plan to only use half!!) over my head while I held an overhead squat. Quite possibly my prettiest hang snatch ever and I shared it with the world on Facebook.

By Thursday I was ready for action once again.  Got to the box for my regular 7:30.

Thurs. Aug. 21:

With a running clock, perform
0:00- 20:00mins: Power Clean + Push Press + Push Jerk + Split Jerk: Work up to a heavy set.  #95 #85
20:00mins-25:00mins: REST
25:00- 37:00: On the minute for 12 Minutes:
Odd Minutes: 7- Deadlifts – you choose the weight   #135
Even Minutes: 50- Double unders   OMG!!!  I got a few!!! 

Like, seriously.  Coach Dave rang the PR bell and everything. 😀

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Sat. Aug. 23:

Without a doubt, one of the best crossfit experiences to date.  #apartofsomethinggreat  I was lucky to find myself on an amazing team of super strength and incredible team spirit.  This being said, I can’t think of a team involved that didn’t have the same.  Two or three days before the event, I was stressing about WOD 2.  The hang clean is just not a movement I have devoted the attention it deserves.  My only real experience with it so far has been by default on the days where my power clean has sh*t the bed.  So… going into Saturday my goals were:

A: don’t ‘eff up the hang cleans.

B: don’t barf during WOD 3.

Success!  (thank god!)  Anyways, here’s the details.  With my random commentary thrown in where needed.

WOD#1 “Death Valley”

Pick up sandbag (weight X), run to top of mount Trashmore, drop sandbag and continue on 800m trail run loop (which included a nice little STEEP climb), reconvene with your beloved sandbag and run (more like careen with somewhat reckless abandon as you fight to keep the legs from giving up all together) back down the ‘mount T to tag your next teammate.  Honestly, the run back down the hill was thrilling (kinda scary!)  Wow, I’m getting old.  Haha!

The 1st athlete  (X= 20lbs)
The 2nd athlete  (X=40lbs)
The 3rd athlete  (X=60lbs)

WOD #2

3-Rep Max Hang Power Clean in 8 Minutes
The team with a single barbell has 8 minutes to have each individual establish a 3-rep max hang power clean. At the call of “3-2-1-Go”, the team can load the barbell and take as many attempts as they wish in the 8 minutes.
The barbell must be deadlifted first, establishing the “hang”, and the three hang cleans must be performed in succession (no dropping between reps).…

Score is based on heaviest successful weight lifted between all 3 Athletes combined together.  When I asked Hercules what our strategy should be for today, I was clearly thinking about this WOD.  “Just have fun!” was his response.  ❤ Awesome.  However I still had a plan in my mind.  Pick something respectable that I know I won’t fail.  Then leave plenty of time for our other 2 superstars to work their magic.  Tried #95 in the warm-up but couldn’t commit to it.  Stuck the #85 🙂  Nervous and shaky and I’m SURE not pretty, but thew counted.  That’s what mattered.                                            

Score – #85 (me) + #115 + #255 (Hercules) = #455 😀

WOD#3
3 Rounds for time:
Row 200m
Run “X” meters
With one athlete working at a time, with the team rotating through until each athlete has completed 3 rounds of a 200m Row followed by a Run (X).

The 1st athlete will Row 200m and Run (X= 200m)
The 2nd athlete will Row 200m and Run (X=300m)
The 3rd athlete will Row 200m and Run (X=400m)

At the call of “3-2-1-Go”, the first athlete starts rowing. As soon as they finish their row and start to head out the door for their run, Athlete 2 can begin the row, etc.
*You do not need to wait for the athlete to complete the run before starting.*
Time stops when the entire team has cycled through a total of 3 rounds, and all three athletes have a hand touching their rower.  I’m not sure I even want to talk about this WOD.  It sounds all nicey-nicey, but it was pretty brutal.  Name of the game – row HARD, then “recover” during the run.  I wasn’t as rowing efficient as I have been at other times, but I kept it under 2:00 split time.

WOD#4
“The 21-15-9″
Athletes will all complete a 20 minute AMRAP – 21-15-9 of: Pullups, Pushups, a Barbell lift, and a Box Jump (step ups allowed)

There are (3) variations of each movement, and teams decide which athlete completes which.
Athletes are staged by the windows in front of their lane.

At the call of “3-2-1-Go”, the first athlete can begins with 21 Jumping Pull-ups.
Upon completion, tags the next athlete, who completes 21 Chin over Pull-ups.
Upon completion, tags the next athlete, who completes 21 Chest-to-bar Pull-ups.

After each athlete has completed their set of 21 Pull-Ups, next is the Pushup Station.
1st Athlete – 21 Knee Pushups
2nd Athlete – 21 Pushups (toes)
3rd Athlete – 21 Burpees

Following the Pushup station is the Barbell station. Barbell will be loaded with 75#.
1st Athlete – 21 Deadlifts
2nd Athlete – 21 Power Cleans
3rd Athlete – 21 Power Snatches

Following the Barbell station is the Box Jump station.
1st Athlete – 21 Box Jumps (20”)
2nd Athlete – 21 Box Jumps (24”)
3rd Athlete – 21 Box Jumps (30”)

After the team has moved through the set of 21’s, they move back through the same order of movements for 15 reps each, and finally 9 reps each.
Result – 21’s DONE, 15’s DONE, 9 jumping pull-ups + 6 pull-ups

AMAZING day!!  Such a great group of people and an incredible opportunity to get a better idea of where my strengths and weaknesses are.  It was pretty clear that I need to work on my pull-ups.  Like, seriously.  My goal is to graduate above the “athlete 1” phase.  Also need to work on my hang cleans.  I was a bit disappointed in myself that I only managed #85, but after reviewing my log book I realized that was a 20lb PR.  #65 is the heaviest loading I’ve used previously for hang cleans 🙂  I’ll take it.

Bring on Siesta time

It might be the crappy October-style weather we seem to be facing today (seriously August?! 13 degrees?!), or my recent decision to completely cut starch & sugar from my diet (so sorry sweet potatoes!  It’s not you, it’s me!) but whatever it is, I’m tired today.  Like seriously considering a nap before heading to Chek kinda tired.  Maybe it’s the brain drain of juggling the 2 stores?  Anyways, I went into a store this morning and the sales guy made a comment that he liked my tattoo.  I stared at him blankly for a minute, then looked down at the wrong arm.  Really?  I said “thanks!” and laughed to myself.  Maybe it’s just my brain that’s tired.  Sitting at my make-shift “desk” while typing this post.  Here, let me paint this ridiculous picture for you.  Make-shift desk = iMac balanced on a shelf in my hall, keyboard perched on my lap, while I somewhat half-squat on a box that still hasn’t been un packed.  Half-squat cause every time I forget and put all of my weight on it I seem to sink a few inches lower…  Wow I veered away from where I was going with that.  The “ya know you’re tired when” part had to do with the fact that my mouse is currently in a left-handed placement while my phone sits to the right.  I keep grabbing my phone and wondering why my cursor won’t move…  I could just switch the two, but I keep expecting that next time I’ll just remember.  Brilliant.  (noooo)

Random rambling put you to sleep yet?  Ok, good.  So, although I have a little goal in the back of my mind to find a day where I get in my mile sub-8 minutes… today was not the day.  Some contributing factors – 1000m row pre-WOD, 4x400m run IN the WOD, 100km/hr winds heading up the hill from the box, AND I forgot my running shoes.  I’m just a big ‘ole bag of excuses today!  Do you crossfit in Nanos?  Do you LOVE them?  I do, except when I have to run in them.  I might as well plod along in my bedroom slippers.

August Challenge – The Daily Mile

As for today’s WOD, I liked it 🙂  I somewhat predicted that I just might when I heard Coach Sharon mutter something along the lines of “this is gonna suck”.  It’s when I hear her exclaim how awesome a WOD sounds that I know I should probably fear for my life a little.  My muscle up transitions are coming along nicely.  One day I want to actually grab the rings and at least see how far I am from a real muscle up… but one day when there aren’t a whole bunch of people around.  Like none would be perfect.  As for double unders, well… I just keep trying.  I know that trying the same methods over and over are not going to produce a different result, but I’m not sure what little piece I’m missing.  I come sooooo close sometimes!  To the point that I get double-under-ONE-foot!  Haha.  Anyways, details:

Thurs. Aug. 14:

warm-up

1000m row

20x pretty much every possible us of a band you can think of.

Pull-aparts, pass-throughs, shoulder press, push-ups, rainbow somethings, etc.  The “rainbows” sucked the most.

For time – 4 rounds of:
400m Run
4- Muscle Ups/2- 4- Rope Climbs
40- Double Unders

Time – 18:03

If you’re not a techie, that is all 🙂  Enjoy your Thursday!

Otherwise, please help me out:

^^^ see the formatting issues I’m dealing with?  If I copy and paste from the CF Division page (the “for time-” part), line spacing is peachy.  If I type away on my own, I get the fat nasty spacing like in the warm-up.  What up with that??

“Embrace the suck”

First note – My August Challenge now has it’s very own page 🙂  Easier (I think?) than a new post every day.  See:

August Challenge – The Daily Mile

Mon. Aug. 11:

Ok, “Embrace the SUCK”.  Could that be a slogan for crossfit?  Cause it totally fits a whole heck of a lot.  Today’s WOD for sure was about this.  And the warm-up too!  Then, I decided to get my 1 mile run in after and there was even more cause for embracement.  <-yup.  I’m making up words again.  After the warm-up, my BUTT was screaming bloody murder.  Then we spent 5 minutes hanging out in the bottom of a squat with a kettlebell.  Then it was hard to stand up.  Then 84 thrusters?  Good times!  Why am I kinda bitchy today?  Haha!  Weird :-p

warm-up: Death by Rowing

0:00-3:00 100m
3:00-6:00 200m
6:00-9:00 300m
9:00-12:00 400m
12:00-15:00 500m

6 rounds of:
13 -Thrusters #95/#65   #55
14- Pullups  green band, ring rows

Time – 16:03 (I think :s)

Sun. Aug. 10:

Got to the box early cause I needed to get out of my condo to stop myself from eating everything that wasn’t nailed down.  I hate those days.  Figured it was a perfect opportunity to toss my mile run in before the WOD and before it got too hot out anyway.  Then the warm-up was announced.  It started with a mile run.  Brilliant Kate :-p  but at least I have one less mile to make up for the month!

 Teams of 2 SMASH OUT:
A running 15-Minute Clock, Row 1000 Meters
In time remaining, AMRAP:
30- Wallballs #30/#20   #16
30- Burpees
Partners may partition the reps as needed

Result – 16:00, 4 rounds

Officially, we finished 3 full rounds + 30 wallballs + 17 burpees, but decided to finish our 4th round anyway 🙂  I had a great partner and had fun with this one.  Although the wallballs got heavy fairly fast.  Do you find pretty much every WOD has an “OH FAWWWWK!!!” moment?  I do.  Today I think it was more of a premonition though cause it hit me as I watched my partner FLY through the first 250m on the rower!!  Fast row = more time for wallballs/burpees!  OH FAWWWWK!!

I have a little side project which should be starting soon.  I have an opportunity to get back into the horse scene a little through a friend.  Her father owns a horse who has only ever been ridden western, but my friend desperately wants to jump.  Cue my project… teach Marley to jump.  🙂  Plans fell through to start the process today, so I got some food prep started for my week instead.  How’s a little chicken curry sound?  It certainly smells amazing…

  There should be a photo here.  I took one.  A good one.  Then realized that my Waterloo manager PC has decided “efff YOU man!”  So the photo will have to wait.  Use your imagination.  It’s beautiful.

no excuses

I’m slacking again.  I know, but I haven’t finished unpacking yet so I feel blog neglect is the least of my worries.  I need a vacation.  Managing 2 stores is more than I anticipated and the one thing I’m not willing to allow to feel deprived is crossfit.  Speaking of which, a quick follow-up from Thursday.  That spicy little WOD has been kicking my ass for the last 2 days now.  My quads feel like it was the first time I had ever set foot in a gym!  They were just air squats!!  😮

Fri. Aug. 8:

WOOT!!  Friday coffee WOD and Coach Sharon is back 🙂  Dave only tried to hijack once.  Mid-WOD!  I called him on it.  It’s my job.  Good times 😀  Today’s WOD was a fun one cause I finally feel there is progress being made.  Thank gawd.  Double unders are still the epitome of insanity for me, but my lifts are getting better.  And my back is too!  FINALLY!!  Could actually box jump today, up and down with very little discomfort.  Score.

Goat Day
On the minute for 20 minutes:
Odd mins: 8-12 reps: Box Jumps
Even mins: Goat 1  5 Power Snatch, 3-5 OH Squats

Thurs. Aug. 7:

Thursday is traditionally my “day off”.  Well, from Henry’s anyway.  I guess I’m far from traditional though so I shouldn’t be surprised that my “day off” was a shit storm.  Made it to my 7:30am WOD.  Ok, good start.  Then had to grab a product from Waterloo and play courier to deliver to Cambridge.  Then head back home for a quick chow sesh.  Then back to Waterloo for my box-monkey shift at Chek.  Then back to Henry’s Waterloo to close cause someone called in sick.  Sweet jeezuz.  I was exhausted by 8:30pm.  Anyways, things started great with a “spicy” little WOD.  Sounds simple enough, right??  Try it.  I dare you.

3 rounds of:
75- Double Unders
50- Air Squats
25- Calorie Row

OH!  Ya, no excuses, I know… but today was not a double unders practice day.  Little jumps for singles my back approved of.  Big jumps, it did not.  Also… Wednesday I went for a torture session with Zapps, the box vet, to try to sort out my back.  GOOD GOD!!  When he dug his elbow into my glutes I almost screamed.  Told him he was worse than wallballs.  That was taken as a compliment.  Then when he went to work on my shoulders and rotator cuffs I nearly died.  Woke up Thursday morning looking for the DONKEY that kicked me in the butt/hamstrings.  No donkey.  Zapps.

Tues. Aug. 5:

Yesterday was a holiday, and despite my efforts to arrange a little group gathering at the box even though it was closed, the day became a rest day.  Probably for the better cause my back was in protest of pretty much anything I did.  Including sleeping the night before.  Even resorted to taking something, which I avoid until I can’t stand it anymore.  It didn’t help.  Made me kinda dumb, but the back still hurt like hell.  This whole back thing is cramping my decision to join a fellow blogger’s quest to run a mile every day in August.  I used to consider myself a runner.  Used to head out a few times per week for a little 5-k just for kicks.  Now that I have the awesomeness of crossfit, running has become somewhat of a lost love.  Like, it’s just the piece of the WOD that’s listed between other movements I’d way rather do.  Sometimes it’s the “break” portion, sometimes it’s what makes the WOD hard as fawk (ex. Clovis.  Or anything Coach Will creates)  So…. {end rant} I jumped on the band wagon with the goal to run a mile every day for the month of August.  Yesterday was a FAIL.  Stupid back.  Hopefully today I can redeem myself, although there was a small jog portion in this morning’s WOD that my back protested.  Sigh.  I had such a GREAT week last week that I was excited to have Coach Dave return and continue the awesome.

Blah, blah, blah.  Down to business:

Buy in – 100m tire flip

40 calorie Row   20

40 box jump-overs   20 step-overs

40 toes to bar   20

40 hang cleans   30  #35

40 burpee bar-jump-over    20

Cash out – 100m tire flip