Rest Day, Unplanned Version

On Wednesday afternoon I started feeling a bit run down but managed to make it through 90 minutes of karate that night and wake up early on Thursday morning for an hour walk. Thursday morning around eight o’clock it hit me that I was not feeling well. I spent most of the day in bed, except to teach my two karate classes and attend Back to School Night at my son’s middle school. (Side note: I have now reached embarrassing mom status, as my son will no longer allow me to volunteer in his classroom. Apparently, I am too smiley when I see him in class. Oh, the horror of it all!) I took some cold medicine upon returning home from school, and crashed around 9 p.m. I woke up at my normal time feeling a bit hung-over from the cold med and not able to breathe. I very much wanted to attend CF but my body told me to stay in bed and my mind told me it was irresponsible to pass on my germs. I missed my workout AND my friends. Tomorrow is FGB so today I am resting and optimistic that tomorrow, I will have good energy and clear sinuses!

Good Morning Squats

21-15-9
Front Squats - 55#
Good Mornings -10#

21-15-9
OHS - 25# first set, 35# next 2 sets
Pull-ups – jumping. Trying to get less jump, and more pull.

Wore a new pair of tall socks today – they were a rockin’ polka dot pattern with some stripe accents. I love them – a gift from JFlood. I think they seriously helped me with my OHS. (Okay and the fact that Mike coached me to stick my butt out more on my way down.) I was able to be in a group with Maggie and Shawn this morning. Man, their arms and shoulders are poppin’. I know CF is more than just about appearances, but they looked hot! They made it through the Front Squats with more ease than I did, but I was glad not to have to kick off a plate when it came to my set.

Walk and Talk

Activities for 09/21/09

60 min. walk at 5:30 a.m.
45 min. walk at 9:15
Taught PeeWee Karate

I didn’t originally plan to walk so much yesterday but a friend that I haven’t talked to in some time wanted to go walking after the kids were off to school. How could I refuse? If I can combine exercising with my social life, then my world is good. I had already walked with Maggie and Shawn earlier that morning. We figure we’re already up; we might as well be doing something. The little fact that CF isn’t open on a Tuesday does not deter us. I love CrossFit for the challenging workouts and for the wonderful people I’ve met there.

Tabata Monster

8 Rounds

SDHP – 45#
Wall Balls – 11#
Push Press – 45#
Kettlebell -26#
Push-ups

Air Squats

This kicked my butt. My upper back was already fatigued from focusing on keeping my shoulders back during form practice yesterday. I am wiped out from this workout.

Today I shadowed Shelly during her 9 a.m. boot camp class. They also did a Tabata workout but with some different exercises. It was good to hear cues from another source. The more fitness pros I am around, the more I am going to learn before Level I Cert. I wish I wasn’t such a slow learner!

Stopped by the rec center to make sure my classes were in order for tomorrow. I’ve been away all summer so it was good to get back, see some kind faces, and get excited to teach my first classes of the fall term. I’m thinking the kids in my Pee Wee Karate classes might need to be introduced to the burpee. Yes, that is a good plan, but maybe one that can wait until later in the term.

Form Work

Today was a scheduled rest day but I went to 24 Hour Fitness and worked on my cleans and DLs for 45 minutes. I didn’t care about pulling any PRs today. I wanted to work on form. I think I am improving. When I was cleaning the 45# bar, there were times when it was very smooth and almost effortless. Other times, not so much. Nevertheless, it is getting better. I have a lot of trouble with keeping my shoulders back on my lifts. It’s not that I’m not trying; it’s that my shoulders round forward A LOT. I have some exercises to help with this, but have slacked off on working them in the past few weeks. I need to put it on my schedule of things to do. I’ve been getting a lot of hang time on my new pull-up bar. Now if I could just pull myself up!

39 Burpee Salute

It’s Saturday so that means it is met-con day at CFH. We did “Daniel” for time. I will have to see if my time is still on the board on Monday because I can’t remember it. Must be getting old... Did jumping pull-ups and 45# bar for thrusters. There was a lot of running. Have I mentioned that I’m not much of a runner? Definitely one of my goats. When all was pulled, thrusted, and ran, I talked some of my friends into doing burpees with me to celebrate my 39th birthday. 39 years meant 39 burpees. By the time I reached the twelfth burpee, I so yearned to be younger. I think Coach Mike was the only one to carry out the burpees with me in their entirety though I know some of my friends were supporting me in spirit. Can’t wait to see what I’m doing at CF on my 40th. I have big plans that include not only pull-ups, but also a muscle-up or three.

Sock it to Me!

A slew of us at CFH have been reading Byers’ blog. We use her terms “carbapalooza”, “pony for Christmas happy”, etc. We even started joking about getting tall socks so we could be like our CF hero. Well the joke became reality when a tall sock-shopping day produced knee-highs for Shawn, Maggie, JFlood, Shelly, Mike, and me. I won’t lie – when we first started talking socks, I was skeptical about sporting a pair up to my knees. I’m short, with most of my height from my torso, and I carry ALL of my weight in my lower half (see pear-shaped). But I LOVED the socks my peeps picked out for me! They are black with three white stripes. Super cool – even on me.

We are in our strength phase for two more weeks. I’ve been eating my 14 blocks of food and very clean. I’m feeling a bit soft right now though. Looking forward to leaning out again. I originally stated that one of my plans was to weigh myself everyday. I reevaluated and decided that during this phase of training I will lift, eat right, eat more than usual, and rest. A friend took me out for lunch for my b-day yesterday and I’m sure I’ll indulge a bit today as I celebrate with my family. I’m not stressed out about the food because I know that I eat well MOST of the time, so on my birthday it is okay to celebrate a little. I don’t have a desire for junk food though. I don’t want cake or ice cream. Maybe just some apple with my body weight in almond butter again.

Worked on finding our 5RM DL and Bench Press yesterday over the course of 5 rounds.

DL 5RM – 155#
Bench Press – 50#

My DL form needs more work. Hubby is looking at getting me an oly bar so I can practice at home.

F-Bombs on the Lunch Menu

Chuck and Shelly, owners of CF Hillsboro, are helping me prep for my CF Level I Certification and CPT cert by allowing me to shadow them during some of their classes. Wednesday at noon was my first class as an observer. I watched the women dead lift, push press, and press. Chuck let me know what to look for in form and where form may not be 100% due to injury. It was definitely worth my time to go, not only for the educational aspects, but to witness f-bomb mania. One woman swore at the bar, swore at herself, and swore at Chuck. This was done 10x for 3 rounds. Chuck had a great sense of humor about it. I guess if you are a trainer, you’re use to getting cussed out. Anyway, I’ll be back next Wednesday at noon for more observing, lifting, and f-bombing. What more could a gal ask for during her noon hour?

Went to karate last night and had decent energy once I got there.

This morning I walked with my CF Peeps. I like our walks because we are able to chat. For some reason, we never seem to have time to talk during CF class. Or is it that we can’t breathe, let alone talk? Whatever.

I’ve been eating a lot during this strength training phase. My appetite is huge but I know we only have two weeks left until we change back to our met-cons and I’ll likely decrease my food intake then so I am going to try not to worry about it. I know that I'm supposed to eat more during strength training, but it is difficult to wrap my mind around that since all of my life I have been trying to eat less.

FGBish

I bagged sparring on Monday night. My shoulders and left wrist were spent and I didn't think it was wise to spar in addition to doing a lot of bag work. Probably a wise decision, but I feel guilty about missing.

Yesterday was a rest day.

Today's WOD was done in a FGB fashion, but we didn't count our reps.

As many reps as possible during one-minute rounds, repeat 3x. No rest between sets, one-minute rest between rounds.

Wall Balls 12#, 11#, 12#
Bench Dips
Lunge with Plate Overhead – 15#, 15#, 25#
One Arm Row, both sides, followed by push-up -15#

Had great difficulty during the push-up portion today. My shoulders were already spent by the time I got to that station and they still weren't fully recovered from Monday's workout.

Followed by 2 rounds of:

21 SDHP -45#
15 Cleans -45#
9 Push Press – 45#

I may have been the last one to finish today, but I finished! My left wrist continues to poop out before the rest of my body.

JFlood was sporting her new tall socks and looking very cute!

Today I get to shadow Chuck during the noon class. I have the Level 1 CrossFit Cert in December and much to learn. In addition, I want to get my personal training cert from NSCA so this will help me prep for that. I hope people don’t find it weird that I am there. I feel a little self-conscious about going, but I think it will be great experience for me. Chuck says the NSCA CPT test is brutal… Makes me wonder why I picked the toughest cert to get…

Tonight is karate and I must go. If I don't get my karate fix enough then I start getting antsy. Not sure which addiction is greater - karate or CrossFit. I must have both!

Got Grip Strength? Then Give Me Some!

6 Rounds/10 Reps

Push Press – 45# (last 7 reps of last set at 50#)
Lunges – 40# total
Pull-Ups – Lowered self as slowly as possible


My grip strength was a limiting factor in today’s workout. My left wrist hurt quite a bit.

We finished up with some core work. I am actually experiencing some fatigue when we do core work now. Don’t know what is going on because I usually feel great when we work the core.

Sparring is on my schedule for tonight but wondering if it is smart to go since my body is so tired. Maybe I should wrap my wrist if I attend. I would not mind the conditioning work. If I can make a fist or raise my leg to kick later in the day remains to be seen.

Because I was crazy busy this week, I'm putting a few of my WO on the same post.

09/12/09 WO
Run 400m
25 Burpees
Run 400m
25 Burpees
Run 400m
25 Kettlebell Swings (American Beeyatch!) 25# (I think!)
Run 400 m
25 Kettlebell Swings
Run 400 m.
25 Box Jumps (20 in.)
Run 400 m.
25 Box Jumps

For time, but I don’t remember what mine was.

Followed up with some core work on the BOSU. Man, my abs hurt today. Usually I can get through ab work w/o much trouble, but today they were screaming at me. Don't know if it was fatigue or just not use to the BOSU work.

I did better in class this morning than I thought I would. My butt was draggin’ from three hours in the hot dojo last night. First class, taught. Second class, assisted. Third class, student.

09/11/09 WO
Deadlift 6RM – 150#
Clean and Jerk 6RM– 45# - but form not so great
3 sets/6 rounds pull-up (assisted)


09/10/09 WO

55 min. walk with my CF BFFs. It was our active rest day.
30 min. karate lesson with Mr. Douglas



09/09/09 WO

Back Squats – 45#
75#
85#
95#
95#*
95#*
DB Bulgarians – 40# 10/side
30#
30#
Walking Lunges –30#, 10/side
30# 10/side
30# 10/side

Box Jumps – 2 sets/10 reps 20 in. box


Worked in a group with Janal, Maggie, and Shawn. They are all strong women and I aspire to be like them! Strength is definitely my weakness…. That sounds funny! But it’s true!

I am having a hard time going totally Paleo right now. Talked to Mike about eating the almond cheese again. It is non-dairy, non-soy, made from an almonds with few ingredients. It will give me a quick protein source. I wish I liked meat.

Morning Run with My Peeps

I met up with a couple of my CF friends for a morning run. It was 2.8 miles, which is a lot to run for someone who generally doesn't run. The only running I do is when it is part of a CF workout. Even then, it is usually just 400m at a time. I have exercised consistently over the past decade, but have never enjoyed running. When I joined CF in mid-June, there was no way that I could have run 2.8 miles even though I had been participating in karate, lifting weights, and walking on the treadmill for years. Yea, CrossFit!

I am doing well with the Zone/Paleo plan though I've been reading I should have more of my carbs from veggies rather than fruits. Yesterday 8 of my carb blocks were from fruit and 6 were from veggies. This is actually an improvement because when I first started the Zone, I only had about 2 to 4 blocks from veggies. The goal for the end of September is to have my veggie and fruit intake to be equal.

We Don't Need No Stinkin' Holiday!

I was soooo happy when I checked my FB account on Sunday night and found out that the 5:30 a.m. CF class was still on for Labor Day! Woo-hoo! Hubby and I had already been contemplating what our WOD would be at 24 Hour Fitness since CF Hillsboro was to be closed for the holiday. We didn’t need to worry our little heads about it since Mike agreed to come in and train us CF Junkies!

Cleans - 4x10 65#*
Lunges – 4x10 BW
Bench Press - 4x10 65#**
(w/o bench!)
Run -4x400m

*First set was actually 55# since I was mental and didn’t think I could clean 65#. Still need to work on my form. I can’t get my body to shrug and bring the bar as high as it can go BEFORE I try to get underneath it. Practice, practice, practice.

**Had to have partner spot/assist me after the first two sets.

We also worked on handstands today. Fun! I had to balance against the wall, but could hold it for a decent amount of time.

Overall, I didn’t feel great about my WO today. I think being out of my routine hindered my performance a bit. Now that I am home, I need to make sure I rest and eat on a regular schedule.

It is now a little less than 3 months from Level I Certification. I am hoping to make many gains in the next three months. I don’t want to be the weakest person there.

House of Carbs

Over the weekend, the family and I went to the coast with some friends for an end of summer vacation. The day that we left, I stated to my trainer Mike that I needed help with my nutrition. I wanted to do a Zone/Paleo diet and wanted him to help me with this. I had been missing the accountability that I had when my fellow CF pals and I had when we were on our six-week Zone challenge. I also knew that by talking to Mike about this before I went on my trip, it would guarantee that I would make better food choices during our vacation. I was glad that I did! I was surrounded by donuts, pasta, sugar cereal, popcorn, and hot chocolate. Resisting the carb fest was not difficult for me since I have been eating clean for a couple of months and no longer craving that kind of food. What was difficult, was finding quick sources of protein to eat on the go. Dairy use to be my quick “go to” protein source. Not any longer. Dairy and grains are in my past as I am adopting a Paleo diet. I had some egg white/whey protein powder, eggs, and grilled chicken breast with me, but eating the same three things proved boring and not always convenient. I branched out and tried steak one night for dinner. I wish I liked meat better. I definitely don’t eat meat and chicken because I love the taste, I am eating them for the complete protein that they provide. Maybe in time I will like meat again, but right now, the texture is odd and the taste bland. I guess that is why it was so easy to be a vegetarian – I never was a huge fan of meat in the first place. Anyway, I was a successful cavewoman over the weekend, but did not always stay in the Zone due to being away from home and off a normal eating schedule.

09/04/09

I am extremely late posting this WO as we went out of town for vacation Friday afternoon.

Strength training phase continues at CF Hillsboro.

Overhead Squats - 5x10 25#
Dead Hang Cleans - 5x10 45#
Push Press - 5x10 45#

It took me awhile to get comfortable with the OHS. Cleans still need work, but got some coaching from Mike and Chuck and form was getting better.

I am trying not to get down on myself because of my lack of strength. Hopefully I will be able to look back at this blog in a few months and see significant improvement.

108 lbs. of Almond Butter

Today my training consisted of eating my weight in almond butter and reading Byers’ blog. Reading her blog only reinforced my almond butter gluttony as she recommends eating a lot during strength training. However, she is a tall thin woman so I think my short pear-shaped body might not be as successful with this approach. I’m all over being Paleo today, but need to get back to Zone blocks tomorrow.

I did squeeze in some low-key karate time. Mr. Douglas at NW Kenpo Karate is an excellent instructor and helping me work on my current belt requirements. If anyone is every interested in karate for themselves or kids, Mr. Douglas’ dojo is the place to go.

Wednesday Morning

Mike took some music requests and had a good mix for us to workout to this morning. I think the group consensus was the angrier the music, the better.

Row 1000m

Deadlifts 65# – 7
Cleans – 5
Push Press – 3
Continue w/weights while teammates take turn on rower. I’m not sure what weight I was doing Cleans and PP as I couldn’t clean the 65#. Will remember to check next time.

Ended with some lateral BW movements.

I need to work on my cleans by keeping the bar closer to my body when I shrug and almost jumping during the shrug. My air clean is spectacular, but add some weight and my brain stops working. (Okay, maybe “spectacular” is a bit grandiose, but it is better nonetheless.) I also need to improve my rowing technique.

13 Zone Blocks yesterday. Weight has stayed the same our challenge ended a week ago.

Finally, a Starbucks Workout!

We started a strength program at CrossFit yesterday that left me feeling...well... not very crossfittish. Because I didn't feel like I got my butt totally kicked, I recruited my fellow Kool-Aid drinkers Maggie and Shawn to meet me for a run this morning. We met at our usual 5:30 starting time at our usual place - CrossFit Hillsboro. Shawn led us on a 2.8-mile run where we had to dodge the elements - sprinkler systems and low hanging branches. Once we even crossed the street without having the "walk" sign. We are so badass. We finished our workout at Starbucks and walked back to CF. Chantal was there and let us come in and play around for a minute. Maggie decided she would try the rope and climbed all the way to the top! It was awesome! Maggie couldn't even do a push-up when she joined CF in February, and now she can climb the rope like she's Tarzan just by doing CF.

For my diet accountability for the day, I have to admit that I ate 14 blocks yesterday. I was only supposed to have 12. I was hungry so it wasn't mindless eating, but not very disciplined.

CrossFit Journey

I've been doing this CrossFit thing since mid-June and am hooked. Thanks to a recent 6 week Zone challenge, I'm eating better than I have in my entire life. I am no longer afraid of fats (though I am consuming the healthy kinds) and even started eating meat (chicken) again after 20 years as a vegetarian. That was a huge change.

Anyhoo.... I wanted a place to log my goals, workouts, and diet... Though this blog won't have the entertainment factor that Byers' site does, it will help me stay honest with my CrossFit journey.

I stole this from CrossFit message board:

Priorities List for CrossFitters:

1. Diet
2. Intensity
3. Consistency
4. Rest/Recovery
5. Documentation

My plan for meeting above Priorities:

1. Paleo Diet w/Zone Blocks. Goal =12 blocks per day.
2. Give 100% at every workout.
3. WOD - 3-4x per week, karate 3x per week
4. 1-2 rest days per week. Allow rest days during vacations.
5. Weigh-in each day, log food each day, take measurements 1x per month. Keep record of times/weights for WODs.