It's Been A Long Time Coming!

Well my friends, I finally got to do a couple of Crossfit WODs. And let's just say.....I'm exhausted. Friday night, Phoenix had to work late. So I decided that I was not going to sit at home and wait for him. So I texted Mel, and decided to go for Friday's night class.

WOD:
3 rounds for time:
3 Power Cleans
3 Front Squats
3 Deadlifts
50 Double Unders

I knew going into this that it was not going to be the prettiest workout. Squats (especially Front squats) have been a weakness of mine. Power cleans and deadlifts I was not worried about. I ended up using 52# for the lifts. I know that I could have done more on the power cleans and deadlifts, but stupid front squats. I looked back, and 2 years ago I could do 100# on front squat, and now....half that. Kind of depressing. I had to substitute 2x for the double unders, but I finished in a decent time of 5:47. I didn't have to do any burpee penalties because I didn't let go of the bar. I was determined not to!

Saturday comes, and I am sore. It was a struggle to get out of bed. But I did. This workout was not fun. I did enjoy Friday's workout, but today. Ug. I really really did not like it at all. It wasn't that bad. I just came close to throwing up several times. And my legs were like jello.

WOD:
In 12 minutes with a partner (completing everything together with no separating out reps)
30 air squats
100m shuttle run
15 push ups
100m shuttle run

My partner and I were only able to complete 3 full sets.

Reading it, it isn't a difficult workout. I was having so many problems with the squats, and then combined with the extreme nausea....it just wasn't happening. :( I had to scale back the squats to 15 during my last set. I am sure that 98% of this was mental, but I just couldn't get it together.


After examining these past two workouts, I am left with conflicting emotions. I missed the training so much, but I feel like I am back at square one. True, I haven't been training in two years, but still is hard to see how much I have regressed. I hate feeling like the worst, and I am surrounded by all these women who are so much tinier than I am, and I feel like the fat kid back in elementary school. I have to keep reminding myself that I lost over 30 pounds over a year ago, and have kept every bit of that off. But I feel like I am at a crossroads. I want so much to come back, but I feel like I have no self confidence in myself. I truly hate not being good at something, and well....I am right back to where I started. And all my CF friends remember how good I used to be, and where I am now is no where near where I was back then. I feel that when I start coming back there will be added pressure on me to preform to where I was, not where I am now. I am just so conflicted. I want to go, but absolutely hate scaling back reps and weight because it makes me feel not good enough. Again, I know this is all mental, but it is hard to get through those emotions. And on top of everything else I have going on, it just seems like too much and I don't know what to do or where to go. :(

Put some Dead In That Lift!

WOD for 7-30-2009

Deadlift
5-5-5-5-5

So great to be back in the box! I missed it and the people there! And of course, I do love the deadlift! I decided to take it light since I haven't seriously deadlifted since May. I needed to get back into the swing of things.

Sets looked like:
123#-143#-143#-143#-163#

I felt really good at the 123#. So, I bumped up to 143#. Didn't really have trouble with the weight, but I really wanted to concentrate on good solid form. I wasn't looking to set any records by any means. On my last set, I jumped to 163#, which I was able to lift it easily off the ground, but on my last rep I rounded out my back. FTL. But I am glad that I did lighter weights for the WOD.

Other good news...I talked to Sam about my situation, and he is going to work something out with me so that I can continue to come to CFDC when my schedule allows! FTW! Sam is such a great coach and business man...it's so easy to see why CFDC has become such a great success! Thank you so much Sam! This place means the world to me, and I am so excited that I will be able to continue on while attending nursing school! I may only get to come once a week, but it's still something!

Diet for yesterday:
Breakfast: Egg white omelet with peppers and bacon, 9 walnuts, pineapple
Lunch: Pei Wei (cheat)
Dinner: Chicken from Central Market and Vegetable soup
Dessert: 4 strawberries, 2 pieces of pineapple

Day 2....

WOD for 7-21-2009

15-12-9-6-3
Deadlift
HSPU
Vertical Jump 1 ft above max reach

This is a great WOD. High intensity and works your entire body! For Deadlift, I used 95#. I still can't do HSPU, so I subbed 15# DB. This was done with my friend Kelsey. I asked her yesterday morning if she was sore, and she was like I feel it a little in my thighs, but not too bad....hehe...just wait until later.

Kelsey used the 45# bar and 10# DB. She finished in 6:01, and I finished in 6:11. technically, it should be a few seconds faster since I have to start and stop the time on my ipod. Oh well. Last time I did this workout, I used 65# on the deadlift and 15# DB. My time was just a little over 5 minutes. I didn't realize that the extra 30# would add a minute to my time. There is a lot of room for improvement with this WOD. We will probably revisit this next month.

Cooldown: I did 50 situps, time: 2:00, one second faster than yesterday! Kelsey did 100 crunches in 2:05

I actually had a day off yesterday! It was such an interesting concept. I am so used to working a ton, that when I have days off, I am not quite sure what to do. Caught up on my grocery shopping, tanning, and cleared off my TiVo. Very productive day!

Diet for yesterday:
Breakfast: 1/2 c granola with 1/2c 2% milk, 2 tbsp protein powder, 10 almonds, 3 strawberries, 2 slice of turkey bacon
Lunch: baked chicken breast, salad, 8 pecans
Dinner: California Club at Applebees, a few fries, small piece of banana split cake (Another dinner with my friends for a birthday. I took the cheese off, and didn't use the ranch dressing that was supposed to come on it. And the banana split cake was what she wanted for her birthday, if you haven't had my cake, you should seriously try it! It's amazing!)

After dinner, I had left over banana split cake. So, instead of taking it home where it would eventually go in my mouth and straight to my ass, I took it to work and made them eat it! Kelsey was at work, and I was asking her how she was feeling...she could barely move! LOL. The soreness finally sunk in from Monday's WOD. Will probably work on upper body today due to our soreness.

I Miss Crossfit!

WOD for 6-10-2009

Tabata Deadlift

Ok...so I missed Monday and Tuesday. Trying to get a routine developed for school. So far, school sucks. I go to class from 9-12ish, and then come home, break for lunch, and then study pretty much from 1-9. Thing is, I read the stuff, and I don't really know how much I am learning right now. Not to the cramming phase yet. Just the making notes stage. Would rather be running or doing burpees than sitting at my table writing and writing and writing. No clue how peole who work 9-5 jobs can do this all day! I get so bored sitting in one place! Ok..to the workout.

I used 125# for the workout. I really wanted to do 150#, but I was warming up and I felt something wrong in my back...so I went to 125#. Got 37 reps...should have been much much more since deadlift is one of my best lifts. Probably shouldn't have even done the WOD, but I wanted to. My back is oh so sore! Oh well...yeah for motrin! Well, sorry this isn't long guys, but I am late for hitting the books!

Diet for yesterday:
Breakfast: egg whites, turkey bacon, 3 strawberries, 6 almonds
Lunch: 4 turkey slices, almonds, 3 carrots
Dinner: none
Total Water Intake: a freaking lot!

Diet for today:
Breakfast: didn't eat, did 6AM WOD
Lunch: 3 slices of turkey, 4 almonds.
*not really hungry, so just not eating.

Late Night, Breaks Lock, Hear the Tires Squeal

WOD for 6-1-2009

Deadlift:
1-1-1-1-1-1-1

Deadlift! My Favorite lift! Of course seeing this on the blog made me pumped! I was looking forward to doing this lift. Last time I did this, I did really well. So...new PR was what I had been envisioning all day. I get to the workout, and was still thinking about my new PR that I was going to set.

Working set looked like:
150-160-180-190-200-215 (f)-215(f)---FTL! :(

Hmm...so....the new PR was not set today. In fact, I didn't even get my one rep max that I had gotten on 5/17 of 225#. Not sure what went wrong today. Pulling 215# off the ground was nothing, but couldn't rotate my shoulders back to finish the lift. When I was doing 200#, my back started rounding, and then it rounded again on the 215# attempts. When I failed at 215#, I think my mind started taking over, and maybe got down on myself. That's the only thing I can think of that might have affected my performance. No excuses for today. I got plenty of sleep, ate well. Just didn't perform like I wanted to. I guess everyone has those days. While I am not thrilled that I didn't get a new PR, I am still happy with my overall progress. I am pulling 200# consistently. I never thought that I would be able to pull 200#.

It's all about your attitude. I am going to try to have a better attitude on days that I don't do as well as I would like. No point in beating yourself up, this will just make you feel worse. Like Sandy says, some days, it's just about finishing. If you finish, you win. And Crossfit is all about winning and doing the best you can do. Some days you do better than others. I love this gym!

Diet for yesterday:
Breakfast: 1/2c oatmeal, 1 scoop scrambled eggs, 1/2c yogurt, 12 almonds
Lunch: Salad with mixed veggies, 2 hot wings (skin removed), 6 walnuts
Dinner: baked chicken breast, 6 almonds, 6 walnuts, cucumber slices
Total Water Intake: 2L

Currently Listening to: "The Artist in the Ambulance" by THRICE!

We Gon' Party Like it's Yo Birthday

WOD for 5-17-2009

CROSSFIT TOTAL:
Back Squat
1-1-1
Shoulder Press
1-1-1
Deadlift
1-1-1

So...24....not too much different than 23. I am loving where I am at in my life. I have been accepted into TWU nursing school, Class of 2011! (I should probably start studying....) I have amazing friends and a great family. I am truely blessed!!

I couldn't think of any better way to begin my new year than with doing the CrossFit Total. I remember the first time I did CrossFit Total. It was my 2nd ever CrossFit workout. I was so incredibly sore and in so much pain. I had done Angie on my first day..well, I take that back, I only did 1/2 Angie, but I was still sooo sore! Besides being sore, I was soo intimidated walking into that 6PM class. It was huge! And by huge, I think there were 15. I hadn't done lifting since high school, and I was going to be the weakest one these. I do remember getting to lift with Jamie and Lindsey and how they put me at ease. For most of this workout, Sam had me use the PVC pipe to work on form. (That got old real quick...I wanted to know my starting weights so I could improve!!) So, here were my numbers from that night:

11-4-2008
Back Squat: 55# (felt I could have done more, but didn't push it so I could get the form down)
Shoulder Press: 35#
Deadlift: 105#
CF Total: 195#

The next time that CrossFit total came up was about a month later, just before Christmas. Diet had improved and was attending CrossFit at least 3 times a week. Even after just a short time doing CrossFit, I knew I was getting stronger. So, I was very excited to see some results!

12-22-2008
Back Squat: 95#
Shoulder Press: 55#
Deadlift: 175#
CF Total: 325#

Such an improvement over the last one! This was very encouraging before going into the Christmas Holidays!

Over the next few months, there were new PR's set for all 3 of this lifts. Just never with the CrossFit Total. I set a 3 rep PR for back squat on 4-23-09 of 130#. Hadn't had a chance to do shoulder press since December, but did plenty of variations of the press. Deadlift...my favorite lift...probably my favorite since it is my strongest lift. Deadlift on 3-25-2009 was 205#. I jsut finished reading that blog, and I was looking at attitude for that day. I had hit a mental block. Started calculating the weight and doubting myself. I got the 205#, but it was such a struggle.

On to today's WOD. Dun dun dun....here we go.
Back Squat: Was pretty excited about this. I figured if I could do 130# three times, I could easily do 150# once right? So, that was my goal for the back squat.

Working set:
135#-155#-165# (PR by 35#!!!!)

Shoulder Press: Obviously one of my weaker lifts. It doesn't take much to tax out the shoulders. And to be honest, I was just hoping to get 65# on the shoulder press.

Working Set:
65#-75#(fail)-70#-75# (PR by 20#!)

Things to note with this lift. Not quite sure how I started off the working set with more than my one rep max. Probably had to do with the two guys I was working out with. Hit a mental block on the second attempt. So, I went down 5#, got that easily, and then attempted 75# again. Funny thing is, the second time I tried it, I got with no problem.

Deadlift: Was looking forward to this, yet dreading it at the same time. Flashbacks to 4-23 kept popping into my head. I so didn't want to fail, yet, I wanted to improve. First lift, rounded out my back. Grr...and it was fairly light, 175#. Next left, 185#. This should have been 200#, but I got scared. Third lift, I was victorious...a new PR! And funny thing, the weight wasn't that bad!

Working Set:
175#-185#-225# (Oh yeah...a brand spankin' new PR on deadlift. I had them put two 45# plates on each side, walked up to the bar, pulled the weight, and THEN calculated how much I lifted!)

CrossFit Total 5-17-2009=465#!!!

What a great birthday present to myself. Over these past few months, look how far I have come! By no means, is this as great of numbers like Mel, Dee, and Linda put up, but I'm working on it. I will get there. On another note, I had set a goal of 500# CrossFit total by the end of this year....looks like that goal will be met fairly soon!!

Diet for the weekend:
AMAZING!! Let see...there were fajitas, margaritas, red-headed sluts, rum and coke, sangria, Spanish Toast.....and even with eating horribly...I still managed to put up great numbers. But birthday is over. However, I couldn't have thought of a better way to end my birthday than with a great performance!

Currently Listening to: "In Da Club" by 50 Cent

Am I Sweating, Or Are These On My Face?

WOD for 4-9-2009

WOD #1 with Linda
600m run (warmup)
Tabata Pull ups, shuttle runs, and Glute Ham Sit Ups

WOD #2
21-15-9
Deadlift
Front squat
Burpees

The first workout was fun. I am really starting to like tabatas. I usually approach it with the attitude, "It's just 20 seconds!" But it never fails that around oh, the 3rd one, I am like 5 more? Seriously? The 20 seconds keep getting longer, and the 10 seconds rest keeps getting shorter. Oh well. Like I said, fun stuff! I didn't keep track of my numbers. I was just doing as many as I could. Glute Ham Sit Ups are getting easier. Major props to Linda for doing it in the weight vest. I will get there one day!

The second WOD...wow...this was a beating! When Sam was saying that the workout should take about 15 minutes and no longer than 20...I started getting worried. The deadlift was supposed to be bodyweight and the front squat was supposed to be 75% of bodyweight. I obviously scaled back. Deadlifts were done at 125# and front squat was done at 55#.

This was a tough, yet fun, workout. During the set of 21, I felt like I was going to throw up. And during the set of 15, it seemed like a really good idea! During the set of 9 front squats...man, I started to crack. I could feel the tears coming. Sam helped push me through the front squats, and Dee helped me with the burpees. When I finished...I just sat on the floor and cried. Dee came over and put her arms around me, and I just cried. That feeling is so hard to explain. I gave it everything that I had. This workout wore me out. It was one of the best beat downs I have had. Thanks Koy for the encouragement with the deadlifts. I wonder how my form is when I do many reps in a row, and with you telling me that it was looking good, it helped me get through them. And as many times as Koy and Sam tell me, I have problems with the high elbows on front squats....grr......Sam, I really did appreciate your help with that last set of 9. It was tough, but your coaching really helped me.

You guys are one of the reasons that I keep coming to CFDC day after day. There are still things that I struggle with, but with the excellent coaching and support that I get from my friends, I know that I can do this. And any WOD you put in front of me, I am going to complete to the best of my abilities.

Time for the WOD: 16:46

Diet for yesterday:
Breakfast: egg white omelet, bacon, 1/2 c pineapple
Lunch: Salad, with baked chicken & mandrin oranges
Dinner: 2.5 slices of turkey bacon and a handful of almonds (did not feel like cooking or eating after the WOD, but I ate something)
Snack: blackberries, strawberries, turkey bacon, almonds

Currently Listening to: "One Foot Wrong" by Pink

I Wish You Were Committed to Change

WOD for 3-24-2009

Deadlift
1-1-1-1-1-1

So, I have been looking forward to this workout since we did it last time. I was hoping to hit over 200 last night. Well, I did...I got 205#. And I should be excited, thrilled...but I am surprisingly not as happy as I should be. I think I have identified my problem with lifting the heavier weights. I calculate how much I am going to lift before I lift it. If I would just not think about it, and lift the stupid thing, I would do much better. I will put this into practice next time I lift.

On positive notes...I am working on the kip for the pull ups. I think it is getting better...but only time will tell. Mel and I have started running BEFORE the warm ups now...I know....me running?!?! What's up with that? I still hate running, but I need to do it, and the only way that I will get better is to do it. And it's great that she does it with me. I don't like doing it alone...

Over the past few months, people at work have questioned whether or not this program works. I want to think that I am proof that this program can work! I never thought I would be able to do band pull ups, and now I can. I never thought I could do a 200# deadlift, and I have! The thing with CrossFit, is that it is a LIFESTYLE change. You need to watch what you eat, and actually GO to CrossFit. Now, I realize that my diet is still not perfect, and it may never be. I admit it, I LOVE bread and other bad things like chocolate. But, I work bread into my schedule. If I eat bread, it is normally on the weekend when the cafeteria is not open at the hospitals. And even then, I will get a grilled chicken sandwhich. I know that I should be better and only eat half the bread, but baby steps right? And as for the chocolate...well, one chocolate coverd almond won't hurt me that much every now and then....But I am committed to make the change, and just you wait and watch for the results!!

Also, Dee totally rocked it out last night! She got a 300# deadlift! Holy cow...it was great! I think that will be another goal to add to my list for 2009.

Goals for end of 2009 so far:
500# CrossFit Total
300# Deadlift
1 dead hang pull up

Diet for yesterday:
Breakfast: egg white omelet with tomatoes and bacon
Lunch: Salad with baked Chicken breast
Dinner: Grilled Chicken Strips, zucchini, 5 almonds
Snack: Turkey bacon, blackberries, kiwi
Total water intake: 1.5L

Currently Listening to: "The Game" by SouthFM

I've Got This Energy Beneath My Feet

WOD for 2-9-2009

With a partner (Meredith), complete:
5 Rounds, for time of:
Deadlift, 5 reps
7 Box Jumps
40m Sprint

**Each partner rests while the other completes a full round, until both partners complete a full 5 rounds**

TIME: 7:38

This was a fun workout! I had so much fun with this one. We used 115# for the deadlift. This was one of the heavier weights that I have used in a workout like this. I think next time, we can bump it up, as long as the reps are low. Box jumps, well, need a lot of work. I started out doing 3 box jumps each round, and then finished it out doing box steps. Still not confident doing these, because I have problems getting my knees up to where I don't feel like I am going to trip or fall or some unrealistic fear. The sprints weren't bad. I am fine on the short sprints, but longer runs is where I get in trouble.

Worked at the college yesterday. Nice for a change of pace from the hospital. Got to go home and see the parents last night, and played the Wii....always fun!

I even got a double work out yesterday! My mom attends this Zumba dance class. Which is just an hour of constant moving and "dancing". I can't dance to save my life, but it's still fun to try to do the latin dances.

Diet for yesterday:
Breakfast: didn't eat, was too tired from the workout...I know, not good
Lunch: 3 slices of turkey, handful of almonds, and blackberries
Dinner: Chicken stir fry that stepdad made, with carrots and broccoli
After dinner snack: 1 scoop vanilla ice cream with pecans (it's a mom and me thing, only do it when I go home to see my mom)
Total Water Intake: 1.5L (Need to increase this back to at least 2L)

Currently Listening to: "Sam's Town" by The Killers.