"Livin in the Moment" by Jason Mraz

No video for this song yet, but it doesn't really need one.  The message is so simple and poignant.  I would like to think that I do this fairly well, but as of late, I have been hung up on this and that.  I recently took (most of) a week from work, and it was great to sleep, spend time with family, and get a few things done that have been staring at me on my "to do" list for weeks.  My current living situation is that during the week I live with a married couple (met the wife in grad school) and their 6 year old daughter to be closer to work.  They are the ones who introduced me to Crossfit, and to Cornerstone.  So, when I go home to my condo (where my parents also live) on the weekends or when I take off from work, I don't generally go to my normal box (it's 45 minutes away vs 10 minutes).  Anyways, I attempted to complete some at home workouts, which include mostly cardio, as I do not have access to bars at my community gym.  At best, I have a 20 lb kettle bell, but it mostly consists of low maintenance movements (squats, burpees, sit ups, push ups, planks, arm bars/windmills, lunges, Russian twists, jump roping).  I did that only a couple of times, and I did attempt to do some pull ups and knees to chest on the local monkey bars, but it was just a tad low.  I enjoyed working out at home, but I really do thrive when others are around me, either suffering with me or inspiring me to do better.

I managed to make it to Crossfit last Thursday for the 1000am class, and it was taught by the head coach, Jen.  Consisted of:

For time--
1000m row
25 pistols (basically a one legged squat, and you have to do both sides to count as 1 rep)
15 hcpl (hang power cleans)

And then, back squats 3reps x 5 times every 3 minutes.  New 3 rep max.

My row time has improved immensely (500m in 1:41, vs 2:19 a couple months ago, and then 1000m in 4:37).  I like rowing, but it can be high intensity.  The pistols I had to scale by sitting on a bench, because I just go all the way down or not down far enough without it.  I am somewhere between needing the bench and not needing it.  Hopefully next time, I won't need it for the whole time.  The hcpl weren't bad.  I completed the whole thing in 12:10 and I cleaned 85lbs I believe.  I had to throw a couple of back squats, but nice guys helped me out.  It was a really successful class, and I like having all the time in the world to take.  That's what I would do if I were a housewife. :o)

And then the weekend came, and I visited a friend in Bowling Green, OH.  A typical college town with good eats, and way too much junk for Angie!  I was cranky from the massive amounts of cereal, naan, basmati rice, chips and queso, and pizza that I ate.  It was all wonderfully delicious, but I paid for it, literally--emotionally--physically.

But I came back to work this week, ready to Crossfit it everyday and get back in my game.  I took last night off to revel in one more evening of drinking tea and watching Netflix.  And I came back, today.  I made poor dietary choices again, as I had leftover steak for breakfast (which was not the problem), but it was the 3 mini Snickers bars and 2 Halloween cookies I had for the rest of the day (and nothing else).  ALL SUGAR.  I wasn't hungry for the rest of the day, but I think it lead to the results of tonight's workout.  Workout was:

400m run and 9-7-5 muscle ups/snatches (Scales: chest to bar x2 or pull ups x3 and lower weight for snatches).  Snatches are a hard movement for me, and I just recently mastered the power snatch (catching the bar in a partial squat).  The full snatch is catching the bar in a below parallel squat.  All in 15:00.  So, I was expected to do 27 pull ups/9 snatches/21 pull ups/7 snatches/15 pull ups/5 snatches.

Followed by Deadlifts 2 reps x 5 every 3 minutes at 90% max weight.

I only did 55 lbs, but I kept falling forward, or falling on my butt.  I managed to break it up into a power snatch and then basically overhead squat it.  Apparently, that is what a lot of people ended up doing.  And I can barely do banded pull ups; I'm still heavy, and I don't have the upper body strength to get my whole body up there.  I was really frustrated with myself and really annoyed.  I couldn't finish in the 15:00 cap, and I only got 49 reps.  My deadlifts were okay.  175 was the highest I went, so I need to establish a new 1 rep max at some point, since my last recorded was 165 and that was 4 months ago.

I kind of threw the bar during deadlifts, and Megan gave me some tips to improve my squat for snatches.  Squats are my thing, but I have been teetering lately, and I don't know why the hell that is.  It's frustrating.  My frustrations are really very mild, but for someone who takes almost everything in stride, it seems big.  I've never left that place feeling so annoyed and frustrated.  I didn't care for it.  I almost always leave that place feeling like I kicked ass, confident, smiley, and even if I didn't get something, like I was really close to being able to.  Not the case, this evening.  My hope is for a better tomorrow, with less sugar, more good foods, and better performance.

I had a good week off; actually had a job offer and received my full certification for my career.  Even though I grumble, I am happy about where I am, and there is always another chance to improve at Crossfit, right? 

"Hit Me With Your Best Shot" by Pat Benatar

Wish I had the music video for this song, but alas no.  It was like monster ballads 80s night at Skinnyfit the other night, and it totally worked!  Pat's video for "Love is a Battlefield" is the first music video I ever watched, and I have loved her (and developed my affinity for the decade in which I was born) ever since.  The other night, we did a series of AMRAPs for Skinnyfit.  I have been going directly from work lately, and barely making it on time.  And the nice thing about Skinnyfit is that it is always a surprise.  They technically try to post the WOD every morning, but sometimes they don't post it until midday or at all.  So, when I used to go at 7am, it was good, because I couldn't talk myself out of it.  That's how Skinnyfit has been.  It was a 5 min AMRAP of 20 DU or 50 singles/10 wall balls/5 toes to bar or knees to chest/1 wall walk.  Followed by a 2 min rest.  Then a 10 min AMRAP.  Followed by a 2 min rest (which turned into 3 min; we must have looked rough!), and then a 15 min AMRAP.  It was toooouuugh.  And it's only as tough as you push yourself.  I don't remember exactly how many rounds I got in, but it was a good one.  Again, Matt, the coach, is incredibly encouraging and helpful.  I didn't manage to do a full on wall walk at all, but I got closer, each time.  Wall balls are still hard for me with the 14 lb ball, but I think they're getting smoother.  Nobody likes wall balls.  They're just easier for some people than others.  My knees to chest felt a lot more precise and controlled this time, which was exciting.  Altogether, a good class.

Yesterday, my day couldn't have gone more smoothly.  I jam packed it with working in two buildings and then doing two workouts.  It started at 630am and went until 930pm, with times of rest in between, but still doing something.  Anyway, I rushed to the 530pm Crossfit class.  I'd never been on a Friday or at 530, and wasn't sure what to expect.  We did Deadlifts at 75% max 5x5 over 20:00.  Followed by AMRAP of holds for 15:00.  The holds were chin over bar (like in a pull up position) or scaled to ring rows (like gymnastic rings) to your chest (at an angle), followed by squat hold, and then a handstand or plank hold.  All for 30 sec each.  I scaled the chin to bar, as I can't even hold it for half a second.  And I scaled the hand stand hold to a head stand hold.  I attempted a hand stand (which I probably haven't done since 3rd or 4th grade), but I have a pretty solid head stand hold.  Was advised to push through my arms and not put all pressure on my neck.  OH, and I fell on my head when I tried the hand stand hold.  Haha.  Good class.  Low key, but good for a Friday.

I then went to a 2 hour Zumbathon in support of breast cancer research at a local high school.  A coworker invited me.  I used to love Zumba; it was my thing in college.  I am not coordinated, but it was fun.  I am not sure if it is because I was tired from Crossfit (unknowingly) or because it was Friday, but the first hour wasn't all that fun.  I wasn't being challenged and I was a little bored, to be honest.  The second hour was much better, and I had more fun trying to keep up with the movements.  Zumba always makes me laugh because I mess up, so often.  I noticed a distinct difference from when I did Zumba in college, though.  It's not that hard, now.  I wasn't breathing hard at all, and I had the strength to hold partial squats and arms at shoulder height for the duration of a song.  So neat to see and notice the difference.

As of yesterday, I think I am finally over the hump of gaining mm and am now losing weight, cause my scale number is consistently going down.  Maybe just a pound or so a week, but it doesn't go up, so to me that shows long-term weight loss.  Very exciting!  I had a Skyline burrito to celebrate.  Haha.

I did not go to Crossfit today, even though I worked in the time.  I started my vacation from work, early, instead.  But I might go try to work on that hand stand!

"Without Me" by Eminem

Yes, I love Em.  I pretended not to like him in middle school because I didn't want to be a "bad kid," and I denied loving him in high school because I wanted to have "expanded" music tastes, I lied about liking him in college because I didn't want to be a sellout.  Seeing as he had just become a "legitimate" artist around the time I was in college, with some actual vocal training it seems.  Anyways, all bets are off.  I'm 26.  I'm barely ashamed of anything.  I love Eminem.  Even though he can be a prick, he doesn't give a shit what you think and he's happy doing his thing, no matter how hurtful, unacceptable, or inappropriate.  I don't always love how bigoted he can be, but he sure can jam.  There has been a lot of Eminem playing this week at the box.  It's like a throw back to my youth (or youthier youth; I'm still young).  Half the songs I forgot I knew, and I almost feel as if I am redeeming my shy, underappreciated (by me) self from way back when.  I was okay then, but I'm cool, now.  I like listening to these songs as a "cool" person.  Cheese-tastic moment, over.

Since my last post, I've gone to Crossfit every day this week (3 days in a row, whoa).  One of the coaches that I like is on his honeymoon, and so I've had Megan and Matt all week, which is cool, because of course I like them, too.  On Monday, we did a really confusing workout, that included cleans, overhead squats, and over the bar burpees (where you jump over a barbell, laterally, between burpees, instead of extending up).  It was a partner workout, and I was paired with a girl named, Angela, who is similar to my ability, but stronger.  Because it was for time, we rushed through, and I have only ever done overhead squats about one time.  And Megan overestimated my strength a little with the cleans.  I cleaned 85lbs and squatted 65 lbs, which felt extremely heavy.  Seeing as I dropped it on my head (lightly) and it's a bit tender, now.  I also could barely go below parallel with the actual squat, which is weird for me, as I can squat much deeper than parallel, and that's the goal with all squats: consistency.  I tried the Rx weight for the cleans, which is 95 lbs for women, and after 1 rep, I got thrown backward, almost on my ass, but not quite.  Speed and coordination still aren't my forte!  We also worked on finding a new 1RM for push presses.  I got 100.  New PR.  I'm still a crossfit baby, so new PRs are coming fairly frequently for me.  But still, it's exciting.  Side note, burpees are a good punishment.  Crossfit Teens were having class at the same time, and the coach had said, "If you say 'shut up' to anyone, you have to do 5 burpees!"  And my friend, Elizabeth, who in retort to her husband's intentionally encouraging, but seemingly rude comment, said, "Shut up!" and was made to do the burpees.  So effective.  Haha.

Yesterday, we warmed up with a 400m run and 10 wall climbs.  I didn't do a single complete wall climb, but I'm getting more proficient with them.  My goal right now is to do at least 2 real ones everytime we have them in the workout.  We started with a 5min AMRAP.  With such a short amount of time, you are really encouraged to just give it your all and rest at the end.  It was 50 wall balls/15 toes to bar (or knees to chest, which is what I did), and your score was the total number of reps.  It was only the second time I had used the Rx wgt medicine ball for wall balls (14 lbs), as I usually wimp out and use 8 lbs.  My knees to chest looked a lot better, though, and they felt a lot better.  I stopped probably four times for a count of 5.  And I hit myself in the face with the medicine ball.  I also can't get it to the Rx height of 10 feet.  I get it barely 7 feet, sometimes.  But I'm gonna stick with the 14 lb ball and work on form and strength from here on out, not so much finishing.  Final score: 77 reps.  After that, we did not max out for back squats, but did 5 sets of 5 at 75%.  I did 85-95 lbs.  Those felt good; not hard, but okay.  My trap mm were killing today, but in a good, sore way.  Like, "Hey, I didn't know you were gonna use me for anything, ever!" said Angie's trap mm.  Megan also lead us through some hip mobility stretches with the large bands around the poles and stretching out the hard to stretch hip mm.  I liked them, but felt as if I was going to fling myself into the metal pole, which thankfully didn't happen.

Today, I went to the evening class and there were only 4 other people.  Which was great, because Matt, could really help us each with encouragement and technique.  We did 1 power snatch and 2 overhead squats every minute for 20 minutes.  I misread my notebook and thought I had only ever done snatches 1x, and that I only used the women's bar (35 lbs), so he suggested I start with the training bar (15 lbs) and build up with that.  So, I started with 35, and escalated to 70 by the 5 lbs over the 20 attempts.  However, I couldn't get 75 lbs.  What I actually snatched the last time, was 60 lbs, and I couldn't get 65 lbs, and that was 3 months ago.  So, the only difference, is that I may have started a little higher in the beginning, but since I couldn't get the 75 lbs, maybe 70 lbs really would have been my max, anyway.  It doesn't really matter, it was actually probably good for me to work on my form with the lower weights, seeing as snatches are really difficult for m.  I have a large chest, and the thrusting movement to get the bar above my head, just does not come naturally and my chest gets in the way (Side note: during my foundations classes, where I was first learning all the movements, I shared this sentiment with the head coach, Jen, and she had said she once had a client who had breast implants, and so in an effort to help her with her snatch technique, she googled, "big boob snatch," and DID NOT get what she was hoping to find!  Haha!), and I remember feeling insecure about my snatches, so you know what, I am glad I started low.  I felt really good about each attempt tonight, even if I did drop it a couple of times.  I was a little nervous about doing overhead squats, too, since I dropped it on my head the other night.  But Matt was able to watch me, and said it all looked great.  Yay!  After that, we did 100 pull aparts (imagine a large rubberband you hold out in front of you and then stretch apart) and 20 windmills/arm with a moderate weight kettle bell.  All good mobility stuff.

Having a good week.  I hope it continues.  I keep eating the Halloween candy that my manager has in the office.  Even with that, I am feeling good.  Angie <3 Crossfit.

"Middle of Nowhere" by Hot Hot Heat

Another song from my past.  Came out in 2005, which is when I graduated high school.  And it played tonight at Skinnyfit.  The musical tastes of one of the coaches is similar to me from 5-10 years ago, and I thoroughly enjoy it.  Tonight, we did a "Deck of Death" where each suit in a deck of cards represents a different movement, and the number indicates how many reps we have to do.  Sounds tough, right?  The thing is, it was a brand new deck, and not shuffled very well.  Also, it was originally presented with a 30:00 cap with a "then..." afterward, which turned out to be, THE REST OF THE DECK!  Movements as follows...

spades-squats
hearts-burpees
diamonds-push ups
clubs-sit ups
face cards =10
aces=400m run
jokers=200m farmer walks

Holy hell!  It was the longest almost 40:00 I've experienced in a while!  Doing the math, we did a total of (2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9+10+10+10+10) 84 of each movement x4 =334 total reps!  Yowza.  And because it wasn't shuffled well, we ran into this frequently, "2 push ups! 3 push ups! 4 push ups! 8 push ups!"  I generally one of the last three to finish most of the movements.  Thankfully, I catch up a little on squats, and I was given a scale of running 200m after the first one.  Which, I probably didn't need, but it was appreciated.  It was fun not to think though, and to have someone else be in charge.  I think Matt had a little too much fun with it, though.  He looked way too happy. :o)  Another day, another successful workout.  Getting closer to my goals, even though my scale stays about the same.  I still feel like I am making progress in gaining muscle, strength, agility, and endurance.  And I feel as if I am getting long-term results. 

My eating habits have continued to be good.  Gave the rest of my Halloween candy I got in Disney world to my friend's daughter.  Now I can't bring myself to take candy from a child.  I hope.  Literally, today, I had to verbally coach myself out loud to drive past the fast food restaurants when I was going between buildings for work.  I have only had one infraction on the fast food front in 3 weeks.  Which doesn't sound like a lot, but honestly, there were weeks I ate fast food 5x.  Completely in secret.  In my car.  Shamefully.  

Those days are over, but I won't forget them.  I also want to share this Buzzfeed list about fast food, because I have been torn about what kind of "diet" to follow, and I have determined that the first and most important thing to do is to eat as few processed foods as possible.  Paired with eating whole foods (a base of fruits, vegetables, lean meat), followed by only a little dairy, occasional whole grain, and rarely sugar.  Plus, I still find myself craving Wendy's for some reason.  Baby steps, right!?

I have found a good substitute for the crunchy and salty instead of potato chips, tortilla chips, and pretzels (plantain chips, terra or root vegetable chips, nut crackers), the crunchy in general [sidenote:if you know me personally, you would know that I LOVE crunchy foods] (raw almonds and cashews), pasta (I go without or use spaghetti squash or other vegetable pasta stand ins), ice cream (which I don't eat often anyway, but I have turned to buying Almond Dream dessert products; can be expensive, but yummo.  Also, if it's expensive, I will buy it less.  I don't want to buy crappy junk food.  I want the good stuff to splurge on), and I have pretty much eliminated dairy except for cheese, the occasional sour cream, and a McDonald's soft serve (which I already only eat a couple of times a year).  Eating less cereal has been hard to do, but I'm not looking to cut out all grains.  Just mostly.  My last major feat is finding a good bread, and I am eager to try this paleo bread.  I no longer get uncontrollable hunger pangs and binge eat on junk, and I really enjoy the clean feeling of the food I am eating.  Each day is a struggle, but it is getting easier and easier.

"She Hates Me" by Puddle of Mudd

Lately, I have been listening to things on my iPod from high school and college.  Feeling very youthful and spry.  This song was definitely played nearly every morning for half of my senior year in high school.  Such a classic badass song.  Can't wait for it to be played on an oldies station in the years to come. :o)

I spent five days in Orlando, FL visiting Walt Disney World.  Prior to that, I completed a Skinnyfit class last week that was a partner workout, but my partner had to leave right before it started, and so I did it by myself.  And in all honesty, I don't think I pushed myself as hard because there was no one waiting for me!  Here's the workout:

Partner 1: 400m with sandbag (20-30 lbs)
Partner 2: Run 100m/25 American KBS/Run 100m/25 sit ups

These are done simultaneously, but you must start at the same time.  So the fast ones get to break, more!  I completed almost 4 total rounds in 30 minutes.  The coach had created this workout at the last minute, and we kind of gave him grief about kicking our asses, but he said, and very profoundly, "I'm not kicking your guys' asses.  You get out of this what you put in."  Duh.  I have to remember that.  The coaches are around to push us and encourage us, but it's ultimately up to me to push myself past my limits and to where I never thought possible.

I tried my best (well, kinda) to do some homemade WODs while on vacation, and only managed to do it one time.  However, I am proud of myself of how well I resisted junk.  I allowed myself one treat a day and brought my own water bottle.  I filled up on fruit, eggs, and bacon for breakfast.  Brought almond crackers and raw cashews to munch on during the day, which my friend (who also struggles with weight and fitness) also ate some of!  At dinner, I avoided rolls and had only a few bites of dessert.

I came back and attended book club, which is hosted by one of the crossfit coaches.  It was lovely to be in the socializing aspect of this box.  I like having intelligent conversations and having a relationship beyond them seeing me look like hell, and me seeing them as a teacher.  We talked about the transformations some of the clients at Crossfit Cornerstone have undergone and how much their bodies and demeanors have changed for the better.  I was more than ready to get back to my box after vacation!  The people I vacationed with are sometimes negative, and you just don't get that at Crossfit! 

 

The first day I came back, the posted workout online must have been in error (or a blatant lie!) because I walked in and the people in the class before me looked like they were working way harder than I had prepared to.  Turned out to be establishing a new 1RM of split jerks within 20 attempts followed by "Fran" (21-15-9: thrusters, which are from a squat to overhead, and pull ups, or jumping pull ups) with a 10:00 cap.  Followed by shoulder mobility of 20 windmills with a moderate weight.
I hit a new PR (personal record) for split jerks, 115.  The last time we did split jerks, I couldn't get it past 105.  So, I was pretty excited about that!  Then we did "Fran," and I felt that, for sure!  It got to the point where I could only do 2 thrusters at a time and I had to keep cleaning the entire barbell from the ground.  The prescribed weight for this WOD is 95 for women/135 for men.  I did 75 lbs and finished at 8:48.  We all kinda felt like badasses.  Haha.  It was a hard one, but I liked it.

Today, we focused on back squats in a 5-3-1-1-1 at 75%-85%-95%-100%-100%+ weight.  I hadn't done a back squat for a PR since this past May, so I had a skewed sense of what I could do.  I just started with 75 lbs, and ended up finishing at 125 lbs.  And honestly, I could have gone more, but we didn't have time to max out.  Especially since all that was followed by "Grace" (30 clean and jerks).  Rx wgt 135/95.  I have done "Grace" before in May, and at that time I did 55 lbs and finished in 6:09.  Tonight, I did 65 lbs and finished in 5:42.  I was proud of myself for that!  I probably could have gone heavier, too, because I noticed that some others were breathing way harder than I was! A friend of mine, he did Rx weight and finished barely before the 10:00 cap.  Everyone struggles sometimes and everyone succeeds sometimes in Crossfit. The coach tonight, Brandon, admitted that he hated the cardio portion of Crossfit and was purely a strength trainer, which explains why he can snatch 300 lbs and does Olympic weight lifting.  But, again, it's nice to know these coaches outside of their "coach" personas.  So glad to be back in the game!

"Welcome to the Jungle" Guns n Roses

A true classic.  I also hail from Cincinnati, and it has something to do with the Bengals, eh?  But, I don't care about that.  This song blasted over the speakers last Saturday at the 2nd Voice of America (VOA) Crossfit games, sponsored by my current box, Crossfit Cornerstone.  And as I understand it, it was a huge success!  The day consisted of a Masters (above 40 division), an open (anyone), and the Firebreathers (elite), divided by men and women.  I won't go into detail about all of the events (running up a huge hill with a 50-70 lb sand bag, burpees/front squats, cleans, pull ups, push ups, double unders, snatches, sit ups), but there were 3 sections and each event lasted less than 15 min/piece.  It was a very intense, but drawn out day.  There were about 100 competitors, at all levels.  I saw a woman in her 50s, a boy in his teens, and plenty of people in between.  I came as a spectator and cheerleader.  It was immensely fun to cheer on fellow Cornerstone crossfitters and to see the expanded community of Crossfit participants.  The day was gorgeous, and it is really something to see a woman clean a new weight and do a happy dance in the middle of the competition.  I would say they all pushed themselves to the point of almost puking and new physical feats.  In the future, when I have children, I want them to not only participate in team sports (it's good to feel humiliated once in a while and learn about teamwork), but also individual sports.  It's how adults mostly compete in the real world, and it really builds a sense of confidence and comradery.  They also had a Passion 4 Paleo booth there selling delicious food, free massages, frozen yogurt, and a yoga booth.  I hope to go to this event (as both a spectator and competitor, one day) for many years to come. 

Today, I went to Crossfit and the WOD was similar to the first event from Saturday:

Warm up: 800m run/10 wall walks/15 strict pull ups/15 strict dips 15:00 cap
**I completed 5 REAL wall walks, and I felt so much stronger.  I am not as afraid of falling anymore, and I used to only be able to go up from the push up and just stay there for about a half a second.  I did "strict" dips with a band, but didn't go all the way up.  I require too many bands at this point.  Plus, it's hard to get into those things, alone!  Didn't get to the strict dips.

Then we did a 21-15-9 with a 10:00 cap: sandbag front squats/lateral burpees

Followed by a 10:00 squat hold.

It doesn't seem like a lot, but I didn't finish my last 4 burpees, and I barely laterally jumped.  I stepped over, a lot.  I Rxed with a 50 lb bag at first, but dropped to 40 lbs for the 2nd and 3rd sets.  I easily could have finished (in a class of 5 people, I was the only person not to), but it was freaking hard!  And I didn't do as well with my squat hold as I would have liked.  The loss of blood to my lower body really made my thighs and insteps scream with burning!  But I'm so glad to be into this.

I have really been challenging myself to eat well and not let hunger become a beast the past week or so, and I feel so good about it.  I was always that person who would say, I'll just eat half, and end up eating way more.  I am not the kind of person who is good at eating just one bite of a delicious dessert, but I can be.  I went to Chipotle tonight, and I ordered a bol with no rice.  And amazingly, I didn't miss it.  It was still delicious and filling.

I am headed to Disney World in a couple of days (eeks on eating healthy, right?), but I am going to be very conscious about "treating" myself seldom, and truly enjoying this treats.  I also planned WODs I can do out by the pool in the  mornings before we get going.  I'm very excited.  The vacation part is being away from work and being in Disney World.  It's also taking it a little easy on the Crossfit (after all, I won't have as much equipment to use) and splurging now and then.  But eating and lazing myself into complete misery will not allow me to enjoy my trip, anyway.  And junk food makes me cranky!

Things are definitely looking and staying up!