"Shape of my Heart"/"Tearin' up my Heart"

 

BSB (Brian's still the best)

 

 

NSYNC (JC 4eva)

 

 

Can it be true that Matt (a 21 year old boy, mind you) was blasting my favorite boy band songs as I traipsed into Cornerstone, this evening?  My absolute favorite BSB song, then followed by my 2nd favorite NSYNC song.  And yes, you can be a dual fan.  I always have been.  BSB has more staying power, but NSYNC freaking rocked the dance moves.  Alright, have I been talking about boy bands for too long?  Anyway, it was so much fun for me, and brought me right back to my 6th grade dances.  If they only knew that I still listen to all these songs, currently.  And hearing these songs on a stereo system, loudly and proudly, definitely amped me up for the workout.  I was determined to finish the WOD tonight, because I have recently been in a pinch where I keep almost finishing WODs, and it's super annoying.  The workout tonight was:

 

5x5 overhead squats (no one is "good" at these) followed by a 20:00 cap for 50 pullups/50 American KBS (35 lbs for women)/50 double unders (150 singles)/50 overhead squats (65lbs for women),  I do not have pull ups, so I use bands to help me, but still 50 is a lot.  I finished those quickly since I scaled them (and I was the only one to do so.  I miss my other class.  Haha.), and then the kettle bell swings weren't so bad to do 10 at a time.  But the singles took me a little bit longer.  It was the freaking overhead squats that I knew were going to give me trouble. To put it in a time frame, I was done with the first two movements in under 6 minutes.  And I was the slowest one.  Oh, and you couldn't break them up into 10s or anything, you had to finish one whole set of movements before going onto the next one.  I dropped the bar behind me and was doing them in sets of 4 some point in the middle of the overhead squats, but I finished in 18:38!  I was very happy with how I did, tonight.  I needed to bounce back from last night, I think, where I don't think I pushed myself as hard as I could have (workout was FSQ 5x5 and then Tabata (20sec on/10sec rest) of squats x8, then push ups x8, then butterfly situps x8.  As many as possible.  That was a real doozy. 

 

Aside from the love for boy bands coinciding with my love for Crossfit, there is another reason I love this place.  Last Saturday, two members (one is a coach, the other his wife) hosted a charity event to raise money for building a school/community center in Haiti.  The children they serve are currently being schooled in a tent and have minimal supplies.  So, they hosted an all day competition and the winners received a moderate amount on a giftcard and a hand drawn picture from a child at the school.  I did not compete or even attempt to (it was a month long event), but I did agree to volunteer, all day.  It was so nice to see my coaches and fellow members outside of the WOD realm.  One coach competed, and that was cool to see him, too.  Funnily enough, as coaches, I don't get to see them do a whole lot of working out during the week, so it's neat when I get to.  The day really showed me what a family Crossfit becomes.  There were shared laughs, adoration for the new dog, and plantain chips.  Plus, the whole premise of the day was to put yourself through something for the sheer profit of someone else who needs it more badly than you do.  And I miss that from my life.  I like to see that Crossfit can build bridges into parts of the real world.  Just solidifies my respect for the whole notion.

 

Continuing to be in love with this life...

"Demons" by Imagine Dragons

What can I say?  This song is beyond beautiful and poignant and freaking amazing.  Yes, Louis C.K,, I choose to use the word "amazing" for this song (reference here).  The lyrics are a little depressing, but what I get from this song, is strength in adversity, and the effort to be fearless despite what you are, whether that's "good" or "bad."  And for me, that alludes to the unhealthy habits I've had and the effects they have had on my body.  I'm not perfect, I cannot offer you or myself everything, but I have something to cherish and something to take care of.  My body and my self.  Cue the cheesy background music!  I think this song is about forgiving yourself for the faults and imperfections you may have committed or that you have. 

This song also speaks to me about my mom.  Who recently underwent kidney transplant surgery after being on a donor list for 8ish years (no one can really remember if it was 8 or 10).  She is a diabetic, she has some pulmonary hypertension, she has a little bit of congestive heart failure.  She wasn't the greatest at taking care of her body and was also handed a few cards that made it worse.  But, above all of that, she has a heart of gold.  She would never wish bad upon a person, and she wants only for good to be in the lives of her loved ones.  She isn't perfect, and she doesn't always say the most perfect things (especially to her most perfect daughter, me!), but she is truly an example of goodness.  But back to my point, even though she had put herself in the situation of having low functioning kidneys, she has received a truly miraculous gift.  A second chance.  The song doesn't say if you deserve saving or not, but that it's there.  And that it's okay to embrace all of who you are, good, bad, or otherwise.

So back to Crossfit.  I have been good about going, and really missed it when I couldn't go as often while Mom was in the hospital for surgery and whatnot.  But I went the night before Thanksgiving, and was the only person there!  It was a partner workout ("Jack" 20:00 AMRAP 10 push presses/10 kettle bell swings/10 box jumps).  I didn't go that fast, but I kept a good pace.  I was off my game, though.  As evidenced by the fact that I hit my chin with the bar, nearly dropped a 35 lb kettle bell behind my head, and nearly fell forward on a box jump.  I hadn't been eating that great because I was out of my routine, and while that is the weakest excuse, I used it to justify drinking diet soda and eating a pizza in a week, all by myself.  I also forgot my hair thing that night, and my hair (almost down to my butt), kept getting caught in my armpits. :)

And then, last night, I went back and we did "Cindy with a Jerk."  I laugh everytime I see that!  "Cindy" is a 20:00 AMRAP of 5 pull ups/10 push ups/15 squats, and they also added a clean and jerk.  I met my goal of number of rounds, and it felt great to be "back."  Oh, and we were supposed to end with a 2 mi cool down, and we typically run behind the shopping center where our box is.  It was dark, and it started to rain.  Brandon bestowed pity on us, and less than halfway through, he picked us up in his car.  :)  He also cleaned up all of our supplies.  What a guy.

Tonight, I went to Skinnyfit, and Matt blasted "Demons" about halfway through the workout, which was a real doozy! (400m run, "Karen"-150 wall balls, "Annie"-50/40/30/20/10 sit ups/double unders (or scaled double the amount of single jump ropes), 400m run).  And the song carried me through the first set of sit ups.  I was the last to finish with a 35:00 cap.  And Matt, being the supportive coach and generous person that he is, ran with me the last 400m.  You can't pay for quality coaching like that!  And not to mention, Matt had us play leap frog and do cartwheels in the warm up.  He is like a puppet master.  But in a nice, sadistic, way. :) 

That is two nights in a row, that people have been generous enough to clean up my things for me.  I feel as if I benefit so much from the people who go here and the coaches, that I feel compelled to put something back into this establishment.  That's what drives me to be a success story and to spread the support and encouragement to others who walk through our doors.  I can't say it enough.  Loving crossfit.  Loving myself.