Blond Moment! Yes, I am blond.

This will be a short blog because I am absolutely exhausted.
Today I did 105 58lb snatches. Here is why.
Today's WOD was "Randy" which is a hero WOD. I wrote it up on the board and got ready for my class. I knew it shouldn't take me long, so about 30 minutes before class, I glanced at the board, got my bar ready and set the clock. 3,2,1...go!
Man I was smoking! I looked up at the clock and couldn't believe I was almost done. 1:53!! DONE! I was laid out on the floor trying to get my breath back, when it occurred to me, this can't be right! "Randy" is a hero WOD. A hero WOD shouldn't be sub 2 minutes. What's up? So, I got up and went to check the HQ site for times on "Randy"
Have you figured out what I did? Yep! I only did 30 snatches. I wrote it down wrong. "Isabel" is 30 snatches at 85lbs. "Randy" is 75 snatches! Are you kidding me?! So, I waited about 30 minutes and did "Randy" again. All 75 snatches. My time was 7:05. But honestly, I don't feel like I can really count it, I know my time can be so much better. My first go at it, I did 30 snatches in 1:53. The second go round it took me 2:15 to do 30 snatches. Part of that is because I was still gassed, but mostly it was my head. All I could think was "Damn It! I just did these!"
So, that was my blond moment today.

Meals
Breakfast: 2 hardboiled eggs
Post WOD: Progenex
Lunch: Chicken Salad
Snack: 1/2 a hamburger patty, larabar
Dinner: Boston Butt, Butternut Squash

My Quest for the Elusive Muscle-Up

Ok, what gives? No. Seriously! I have been CrossFitting for almost two years and have been working on Muscle-up progressions for over a year. Why can't this happen for me?! I have watched every demo video that is out there. I have tried every Muscle-up Progression that there is. I have worked on dips, pullups, transitions, negatives, jumping muscle-ups, band assisted muscle ups, you name it! I can do 30 band assisted muscle ups, 27lb weighted pullups, 26lb weighted dips... I'm good there! I have left the gym in tears. I have said very bad words. I have screamed in frustration. I have actually layed in bed many, many nights seeing myself do this movement. I have prayed. I have stepped away from the rings for weeks at time because I thought my head was getting in the way.
Other movements have eluded me as well, but I would practice and practice and then one day I would eventually reach my goal. For example, after 2 weeks of practicing Double Unders for 20 minutes every single day, I finally got them. In fact, I broke my record today with 44 unbroken. A year ago, I spent an entire hour working on them and got a grand total of 1 double under! Then I focused on handstand pushups for a few weeks and now I have handstand pushups. Deadhang pullups? Same thing. My point? Hard work and persistence pays off. Practice makes perfect...right? Except when it comes to this damn muscle up! I am at a loss. It can't be just me, can it?
So, what led to this vent this evening? An hour long session today of just Muscle Up work, resulting in ripped up wrists, bad words and ...no Muscle Up. For a Level 1 Instructor, this simply will not do! I feel like I must be the only CrossFit coach out there that doesn't have a muscle up. I can coach progressions and transitions all day long, but I can't demonstrate one! WTH?! The level of my frustration is indescribable.
What am I going to do about it? You guessed it, just keep doing what I am doing. Persistence has to pay off eventually, right? And I have invited you along for the ride, let's hope it's a short one!

TODAY'S WOD
10 minutes AMRAP
10 Thrusters (65lbs)
20 Russian Twist (12lb ball)
300 meter run
Score 3 rounds + 30 reps. I finished the last rep of the Russian Twist with 45 seconds left on the clock. I knew there was no way in hell I could run 300 meters in 45 seconds so I just stopped. Why? Because I didn't want to run. But then Mark and I talked about how WOD would be better as 4 rounds instead of a 10 minute AMRAP, so then I had to do the last 300 meters so I could get my 4 rounds. But, I know that doesn't technically count.

STRENGTH
3-3-3-3-3 Front Squat (93lbs, 115lbs, 125lbs, 130lbs x 2, 130lbs x 2) last two sets I failed on the 3rd rep. - If you're not failing every now and then, you are not trying hard enough. :)

SKILL
1 hour Muscle Up progression work.

MEALS
Breakfast: 2 hard boiled eggs, 1 piece canadian bacon
POST WOD: Progenex
Snack: Protein Bar
Lunch: Cranberry and Chicken Salad
Snack: Sea Salt Almonds and a handful of grapes
Dinner: Pork chops, spinach and yellow squash with a frozen dipped (dark chocolate) banana for dessert. Yum!!

I wish cake went straight to my boobs!

It's Monday evening and I am really trying not to beat myself up! As I mentioned in my last blog, Friday was my husband's birthday and I had decided I would have my cheat meal that Friday night. I did and it was delicious! But here is where I always falter. Saturday came and I did really great! Until...Saturday night. Walking by that chocolate cake all day was torture. Everytime I had to get something in the kitchen, there it was, winking at me and talking dirty to me. I felt my will power slowly crumble as the day went on. That night after dinner, my husband gets out 4 plates for dessert. Upon seeing this I almost became angry. "Did you forget about me? WHY are there only 4 plates?!", I demanded. He just looks at me and says, "I thought you said you were going to be good for the rest of the weekend so I didn't want to tempt you." Poor guy. This was a lose lose situation! He was absolutely right and was trying to be supportive but guess who had cake and icecream along with everyone else...me! Willpower just walked out on me!
Then yesterday we went to visit some good friends of ours for the day. I knew it would be another cheat meal and I was ok with that, this day was about just having fun and visiting with friends. We had an awesome time!
But this is where I feel I failed. I knew yesterday would be a bunch of bad eating and having fun, so I should have been much, much better Saturday. It seems like everytime I try to plan my cheat meal, it tends to bleed into the rest of the weekend. If I am not careful, the next thing I know, I have eaten badly all week.
Am I trying to lose weight? NO! I feel I need to really stress this point. I AM NOT trying to lose weight. I am not on a diet. I am trying to change bad eating habits and make this a lifestyle change. What I am trying to do is improve my wellness, my fitness, my lifts, my strength, my stamina and my recovery time from WODs. Good nutrition is one of the most important parts of taking care of yourself. I know this but alas, I am human. But I feel that I need to be a good example for the people at my box, and this is where I really feel like I failed.
Today I was back on track and I am promising you, whoever you may be, and myself, that this coming holiday weekend I will kick my Willpowers ass and show it who is boss!

TODAYS WOD
5 Rounds
15, 135lbs deadlifts
15 Toes to Rings

Meals today
Breakfast: 2 hardboiled eggs
Post WOD: Progenex
Lunch: Hamburger Patty and spinache
Dinner: Fetacheese baked Chicken, cauliflower, broccoli

I met "Brennan" today!

Today is my husbands birthday and so I will go ahead and tell you that tonight was my "cheat meal" for the week. I mean seriously. Do you really think I can bake a chocolate cake and cover it with dark chocolate icing and not eat any? My will power is not that strong. I will add though, that is was wheat and gluten free. I am training, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't enjoy these special days. It's all about keeping it in balance.

Since Friday's are my days for long, endurance WOD's this morning I took on the WOD "Brennan" and Sherry and Mark joined me for the pain. I got this from Women of Crossfit=Strong facebook page. What a great, inspirational page, by the way!!! I highly recommend you "like" it. The story behind Brennan is also on their facebook page. As I looked at it on paper, I really didn't think it would be too horrible. I knew it was a lot of running, but I have run 3ks before, so I knew I could do that. Then I thought, 20 pushups? Only 9 cleans, that's not too bad. Ha! I even told Sherry that I may not do the 3 minute rest so I could get done with it sooner.

Let me just tell you, this kicked my butt!!! And yes! I rested after each round.

"Brennan":

4 rounds

300 meter run

20 pushups

300 meter run

11 KBS (35lbs)

300 meter run

9 Power Cleans (95lbs)

300 meter run

9 pullups

3 minute rest

The total meters run adds up to 3 miles.

This was aweful but I am so glad I did it. Yeah, I almost met "puckie" on this one! Time-49:03

I ran every run, and only had to break up the cleans. My elbow has been aching since yesterday's heavy WOD so I was a little cautious with the cleans. Two days rest this weekend should be just what it needs.

Today's meals

Breakfast-2 hard boiled eggs, 1 slice of bacon. 2 cups of black coffee

Post WOD- Progenex

Lunch-Left over Stuffed Peppers, water

Snack-nuts and dried fruit and 4 slices of apple, unsweet tea

Dinner- CHEAT MEAL! Crabcake ceasar salad from Joe's Crab Shack, dessert-Gluten/wheat free chocolate cake and two scoops of vanilla ice cream, unsweet tea.

I haven't made a note of this before, but I had someone ask me what I drink. I only drink water, unsweet tea and black coffee.

Even little boys need to take care of their hands!

As a CrossFit mom and I am very proud to say that my 3 boys CrossFit with me. My oldest son is not as into it as my other two boys, but for a kid with High Functioning Autism, I think he does really well! My youngest son, Jordan, went to CrossFit with me everyday this summer and everyday he would go straight to the bars or the rings. Needless to say, he can now do chin ups, dead hang pullups, skin the cats, toes to bar, ect. (Yes, I am soooo proud of him!) Over the past three weeks or so, he decided he wanted to learn how to kip. He would ask me to tape his hands and then he hit the bar. This video is from the other night. He doesn't have them strung together yet, but I am convinced you are looking at a future Rich Froning Jr.!
Right after this video was taken, we taped up his hands and I begin my strength WOD and he continued playing on the bars. A few minutes later, he walks up to me holding out both hands, "Mommy, I need a band-aid." It was about this time that the air hit his hands where he had ripped the callouses off both palms. "Honey, where is the tape that we just put on your hands?" I asked.
He starts jumping up and down now, fanning his hands and I take him to the bathroom to wash them. My heart is breaking for him because I know this water is really going to hurt! He was trying his very best not to cry as we cleaned hands. Again I asked, "What happened to the tape?" He said, "I took it off because it was slipping. Now I can't do anything!" he cried.
I said, "Jordan, the tape is for a purpose, not to make you look cool."
"Oh", he said.
So, he learned a valuable lesson. I have seen a lot of CrossFitters posting pictures of bloody hands and ripped callouses and I am guilty of it, too. But, I began to really think about it one day. Wouldn't we be wiser to ask ourselves the question, "Does this make me fitter or will this set me back?" I know for me, when I have ripped my hands, just taking a shower is a painful adventure. Fixing my hair? A nightmare! Going back the next day to do pullups...not good.
The first time an athlete at our box rips their first callous, I'll admit, we high five, take a picture and congratulate the "rite of passage" because, as any CrossFitter knows, it shows that persons determination not to quit. To fight through to the end of the WOD. BUT after this celebration is over, we then immediately discuss how to protect their hands from this point on. Why don't we discuss this before? We do. But until that person actually rips their hands, most of the time they feel it is too much trouble to tape up. And for some it is. There are several guys at our box that have never used tape and have never ripped their hands. I wish I knew how to do that!
So, we discuss hand care, from there it is up to them how they take care of their hands, but I know the last thing I want in our box is an open, bleeding wound. Can you say "staff infection?". My 11-year old had a staff infection last year from a small mosquito bite on his leg and it was very scary. Am I over cautious? Yep! Sorry.

Message today? TAPE YOUR HANDS!

Alright, today was supposed to be my 2-a-day, but I promised my kids that we would visit some friends this afternoon, (family first, always!) To make up for it, I did a double WOD this morning.
WOD1-Baseline: 500 meter row, 40 squats, 30 situps, 20 pushups, 10 pullups. time: 4:54. Not my best time, which is 4:15, but I had to break up the squats today. My legs are just smoked from this week.
WOD2 - 7 minute AMRAP. As many Ground to Overhead for total pounds. Choose your weight. I wanted this to be a strength WOD, so I went heavy...for me. I did 110lbs x 15reps. I realize this isn't heavy to most CrossFitters, which is exactly why I am working on strength. I just PR'd my 1 rep max on a clean and jerk last week at 133lbs, which is my bodyweight...110lbs is heavy for me at 15 reps. If you want to do this one but would like it to be more of a metcon, just use a lighter load. My friend Sherry did this WOD with 63lbs x 31reps.


Now, how about eating?
Well the Sugar Demon was held at bay today until I met my best friend to take the kids for Snow Biz. She is such a bad influence! :) I had 5 bites of butterbeer flavored ice. Yummy!
Breakfast: hardboiled eggs, 1 slice Canadian bacon
Post WOD: Progenex Recovery Drink
Lunch: left over Cabbage stir fry and half a hamburger patty
Snack: Lara Bar. Starbucks unsweetend Tazo Tea (mmmm)
Dinner: Stuffed Peppers (sub chopped spinach for the rice), dessert is an apple with almond butter and dried blueberries.
Until tomorrow, happy WODing. :)

Learn something new everyday

Yesterday I was reading another blog and came across this conditioning workout. I really liked it. It was:

40/30/20/10 calorie row

In between each row do 25 box jumps (20"box) and 25 Ab-Mat situps. Time- 18:11

This one wasn't a killer, just good ole' grunt work.

AND I did learn something new today as well.

This past Monday at our box, in prep for Fight Gone Bad 6 coming up, we rowed 1 minute for max calories. I rowed a whopping 16 calories! WTH? Honestly, at the time I wasn't worried about it. Yes, I will admit, it was a bit embarrassing that "Coach Dawn" had one of the lowest scores, but I chalked it up to where I was mentally-which was, I just didn't want to row.

But then today, my friend Allman came in and worked out with me. Yes, he is bigger and stronger than me but I was matching him row for row on the rower! Yet, he was just killing me! I would catch up with him during the box jumps and the situps but as soon as we started to row, he would just crush it again.

What. The. Hell!

So, after we were finished, yep, you guessed it! We rowed some more. I wanted to know how many strokes it took for each of us to get 10 calories. We both set the damper on 6 so that wouldn't be a factor. Results? It took him 16 strokes and it took me 21. All I could think was "This will NOT DO!"

So, he said, "let me coach the coach". Yes! Please do!

After watching me for a few minutes he made the suggestion that I adjust my foot straps. Really? Yes, really. That's all it was. Seriously. I never realized that made that much difference. I made the foot holder smaller (set to 2) and that bunched my legs up more, giving me a deeper reach on the row. The next 10 calorie row, I made it in 16 strokes. I did not kill myself, I just had better range of motion.

So, maybe as a coach I should already have known this. Maybe. Maybe not. I taught Art History for 4 years and always learned something new in every lecture. I believe the same is true for coaching. Whether it is learning something new about a movement, nutrition, recovery, or just something new about a member at our box. I am sponge and love to soak it up...unless it's math! Then just keep that to yourself!

Eating has been on track today, but I have been very hungry all day. So, I have been grazing on nuts, raisins and dried fruit. And grapes! I love grapes! But only the sweet ones (sugar demon alert!)

For now, I will keep posting all my meals, but you will soon discover, that for breakfast, it is the same thing almost everyday. I'm exciting like that!
Breakfast: 2 hard boiled eggs with 1 piece of canadian bacon
Post WOD: Salmon, sweet potato (I get the sweet potato baby food, easy to carry and it's just sweet potatoes)
Lunch: left over sirloin and string green beans. Yes, I realize that these are technically legumes, but they are covered by so much green that they are "ok".
Snack: Larabar
Dinner: Cabbage stir fry- YUM! Made with Napa Cabbage, bacon, mushrooms, chicken, onions and topped with a little bit of feta cheese.

until tomorrow,
Happy WODing

Day One in the Books!

Since I am considering today my first day of GG training (Garage Games) let me first tell you what my normal week usually consist of.

First of all, I NEVER, unless there is an emergency, NEVER miss a WOD (Work Out of the Day) during the week. I work out every Monday-Friday and take the weekends off. Most loyal CrossFitters follow the 3 days on 1 day off 3 days on cycle, but with 3 boys, I like to reserve my entire weekend for family time.

Up until now, I haven't really programmed anything specific for myself. Even though I am a coach, I am guilty of not doing a WOD because it has movements I don't like. So the best thing for me to do, is workout with the 8:30 class with my coach, Mark Smith. Whatever is on the whiteboard is what I will do. Like it or not...just like everyone else.

I love working out with my CrossFit peeps. It makes all the difference in the world! I am one of those people who needs that extra push. At the end of the WOD when I am just ready to stop, all it takes is my friend Danny to scream, "Come on "D", pick that bar back up! You got this!" or someone to yell, "10 more seconds! whatcha got?" for me to find that extra "umph" and drive to the end. So, when working out alone, I just don't push myself as hard. I know I don't. That needs to change.

What do I need to work on? A lot! But first of all, I need to get stronger. Period.

Here is what I have programed for myself to start with. Over the next 6 weeks I will continue my 5 days a week, 2 days off schedule, but I will be adding a second workout on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Today I started that.

Here is the breakdown

Mondays- WOD with the class

Tuesdays- WOD with morning class then afternoon: Strength work

Wednesday- Endurance and conditioning

Thursdays- WOD with morning class then afternoon: Strength work

Fridays- Long WOD days, working on endurance with strength.

A good example of this is what I did last Friday, which was a WOD called "Josh Taylor". It was a WOD I got from WOD Love's facebook page and it is a good one. It was 100 double unders, then 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 reps of Chest to Bar Pullups, Burpees, and 105lb Ground to Overhead, then 100 double unders. This WOD took me 38:16 to finish. If you are not familiar with CrossFit WOD's, this is considered a long one.

So today, I began. (Well, I guess, technically I began yesterday but I dialed in my diet today.)

This morning my WOD was "31" which is 31 reps of the following:Pullups, Pushups, 300 meter run, Thrusters, 45lbs bar, GHD situps, Lunges (L+R=1), Double Unders and Jumping Squats with a 45lb bar. I am pleased to say that I got 16 unbroken pullups, which was a PR for me. :)
This afternoon I worked on sets of cleans and bench presses.

Cleans: 5-5-5 95lbs, 105lbs, 115lbs

Bench Press: 5-5-3F-4F-5 75lbs, 85lbs, 95lbs

I am not happy with my cleans, it was supposed to be 5 sets of 5, but I PR'd my clean last week at 138 lbs so maybe I was being overambitious today. Either way, I was very dissappointed that I couldn't get higher than 115lbs today.

The bench presses are a different story. I don't work on these much at all, so it was almost like my body was trying to figure out what I wanted it to do. As you can see, I actually was able to increase my reps on the last 3 sets. It's like I finally figured out where to "dig in" on that last set. Pretty Cool!
My eating today was very good. All Paleo with the exeption of the recovery drink.

Breakfast: 2 Hard boiled eggs with a piece of canadian bacon

Snack: Recovery drink (Progenex)

Lunch: Hamburger Patty and a cranberry, chicken side salad.

Snack: Freeze Dried Peaches and some almonds

Dinner: Chicken, butternut squash and asparagus.

No sugar demon attacks today. Probably because I knew I would be posting this later.

So, now I am off to bed. Rest is just as important and another area I need to work on.

And I promise, my blogs will not all be this long. But I felt I needed to post where I am coming from so that I can really see where I am going.

Until tomorrow.

D

A Little Bit About Me

So, this is my first time blogging and I know that right now, there is probably no one that will even read this, but this is something that I need to do.

First, let me give you just a little more information about myself so that you may have a better idea of who and what this blog is about.

I have never been an athlete. This is surprising to most when I tell them that my dad was a high school basketball coach and football coach...and a damn good one, too! But I grew up with my sister and my single mom where money was very tight. Sports were just not an option.
Although I will say, I played volleyball in the 6th and 7th grade and was mediocre at best, but suffered horribly from "stage fright" or "game day fright". So, I didn't try again.

My profession is as a graphic designer and an artist. I LOVE art! I could spend an entire vacation in museums! (and have) So, imagine my surprise when I find myself standing in room full of fit people about to receive my Level 1 Certification in CrossFit. Never in a million years would I have imagined myself there and yet, there I was! And I was in HEAVEN and loving every minute!

I first found CrossFit in January of 2010 thanks to my coach and friend Mark Smith. I had just been through, and was still going through, probably one of the most emotionally traumatic and stressful times of my life. I walked into that "box" just looking for something to get my mind off of things. What I found was that for 1 hour I could disappear into just the moment. Let me just tell you, it was the best therapy I could have found! After 6 weeks, my self-esteem had started to reappear and my self confidence was returning. Mind you, I still couldn't do one dead hang pull-up, but the way I felt mentally and emotionally was priceless. I asked Mark one night, "How can I share this? I want to be a coach, I want others to experience this, too!" He smiled and said, "I was hoping you would ask me about this."

Fast Forward a year and half. I am now a coach at Trinity Crossfit and I love everything about it! I have competed in the 2011 Garage Games (scaled division), #4# in Montgomery, Alabama, the Metro Dash in Atlanta and the Xterra Run in Pelham, Alabama. All in the past year. Another thing I never would have imagined myself doing. Gone is that girl with performance anxiety.

So, why do you care and why am I blogging? Well, I have set some new goals for myself and being a busy mom of 3 boys, I need some accountability. I can journal all day long, but knowing no one will read it, I can skip a day on training or have a bad week eating and who will know but me? Well, my husband of course, but he won't tell on me. :)

So what are my goals? The big one? The CrossFit Games! But first, I am setting my sights on the 2012 Garage Games, which should be sometime in February, 2012. I want to compete in the Rxd women's division, no scaling this time!

So this is my journey. I will be blogging what my workout program will be each day and my eating. Honestly, I hate to admit it, but I have a "Sugar Demon" and it is evil!! So, I am hoping that this blog keeps me focused on my goals and what I know I need to do to achieve them.

Feel free to following me. I look forward to these next few months ahead of me.

3,2,1...GO!