If you're not having fun, what's the point?

Over the past few days I have been so sad by the amount of people I know who have lost loved ones this Thanksgiving holiday. Some of those lost were children and all of them were unexpected.

Thanksgiving for me, has been one of mixed emotions. At least it has for the past 19 years. That's because 19 years ago, I lost my cousin in a tragic dirt bike accident. It was Thanksgiving Day and he was only 11 years old. I was devastated. He was here and then, just like that, gone.

These past few days have been a huge reminder to me that tomorrow is not promised to us. What we are promised is this moment.

How are you spending that moment? How am I spending that moment?

I have talked about how CrossFit has helped me get through some pretty tough emotional times. CrossFit is a huge stress reliever and the best therapist I have found. I also realized that the best thing for me to do for my health was to forgive those that hurt me, love the ones that mattered, forget about the past, Let Go and Let God, and cherish the moment I am in. This also goes for CrossFit, too. I mean, if I didn't enjoy it, I wouldn't do it. The day it starts becoming something I dread is the day I stop. CrossFit should be fun, at least that's the way I see it. Now that doesn't mean that it will be easy, if it is, you probably need to up your game or find another box.

So what is CrossFit to me other than what I have already mentioned?

It has become my adult playground. It is where I go to have fun. A place where I laugh everyday. I love the people at my box. I LOVE coaching. I love lying on the floor at the end of a WOD knowing I gave it my all. I love getting stronger. I love that I can do things that I never dreamed of. But most of all, I love it because I just do. How's that for an answer?

Life is way too short to spend it doing something you hate. I know that we don't always have a choice about what goes on in our lives, but there is one thing that we do have a choice in. How we respond to our circumstances. We can let things defeat us or make us stronger. I decided 2 years ago that I would not be defeated.

Embrace the moment and have fun.

Here are the WOD's from yesterday and today

Tuesday
SKILL and STRENGTH

Worked on Handstand Walks
Worked on muscle snatches. This will help me with my turnover and help me catch the bar overhead instead of trying to chase it out in front.
Also worked on clean and jerks and squat snatches.
These were not heavy lifts. This was all about technique.

WOD
"Elizabeth"
21-15-9
Cleans (85lbs)
Ring Dips
as Rxd 8:29 PR!!
Last time I did this was back in August and I had to scale half of the ring dips and my time was 10:01. So happy with my score today!

Wednesday
CrossFit Total
1 Rep Max Backsquat - 180lb (squatting to ball, this was a 5lb pr)
1 Rep Max Shoulder Press- 80lbs
1 Rep Max Deadlift - 225lb yep, still stuck here. :-/
Total- 485

Eating:
Wednesday:
Breakfast--Oatmeal with Raisins
Post WOD-Progenex Recovery
Lunch-Left over Zucchini Casserole
Snack-Larabar
Dinner-Grilled chicken, grapes, oranges and strawberries

Thursday:
Breakfast-Oatmeal with Raisins
Post WOD-Progenex Recovery
Lunch- Ribs, cabbage and creamed spinache
Dinner-Fried Chicken (Skin removed), Yellow Squash, 2 potato wedges

November 28, 2011

Yes, it has been almost two weeks since my last blog. I will not make excuses. It is what is it is. My husband will be home for good on the 10th and I think that is going to make ALL the difference in the world for my daily life and training. This is the Longest 4 Weeks EVER!!! (He was told this would only be a 4 week job and it is going on month 3.)
Lot's of good things have happened as far as my training goes, and still so much to work on.
I haven't attempted another Muscle-Up since I finally got my first one, and I'm okay with that... for now. I was so ready to start focusing on my Olympic Lifts and jumped on it right away.
Over the past 2 weeks I have hit PR after PR and I am so excited about that! The 2012 Garage Games begins in only a few months and I want to be ready!
Now it is time to crank it into 3rd gear!
Last week was Thanksgiving and I totally failed on the Paleo Eating, but I have started my next Paleo Challenge that will take me until the 18th. I will be going on a Disney Cruise with my family and I intend to have fun and not stress out about food, which is probably a good thing considering that all the food will most likely be in the shape of Mickey.
I do want to share with you my latest PR. I am so excited. If you have been following my blog, you know that I have recently learned the Snatch Balance at my Olympic Lift Certification with Coach Burgener. This is a very different move from what I am used to. I have a 125lb Overhead Squat, but when I first tried a snatch balance, I just about busted my ass with just a 45lb bar. "Balance" is the key word!!! Anyway, this is my 2nd Snatch Balance at 115lb from this past Saturday. I felt great doing this! I felt like I could go a bit heavier, but after watching the video and seeing how much I was ghost riding it down, I decided to stay here at this weight and work on technique some more. This lift is going to help me get even closer to getting that 95lb squat snatch.

I will tell you that I did PR with an 88lb Power Snatch Saturday, but that's not a squat snatch. I really need to work on really pulling myself lower under the bar.

So here is today's Strength
Front Squat- 3-3-3-3-3 (100lbs, 115lbs, 125lbs, 130lbs, 140lbs) PR by 10lbs!

WOD
AMRAP 10 minutes
Buy in-100 Double Unders
15 Wall Balls (14lbs)
10 Wall Ball Situps (14lbs)
5 Renegade Pushups (25lbs)
Score: 3 round + 17 reps
This was all shoulders!! WOW!!!

Eating:
Breakfast- Oatmeal with raisins (yes, I am trying oatmeal for a few weeks and see how I feel in the morning since I workout first thing in the morning)
PostWOD (Progenex Recovery with More Muscle)
Lunch: Grilled Chicken Unsweet tea
Snack: LaraBar and Vinegar and Salt Almonds (these will be my undoing!)
Dinner: Zucchini Casserole
Desert: Paleo Pumpkin Spice Latte (yummy!!)

Finally!!!

YAY!!! I did it! I finally got my very first muscle up!!! I know it is not pretty, but I am soooo happy! The video posted below was on Wednesday right after completing the WOD "Nasty Girls" with 21 scaled muscle ups. My wrist still flips over on this one, but I fought through it and kipped out of it. I had watched a video of Rebecca Voight demoing a Mainsite WOD (Nov 4) last week with Muscle-Ups and her wrist flipped over, too. So, when this happened again to me on Wednesday, I thought I would just try hopping out it like she did and see what happened. It worked!
Do I recommend you doing it this way? No. Jeff Tucker wouldn't like this muscle up, I know. But, from here I can only get better, right?
Now I can move on to the next goal. Hmmmm, maybe walking on my hands?
Okay, here are the WOD's from Wednesday through today.
WORKOUT OF THE DAY

Wednesday
"Nasty Girls"
3 Rounds
50 Squats
7 Muscle Ups (scaled from knees)
10 Hang Power Cleans (83lbs)
Score:11:33
I have to say that after this WOD was over, I was disappointed. I messed up by watching the original "Nasty Girls" video. When I saw Nicole Carrol struggle with the 95lb hang power clean, I thought to myself "I have no business doing that. If she is struggling, there is no way I can do it!"
At the end of the WOD, I realized that I should have gone heavier. AT least 93lbs. Oh well, I guess that means I need to do it again, and wait until I can do the WHOLE thing as Rxd!
After the WOD, was when this video was taken and the Happy Dance was performed. :)

Thursday
For Time:
In ascending and descending order, alternate between the two movements
Pullups 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 reps
Deadlifts (140lbs) 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 reps
Score: 8:31 - got all my pullups unbroken except for rounds 7 and 6. Deadlifts smoked me!!

Friday
STRENGTH DAY!!!
Back Squat: work to heavy single (175lbs) then, 90% x 2 (155lbs), 85%x3x5 (145lbs)
Squat Snatch: 60%x5(48lbs), 65%x4(55lbs), 75%x4(63lbs), 85%x4x2(73lbs)
Squat Clean: 75%x4(103lbs), 85%x4x2(113lbs)
Split Jerk from the back:60%x5(75lbs),70%x5(85lbs),85%x5x3(105lbs)

Anything Worth Having is Worth Working For

I saw this picture floating around on Facebook today and thought it was perfect for what I wanted to talk about today. But first, I have a confession to make.
I completely bombed this weekend on my diet, BUT my husband was home for the first time in two weeks and it was a great weekend. I am not going to beat myself up for it. I have been doing so well with my diet and I know that it is okay to relax and accept that I am human. Just as long as it isn't an every day thing. And it's not, but it was a few days...
In spite of my paleo slip up, the past two days have been really good days for my WOD's
I hit 2 PR's! Happy Dance!!! But I still have so much to work on! There are so many things I want to improve. I really need to figure out what I want most and hone in on that. With a laundry list of things, it's hard to really get better at ALL of them on the timeline that I want to so I need to choose a few and focus.
I had mentioned the other day that I wanted to have a 260lb Deadlift...and I do! But I started thinking about it and there are other things that I want more.
Here are some of my goals so that you will see what I mean
Muscle up (Everyone knows that!)
95lb Squat Snatch (currently at 73lbs)
130lb Bench Press (currently at 115lb)
135lb Overhead Squat (currently at 125lbs)
130lb Split Jerk from the back
260lb Dead Lift (currently at 225lbs)
150lb Clean and Jerk (currently at 133lbs)
200lb Back Squat (currently at 180lb)
500 meter row in 1:50 minutes
80 sit ups in 2 minutes
butterfly pull ups (just learn how to do them!)
Learn how to walk on my hands
25 pull ups unbroken
etc. etc. etc.
These are no necessarily listed in the order I want to achieve them, just in the order that I have thought of them. And I am sure I will think of more later.
So, I am still tweaking my programming to find the best way to achieve these goals.
I have to admit, my 2-a-days are very difficult with my schedule but I do it when I can. If I can't get in the two 2-a-days twice a week, I try to add another day to my week. I just have to be sure to give myself the rest and recovery necessary as well.
If you are just joining this blog and are wondering about these goals, let me just make it clear. I am not the next Annie Thorisdottir. I am just the average friend next door working hard to make myself a better me, a better mom and a better wife. To be stronger physically as well as mentally.
One of the reasons I write this blog is to encourage other women to just "do your best, try your hardest and never give up!" I know that it can be very intimidating to watch the CrossFit videos and watch these women that are crazy strong and think "I can't do that! There is no way!"
I am here to tell you that you can.
You may not be able to beat Annie Thorisdottir in a clean and jerk, but you can beat yourself. If you start now, the only thing that can happen is that you get stronger.
That doesn't mean it always gets easier, but you will get better!
Remember, if it was easy, everybody would do it!
CrossFit takes work. It takes effort. But think about it. Anything worth having takes work and effort. You are worth it. We are worth it!
If you can't workout in a gym with equipment, please don't let that be an excuse. The beautiful thing about CrossFit is that you can do hundreds of different WOD's with just body weight movements and an inexpensive a jump rope.
I have a friend that works out at home. I have been helping her come up with WOD's that she can do at home with the equipment she has there. She has been doing this for two months and she is now hooked and doing great!
In fact, I just got a text from her saying "My fat is crying!!".
No excuses. Make that decision to get up and do something, do it for you!
Okay, that's my pep talk for the evening. Here are the latest WOD's for those of you who are keeping up and may be doing these at home.

Monday
STRENGTH
Thrusters
2-2-2-2-2-2-2 (65lbs, 70lbs, 80lbs, 90lbs, 95lbs, 105lbs, 115lbs) 10 lbs PR!!

WOD
10 minutes
Each minute and the top of each minute complete
2 Squat Snatches (85-95% of 1 Rep Max)
8 Box Jumps (20")
Rest in the remainder of the minute
This is a training WOD. You have plenty of time to really set up that squat snatch and make it as perfect as possible. Do it!
Score is time you finish the last round
My Score-9:33

Tuesday
STRENGTH
Bench Press 1 Rep Max -115lbs! Yay! Another PR! :)

WOD
3 Rounds of
40' Overhead Walking Lunge (25lb plate)
21 Hand Release Push ups
21 Wall Balls (14lbs)

November 13, 2011

Sorry everyone for the delayed post! It's been a crazy, busy week! But here is your inspiration for this beautiful Sunday Morning!
I usually don't blog on the weekends but I know I need to catch up. This will be a short one for those of you who are keeping up with the WOD's.
I love getting your emails telling me your progress as well. You inspire me and drive me to be a better me. Thank you!

WOD's
Wednesday
For Time:
5 Ball Slams (30lbs)
25 GHD situps
10 Ball Slams
20 GHD situps
15 Ball Slams
15 GHD situps
20 Ball Slams
10 GHD situps
25 Ball Slams
5 GHD situps
Time-8:08
I haven't done a lot of GHD work in the past few months and it really showed. I did all the GHD's unbroken but I had a headache the rest of the day. Of course my abs were sore for 4 days. Gotta love it!

Thursday
4 Rounds
Each round is 4 minutes long
Run 400 meters
9 Push Presses (58lbs)
8 Bar Facing Burpees
Rest in the remaining time of your 4 minutes (the faster you get done with the work, the longer you get to rest)
At minute 17 do max number of Box Jumps. Score is # of box jumps
Score:28 Grrr! Danny beat me by 1! Next time...
Strength:
Worked on 1 Rep Max Deadlift. I pulled 225lbs, which was my last 1 Rep Max, then jumped up 10lbs. I was worried it was too much and it was. I think my head got in my way again. I got it off the ground, but it didn't come higher than my shins.

Friday
Strength Day!
Bench Press- 60%x5 (65lbs), 70%x5(75lbs), 85%x5x3(95lbs)
Hang Power Snatch-60%x5, 65%x4, 75%/4, 85%x4x2
I haven't done a lot of Hang Power Snatches so I didn't have a 1 Rep max to go from. This is what I lifted 48lbsx5, 53lbsx4, 63lbsx4,68lbsx4x2
Hang Power Clean-75%x4 (73lbs),85% (83lbs)x4 95%x4 (93lbs)
Overhead Squat- work to heavy single. I only got 115lbs today. It was just one of those days.
It's not the squatting I struggle with, it's the jerk from the back to get the weight overhead. I put 125lbs on the bar (my current 1 rep max) but knew in my head I wasn't going to jerk it so I reracked it and walked it off. I came back to the bar after a few minutes and tried again and ended up dumping it. Very disappointed but I know somedays are not the days for a PR. What it reminded me is that I really need to work more on jerks from the back of the neck and get my confidence up there. So, I spent about 15 minutes working on just that.
I am going to skip posting my Eating on this Blog, but it will be posted on the next blog.
Today my WOD is a good one!
Paint kitchen for time. 3,2,1...Go!!!

Who's the Bully?

I have really been thinking a lot lately of the goals that I have set for myself and what is realistic for me and what is not. I wrote down a few:
1.get a strict muscle up
2. 130 lb Overhead Squat by the end of November
3. 260 lb Dead Lift by December.
That's what we do as Crossfitters. We reach one goal only to then set a new one.
But yesterday it really hit me how much our thoughts need to be stronger as well.
My class had finished the 11.2 Open WOD, 9 Deadlifts, 12 Pushups, 15 Box Jumps. One of the things I had told them that I really wanted them to focus on was making the pushups as perfect as possible. Is this harder? Why yes it is!
After it was over, I looked over and saw one of my athletes (and friend) just sitting there staring at the floor, close to tears. I knew exactly what was happening. She was mentally tearing herself down because she kipped some of her pushups. I walked over to her and told her, "I know what your doing. Stop it! You did great!"
And as I was talking with her, I was suddenly aware that this is exactly what I have been doing to myself for the past two weeks. I think we are all guilty of it from time to time. But when does it become non-productive?
For example, as I was doing the "Helen" WOD last week, during the last 2 rounds I was in my head asking myself "Why are you doing this? This is HARD! You HATE running! No one cares if you PR or not!"
Really? Yes, really.
Now when the WOD is over, I am disappointed. More with the way I felt mentally during the WOD than anything else. I KNEW I would PR, but I lost my confidence halfway through and started beating myself up for it.
Did I PR? Yes.
Could I have done better? Definitely!
For me, when I am in that uncomfortable place where it's not fun, where it hurts and I am ready to be done, my head is my worst enemy. BUT I never quit!
So what that means is that there is a constant battle in my head between giving up and going on.
Will I ever become that Elite Athlete? Honestly, I don't know, but what I do know is that I won't be unless I am able to change the way I think when I am in that moment.
So, what makes someone ELITE?
My opinion, and that is all it is, is actually quite simple but very hard.
The difference between the average me and the Elite athlete is their ability to turn off that other voice. To shut it down!!! To not only push past the pain, but ignore it and conquer it.
There is no way a 135lb women can dead lift 335lbs unless SHE BELIEVES SHE CAN!!!
Are you listening?
Positive self talk can make every difference in your training AND in your life. This is another example of how what we do as CrossFitters spills over into our day and our lives.
What I have discovered is that sometimes the bully we need to be worried about is that bully within ourselves.
So I have made a new goal that takes priority of all the others that I have set.
To strengthen my thoughts. To quiet the bully inside me and release the full potential that I know I am capable of.
I hope that you will, too.

MONDAY'S WOD
Open WOD 11.2
15 minute AMRAP
9 Deadlifts (100lbs)
12 Hand Release Pushups
15 Box Jumps (20" box)

Score: 8rounds + 5

TUESDAY'S WOD
For Time:
30 pullups
30 KBS (35lbs)
30 Double Unders
30 Overhead Squats (65lbs)
5 minute rest then
2 Rounds of
15 pullups
15 KBS
15 Double Unders
15 Overhead Squats
5 minute rest then
3 Rounds of
10 pullups
10 KBS
10 Double Unders
10 Overhead Squats
Score: 32:00

HOLY COW!!! This was a good one! I really worked hard today on that inner voice. Almost met puckie today too!
So happy with the pullups. After being disappointed with my pullups last week I was determined to PR my unbroken pullups today...and I did! I got 18 unbroken today. :)

STRENGTH
After this WOD, all I worked on was one lift
Push Press
5-5-5 (90lbs,100lbs,110lbs) PR on my last set of 5

Eating:
Monday
Breakfast: 2 hard boiled eggs
Post WOD: Progenex
Lunch: Grilled Chicken Salad
Dinner: Zucchini Casserole

Tuesday: left over zucchini casserole
Post WOD: Progenex
Lunch: Yes, more left over zucchini casserole. I love it and made a lot!
Snack: Cinnamon/ Cocoa Almonds and raisins
Dinner: Fried Chicken (Skin removed) cauliflower and mashed potatoes (haven't had these in a long time!)
Dessert: Frozen grapes.

Today is Closed!

I am playing catch up here and I am disappointed that I have not been consistent with my posts. This was a promise I made to myself and I have found myself slacking. I am starting week 8 with my husband being in Iowa and I am tired! But no more excuses. I am better than this!
Thursday was a pretty busy day. Mark, the owner of Trinity CrossFit went out of town, so I coached 4 classes that day. I was able to get a WOD in there, but not my strength WOD. :( Yesterday, I was stuck at home waiting for Rooms to Go to come make an inspection on my furniture that needs to be replaced. I also had a ton of ads to design, a dirty house and many errands to run, so no WOD yesterday (unless cleaning my house "for time" counts).
As for today, I have declared the day "closed" and plan to stay in my pajamas and do nothing. I think everyone should have at least one "closed" day a week. I know this is not realistic though. I probably get 1 a month and today is it. My boys even let me sleep late. I actually slept until 10:00! I haven't slept til 10:00 since...well, I'm not sure! So even my body is saying "CHILL!".
But to be honest, I don't know if I can stand it. I already feel guilty for not getting to workout yesterday. My plan is to workout tomorrow, but I may end up doing it later on this afternoon. If I go too long without working out, I actually get in a funk. Does that happen to you?
But I am really trying to take it easy today. I'm not tired from working out, just from everything else that has been going on this week. Just being mom to 3 boys is enough to exhaust me sometimes. But I love it and wouldn't change anything except to have my husband home very soon.

Thursday WOD
"Power 13"
650 meter row
13 Power Cleans (65lbs)
13 Pullups
13 KBS (35lbs)
13 Knees to Elbows
13 Deadlifts (65lbs)
650 meter row
Time: 9:07

Once again I am disappointed on my pullups. It was only 13 and I came off the bar after only 4. I blew through the cleans but was wiped out when I got to the pullups. That surprised me, since the weight is pretty light. This WOD is all grip, so the knees to elbows were not fun either!
I need to work on stringing more kipping pullups together. Very disappointed. It seems I've slacked off on many areas in pursuit of achieving my muscle-up. Sometimes stubbornness does not pay off.


Speaking of the muscle-up, I sent a picture of me doing the muscle up with my horrible wrist lock to one of the top gymnastic coaches hoping for some feedback on what I could do. I was just hoping for an email, but he called me and talked with me on the phone about it. He wanted me to send him a video so he could see exactly what was going on. He was super nice and gave me some homework. I think I actually stumped him, though. Leave it to me!
But I am working on his progressions and going by his advise "taking it slow". He saw the video and responded within minutes saying "wrap that wrist!!!"
I am continually amazed, although I shouldn't be by now, of how nice everyone in the CrossFit community is. The fact that he took time out of his day to give advise to someone he hadn't even met, speaks volumes!! I LOVE CROSSFIT!

Eating:
Thursday
Breakfast: 2 hard boiled eggs
Post WOD: Progenex
Snack: Salmon and sweet potato casserole
Lunch: Cabbage stir fry
Snack: Larabar
Dinner: Chinese bourbon chicken, egg drop soup, egg roll (not exactly paleo, but I did my best)
I put myself in a bad postition, by eating so late and being so hungry.

Friday:
Breakfast: 2 fried eggs, 1 apple with almond butter, 2 pieces of canadian bacon
Snack: nuts, seeds and raisins
Lunch: Grilled chicken salad
Snack: Larabar
Dinner: Fried Chicken (skin removed), sweet potato

November 3, 2011

Today I took on "Helen"! I was hoping to beat my last pathetic score by at least 2 minutes, but it didn't happen. I did PR though, so I will take that.
I went into this WOD very positive. I have been doing a lot of running lately, so I thought I was ready for that. A few weeks ago, I was able to string together 16 pullups with no problem, so I wasn't worried about the pullups. And Kettlebell swings, while they are not my favorite, I don't have any problems with them.
But put that all together?
"Helen" is a bitch and I hate her!
The first run wasn't bad at all, nor were the KBS, but the pullups? I couldn't do more than 6! I was pissed!
By the third run, I was not in a happy place.
Why did I program this WOD for myself today?
Because, I HATE "HELEN", and when you program for yourself, you have a tendency to program things that you like. Well, at least I catch myself doing this. And this is the reason I go to Coach Mark's morning class Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.
But the rest of the time, it is up to me.
So, overall it was a good workout today, but I still have to take on "Helen" again until I get that time I want (sub 10 minutes)

Workout of the Day
"Helen"
3 Rounds for time
400 meter run
21 KBS (35lbs)
12 pullups
Time: 10:48


Strength WOD
Back Squat (to the ball)- work to heavy single (175lb) then, 90% (155lbs) x 2, 85%(145lbs)x3x5
Snatch Balance-Work to heavy single -65lbs. I don't want to go any heavier until I have this perfect!
Power Clean- okay, I need to make a note here. I have been working on these based on my 1RM of my Squat Clean, which is 138lbs. It only occurred to me today, as I kept failing my lifts, that my power clean is probably only about 130lbs. So, I will post "L" as a lift and "F" as a failed lift
Power Clean-75%(103lbs)x4, 85%(118lbs)x5x3 -what I did was: 118lbs, L,L,F,F,L, 118lbs, L, L,F,F,F, Dropped to 113lbs, L, F,L, L,F
Press-60%(55lbs)x5, 70%(60lbs)x5,85%(70lbs)x5x3-what I did on the last set was 70lbsx4, 70lbsx2, 70lbsx3
Squat Snatch- 65%(53lbs)x5, 75%(58lbs)x4x3

Eating:
Day 2 of Paleo Challenge
Breakfast: 2 hard boiled eggs
Post WOD: Progenex
Snack: Salmon and Sweet Potato
Lunch: Chicken Salad
Snack: nuts, seeds and raisins
Dinner: Cabbage Stir Fry, dessert-raisins

November 1,2011

No, I haven't been kidnapped by vampires, but it sorta feels like it! I have had a great weekend but am feeling the full extent of it!

I took my best friend out Thursday night for her 40th birthday and let's just say that we had a great time and didn't worry about what we were drinking or eating!

I didn't get home Thursday night until 2:30 am, so Friday mornings strength workout was pretty much shot.
I think that could be said for the entire weekend! Saturday, I took my 12 year old to the Auburn game and again, didn't get home until the wee hours of the morning. Sunday, I just tried to catch up on sleep.

Then of course, last night was Halloween and yes, I had chocolate. And I'm not going to lie, I was a bit disappointed. It just wasn't as good as it used to be.

So, let's just say from Thursday night until today, it was about fun and family time.

My husband was able to get home for the weekend and was home for Halloween but with everything going on, I don't feel like I was able to really spend much time with him.

To be honest, tonight I felt like everything just caught up with me. One minute I was okay, the next, I just felt completely overwhelmed! Just like that. "SNAP!"

Flying solo is not fun and with no idea how long this job is going to keep him in Iowa, it makes it very frustrating. But I just have to set my shoulders and carry on. I saw a great post on the facebook page Women of CrossFit = Strong this morning.

"There's something amazing that happens with strong-driven athletes. It's almost like wiping out their memory after pushing themselves to the limits. At that moment of total exhaustion, we feel like we'd never want to endure that feeling again. We finish our workout of the day and by the next day we have forgotten about it and are ready to push ourselves again. Why can't that be said with our everyday life?!?! Ever thought about that? Take what we have learned in our WOD's and use that to help make us better women with every step we take.
Try pushing yourself to the absolute limit, whether it is in CrossFit, business, or any other discipline of your life. Get to the point where it becomes tough...then push through until it's really hard...push a little harder until you feel you can't take it...then push it just a little further. I guarantee you'll go from absolute pain to absolute gratification..."

Well, let's just say, I really needed to hear this today. But single mom'ing it for months is something I don't have to make any harder. I just found out this evening that my oldest son has his first 2 D's ever. Not the end of the world, I know. But as my friends will tell you, this kind of thing puts me over the edge of stress. He has high functioning autism and is mainstreamed into the regular classroom. This is also his first year in high school and I just feel helpless.

But I read that post at just the right moment and it helped remind me that it will get better. I will get through this and there will be ABSOLUTE GRATIFICATION.

What does any of this have to do with CrossFit? Absolutely nothing, except to say that without CrossFit and my peeps, I would be insane by now!

So, back to CrossFit things and onto my WOD's. If you are keeping up with the WOD's I post or are using the Strength bias, I will post what I SHOULD have done Friday.

Hang with me! I am back on track now.

In fact, I have challenged my athletes to join me and take on a 22 day paleo challenge. This will take us to the day before Thanksgiving. NOT Whole 30, just strict Paleo. I invite you to join the challenge with us!

FRIDAY STRENGTH WOD
Back Squat- work to heavy single, then 90%x2, 85%x3x5
Squat Snatch-60%x5, 65%x5, 70%x4, 80%x3x5
Front Squat-work to heavy single, then 90%x2, 85%x3x5
Snatch Balance-65%x5,75%x5,85%x5x3
Power Clean-75%x3,85%x3,90%x3x2

Monday WOD
"Drop Dead Fran"
5 Rounds of
1 minute work followed by 1 minute rest
10 Pushups
max Thrusters (65lbs)
Score is total number of Thrusters -56

Tuesday Strength
Romanian Deadlifts...WOW!!!!
5-5-5 65lbs, 95lbs, 115lbs

Tuesday WOD
"12 Monkey's jumping on the bed"
12 Minute AMRAP
12 Box Jumps (20" box)
12 Goblet Squats (35lbs)
12 Situps