I did it and I did it WELL!

I am a little late blogging this, but I was waiting for the video to be put together so I could share it with you in this post.
Two weeks ago I stepped WAY out of my comfort zone and pushed myself to new limits!
I participated in an all night Endurance Camp in which we did 10 "Girl" WODs in 10 hours. For those of you who follow this blog but are not very familiar with CrossFit, the "Girl" WODs are some of the most difficult workouts that we do. They are named after girls much like hurricanes and they will leave you wrecked!
So last Friday night, my friend Mary and I arrived at 7:00 pm. We had an hour to set up our little gypsy camps, meet everyone there and start to warm up. At 8:00 pm we started with our first and probably most awkward workout, "Condoleezza Rice".
I had done many of these WODs before and I knew this was not the night that I would be making a new PR (personal record) on any of these. This night was going to be about getting through one WOD, resting, fueling up, and getting through the next one, and the next one, and the next.
The WODs were scaled to varying degrees so that we could make it through the night. One of the ways they were scaled was that everyone worked in teams of 2. In some WODs, we both had to complete the workout in its entirety. In other WODs, we could share the work however we needed to.
The ones that had heavy weight were the ones we were able to "share", bodyweight ones like "Angie", and "Annie", we both had to complete on our own but we couldn't call time until both of us had finished.
In the video, each WOD is listed and the time that we did it. We started each one on the hour every hour.

The first and last one I would say were the most demanding because they were awkward, but I will confess, "Angie" almost made me cry.
In the video, you will see me standing on the tire (in white shorts) with my hand on the bar...not doing anything. I feel like I should explain. This was during "Angie" and I think I was in the 70's on the pullups by this point and my hands were done. Just hanging off the bar hurt so much. After this WOD, I was more thankful than ever that Mary was on my team. We complimented each other perfectly. She can crush most body weight exercises and I could handle the heavier weight. Being able to split up "Helen" was huge! She did the 45 pullups and I did all 45 of the 45lb Kettlebell swings.
OK, so you may be wondering, why the hell would I do this?
Because it scared me.
Because it was something I had never done before.
AND, because it scared me.
I have done CrossFit competitions before and I leave them with mixed feelings. I love doing them, and I am so proud of myself for putting it all out there, but I am always humbled by how far I have to go. There are so many incredible athletes out there and I will never come close to some of these ladies. At the age of 38, I just started too late.
(This is not something I am saying as a "poor me". It is a fact. I will tell you that now, at 40 years old, I am fitter and stronger than I have EVER been! So, no, this is not me playing a sympathy card.)
Let me tell you though, this was not a CrossFit Competition yet I think I put my body through more that night than I have in any competition I have done so far. Another thing I should mention is that this Endurance Camp did not leave me with those mixed emotions. I was humbled, yes. I was exhausted, absolutely! I was not the best, or even close, but I left that morning at 6:00am thinking of only one thing. "I DID IT AND I DID IT WELL!"
Thanks to Sean Dickson for putting together such a great camp. I will be doing this again for sure.

A Goal without a Plan is just a Wish

The past few months for me have been crazy busy and I have never felt so scattered and out of sorts. Don't get me wrong, some incredibly amazing things have happened. I competed in Garage Games One in the RX division (my first), I completed my CrossFit Gymnastic Cert, organized my first fundraiser, WODism for Autism, and my gym just moved into a brand new location that is twice the size of our old one because we have grown so much. See? Really great things!
Looking at this list, I see so many things I can mark off of my goal "check-list" and that's good, right? Of course! So why do I feel so disorganized?
I have blogged before about the importance of making goals and I have discovered that, for me, the hardest part of having a goal is the plan you make to get there.
 I am so ADD and I am a procrastinator. This is a fact. I am also, for the most part, my own coach. When it comes to programming, I am the one who programs it.
Yes, I workout with the 8:30 class and Coach Mark programs that class. That has been my "unknowable", but for the rest of my training, it is up to me.
Over the past few months during this crazy time, my training has had no rhyme or reason.
Why? Because I haven't given myself the time to sit down and make a program just for me.
For example, I went into the gym Friday planning on working on 1RM Split Jerks and Snatches during Open Gym, but I was easily distracted and found myself watching, helping and coaching the other people in the gym instead of working on what I needed to.
Yes, I worked on my Split Jerk but I never even got to the Snatches.
My problem...no plan.
I find that the days that I have already planned out what I will be working on a day or two in advance, I get it all done. The days I struggle are the days I decide to come in and "work on" something or walk in with no plan.
The procrastination becomes a factor when it comes to my planning. I am a mother of 3 boys and they keep me hopping. All day long as I am running errands, cooking, working or WODing, I am thinking "I need to do this, I need to do that." But when I finally have the time to sit down and do what I have been thinking of all day, I am pooped! Excuses? Maybe. But it is what it is.
I have blogged about my goals before but what I haven't blogged about was my plan to get there.
Tonight I plan on sitting down and creating my plan, my program for the next 3 months.
I will blog about it later this week but what I am focusing on is sticking with the same program for 3 months. This may be difficult for me because I get bored so easily but I accept the challenge!
I am ready to get stronger!
I am ready to get faster!
I am ready to be better!
And I am making a plan to do just that.

Do one thing everyday that scares you.

I know you have read this quote by Eleanor Roosevelt or heard it many times but have you tried to do just that? I did this past weekend. If you are friends with me on FaceBook, you have probably grown tired of hearing me talk about this past weekend, in fact I am sure I have probably been blocked by some of you. I apologize, really, but I am still giddy as hell about it!

What happened this past Saturday? The Regionals, yes, BUT that's not what I am talking about. I am talking about the WODism for Autism.

What is that you ask? Well, let me tell you about it.

Back in the fall, my friend Sean Dickson, from Combat Fitness in Hoover, Alabama had a food drive for Backpack Buddies. For the entire day, he did this crazy body weight workout that lasted literally ALL DAY LONG. People came out and supported him by donating canned goods for Backpack Buddies. I went out there with my boys to bring some canned items and watched him workout. When I got there, some of his buddies had joined him for a few rounds of pushups, squats, running and I think some situps were in there, too.

I was inspired! What a great idea!

Over the next few months the idea of doing something like this to raise money for the Autism Society danced around in my head. What if we had a Ground to Overhead Relay that lasted all day? At the end of the day, we would see how much weight we put over our heads. Why? Well, why not?

Then I thought, what if we had a WOD that was inspired by movements my son, Taylor, likes to do? We could have 3 different versions, RX, Scaled and Kids. Why not use this as an opportunity to introduce CrossFit to our community and show them that they don't have to be Elite to be a CrossFitter. They could even have special needs and we can still make it perfect just for them. This is what I have done for Taylor and it have been amazing for him. Then I thought, wouldn't it be great if we could raise $1000 for the Autism Society of Alabama?

These were my goals.

I had never attempted something like this and I had no idea what to expect. I decided that since April is Autism Awareness month, April would be the perfect time to do this. In March, I sent out some messages to 2Pood, ReDefine Fit, WOD Gear and Atlas Power Wraps and asked if they would like to make a donation for prizes for this event. All of them replied very quickly with a big "YES!". 

I thought Jeff Tucker of GSX CrossFit would be the perfect guy to program the WOD "Taylor". Taylor really likes the body weight movements, and so Tucker is the man! Tucker was so generous with his time and was genuinely thrilled to be asked to do this for us.

I then started sending out invitations via FaceBook and the response was immediate and overwhelming! Can I just tell you how much I LOVE the CrossFit community? We had a great crowd! They came from all over the state. My friend Crystal and her husband Wayne along with their son, Morgan drove all the way from Dothan to be a part fo this event. My friend, Jonah from Brute Fitness in Gadsden (the bad ass in the video doing the one armed snatch) spent the day with us as well helping and putting weight over his head. We also had people come from Huntsville and Tuscaloosa. Not only did they show up but they showed out!
I think this video, done by my good friend James Washer, sums up the days events perfectly.

The day was a huge success!  Trinity CrossFit raised over $7000 for the Autism Society of Alabama and for the Ground to Overhead Relay that was going on all day from 11:00-6:00, we put over 200,000lbs over our head. I think next year we can do even better!


Then to make the day even better the most amazing and moving thing happened. A company called "The Infinite Actuary" donated the New iPad for the event. We decided that we would give that as a prize to the person who raised the most money. A fundraising contest, of course!


At the end of the day, James came in and said "It's over!. Someone just won the iPad by giving over $1000!" Then he told me, "They want Taylor to have it, so it's his and they also want to remain anonymous."

 I was moved to tears! I had to go into the bathroom and just cry. I had told my boys that we didn't count in the fundraising and now Taylor had just won the iPad because there are still some really amazing people in the world. 
Wouldn't it be amazing if CrossFit boxes all over the country did this for their local Autism Society?Autism affects more and more children. It has become an epidemic! When Taylor was diagnosed 13 years ago it was 1 in 150 children. Today it is 1 in 88!

I believe we can make a difference. I am so glad I stepped out of my comfort zone. I am still riding the high of an incredible weekend.


"Taylor"
10 minute AMRAP
5 second Handstand Hold
5 Ring Pushups
5 Shoot Thrus
15 Squats
5 second Hollow Holds

This week's goal-Make a Difference

Gymnastic Cert in Atlanta.

This past weekend I traveled to Atlanta to CrossFit HD for my CrossFit Gymnastic Cert with Jeff Tucker, Julie Maurer and Jessica Gray. Let me just say that I felt like a school kid the entire time! All during the day I felt like I needed to pinch myself and was constantly saying to myself "I am so glad I'm here!", "Can I really call this work?", "This is just too much fun!" and of course "I love Tucker!!"

Seriously, after spending 2 months sick with Bronchitis, YES! 2 MONTHS!, this put me in such a fantastic mood that I feel I am still floating!

I am still riding on the joy and feeling so blessed! I am blessed!

I have had the opportunity to work with outstanding coaches such as Mike Burgener, Jeff Tucker, Chuck Carswell, and on and on!  I get to meet truly amazing athletes such as Brandon Phillips, Emily Griffith, and Alecia Grantham and Leah Polaski. (Look for them in Regionals!) The friends I have made in my few short years of CrossFit are priceless! But more importantly I have the privilege of sharing CrossFit with other people. I have the honor of spending an hour with someone and help them to achieve goals they never dreamed they would achieve. Can it get better than this?

I could go on and on. Bottom line? CrossFit has changed my life and has brought me a joy I didn't know I was missing. Are you waiting for the mushy music to start? hahaha!

I know, this is soft and mushy, but this is how I have been feeling this past week. I wish everyone could feel like this! But here is what I have learned. I am not normal.

Surprised? Haha, probably not!

I know there are other "not normal" people out there and I love you! I also love the normal people. I realize not every one of my athletes live and breathe CrossFit. That's okay. They still walk in the door with a goal and if they don't, I give them a goal. (Goals are your friend!)

My goal right now is to make a difference. Yes, I have other goals such as a 135lbs snatch or finally getting a strict muscle up, but in the big picture my top goal is to make a difference.
I am working on that goal this coming weekend. The WODism for Autism.

This was an idea I had a few months ago after being inspired by my friend Sean Dickenson, from Combat Fitness who had done a day long (brutal) WOD to collect food for Backpack for Buddies. I loved it! I wanted to do something like this to raise money for the Autism Society of Alabama.What I came up  with was a WODathon  which we will host at my gym, Trinity CrossFit.

As you may or may not know, my oldest son, Taylor, has High Functioning Autism. He has been doing CrossFit Kids for 2 years now and it has been so great for him. I wanted to share this with other parents, so I thought this would be a great way to introduce CrossFit to people who may think it is only for the Elite and to raise a little money in the process.

Jeff Tucker with GSX CrossFit programmed the WOD "Taylor" for us. We are also going to be having a ground to overhead relay going on all day for the total amount of weight overhead by the end of the day.
I can't wait! I have no idea how many people are coming, but I do know that it has grown much larger than I had dreamed. I am looking forward to it!

If you would like to participate with us by doing the WOD "Taylor", here it is.
"Taylor"
10 minute AMRAP of
Handstand Holds - 5 seconds
5 Ring Pushups
5 Shoot Thrus
15 Air Squats
Hollow Hold - 5 seconds

I will blog next week and let you know how it goes!

OK, now on to the WODs this week
I have taken the past 2 weeks off because I couldn't get well so I only have Monday and today to post.

Monday:-
Strength
Push Press (no rack) 3-2-2-1-1 (95lbs, 105lbs, 110lbs, 115lbs, 125lbsF)

WOD
15 minute AMRAP of
5 Power Cleans (100lbs)
10 Toes to Bar
15 Wall Balls
6 Rounds +2

Strength 2
 Bench Press 5-5-5-5-5 (95lbs, 95lbs, 100lbs, 100lbs, 100lbs)

Tuesday
Skill
Ring Support 4 x 15 seconds
Ice Cream Makers 3-3-3-3-3

WOD
100 Overhead Squats (65lbs)
at the top of each minute do 3 burpees
8:45

Feels good to be back to my WODs again. My goal for the next 4 weeks is my bench press and my muscle up. I am working towards a bodyweight bench press and a strict muscle up by this time next month.

SKINNY does not mean HEALTHY

I have spent the past week or so really trying to find the right words for this post. I have finally come to the realization that I just need to be up front and point blank about this. I really just need to vent just a bit.

SKINNY DOES NOT MEAN HEALTHY!

That being said, I am human and I get my feelings hurt, too. I have to admit though, it really pisses me off that I couldn't just shrug this off but instead, let it get to me. Especially when what was said to me shouldn't have bothered me!

Last week, I had someone very close to me, another woman, lovingly point out the fact that I had still have a belly.
Not a shocker! I mean, it's not like I didn't know, but it hurt my feelings just the same. I said as much and she told me that she didn't mean to hurt my feelings BUT she was taking these appetite suppressants and maybe I would like her to get me some also to help me get rid of the rest of my belly.
:(
FEELINGS VERY HURT!

And do you know what makes me the most upset?! The fact that for a split second before I shut her down, I was willing to hear about these pills. WHY?

Seriously! WHY?!

If someone from my gym had told me that this had happened to them I would have come UNDONE! I would have been so upset! Then I would have spent the next 30 minutes explaining to them that SKINNY does not mean HEALTHY! Pills are NOT how to lose weight and blah, blah, blah!

So why didn't I have this immediate reaction when it was suggested to me that I needed help to lose my belly? I think partly because this statement came from a loved one, but I think the real reason is because I, like so many of you, can not be completely satisfied with how I look.

Why do we do this to ourselves?

I have never been that girl with the eating disorder. Mostly because I enjoy food too damn much!  What I have always wanted though, was an athletic build. A body that, when people saw me, would know that I worked hard for it, not wonder who my plastic surgeon was. (DISCLAIMER: I have nothing against plastic surgery, it is just not for me.)
Up until a few years ago, I didn't do the work to get that body, so I had no reason to be upset that I didn't have it. So, I wasn't.

If you don't work for it, you can't expect it, right? RIGHT!

After the birth of my 3rd and last son, I got serious though. I started working out 6 days a week doing something you may have heard of, P90X. This was perfect for me at the time. I had a newborn that I couldn't take to the gym and with this, I could work out at home. I did this for 3 years, every day. (YES! You read that correct) I measured myself monthly, weighed myself, took the before and after pictures. You name it! Over those 3 years, I saw my body begin to change and reward me with my hard work.

THEN I discovered CrossFit and my life completely changed!

I also discovered I wasn't near as strong and in shape as I thought I was. My first CrossFit workout handed my ass to me...and I loved it!!! As a result, I saw my body change more in the following 3 months than it had changed in the past 3 years of P90X. My arms, my legs, my shoulders and my back all begin to change. For the first time, I was able to see muscle definition. I didn't even know I had some of these muscles. Very cool!

What was even better, was that I found my goals had begun to change as well. I was no longer concerned with the number on the scale going down, or the measurements, or the damn "before" and "after" photos. My goals changed to things like, lift heavier, run faster, get an unassisted pull-up, learn the olympic lifts, do push-ups correctly.

Losing 5 - 10lbs began to seem silly to me.

I felt amazing and fitter than I had ever been in my life! Wasn't that supposed to be our goal?

I also learned what my body was not going to do. I had always expected my body to respond to everything, and for the most part it did...except my abs.

I joke with my friends that I only have a 3-pack instead of a 6-pack. Those other 3 abs that will not show, I have named them Taylor, Brendan and Jordan after my 3 boys.

So then why the hell did this conversation bother me so damn much? I had accepted a long time ago I was not a 6-packer.

Not a 6-packer

Nope, no 6 pack here either.

Reality = STRONG!

Not me! :)

My best friend suggested that maybe I was mourning a loss. She asked me, "Why are you not upset that your boobs aren't perfect?"
I laughed hard and said, "Girl, I have had three boys! There is no help for them expect for surgery, which I won't do."
She said, "The same is true for your abs! Everything else about your body changed as you expected with the exception for your stomach. Let's take a photo of those abs you think you should have, burn the picture and bury this crap!"

Well said, Cindy! So, for those of you out there that may be going through this same struggle, let's bury this crap! Love who we are! Be proud of what we are doing, and most important, don't let the hurtful words bring you down.

Strong is Sexy and Beautiful! Caring what people think of you...not so much.

You know better. I know better!

Be healthy, be fit, and most important, be HAPPY with who you are!

Being Sick is Not Fun!

So this is what it looks like at the end of Open WOD 12.4 when you have been sick for 3 weeks. This was AWEFUL!

Ok, I really, really try not to be a whiner, but I have to admit, I have done a hell of a lot of whining over the past, hmmm, going on 4 weeks!

The week of Open WOD 12.2 I started getting sick with a cough. Just a cough, but it was a constant, can't sleep at night kind of cough.

Over the next weeks it just got worse. I went to 2 different Doctors 3 times and finally on the 3rd week after a chest X-ray was diagnosed with Bronchitis. I was soooo frustrated! I haven't been sick since the fall and here I am sick during the World Wide OPEN.

Okay, so why am I telling you my sob story? Because this isn't a story about being sick, it's story about stubbornness.

After Open WOD 12.2, I was in 400 something place in my region. Um, only the top 60 go on to Regionals so the odds were high that I wasn't going to the Regions (a bit of sarcasm in the morning). Yeah, I am not going to Regionals. And I knew that going in. I have not trained how I wanted to this past year in order to get there. I knew this. But for me, the Open WOD competition wasn't about going to Regionals, it was about seeing how much I had improved from last year. Now I was sick!

I did Open WOD 12.3 on Friday during the week I had had no sleep.

(Open WOD 12.3 is As Many Rounds As Possible in 18 minutes of: 15 Box Jumps, 12 Push Presses (75lbs), 9 toes to bar.)

I had a steriod shot, steroid pack, and was loaded ups with meds. Well, good bye sleep for 2 days! Then the other nights I was up all night coughing...no sleep!

My score was 6 rounds + 33 reps. I knew I could have done better had I been 100%. Because of this, I decided to do it one more time that Sunday. I awoke Sunday morning around 5:00 coughing so hard that my throat closed up. For what was about 3 minutes I couldn't breathe. I went into a panic, scared the crap out of my husband who almost called 911. Oh, it was awful!

When I went into the gym that morning with my husband to redo WOD 12.3, I was still shaking from the events that morning. As I was watching him redo this WOD I realized that I was being very stubborn...and stupid. This wasn't worth it. My body was sick and it obviously needed a break. This was in contradiction from what I wanted to do, but I realized I had to surrender. My body was screaming at me to pay attention!

I took off another week hoping I would get better before Open WOD 12.4. I did...but just a little. I did Open WOD 12.4 on Friday.

(Open WOD 12.4 was As Many Reps As Possible in 12 minutes of: 150 Wall Balls, 90 Double Unders and 30 Muscle Ups.)

My goal was just to get through the wall balls. My "Karen" time (Karen is 150 Wall Balls) is under 8 minutes  but I was so scared I would launch into another coughing fit, I wasn't even sure if I could do it in 12 minutes. I was going out of town with my family for the weekend. I wanted to play it safe, not make myself worse. My new goal was to have a great weekend with my family. Priorities were now in check.

My friend Danny, who was judging me for the workout, really helped me get through it. He kept me at a pace. I would do 10 Wall Balls and drop it and he would count me down before I could pick it up again. This was such a help, I only had to stop to cough one time. My score was 186. All the Wall Balls plus 36 double unders.

Was it my best? Hell no! But I had a great weekend with my family in D.C. and that was the most important thing to me.

I am still not 100% yet and I realize that this is my fault. If I had taken some time off when I first started to get sick, I may not have gotten Bronchitis. Being sick is not fun, but being sick for almost a month is hell.

I have learned a very valuable lesson. Sometimes it is good to push through the pain, but you have to know when your body truly needs to rest and recover.

Open WOD 12.2 ...I love snatches!

Another item I can check off my 2012 Goal list! One of my goals was a 95lb squat snatch and last week after doing the Open WOD 12.2 I got 98lbs and it felt great!!! BUT...not 100lbs, so if you know about the Open WOD 12.2, then you know that my score was only 60.
The Open WOD 12.2 was 10 minutes of:
30 Snatches at 45lbs
30 Snatches at 75lbs
30 Snatches at 100lbs
then as many Snatches as you can at 120lbs

I did the first 60 snatches in 5 minutes, then spent the next 5 minutes trying to get that 100lbs. I have been stuck at 88lbs for months, I was determined to break through this. Well at the end of the 10 minutes my score was still 60.
I went into the gym that morning KNOWING that I was not leaving until I had a new Personal Record (PR) on my snatch. I had posted the night before on facebook. "I can do this". A friend of mine replied "NO, you WILL do this!"
Well, the WOD was done, I was disappointed and had already decided I was going to try this again.
I taught my class and watched PR after PR as my athletes snatched like crazy. It was so exciting!
After my class, I loaded up the Bella bar and decided that now was the time to PR that snatch. I like the Bella bar better for snatches because it is much easier to hook grip that bar, but it's only 33lbs.
I power snatched 88lbs and then loaded up 93lbs...and power snatched it! What?
Ok, 5 more pounds. BAM! 98lbs. squat snatch! I was soooo excited!
I tried 5 more pounds...but that was it. I was done for the day.
THEN it started bothering me...why did I load up the Bella bar? Only 2 more pounds and that would have been a 100lbs snatch! UGH!
I ended up doing WOD 12.2 two more times last week, but I never got that 100lbs snatch. I started getting sick the day before the Open and by the end of the week, I was just an empty tank.
So, score for WOD 12.2 was only 60, BUT I  did get a 10 lbs PR on a squat snatch AND did 120 snatches in 3 days.
So not beastly, but something I can be proud of.
How about you?
I would love to hear how you guys doing during the OPEN.
Any new PR's?

Oh, and of course, now I need to make a new goal for a Squat Snatch...110lbs I am coming for you!