One HELL of a Weekend

Friday evening myself and two of my friends headed out to NYC for the weekend and although it was a weekend getaway, I knew I had to somehow incorporate healthy eating and Crossfitting into my weekend.  I had done some research and I found a box close to the hotel that we were staying in and decided to go to a Saturday 10am WOD.


Once everybody was in NYC, we headed out for dinner at an AMAZING Italian place, where I was immediately faced with challenge number 1.  Avoiding the pasta and the bread, and it actually wasn't that hard.  The servers brought us a huge basket of bread and I didn't even think twice about having any and then the server brought us a meat and cheese platter "on the house" because we reminded the owner of his daughters.  SCORE!


For my entree I ordered grilled portabello and had some of my friend's salad which really awesome.  My friends who ordered pasta dishes and fried calamari enjoyed their food as well and I had survived dinner bread and pasta free.  With no less than one man flirting and eventually giving me his phone number and insisting that when I go to Italy, I call him to ride in his gondola, we left to go to the next bar.  LOL.  I cannot be taken anywhere!  

After dinner we went to a cupcake and wine paring place and I did cave and had 1/2 of a cupcake, which I thought was acceptable.  I could have had an entire one, but I limited myself to only a half.  Not going to lie, I had 2 bay breezes that knocked me on my ass and made me delightfully drunk for the evening.  


The next morning I actually had a slight headache, I'm assuming from lack of water but pushed on regardless.  While three of our friends went to the tickets booth to see what tickets we could get for a play, myself and friend Sarah went to Crossfit Hell's Kitchen.  


I was SUPER excited that Sarah was coming with me to observe a WOD.  I know that I talk about Crossfit a lot, but I think seeing it really gives people a better idea of the intensity.  


Crossfit Hell's Kitchen is a really cool box and I very much enjoyed the WOD.  Well, maybe not ENJOYED, but you know what I mean.  


WOD
7 Rounds
5 Strict Pull Ups
10 Wall Balls
15 Kettlebell Swings
20 Double Unders


39:37


During Round two I realized how tired/hungover/dehydrated I really was.  This was a terrible performance and I clearly knew why.  However, I didn't quit and even though I was the last to finished, I finished and I could have very easily said screw it, I'm not going at all. 

The rest of the weekend was really fun.  We had brunch at a cute place where I was able to get an egg white omelet with spinach, tomatoes, and peppers and I did not eat the breakfast potatoes.  I simple offered them up to my four friends and before I knew it, they were gone.  


We ending up seeing Jersey Boys which is a really good show, very enjoyable.  


Dinner was at a BBQ place and I had one beer, lots of water, pulled chicken with a salad and a side of coleslaw.  I'm actually getting really good at sticking with paleo and it gets easier as I go.  We decided to keep it low key Saturday night since we had a long day and went back to the hotel for the night.  


I knew that today I had to run 8 miles, so keeping it low key was fine by me.  


The next morning we woke up and headed back to home.  After making a stupid mistake and almost ending up in Philly (don't ask), I relaxed for a while and then headed out for my run.  


This is the last long run I have before my race on Sunday, and all things considered I did pretty well.  I didn't mope around about having to run as much this time and I felt really good once it was over.  I'm excited to have a
"rest week" for running, meaning my miles are WAY lower this week  because of the race on Saturday, because this week will be a little more hectic than normal.  


The scores are in from the first Open's workout and I came in 11,541st out of 33,540.  That means that in the first WOD I beat 66% of the woman who are doing the games.  I'm going to consider that a win!  Great job to the entire Crossfit610 team, I have high expectations for you all!  

Crossfit Games 2012 WOD 12.1

Today I completed my VERY first Crossfit Games 2012 WOD 12.1, and I am filled with every emotion possible.  Before I get ahead of myself, I want to start from the beginning.....

I've been having workout anxiety since the moment I signed up to be in the games.  What are the WODs going to be? Will I be able to do them?  Where will I rank?  Will I embarrass 610?  So many questions, and until 7pm last night, they were repeating in my head over and over like a fight gone bad. 

When 7pm last night finally rolled around, my husband (also eager to know the WOD) read the posted WOD 12.1:  7 Minute AMRAP of Burpees.  Seriously?!?  Social media was in a frenzy!  Twitter was exploding and all you had to do was put up a status of "Burppes" and no less than 25 comments would follow.  99% of people were pissed, dreading the WOD, and just speculating on how horrible it was going to be.  But not I.  I was secretly jumping for joy.  Why?

I can do Burpees and I actually LIKE Burpees.  

Suddenly my 115 Burpee Challenge just prepared me for my 1st ever Games WOD.  Dennis and I immediatly  started talking goal numbers.  Not getting TOO ahead of myself, I thought, 10 per minute for 7 minutes.  70.  I want 70.  Dennis then said his goal was 100.  Sweet.  Then we watched the standards video and we both suddenly started to double guess.  At the top of a Burpee you have to hit a target 6 inches above your finger tips rather than just a clap, and Dennis insisted this was a "game changer."  We watched two female competitors do sample videos, one getting well over 100, and the other just about there.  I was sticking to 70.  I wanted 70.  And so on facebook and twitter I declared that 70 was my number.  

Due to my FANTASTIC schedule (social not work) the only time I could get the WOD in for judging was this morning at 6am.  Two things that are always concerning. 

1.  6am times are ALWAYS slower than evening classes. 
2.  Am I recovered, will I get enough sleep, and will I be the ONLY person doing it tomorrow.  (I have always felt doing a WOD alone is very different than doing it with a group).  

So instead of counting sheep, I counted burpees to get to sleep and when 5am rolled around and I did my normal morning routine to get to the box at 5:50am.  


I wasn't the only person at the 6am class, but I was the only person doing the 12.1 WOD.  UGH.  To add to my unecissary nervousness, the WOD Clock was broken, so there would be no 3...2...1...GO! or a clock for me to keep an eye on during the WOD.  FOCUS KAREN FOCUS.  


Trainer Evan and I set up the targets (I used rings above my hands) and I marked the floor directly under the rings to keep lined up with the rings and hopefully not waste time "finding them" on the jump.  Holy shit was I nervous.  


Trainer Evan asked me if I was ready, I said yes, and there I went.  

Before the WOD, I told Trainer Evan my expectations for my performance (70) and he challenged me.  He said that I could do more.  He said that 70 is a comfortable pace and we weren't here to be comfortable.  HA!

So what did I do?  I burpeed and I burpeed and I burpeed.  I wasn't going to stop until Trainer Evan told me I could.  If I hesitated on my next burpee Trainer Evan would remind me to keep moving. And I only hesitated a few times.  1 minute in, 2.5 minutes in, 5 minutes in and I was doing great!  KEEP MOVING, DONT STOP.  And as my last second of the 7 minutes expired, I completed my 80th, yes 80TH burpee.

Holy Fucking Shit.  

I wanted to laugh, I wanted to cry, but mostly I wanted to catch my breath because I was really, really winded.  Did I really just exceed my goal by 10?  Did I really just go 7 minutes without stopping?  I couldn't wait to call Dennis to tell him how I had done!  

I got into my car and as soon as Dennis picked up the phone, I was in tears.  I told him that I didn't make my 70 burpee goal (I know I'm such a jerk) and made him guess all the way down to 43 before I told him the good news.  He was beyond happy for me.  But that didn't stop my tears.  I was overwhelmed with the release of anxiety, I was exhausted, and I started to get upset with myself.  Upset because I'm an AVERAGE person, and 80 will be an average score.  I wont be at the top and I won't be at the bottom.  

I tried to reason and convinced myself that I did the very best I could and pushed as hard as I could.  This is the FIRST time I'm doing this and I don't even have a year of Crossfit under my belt.  Elissa a few days ago said it best, "I think competition changes things for you, and adds more pressure to your performance."  


As the day went on, I started to feel better about my score and my performance.  I kept refreshing the leader board to see how others were doing and I was beating right around 60% of the women.  I'm excited to see my final ranking on Sunday when the WOD is closed. 


This is going to be an interesting 5 weeks!




Thursday:

12.1 WOD
7 Minutes AMRAP
Burpees w/a 6 inch target at the top

80

Record Your WODs!

I apologize for the lack of blogging this week, I cannot believe it's Wednesday already! For those of you who crossfit, you know what that makes today:  The day they announce the first WOD of the opens.  SO EXCITING!

Even though I had Monday off, I decided to get up early and go to the 6am WOD to get it out of the way.  I was really glad I did.  I spent the rest of the day cleaning, shopping with a friend, and then relaxing.  Perfect ending to a really fun long weekend.  

Yesterday I had a 5 mile run to do and even though I was reluctant to do so, I did it.  My pace was a bit slower than I would have liked, but honestly I think I was still recovering from Sunday's 8 miler.  I cannot believe my next race is 11 days from today.  Even though my attitude hasn't been it's best, I've been true to the training and I feel quite confident that I will do well.  Half Marathon in April.....well, I'm not going to think about that just yet.  

With after work plans today, I knew that I had to WOD in the morning or no WOD at all.  So 6am it was!  I was even able to convince Dennis to come with!

When I'm able to, and have the time, I like to watch and observe other people from CF610 doing a WOD.  We are getting a FLOOD of new people, and it brings me back to time when I was new.  I see the looks on their faces while WODing and I guarantee I felt the same way and all I want to somehow convince them that even though they are in pain right that second, the accomplishments will soon follow.  

Once piece of advice I wish I took from the beginning.  Record your WODs.  

When I first started CF I hated it, it was outside of my comfort zone and I thought there was zero chance I was going to continue with it.  Until of course I fell in love with it.  When Trainers Mike and Molly told me to start a CF journal to record my Weights & WODs, I blew it off.  Hell, I was just happy I SURVIVED the WODs, why would I need to record them?

Then in 2012, I started doing just that.  And now, two months later, I wish I had started the day I started.  

The reason?  It's REALLY cool to look back at the progress and to see the leaps and bounds you WILL eventually make.  Once I started my running training, I recorded EVERY run, starting with my 2.50 mile run at a 12 minute pace.  Now, towards the bottom, I'm rarely over a 10 minute pace.  

I can quickly see what my 1RM is for any given movement, and that will help me prepare for the day's strength or WOD.  And the most amusing statistic of all is the Benchmark WODs.  Nothing is more empowering to see you crushing your last performance after a month or so, and having documentation of it as well!  

So if you are new, and reading this, if you only learn one thing from me, PLEASE let it be to record your WODS!  Always, Always, Always!!!





Monday:

Strength
20 minutes to fix 1RM of Low Back Squat
135lbs

WOD
10 Minute AMRAP
5 Wall Climbs 
10 Box Jumps
5 Pull Ups (thin purple) 
3+3

Cash Out
5 minute row for Cals = 71


Tuesday:

5 Mile Run


Wednesday:

Strength:
1 Mile Run for Time = 8:47 (dennis calculated it was actually 1.1 miles)

WOD:
5 Minute AMRAP
Burpee Pull Ups
3 Minute AMRAP
Ring Dips (thin purple band)
1 Minute AMRAP
Air Squats

Total Rep Count 112

6 Wall Balls & A Snatch

Happy Sunday, and for those of you with tomorrow off, enjoy!

Friday was my rest day and as luck would have it, "Karen" was the WOD at CF610.  This is the 2nd time that I've dodged doing that WOD.  Phew. 

Saturday was a fun Team WOD.  There were two teams of 4 people and for whatever reason I got put on the boys team.  So we gave ourselves the team name of "6 Wall Balls & A Snatch."  (You figure it out).  

The WOD was challenging and most of all it was fun.  I was smiling and cheering while doing my row, and having Dennis by my side cheering me on during the Ring Push Ups was nice.  It ended up being a 20 minute work out and my arms were feeling it after!  

Today was my long run day and as the runs get longer, it gets harder for me to get my shoes on to go.  Basically I'm the biggest baby before my run and its getting worse.  With my race coming up on  March 3rd (the 10 miler) I have to change my attitude.  After I got my shoes on, the run was fine.  I ran a different trail today and very much enjoyed it.  Weather couldn't have been better and the trail was nice and flat, which helps when the distance is longer.  And of course, after my run, I felt better about everything.  


I'm also getting really excited about the Crossfit Opens.  The first WOD is being released this week, and I'm so curious about how this going to go.  I'm more insterested in how Dennis (reformed fatty) is going to do.  He is all about competition, and I know this will bring his training (and hopefully his eating and drinking habbits) to a new level.  He's been working so hard all year in Crossfit and the LAST thing I want for him is to be dissapointed with his standings.  

I keep reminding myself that I can't get to caught up on the rankings.  Here are the things that I keep telling myself to calm the anxiety. 

1.  Signing up this year is 100% more than I've done last year.  I've already won.  Any rep done this year, is 1 more rep than last year.  

2. I want to do my best, not win.  This will only set a benchmark for next year's open.  

3.  Even though I am being ranked against people WORLDWIDE, I'm doing this for me and nobody else.  

4.  Have fun with it and use everything I've learned during the past year.  I've practiced, and I'm prepared.  Now I just have to perform.  


WISH ME LUCK!


Friday:
Rest Day

Saturday:
As a Team
10,000 Meter Row
10,000lbs Dead Lifts
200 Ring Push Ups

broken out:
2500 Meter Row
19 DL @ 135lbs
50 Ring Push Ups

22 minutes (ish)

Post V-Day Blog

I hope everybody had a wonderful Valentine's Day and I wanted to remind people that you don't need a LOVER on Valentine's Day, you just need love.  So if you are a single, try not to focus on being alone and focus on the love in your life that you do have (even if it's from a relative or friend, or who ever).  

With this being my 5th Valentine's Day with Dennis we decided that I would plan the evening for Tuesday and he would plan the night for this coming Friday (the 18th) so I'm super excited to see what he has in store for me :)

This week is an aggressive running week for me, by Sunday I will have hopefully logged 15 miles which is a huge increase from last week's 10.  Even though Tuesday was Valentine's Day Dennis and I made sure to get our normally scheduled work out in.  Me, 5 miles of running and Dennis, a WOD.   We then had an amazing dinner at The Grille at Bear Creek.  YUM!

Back to running.  I'm starting to notice that the first and last mile are my hardest.  It takes me about 1 mile (or about 10 minutes) to get used to the fact that I'm running.  After that, I can zone out and "just keep running."  I then get to a point where I'm starting to tire, right around the last mile and have to really focus on my breathing and my pace.  

The other day my sister-in-law asked me, "Does running/working out help you with your stress?"  EXCELLENT QUESTION! 

I'm going to use one my least favorite answers, "Well yes and no."

I'll start by explaining the "no."  The ONLY reason I would say running/exercising gives me stress is the time management aspect.  If I didn't have a full time job, it would be easy.  But fitting in long runs, or even a WOD some times can be a little stressful.  

The "yes" out weighs the "no" by a lot.  When I'm running, my mind is cleared.  I can zone out and not think about anything, or I can sort out things that have been on my mind.  Either way, it's amazing.  I can start out in a horrible mood, come back from a run and be a completely different person.  I've found that exercising has made me a calmer, more relaxed person in general.  I think working out is a great stress reliever.  Not to mention it will improve your health, your looks, and your overall feeling about yourself.  So many benefits to working out!  Remember you don't have to dive right into the deep end and workout for hours on end.  Just 30 - 45 minutes a day will make a world of difference. 

Here is a video of my FAVORITE Crossfit couple (trainer Mike and Molly) doing a Valentine's Day WOD together.  Extra credit to Molly for wearing red!  Remember the couple that WOD's together, stays together!  

Tuesday:
5 Mile Run

Wed:
Strength
800 Meter Run
20 TGU
800 Meter Run
20 Ab Matt Sit Ups

WOD
7 Rounds for Time
7 KB 1.5 pood
7 Air Squats
7 T2B

12:51 RX

Eat, Sleep, WOD & Run

After a busy Friday and Saturday, I was happy to have a Sunday to do nothing.  And when I say nothing, I really mean: grocery shop, plan meals, laundry, clean, run 4 miles, and of course doing day 2 of the Burpee Challenge.  


After hours of delaying my run and Dennis out playing poker, I figured I should just go and get it done with.  

It was very cold and windy, but things like that haven't stopped me before and I actually thought to myself, what would I tell my bloggers? haha.  


Knowing that I had after work plans (or so I thought) I went to the 6am class today and it kicked my ass.  We started off with 50% back squats, and did 1 the first minute, 2 the second minute, 3 the third, etc. all the way to 10 minutes.  That was surprisingly challenging.  (I don't know why I get surprised anymore when workouts kick my ass).  


Then onto the WOD.  I was hoping to do 5 minute rounds, but the push press defeated me.  The first round I was able to do about 10 in a row and then I had to drop the bar.  The 2nd and 3rd round, I was splitting them up into 5 reps and then dropping.  Huge time waster I know.  I didn't make it to the 5th round, but I tried and that is all I can do.  


Post WOD I did my 3 burpees and some GHD sit ups.  


My after work plans got cancelled which was ok, because with my workout already done it gave me some much needed time to relax.  :)  

Sunday:
4 Mile Run


Monday:
Strength
10 ascending BS @ 50% 1 RM = 80lbs


1st minute = 1
2nd minute = 2
3rd minute = 3
.........
.........
........
10th minute = 10


WOD
5 Rounds
20 Push Press (65lbs)
20 Half Moons (10lbs)
20 Burpees


20 minute time cap


3+21

You Can't Have your Cake and Eat it Too

Moving from CT to PA back in 2007 meant that I put 2.5 hours between myself and my family.  The distance is far enough that I have my space, but close enough that if needed, I could drive there and back in a day.  


That was the case this weekend.  My aunt was having her 50th birthday party on Saturday and I was planning on attending.  With the weather forecast a bit uncertain, I planned on driving back to PA after the party to avoid any bad weather.  


The party was at 1pm, so I knew I had to go to Crossfit Saturday at 9am, which I did.  


After the work out I drove to the cute little restaurant where we were having lunch and it was slightly amusing to see family members that I haven't seen in a while, especially my mother. 


She kept going on and on about how thin I looked and how jealous she was.  Other family members took notice to my weight loss and were pretty impressed.  I found this all too amusing.  Then when lunch was served, it was clear that I was the ONLY one with odd eating habits.  

Good

Bad

I got some funny looks, but I didn't care.  I work hard in the gym, why shouldn't I work hard on my diet as well?  And then came the hardest part of all. 

Yes, that was the CAKE!

I knew this was going to  be a challenge, but I honestly wasn't very interested in eating any of it.  It was a cool looking cake and everybody said it was yummy, so I just toke their word for it.  My grama noticed that I wasn't eating any of it and she simply said, good for you!  

My point being, I made sure to get a WOD in before my trip to CT and I wasn't about to blow my workout on on some bread and cake.  I work hard in the gym, and I'm working harder in the kitchen. I could have had a tiny piece of cake, but I know that looking the way I want to look would taste much better.  

Saturday:

Team WOD

2 Rounds

200 Air Squats w/25 lbs Plate

100 Band Push Ups (Thin Purple)

200 Ab Matt Sit Ups w/10 lb Plate

about 15 minutes between 4 Ladies

New Shoes

One of the benefits of judging for the "PA's Fittest" competition a while back was that I was given the opportunity to purchase a pair of INOV-8 shoes at a discounted "Judge" price.  Unable to pass up a great deal, I decided to get myself a pair to "see what they were all about."  

I've had the shoes for a couple weeks now and I have to admit, I love them. 

The Inov-8's were manufactured to maximize an athlete's overall speed, power, and responsiveness, whether forward, vertically, or laterally. The Inov-8's have all grounds covered.

WORD!

The shoes are much lighter than my New Balance that I've been wearing and feel much better for box jumping, running, and the biggest difference is when power lifting.  

My regular sneakers would naturally push me onto my toes, which is bad, but these shoes make it much easier to keep on my heels when lifting.  They take a little bit of getting used too, they feel different than sneakers, but I'm glad I gave them a shot and would recommend them to anybody that was considering getting them.  

Thursday:

Warm Up

10 Air Squats

10 Push Ups

10 Ab Matt Sit Ups

3 Rounds

WOD

50 Burpees for time

4:17

3 Mile run

Friday:

Strength

4 attempts at Max Rep of OHS @ 50% body weight = 75lbs

12

WOD

20 Minute AMRAP

10 Pull Ups (thin purple band)

10 Dead Lifts @ 110lbs

200 Meter Row

4+140

My Running Stats

I think it's worth going through and reflecting on my achievement of training and running the 10k.  I want to emphasize the training, because that was the hardest part.  


In 7 Weeks, I ran a total of 77.27 Miles. 


Which averages to about 11 Miles per week.  


Each mile burns about 100 calories, so adding running to my normal workout schedule burned me an extra 7,720 calories or just over 2lbs.  


My slowest run was a 2 miles at a 12:53 minute pace. 
My fastest run was a 6.2 miles at a 9:19 minute pace. (which was the 10k)


I spent 11 hours, 31 minutes, and 49 in seven weeks running, which is almost a half of an entire day!  


I also cross trained (anything other than running) 23 times in that seven weeks.


20 of those cross trains were Crossfit, 1 was snowboarding, 1 was piloxing, and 1 was polefit. (there will be a blog at some point about these classes, stay tuned).  


Each cross train took at least an hour, so that is an additional 23 hours I put in.


I wish I logged every minute I complained about the training, because I'm sure it was a lot, but honestly I wouldn't have been able to complete the race with out it.


I also wanted to take a minute and explain why I'm doing so much running.  I think as long as I can remember I've hated running.  It's boring, its hard to do long distances, and I am not a natural "runner."  That is why completing these series of training programs and races would be a HUGE accomplishment to me.  


Anybody can do something they love well, but how many can do something they hate well, and stick with it?  I've signed up for 2 half marathons and never made it to either start line.  I have to redeem myself with the St. Lukes Half.  


Crossfit has really changed my view on what I can and what I think I can't do.  






Wednesday:


Glorious, glorious rest day

115 Burpee Challenge

As if my life wasn't already filled with enough resolutions, goals, and races, I decided to participate in the "115 Burpee Challenge" (Thank you Elissa!).  

What is the 115 Burpee Challenge one may ask?  Well here it is:


June 4th 2012 would be the 115th birthday of the creator of the Burpee, Royal Huddleston Burpee and to honor him I will do 115 days of Burpees starting on Saturday February 11th.  


Day 1 = 1 Burpee
Day 2 = 2 Burpees
Day 3 = 3 Burpees


Etc., Etc., Etc., alllllllllllllll the way up to 115 days, which adds up to 6,670 burpees in just about 4 months. 

That my friends, is a lot of Burpees!  

Why do I keep doing these things?  They are fun, they keep me motivated, and typically you get a pretty sweet t-shirt out of the deal.  

Monday:

Strength

5x5 of 80% 1 RM = 125lb Back Squat

5x5 of 80% 1 RM = 60lb Shoulder Press

WOD

12 Minute AMRAP

12 Box Jumps (20in)

6 Thrusters (65lbs)

6 Bar Facing Burpees

4+8  RX

Tuesday:

3 Mile Run

Slower pace, my lets were sore!!!

My Superbowl 10K

I bet you are all DYING to know how my race went on Sunday, aren't you!?! 

If you check my fan page "Digital Mustard" on Facebook, you would have seen that I actually did pretty well, despite how I felt about the whole thing. 

Even though I had made it through all the training, I was still a little nervous for the run.  I think that no matter how prepared I am for a race I will always be a little nervous.  The biggest thing on my mind was the course. 

This shows the hills, and ironically my emotions during the race.

The other thing that I did not like about the race, was that it was a turn around rather than a loop.  There is nothing more daunting to me than knowing that I'm not half way done until I'm running the other direction and seeing the fast runners running the other direction before I'm even close to the turn around. 

The first half of the run was pretty crappy, it took me about a mile to get warmed up and to figure out my pace.  And then something terrible happened.  I had to walk before I got to the turn around.  This destroyed me mentally.  The problem was, the hills were so steep and so close together, there was hardly and recovery time and walking was my only option.  The nice thing was, I only walked for a short amount of time and picked it right back up. 

Dennis was waiting for me at the halfway point and could see that I was struggling.  He assured me that I was at a good pace and that I was past the hard part. 

There was a good amount of downhill after the turn around and I tried to use the momentum as much as I could, but still knowing that I had to make up for some lost time when I was walking.  Then I got to mile 5.  Check out that steep ass hill at mile five on the chart.  I wanted to cry.  But instead, I walked until I felt like I could run, and I ran until I needed to walk.  Once I got to the peak of that hill, I ran as far as I could go.  Then I started doing this slinky thing where I would run, then walk, then run, then walk, until finally this very nice gentleman came along side me and said, hey jog with me, and I'll get you to the end. 

He noticed my running/walking and said that he'd keep me at a nice in between pace and that we would finish in under an hour.  What a really nice guy!  And then he told me that last year he was diagnosed with lung cancer and only had one lung.  Seriously, now walking was NOT an option. 

And then at 58:47, I crossed the finish line into the arms of a VERY proud Dennis.  I can't remember the last time I've seen a smile that big on his face. 

I honestly do not know how on earth I finished under an hour.  I thought I was going super slow and especially with all the walking I did, I didn't think I had a chance.  Thank GOD I didn't give up.  I had set my phone to track my speed, but for whatever reason it didn't work and I was running completely in the dark as far as my time and pace.  I was happy with my time, but I wasn't too happy about my performance, but now I know I really need to work on pacing and sticking to the training program is imperative to being able to endure the long distances. 



Blood, Sweat, Tears, and my Lucky Running Hat!

5k down, 10k down, onto the 10 Miler and Half Marathon!  Whoop Whoop!

Friday:

3 Mile Run

Saturday:

Rest

Sunday:

10K in 58:47....NEW PR!

I Need to Get a Grip

Good Grip!

I've been feeling a bit overwhelmed this week due to the insane amount of things I'm trying to do, and last night, it all came crashing down.  I felt like I was very close to a mental breakdown but with a little help from Dennis, I think I'm ok.  

1. I'm nervous for Sunday.  Not because of the Superbowl, but because of my race.  I am very excited/proud to say that I followed the 7 week training program 95% (I swapped out a few days to adjust to my social life) which is a huge accomplishment in itself.  

2. Because of the addition of running to my Crossfitting my hunger has been on full drive.  I feel as if I could eat all day and still want more.  The problem?  Eating the right things.  My diet is a huge challenge for me.  I have all the tools to do it right, its just committing.  I have a bad feeling that as my miles per week increase, my hunger will do the same.  I need to spend more time thinking of things I can easily snack on or prepare and store that are within my restrictions.  And of course somehow forget how delicious pizza is. 

3.  Hard to believe, but I have a life outside of my fitness world.  I have bills, pets, a job, a husband, friends, and its often VERY hard to balance all of that.  So when anything out of the ordinary happens with those normal life things, it's very hard to maintain a strick and sucessful fitness lifef.  I said it was hard, but not impossible. 

So in conclusion, after my mini meltdown, I feel a little better.  I know its ok to feel overwhelemed, as long as you take the time to sort out all that is going on and move forward.  I feel better about things already.  I have lots of tools to help me stay organized, on track, and motivated.  All I have to do really is embrace them and know that my hard work will pay off. 


Tuesday:

Piloxing (don't ask)


Wednesday:

Strength
7 x 1 Power Cleans at 90%  = 75lbs

WOD
10 Minute AMRAP
25 Wall Balls (14lbs)
250 Meter Row

2 + Almost a 3rd

Crossfit Games

I don't know why I haven't done this sooner, but I want to thank all my blog readers.  I don't know who you are specifically, but with almost 1,000 clicks in January, I know you are there and I appreciate you taking the time to read what I write.  You keep me accountable for my goals/accomplishments and I am really flattered that you read what I write.

There has been a lot going on this week and minimal time to stomach it.  I'm luckily enough to have a job that I can really use as my "down time" because I do not get much of that at home.  

For those of you that don't know what today is (Feb 1st) it is the "Crossfit Opens."  It's similar to opening day for baseball and this has been something that has been wearing on my mind for weeks now.  There are three basic steps:

1.  The Open:  This is were anybody can register to complete a set amount of WODs, submit their times and be compared to everybody else who enters.  Last year 27,000 people around the world entered and that number is expected to TRIPLE this year. 

2.  From the Open, the top teams and individuals move onto Reginals.

3.  From Reginals, the top teams and individuals move onto the Crossfit Games in July to compete for the title "Fittest on Earth." 


Obviously I would only be participating to see where I ranked amungst other people in the world and to set a benchmark for 2013.  So there I was, on the fence, debating what to do when I decided to send Trainer Molly a very lengthy email:

Do you think I should bother doing this?  I'm torn.....thoughts?

To which she replied:

An opportunity to compete against tens of thousands of people doing the same thing is amazing, to say the least. And to see how you stack up against the WORLD...I think it's something you shouldn't pass up!
Show the world (and you) all your hard work! And they are WODs that 610 will be doing anyways!
So to answer your question...YES!!

I can always count on Trainer Molly to guide me in the right direction.  So I went to the Crossfit Open website and created my very own Crossfit Profile with my frail stats.  :)


Already feeling like I'm WAY over my head, I come home to find a post to my facebook wall.

I know that when I first told Megan about CF610, she must have felt like it was something she could never do, but she gave it a shot and now she is thanking me for it.  Probably the same situation will hold true with Trainer Molly and I with the Crossfit Opens.