Thankful Thankful

I was approached by a woman named Heather and was asked to talk about what I'm thankful for and also spread the word about her story and recovery from Mesothelioma. You can read about Heather's story here and watch her video. After having her first child she did not feel well - after 3 months she was diagnosed with Mesothelioma. Her story is amazing and she is working to increase awareness about this disease.

So what am I thankful for? This is a high pressure question. You don't want to sound snotty by saying "I'm so thankful for my black amex card" (I wish!) - but this is my list and my world so here it goes!

1. Super thankful for my wonderful family. Not just Sam and the boys, but my in-laws (they live .3 miles away - I swear, it's great), my mom, my brother and sister (and new baby!)...EVERYONE

2. Super thankful for friends - we are lucky enough to have friends that are more like family than I would have ever guessed they could be. My kids have soooo many people that love them and that they can look up to. Pretty heart warming

3. Thankful (I promise not to overuse "super") for my job. I have to wake up early, but I'm home before the boys get out of school and we get to spend some good time together. That also means Sam gets them ready in the morning and packs lunches. That I am thankful for too. Oh, and summers off. Boom.

4. I am thankful for snow days. Working in a school that means I just get to stay home with the kids. No daycare nightmare, taking off work, etc.

5. I'm thankful for Crossfit. I know, I know......I have a problem. Crossfit, and the people and coaches I have met/worked out with/drank with/danced with/slapped booties with (that's right) are awesome. I found Crossfit at a time that I thought "nothing will work". I truly thought I was destined to be sick (suffering from Lyme's disease and migraines at the time), over weight, weak, an emotional eater, and cranky. Through lifting heavy shit, pushing myself, and finding a workout I love and will do consistently I have found health, sanity, muscles (there are a few showing up), humor, and confidence.

Charity WOD during mustache Movember

6. I'm thankful that all my holiday shopping was done on Amazon. No stores. No lines. I do have to wrap all that crap - do kids notice if every box says "Amazon.com"? :)

Yep. Thankful for Reebok sales and new shirts!

I hope that this holiday season you have many many things to be thankful for. Sometimes they can be hard to see or remember - but they are there. Give hugs. Say "I love you".

Happy Holidays!

I said BRRRRR, it's cold in here.......Cold War III

I survived. Thanks to an ice bath, Epsom salt, stretching, alcohol, and two snow days. I can even walk!

This weekend I found myself in my 2nd even Crossfit Competition (Cold War III). Just like the first one (Superfit DC) I wound up there by accident, chance, etc. For Cold War you have a team of 4, at least one must be a girl. CFA had a team, but the girl found out she was moving - two small kids, packing, etc. and she didn't feel like she could be ready. I answered the call, said "yes", and then immediately got nervous poo. Oh, the team is also doing it Rx. My first Rx competition (hopefully not my last).

I signed up for this two weeks before the event, one of those weeks being spent in Cancun.....so I didn't have nervous tummy for long. While I was in Cancun another team member was injured. We had another fill in and we were ready to go.

The workouts were interesting, scary, and surprises. We went in knowing a few things, but not much. The barn thing that we did some workouts in was not heated. It was 29 degrees out and snowing on the 2nd day. It was cold - like you could see your breath cold. People had blankets, sleeping bags, I even saw a portable heater. One workout was in the pool and two more were outside (one was optional). Day one was 5am - 7pm. Day two was 7am-1pm. Totally worth it.

Hard to see....but tons of people, lots of equipment, and of course Sam was there :)

Day 1

WOD 1:
2 team members
1 person swims 200 meters while the other does 80 lunges with overhead weight (45/25) - then switch

WOD 1 1/2 :
Other 2 team members
4 minutes (rotate after 2 minutes)
One partner doing Hang Cleans while the other does Towel pull ups (then switch)
Final 2 minutes max reps: one does thrusters, one does weighted dead hang ruck sack pull ups

So proud of my team

Mini Event 1:
In pairs
3 rounds for time (8 minute cap)
One person wall sits with atlas stone (145/95) while the other does 100 double unders

95 pound atlas stone wall sit

WOD 2:
All team members
EACH ATHLETE WILL PERFORM EACH MOVEMENT FOR 2 MINUTES AND THEN ROTATE. NO TRANSITION TIME IN BETWEEN  

MOVEMENT # 1: CALORIE ROW  

MOVEMENT # 2: KB SWING      (RX: 70/53)
MOVEMENT # 3: POWER SNATCH     (RX/MASTERS:   135/95)
MOVEMENT # 4: WALL BALLS           (RX/MASTERS:   30/20)

Mini Event 2:
2 people do Burpee sandbag thrusters then the other two do max rope climbs (can't remember times now)

Day 2

WOD 3:

BREAK INTO TWO PAIRS  ( Me and Sam  )

FIRST PAIR PERFORMS THE FOLLOWING FOR FIRST 4 MINUTES:

OVER HEAD SQUAT  (RX:  135/95)      

TOES-TO-BAR (TTB)    
Last minute T2B AMRAP 


SECOND PAIR PERFORMS THE FOLLOWING FOR 4 MINUTES: Bijan and Steve

JERKS ( MUST BE A JERK )   (RX: 185/125)

RING DIPS

Last minute ring dip AMRAP

Mini Event 3:

5 minute AMRAP bar muscle ups

Sam and Bijan worked SO hard

WOD 4:

21-15-9

ATHLETE #1 (me)
FRONT SQUATS
(RX/MASTERS:   155/105)
BOX JUMP UP and OVERS
(RX/MASTERS:   30”/24')
DUMBBELL   SNATCH
(RX/MASTERS:  65/45)

ATHLETE # 2 (Sam)
POWER CLEANS
(RX/MASTERS:    155/105)
BOX JUMP UP and OVERS
(RX/MASTERS:   30”/24”)
DUMBBELL SNATCH
(RX/MASTERS:   65/45)

105 pound front squat and cleans, 45 pound dumb bell snatch

That's it. That was my two day Rx PLUS competition. It was terrifying, awesome, freezing, empowering, humbling, challenging........I loved it. I learned a lot about myself. I learned a lot about my team mates. Those boys worked so hard! I have a list of things to work on, a list of things that I didn't know I could do. This was the first time I was able to string toes to bar together, I fought for 3 (ugly) 95 pound snatches, and I did NOT have to rope climb. Phew! Oh, and I met my goals. I did not poop in my pants (close call in the pool). I did not cry. I might have to start making my goals harder.

We had tons of fans. I think 18 different people from CFA came to cheer us on......so awesome. I could not believe how many people took the time to come to our freezing neck of the woods to say "hi", "good luck", and cheer for us. Thank you all very much! Of course - Sam was there. I love that guy. He missed Superfit, so this was the first time he was seeing me compete. I loved having him there. The boys saw me compete in two events - it was the first time they saw me compete too. Full heart. 

This competition was hard. Way harder than I could have imagined. It's way harder than the one I'm doing in January (that I signed up for on purpose). I loved my team. I loved the weekend. I love crossfit!

Time to love the couch!