Streaky part 2: Nutrition, Focus, and just plain awesomeness

Jenn or Streaky.....which ever you call her - is an awesome person. Anytime I've had a question or needed to be inspired she is there with a smile on her face and probably a heavy ass barbell in her hand. She has been through a lot and is a super positive person. I first interviewed her here and now that some time has passed I decided I needed to catch up with her again. Of course, she said yes.

She is one of the first women I saw pictures of that lifted heavy and 100% gave me the guts to not only say "I want to do that too" but actually get the courage to do it. For that I thank you Streaky.




1. What does your off day look like? What do you like to do other than pick things up and put them down?

My off day is usually spent doing meal prep, laundry, and prepping for the week ahead. Hanging with my boy and pups. I love being outdoors, hiking, biking, motorcycling, exploring.


2. What does your training day look like? Where are you training? Multiple times a day? With friends or alone?

My training days right now are pretty intense - 2 a days - strength, conditioning, bro stuff at Golds Gym for aesthetics and accessory pieces - TONS OF BICEP CURLS - I usually train alone, but sometimes I get lucky and have a buddy.

3. What advice do you have for women looking to lift heavy shit?

Lifting heavy shit is so empowering. DO IT! With it brings forth a confidence you never knew existed.


4. Favorite movie?

The Goonies


5. What was your take-away from Regionals Team last year? The good. The bad.

I loved that I set a goal to compete at Regionals and did what it took to get there. The good: being able to compete along side of the best teammates led by the amazing Miki Carey. Being part of a team was pretty neat. I've never played sports or anything, so it was a neat dynamic. The bad: I wasn't 100% confident in my abilities and strengths. I focused too much on what I couldn't do instead of what I could. :(

6. What is your focus on now? Crossfit? Lifting? Do you have goals set?

My focus is still on training like a boss. I still love crossfit, however I'm leaning more towards powerlifting/Oly/Grid style training. I love moving heavy shit really quickly. I have a ton of goals set for the next 6 months.

7. What has changed for your new meal plan? Flexible dieting, Macros....?

My new meal plan has a lot more carbs added in to it because my volume and intensity has increased a ton. 

I don't really consider myself a flexible dieter. As of now my food choices are usually body builder/zone like - with the occasional splurge on a rice crispie treat. By occasional I mean daily. LOL 

I literally can't even....bad. ass.

8. Any competitions coming up?

My first Competition this season is going to be June 26/27 - power lifting/power X. Can't wait to see how my new dieting and programming has changed since last season.

9. What the question you get asked most?

The question I get asked the most: "when is your next show?" I always have folks assume I'm a body building, which I take as a compliment. Probably my biggest pet peeve question "how do I get lean and tone without being bulky or too muscular like you?" :(



10. Who do you look up to? Who are you DYING to meet?

I look up to a ton of people - my mom - peers - I find inspiration, wisdom, and knowledge from everyone. Dying to meet? No one in particular. I love meeting new people!

11. Any new tatoos in the works?

No new tattoos in the works, however I'd love to finish my left arm sleeve and fix the Koi fish that everyone says looks like a thanksgiving cornucopia.

12. Morning person or night owl?

I'm both - Morning person and a night owl.

13. Do you have a motto or a saying that gets you through the tough workouts?

My motto that gets me through: the first thing I usually tell myself is there are no pansies in the hall of fame. Pick it up Streaky!!! and "don't beat yourself up. you came in, did work, and punched the clock. You are one rep closer to the podium. Suck it up and do work - nothing but a peanut."

14. What's the hardest part about coaching? What's the best part?

I don't feel like there is a hard part to coaching - passing the written testy maybe. Hahahha  The best part is seeing an athletes face light up when they PR, learn a movement, and appreciate you for teaching them something outside their comfort zone. The feeling inside is indescribable. It makes my soul happy.

15. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

In 5 years I hope to still be coaching and competing and getting prepared to compete as a Masters Athlete.

16. How has the move to Crossfit Goat and Georgia been? Missing the beach?

Quite honestly, this move has been extremely taxing on me mentally, physically, and emotionally. It has affected my training tremendously. Weather, new surroundings, people, etc. is a huge adjustment. Once I finally got my bearings everything seems to be working out for the best. I am currently still doing make up and working 4 other jobs, but i love it. 

I absolutely miss the beach and Florida and my mom and friends and family and Gardens Crossfit very much. Looking forward to going home and visiting, but as for now I'm busy hustling and training my ass off here in Georgia. 

Thanks Streaky!!!!

I'm not done

Life is not all sunshine and rainbows. I have been dealing with Bicep Tendinitis which struck on Oct 30th. 59 days. 8 and a half weeks, but who's counting....... It sucks. I have NEVER had a real injury before. In all my years of sports I have had some pulled muscles, shin splints - but nothing that has ever had me out. Well, now I am. I am being patient. I am listening to my husband and coach. Did I mention it sucks? I had to pull out of my first individual competition. Boo.

I have shed a few tears, but I really am trying to stay positive and keep working on what I love. Lifting heavy shit, hanging with friends, laughing, and relaxing. Another thing that is helping is social media. How? Glad you asked. Thanks to Facebook, Google, and Instagram I can stalk and keep up with all my #wcw's and what they are up to. Often they talk about PRs, but they are open about their struggles and injuries too.

Tendinitis suffer: Kristin Pope, all around bad ass

Annie: 2x Games champ sidelined with a herniated disk in her back

Hip flexer injury took Camille L-B out of gymnastics. She won the Games this year

Miranda broke her neck in a car accident - she went to The Games on Team Nor-Cal this year

Molly broke her ankle at Regionals this year. Oh, and she besties with Miranda

My point? Obviously this injury will send me to Regionals or The Games (hahahahahhaha). Injuries happen. There are worse injuries out there than what I'm dealing with, I will recover and be just fine. What doesn't kill you......right?

One great part of social media, combined with my amazing ability to stalk, is that most of these athletes blog about their injuries, the recovery, and what they learned from it. Molly wrote about hers here. Miranda wrote about her injury here. Annie talks about hers here. 

I am running. I am lifting. I am doing TONS of mobility and stretching. I am being patient. Why? Because I'm not done. I love this shit. I am getting ready for Cold War in January (team event) and it's going to be awesome.

I did discover some fun things I can do pain free. I can do strict pull ups. The top one is my first EVER strict pull up. The bottom is my first since taking many many weeks off. I can also snatch (hehehehe) without pain. Yipee!!!!!

Keep moving. Keep inspiring. Keep kicking ass!

Magic and Happy Tears

I truly believe that magical things happen when you put in hard work. So maybe it's not REALLY magic - but sometimes it sure feels that way and that's the world I will be living in.

I spent the weekend watching Regionals - namely Julie Foucher, Camille L-B, Michelle Letendre, Annie......just some of my favs. I was in awe of how fast they moved, how heavy they lifted.....and of course the outfits. I'm always on the hunt to find shorts that stay in place, sports bras that are supportive, and racer back tanks - cause let's be real....I'm wearing a top. No one needs to see all that.









In true CF fashion yesterdays workout was a Regional workout (team): 49 pull ups and 7 over head squats (OHS) @ 115#.  My goal since forever, and especially my last competition, is to string pull ups together. I'm super glad I can do them one at a time, but I NEED to be able to string them together for many reasons. Competitions is one of them. I have a goal of doing competitions RX, but my coach has said that I am a scaled athlete until I can string pull ups together. Yesterday it clicked. We were practicing pull up progressions and the coach demonstrated how to string them together. I jumped onto the bar (no more jumping off a box for me) and *MAGIC* I strung two together. I was PUMPED. Wouldn't you know it? No one saw. Turns out people were doing their own shit. ;)  I got my husbands attention, got back up there, and did it AGAIN! SUCCESS!!!! Ok. So I can sting two together. Awesome Sauce. The workout called for a ridiculous amount of pull up: 49. Ugh. I was on a pretty great high and decided (and was told) that I was going to do my thing, string together what I can, and just chip away at them. A friend sat next to me and kept count and off I went.

Let me tell you what got me through this workout. Pure happiness, adrenaline, and support from my peeps. I jumped onto the bar and strung together 4 pull ups. FOUR!!!!Holy shit!!!!! For the better part of 29 pull ups I did sets of three and two. The last 15-20 I did quick singles - I was getting tired! Now, for that OHS @115. Wasn't sure I would have that in me after 49 pull ups (although I wish I had tried......story of my life). I set the bar up with 95# (I've only done 85# in a WOD before). I did the 7 OHS in two sets, but I did them - AND they felt good!!!!! My husband and I got in the car and I was still beaming. All that hard work. So much magic. So happy. I informed Sam I would be SUPER annoying for the next 30 minutes or so - I was fast talking and SUPER hyped up. Then I stopped talking and cried. Yep. Just sat there and let it flow. I was SO happy, proud, tired, excited......maybe the dreams and goals I have aren't THAT crazy or far off???????

One of my new loves: Camille L-B has a clothing line out that is pretty great: Via Prive. I have one of the tank tops, which I love. It's stretchy, soft, a racer back (my FAV), and it's long! I hate when I lift over head and my belly pops out. No bueno. I'm hoping to stock up on a few more of these, they are great! I wore it in that magical WOD (49 pull ups and 7 OHS) and it stayed in place - no belly show, I could move freely, and it was SUPER comfortable.




What helped me after the workout, and still is helping, Crossfixe Hands tube. My hands only tore a little on each hand, but it hurts - and I want them to heal quickly. This stuff absorbs quickly, soothes, and stimulates rapid skin recovery. I put it on RIGHT after I washed my hands (which I always feel like I"m going to pass out during). Instant relief. I also love that it comes in a tube - like a chapstick. Easy to take anywhere and throw in your bag. If you tend to rip your hands up I would recommend picking some up.



Here's to a MAGICAL week!!!! If you want to join me I'll be camped out at GMU watching the Mid Atlantic Regionals this weekend cheering on my friends!!!!!

Burpees are always the problem......

The final workout. I KNEW it would be thrusters and burpees - they hadn't shown up yet and I'm not that lucky for burpees to not make an appearance.

14.5:
21-18-15-12-9-6-3 reps for time of:
65-lb. thrusters
Burpees

I didn't give the burpees much thought, they always suck - no matter what. I was worried about the thrusters getting heavy. So, I got my plan and started wrapping my brain around this hell. I wanted to finish under 20:00, no reason other than I didn't want to have to keep working after that. :) I also wanted needed to follow the plan. 100%.

Of course, these guys made it look like a walk in the park.

I'm not even sure Froning broke a sweat. I'm pretty sure he is a cyborg. 

I warmed up, put on my Oly shoes and my wrist wraps and got ready to die. My plan was to break the round of 21, 18, 15, and 12 into two sets so I didn't burn out my shoulders or my brain. Then I was going to do 9, 6, 3 unbroken. The burpee plan was to just keep moving. All sets unbroken, but steady. Active recovery. On a burpee. Right. I realized with my first burpee (don't worry, it was a no rep) that I had been practicing these all wrong. I typically do them in a WOD by skipping over the bar one foot at a time - get nervous I'm going to trip. Well, you play like you practice and that's what I did for burpee #1. No rep. I spent the rest of the 20 minutes over thinking "feet together. ready. jump!" It helped me keep a steady and SLOW pace, but I wanted to die. 

Shit got real during the round of 15's. It was never the thrusters. It's always the burpees. At one point I was laying on the ground and I thought "I'm an adult. I can do what I want. I'm going to lay here." Nope. I got up. I kept getting up. This was mentally the most difficult workout I've done in a while. I did not walk away from the bar. I did not spend time catching my breath.....I just kept moving. Not fast. But moving. I couldn't even talk during this. There were no words. My husband would cheer some encouraging thing and all I could do was look (ok, glare) at him. He tore his rotator cuff. He doesn't have to do this workout. He just doesn't understand my pain - dramatic enough? I did apologize for giving him the finger, ok BOTH fingers. I cannot be held responsible when burpees are paired with thrusters. 

So what now? Well, naturally I stay fit and ready in case a huge measles or chicken pox epidemic takes out the top 1000 ladies. Then I'm off to regionals! Otherwise I will be sitting here compiling my list of what I need to work on thanks to the ever watchful eye of The Open.

Hope everyone enjoyed their Open experience!