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!

And we are done done done

It's official. The scale means nothing to me. We are done. I'm not going back. I'm not changing my mind. We are done. Forever.

I've known for a while that the scale was evil, I didn't totally buy it though. A piece of me needed to know the number. How much? How many pounds? Is it more, less, the same as yesterday?

I only weighed myself in the morning. No clothes. Before I drink anything. I've been known to step on the scale, hate what I saw, move the scale, step back on. Sigh. It was a horrible relationship. It could and would ruin my day. A stupid number from a stupid piece of junk. That dumb thing has made me cry countless times.

Once I started crossfit many people at the box told me "the scale doesn't matter". They talked all about "it's how you feel, how your clothes fit, and if you are seeing progress in the gym". Fran time faster? Great. Got a pull up? Awesome. Added 50 pounds to your clean? Badass. Still, I got on the scale from time to time. Not as often as I used to - but anything is better than everyday. Every.Day.

In January my box did a Paleo Challenge where they did a BMI test with an ultra sound machine. Super cool. Super awesome. There were measurements, ultra sound wand, and a scale (bastard). The machine took measurements from my waist, hip, and tricep  - did some sort of magic voodoo in the computer and spit out a number. My body fat % was 33.2. Yep. Fat. Duh, that's why I was starting crossfit AND doing a paleo challenge.

Well, guess what? I've worked hard, cleaned up my eating, and kept moving. Today I checked out the old body fat numbers. I've had a smile on my face all day - it was that great. 25.9. I can't say it with without smiling. I have thought about that number all day. 33 to 25. Fuck. Feels good. Craziest part? The scale reported 1 pound loss. WTF? My body fat went down that much and the scale is going to reward me 1 pound. I hate you.

That was my breaking point. The scale and I are done. What good is that number to me? No good. No good at all. The body fat % made me want to conquer the world, I'm pretty sure I stood taller, and naturally I can now lift everything better and faster. The scale just made me want to quit. Asshole.

CFA 1st Annual Throwdown

Saturday our box did their first annual throwdown. It was so much fun! The coaches were judges and anyone who wanted to compete could. Girls started first and then the dudes went. It went from about 9am to 12:30 ish - good times.

Workouts:

1st Event:
Thruster Ladder (Guys will start 95# and move on in increments of 10#, ladies begin at 65# and go up by 5# they will have a minute to perform the lift, if they fail they must deadlift for the remainder of the minute as a tie braker)

2nd Event: Crazy 8’s
8 Power Cleans 115/75
8 Burpees
8 Goblet Squats 16kg/12kg
8 AMRAP

3rd Event: Swing, Jump & Lift
5 Deadlifts 185/115
10 Box Jumps 24/20
15 KB Swings 24kg/16kg
7 AMRAP

Of course I had a plan. My goal for the 1st event was to hit 105#. Thrusters suck and I typically only do them in a WOD which calls for 65-85#'s - not a ladder.  I was able to get 110#! Go me! I cleaned 115# and got the front squat but could not get it over head. Oh well. Sam did well with this too.

 My goal for the 2nd event was 7 rounds. I was able to get 5+7. The burpees took it out of me more than I thought they would. I think this was the hardest workout of the day. I was really glad when this was done. Whew!

 My goal for the 3rd event was 6 and I got 6+1. Yipee! This WOD was my favorite. The weight and the movements were totally my style. I felt great after this one. Very tired, but great. 

 Going into the finals I was in first place, which was very exciting. All the girls there were great and worked so hard. We all cheered for each other and encouraged each other. I love that about CFA.

 Final WOD:

Translation: 400 meter run, 10 pushups, 20 knees to elbow (handing from a bar), 30 front squats (45 pounds), 40 kettlebell swings, 50 situps, 60 double under jump ropes. This is not my jam. I can do all the movements, but not super fast. Oh, and I do not like running. I got through it, but it took a lot of cheering and a lot of mental toughness. A lot of mental toughness. This is when I have to really focus on me, not the people around me and what round they are on. Just keep moving and keep going. I finished in 9:30.

Results? I won! It was so much fun and doing 4 WODs in one day was not as terrible as I thought! Sam made it to the finals also and scored a 4th place finish. Pretty proud of that guy!

After the throwdown a few of us went for burgers and fries. Yum. I was SOO hungry. Then it was time to recover. I sat in an ice bath, drank tons of water, and wore my compression shorts. They only soreness I have is my shoulders. I couldn't believe it! I thought I wouldn't be able to walk. I guess all that mobility CFA coaches are always talking about really is good :)

My new moto

Inside waistband of my new Reebok shorts. LOVE them

My moto for the Throwdown. Made goals for me that I can actually control. Loved it.

First Power Lifting Meet

I survived my first power lifting meet! Yeah!!!!!! I had a great time, learned a lot and met my goals. What where they?

1. Don't cry. seriously. There is no crying in weight lifting

2. Make 6/9 lifts

3. Don't poop my pants (this is always a good stand by goal)

Yep. No tears. I'm a big girl. I made 7/9 lifts. No poop in my pants. No poop anywhere actually. If you have read ANY of my race/competition write ups you know I hit the bathroom dozens of times. Not once for this one. Weird.

Here are my lifts:

Back Squat: (1) 175          (2) 195          (3) 214 - failed at this on the way up. my max is 210

Bench: (1) 90 - made the lift, but didn't follow commands so it didn't count    (2) 100        (3) 110

Deadlift:  (1) 200      (2) 235        (3) 253


My husband decided to do the meet the day before (!) and ended up PRing two of the lifts! What a guy :) He was my handler for the lifts, which was great. Turns out I am horrible at assessing how I did, what I should increase by, etc. I just need someone to say "do this". It was cool to see other people lift, see their routines, and what they can lift. There were some really really heavy lifters there, super impressive.

It was a long day of being in a gym, cheering, lifting - exhausting. It really helped that I was with a lot of friends.  Would have been one long and boring day. I would totally do another one - learned SO much.

That Four Letter Word.....

I have been known to have a potty mouth. A bad one. Excited, pissed, sad......just comes out. I try not to say anything too bad in front of the kids - but I do remind them it's not nice, I shouldn't do it....blah blah blah. I've though about a swear jar, but honestly I'd be broke.

The four letter word I have the hardest time with is REST. I do not "do nothing" well. I'm not sure why I feel so guilty taking a rest day, but I do. Injury or exhaustion I just feel plain dirty when I take a day off. I do schedule rest days and I typically workout Sunday - Thursday. My off days are Friday and Saturday. That changes and shit gets real. Oh, my other problem? I don't like change. So to change a rest day I get all sorts of off.

What do rest days do for you? TONS. Rest helps you repair, rebuild, and rest your muscles and your brain. Over training can burn you out, get you injured, and make you super cranky. No one likes super cranky.

Another reason I have a hard time taking rest days is that I really really like going to the gym. My friends are there, I feel good when I walk in the door and when I walk out. I get my stress out, I sweat, I laugh, I even slap some butts. See? Why would anyone want to stay away?

I also have goals. Some are ridiculously high (that's the point, right. Aim high?), some are very attainable, and some are probably set too low (I'm still new at this Crossfit/lifting stuff). When I take a rest day I'm actually helping get closer to my goals, but I don't initially feel that way and have to constantly remind myself of that.

In real life I have a hard time with days off from anything - I schedule way too much and then it didn't feel like a day off. This summer I did it best. For the first time we went on one big vacation to the beach and one short weekend to Williamsburg to visit family. Done. That was it. We went to the pool, hung out with friends, went to the gym, chill-laxed. The summer before we drove to Minnesota, then went to the beach, then drove to Florida, spent at least one weekend in Williamsburg.....the whole summer was a blur. Wont do that again.

Star Struck

I live for celebrity gossip. My kids know that magazine day is my FAVORITE day of the month in the mail. They get super excited for me and scream from the driveway "Mom! It's Magazine day!!!!" When I'm going on vacation or a trip I will hoard my magazines for a bit so that I can have a HUGE stack to read.

We are going to Cancun for Turkey Break. The magazine hoarding for that will begin soon.....

To stalk my favorite Crossfit Celebrities I mainly use Instagram, Facebook, and blogs. My favorites are Katie Hogan and Lindsey Valenzuela. They are awesome. Super fit, super strong, and always look like they are loving what they are doing.

Lindsey

Katie

Earlier this year Katie Hogan did a seminar at our Box (hehehehe) about lifting. I hadn't fully developed my Crossfit Crush on her yet and I didn't go (kick myself everyday). Not only did peeps get to listen to her awesome advice....there was a meal involved! Ugh - double whammy that it was at Bon Chon. Who doesn't love that fried chicken? No one. Everyone loves it. Not gonna lie - I sent Katie an email. I felt like the biggest nerd. I was nervous, I'm sure it sounded lame....but whatever. Some time went by and I forgot about the email and figured she was a busy person and hopefully she read it, but no big deal. Then.........this morning I woke up to an email from none other than Katie Hogan! I almost passed out. It was a quick email to thank me for writing her and she hoped I was still enjoying Crossfit. Swoon. I'm going to print it - my first celebrity email :)

So - my Crossfit heros are tough chicks that smile a lot and lift even more. Hopefully I can mirror that enjoyment and hard work (minus the fact that they are professional athletes, duh). And next time I have the chance to meet them I will take it!

ps. I also was within arms length of Christmas Abbott. Did I ask for a pic? Nope, I choked. Completely star struck.

Superfit DC Recap

My CFA Peeps

First, let's get the potty talk out of the way. There were 6 port-a-johns. I did not discriminate. I used each one multiple times. All. Day. Long.

Superfit DC was Sept 28th. An awesome day. Weather was great. Traffic was great. All in all amazing. The event was super smooth, everyone was nice, and all seemed to have a blast. I had a few goals that morphed throughout the week before and the day of:

1. Survive. Be able to complete the three workouts

2. Don't poop in my pants

3. Have fun

We checked in the night before, which helped my nerves a lot. The shirts are cool - love a shirt - and we got a few goodies. The morning of we finally found parking and then set up camp. I hung with my CF Annandale peeps. I found my partner - camped with her Hammerdown peeps - and we strategized for workout 1.

Workout 1:
2 minutes: hand release pushups
2 minutes: 115 pound deadlift
2 minutes: 20 inch box jump

We had 20 seconds in between each one. You and your partner do not work at the same time - 6 minutes FLEW by. We did our pushups head to head so we could see and hear each other stop and say "go". Since I'm hearing impaired I was pretty nervous about not being able to hear her or my judge, but everyone was facing me so that was great. We did 96 pushups (4th place), 75 deadlifts (2nd place) and 53 box jumps (14th place). Oops. We both slipped on the box jump, I was not focused.....something I need to work more on when tired. We finished workout 1 in 5th place! Hot damn!

Then we sat around, stretched, talked, strategized, and warmed up for workout 2.

Workout 2: 6 min time cap
15-10-5
Barbell Complex: Clean, 2 front squats, shoulder to overhead (1) at 85 pounds
Pull ups

Um, this one was tough. We decided I would do most of the barbell complex because my partner was going to do most of (all) the pull ups. I did attempt one pull up and the judge promptly told me "no rep!". Just too tired to get myself up there. We got through all of 15 and all of 10 and I got the first 2 barbell complex's in the 5 round. We finished in 5th place again. Yeah!

Now we sit around again....more of the same. The top 5 teams get to go to the finals. As of right then that was us. I was nervous, excited, tired, and scared. I really wanted to go to the finals, but had no idea what to expect. I'm learning CF loves to keep a secret. Sneaky fuckers.

Workout 3: 12 minute time cap
75 kettle bell snatches at 16kg (35 lbs)
Row for calories

Bleh. Row for calories? That's hard. Really  hard. Basically a sprint. We decided I would do most of the snatches (hehehehe) and then we would alternate 2 minutes each on the rower until time ran out. Our score was based on the calories - which we earned 127. We finished the competition in 8th place.

When I got home the first thing my kids asked was "did you make it to the finals?!" They were so excited....I told them "almost, I was so close...." Then they went back to playing and moving on with their lives.

So my first competition went well. Really really well. I hoped to finish in the top half (25 teams were there). I finish top 10 and was in 5th place for two events? Awesome. I had so much fun. I surprised the shit out of myself.  I had never done more than one workout in a day - but now I know I can survive three!

What's next? Keep on keepin on. Hoping to get a 4some together for a Superfit in Delaware. Oh, and conquer the world of course!

Workout 3. That kettle bell was a beast

Workout 2: deadlift

Workout 3: rowin