RX'ed

I'll be summarizing my days in gifs. Because gifs are awesome and I'm too busy for a real post.

But here's what you need to know: 

1. I need to hit the paleo restart button 2. Cruise to Panama in t-minus 60 days. (WOO!)

Okay. Day One:

Before I really started:

By the end of the day:

Whenever my life is out of control, I sign up for things. That's how I cope. I sign up for things to give me a goal. To give me a "Hey, I know things suck right now, but imagine this: 10 months from now, you’ll be doing something AMAZING." More than anything, it’s the hope, the vision, and the glimpse of a future accomplishment that inspires me to get life back on track.

I must’ve had a moment like that. Because next thing I knew, I signed up for a GORUCK challenge in September (think Tough Mudder/Spartan Race on steroids…while carrying a backpack with six bricks in it. For 13 hours). And I also signed up for the Brooklyn Half Marathon. My first half in three years. Exciting, right? Yeah. And I ran maybe three times to prepare for it. 

Unfortunately, the day before the race I had a terrible encounter with food poisoning. Bad chicken in my pad thai. I guess that’s what I get for straying away from paleo.

I finished in 2:42:25. Four minutes faster than my slowest (and very first) half marathon time. Not great. But, hey, I don’t have a new worst time. Right? When you take into account that I was vomiting less than 24 hours before start time, it’s pretty incredible. I spent most of the race worrying about staying hydrated. I drank way more than normal during a race.

Not that anyone missed me. 

In lieu of a “Dear Diary, here’s everything you need to know about the past 10 months” post, I’m limiting my blog update to ten memorable moments.

Without further adieu, an in no particular order, here we go:

1. I placed second in CrossFit South Brooklyn's Paleo Challenge!  This was a huge success for me. It finally gave me the extra push I needed to be dedicated to a healthy lifestyle. I hit the gym five times a week, I slept better, drank more water, my mood skyrocketed, my eczema and acne issues cleared up, I lost weight/leaned out, life was awesome. 

2. I MET ANNIE THORISDOTTIR!

CFSBK hosted the 13.2 CrossFit Open announcement in March where Annie Thorisdottir and Lindsay Valenzuela went head-to-head in a 10min AMRAP of: 5 shoulder to overheads, 10 deadlifts, 15 box jumps. I am so grateful I got to see these two strong women compete at my home box. It was truly an amazing feat to watch.

3. I placed 1st in my weight class at CFSBK's 3rd ever Tough Titsday Powerlifting Meet. (And I got a really cool trophy!)

Tough Titsday is an incredible experience. The support from the crowd (CFSBKers and non-gym members alike) is overwhelming. Every woman walks away a champion -- and the crowd acts like it, too. It doesn't matter if you're fighting for a 75# backsquat or a 250# backsquat. The crowd goes wild every time. The camaraderie and friendships I've made from this event are the reason I love CFSBK and CrossFit so much. I'm so proud of everyone who competed and cannot wait for the next one in July.

I hit three new PRs that day, most of which still stand: -  Back squat: 205# -  Bench press: 115# (now 120#) -  Dead lift: 245#

4. I bought my first pair of rock climbing shoes! Thanks to my buddy (and fellow CrossFit badass) Courtney, she's been teaching me the ins and outs of rock climbing and bouldering. I am having a blast. I love problem solving. Figuring out how to scramble my way up V1s and V2s is a great way to spend an afternoon. And it's doubly awesome that Brooklyn Boulders is one block away!

5. I (FINALLY) made the trip out to Purdue University. Two exciting things here: I went to my brother's fancy, schmancy Air Force Gala Dinner (lil bro's going to be a pilot. WHAT?!), and then celebrated his 21st birthday. Going to the bars with siblings as awesome as mine is the best. Also, college is so much fun. 

6. I joined a meat CSA. 

It all started when I won a raffle for a free 15# grass-fed meat share (bottom right pic). Of course it was delicious, so I joined the four month CSA. Rack of lamb, porterhouse, bacon (BACON!), chorizo, short ribs, you name it! I made so many new recipes and added so much to my paleo repertoire that I have no qualms about never eating bread/dairy again. Not to mention I got an iPhone 5 (with an amazing camera), so now I will most definitely be posting more food porn and their recipes. Yay!

7. I won my first advertising award(s)!  A non-CrossFit/exercise entry!? No way! Yes, it's true. I can now add an ADDY and the Phil Dusenberry Cause award to my accolades. Go me.

8. I hit some major (and minor) milestones.

-  I joined the ranks of the pistol ninjas!  -  First two kipping pull ups (still working on strict) -  New double under PR of 34 (previously 8!) -  First ever toes-to-bar (though, they're not all that frequent...yet)

9. I've stuck to my New Year's resolution of reading a book a week (so far, anyway).  Pretty impressed that it's May and I'm still going on this one. Here are a few of my favorites so far: -  Bird by Bird -  Slaughterhouse Five  -  1984 (George Orwell) -  Silver Linings Playbook -  Perks of Being a Wallflower -  Born to Run -  Ready Player One

10. I went hiking with friends. It was wonderful. That's all.

Dead lift 180# x 5 WOD 5min AMRAP: Burpees! (ew) 61

3 Rounds of: - Bench press, heavy 12 - 500m row

Post total weight moved, total time. 

Set 1: 70# x 12 = 840#           1:51.5

Set 2: 75# x 12 = 900#           1:54.4

Set 3: 75# x 12 = 900#            1:57.3

Total: 2640#   5:43.2

"Kelly"

5 Rounds for time: - Run 400m - 30 Box Jumps (20") - 30 Wall ball shots (10#)

3 Rounds for max reps: - 1min DB Hang Power Snatches (20#) - 1min hanging knee tucks  - 1min  burpees - 1min rest

1K Grace

For time: - Row 1000m - 2 min rest - 30 Clean and Jerks Erg: 3:57.6 Grace (73#): 6:59 Total: 12:56 

I have a huge backlog of WODs I did not post. There's also some good news and bad news that comes along with it. Bad news: I didn't go to the box as much as I should have. Terrible me. Good news: I'm back on track. Yay! The following few posts are just going to be straight WODs just so I can catch up on posts. 

High Bar Back Squats Work up to a heavy triple, with 8 reps for each set. 115# x 8 Pretty impressed with 115#. It was heavy, but it felt good. Just gotta remember to get my butt ALL the way down.

I shouldn't have gone to the box yesterday. But I love it there. And it's power clean day, so I couldn't resist. Even though my muscles were pretty fatigued from Sunday. I felt more fatigued on the clean and jerks than I did on the WOD, but that was still rough too.

HOLY COW. Tough Titsday was awesome. I had no idea what my body was capable of doing.

I have three new PRs, and on the dead lift and the back squat, I could've probably gone another 15-20#, but I wouldn't have known that since I've never tried maxing weights before. Without further adieu, here are the results: Back squat: 160# Bench: 95# Dead lift: 200#

Pretty awesome, if I do say so  myself. AND I placed second in my weight class. What did I win? A $15 giftcard to a local coffee shop. Definitely my kind of award.

I'm really excited. The bench was the only one I actually fought for. Everything else was hard, but not strenuous. And, man. I had to FIGHT for that bench. I've never been so aware of pressing my feet into the ground or making sure my shoulders stayed active. I can't even imagine what my face must've looked like. Oh, don't worry. There are pictures. Somewhere. Man.

Overall, a really great day. A really exhausting day. I passed out at 6:45pm, woke up at 10, back to bed at 11, and then didn't wake up until 9am. What a day.

TOUR DE FORCE #8

I half participated in today's WOD. Instead of doing the high bar back squats, I worked with a friend to find out a good heavy triple back squat. CFSBK's Tough Titsday Powerlifting Meet is on Sunday, and I have no idea where to base my numbers from.

I successfully did three BSQs at 135#, so my opener for TTD will be 140#.

I also did 75# on the bench. Sunday's opener is 80#.

Deadlift...we'll have to figure that one out on the fly.

7/18/12 WOD 3 rounds for time: 50 Double unders (or 25 attempts) 30 sit ups

I am SO excited for this cycle. We're working mostly with power cleans, clean and jerks and split jerks. Cleans are my favorite. I can't think of a more badass lift. Or, well, a lift that makes me feel more badass. Also, in exciting news, I will be competing (and I use that word lightly) in this week's Tough Titsday Power Lifting Meet. I say lightly because I don't currently have a one rep max (1RM), I'm competing so I can hopefully find some numbers and figure out my 1RM to scale for future workouts. So stoked to see what my body can do.

7/16/12 WOD Work up to a mid-heavy weight for the following. Technique must be spot on in order to move up in weight. Perform three sets of: Hang power clean + front squat + split jerk (x3) Weights: 33#, 43#, 53#, 63#, 63# Couplet WOD 10 minutes, alternating movements every minute on the minute, of: - 7 DB push press (each arm) - 15 kettlebell swings DB weight: 20lb KB weight: 16kg (1 pood) Cash out: 750m row.

The workout felt really good. Albeit, maybe a little too easy. Don't get me wrong, I was still drenched in 10 gallons of sweat by the end of it, but I didn't struggle as much with the 20lb DB weight on the push presses as much as I thought I would (comparing to previous workouts). We were supposed to select a heavy weight, maybe I should bump it up next time. The KB on the other hand, I tried to stick to the American swing, but my hands started getting really sweaty (and the KB started feeling really heavy), so I had to stick a few Russian swings in there. Overall, pretty good. As for the cleans, I really tried to focus on good form. The cleans felt good, and I was nervous to do the split jerk since I've never done it before. It was interesting, but I think I've got it down. Just have to remember to jump that foot forward, and to stand up I move my front foot back, then my back foot up. 63# wasn't a heavy weight by any means, but I didn't want to push it since I was working on a new movement. A medium-heavy weight would probably be 75-80#. Maybe next time.

We were the only class who had a cash out tonight. It was either a 2/3 mi run or a 750m row. I picked the row (because I hate running around the block. It smells so bad.) And also, I knew I could challenge myself on the erg. I was right. My split fluctuated from 1:57-2:03/500m. Not too bad. I decided I want to do a benchmark 2K just to see where my time is. I know, I'm signing myself up for hell. But it'll be interesting to see how my time compared to when I was on the rowing team four years ago and hit a PR of 7:53.4. I bet I could do it again if I tried, but I'm going to need someone to cox me. I always break down. Speaking of coxing, I got to cox a few people after I finished. It felt good. Nice to get back on the erg again.

Tour de Force #3, #4, #5, #6, #7 I have a few to make up for (oops).

- Making all my WODs two weeks in a row! I even had to drag myself out of bed on Saturday to make the 12pm class (12PM! I stayed out a little too late on Friday (2:30am), but still only managed to suck down two beers). Congrats to me on not getting drunk.

- Cooking two weeks in a row! I met a friend for brunch on Saturday, but still had a very paleo-centric meal. Other than that, I don't remember the last time I ate out. What a great feeling.

- Signing up for Tough Titsday. I'm making a bigger effort to be active in CFSBK's community. The more positive people I'm surrounded by, the easier life changes are.

- Maintaining a mostly paleo diet! I've had a few cheats (like an ice cream cone when the Mr. Softee truck comes to work), but I haven't had an entire cheat meal. Although, I have had more carbs in potato form than I would've liked. It's still better than bread, though.

Just as an FYI, this is what the next four weeks will look like. Pretty excited about those clean and jerks!!

Monday: Clean and Jerks

Wednesday: Performance: Heavy High Bar Back Squats/ Fitness: 8 Rep Squats

Thursday: Mixed Modal CrossFit

Saturday: Performance: 10RM High Bar Back Squats/ Fitness: 8 Rep Squats