Max Front Squats 3-3-3-3-3 plus some more Funishment

If you are looking for more info on the Front Squat X 3-3-3-3-3-3 STOP reading this post and go read this one... ------> http://katiesmindlessramblings.blogspot.com/2009/07/what-in-front-squat.html


Ok, seriously... I have gained back five pounds of all that fat that I lost and it feels gwoss. I really needed to hit up CF today... so hit up CF today I did. But since I'm off for a blessed for more days, I decided to sleep in and hit the 9am class. Apparently a few other people had that same idea and there was actually a pretty big crowd today at 9.

Although we hit max fronts X 3 about a week ago, Jerry brought 'em up again today. I have admitted that my glutes and hams are weak and are in dire need of some work... but seeing squats come up again today gave me a bit of a groan, but they need work, so work them I did. Unfortunately, our extra work today also involved burpees, but again... need to work them, so I did.

Last week when we hit the front squats, I topped at 140. I couldn't get 145 up and I think that's because I spent too much time on the lower weights. I think the key for me is to work up smarter and faster. I need to make more aggressive jumps so I don't burn out on lighter weights. So today, I decided to try being more aggressive. I worked in with Stacey and Rashed and after 2 sets with 35, I jumped to 85 and dove in. So, my sets today looked like this

85 X 3
105 X 3
115 X 3
125 X 3
135 X 3
145 X 3 (PR)

Last time I tried to put up 145 and failed twice. I didn't even get 1 rep up! So 145 is a new PR for me, and I'll take that after only working out here and there over the last few weeks and eating waaaaaaay too much crap and drinking too much. It felt good to hit that one today. Good to work the glutes and hammies. After that Jerry left some finishing work for us. I really wanted to do the extra work as some more funishment for all the really bad things I've been doing lately. The extra work looked like this.

Metcon ninja
7 RFT
11 Wall ball
11 Pull-ups
11 Burpes

or

Express ninja
7 RFT
11 Pull-ups
11 Burpees

Now, let me tell you that I hit burpees and push-ups pretty hard while I was home. I mean, I did 49 in lucky 7's, then 50 burpees in Funishment, plus 50 push-ups too. I'm just about push-upped and burpeed out. So I wasn't thrilled to see them in the line-up today, but I was glad to see chins because I've left a lot to be desired on the pull-up bar lately. It was good to get back to doing some more. And yes, I do still need to work the push-ups and the burpees so it was good to do them too, but man. Ugh, I hate those things. I did the express ninja (after the squats I didn't trust myself to do wall ball) but I didn't remember to grab a stopwatch.

To be honest, I just needed to do the extra work. I wasn't so concerned about the time, but more concerned with putting the work in. I finally got paid (yes being paid once a month totally sucks!) and I'm going to hit the grocery store. I strict zoned for about a week about three weeks ago, and I'm going to try to get back on it seriously after the holidays are over. Being at home it was so hard to eat well.... my parents house is just not stocked for it. But after looking at the scale the last few days... ugh... I really need to get away from the junk. Hopefully it won't take me too long to get back in the habit... but for now... I'm going to nap... since I can... mwah mwah mwah! :)

Saturday's workout: Funishment

Ok, so seriously, this whole me feeling fat and lethargic thing needs to stop... that means that holiday cookies and all sorts of good tasty stuff needs to go away... like now... because lord knows I do not have the will power to deny the cookies.... damnit! Now because I have no willpower and because I cannot turn down cookies, I decided I needed a funishment workout... literally I needed to kick my own ass.

So, I went back through CFOT's blog and looked for a workout that looked like a significant enough ass kicker to be deemed a funishment workout... I found one from a few sundays ago and modified it a smidgen, but it worked pretty well for me. Funishment looks a little something something like this...

Funishment
For time
25 pull ups (pull up grips were retardo so I subbed strict presses with 20lb dumbells)
50 clean and jerks (65lbs done from the hang since I had to be careful not to drop)
50 burpees
50 abmats (done on incline ab bench)
50 box jumps (subbed 50 air squats)
50 push-ups
25 pull ups (subbed strict presses with 25 lb dumbbells)

This time, since I knew I needed more room, I went to the Gold's Gym that just opened not to long ago by my house. It's a nice gym, lots of AWBM (angry white boy music)and more space than the Y. The only problem with said Globo Gym... a one time workout fee? $12... WTF mate? In central PA? Are you joking? I'm not in DC here... c'mon... my old gym charged $6. Too bad they are currently closed for renovations. They also didn't care if I used chalk or ocassionally dropped a weight... oops... my bad dog! Seriously, I was really annoyed with Gold's, but I needed a space for my Funishment. So, I was pretty much stuck. But anyhoo, I looked around for what I needed and got myself pretty much situationated.

I did the strict presses, which felt really heavy because, AGAIN, I had neglected to warm up properly. I'm not sure what it is, but in the globo gyms I totally spaz on warming up. Anyhoo, the stricts felt very heavy, but my arms were also a smidge sore from doing the burpees the day before. Cleans felt good, although not as fast as I would have liked, especially since I wasn't pulling from the floor. When we did this before, Jerry made us pull from the floor. Well, with no one but me for form faults, and my feel of just accidentally dropping the weight, I decided to hang clean instead. I was able to connect all the clean and jerks. I didn't have to pause on my shoulders for any of them which was really nice. I was able to keep going mostly in sets of 5 and then 3/4 at the very tail end. For 50 reps, I thought that was a pretty steady set.

I know I rested way too much on those cleans though... but without everyone else around it was certainly a lot harder to push myself. Burpees, eh, what can I say? Push ups, still a nemesis. Therefore, burpees, still a nemesis. The dude who was working out at the same time as me started looking at me a little funny when I started doing burpees, but what can I say? I guess jumping from a push-up into a squat and then clapping overhead does look a little funny.

Sit-ups and squats went ok. I was bothered by my squat form again though. I hate lifting in shoes. Seriously. It's amazing how much that affects me now. I've gotten so used to being flat on the Jiu Jitsu mats that shoes drive me nuts. It actually hurt my knees a lot. I felt like they were tracking different. Annoying... very...

Push-ups alone took me like 10 minutes, but I gritted through them and refused to cut standard. Chest to the deck and I really focused on keepin the core tight. I have a bad habit of letting my lower back sag on the way up. Tight core is key.

The last set of stricts was ridiculous. My arms were F-R-I-E-D. That 20lbs was retardo heavy. I'm glad I did not go 25. Yikes.

Total time 33:55 Over 4 minutes slower than before, and that's with faster mods... yikes... guaranteed... same exact workout as last time when I did it in 29:05 probably would have been well over 40 minutes..... I'm losing ground these days... time to step it up. The new year is coming... time to get back on track. 5 days a week plus strict zoning. It's seriously go time. Time to start being a CrossFit ninja!

Friday's workout: Lucky 7's

So, in case you were worried that I have been lazy over the holidays this week, I just want to tell you to rest your weary soul, because I have not been. I know you were probably really worried, and you were all atwitter... yup... don't worry. I've worked out this week. :P

I don't know about anyone else, but lately I have been feeling especially fat and sluggish. I was determined, and I mean DETERMINED to get some workouts in this week. After all the food that's been put in front of me... good lord I needed some CF time. So on Thursday my sis and I headed out to the new YMCA that's been built near our house. The free weight room was really small. I was thinking about doing Angie since that was Thursday's WOD, but I tried to do a pull-up on their pull-up bar and thought that 100 on that apparatus just was not going to happen. So, I started thinking about things I hadn't done in awhile, and what I could do in that limited space. So, I came up with Lucky 7's... here's how it goes...

7 RFT
7 front squats
7 snatches
7 burpees

Time: 21:00

Ok, I really wanted a good metcon burner and this little circuit seemed like it was going to be. I started with 95 lbs on the front squats and after three rounds had to drop down to 65. I was over ambitious for the day after Christmas, and I hadn't warmed up nearly enough for that. Snatches felt good with 25lbs, butI need to be very careful. I noticed I was starting to go too far back in the active shoulder position so I need to work on keeping my arm in line with my ear and not further back. In a metcon situation, it's very easy to aim for speed and forget that.

The front squats on this really sucked, but the burpees and snatches felt pretty good. I did noticed a huge difference though in wearing shoes. When the money is right, I really need to get a good pair of lifting shoes. Running shoes aim to correct your arches etc for running, not lifting and it definitely f's with my squat form. I really wanted to kick off my shoes but didn't want to get in trouble.

But anyhoo, this one is a good little smoker... I'm not happy about the front squat weight, but aside from that things felt ok. Globo gym is never an ideal place for a workout... no one to work with, or push you... being alone is wicked hard.... I really commend the people who do CF on their own all the time. It would drive me insane. As would what happened with the dudes in the corner.

Mind you, I know how much I can lift. I know I can throw around some serious weight. I hit my 140 clean and jerk the other week, THAT to me is a little crazy. But no no, these dudes were standing in the free weight room watching me walk back and forth between the front squats, snatches, and burpees. I do believe I heard something to the affect of "What is this chick doing. She's totally NUTS!" Ok, seriously? Lucky sevens is nuts? Thank god I didn't do something you know like, oh Murph, or Fran, or Cindy, or Angie... those are more on par with being nuts... idiots... complete idiots... good job guys, keep doing your bicep curls... idiots... cause bicep curls and shoulder shrugs are going to get you far... GOOD WORK... idiots...

I don't like being called crazy all the time... sort of makes me feel like the crazy cat lady and I know I'm not THAT bad... but seriously, if Lucky 7's is crazy... I'll take crazy over not having a neck because I've done too many shoulder shrugs any day of the week. Stupid globo gymers... ooooh something different than what we do... it must be crazy... if only they knew... morons...

Merry Christmas... do Murph...

When Jerry sent out the email on Monday that said dress for a run tomorrow... I started to wonder what pain he had in store for us on Tuesday. Then, when I saw the next sentence, I knew exactly what he had in store. Bring body armor or wear a weight vest if you have it... my first thought? "Oh f*ck" I knew exactly what that meant. Murph is one of those things you know... I really wasn't feeling Murph, but I got up at 0445 to get to class to get started. I know how long Murph takes me. It's not pretty... and I knew if I didn't jump on the clock early, I'd never get it done.

I have weaknesses as an athlete. My hamstrings are weak, and I'm weak on bodyweight exercises, ie burpees, push-ups, and air squats. Seeing as how Murph has two of these things, it just doesn't bode well for me. But nonetheless, it's hard to ignore a hero workout. So, despite the fact that I didn't really want to, I went.

As I drove past TC Williams I noticed that their outdoor thermometer was reading 16 degrees. Yup, that's right 16. I wore running pants, a matching tank top, a breathable wicking layer, and then a fleece on top. I was determined not to freeze outside.

I stretched out and got ready to get on the clock. I was all alone but I needed to get going. I jumped on the clock around 0515 and hit the run. On lap one of our large building I didn't feel too bad. The cold hadn't really set in. On lap two, my eyes started to water, and I actually started to cry from the cold. Not intentionally, it just happened. My hands started to freeze, and so I tucked them inside my sleeves and gritted my teeth the best I could.

I got inside and started on the chins. I haven't done many chins lately, and they just don't feel as good as they used to. I don't know why, but they don't. So I was struggling to get comfy on a bar and rip out some chins, when Jerry says, aren't you going to partition? And I said partition? Last time you said we couldn't partition! He said I was crazy, he did to tell us we could... I think he's crazy... I don't think he let us in August, so regardless, I shot myself in the beginning because then I was slowed down by trying to do an equal number of pushups and squats to even myself up so then I could get to partitioning. Duh...

So, all in all, this workout blew big time. I slowed down by nearly 8 minutes. Yeah... that sucks. It took me 1:08. I just can't get this workout to go faster. It is frustrating that I can clean x amount of weight, and squat x amount of weight, but I can't do bodyweight stuff. I felt so icky. I know I'm complaining, I know I am.... cause seriously, at least I finished. But I really wasn't happy with this at all. I'm going to be sure to get to the globo gym over the next few days so that I can work on getting back into better shape than where I am now. I feel like I've slipped a lot and I don't like it. I also am going to get back on the Zone. I've been having some money/time issues, but it is way past high time for me to kick the crap I've been eating, and get back to Zoning. The pants are not fitting the same, and that tells me all I need to know.

Bad workouts, plus bad pant fit= Katie needs to kick her own ass.... yes, I will... as soon as I get paid... yar...

2 circuit smoker...

So today was one of those days where Jerry gives us two shorter circuits to smoke us. I haven't really hit metcon much lately, just because of when I've been in due to scheduling issues, so it was good to get some good metcon in. Our first little circuit was a doozy, and I was a little nervous about the weight once I saw it.

Circuit #1
15-12-9-6-3
Deadlifts (145lbs)
TGU (25lbs)

Total time: 15:30

I was worried about this weight because this is the weight that I hit on Diane (15-12-9) when I royally messed up my back. I woke up in extreme amounts of pain that next day... So when I saw 145 I sort of himmed and hawwed and was going to go below, but once I warmed up I felt ok. I know I rounded a little bit during the circuit but it wasn't nearly as bad as two Fridays ago. I was able to fly pretty quickly through the TGUs and actually felt pretty good about this one today. I didn't rest much. There was a little resting though... so overall this one wasn't too bad.

Then I took a gander at circuit #2. I was running low on time, but lately I haven't been doing the extra or feeling extra crazy, so I really wanted to finish both circuits today. So I dove into circuit #2 after a little bit of a breather.

Circuit #2
20 box jumps
40 ab mats

Total time:13:56

Talk about weak core muscles. Hokey pat! The box jumps were a little slow because of the deads and the front squats yesterday, as well as the jumping lunges... but the ab mats were what killed my time. Seriously. I sucked up the place on the ab mats. I really need to start doing more extra work and get down the ab mat at the end for some quick finishers. Wow... my core muscles are getting weeeeeeeeeak. It may be all the holiday eating too... I'm just sayin'...I'll own it. :P Ah... Jerry assured us tomorrow will be a doozy. I'm wondering if it's going to be the 12 days of Christmas... oh god if it is... I will be hurting tomorrow....

Max front squats 3-3-3-3-3

It seems that Sunday's are becoming a strength day, and I for one am a ok with that. I love strength days and I'm ok with that. Last week when we were doing hang squat cleans I hit 140 but got stuck trying to get up with 145. So, I wasn't really sure where this one was going to lead, it's been a awhile since we've done much front squating, and I own my weakness which is my legs. Particularly my hamstrings and gluteus maximus. :P So, I was hoping to get 135 and I did. So then I was really hoping to get 140, which I did. So then I was really hoping to get 145, which I did not. It seems that 145 is my sticking point right now. My hamstrings and core just aren't strong enough. Always something to work on isn't there? My rounds looked like this.

65 X 3
85 X 3
105 X 3
115 X 3
125 X 3
130 X 3
135 X 3
140 X 3
145 (F)
145 (F)

140 was a PR, so I was happy with that, but man, it would have been nice to hit 145. Curses... maybe next time... maybe next time... :)

Oh! But I almost forgot about the finisher! Ah yes... the finisher...

5 RFT
10 KB high pull (50lbs)
10 jumping lunges
10 push ups

Jumping lunges after max front squats? I swear Jerry is a masochist at times.... I still love 'im though... :)

The bubonic plague strikes again..

I've been struck by the bubonic plague again... curses... I didn't make CF this morning cause I felt like a big steaming pile of poo. Thankfully though there are no boils... thank God for small favors, cause man THAT could be awkward... try explaining that to people... oi... hopefully I'll be up and running by sunday... I need to CF. Otherwise that Grace time is going to plummet!

Kelly

Kelly, she sounds all sweet and innocent doesn't she? Holy crap, cause she's so not. Kelly is a metcon burner. Seriously. As Rx'd she looks like this.

Kelly
5 RFT of
400 M run
30 box jumps
30 wall balls

I am not a metcon ninja. I will also own that as well as my deadlift weakness. So today was not something I was excited about. Instead of finishing all 5 rounds, all the ladies of 0530 did three, which is still a lot of work no matter how you slice it. I finished in 23:55, but I'm sure that our metcon ninja ladies of the other classes will bust out not only the full 5, but probably the full 5 in a time faster than mine. I had to laugh though that since I brought up the whole metcon ninja thing, Jerry made it the phrase of the day. Ha.... metcon ninja. Tehe... it makes me laugh... :) Which is good, cause after an 18 hour work day yesterday and the return of the bubonic plague, I need to laugh. God, please bring Christmas break faster... pretty pretty please...

Heavy deads 3-3-3-3-3

Oooh... deads messed with me on Friday so I wasn't too happy to see these come up again so soon, but nonetheless I put on my "Go get 'em tiger" face and tackled them the best I could. I was really focused on not rounding. I'm still losing core tension though. I really need to get that down if I'm ever going to be good at deads. My hamstrings are my weak point on my body. I will own that weakness. Shoulders, strong like ox. Legs, weak like sissy girl. Yup. I said it. But anyway, my highest reps looked like this.

135 X 3
155 X 3
175 X 3
180 X 3
185 X 3

My dead PR is only 195. So I was pretty please with the weights for this. I just wish I could not round my back. Always something to work on right? :P

It was another swimming kind of day...

So I didn't hit the blue room on Monday or Tuesday. I just wasn't feeling it to be quite frank. But, on Tuesday I was feeling sluggish and decided a workout was in order. So I decided to hit the pool. So I did. Just in case you're interested in what I did, here it is. :) (Or so best I can remember... it was two days ago... :P)

500 Warm-up
8 X 50 @1:00 (hung around :38)
100 easy
5 X 200 swim/kick by 50 @ 4:00 (hung around 3:15) could have done this at a faster interval
100 easy
6 X 50 kick @ 1:15 (hung around :50)
12 X underwater 25 @ :40
8 X 25 @ :30 (hung around :17)
100 Warm down

Total yardage 3,000

Not as fast as last time, but still down in about an hour and ten minutes. Not too shabby.

Hang squat cleans 1-1-1-1-1-1-1

Cleans are like my absolute most favoritist thing to do. I heart cleans. So I was stoked to go in and see hang squat cleans on the menu today. I'm not as good at squat cleans as just straight up cleans, but eh, what the hey. It's still a clean right? So anyhoo, the workout was of course hang squat cleans heavy 1-1-1-1-1-1-1.

Well, I started out light so I could get a good warm-up in and then I just started throwing weight on. I was really hoping to hit 130/135 and as I was inching up I thought I felt pretty good. So, I kept going. Next thing I knew, I cleaned 135 and squated it. That's a clean max for me! Then, I was feeling frisky, so I tried 140 and got it! Woot! Then, I tried 145. I failed all three times, but you know what, I got the clean up. My fail was driving back out of the whole. But hey, you know what, I'll take that. :) So, a new clean and squat PR at 140lbs. Woot! :)

Diane

Friday was Diane, and although Diane does not look like she will take it to you, for some reason on Friday, she did. I thought, oh, ok, deadlifts and HSPU. Well, Jerry told me that I could sub strict presses for the HSPU's, so I did. But for some stupid reason, my brain was just not with it on Friday and I was losing focus on the deadlifts. I rounded out a LOT, and just wasn't really feeling the workout. I know that happens to the best of us every now and again, but still it doesn't mean I like the feeling. Diane as Rx'd looks like this,

15-12-9
Deadlifts
HSPU (my sub was 25lb db strict presses)

Women's weight-145 lbs.

I woke up on Saturday and my back was screaming. I know I f'ed up the deads. Ouch. My time for this was over 12 minutes. Ouch. :(

Gwen

Ah, today I got to meet Gwen.... she's not very friendly, and she doesn't play nice. If you've never done Gwen, it looks deceivingly easy. I know I know. We say that all the time. It didn't look that bad on paper! Yeah, they don't ever look bad on paper. Well, that's a lie. Sometimes they actually do look bad on paper. LOL.

Sooooo my dear fair Gwen. She is a nice little smoker. She looks like this.

15-12-9
Clean and jerk
Touch and go only
No regrip from the floor
Rest between each set

Seeing as how I can clean and jerk 135 lbs, I wasn't sure what to do for this. I loaded my bar to 85 and wow did it ever feel heavy. So, with Jerry's ok, I dropped to 75 before I did my 15 reps. Even dropping to 75 felt super heavy. But, I did it. I had to rest in the rack a few times, but I didn't foul. Well, actually I think I did because we weren't supposed to dump the weight and I did. Ooops. Crap. But, it felt good to get in. Since I've been on for four days straight I took a rest day today, but tomorrow I'm sure I'll be back in and hopefully have more stories to tell. Ooooh, maybe tomorrow I'll regal you with the story of the lady at the gym who we're plotting to mess with... ;)

2 swim caps and 3,000 yards later...

So after being a guinea pig, my shoulders were not happy with me AT ALL. So I intentionally took a CF rest day yesterday. No amount of coersion was going to get me out of bed to do more push-ups. Nuh uh. So, I decided that, well since I'm at the pool anyway, I may as well swim. I would just like to state for the record that I have not been in the pool in any sort of workout situation in over a year. I stopped swimming masters last fall because I fell in love with CF. We had to break up. (I hear that the masters is doing just fine in case you're worried). Anyhoo, I had a sort of rotten day yesterday and so I decided to hit the water hard and punish myself pretty good. However, my equipment was lacking and I destroyed two swim caps before I got into the water... dang it. Anyhoo, despite not being in the water for over a year, I felt solid. Although, when I got out, my old master's coach told me that I was sloppy and messy and choppy. Hmmm... I felt good then got a nice cold bath of reality. Thanks, coach. But, I got some good metcon in and in just over an hour hit 3,000 yards. To do that without being in the water should tell you something about how well CrossFit really crosses across sports. Dare I say that my traps felt a little weak? (Jerry is now going to put ring dips in every workout next week... crap) But aside from that, I felt strong even if my old coach did tell me it looked like crap. (I think he was partially kidding because he's trying to goad me back into joining masters again. As it so happens, my old coach from my masters team is my head coach for the team I coach with..... hmmmmm.... Jedi mind games perhaps much?) Anyhoo, if you want a run down of my swimming work, here it is... it may not make much sense, but eh... I'm cool with that.

Warm up- 500 free
Set 1- 6 X 50's @ 1:00 (hung around :35)
2 50's Easy
Set 2- 8 X 25's breaststroke on :45 (hung around :17/:18)
100 Easy
Set 3- 6 X 50's kick @1:15 (hung around :50)
Set 4- 4 X 100 IM @ 2:00 (hung around 1:25)
100 Easy
Set 5- 8 X Underwater 25 (no breath) @ :45 (hung around :25)
100 Easy
Set 6- 6 X 74 free @ 1:15 (hung around :55/1:00)
Warm down 100 Easy

Being a guinea pig...

So, you know it's going to be a good morning when Jerry tells you first thing that you're going to be a human guinea pig. Hmmm... or not. First thing this morning Jerry told us that we were his experiment. Great... I love being tested! :P

So, after that 4:48 Grace I busted out, let me just say, I was hurting big time. My traps were fried. I haven't had that "Hey, we've been doing cleans" feeling in a long time, but let me reassure you (cause I'm SURE you're worried) that it definitely was in full effect. So the workout went like this.

AMRAP in 12 minutes
7 chins
7 burpees
My total 8.5

AMRAP in 12 minutes
10 good mornings (I wasn't looking when Jerry loaded my bar, and then he added more weight... so I think 45 or 55...sneaky Jerry)
20 med ball ball ball sit ups (15 lbs)
My total 5 rounds

Please note that after our workout, Jerry did change the workout!!!! Curses.... I hate being a Guinea Pig... :P

My shoulders absolutely positively were crying this whole time. When I had to put the bar on my back for good mornings I just wanted to drop it the whole time, and seriously, it was only 10 of them! Ugh. But hey, I get the points for showing up and for putting out some effort. Hooah to me! :)

Grace Challenge

So, CFOT has borrowed a little sumpin' sumpin' from Petranek Fitness and started a benchmark workout challenge. Our first benchmark challenge workout is Grace. Here's how it works. There are different groups, depending on the weight used. There is an overall elite winner and an overall advanced winner for both women and men. There is also an overall winner for the most improved. Everyone pays an entry fee, and then the money goes into the kitty to be divided for the prize money. The division you chose is the division you stick with. There are groups for beginner, intermediate, advanced, and elite athletes on the challenge. But whatever group you choose, you have to stick with it through the challenge. So, our first test was today, and the final test will be in February, after 8 long weeks of work.

So, I showed up a little later than the 830 class start time because I was dragging a bit this morning, and I knew we were doing this in heats. So I watched some of the other heats run through before jumping into the next to last one. I decided to go elite since, well I did Grace before with 115 lbs, and well, yeah. So, I used a bar that someone had already loaded to 100lbs and away I went. I was able to touch and go for most of the first ten. Then after that I broke into a few sets of three, and Danny, who was an AWESOME counter today, told me that at 2:00 in I had done 16. I was over halfway. I started to get very tired, and had to break down into touch and gos of two before dropping the bar. But Danny and Big Brother Gar were there to keep me moving and they were AWESOME. Having them keep me on the bar really helped me to get a good workout in today. By the mid twenties I was dropping to singles, but they said form was still good which made me happy. At about 4:00 I was on rep 24. Danny was pushing me to get in under 5:00. With :30 left until that magic number I was on rep 27 and had 3 more to go. At 4:48 I called time.

For all the stress I've been under lately, the bubonic plague, working so damned much and not eating well... I was damn happy with that time. Not only was it sub 5:00, but it was sub 5:00 with an over rx'd weight. Female Grace is prescribed with 85 lbs. I went with 100lbs on the bar. That made me happy. I haven't been that happy with a performance in the blue room in awhile. It just plain felt good. Now we'll just have to see if I can hold off the other women in the elite category over the next few weeks. They are tough as nails and I'm going to have to work my butt off. But hopefully I'll get to see my name at the top of the elite category in a few weeks. We shall see... we shall see....

As psycho as you want to be...

So, as psycho as you want to be... huh. Now there's an interesting idea. LOL. Today's workout was just F-U-N fun... ok, so I'm lying through my teeth, but you know... fun is all relative people! :P So anyhoo, today's workout looked a little something like this. I know it's a wee bit confusing, but try to hang with me. :)

AMRAYWTD (As Many Rounds As You Want To Do)
6:00 on the clock
Run 400 Meters
Finish the remaining time of the 6:00 with AMRAP of one of the following exercises
Box Jumps
Chins
Push ups
Walking Lunges
Burpees
Muscle Ups
KB Swings
And there was one more but I forget what it was...

So anyhoo, I didn't suck wind on this too badly actually... until the fourth round. I did box jumps (40) push ups (41) and then chins (33) and the chins just wiped the mat with me. I was smoked. So the last round when I ran and then did walking lunges just sucked. I felt the bubonic plague taking it out of me and called it after 4 rounds. So I guess I'm only moderately psycho? :P Maybe if we do this again I'll be completely psycho... but I'll have to go with jumping muscle ups...

I miss Fran, and the infinite hotness of Jeff Yan

So, I knew today was going to be Fran and I wanted to go, really I did. But I worked all three jobs yesterday and didn't roll home until after 11. After doing some work for swimming I hit bed sometime after midnight. I love Fran and I love Jerry, but combined with the bubonic plague, 0445 was NOT happening this morning. So, I missed Fran.

But, on a happy note, I would just like to touch on one of my favorite topics... Jeff Yan. If I haven't mentioned it recently, he is one AMAZINGLY HOT specimen of CrossFitness. If you ever happen to be in NYC you really ought to go check him out...er, I mean check out the Black Box and meet him. ;) He is also a great brunch companion! ;) Just be careful if you work out with him... it can be distracting to work out with someone who has such amazing CrossFit prowess.

(Jeff Yan has not been feeling the love from my blog lately. I hope this helps. You can also help Jeff feel the love by reminding him of his infinite hotness and amazingly mad awesome CrossFit skills!)

Strict Press 1-1-1-1-1-1-1

So, yesterday we did some max strict work. Jerry is right about one thing. Strength gains in a strict press come in small increments. Seriously. Strict press vs. a push press or push jerk is way different, and IMHO way harder to PR on. Strict press is just that, it's strictly your upper body strength. And as we all know, that doesn't just magically grow overnight. It takes time, and for those of us who are somewhat impatient and like to see growth quickly, wellllll.... we just need to keep in mind that that's not quite going to happen. Strength gains take time. In an exercise where there is no hip function (as opposed to many of our other exercises which do have hip function) there is no way to get that extra pop or drive. It's solely on your shoulders and arms. And man oh day, is it hard to make leaps and strides in a strict press. So anyhoo the rounds looked like this

1-65
2-75
3-85
4-87
5-90
6-92
7- 93
8-94 (F)

So, 93 lbs was a new PR for me by 2 lbs. In the strict press, that feels like 20 lbs. So I was pretty happy with that. I'm still not back 100%. This freakin' bubonic plague won't go away. Yar. So sick and tired I will take a new strict press PR. Woot. Until next time.

Tabata who?

Ah yes, who DOESN'T love some Tabata? *raises hand* Yeah, I'm not so much a fan. Honestly, I know it has its place and it's point and purpose, but I'm just not good at it. I looked back at my blog and saw that the last time we did this I hit 312. This time I only hit 306. I was a little disappointed when I realized that my score went down, but, as Jerry says, if we could PR everytime we walked into the Blue Room, we'd all be in the Olympics. But still, it never feels nice when you don't do as well as you'd like. For those of you who've never done Tabata Something Else, it goes a little something like this.

Tabata Something Else
:20 work
:10 rest
8 intervals of each of the following exercises
Chins
Push-ups
Ab Mats
Squats

And yes, as I write this, my abs STILL hurt, and so do my quads for that matter. I reiterate my former statement, I dislike tabata! Roar.

Under the weather...

After arriving home last week for the turkey holiday, I managed to come down with a cold. I'm feeling just very run down and haven't made it to CF in a few days. Hopefully I'll be back in tomorrow, but we'll see how I feel when I wake up. CF is hard because I usually feel the crappiest when I wake up, then feel better as I get up and go about my day. But, I started from scratch on the Zone and am going to do my darndest to get back to a strict Zone diet again. I had my fruit and yogurt for breakfast and two zone meals yesterday, so maybe getting my diet under control will help me get back up and on my feet full throttle, but we'll see.

What are YOU thankful for?

It seems unreal to me that already it's November, and today is Thanksgiving. It feels like only last week it was January and we were ringing in the New Year. For the past week or so, I have had my kids work on writing a Thanksgiving paragraph telling what they're really thankful for. Some of the paragraphs obviously were a little more material than others (I'm thankful for my Wii!!!!) but for the most part the kids did a great job. So, it got me to thinking. As I sit this holiday season, what am I truly thankful for?

I think back over the course of the last year, and I'm amazed at how much as changed. I'm amazed that I survived my first year with third grade. I'm amazed that I lost 23 pounds. I'm amazed at how much I've learned, how many people have entered (and exited) my life, and I'm amazed at how much I've changed.

When I look back on the year, I am of course thankful for my family and friends. I am of course thankful that I am gainfully employed and can afford to live and support myself. I'm thankful that I am able to take care of myself. I am thankful that I am able to sleep soundly at night because of the sheepdogs that sleep outside my door. But somewhere, pushing very close to the top of this list, I realized, that I am very thankful for Crossfit. I know it sounds a little over the top, but when I think of all these things that I'm thankful for, I realize that CrossFit has played a large role in many of these areas.

Now, obviously, my true flesh and blood family has nothing to do with CrossFit. I will always been thankful for them, and they of course have nothing to do with CrossFit. But, what about my friends and my adoptive family? CrossFit has allowed me to find my adoptive parents (Lt. Col. Dan and Susan) who are amazingly supportive. I have been in some rough spots lately and they have taken the time to support me in the best way they can. Without CrossFit, I never would have had the opportunity to have them in my life. And what about my friends? The only friends I have in my life are not people I have met at CrossFit, but I'll be frank, the people I have met at CrossFit are some of my best friends. Over the course of the last year, and especially the last few months, I have fallen face down into the mud on several ocassions. When I've thought I couldn't pick myself up and keep going, my friends at CFOT were right there to pull me out of the muck and help me. Always ready with hugs and helping hands, these people have shown their true colors and they are wonderful. I couldn't ask for a better group of people to have in my life. And let's not forget that without CFOT I would never have had the reason to post up this blog and make a whole group of online friends. Sort of cheesey? Perhaps, but I look forward to reading comments and hearing from these people everyday as well. They have been following my life and supporting me the best they can, often from very far away. Talk about powerful! CrossFit has done all of this.

Not to mention, those attitudes that I've learned, and the things about me that have changed over the last year are all the result of CrossFit. Without CrossFit I never would have lost weight. Without CrossFit I would not have grown as strong as I have, both pysically and mentally. Without CrossFit I would not have found the strength in myself to be the person that I am now. This year has been a rough haul. But looking back, I'm glad I went through it. I've learned a lot about myself. What I can do, what I can't do, what I'm willing to deal with, and what I'm not. Because of CrossFit I am watching myself become the person I want to be, and that is a pretty powerful feeling.

I am thankful for my real family. I am thankful for my job, and my house, and all those sorts of things. But above many other things, I am thankful for CrossFit. I am thankful that everyday I have the opportunity to get together with a group of people who are as wonderful as they are. I am thankful to have such an amazing coach who pushes me everyday and is helping me be the best that I can be. Yes, CrossFit is an exercise program. It is a way to stay in shape. But it is so much more than that. CrossFit is a life changing program, and I am thankful that it has changed mine. Because of CrossFit and the people I've met, I've changed and learned things about myself, as well as the world around me. I'm thankful everyday that I've had those experiences. I wouldn't trade CrossFit or Jerry or the crew at CFOT for anything this world has to offer. That is the POWER of this program, and THAT is what I'm thankful for.

But what about you? What are YOU thankful for?

Yesterday's ugliness and today's "Onion Skin"...

So I have to admit, after Sunday's max effort, I've not been feeling very frisky. I really felt like that max took a lot out of me. I've never felt that spent after a max before so it's an odd feeling, but I actually DNF'ed on a workout on Monday. That doesn't ever happen. But regardless, I still went, but only got two rounds of yesterday's ugliness. It went like this

3 Rounds for time
21 K2E
21 KB swings
21 Rope pull-ups (sort of like a dead hang on a rope)
21 Push ups
21 Box jumps
21 Good mornings
150 M walking lunges

I only got through 2 rounds in 30 minutes, but I did those 2 rounds as Rx'd. I didn't sub abmats or regular chins so it def took me awhile. Eesh. I had to get to work, so I couldn't stick around for the third round, but truthfully, I was smoked.
The shoulders were fried.

Well, then of course, today was more shoulder work. I still wasn't feeling really frisky, but of course I went in today. Turkey and pie? Oh come on, I gotta CF before eating all that! Anyhoo, today was something we've done before. It looked a little something like this...

5 rounds of
Max strict press in 2:30
Max chins in 2:30

My first few rounds were crap. Totally. I fell off the bar due to grip issues and just didn't feel good. I used 60lbs for the strict which I think was the heaviest on the day, but I don't really care about that. I just know that today should have felt better and it didn't. I finished with 59 stricts and 60 chins, which is still a lot of work but still, I feel like it def should have been better. But then again that may just be my perfectionist personality talking. :P

I'm going to try to get in tomorrow, but you know what I'm doing right now? Oh that's right... having adult bevies after the INSANEO day that I had today. Big shout out to Cara who put up with the craziness that was traffic in the NOVA area today to get me with 10 minutes to spare to the dealership to pick up my baby. She looks good as new and I can't tell you how glad I am to have her back.

As an aside, if you happen to be in the NOVA area and need to rent a car, I would highly recommend the Enterprise off site, but attached to Reagan. They were great. Cheap rates, open late, and very polite to me. I was in and out in 1:30 flat tonight. It was a good experience. I would however, not recommend wrecking your car.

I'm going to have a few more adult bevies... I can't say I've earned them, my work ethic is lacking this week, but I do need them. Amen!

Clean and jerk X 1-1-1-1-1-1-1

These are the boards that made my day!!!

Ah, yes... another strength day... :) I missed the last two times that we did max clean and jerks and I have been itching to get this workout in. So, when I woke up, I was debating after the few adult bevies that I had last night whether or not I really wanted to go in. Well, when I saw this up on our site, I knew that I had to go. I was STOKED to hit this. Have I mentioned that I REALLY love strength days? No I mean, REALLY? :)

I was determined today to be aggresive with my jumps and be smart and not waste time doing too much warming up, which I think has been a problem for me in past workouts. So today I just went for it. I jumped right in at 65, not really bothering with 35 or 55. The fun today looked like this.

65X1
85X1
95X1
105X1
115X1
125X1
130X1
135X1
137X1 (F)
137X1 (F)
137X1 (F)
137X1 (F)

I was so frustrated that I couldn't get up 137 but honestly, 135 was a new clean record, although not a new jerk record. I was really pleased with the day today. It really isn't important, but nonetheless it feels kind of cool to know that I now own the clean and jerk record at CFOT. It's nice to be good at something. :) Woot! I heart strength work! :) Until tomorrow... the feast is mine. Yikes and away! :)

Metcon of horrors!

So, per Thursday's post, and oh, let's say about 30 other posts of mine, we all know that I'm not a huge fan of running. Well, Thursday was running, and now guess what came up yesterday? Oh yes, a good old fashioned metcon WITH RUNNING. Curses! I so suck at running!!! As I said on Thursday, Jerry has started to follow the main site. Yesterday's workout was actually supposed to be a 5K. *shudder* Yes, ok, I know I finished a half marathon but you know what happened after that? A fat lot of no running, cause I no longer had a reason to really. Well, thankfully, Jerry didn't make us do the 5K. Whew! However, he did make us do this

3 Rounds for time
800 meter run
15 hang squat clean thrusters (1/2 jerk max-70lbs)
15 box jumps
15 burpees

I would like to preface this whole thing by saying, that this workout sucked!!! I felt very very sluggish on the run and as an aside, also was freezing my behind off because it was a whopping 32 degrees outside during the run. I literally felt like my lungs were burning. Then to go right into squat clean thrusters was just brutal. How is it that Jerry is able to come up with such madness? I go back to my post from this summer where I said that Jerry has an evil CrossFit lab in his basement where he figures out new and interesting ways to torture me. :P It's full of toys and smoke and ocassionally maniacal laughter.

But anyhoo, the running, squat clean thrusters, then box jumps were a doozy on the legs, and let's not forget the finisher of the burpees. I had to dump the squat weight a few times because I was loose on the bottom but I was able to get through things pretty well. I wasn't the fastest on the day by any means, but considering how slow I am at running and burpees, I didn't do too badly. :P My overall time was 32:09. Could have been a little faster, but all things considered I'll take it. With the crazy schedule, the bad eating, and my general amount of disfunctionalness these days, I'll take it. :P

Some runnin' and some chinnin'...

So our workout from today didn't look all that brutal, but it certainly was a good gasser. We all know how much I enjoy running (hahaha) so clearly this wasn't my bread and butter, but still, I felt pretty good about this workout all things considered. The workout of the day looked like this

Run 400 meter
Max chins

Jerry has started to follow the main site more recently so it's interesting what's been coming up in the blue room. I'm not really a fan of running, but eh, I guess I have no choice. :P I haven't had a lot of spare time to spend on other's blogs and the CF main site, which totally bums me out, so I didn't realize that's what he was doing until he told me. I was able to get 5 full rounds of this in, plus one more run. My chins I maintained at 14 across the board, which, again, all things considered really wasn't that bad.

I have been bummed out by my chin numbers lately, but I just haven't felt really good on the bar. I've been worried so much about speed that the form on my chins has sort of gone to pot, and so we're going to have to start all over again. Jerry suggested going back and resetting my PR. Making sure that I'm higher over the bar. That's sort of a sad feeling to lose the PR, but I know he's right. Good form is more important than whether or not I can do 24 sort of reps on a bar. But, as Jerry said to me the other day while I was leaving, I should enjoy this challenge because it's going to take a lot of strength. :P Ah, damnit. He knows my weakness..... :P LOL.

Push jerk-1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1

So, this week, yeah this week. It's a killer of a week with me having commitments every single night this week. Yay for 12 hour days (at least) everyday. Well, this morning I woke up and I was really debating whether or not to go into CF. Well, I got up, got in the rental car (which by the way is a whoooooollle other can of worms altogether) and headed off to CF. When I got there this morning what to my wondering eyes should appear? No, it was not Santa and his reindeer, but instead, max push jerks. I've been saying I really want to figure out how much weight I can get over my head. Haha, well today, I figured it out, well sort of.

I warmed up with some jerks just on the bar, then started jumping. Here's what my fun looked like.

35X5
55X5
75X5
85X5
95X1
105X1
115X1
125X1
130X1
135X1
140X1
145X1 (JBF)

What just JBF? It means just barely failed. I really feel that I can get 145 up but I was pretty tired and just BARELY missed. I am bummed that I missed 145 cause I really think I can do it, but I'll take 140. I think that's pretty sweet. I had to have people help me get 135 and 140 to my shoulders, but I cleaned up through 130. Woot! :)

Ah, yes. Now the rental car story...... well with my car being out of commission temporarily, I had to rent a car. Well when I called they said that they couldn't "schedule" a pick up. I had to call the day of the rental and tell them I needed a ride. So I had to call at 730 yesterday morning. I figured they would be there in plenty of time, seeing as how they are only 5 minutes away. Guess not, they didn't show up until 805 then I had paperwork to fill out etc after I got the car. So guess who was late to work yesterday!?!?! Oh, that's right. It's me. Nothing like walking into your own classroom late. Ugh... I'm not a fan..... not a fan at all..... ick. Coaching tonight after school, and work at the restaurant... we'll see if I can muster myself out of bed to get to CF tomorrow morning... :P

Sunday's killer and max front squats...

Sooooo.... working on Sunday nights is fun. Have I mentioned recently how much I heart working on Sunday nights? No? I haven't? Oh well... Let me rectify that STAT! Ok, I've worked in the restaurant business in some capacity since I was 19. I like the restaurant business, otherwise I wouldn't keep doing it. But sometimes, it can get very frustrating. Like last night... things were slow, and I was in the process of cleaning up, when 7 people came in about 45 minutes from closing. They were served quickly, but then proceeded to sit. And sit, and sit and chat and sit and chat. Now, I understand they were having a good time, but seriously? It was 1/2 hour past close, I had to sweep still, and they were camped. So eventually, I paid our busboy $5 to sweep for me when they left. So, I rolled home around 11.

Now, my roommate was nice enough to let me use her car while she's out of town so getting to from work was not a problem, thankfully. But, getting home at 11 didn't help my getting out of bed for CF. But, I did. Barely... mostly because I knew that people would be all over my butt if I skipped today. So I went. And today we hit... *dunh dunh dunh daaaaahhhh* Max front squats. Oh yeah. 5 rep max front squats. Now, I'm not great at squats, but I was game. Although the second I cleaned the bar, I knew that yesterday's killer was going to hurt me. Oh, that's right, I forgot to mention that fun little tidbit. Here's what I did yesterday

25 chins
50 clean and jerk (65lbs)
50 burpees
50 wall ball sit ups (15lbs)
50 box jumps
50 push-ups
25 chins
Time 29:05

Not too shabby, but man, I cleaned that bar today and wwwwoooooooo buddy were my shoulders aflame! But, I'm not one to shy away from max stuff. I like it! I like it a lot! :) :P So, away I went. Here's what my reps looked like.

35 X 5
65 X 5
85 X 5
105X 5
115X 5
125X 5
135X 5
140X 3 (darn!)

To be frank, 140 felt better than 135 but I was gassed and couldn't get the 4th rep out of the hole. On the last rep of 135 I don't have the foggiest idea how I got it up. Jerry said I started to lean back, and man I just gritted my teeth on that one and pushed with everything I had. Somehow I got out of it and got up with that last rep, but man oh day it wasn't pretty I know. Even without a camera, I know. I would have tried 140 again, but I was pretty fried. That was a lot of front squats to do before attempting 140. But overall the last two days, I've been pretty pleased. Work still is frustrating me, as is the car situation, but other things are turning around and going ok, so I'm feeling a little bit better. Hopefully things will keep going well. I've got stuff to look forward to this weekend and am just hoping that work stress doesn't overwhelm me and stays at bay. But, we'll see.... it's going to be another crazy week... I may be like Homer and go crazy... I really hope everyone enjoyed that Youtube... that's one of my faves! Well, until next time...

The feast is mine! Yikes... and away! :P

Time for a change...

If you have been reading my blog, you know that my intent with continuing to publish on this blog is to share my experiences with CrossFit. CrossFit is a wonderful program that has helped me to accomplish many things. However, from time to time, there are things that I feel strongly about, so strongly in fact that I feel the need to publish a post about them. Today is one of those days. I will forewarn you that this post will more than likely be very long. There is a chance that it may anger you, or force you to ask many questions that I have no answers to. But, if you have an interest in the educational world, read on.

*************************************************

In the spring of of 2002, I took a large risk. After having a year and a half of my college education under my belt, I decided to change my major. After three semesters of putting together power points, and trying to prove that I'd be excellent in the field of communications, I was tired. I wasn't enjoying the field nearly as much as I had thought I would. I wanted, no, NEEDED, a career where I was not shoved into a cubical, where I was free to make my own decisions, and where I could allow my creative outlets to work. I had been a lifeguard, a swim coach, and a swimming lessons instructor all before. There was something about passing knowledge to others that I really enjoyed and so I decided to take the "leap of faith" change my major, and pray I didn't wind up with additional years in college at the whopping cost of $30K per year.

I was someone who really looked forward to doing all the practicums and going out into the field. I loved writing lessons and seeing how creative I could be. I loved doing what I did. I felt a great connection with the students in those classes, in particular the 3rd grade slot I did during junior year. I managed to complete all my requirements with just one additional class after graduation (a history course of all things) and I was free to enter the real world. There was a delay of a year thanks to that last class, but I finally got my first real teaching job in the fall of 2005. I packed my bags and moved to VA and entered the "real world." I went into teaching carrying my love of literature, and my hope that I could inspire kids to see in books and writing what I did. I also carried my fear of math, but my hopes that I could help kids overcome what I was never able to.

But regardless, I went into the teaching world with bright eyes and a big smile. My first year was stressful, as any first year would be, but my eyes were being opened to a good many truths about the educational world. As the years have progressed, I've become more and more appalled by things I see occurring in our schools. I have begun to realize, especially after these first few months of this year, that the education system in this country is in serious trouble.

The Washington Post and the local news stations have all done reports on the budget crunches being faced by the local districts. But what they're not reporting on is what was happening in those schools BEFORE the budget crunches, and how the continued budget constraints are affecting pre-existing situations.

As I walk around my building, as I dialogue with other teachers who are friends of mine in other states and other schools, I am being painted a very grim picture. I am being painted a picture of teachers who are overworked. Teachers who feel that there are not enough hours in the day. Teachers who feel ineffective. Teachers who feel as if no matter what they do, it will never be enough.

As I have entered into the teaching realm, I realize that there were things I was never taught or told about in college. Information that could have possibly helped me to prepare for the onslaught that was about to come.

Teachers are asked everyday to complete at least 7 hours of core instruction. This means that in that seven hours they are to teach math, science, social studies, reading, writing, spelling, and in some cases health. There are requirements for how long some of those blocks should be. For example, language arts should be longer than any of the other subjects, and math should be the second longest and should be about an hour each day in most schools.

Please stop for one second to think about the immense amount of work that it must take just to plan out one day. Let alone a week, a month, a quarter, or a year. Remember that the materials that the teachers need are not ready and waiting in a room somewhere for them. Copies must be made, things cut out, posters laminated, bulletin boards made to correspond, games created, and any additional supplies must be purchased. Now, the additional supplies that are being purchased, are NOT being paid for by districts or schools. The money that is needed for these things comes out of teachers pockets. For example, I once taught a lesson on ratio and proportion. A great way to do this was to create trail mix. For ever seven Chex, there are 2 m&m's. But the recipe required 70 Chex, so how many M&M's do we need? The lesson worked and the kids understood the difference between the ratio and the proportion. But who bought all the ingredients for the trail mix?

To create lessons like that is costly. Affective and enjoyable, but costly. Please also bear in mind, that teachers make less than many professions out there that require a bachelors's degree. But yet, teachers are asked to take from their earnings, and supplement the instruction in their own classrooms. How is that fair? How is that possible? When your pay is barely a living wage if at all, how is it fair to ask someone to put more of those funds back into a classroom?

Something else to keep in mind has to do with that planning you just read about. Teachers don't just sit at their desks all day and plan lessons. Teachers are instructing during the day. They are given a minimal amount of planning time which is very often spent doing things besides planning. Our planning time on average is no longer than 1/2 hour to 45 minutes. In this time frame, we're to plan lessons for all those disciplines? That's next to impossible. Not to mention, we're also supposed to be doing all that copying, all the game making, all the bulletin board creation, and all the other things that I listed above. In 45 minutes? Not even Superman could accomplish that. It is a Herculean task. And let's not forget that in that same 45 minutes, teachers are required to answer any parent emails, calls, or do any other tasks that need to be taken care of for other teachers. How is one to do this, let alone find time to grab a cup of coffee or even go to the bathroom?

To add into this, teachers are also required to do things such as analyze standardized testing data, meet with other teachers to try to plan together, sit in meetings on the latest data or methods, and they are even pulled from their class to sit on IEP meetings as well as other sorts of meetings.

So, as a result of this, teachers wind up spending large quantities of their OWN time, grading papers, creating lessons, creating materials, answering emails and notes, talking to other teachers, and in general, doing the requirements of their job, that are IMPOSSIBLE to actually complete in the 7.5 hour workday that they are paid for. According to a recent book I read, people who were asked about the teaching profession likened it to the clergy. In their opinions, you should expect, as a teacher, not to make any money, and to spend your days serving the needs of others at expense to yourself.

Why? When the education of future generations is SO vitally important to a strong economy and a strong country, WHY? Why is it that people are not looking for the most highly qualified and best trained teachers to teach, but they are looking for people who are willing to accept instead a life of saccrifice? Why should educating future generations be a saccrifice? Why is it not upheld as vital to keeping and creating a society and country that are strong?

Many people feel that well, teachers get the summers off and that they get paid for a full year's worth of work when they don't work the full year, and so the salary is fine. Let me let you in on a secret. Teaching is ranked as one of the most stressful fields to be a part of. In 9 months, we cram in MORE work than a standard 12 month job, PLUS we put in overtime that we will NEVER receive compensation for. And because of our salaries, 85% of teachers work second jobs. For many teachers, the reality of that "summer off" is either a second job or classes and more work to maintain their certification, or increase it as deemed by counties and states. Which mind you, again, they many times have to do either entirely out of their own pocket, or with minimal compensation from their districts.

Now, these things, plus others that I have not mentioned in this post, were all part of the education world long before the economy recessed and budgets became crunched. What does a budget crunch mean to you? Budget crunch to the education world means that now, the few aids who were in buildings to help support teachers, are dwindling even farther. Resources teachers designed to help teachers find materials they need to support students are dwindling. Classroom sizes have increased and will continue to do so. Now, I want you to explain to me how any of this is protecting the future of this country. We're not even talking about the politics of administrators, or of changing grades and parents who seem to feel that the education system is there to be their doormat. I'm not even touching on that part of teaching because that in itself is a whole other topic. But how is any of this helping students to receive a good education?

By continuing to sit back and not effect change on the education system of this country, we are failing the future and failing ourselves. We are creating a society of children who are not set up for success. Success for a student means that they carry knowledge and know how to use it, that is correct. But it also means knowing how to fail and how to deal with that. Our education system wants everyone to have the knowledge and pass the tests. They want the students not to be "left behind". But the reality is that not all of those students will be able to pass the test. And what then? What happens when little Bobby doesn't pass the test? Little Bobby isn't held back because he's not ready. He's pushed through the system being told it's not his fault he didn't succeed. He's told that the teacher must not have done a good enough job teaching that particular concept, and he is sent through the system. Little Bobby failed, but was told it was ok. It didn't really matter. It wasn't his fault, it was the teacher's fault. What are you doing to Little Bobby?

Little Bobby now has no idea how to deal with failure. He's being taught that when you fail, you should blame someone else. He has no idea how to look at that failure and use it to make him better. He has no idea how to say, this means I need to try harder. He instead blames someone else and moves on. Is that the moral fiber we want our future generations to have? On the flip side, what are you also doing to the teacher? You are holding the teacher responsible for things beyond their control. Maybe Bobby never did any of his homework. Maybe Bobby had 3 hours of sleep before the test. This is now the teacher's fault and is a direct reflection on them? Does that make sense to you? As budgets crunch on a system that was already flawed, what is going to happen?

Is it any wonder then, why teachers are beginning to flee the system? In districts around the country, one of the largest expenses is training new teachers coming into the district and on recruitment to try to attract new teachers. In fact, it is quite possibly the single biggest expense for many counties. Studies have shown the in the first three years of teaching 35% of teachers leave the profession. Increase to five years and that percentage becomes a staggering 50%. Is it any wonder why? New teachers come in with high hopes, much as I did, only to have the reality of the system crash down on them, forcing them to then soon leave the profession and causing the cycle to continue. Why is more not being down to retain the teachers who have the five years experience? Why is more not being done to keep experienced teachers in the classrooms?

I have watched good teachers cry in frustration over what they are being asked to do, knowing that the time and the resources do not exist for them to be able to accomplish what others tell them they need to get done. I have watched good teachers bow their heads and with resignation admit that they cannot do this anymore. The stress existed long before the budget crunches. The increases in classroom sizes and the decrease of support for teachers have only created a more disastrous situation. A situation where more stress and more work are being placed on teachers who were already overworked and underpaid.

So what will it take? What will it take for something to change? It is time for a change. It is needed and needed NOW. Administrations are asking teachers to do more work, but telling them they will no longer recieve a COLA or a step increase. How is that fair? They will never earn that step back. How can you justify that? The teachers are in the trenches everyday, taking heat from all sides, and doing the work that others continually throw at them. How is that fair? How many companies do that? When you are given more responsibility and more work is placed on your plate, you are most often times rewarded for your extra time and energy. Teachers are not being rewarded. They are being slaughtered. Torn down by parents, and soceity, existing in a world created by governments and administrations that don't understand them, or the job they do, and certainly don't allow them the time, support, and resources they need to actually teach and provide children with the eduation they deserve.

In the movie Newsies, an old favorite of mine starring a much younger Christian Bale, there was a quote. "Sometimes, all it takes is a voice. That becomes ten, and then a hundred, and then a thousand. Unless it is silenced." I am one voice. My voice is lost in the shuffle of my county. But there are other voices out there that need to be heard. It needs to be understood that this is not acceptable. If you have students, if you have young children, get involved. This system is failing and it needs you. Your children and the future need you desperately.

Out for a few days...

So, the addition of swimming to my schedule has been a little crazier than I thought it would be. Imagine that schedule that I wrote out once before, and now add a commute to Mt. Vernon everyday, except for when I have class on Thursday and therefore commute to Vienna, and then a commute into Old Town right after swimming on Wednesday to work at the restaurant. And you know, add into all that the fact that I'm still trying to do all the things that honest to god NORMAL people do like eat, sleep, shower, hang out with friends, read a book, have a relationship, watch some tv..... Looking at this, I think you would agree with me that I must be out of my ever loving mind. I think this is quite possibly the craziest my schedule has ever been, and to be honest, I just haven't had the gumption to get up out of bed the last two days for CF. It's really been affecting me.

Speaking of class though... I was on my way to class yesterday and when I went to exit and head towards Vienna, I hit the brakes to slow down. Well the road was wet, my brakes locked, and across the exit I went and slammed into the guardrail. I am fine, which as everyone keeps reminding me is the important thing, but nonetheless it's not really helpful to me to be without a car. So needless to say, I'm going to be out of CF for a few days until I can take care of everything. *sigh* What craptastic timing.

Go crazy? Don't mind if I do!!!!!!!

No time to myself and no energy for CF make Katie something something...

In honor of our Veteran's...

Today was in honor of our Veteran's.... I'll be sure to update more later about this uber, super, really dooper (not) fun metcon workout... PS It really sucked! But I still heart our Veteran's....

Max power cleans... and Lt. Dan's Birthday...

Seriously, I got a case of the giggles today during CF. I was giving Lt. Dan so much grief and it was his birthday... awwww... oh well. I love my adoptive father! :) Power clean stuff and Dan's innuendo that made me giggle coming later...

So, it's later.... :P LOL. Today was Lt. Col Dan's birthday. While I should have been extra special nice today, I coudln't do that. It just wouldn't be, well, us. So I was giving him all sorts of grief while we were working out, and then all of a sudden as he's watching us power clean and bemoaning our flexibility he just blurts out "Man, I wish I could get it THAT good." I couldn't help it. I really tried. It came out as just a little giggle at first, and then, I just started laughing. I wish Gar would have been there because we all know how he is the best at finding innuendos. It was hilarious.... well at least to me it was. I'm not so sure about anyone else.

Anyway, today was a fun day. It was a max power clean day. I was a little disappointed with the weight I put up. I've been feeling so strong lately I def felt like I should have been able to put up more but my pull from the floor is a weak point for me, and I was only about to power clean 130. I was close with 135 but I feel like I should easily be able to do about 150. Really, if I can hang clean 135-140, I should be able to use the extra momentum from the floor to bang out 150, but eh, always something to work on.

I failed once at 120, and had to try 130 three times. Jerry said the form was good, but I need to work on being more explosive on the first pull from the floor. But, I made it to CF today and that's half the fight sometimes. I really was beat. I didn't get home from work until after 11 and then by the time I got to bed it was late and then I was awake at 4:15. I hate it when I can't even sleep through to my alarm. Yar. That drives me nuts. But on a funny note, Cara told me she wanted photos of the comfy Tarzhay pj's I keep talking about... so I took some! Ha!

Now, try not to be too jealous of the awesomeness... but just know that you can go purchase your own at Tarzhay (for those of you who don't fluenty speak French, that's Target) for less than $20. Behold the pajama awesomeness!!!







Until next time... :)

Partner work

Today was a day that I needed CF.... as much as my mind wasn't even there, at least my body was there and getting a good workout in. Today was a team day and I'm glad that Bryn was there. She was an awesome partner today and did her best to keep my head in the game. Today's fun looked like this...

50 burpees
400 M run
75 jumping slamballs
400 M run
100 KB swings
400 M run
400 M med ball toss
400 M walking lunges

This was really a doozy. For the burpees, slamballs, kb swings, toss, and lunges, only one partner could go at a time. Bryn did a much better job today than I did. She really cranked out a lot of reps for our team and did an awesome job. I was just sort of along for the ride today.

I really wish that I could blog more about what's been going on with me, but ever since the incidents a month or so ago with people hopping to my blog and saying all sorts of things about me that were neither nice nor true, I am very leery of putting too much of my personal life on my blog. A lot of what is going on is work related and it's spilling into other things, but still, I'm just leery. The long and the short of it though is that I've just really been down lately, and I'm trying to find a way to get my head screwed back on straight. I know part of the answer is just to keep hitting CFOT hard and get my diet back on track, but it's hard. Hopefully I'll figure this out all soon, and get back to being my usual unusual self. If that makes any sense...

Sobbing into my beer...

I can't believe Penn State just lost to Iowa... and now have to share the big ten title with *shudder* Ohio State... oh God I think I just threw up a bit in my mouth... this does not bode well for me...

Attacked by wild rabid badgers...

I was attacked by badgers this morning... or well rather one badger really... curses... I hate it when I get attacked by badgers...

I mean, come on, those things aren't nice and with the sharp teeth and the claws and the eeek! Ok, Ok, so perhaps I'm stretching the truth JUST a SMIDGEN. Ok, I wasn't really attacked by a badger PER SAY.... but I did get my butt kicked by a Badger! :P ("Ok Brand, Michael Jackson didn't really use the bathroom at my house... but his sister did!" If you know where that comes from points to you!)But anyway, I knew today was Badger because I happened to check my Facebook and saw that Jerry had commented to Adam about it. I nearly didn't go in because of that, and I actually agonized for a bit. But, with everything that's been going on, I just can't keep letting it drag me down. I need to keep in the Blue Room. So, up and at 'em I was at 0445 and away I went.

I warmed up my squat cleans, hit a few chins, and got ready to tackle the Badger. Jerry was talking about going from the floor, and he's been asking me about that a lot lately. I know he's tryng to get me to have good form and increase my range of motion, and so I thought that's what he was telling me this morning. Well, we settled in, and so away I went pulling from the floor. If you're not familiar with Badger, here is the bone up on it:

Badger
3 rounds for time
30 squat cleans (w 65lbs m 95lbs)
30 chins
800 meter run

So, as I'm about oh, 24 reps into the first set, Jerry said, "Katie we're going from the hang!" And I said "But you asked about the floor!" We then realized that I was uber confused, which is not all THAT unusual, and I was being stupid. But, since I started from the floor, from the floor I stayed. I did 90 squat cleans from the floor. OW! I didn't realize how much more pulling from the floor gases you. It doesn't seem like much, but holy cow. I was panting and could only do 3 at a time. Maybe 4 a few times. I was gassed. Throw in the 30 chins and the run, and I thought I was going to die. This was not a PR day for me, but last time I didn't pull from the floor. I went from the hang, so naturally it will be somewhat faster, but my time today was over 3 minutes slower than before, which feels utterly depressing, even though I know I did more work. I think my time overall was 46:34. :( I'm not pleased.

BUT, on a wonderful note... I went shopping at Tarzhay last night, and I happened to have one of those sorts of nights where I wander aimlessly through the store. Well, I discovered, that Tarzhay is an awesome place to buy cute pj's! They had all sorts of fleecy and flannel pants for $10 and then shirts that matched for $7. So I bought some polka dotted pants with a green shirt to match some of the polka dots... and then... tee hehehehehe... I bought socks. Tehehehehe... they are cream and blue to match some of the polka dots, and they... tehehehe... they have a hole for each toe. Heheheheheheh. Oh they make me giggle... :) But they are seriously the most comfy pj's I have.... and I predict that by 500 tonight, I'll be wearing them... :) AWESOME!!!!! :)I love lazy weekends!!!!!!!!! :)

No CF again today...

How many times have I used THAT title in the last month? Ugh. I'm just not feeling it right now. I know I'll be back in tomorrow. I need to be, but life is just interferring. Big time. I'm not liking it one bit. Doesn't my life know that CrossFit is paramount? Geez. You'd have thought it got the memo.

Weighted chins and max front squats....

Sooooo, you thought I stopped drinking the Kool-aid didn't you? You really thought that I'd chucked it and had fallen off the wagon huh? Well.... :P (sadly I can't make the noises that I was just making as I stuck my tongue out at you, but they were comical) I did not fall off the wagon, I still chug my gallon of Kool-aid a day, but work is big time interfering, not to mention some other stuff I've got going on. I'm just really trying to get my head on straight these days and get things situated, and sometimes, although I may not like it, CrossFit does have to take a back seat. But, today, I was back in the Blue Room and it felt good to be there... well not good, getting my behind kicked never feels GOOD, but eh, you know what I mean! :P

I was running a bit behind this morning and walked in just as we were getting situated and saw the workout for the day. It went a little something like this:

5 rounds of
5 weighted strict chins
Max front squats with w 100lbs m 155lbs

I was pretty pleased with my strength on this worked today since my CF (and my zone) have fallen off big time over the last few weeks, or really about the last two months rather. September is always a hard month with the return of school, but some personal issues (if you're a long time reader or a close friend you know what things I'm referring too) really held me up in October and I had a lot to work through. But things are starting to come back online now and I'm getting back in a grove. So, hopefully, the Zone will kick back in soon and I'll start to progress again. Especially with the Zone. I'm def feeling being out of it. It's been about a month since the Zone fell off, and I really need to kick my own ass and get back to it. But for now, I was pretty pleased with this.

I hit the weighted chins all strict with a 10 lb vest on, and I even hit a set of 3 without getting off the bar. Stricts are very hard for me to do consecutively so I was pretty stoked about that. My 5 sets of max front squats went 13, 15, 17, 14, 15 for a total of 74 squats with 100lbs. Again, not too shabby. I'm sure Adrienne and the likes came in after me today and schooled my backside, but... eh, I can only hope to one day catch up with them. :P I have to work tonight (ugh) so we'll see about hitting the Blue Room tomorrow, but I really want to try to get back to at least getting 5 days of CF every week. I really feel a difference in me when I do.

It's still amazing to me that I've been doing this just for a little over a year. I remember last fall at this time being unable to clean, jerk, or do a kipping pull-up. Now, I can clean, jerk, snatch, thruster, and do strict chins. What a difference a year can make! For those of you who are reading and who have just started, don't get discouraged. You'll be amazed at what you can do in just a short time. As the Energizer bunny says... or well, rather his voiceover announcer says, just keep going and going and going, and eventually, you'll end up there! :) (Brilliant I know.... :P) Well, until next time. The feast is mine! Yikes, and away! (That still cracks me up, and yes I know that makes me a nerd! :P)

Down and out...

No CF for me today... I'm feeling pretty down and out... this weekend was great to be away, but with conferences and the report card scramble, I'm feeling like I'm in shut down mode. I just can't focus right now. I forgot my bubble sheets here last night so my grades were late and of course I was here at 630am to start working on them. The stupid things took me over 5 hours. Grrrr.... some other stuff is going on too that's got me just... feeling out of sorts. Hopefully I'll be back in the Blue Room tomorrow and feeling better..... we'll see.

Barbell work...

Nothin' like jumpin' into a smokin' barbell circuit first thing on Monday morning. AWESOME! :) I sort of felt like I was going to meet Pukie during this one because it was a pretty tough mix of metcon and strength. The load wasn't too heavy, but when you try to bust through it, that "not too bad load" starts to feel wwwwwwaaaaay worse than you think it will. Kinda like those decisions I make with a large portion of my life... you know... the ones that SOUND like a good idea at the time but rarely are? :P Yeaaaaahhhh... so about that... :P LOL. Anyhoo, here's what today's fun looked like.

Barbell Work
10 Rounds for time or 30 minutes of work
5 Thrusters (Thrust 'er? I don't even KNOW 'er!)
7 Hang power cleans
9 Barbell high pulls

Total time 22:16

I felt like I rested way too much on this one. I was trying to keep the bar up even if it was only for 3 before I had to drop it. But even with doing that, I still felt slow and a little sluggish. Maybe it's cause I've been out of the Blue Room for a few days, but who knows. It felt good to get everything in in under 30 minutes though. I was glad I beat the cut off. I heard through the grapevine that I missed Angie, and another max clean and jerk day. I'm not a happy camper about that, but the rest and relaxation was much needed. When I have some time, I'll try to upload a picture or two of me. Let me just say, I look great on a horse... :P I should have been a cowgirl... I should have learned to rope and ride..... wearin my six shooter ridin' my pony on a cattle drive... Oh I shoulda been a cowgirl***

**** lyrics have been changed to suit my purpose... cause I can... and I'll do what I want! :)

Anyhoo... conferences are in progress... they make me very tired... I feel like I always have to be really peppy with the parents, and it wears me out. But, I'm almost halfway done... woot! :) Just gotta keep keepin' on... :) my afternoon is pretty free and clear, but I have a full hour between 3 and 420, so, I just need to make it through the crunch. I can do it!!!! :) You know, I just looked for that SNL skit where they make fun of Kerry Strug and Bella is yelling, "You can do it!" and I couldn't find it.... sad... but man that would have been perfect! :) Until next time, the feast, is mine! Yikes! And away! :)

Wednesday's intervals plus Randy

So, I'm back in the great state of Virginia... :P Woo! :P So, I have some catching up to dooooooo... here we go...

Wednesday was a metcon GASSER!!! Jerry said if you could go sub four that you should double up and go through twice for time and count that as a round. I did not fall into that category and therefore, I did not go psycho on this one. Here's what we did...

Interval training
Once through for time
Rest 3 minutes
Repeat as many rounds as desired/time for

500 M row
40 Air squats
30 Abmat sit-up
20 Push-ups
10 Chins

I was able to hit 3 intervals. They looked sort of like this (I think)
Round 1- 6:02
Round 2- 6:36
Round 3- 6:47

Even though I was out of town on Friday, I still tried to get a workout in. I hit Randy which is 75 snatches for time and used the rx'd women's weight of 55 lbs. My time wasn't too shabby, but should have been quicker. It was 9:34. I have realized though, as many of you have pointed out, that the extra rock in my hips on my bar work is slowing me down. I need to work on dropping my butt without using my hips and causing that extra swing. Always something isn't there?

Back to the grind tomorrow... oh boy... :(

Out of town...

I know that you've all been worried sick about me, but I just wanted to relieve you all of your worries... I'm not dead... or maimed... nor have I stopped drinking the Kool-aid... I'm just out of town for the weekend... :P I actually *gasp* took a day off and gave myself a three day weekend... with all the stress of grades and conferences etc., it's been VERY nice to get away... :) I actually went horseback riding yesterday which was wicked cool... and I have a picture of me on my horse that I'll post up when I get back... :) However, it's time for breakfast... so off I go! :) I'll be sure to post up more later... I hit Randy on Friday... so I'll be posting up about that too... :)

Something is wrong...

When I don't even want to blog... I think the earth just stopped revolving...

Too tired...

I am too tired to function properly... I will update tomorrow... maybe... if I'm still sane... wait... was I ever sane to begin with? And barring that there are no badgers... are there badgers trying to eat me? Oh dear... hopefully there will be CF tomorrow... I'll make no promises... New CF t-shirts in today... hehehehe... have some Kool-aid! :) Hasta...

Sunday's workout, Stuart's birthday, my bathtub, craptastic tip crap, and Innuendo in CrossFit? Surely you jest!

So after missing my workout on Friday due to school, I was ready to hit the blue room yesterday. I really like doing barbell work and was thrilled to see it on the menu yesterday. But, my thrilled feeling sort of went away when I saw the workout. We were working on the push jerk yesterday and went through a progression. Then Jerry said we were doing....

For time
5 rounds
10 Push jerks (w 85 m 135)
20 KTE or 40 Abmat medball sit-ups

I really like push jerks, but man, I was just not feeling the abs on this burner. But you know, the good thing about CrossFit, is that usually I can find something to laugh at while I'm busy dying. And wouldn't you know, while I'm busy dying and throwing my medball at the wall, I started thinking to myself that man, there is a lot of innuendo in CrossFit. And that, well that just made me giggle. I mean seriously. Once I start giving you this list, you are going to swear that Freud himself had something to do with the invention of CrossFit.

Ok... so things you could hear at CrossFit that just might have the slightest of innuendos.
-Wow. You jerked that really well.
-Thruster? (I don't even know 'er!)
-Drive with your hips!
-Check out her snatch.
-That's a great rack.
-You really need to slam the balls hard.
-You gotta get vicious with your hips.
-Drive it hard!
-Get into the rack position.
-Squat down nice and low and open up those hips.
-If you butterfly your legs, it makes it harder.
-How much do you think she/he scored? (FGB)
-It's all about the speed of your hips.
-I just couldn't get it up.
-You need a wide grip.
-Make sure you get a firm grip.

Ah... hehehehehehehe... they made me giggle. My time overall was 16:14. Then I had to go to work last night. Work was almost ok. We've been dead (hey the economy is kinda sucky, I get it) but last night we got a little hit. I would have done ok, oh, right, except that the table that kept me at work past close, split the check and only left 1 credit card slip instead of 2. So guess who got no tip! On $100. Thank you, I heart you folks. Jerks. Anyhoo, despite only having 5 hours of sleep, I was up and at 'em for the zero dark thirty class. Today we worked on some front squats which felt so WEAK. I haven't done weighted front squats in a loooooooong time. Today just happened to also be Stuart's birthday... I love Stuart. He is seriously one of the coolest dude's ever. But after today, I don't like him so much. Damn you Stuart! :P Just kidding. I heart you Stuart. :) Anyhoo, today's fun looked like this.

Stuart's Birthday Workout
For Time
Front Squats, Chins, Box jumps
10, 15, 20
9, 14, 19
8, 13, 18
7, 12, 17
6, 11, 16
5, 10, 15
4, 9, 14
3, 8, 13
2, 7, 12
1, 6, 11

I was soooo smoked from the box jumps that the front squats felt like hell. Dude, I haven't done those exercises in awhile, just because of how my schedule has fallen and let me tell you, I didn't like that at all. Nooooo. But I stuck it out and I finished it. I finished in 34:12. Not to shabby, but should have been faster. I'm sure all the crazies after me kicked my arse. But I finished. Yeah.... word... :P

Now, let me tell you a story. It's a beautiful story... about my bathtub. You see, on Friday, I went to go shower... I do do that from time to time (I know you're all thanking me for that right now) but I went to shower on Friday morning and realized, all the shower water from Thursday was still in there. Well, imagine that nice shock. It was gross. So I bought some cleaner at 0630 from Safeway because I didn't want my roommate to have to deal with it, but no avail. The Drano didn't do the trick. We tried more later... no such luck. So, we were running the sink when we realized that the sink was backing up into the shower... huh? Ok, we had a problem. So, we survived the weekend by sharing a shower with our other roommate (she has her own shower), and I contacted the plumber today. But wait... how did I shower today? Well, I showered at Jungle's which normally is a $15 visitor fee... yup... for the shower. Anyhoo, the nice lady told me not to tell anyone, but she didn't charge me. (oops) She's on my Christmas list now. :) Anywhoo... I got ahold of the plumber, and they told me that they would be here between 430-600.

Parent teacher conferences started this week for me (not everyone else), and I had two after school. Well, I raced out of the building, and pulled in at 430. Well, I waited and waited and waited. Then called the company and finally got my plumber at 645 this evening. He quoted me to snake the drain... are you ready for this? $240. To SNAKE the drain. Jesus. Well, he starts and says he can't get through the clog. So, no clue what we had down there... then he starts talking about another $240 to cut the pipe!!! WHAT? $500? WHAT?! Well he tried one more thing... thankfully it worked, so we only got charged a whopping $270 for our clog. Nice huh?

I do have to stop and say thank you to my adoptive mother Susan and my girl Martha who both offered up showers this morning. But I was in a rush because of conferences and had to get a move on, but I appreciate my CFOT family being super super awesome! :) I heart you guys! Thank you!

Now, seriously... do you still wonder after reading all this why I am slightly crazed? :P
-

Heavy running Fran... and my people watching at the globo gym...

So today was another rough one... it was ALMOST like the fourth lady this week... but not quite. Today was a heavy Fran, with a little bit of my old friend RUNNING in there. I haven't run since the half so today was going to be a good test for me to see if things have fully recovered.

Today's WOD looked like this.

800 M run
21 Thrusters
21 Chins
400 M run
15 Thrusters
15 Chins
800 M run
9 Thrusters
9 Chins
Weight-75 w 115 m
Time 28:54

Haha... yeah... this felt as bad as it looked, because not only was it a heavy Fran, it was chest to the bar chins. Sooooo basically, go do Fran, and while you're at it, run a little bit more than a mile too. Oh, and it was freakin' COLD this morning too. Fall is here, which is great, because last year we never really got fall. It was 60-70 degrees straight up through November, so I'm totally loving it. But running in that this morning was CHHIIIIIILLLLLLYYYYY! BRRR!!!

The 21 thrusters took me a hot minute, but the other two sets actually felt ok. Not great, they were still sort of slow, but they felt ok. The chins man, those took me awhile though. The chest to the bar is only a few inches but it completely changes my form and so it throws me through a loop. I can't reset so I can only do a chin or two at a time. It's a lot harder than one would think. But, I got 'er done, and actually had a time that wasn't tooooooo awful bad, so I'm ok with my sort of fourth lady this week though. :)

Now, I have to say, for those of you who don't CF with me, you have to understand how the building that we work out in is set up. We are on the second floor of a globo gym, renting space from a Jiu Jitsu facility. (this is only for a short while longer though...... wwwwwwwoooooottttt!) Anyway, the globo gym is making modifications to their back entrance where we normally come in, so now we have to walk in at the back entrance, and walk through the side of the gym.

As I was coming through this morning, I started to people watch. The crowd at the gym at zero dark thirty is an interesting one. But I just couldn't help myself. I started staring. And I saw this guy.... he was doing bicep curls on a machine, completely leaning to one side and completely doing them wrong. I really wanted to walk over, smack the dude on the forehead, tell him to sit up straight and do the reps right, and then go about my merry way. But of course, I couldn't do that, so I settled for just making a bizarre face as I walked by and shaking my head.

But then a thought hit me. I'm never going to be able to date anyone who isn't a CF'er. Seriously. I know it. I won't be able to stand it. Said man will come home, complain about work (totally respectable, work sucks sometimes) and then will talk about the "workout" he did at the gym and the protein shakes he had for breakfast and lunch. I'm therefore going to be forced to keep down my lunch, and feel the need to harm him or myself. Then I'm going to be forced to leave, well assuming that it isn't my place. If it is my place, then he'd have to leave, in what I'm assuming will probably be a big sissy mobile that will match his girlie pants really well. Ugh. Really though... how can I respect a man who thinks that bicep curls are a workout? Seriously? For cereal... The only way it would ever work is if said dude is opening to a conversion. I mean like a "Pukie is my Savior" now sort of conversion.

It will have to be an honest and real conversion of course. None of this CF two days a week and then oh, I think I'll skip CF and go to the globo gym today and eat a power bar. Nope, no way. He would have to prove himself CF Legit. Luckily for him, I have 34 ways to know if you are CF legit.... ;) LOL.... oh yes... indeed... I do have the most random thoughts sometimes... ahhhhh until manana! :)

Grace... is my middle name...

So, it was Isabel, Cindy, and now Grace... you'll have to wait for the details... but I'll give you a little taste...

I did not do prescribed weight (85lbs) for Grace.... now you ponder what that means until later... :P

You know, I'm not going to have time to write out all the sordid details before work tonight... so... just watch the video instead... the embed is being silly... so just go here... it's the top video... THEN.....

Jerry caught a little bit of Isabel on film the other day... I thought he was taking pictures... eh... oh well.... :P You can watch that video too if you want... :)It's the second one... :)

"Oh Sandy... er... uh I mean, Cindy..."

Oh Sandy baaaaaby, I'm alllll alone, I sit, I wonder why-iiiiiiiiii oh why... you left me... Oh Sandy baby... uh oh, crap I mean Cindy, I mean, why am I singing Grease? I mean, DOH! HA, have I mentioned recently that I am a complete and total nerd? Cause I am... in case you hadn't noticed.

Ok, so bad John Travolta singing aside, today was an alright day. I have to say I was wicked sore today from Isabel. Jerry says that means I was doing it right. Dang, I thought it just meant I lifted a bunch of heavy weight! :P LOL... I know I know, I'm a complete smart aleck....

But so seriously, when I walked in and saw that it was Cindy today, I cringed a bit. I'm still not really all that good with push-ups, so it was hard to get excited for this one. Cindy of course is

AMRAP in 20 minutes
5 chins
10 push-ups
15 squats

The last time CFOT hit Cindy, I missed the workout for some reason, and I made it up at home in PA at a globo gym. Definitely a very different experience, and I think the old guy that was watching me do it was totally floored. Anyway, I managed to muster about 11 2/3 rounds that time, and was pretty disappointed with that. So today, I was just aiming to beat that, and beat it I did. I went a full round and 2/3 more than that so I was pretty stoked. I finished with 13 1/3 rounds in. Not too shabby for a girl who still really stinks at push-ups. :P

I'm pretty excited for tomorrow though. Jerry gave us the head's up that tomorrow is another named WOD. So it will be Isabel, Cindy, and then Grace all back to back. WOOT! :) I can't wait to try to tackle Grace. I've never done her either so two new ladies in one week will be quite the feat. I'm excited to see how this one goes. Clean and jerks... yeeeeeeahhhh buddy! :) Woot woot woot! :)