Don't Call It a Comeback

I did 100 pull-ups today. I was supposed to do more. Oops.

That happened around rep 86. Those last 14 pull-ups really, really hurt. But I had to do them. I mean, you don't get to rep 86 and quit because your hands hurt. (And thanks Zac for cleaning the blood off the bar. I know that was gross and I was trying to be tough but that would have really, really hurt.) I was supposed to do 100 kb swings, 100 double unders, and 100 overhead squats after that (who thinks of these workouts?). Not so much. I was done for the day. Total DNF. And now my hands kind of feel like claws, but I'm trying to keep them stretched out. Ugh. Gross.

High Five?

Then I realized that I'd have to take a rest day tomorrow because there isn't much I can do with my hands. I hate rest days! But seriously, what can I do without grabbing anything? 

Running

Sit-ups

Squats

Box Jumps

Lunges

Shoot. I guess I'll have to wait and see the workout.


Today was my second day back after a week off. OK, I didn't take the whole week off. I took some friends to Crossfit Defined in Chicago, which was pretty rad. I'd join right away if I didn't live so far away :) He put us through a lot of warm-up, with double unders, bear crawls, and partner pulls, and skill work in Turkish Get-Ups. One of my friends almost had a pukie after all that warm-up! Then we did tabata rows, box jumps, ring rows, wall balls, ab mat sit ups, and jumping lunges. I got a little excited during my box jumps and did this:

Which actually doesn't look that bad. (But it will stay there forever. Stupid junky blood.) But I did fall over the box and managed to get back up and get another jump in. That was my workout for the week.


I drank a lot this past week, which I will not do again for quite a while. It was just one of those weekends. But still, when I drink, I feel I have something to prove. At a party, I took some people across the street and showed them some pull-ups on a playground. I challenged a 300 pound man to some arm wrestling. I've made better choices. I generally feel like I have something to prove when it comes to all this. My friend, who I visited and has known me for 20+ years, says she hasn't seen me like this before. I think it's a good thing.


I also ate a lot of cupcakes this weekend. And pizza. And sandwiches. And lemon cake. And cheesecake.


I could continue.


And I'm over it...I think. It felt terrible and my body doesn't like that anymore. But still, as I stood in line at Rite Aid tonight, I was tempted to get a Twix bar. So tempted. But I didn't. Not tonight. But it sounds so good...


Anyway, this is me in Lake Michigan, my favorite body of water. My next goal - how to get taller. Seriously, how do I do that?

52 degrees - Us Swedes can handle anything.

Persistence

I have been told by other Crossfitters how impressed they are with my consistency in working out. This is true. I am, if anything, consistent. I could go at different times during the day, but I don't. I could go on Saturdays, but I don't. But I do go 4-5 times a week, mostly in the afternoon (except Sundays). I have been doing this for ...since about September. I haven't really been sick or injured in that time period. Even when I wasn't feeling well for a few days this Spring, I still showed up. Yes, Crossfit is my major hobby now. I like it. I read about it. I watch videos sometimes. I like reading other people's stories. This blog keeps me writing (although I have so many other ideas). But for the next week, I'll stop being consistent.


Yes, I'm actually taking a break.* I'm taking a short vacation - a much-needed vacation. I'm going to see people I love and I'm going to take a mental break from Crossfit. How does this matter in my Crossfit world?


I've kinda sucked lately, to be honest.


Sure, I made pretty big gains this winter into spring. But the past few weeks have been rough. I was super-bitchy on Wednesday. Friday we did this workout where the first move is overhead squats. I totally dropped the weight on the third rep and while everyone else was moving onto the next move, I was on my 6th rep out of 20 and I decided to do 35lbs instead of 55. Total fail. Then I ran a 5K on Sunday and  I don't know ...I just didn't feel good. My stomach was all weird and I couldn't breathe right. I didn't get a good time and I know I don't always have to get a good time, but sometimes I wonder what's the point? Then we had this horrible 'hold a 15 lb. weight while you do everything' workout today that I just despise. And I got another bad time. I need a break.


I also weighed myself before the WOD today and although I've been eating terrible lately, it was the lowest number I've seen in a long time. 131. I don't feel strong right now. I would like to be in the 120s and feel really strong, but that's going to take some work.


So I will stop working out, at least until Monday afternoon. Then the persistence starts. Oh, and I've decided to be responsible for once in my life and save up after I start working again and get my Level One Cert. If I can teach writing, I can teach this, right?


*OK, I know, I might go to a Crossfit in Chicago, but just once, I swear!


**Just adding that I did 56 double unders in a row today during warm-up. That was awesomesauce! Oh, and I'll totally pack the jump rope.

Grunts

I posted a link to this story on facebook earlier this week and received a lot of comments from my Crossfit friends. Basically, Planet Fitness doesn't want their members to be intimidated by body builders and they call their facilities Judgment-Free Zones. (They also give their members pizza and bagels - what is this, a dorm?). You can't lift heavy weights, and if you do, don't you dare think about dropping them. Oh, and you can't grunt.


A while back, I wouldn't have thought twice about this. Even when I started Crossfit, I'd laugh when guys were making so much noise trying to lift heavy stuff. Then I got stronger. And you know what? I'm loud! Like seriously loud. I remember last spring when we were doing the workout Angie and there were a whole bunch of us ladies there on the pull-up bar. I was on rep 60 or something and the woman next to me was making so much noise, and so was I, and I kept thinking that if someone was taping the noises we were making, we could get some sound work in the porn industry. I'm just sayin'. If you can do 100 pull-ups without making a sound, maybe you're not working hard enough.


I also noticed this during Games WOD 5 a few weeks ago and I was trying to clean 100 lbs. over and over. Even though I didn't yell at the person who was trying to 'coach' me, I was making some pretty serious grunting noises trying to get that weight up. And I totally made it happen.


Maybe we're just taking this primal thing a little too far. But a 'civilized' gym sounds seriously boring to me.


Edited to add this lovely video made by Windy City Crossfit - which is not the Crossfit I'll be visiting in Chicago next week. But good video :)

Bitchfest 2011

Sometimes, and this may come as a shock, I'm not all sunshine and unicorns. I was just not feeling it today.


First, my whole day was thrown off because I was supposed to help my friend move a couch and I decided to go to Crossfit later than usual so I'd just go to my friend's after. I don't like going later. It was packed. There were 16 people there. That's terrible. That's way too many people for a workout like this or any workout really. Ugh.


So it was raining. WTF? I thought it was supposed to be nice today. Nice! It was windy and rainy and cold and awful. How do people live here? So I get to Crossfit and check my phone. Couch moving is cancelled! Rain! Booo!!! I could have gone earlier anyway.


Then I watch the 4:30 class do the WOD and it just looks awful. Ring rows and bench presses and back squats and a lot of them and heavy. I seriously considered leaving. I never leave. But I thought about it. Then Jeremy said that ring rows would help me get a chest to bar pull-up. Fine. I'll stay and work out with 15 other people.


Whatever.


I did walk the 6K with my wonderful friend after the WOD and although it was cold and a little rainy, at least I wasn't sitting on the couch pouting. I was out in the world pouting.


So not all workouts are wonderful, but I will do them. I will even go back to the advanced class tomorrow because that was fun. And I'll even move that couch after. And next week, I'm getting the heck out of Dodge and I need it. Man, do I need it. It better not be raining in Chicago.


I also hope that Cougar Town is funny tonight because I could use the laugh.

Focus

I like this recent post from Mark's Daily Apple. One of the many things I like about Crossfit is that I usually can't let my mind wander when I'm there, and if I do let it wander I miss some sort of direction or can't lift the weight I want to lift. 


I'm a pretty distracted person. I'm distracted by screens and websites. I wish I was distracted by smart things, like books, but I can't seem to concentrate long enough to finish this one lately, even though I know it's fairly brilliant. Instead my mind wanders to decisions I've made in my life and whether I'm making the right ones lately. Just so distracted these days. If I don't go to Crossfit, I'll just sit and think and over-analyze. That's never the right decision.


I don't own a smart phone because I don't want to be one of those people sitting across from you at a table looking at their phone. That's annoying. I have a very dumb phone, but it allows me to call my mom and my sisters, and that's enough for me. In the past, I would text or talk while driving, but I haven't done that for years. I even try to avoid looking at the phone while I'm walking, which seems to be how most people get around these days. I have also not walked into any walls lately or tripped over my feet. Not recently.


It bothers me how distracted people have become. I used to zone out on the elliptical reading US Weekly and watching SportsCenter. Always just zoning out, not really in the present. I can't do that for tomorrow's workout - Jackie. I'm pretty slow at rowing, and if I zone out, I'll just sit there rowing while everyone else has moved onto pull-ups, then I'll be the last one doing pull-ups. Crossfit has helped me in a lot of ways, and although you can't always see it, it's definitely made me more present in my life.

Habits

I'm able to laugh at myself, which is a good thing, especially when I see pictures of myself looking ridiculous. After a certain point in Crossfit (probably after your second WOD), you realize that you're not going to look good doing anything there (some people do, but not many) and you just get over it. I brought my 13 year old niece to a WOD last spring and she was mortified. Yes, we look silly. We're used to it.

I know - Flying Monkey. Yes, my niece liked this picture.

So on Saturday, the lovely April showed up with her camera and took some pictures of us doing thrusters and pull-ups! Great! Actually, it was pretty awesome, and so is she, but I noticed something that is apparent in the above picture too...

Didn't get this chest-to-bar. Shocking.

Didn't get this one either.

But I can at least lift the weight. Wait - what am I doing with my mouth?

I even do it while I'm judging!

My sisters, my mom, and I all do the same thing with our mouths. And I've made fun of my sister Jessie before but as is apparent here, I do the exact same thing. When we're thinking hard, it shows. I was just thinking too hard about those pull-ups. And judging. And everything. But that's OK.

It's a good thing I can laugh about those pull-ups. Oh, it's a good thing.