29.8.11

The Whole 30

I've heard rumors of a nutrition challenge coming up in our box. Normally, I would not do it. Normally, I eat what I wanna eat. But, I'm going to do this one. Why?


Honestly, I kinda feel like a heifer lately. 


Before you say anything, I know that I'm not a heifer. I know I don't look like a heifer. But I do feel like a heifer. And it's time for me to start making some progress in the box. So, I'm committing myself to the Whole 30.


The 


Here's what I like about it:

  • It's strict. It's not messing around. I like that. I need that. I'm not a 'moderation' kind of gal.
  • It's whole food. Whole food is generally better than processed food.
  • Other people will be doing this too.
  • I need the discipline.

Here's what I don't like about it:

  • There's a huge section on what I can't eat. (Don't tell me what I can't do!!!)
  • I can't eat a lot of what I've been eating.
  • I can't eat ice cream.

It's been a stressful summer for me. At times, I've been great with my eating. OK, there haven't been too many of these times. I need to lay off the booze for a while. And honestly, I need to challenge myself.


Here's what I'm most interested in finding out:

  • Will my skin clear up? I hope so, because it's been a disaster this summer.
  • Will I set some strength PRs? I hope so, because it's time.
  • Will I break? I never stick to eating plans. Never!!! When I try, it's all I think about until I go to the freezer and get the aforementioned ice cream.

Challenges

  • This will start next week. I need to move again in the next few weeks. Moving = stress and trying to find convenient food. Be prepared!!!
  • I have like 5 bottles of wine in my fridge. Am I supposed to drink these within the next week? What about all the other crap in my kitchen?
  • I will be ornery! Like, super ornery. Deal with it!
  • No Luna Protein Bars. Have you had these? They're like candy bars, but better (I think). 
  • Seriously, no ice cream?

I may need to think about this again.

24.8.11

Truth

I've been thinking a lot lately about truth and living an honest life. As a writer, I know the best writing (and the best comedy) comes from telling the truth, as difficult as that can be. Ideally, our life will be better if we live it honestly.


Yesterday we did Fight Gone Bad. Terrible workout for me. I'm bad at wall balls, box jumps, and rowing. Yeah, tough workout. I start on wall balls and I'm counting in my head. I'm up to 12. My partner, who's counting, says 6. 6?!?!! I yell at her. She gets scared and says I'm not reaching the green line. I keep going.


I yell sometimes.* I apologize. I'm never angry at the other person (unless they're in my way and they should know better). I'm angry at myself. Of course I only had 6 reps. I wasn't reaching the line. She kept me honest.


After doing CrossFit for a while, many of us think we should be RXing everything. We get frustrated when we're not making progress. We need to be honest with ourselves. 


*If we have an injury, don't aggravate it. Scale the workout so you don't injure yourself even more!
*If you're not making progress, push yourself to do something that will slow down your time - lift heavier weights, move up in pull-up bands, force yourself to do double unders. Get a slower time once in a while by challenging yourself!
*Be honest with what you eat and how it affects your performance. Seriously. It's a bigger factor than I'd like to admit.
*Practice your weakness. It won't go away. The only way to improve is to practice, which will mean failing every once in a while.
*Give yourself a break. You don't have to PR every time. It's just a workout, right?
*Stop making excuses! Yes, I'm short, which makes wall balls a little more challenging. I'm also (almost) 33 and starting to realize that I'll never be 5'6". I just need to toughen up, get stronger, and jump a little higher.


Honesty is not easy. If it was, we'd live in a very different world. But it does lead to a better life. And maybe some PRs.


*Maybe I should have been an actress. People tend to believe I'm truly upset with them.

6.8.11

Guilt

Crossfit has brought out a side of me I hadn't seen in a while. Today was the 2nd Annual 5K Love
Which was organized like a pro by my buddy Emilee. This year there was a 10K option. Great! You know what? I haven't been running a lot lately. And honestly, full disclosure, big surprise here...


I hate running.


There's nothing I like about it. I don't like how it feels. My knee gets all weird. I'm breathing heavy. No matter how much I strap stuff down, there's still stuff bouncing. Like, I hear people talk about this mystery 'runner's high.' I have no idea. I've never come close.


So I sign up for the 5K. And what kind of response do I get? "What? You're only doing the 5K?" "Come on, you can do the 10K." Jerks.


So I run the 10K. And I'm running with Rachel who I know can run much faster than me. But she keeps me company. And I'm thinking, 'I worked out a lot this week. Maybe I should take it easy. Is that my knee feeling weird again? Was that really just the first mile? Why did the first mile take so long?"


And it's not just running. There are stations along the way for burpees and lunges and squats and push-ups and broad jumps. I do them. Last year I didn't. This year I did. I'm a good sport.


So we get to the turnaround point. I'm having serious, serious doubts about running another 3 miles. It really doesn't sound good. But something in my head is telling me that I have a green tag on and it says 10K and I should quit complaining and just do it. Fine. And honestly, the second 3 were much more pleasant than the first. Then there's more squats! What??? More squats? No! I thought I was done with the stations. So I politely decline and keep running. And I think about those squats. 


And then the guilt sets in.


And Rachel and I slow down. And we do our stupid squats. And we do the next station, and the next.


Why do you do this Crossfit? Why do you make me feel this way?


We finished in 61:28, which was actually faster than I thought. I pushed through. I always do. 


I have this voice in my head that shows up early in a workout and tells me I can't finish. It's always there, no matter what. And I'm sure it will always be there. I've learned to live with it, accept what it has to say, and ignore it.

3.8.11

Eye of the Tiger

This is Justin Verlander. He is, without question, one of the top pitchers in Major League Baseball right now (if not the best). He has pitched a no-hitter this year and has nearly pitched 2 more. He's probably going to win the Cy Young Award this year. And he’s a Tiger!


If you watch him pitch, which you should, you’ll notice one dominating characteristic about him: focus. When he’s on, he’s on. No emotion, just pitching. Yes, the Angels tried to rile him up the other day and it kind of worked, but that was a team effort to stop him. He knows what he needs to do and he goes out there and focuses on the job.


I noticed this a few times this past weekend at the Crossfit games. First there was Elisabeth Akinwale. These athletes had to go through this row of monkey bars during a workout. Fun, right? They ended up ripping hands and morale. It takes a lot of shoulder strength and agility to quickly make it through them. This woman? She flew.
And it was awesome. She knew this was her workout, and she dominated. Pure focus, one rung to the next.


A lot of people were cheering for Pat ‘Manimal’ Barber this weekend. He’s kind of a Crossfit celebrity. Average guy; amazing strength. The last workout ended with pulling a sled across an arena with a long rope. Yeah, the Manimal was one of the first few with the rope, but everyone expected strong guy Jason Khalipa to finish first. Then, out of nowhere, the Manimal’s sled starts moving across the arena. he gets this sheer determination, this focus, and wins his heat.
In the back, yeah, he wins the heat.
The crowd roared.

And then, of course, is our own Cheryl Brost. Cheryl finished 13th last year in her first games. We watched her crush workouts through the Crossfit Open, then fight from behind in the Northwest Regionals to make it to the Games. She was so consistent this weekend. She focused on the workout in front of her and she showed grit and determination through each one. While the camera would focus on someone more well-known (Camille, ahem), Cheryl just did her best and finished strong. 13th last year. 7th this year. And at the end of every workout:


A true champion.

Thanks for inspiring us, Cheryl.