Top 5

I have been feeling uninspired in the CrossFit writing world lately, but I've seen many lists today. Lists I can do. And I watched High Fidelity again recently. Here come some lists.


10 Things I Love About CrossFit
10. I'd rather live an active life than a passive life.
9. I hate certain moves (overhead squats, wall balls, rowing) but instead of avoiding them, I keep doing them so I can get better. They won't go away. Neither will life.
8. I can laugh at myself.
7. Statistics! 
6. You try, you do your best, and everyone supports you.
5. Sometimes it's all business. Sometimes it's like playtime.
4. I'm not really good at team sports. In CrossFit, I'm only accountable to myself.
3. Who knew lifting a bar from the ground to your shoulders could feel so awesome. I love cleans!
2. I get to teach it now.
1. All of you.


Top 5 CrossFit Moves
1. Double Unders
2. Kettlebell Swings
3. Cleans
4. Pull-ups
5. Push-ups


Top 5 Least Favorite WODs
1. Kelly (also one of my favorite people at the box)
2. Karen (also one of my favorite people at the box)
3. The Seven 
4. Anything that involves multiple reps of overhead squats. They make me frustrated. They make me cry.
5. That first wall climb WOD with toes to bar, box jumps and wall climbs. I fell on my face before the WOD and tripped over the box on my first round of box jumps. I spent much of the remaining 30 minutes lying on the floor, wondering what I was doing there. 


Top 5 Favorite WODs
1. Annie (my first leaderboard and my first RX girl workout. I love this workout)
2. Helen
3. This partner one with rowing and push-ups we did about a month ago. I don't know why I liked it so much, but I just felt f*ing awesome afterwards.
4. When we did all the lady WODs super-scaled on a Friday. That was so fun!
5. Probably the Games workout from last Spring when you had 5 minutes to clean and jerk 110 pounds. My previous PR was 100. The first time I tried, I couldn't clean it. I spent 5 minutes struggling. A couple days later, I tried again. 2 1/2 minutes into it, I cleaned it. So many people were cheering me on. And it was f*ing awesome.


Top 5 Albums of All Time
1. Garbage - Version 2.0
2. Depeche Mode - Violator
3. Royksopp - The Understanding
4. The Pixies - Doolittle
5. Radiohead - OK Computer

There's No Crying in Crossfit!

Instead of dealing with my emotions in a normal, healthy manor, I like to bottle them up and let them go at inappropriate times, like sitting in a meeting, standing in line at a grocery store, or trying to do an overhead squat. This happened last week. In order to do some things well, you need to focus. An overhead squat is one of those things. It doesn't feel natural to hold a 35 pound bar over your head while you squat. It takes some balance and coordination. During a workout last week, we had to run 400 meters, do 10 overhead squats, 20 pull-ups, and 30 kettlebell swings (3 rounds), then run 400 m again. After the run, I was the last one in. I was distracted because my car needed to be moved, which someone volunteered to do for me. By the time I got to my bar, I felt like I was in a hurry and I wasn't even thinking about what I was doing. I stumbled a little, lost my balance. I couldn't hold that weight over my head. I got upset and finished that set, deciding to do a lesser weight. No, not 25, but 15. I was a mess. I lost focus. It's scary to have something fall and to not be ready for it. Next time, I'll take a deep breath and think about what I'm doing.

I'm also an emotional eater. I am. I always have been. This paleo thing helped me in the summer and I cut out all the binge eating. Winter is different. I rarely see daylight. I get bored. If no one's at my end of the office, I'll get into the candy jar. I know that it makes me feel bad, but it still sounds like a good idea. It's not. It never is. When I eat bad things, I don't just eat a little, I eat a lot. Last night during the Super Bowl, we picked up a couple slices of pizza, potato wedges, and chicken tenders. None of that is good for you. But I didn't just eat a slice of pizza. I went after it all. You know how I felt after.

So before all that happened yesterday, I made a breakthrough in my running. I ran the Truffle Shuffle 4 mile race. I ran the whole thing (no walking) and had a goal of coming in under 42 minutes. I actually, to my shock, came in just under 40 minutes. I kept a steady pace the whole way. I managed to run under 10 minutes a mile. It's a miracle. But while I was walking back to my car, I couldn't think about anything but pizza. I hardly ever crave pizza, but man, a nice hot slice with pineapple sounded soooo good. And I ended up having it. I can't imagine how I would feel if I ran a half-marathon. I think I'd have to warn the Chinese Buffet ahead of time.