My Testimonials

I was asked to submit a testimonial for the Grand Opening of our new box this weekend. No problem! Pictures? Ugh. Before Crossfit, I was really hating how I looked in pictures. But I don't look that way anymore, so I submitted 2:

This was me after we first moved out here. Not awful, just wider.

This was me just before I started Crossfit. I wasn't crazy about the hair either.

I never joined a gym until I was 27. Besides the occasional step class, I would usually zone out on the elliptical for a half hour and call it good. I consistently gained weight throughout my late 20s. I started hating how I looked in pictures. I read so many fitness magazines and I knew what I had to do, but I didn't have the drive to do it. I knew I could get my body smokin' if I just made the commitment. My fiancee introduced me to Crossfit in July 2009. The first day, I had to hold a sandbag over my head and flip tires (not at the same time). I felt really slow compared to everyone else. But it was something I had never done before and I wanted to do more. My body changed instantly. I lost 7 pounds in the first 2 and a half weeks. I started going 3-4 times a week. I started chatting with the other people. From the beginning, the community has brought me back. Everyone cheers for each other and encourages each other to do better. Crossfit not only helped me physically, but it helped me emotionally. Winters can be tough here, but I show up to Crossfit knowing I'll do something that will challenge me and I'll see people that I like to see. I've never been a runner, but I recently finished a half-marathon. That felt pretty amazing, and I could finish it because of Crossfit. I've lost about 15 pounds so far and I've had to get rid of a lot of pants that don't fit anymore. I'm not an athlete, but I play one when I come to Crossfit.

This is me in August, running the Scandia 10K Run.

I post my workouts on Beyond the Whiteboard, which tracks numbers. I even found a testimonial button on there!

My name is Robin. I have been CrossFitting for over 1 year. I usually workout around 3.0 times per week. I have posted 243 workouts and set 39 personal records. Along the way I have run 180,344 meters and lifted 38,408 pounds. I have also done 1,591 push-ups, 1,126 pull-ups, and 2,647 sit-ups.

So these are my stories. I'm sticking to them.

Power Hour

Last Thursday I had to grade papers. This was the most important thing I had to do on Thursday. When I have to do something, it's much easier to do other things I don't like, such as housework. But I thought of something ingenious. I set the timer on the over for one hour. I sat down and graded - I didn't look at the clock the whole time. When that hour was done, I saw that I got a lot done and I was pretty happy with myself. I called up my friend who was coming over for lunch and told her to come over in about an hour. Then I cleaned up the place - for an hour. Wow! What a concept - finishing a task in an allotted time! 


But this is so normal to me! Crossfit takes one hour (aside from travel and getting dress and showering - OK, Crossfit takes a couple hours). Generally we get there, warm up for a while, work on skills, and do the workout. Sometimes the workout is shorter and so we take more time warming up. Sometimes the workout is long (like I know today's will be) and we don't have a lot of time for skills or warm up. But it takes an hour. This hour is so important to me. I don't do anything else. I'm not grading or cleaning or watching Mad Men - I'm spending that hour becoming even more awesome. Really, what else would I be doing?

The Real Crossfit

This month, Eugene Crossfit is doing the WODs from the main Crossfit site. Usually our coach will do the programming for the workouts, and he does a good job, but with anything in life, sometimes change is good. The main site WODs can get pretty intense. Of course, everything is scaled to your ability, but it's still a killer workout. This is what we did:


Monday - Heavy thrusters and weighted pull-ups 15-12-9. This is also known as heavy Fran. We had done Fran the Thursday before and I was still sore. But I knew what I was getting into and I did the work. The greatest part of this workout was that I did 3 real pull-ups in the first set. I had only done one pull-up at a time before, and never during a workout, so this was big for me. After more pull-ups with a band and more heavy thrusters, I couldn't do anymore real pull-ups. But those three were a huge victory for me. I'm totally getting somewhere.


Tuesday - 5 rounds of 7 inverted ring hangs and 15 ring push-ups. This was a different kind of Crossfit workout. The inverted ring work was supposed to be done really slow. Basically, you grab a hold of some rings that are just about your height. You bend your knees so your arms are straight, and you swing yourself up, tucking your legs in, until you're upside down. Then you straighten your legs so you're completely upside down and slowly lower your legs to the ground. This is intense. Despite my lack of gymnastic ability, I'm actually able to get myself up on those rings. It was quite difficult to slowly go down, so the scaled back version involved lying on the ground, swinging your legs up and over, and slowly lowering them. This was hard enough. The ring push-ups were difficult, so I did them on my knees. The WOD wasn't timed and I was actually able to sing along to Lady Gaga during the WOD. My abs hurt afterwards. My work was done.


Wednesday - Kelly. Seriously? I have issues with Kelly. We did this in June during Benchmark week. I nearly had a breakdown. Kelly is

5 rounds for time:

400m run

30 box jumps

30 wall balls

It doesn't seem bad just by looking at it, but this WOD is brutal. And when I came in on Wednesday, I knew how hard it was. I let it get to me. When I did this in June, I only completed 4 rounds and I think the last 3 were only 20 reps. I stopped after 25 minutes and felt awful. Throughout the WOD on Wednesday, I knew I wouldn't finish it. We had a 35 minute cap. I was moving slow. There was no way. By the end of the 4th round, I knew I had time for at least the run and maybe some box jumps. There was still time. So I picked up the wall ball, which I didn't want to do. Emilee was next to me, feeling the pain, and to my surprise, I finished the WOD in just over 36 minutes. Sure, I could have stopped at 35 minutes and not finished the last 15 wall balls. 


So those were my three days of solid Crossfit WODs. We're going to keep doing them, which is awesome. They're really challenging and very rewarding.


How can I do better? My eating has been .... I can't even say. I've been eating so much sugar lately. There's no excuse except stress. I've made some major changes in my life. Once it starts settling down, I want to commit. I should say that I will commit now. I know I'll do better. If I can do these main site WODs, I can cut out the sugar. It will certainly make the workouts more tolerable. Except wall balls. Wall balls are never tolerable.

My Butt

I stole this picture from another great blog - RX Girls Miami. We see ladies of all shapes and sizes at Crossfit, and they all work their asses off (ha!). A lot of women come into Crossfit expecting to lose weight and that's it. They soon realize it's so much more than that. They can run faster. They can lift more weight. They can do things they didn't think they can do. And they keep coming back. It's pretty great.

My Hips Don't Lie

This is me finishing the Eugene Women's Half Marathon this morning:

You can't see the finish line, but I crossed it about 20 seconds later. And I was running. I can't say that I was running for much of the last half of the race. I actually felt good up until mile 6. Then it went downhill fast. These are the lessons I've learned:


*Listen to your body. My knee has been bothering me all summer. Stupid knee. It didn't hurt, but it felt uncomfortable and other people could tell that I was favoring my other leg when I was running. If there's something wrong with your knee, there's going to be something wrong with your whole leg in general. I really should have taken care of my knee when it started feeling weird, not just when it was close to go-time. I tend to think things will be fine, even when they're not, but as I've said before, I avoided running for the first 29 years of my life. Then I gave it up for a while again. It really wasn't until this year that I decided to get better. I'm learning.


OK, that was really the only lesson learned. Around mile 6, I started to feel like my hips were completely displaced from my body. It's not a great feeling (and I feel so dumb saying this, as I've never given birth). But I knew I had to finish the race. At mile 7, I started walking a little. Then I realized that running felt better than walking. But when I started running again, I don't know, it just didn't feel right. No matter how many times I played Ke$ha on repeat, I couldn't talk myself into running more. It was really frustrating - and lonely. In those first 8 miles, there were people all over the place cheering us on. Then - no one. I was just watching people pass me. I'd run a little, then walk more. I finished running. I wanted to run the entire last mile, but it just wasn't in me. Every time I ran, everything felt more and more disjointed. Maybe I just need to get used to feeling more uncomfortable. Anyway, I looked at my Garmin and I knew the end was near. I ran the last quarter mile. It was pretty cool finishing, but it was tough. I wanted to quit a million times during that race. But I didn't. I kept going and I finished.


I'm not a runner. I don't even like running. But a year ago, this half marathon would have been out of the question. Now I know that if I get an idea that seems near-impossible, I can do it. It might be uncomfortable. It might hurt. It might not turn out the way I want it to. But I will have supportive people cheering me on and I will finish. Sometimes that's enough.


But I can tell you for sure that 26.2 miles isn't anywhere in my near future.

Back It Up

The Back Squat scares the hell out of me. There, I said it. For those of you casual readers who are not Crossfitters, allow me to explain the Back Squat.


Imagine you're carrying a really big backpack on your back, but you're holding it up with your hands (it's resting on your shoulders). All of the weight of the backpack is on your shoulders and upper back. Now imagine that you have to sit down on a really low chair, holding this load. Now you have to stand back up. That's the back squat. 


Here are some ladies practicing the technique:

Here's what it looks like with weight*:

In any squat, the coach will tell you to keep your chest upright. This is especially important for the back squat since you might have 100+ pounds on your back as you're squatting. Your body naturally wants to lean forward and give in to the weight. When this happens, it gets harder and harder to stand up since the weight, at this point, has more power than you. If you're not careful and a couple people aren't there to spot you, that weight could roll from your shoulders and over your head onto the ground. I've seen this happen. It's friggin scary.


You lose power and control when you lose form. Many Crossfitters, like myself, want to lift heavier weights, but if we're not careful, that weight will crush us.


Stay safe, kids.


**This is Loree. She's an Olympian. That's a lot of weight on her back. She's super strong.
**I stole these pictures from www.eugenecrossfit.com. Good stuff.

Food as Fuel

Now that the Eugene Women's Half-Marathon is less than a week away, I have to really think about how to prepare for this thing. Yes, I realize that many people train for months and follow a strict regimen, but that's not exactly what I did. I worked out pretty consistently and ran, but my eating habits during the summer months have been less than ideal. So for the final week, I'm planning on going to Crossfit 4 times (I've already gone once), but no working out past Thursday (the run is on Sunday). As far as eating goes, I'm ready to cut alcohol and bad sugar for the week. I can do that for a week, I swear. I've gotten some protein in the form of garbanzo beans (which I haven't eaten in a long time) and chicken and tuna that I plan on loading on some salads for the week. But it's the day before where eating gets tricky.


Many marathon runners load up on carbs the night before to store energy. I get this, but as a Crossfitter, I don't eat a lot of the traditional carbs. It would be kind of stupid to eat a big spaghetti dinner the night before a long run since I don't really eat pasta anymore. I'll try to eat plenty of protein throughout the day, and for dinner maybe some steak and sweet potatoes. Any suggestions would be welcome :)

A Follow Up on Music To Crossfit To

Does Music Make You Exercise Harder?



 "...it’s music’s dual ability to distract attention (a psychological effect) while simultaneously goosing the heart and the muscles (physiological impacts) that makes it so effective during everyday exercise. "


They don't mention anything about Slipknot.

Born to Run

In this lovely read, Christopher McDougall tells us about a tribe of long distance runners in Mexico and the 'tribe' or ultra-marathon runners in the US. I don't understand the drive behind running 50 miles in one day, or 100 miles in one day (at 10,000 ft. altitude). But McDougall also writes about human physiology and how we were born to run, especially long distances. We had to run in order to hunt. But humans also were born to create efficiencies, which ultimately led to the automobile and we lost the need to run. Now people do it for fun. People might look at me and say I'm doing it for fun. I'm not. I'm not quite sure why I'm doing it yet, but I'm trying. I don't have to run - I can certainly hunt down my food at Market of Choice and I can get there by car. And yet I started running at 7am this morning and I ran nearly 9 miles, while my knee felt like it was going to give under me. Why am I doing this?


McDougall also writes about all the issues that I've been hearing for the past year: barefoot running is better, don't strike with your heel, Nike is bad. I know all these things. I practice all these things. I think about them when I'm running. And then, someone takes a picture of me running, and what am I doing: 

What you see here is a heel strike and my arms swinging in front of me. Both of these movements are working against me. This was taken at the end of the Skandia 10K Run last weekend. I did not finish under an hour like I had planned, but I was close. The half-marathon is two weeks away. I know I'm ready, despite the uneasiness in my knee today. I also know I'll be happy when I finish.


To be critical of the book, I thought the narrative was a bit sporadic. I know everything doesn't have to be linear, but it seemed like he kept bringing something up, going into a very long story, then finally getting around to what he had originally brought up. It was a little confusing at times. And I'm not sure why certain people were featured when they didn't even run in the race that was the centerpiece of the book. I guess on the outdoors-writing front, I usually read Jon Krakauer, who is an amazing storyteller. I like this book for what it says, I just wish he had said it a little better.

Faith

They say that if you do Crossfit, you should be able to do anything, like run a marathon. Crossfit will make you a well-rounded athlete and damn it, you can do anything if you just do your Crossfit! Go run a marathon on Tuesday if you want - you've done Helen before! Well, I'm not quite ready for a marathon yet, but if you remember a few months ago I signed up for a half-marathon. This is coming up in a few weeks. Most people train for something like this. I've been doing Crossfit. Most people run various distances multiple times a week. I do pull-ups. I also do running drills. But before yesterday, I had never run more than 4 miles at a time.


So Saturday morning, I ran a 5K - 5KLove. It was a lovely event and actually, it was a little more than a 5K - 3.31 miles according to my Garmin. I ran it at a 9:23 pace, which is a good pace for me. Could I have run it a little faster? Maybe. But there will always be another 5K.


Sunday morning was a preview run for the Eugene Women's Half Marathon. It was advertised as an 8 mile preview run of the course. This was a test of my dedication. I couldn't sleep in. I had run the day before. But I knew I had to do this. So I showed up on Sunday morning with the number 8 in my mind and the promise of a mimosa at the finish. The organizer then said it was really a 7.15 mile run and then gave us a map. He explained the map and said he didn't want anyone to get lost. No problem!


So we start running and it's along the bike path and I'm following a couple women who walked every once in a while, then would run a slightly faster pace then me. After the 4.5 mile mark, I decided to walk a little too. Then we weren't seeing the other runners so much. I just kept following, keeping up enough so I could see them. Then another group of women passed me and caught up with the couple ahead of me. Then they all stopped and congregated and looked at the map. Then they looked at me. 'Do you know where we're going?' All I could think was that they better know where they're going because in my head, I'm only running one more mile. But they didn't, and we went out of our way. As we circled back downtown, we ran into other people who followed the right path. I clocked in at 1:24 for 7.86 miles. Not bad for my first long run after a 5K. 


I was surprised how I felt during and after the race. I didn't feel nauseous at all. I'll feel nauseous during a one mile run, but not the 7 mile run. I ate some eggs and grapes beforehand. Not like, together or anything. Anyway... I feel really stupid for saying this, but my feet hurt like hell at the end of the run and I hadn't even considered my feet hurting. My back was feeling pretty bad too. My back was hurting most of the week - I think it was due to all the flying/driving done the weeks before. The run just killed it though. This could lead to a long post about sports bras, but not right now. Too much to say.


I ran a lot this weekend. I know I run more than the average non-runner, but I don't think I run that much. I'm putting a lot of faith in Crossfit and hoping that by going religiously, I'll be able to finish this half marathon in under 2:30. I'm pretty sure I can do that.


What will help me along the way? 

My Garmin, of course! It keeps track of everything! Pace, time, distance, heart rate (if I ever figure that thing out), elevation, laps, whatever! Then I plug it into the computer and it spits out all these numbers. Then I sync it to a website that posts it to facebook to annoy all my friends! How fun! I get really mad when it runs out of batteries or I forget it - what's the point of running if I don't have proof of what i just did? Then I'd never know I ran a 9:23 pace on Saturday and a 10:47 pace on Sunday. Honestly, if I didn't have my Garmin, I wouldn't be running as much as I have been, which isn't much, but I'm hopeful that it's enough.

Lift Like A Girl

At the end of work today, like most days, I went to change before I left. As I opened the door to the hallway, a big plant was in the way. Then I heard a furious, "Oh, sorry, sorry," and saw that some guys were painting near the elevators. One guy moved the plant and let me through. Another guy, who was sitting on his ass while others were painting, said something to the effect of, 'You really pushed that door hard. What, do you lift weights or something?" "Uh, yeah," I said as I quickly walked past with my gym bag. I didn't quite catch what he said after that, but it was along the lines of, "Wonder what it's like to be her husband." Like, kind of ...not even offensive or derogatory, just really, really old-fashioned. They didn't say anything when I walked past a few minutes later in my gym shorts and tank, although I should have flexed my arms and punched him in the face.


After work, I did 25 squat clean thrusters (65#) and 50 chest to bar pull-ups (with a red band). I bet he didn't.


But people don't really think like that, do they? I think he realized it was stupid when he said it, whatever he said. 


Tomorrow, LifeAsRx is having a 20% off sale and I might order this shirt:

I do lift like a girl. And I'm getting stronger every day. So suck it, lazy painter guy who's not even painting. I do lift weights, and someday I might even be as strong as the other girls in the gym. 

Hiatus

I'm writing this from the Gerald R. Ford* Airport in Grant Rapids, Michigan. I just got into Michigan and I won't be back until Tuesday. I also just had family visiting in Oregon, which was awesome. This also means I haven't been to Crossfit very much lately. And I've been eating all cruddy. I'm doing the things I need to be doing, but this is one of those times when I really wish there was an extra hour or two in the day. I like routine. I need routine. This is why Crossfit works for me.


I have worked out. Last Friday we went to Crater Lake and hiked down to the lake. It's only a mile, but it's a hell of a mile. When it was time to walk up, my sister knew my nephews would go slow. I said I needed to go fast. I finished about 10 minutes before they did (but who's keeping track?) Here's my view on the very first leg:

My nephew was very impressed with my speed going up the hill.


I miss Crossfit when I'm not there. I went on  Tuesday because it sounded like fun. We did a bunch of tests. I imagine we might do these again at some point. I had two big achievements. First, I did 4 dead hang pull-ups with the tan (or purple) band. This is the band you use when you almost don't need a band anymore. I almost did a real one after, but I didn't have it in me. I also ran a mile in 8:36. I'm pretty sure this is my best mile time. It felt good. I mean, it was hot as hell outside, but I managed. I need to get used to that kind of pace.


I'm planning on running a little the next few days, and running a lot in August. Right now, in order to really improve my physical strength and well-being, I need a serious nap.


*If Gerald Ford was from my city, I really wouldn't brag about it.

Music to Crossfit To

If you walk into a Crossfit box or watch any Crossfit video, you're bound to hear some terrible music. I'm not sure if it's supposed to make us work harder or make us angry or what, but I'm over it. I do like Tool, who often come up in the mix. I can stand Rage Against the Machine if I'm doing pull-ups. But I'm really getting tired of all this new hard rock daddy-doesn't-love-me crap we have to listen to during the WODs. I guess the real motivation would be to finish the WOD faster so I can go outside and not listen to it anymore. Lately, it seems like our box is moving more towards the Beastie Boys and away from whoever's playing the Warped Tour this year, which is a move in the right direction.


My preferences for workout music differ from what's typically played in the box.  Once in a while I'll speak up and advocate for Guns 'n Roses or Jane's Addiction, but it never lasts long. I used to take this Body Combat class at a globo gym and we would punch and kick to Christina Aguilera and Pink. Good stuff.


Maybe that's why I "like" running so much. I can listen to whatever I want. I set my playlists for the approximate time I want to finish that distance, so my 5K lists run from 27-30 minutes. This is the one I've listened to the most:


In a Big Country - Big Country
Love is a Battlefield - Pat Benetar
Filthy Gorgeous - Scissor Sisters
Supersonic - Oasis
Rebel Yell - Billy Idol
Live Your Life - TI
Palace of the Brine - Pixies


It's a little random but it works for me. I usually feel like singing out loud when Filthy/Gorgeous comes on, and I know that I should be near Target when the Pixies start. 


I made a mistake when I put together my latest one and made it a little too long, so when I was running a 5K in May, I thought I was getting a PR, then realized I was about 30 seconds too slow.


What You Waiting For? - Gwen Stefani
Take On Me - A-ha
Barracuda - Heart
God is a DJ - Faithless
Hella Good - No Doubt
When Love Takes Over - David Guetta
Closer - Ne-yo


So I just took Hella Good out, since I already have Gwen Stefani on there. I like having a longer dance song in the middle because I know I'll be about a mile further by the end of it. God is a DJ is perfect because it's 8 minutes long and it varies enough withing the song to keep it interesting. I also like hearing, "This is my church. This is where I heal my hurts" while I'm running. It makes sense to me.


So I'm not even sure what I'm doing tonight. I might be running or I might be doing Fight Gone Bad. If it's the latter, I'm sure we'll be listening to some terrible music while wall balls hit me in the face. If it's the former, it's up to me to decide how to get through it.

Oprah Knows Best

I just watched a very special Oprah. She had the author of a book I haven't read, "Women Food and God." 

Yeah, I'll probably order it or put my name on the waiting list at the library or something. I was thinking about my eating habits this weekend. I think I eat like a dog. No, not Beneful. A dog's instinct is to eat what's in front of them because in the wild, they might not know when they'll eat again. I know in my head that I don't have to eat everything in the house. But sometimes I do. And I know I'm sabotaging everything I work for. But I still do it. I'm the same way with money too, but that's for a different blog, a different time.

So Oprah and her writer buddy talked about this book and the audience had read the book and they had their sob stories and their questions. It comes back to mindfulness and recognizing what hunger feels like and capturing that moment when you want something and recognizing that moment and seeing the spirituality in it. Or something like that. But Oprah did say something that applies to what we do in Crossfit:

"The guidelines mean nothing unless you're willing to do the work."

For me it's stress and boredom. And it's about wanting to feel a different feeling. I don't want to be bored. I'll have some chocolate. Stress sucks and I can't get out of it, so I might as well eat something and give myself something else to do. This isn't how I want to be. And it could be a fear of failure and a whole lot of other things. There's a lot in my head that I'm not putting down here, but trust me. I can do better, but it will take a lot of relearning. 

I put the work into Crossfit. I go like 5 times a week, even when I don't feel like it. Maybe I need some friends or something. But if I can put the same work into Crossfit as I put into eating, a year from now I'll be the person I know I can be.

Oh Oprah, you're so wise.

Lessons Learned

Lately I've been thinking about how to apply the mental toughness we learn in Crossfit to everyday life. Our coach has even been posting about it on our website (even though I've been thinking about it before he brought it up). 


Many times in Crossfit, I want to stop. Even right when we start the WOD, I want to stop. But I keep going. I always keep going. I know I can make it to a point where I'll be proud of myself and happy with my outcome. It's not easy. My body hurts. I almost started crying during a workout last week that involved doing rounds of 10 deadlifts because I thought the weight I was using was too heavy - but I finished. I'll feel like I'm slower than everyone else. I'll feel like I just can't do what I'm supposed to do. There are many situations in my life when I feel the same way.


The difference is that in Crossfit, the pain only lasts so long. Maybe you'll need a longer than usual recovery time - a few days at the most (or a week if you do Angie). You'll get through that mental block, finish the WOD, and move on with your life. In life, when you move through the discomfort of work or relationships or family or anything and you make a big decision, you take a risk, that decision can have lifelong implications. 


One of these lessons that we learn in Crossfit is that if you work really hard, you will see results. I know this. It takes discipline. It's not easy. I changed my eating habits last year. I became addicted to showing up to this place and working out with these people. I know that if I want real change in my life, I need to commit. I need discipline. I need to write every day and I need to take risks. It's a lot to take on, but I might be ready now. If I could apply the same discipline to my writing as I apply to Crossfit, ...that thought is beyond my imagination right now. I just need to make it happen.