When Your Cheat Meals Cheat You!

Artsy shot I took of the sunrise on our condensation-filled bedroom window this morning

Alright everyone, enough with the artistic distractions. It’s confession time:

My eating hasn’t been on point for the past two weeks and I can definitely feel it in my performance / energy level. I have had pasta, bread and dairy, increasingly more over the past week and it showed up today.

I walked into the Box and felt like I hadn’t been there for 2 weeks. That’s how low my energy level was. Again, I didn’t have high expectations about the skills or the WOD for that matter because I already felt so drained…

I had Béatrice with me and I was a little worried about being able to focus on my stuff with her there, but the Coach AJ parted the skies and brought out the big box of giant Legos! Combined with her snacks, I had a happy, content kid and I was able to really focus on the work to do! Yay for Coach AJ! 🙂

While I was warming up, I managed a very good TTB, followed closely by an almost successful 2nd rep. Rob Black, I’m definitely coming for you! (Rob and I have a friendly competition going: 1st one to manage 10 TTB consecutively. He’s been cheating lots by doing lots of Team comps, so I don’t feel bad at all at practicing my TTB!)

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Skill: Back Squat 3×10 E2M

I had gone up to 100# last time on these and managed to get a little higher today with a last set at 105#. My reps were: 95#-100#-105#. The last set was hard, but I tried to keep my chest up as best I could and really keep my knees out as well on the up. I think I managed ok.

WOD: Flash

It was all women except for Mike today and I felt bad for him because we all started talking about bladder leakage and well, he couldn’t really relate, could he? To keep with the topic, I received this email yesterday. My heart always sinks when I get this email from my period-tacking app. Maybe I should just remove the app, but then, how would I track my cycle?

Worst email ever…

Ok, back to Crossfit

This looked like it was going to be easy on paper, but man, it did me in. My quads were pretty beat up from the squats and I had nothing in me. I have been trying to up my weights during the WODs to 65# (I used to do 55# all the time) and I’m not sure if it’s because I was using that weight or because of my less-than-desired nutrition, but I did not do very well on this one, at all! Here were my times for each rounds:

1:41 – 2:00 – 2:11 – 2:11

After my second round, Coach AJ told me to start again at the 5min mark so I could get some rest. It was a blow on the ego for sure, but I had a cutie who kept smiling at me and kept cheering me on with her enthusiastic “Go Maman!, Go maman! so I really didn’t have any other choices than to smile back and pick up the darn barbell back up. Ugh! Kids! Can’t fail in front of them and certainly cannot give up either, because what would I be teaching them then?!?

That’s exactly what I did, I picked up the barbell and managed through my 3rd round. Thank God Coach AJ was there to tell me to pick it back up. I’m honestly not sure I would have otherwise. That was such a hard WOD for me. 3 round wasn’t better so I took until 8mins to rest and then picked it back up for the last round. It was ugly, but I finished it and added my best and worst rounds for a total of 3:52. Before the WOD started, we were joking that I could easily bring this WOD to 10-mins, even though there was a time cap of 8min. See Coach AJ, I told you I would do this one in 10 mins! Lol! Who’s part of the special Crossfit class now?!? I am!

I cleaned up after Béatrice and came back home, ready for a shower.

Sweaty and tired, but yet, I still have to entertain this little munchkin!

Once I was done with the shower, it was time to go get Rina new running shoes as well as a mattress cover for Béatrice’s new mattress. She has now graduated to a big girl bed and we have new furniture for her room as well. I’ve been cleaning bed sheets, etc and my legs still haven’t fully recovered from the skill/WOD. I am very much looking forward to sitting on the couch and not doing anything after the girls have gone to bed. Until then, I mother on and plan on cleaning up that diet of mine (aka working on paleo)! Lol!

 

Mere Mortal Amongst Gods

I finished work yesterday morning and slept very little before being a mom to the girls and crashing early in bed. We have a busy day today: Béatrice is getting her big girl furniture delivered and we have to go buy her a mattress for her new bed. Ben also has to work this morning which meant I couldn’t go to the 0930 Crossfit class. I managed to convince him to let me go to the 0600 and that meant he had to get Rina ready for school, yet again today. He’s a good hubby and he didn’t mind, just for today!

Now that I’m back home, I almost wish I had decided to stay home. I forgot how beastly the 0600 crew is and how slow I am to all of them. The WOD was long and hard and I struggled with all my might to finish. I felt like a mere mortal amongst gods! These people are real beasts!

Pre-Crossfit 5am cuddles with my little sleepy head!

 

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Skill: Squat Thrusters 8×1 EMOM

I warmed up to 75# and that’s what I chose to do for these. They felt good. I had tried 85#, but could only power clean it, so that wasn’t going to fly. I stayed at 75# for all my reps and made sure I had good form for them.

 

WOD: Midline Basic

There was a lot of people this morning and I did my Box Jumps off of 6×45# plates stacked on top of another. I chose the 35# KB for the American swings and I knew the DUs would be my weak area. My shins ares still very sore from the 5k I ran on Tuesday and from slamming the bar into my leg last week.

Bruising up nicely!

As I was warming up my DUs, I could feel my shins protesting heavily so I decided to do FG with 5DUs per rounds and single skips for the rest. My goal was to do all the AKBS without any breaks and do all my BJ Rx (we jump up but do step downs in our Box as a safety measure). 6 rounds was gonna be hard and Trevor joked that it would be an easy WOD. At least, I think he was joking, but then again, maybe not! 😉 I already felt tired and low energy before we even started, so I didn’t have high expectations in terms of time.

3-2-1-Go!

1st round was uneventful other than I was in pain from whipping my butt so hard with my skipping rope. Round 2 was a little slower, but I was really trying to keep things moving. Only 3 deep breaths to recover and low though. Round 3 was such a mental struggle. My head just wanted to quit so badly. I had to really convince myself to just do one more rep and snap out of it. I won that battle against my head, but the rest was a struggle. I finished well after everyone else, but I finished nonetheless and I accomplished my goals: I managed to jump all my BJ and did all my AKBS without taking a rest at 35#. I also managed 5DUs per rounds, but they were mostly 1s and 2s. I couldn’t string them along. I was glad when it was over!

I put away my equipment and hurried home to send Rina off to the school bus.

I have now cleaned up and moved out Béatrice’s old furniture and am awaiting the delivery guys who will bring in her new furniture! I am also very much looking forward to nap time! 🙂

The Return Of The Klutz!

I saw the WOD last night and I knew it looked harmless, but would be a tough one. I just didn’t know how tough I would really make things on myself! I thought, if the WOD is going to suck, at least, I’ll have fun with my outfit!

Calling on my inner cheetah, not cougar! Lol! I love how they make my quads look big! 

I showed up for the 0930 class and Coach AJ welcomed us. I warmed up my hips, posterior chain and my wrists because I knew we would be working them and those are my weak spots. For once, I felt I warmed-up properly for the skill and WOD. I didn’t know it would be downhill from there.

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Skill: Hang Snatch 6×2 E90s

My plan was to work up to 65# on my last rep. While I was warming up with an empty bar, I lost my balance at the bottom of the squat and because I was wanting to save the empty bar and not let it drop to the floor, I fell on my butt, pulling the bar towards me and ramming it into my shin. Yep! That made me see stars and my foot got numb and tingly. I took off my lifting shoe while Coach AJ brought me an ice pack and I slowly made sure nothing was broken. The pain was real and I was breathing through it. I managed to move my toes, then my ankle. It was sore, but after a few minutes, I took off the ice pack, put my lifting shoe back on and the sensation came back in my foot. I had missed the warm-up and the first 2 sets of the skill, but I picked up the bar and worked my way up.

35#-40#-45#-50#

My first few reps were pretty broken down and I admit I was scared and guarding my shin, but then it got a little bit better. I didn’t quite make it to the weight I had in mind, but it’s ok. It wasn’t my worst set and it wasn’t my best either. Somewhere nice in the middle.

WOD: Thrundle

After I hit my shin with the bar, my super cute leggings were clinging to the part where the skin got ripped off and the friction was not fun, but I was pretty confident about doing the WOD. Plus, I figured, the running would increase the blood flow to the area and help bringing on the healing, oxygenated blood. See? Who knew I could use nursing in Crossfit?!? LOL!

I chose to do FG2 with my thrusters at 65#. I knew it would be challenging, but it is time I start increasing the weights on these during the WODs. There were only 4 of us actually running outside and I was the only girl. The guys took off like little gazelles and I stayed behind. My goal was to break the thrusters into 4s and hopefully finish under 12mins. I came back in from the run dead last and took 4 deep breaths before getting onto the thrusters. I did 2, held on to the bar and regulated my breathing before doing 2 more and putting the bar down. I took 4 more breaths and picked it up again, only to do a wonderful power clean! Space cadet! I finished up the movement by doing a push press and then did proper thrusters.

The second run wasn’t any worst or better than the first one and I repeated my strategy for the second set of thruster, minus the power clean 😉 !

Back out for the 3rd run. Everybody was inside by the time I reached about 100m out and my shin was throbbing a little. I took a walking break for 8 deep breaths and picked it up again. Only a short few minutes left to suffer before I would be done, I could do this.

I came back in, took 5 deep breaths and picked up the bar for 2 thrusters, caught a few more deep breaths and finished off 2 more reps before putting the bar down. I was looking at the timer and it was already 11:28, so I knew I had to pick it back up and finish those last 4 reps if I wanted to reach my goal. I made it just in time, finishing last at 11:58.  I’d say it wasn’t too bad, considering how clumsy I’d been!

I put my bar away and was pretty proud of my time. I came back home to shower and then iced my shin once more. I will repeat that a few more times today and make sure to mobilize my foot a bit to prevent stiffness from setting in.

I will leave you with my very own little fierce Crossfitter. I took Rina to her 2nd Crossfit Kids class yesterday and she had a blast, all while surprising me. I didn’t think she could row to accumulate distance, but she actually managed about 100m/2min!

Love that determined / fierce look in her eye!

Pulling the little sled (empty, obviously)

Body Weight, I’m Coming For You!

Béatrice is finally on the mend which means, I have had a solid, uninterrupted night of sleep until 0600, when Rina came to ask me if she was still grounded… She had been without iPad privileges yesterday for not listening and giving me attitude and she was anxious for the sanctions to be lifted. I told her it was too early to discuss that and that she needed to go back to bed. I half expected her to stay in her room for a short while and then go downstairs, but she fell back asleep until I woke up at 0715! Last night, I was debating going to the 0600 class, but I kind of wanted to sleep in this morning since Rina has a Pr0-D day. That meant attempting to sleep in was something fathomable and I chose to do just that! Hurray for sneaking in extra rest!

I got up, made the girls pancakes while I made myself an egg, 1/3 sweet potato, with salsa and 1/4 avocado! Yum! Topped it off with a coffee and got ready for Crossfit.

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Skill: Back Squats 5×3 E90S

I’ve been chasing my goal of squatting my body weight on the back squat and I was wanting to try to get up to 135# today. I’m usually cautious with any squat and deadlift since my sciatic has a tendency to get angry with them, so I wasn’t feeling too hot for these this morning. I remembered the last time I had tried 130#, I was seeing stars and had to back out of a lift, so I wasn’t hopeful that I could get to 135# today, but I made it my goal.

I warmed up to 115# and we got going. At 125#, Coach AJ came over to tell me I was “stripping” my lift (not keeping my shoulders up on the up of the squat and leading with my butt instead of my shoulder). She reminded me to keep the shoulders back and the core tights, all the while, pressing my shoulders into the bar.

I loaded up my bar with 130# and tried as best I could to do everything Coach AJ had just told me. Yes! 3 reps done! One set to go.

I loaded up my bar with 135# and shared my plates with Marika. We had a nice system going and it worked out well. I managed 2 reps with some effort, but I think I managed to keep my form proper. The 3rd rep was a little stripper-ish, but I dug deep, pulling the bar into my shoulders and managed to get back up for my 3rd rep! OH YEAH! Heaviest squat I’ve ever done in my life! That means I am officially 10# away from back squatting my body weight! Gainz and weights going up! Woot! Woot!

WOD: Hung Up

After celebrating the high of my back squat, I had shaky legs and was very apprehensive about the WOD. Coach AJ had said we should aim for a time of 10:00 try to break our snatches into two for each rounds. Ha! Here I was aiming for 3 reps before putting the bar down! I scaled down the weight to 40# and was planning to do all the reps. For my pull-ups, I scaled it with the red and blue bands. I tried with the red and purple, but I was struggling way too much.

3-2-1-Go! The snatches were hard, but then again, they are my weakest lift I feel. I’m still not able to snatch a decent weight (in my opinion) and I struggle with these. I made sure to have perfect form on most of my reps though and I think I managed to do so. I broke the pull-ups into sets of 3s, then 2s. 21 was a lot and I was drained.

I got to the bar for my set of 15s and I wanted to quit sooooo bad! I was really trying to break them into 8-7, but I had to do 4-4-5-2. My forearms were done and the thought of 15 pull-ups was crushing my spirit, let alone another full round of 9s. I broke all the pull-ups into sets of 2 and made my way back to the bar.

I managed to break the last snatches into 5-4, then onto the rig for my last pull-ups where I broke them up into 2, except for the last 3 that I somehow managed in-a-row.

That WOD looked all innocent and cute, but it was a monster in disguise. I’m so proud of myself for not quitting on the round of 15, though because, once again, it means I am stronger than I think I am physically and I just need to keep pushing through the mental barrier in order to succeed.

That was me today, and pretty much everyday at the gym!

It gives me hope for my upcoming 5k that I plan to run on October 5th. I’ll talk more about that in a separate post… That run will be all mental and I’m going to need to dig deep into my mental fortitude in order to finish, I just know it! I left the Box with shaky legs from the squats and shaky arms and hands from all the grip of the snatch and pull-ups!

On my way home, I saw a biker that had been hit by a car, so I stopped and asked if he was ok. He was bloody and couldn’t move one of his shoulders, but I didn’t have to intervene since the ambulance and cops arrived just shortly after I did.

I am now planning to take the girls to Hotel Transylvania 2 this afternoon. It will be their very first time watching a movie on a big screen! I’m not sure that Béatrice will tolerate the noise and length of the movie, but I plan on going with my sister-in-law, who would then say with Rina at the theatre while I take Béatrice home if she’s too bored. Keeping my fingers crossed it will be a successful outing! Who knows, maybe I’ll even be able to sneak in a nap in the dark! 😉

 

Beasting Out!

I have had a few busy days at work and have been forced to take tonight off (I have yet another eye infection and my superiors don’t want me at work 😦 ).

I got up this morning, got the little one ready for school, made sure the other one wasn’t still running a fever (she had one last night) and then got myself ready to go to Crossfit for this:

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I managed a perfect Rowl on my 2nd attempt at the warm-up and, already, I was off to a good start. Nic managed to have 2 or 3 perfect row at 100m even! That guy is unbelievable!

Skill: Trap Bar or Axle Bar Deadlift 6×3 E90S

I have missed all of these lately due to work, so I really didn’t know what weight to use. I still felt strong in the second to last set so I decided to bump my final weight by 10# instead of my usual 5# and Coach Caileigh agreed with my decision. Here is my progression:

125#-130#-135#-140#-145#-155#

WOD: Taranis 2012 Run Burpee Run

I had done this WOD RX back in 2014 and had finished with a time of 14:09,I had taken a few walking breaks and had done all my burpees granny-style, broken into sets of 10. Today, I was determined to repeat it without any walking breaks and try to do all my burpees Rx. We set out for the 1st run and  Nicole was a good rabbit for me. She ended up getting further ahead of me on the second 400m (we do an out-and-back of 400m and just repeat if the mileage is higher), but I was ok with that. I didn’t want to push too hard on the first 400m and tank out at the end.

I came in last for the burpees, but not by much. We had 5 stations of 10 burpees to go through so I set out to work. I broke my burpees into sets of 5, rested for 3 deep breaths in-between and just kept chipping at it. I was surprised to arrive at my last set not that much behind everyone else and I was still doing all my burpees Rx!

I set out for the last 400m run and I felt good, taking advantage of the downhills and slowing down significantly on the uphills, but trying to lengthen my stride as best I could. I came in last and looked at the clock and was so pumped to see my time: 12:58! I had just shaved off 1:21 from my previous PR and that was for an Rx WOD! Heck yeah!

 

New PR!

I felt so good to have not only done all the runs non-stop, but the burpees Rx as well! It made me feel like I was a real bad ass!

PR face! Happy and sweaty!

 

Am I becoming a beast?!? I sure hope so!

I came back home and was very energized by the entire workout today. Just one of those days when everything goes well in the gym and it makes me feel good about myself! I love when I push myself and gauge a WOD perfectly that it is challenging very challenging, but I still have enough in the tank to finish strong!

I went back to the walk-in clinic to get confirmation that I had yet another stye in my eye and to just keep using the antibiotic drops I had been using. Ugh. I went out and bought all new makeup to se once the infection will have cleared up as I’m suspecting that is the culprit for spreading it from eye to eye…

I came back home to a sleeping Béa and I went to pick-up Rina at the bus stop. Everybody is tired from their week and I can’t wait to relax on the couch this evening after the girls have gone to bed. Ben will be home late and it will be the perfect evening for me to catch up on my TV shows!

 

Do Not Stop!

I’m still on my days off from work so after I sent Rina off on the school bus, I came back home and got ready to go to Crossfit. I knew it sounded easy, but those WODs are usually deceptive and a soul/body crushers. I was glad Kathleen was going to be coming at 0930 with me because I knew this one would be a great one for her!

This girl can erg like a beast and she was excited about the whole thing. Me, on the other end, not so much! The hate-hate relationship I have with the erg is still very much alive!

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Skill: Back Squat 3×10 E2M

Last time we had done those, I ended up at 95# on my last set so today I was hoping to get to 105#, but my freakin’ sciatic had other plans. I took it a bit lighter and finished at 100# and I’m glad I did since Coach AJ told me I needed to work on keeping my shoulders back and my chest up. I think I managed to correct that on my last set and that was another PR for a 3×10 on these!

WOD: 2x500m Row

My heart sank when I saw this post last night, but I knew I could defeat my mind going into this. I always struggle when we erg and I always want to quit. The only thing keeping me from actually quitting is to imagine my girls drowning and the only way to rescue them is for me to row to them.

No way I’m letting this little cutie drown (not even if it’s only in my head!). Do Not Stop!

So I was in the first heat and Kathleen had suggested I stick around 2:12/500m for this one and try to up it up to 2:03/500m on the second one. That plan went to hell at 3-2-1-Go!

I started up way too strong and I hung around 1:57/500m for a bit, only to end up around 2:03/500m. Yeah, that was gonna backfire on the 2nd round! 1min isn’t a long time to rest at all and I think I rowed most of it with my eyes closed. I came to a spot where I almost stopped completely. Kathleen was behind me and she said: “No, Val, you don’t stop now.” And that was all I needed to get going again. Thank goodness too, otherwise, I honestly think I would have been done there and then. I closed my eyes again and was the last one still working on my 2nd attempt and the inner animal was making its way out in terms of guttural screams, but I finished it. I was done, that’s all that mattered to my little legs and body. It took a while for me to catch my breath and I tallied my score:

• 1st round: 2:05.5
• 2nd round: 2:15.9
• Total score: 4:21.4

Seems to me like I did the opposite of what Kathleen had planned out for me! Way to go loser! 😉

Kathleen came to me and she said my 1st round must have been a PR for me. I honestly couldn’t remember and didn’t have that info on my phone so I had to wait until I got some free time at home to check if she was right or not. Well, she was! My previous PR for 500m was 2:07.3 and I had done 2:05.5 in my 1st round today! Not surprising I tanked out on the second round! Still, 2 PRs in one day, I’ll take it!

I came back home where my husband had made protein shake and had some to share with me! How amazing is he? I showered and made some food and put Béatrice to quiet time after lunch. You know you’re a Crossfit mom when your kids tell you they don’t want your cuddles because “your hands are scratchy and you should go scrub them”. I obliged and polished my calluses to my daughter’s request and we are now able to cuddle again! #truestory

For now, I am sitting on the couch and warming-up my sciatic with the hot water bottle while BeZU rests upstairs. We will go get Rina at the bus stop later!

“If It’s Hard, You’re Doing It Right!”

I was happy Ben and I came to a pact that I could still go to the 0600 Oly class on Thursdays if I wasn’t working. The evening classes were just impossible for me to attend having to deal with the girls and Ben has agreed to be on “school duty” an extra morning so that I could go lift some weights! He is pretty amazing! Over the weekend, he told me he loved my determination at getting fit and doing Crossfit. If that’s not a supportive husband, I don’t know what is! #hesakeeper

 

I got up before sunrise (hello autumn) and made my way to the Box for this:

The snatch balance from the warm-up somehow were hurting my neck, but I was fine afterwards.

Snatch 10×2 OTM

I am still using my “fake 1RM” of 65#, therefore I went with 52# for these. I failed 2 reps total (I repeated one and half made up for the other one) during the 10 rounds and the hardest was catching my breath during the rest. That little sequence got my heart pumping and I got sweaty fast doing these. Still pretty happy with having managed to do all 10 rounds, even though it was hard. Coach Caleb said: “If it’s hard, you’re doing it right!” 😉

Hang Snatch 6×3 E2M

Since I had managed 90#x2 a few weeks ago (90# is also my C&J 1RM), I used that to calculate my weight and did 76.5# for all 6 rounds. The last rep was hard and I was having a hard time hanging onto the bar (we weren’t allowed to drop the bar between reps) and I could definitely feel it, but I managed all reps successfully. Getting up from the squat was much harder on some reps, but I managed to get up for all!

I rushed home so I could walk Rina to the bus stop and then, Ben dropped Béatrice at preschool. I had time to take a bath and cook some food for my night shifts uninterrupted. It was nice, but weird to have the house empty of kids. Something I will have to get used to for sure… For now, I get to enjoy some alone-time with Béatrice and it’s quite nice to focus on be able to spend some one-on-one time with her. She’s such a cuddle-bug!

Beast Mode!

I got up early today to get Rina ready for school and as soon as she got up, she came to our bedroom for a muscle flexing throwdown. That’s her new thing lately, she flexes and show me her big muscles. I think she puts as much tension in her face as she does in her biceps! It kills me every time!

So intense… Beast Mode!

I cropped out the pic in order to avoid child nudity and what you can’t see in the background is my husband in bed, half awake with a look on his face that says “What the …”! also priceless!

We made it to the bus stop in time, but I swear, that bus gets there earlier and earlier everyday! I ran some quick errands and came back home to get ready for the WOD:

I warmed up and decided to try a TTB on the rig. Something magical happened! I managed one rep on my 1st attempt! After 2 years, I could finally √ that one off my goal list! I was so freaking happy, I may have done a cartwheel! I tried to get a second one and it didn’t happen, but still I was pumped!

Source

Skill: (Widowmaker) Back Squat 1×20

I had been texting with Kathleen and she strongly recommended I used 85# for these, even though I was planning on using 78#. Whaddyaknow! Apparently, friends know me better than I know myself since it felt like I sandbagged it a little. I think I could have gone up to 87.5# or even 90#. The last 2 reps were a bit more of a struggle, but otherwise, it was good.

As for the WOD itself, it was a no score one, but I kept a tally of my reps & cals/rounds and here’s what I ended up scaling down to:

• Ring rows: 8-7-7-9
• walking lunges with KB (26#): 11-11-12-13
• L-sits (instead of strict TTB): 7-8-8-8
• Row (cals): 7-7-7-8
• HSPU (from box): 7-8-8-4

On my last round of the HSPU, I didn’t position my hands properly and wasted a lot of time trying to get a rep in, to finally reposition my hands and get going. Oh well, I’ve been on a high ever since I’ve come back home. To look back and reminisce about how frustrated I was 2 years ago to not be able to roll my back on the foam roller because I had no abdominal strength whatsoever, to now finally getting my 1st TTB and doing L-sits is pretty amazing to me. I love how I keep getting stronger and fitter with time by doing Crossfit. I’m so glad I’ve finally found what works for me AND I love doing it and breaking my own limits day in and day out!

I came back home and did some housewifey stuff (food prep for the week, laundry, watched Frozen with Béa and sang the songs with her!, welcomed Rina back from the school bus, you know, the usual!)

Now, I plan on putting the hot water bottle on my back and trying to schedule a chiro appointment (my sciatic has been bugging me for a bit) and see if that could help!

 

Out Like A Belly Button

I swear, the kids are adorable and all, but I sure wish they would sleep through the night. Béa was up multiple times last night which means I’m not getting the rest I need to recover from all the intensity I’ve been putting my body through lately.

She’s got gorgeous brown eyes! I just wish she’d keep them closed through the night! 😉

 

Yesterday Kathleen cancelled our mesh on Sunday and I wasn’t too sad she did so. She’s been bombarded with visitors and hasn’t had time to unpack into her new house, so she will make time for that this weekend. I, on the other hand, will use this opportunity to do nothing (workout-wise) and just enjoy the long weekend with Ben and the girls, before I head back into work on Monday.

I woke up startled by my alarm at 0500 and somehow managed to get up and ready for my last workout this week:

I saw this on Facebook as I was fuelling up before the workout and thought: Yep!

 

Source

 

 

I teamed up with Tracey for the warm-up and literally was biting my arm during the wallsits! The plank holds weren’t as bad and I felt like I could have held a little longer on them, but those wallsits were pretty horrible, considering I had just finished those air squats at a good speed (for me!)

Skill: Kipping pull-ups 4×6 E2M

I focused on my strict for these and used the red and blue, but maybe I should have used the red and purple instead. It somewhat easy to do the 6 reps, but I my hands felt like they were on the verge of ripping.

WOD: Snatch & Grab

I had never done this one before and since it involved the ever elusive snatch, I had to resort to TG for today. I felt like a wimp using such a low weight, but then again, seeing as my 1RM is 60# made it easier to swallow. Here’s how I scaled it:

4 rounds of

• 6 Hang power snatch @ 45#
• 8 burpee bar hops
• 10 front squats @45#

I really thought the front squats would be a piece of cake at that weight, but man, was I wrong! I had to break them into 3 sets for every round! I tried my best to keep all the burpee bar hops Rx, but had to drop to granny-style for a few reps each rounds. Jess walked in and smiled at me after one of my rounds. She was dancing and the best I could do was to give my Bitchy Resting Face. Sorry Jess! I was trying to save every calorie of energy for the WOD and smiling was impeding on that! 😉

I have BRF and I own it!

 

Oh well, not my best WOD at all. To be honest, I didn’t really care. I just wanted to be done. Done with the WOD, but also done with the intense week I’d just put my body through. Here were my times for the rounds:

1:35 – 1:45 – 1:45 – 1:34

Which gives me 3:19 for this WOD.

I can’t wait to go for my massage this morning! That’ll start recovery painfully well! I don’t go for fluffy massages. I prefer the deep tissue kind and my RMT is also a Crossfitter, so she knows which muscles we work and what needs to be worked on. She’s awesome in a dominatrix kind of way! Teehee! I find myself breathing through the pain when she works on certain areas, but I know I always feel better after!

In the meantime, don’t expect a lot of posts until next week, because I’ll be out like a belly-button for some well-deserved rest & recovery!

 

Pushing The Envelope

Well, actually, I’ve been pushing weights, more than an envelope, but you get my gist, right?

After a restful night of sleep where NOBODY woke up in the middle of the night (Whoot! Whoot!), I woke up at 0500 again for the Oly class.

I wasn’t sure I was gonna make it there as my gas light turned on, on my way to the Box, but I managed to make it and there’s a gas station across the street so my plan was to fill up after class. Worst comes to worst, I knew I would be able to push my car to the station! 😉 BAM!

Today marked my 8th training session in 14 days. I’ve never trained this much in my life! It’s my last week before my month-long vacation comes to an end and my plan was to squeeze as many workouts as I can before I go back to my usual 2-3 sessions/week. I am definitely starting to feel it though and combined with it being my 1st week back on the Whole30 and all the cloudy/rainy weather we’ve had this week, all I want to do is sleep. Unfortunately, I have 2 cuties that have other plans for me:

Every time I tried to nap on the couch, they would come bother me!

Who needs sleep, right?

Anyway, back to Oly class, here’s what we did today:

I wonder if those Forehead Jerks made me look as stupid as they made me feel??? Those were weird!

C&J EMOM X10 @85%

That meant 76.5# for me. Coach Caleb told me I had soft elbows on my jerk during my warm-up to that weight, but apparently, I corrected once I reached my target weight. Maybe I just needed more weight in order to really lock my elbows? I was trying not to pause between the clean and the jerk all while keeping the lift smooth and I was tired by rep 7. I started to take a few breaths in the transition and I was glad when we were done.

OHS 6×2 E3M

I teamed up with Linda who saved my hair crisis this morning. You know the drill: you go to put your hair up and your elastic just breaks in your hand and you realize you don’t have a spare one? Well, Linda gave me one of hers and my life was perfect again! So, we teamed up together and we started low (I’m not strong and Linda is recovering from a back injury.

I knew I could do 65# since I had done that weight for 15.2 during the Open. Looking back, I should have aimed for 70# or 75#, but I’m sore everywhere and my wrists have taken a huge hit with all the freakin’ cleaning I’ve been doing lately. Here were my reps:

40#-45#-50#-55#-60#-65#

My wrists were hurting on the last set, but I felt stable in my core and getting out of the bottom of the squat felt relatively easy. Oh well, my previous number for OHS was 6×3 @60# so I think that’s a new PR for me. I’m amazed I can still have PRs this week as I’m feeling so sore everywhere! I can’t wait for my massage Friday!

I came back home and did some laundry with the hubs (OK, he did most of the laundry while I cleaned and vacuumed the upstairs).

Look Mom! I’m hiding! (Typical Béa on laundry day)

I also did some food prep for the Whole30 since I had nothing but eggs and avocados left (I had thawed some chicken thighs and ground turkey) and I feel better now that I have healthy options in the house.

I managed to close my eyes for about 10 minutes after lunch and I tried to cuddle to the girls on the couch while they watched Frozen (I may have turned the TV on with hopes of napping next to them. Don’t judge!) but they kept poking me, pulling my hair and staring at me. Major fail, but we still watched the movie! 😉

I just have to make it through tomorrow’s class and possibly a last training session with Kathleen on Sunday and then I can go back to slacking off my regular training/work schedule.