In The Nick Of Time

Let’s be honest here. Why do we put ourselves through Crossfit if it’s not to improve our fitness?

For me, it has never been about me against others (ok, maybe a little bit of secret competition between me and others, but they don’t need to know! 😉 ), but mainly, a quest at getting stronger, both mentally and physically.

From the get-go, I have set goals for myself. One of them was to back squat my body weight. In the past few weeks, I have been so close to achieving this goal, but I was still 5lbs short. I knew I wanted to go in for the WOD this morning because our skill was back squats and it would be my last attempt for this goal for the year (my current deadline for this goal). I have set many goals throughout the year and just roll them over to the next year when they are not achieved. I stepped on the scale this morning just because I wanted to know which weight I needed to hit in order to make it happen. The scale read 144.8lbs. Alright! 145# would have to happen somehow today in order for me to make my goal happen.

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Skill: Back Squat 6×2 E90s

Coach Adrianna was coaching us today and I was super happy to get to see her before she leaves us for Seattle. Those Seattle people are so lucky to have her and they don’t even know it. I will miss her terribly and I was gonna take advantage of today to make the most of it. She told me to try to hit 140# on my 5th set and if I missed, I could always lower the weight on my bar for the 6th round. If I succeeded, then I was golden to try at 145# on the 6th round. Ben and the girls also came to cheer me on so that was good too! Marika was there and we were doing stupid shit throughout our warm-up, doing the Hullk pose similar to this:

 

all while grunting and saying stupid things like “Bro sesh!”

We warmed up individually and then we all set off for our sets, just as Mr Lucas Parker walked in. That’s right! He trains at our gym and I get to see him a lot, but I’m still way too intimidated to talk to him, so I go about my business as usual when he’s there.  I started at 120# and made 5# increments with each rounds. When I got to 135#, it started to get heavy. I was nervous about hitting 140# x2 because I had missed my 2nd rep just 17 days ago. I managed to pull through the two reps and got ready to attack 145#. I went down with the bar on my back and started to go up. I got stuck for what felt like an eternity. I was out of the bottom of the squat, but couldn’t straighten my legs anymore. CRAP! I really wanted to hit my goal this year and I didn’t want to let go of the bar! I kept the bar on my back, pulled on it with all my might and, somehow, managed to get out of the squat and get back out.

YYYYYYEEEEEESSSSSS!

I let out a huge victory scream as I had finally achieved the goal I had set for myself 2 weeks after my 1st Crossfit class!

I’ve never been prouder of a yellow star!

I tried to go for a 2nd rep, but I really couldn’t get out of the bottom and bailed out safely. Still though! I was so pumped! I have had this goal for 868 days (2 years, 4 months and 16 days, but who’s counting, really?!?) and I can finally put a check mark next to it, all on the last day of my target date! Nothing was gonna wipe the goofy smile off my face!

Kathleen walked in literally a minute too late to witness my feat, but she was still super pumped for me! As I was getting my stuff ready for the WOD, Lucas commented on my squat and said “That was a good lift!”

Seriously? Could this day get any better? Not only do I reach a massive goal, but Lucas Parker compliments me on it! Hell yeah! I thanked him and got my spot ready for the WOD.

WOD: You Lift Me Up

That was a tough one as you were supposed to go all out at max effort for 2 mins and use the built-in rest after. I was gonna try the FG with my bar at 65# for the thrusters and use the 35# KB. It was my 1st time doing thrusters at 65# outside the Open and I was struggling. I managed 24 reps (2 cycles) on the 1st round and 19 reps on the 2nd cycle. Coach Adrianna came by and switched my KB down for a 26# for the other 2 rounds. On my 3rd round, I managed another 24 reps and I was then able to do the AKBS without breaking them, but I was getting tired. The struggle became real on my last round when I couldn’t push the bar overhead for the thrusters and had to set it down. Most of my thruster reps were muscled overhead and that got exhausting really fast. I only managed 15 reps for that round before I slumped on the floor, tired, giggling with happiness and exhausted!

Sweat angel! I got junk in my trunk, but that butt helped me squat my body weight, so there!

I celebrated a little more with Marika, Adrianna, Kathleen, Ben and the girls before I got cleaned up a bit. I then met “new Adam” (a new coach at our Box) and he seems very friendly! We spoke French a bit as well since he’s from Ottawa! I then had to say goodbye to Coach Adrianna. She asked if she could hug me. I wasn’t even going to offer because I was afraid it would tip both of us into a puddle of tears. It felt like I could have hung on to her hug forever. She has been an amazing coach and supporter and her encouragements and tips haven’t gone into deaf ears. I will make sure to remember her advices and hopefully will go to visit her in Seattle sometime in the next 2 years.

We left the Box and got groceries, ran errands downtown, finished laundry at home and made dinner. My legs are shaking when I get on my tippy toes and for some weird reason, my right heel hurts. My traps are also sore from all those muscled thrusters and I can’t wait to sit with my hot water bottle, my blanket and my knitting in front of the TV. I’m not sure I’ll be up to ring in the new year as I can feel my body slowly shutting down from the adrenaline and excitement from today.

In all honesty, it’s been a very rough end of the year for reasons I won’t get into on the blog (what? I’m allowed some privacy, no?!? Lol!) and I certainly wish 2016 will get better for me. In any case, the only resolution I plan on making for the next year is to put myself and my needs at the top of my list, just below my children’s needs. I have proven to myself that I am strong and that when I have something in mind, nothing will get in the way of my determination. I will now apply that in my personal life as well. If people around me thought I was ruthless before, they ain’t seen nothin’ yet!

I’m currently holding on, but will hopefully soon relax and exhale…

May your celebrations of the end of 2015 be merry and safe. May your 2016 be bold, relentless and strong. I know mine will be because that’s what I want it to be.

So Close I Can Taste It

I’m tired. I have been on mommy duty by myself since Friday and I’m pooped. The girls are good, but I’m exhausted and trying to get the last-minute purchases done for the girls while I am married-single-parenting is exhausting. Thank goodness I had planned ahead and booked Nanny to the rescue for today. She came in just in time for me to go to Crossfit and since she was curious about the whole thing, we packed everybody in the car and Béa and Nanny came to watch me workout!

I did my usual solo warm-up and then I went onto the rig to try some TTB. I managed the usual 2 and went for an extra one and managed this one as well! I got greedy and tried for a 4th, but no luck. Still, a PR during the warm-up was nice! I teased Rob about it on Facebook (we have a bet as to whom will get to 10 TTB first. Although, now that I think of it, I don’t think we’ve ever established what the winner gets… Rob, if you’re reading, I say bragging rights!) and then moved onto the team warm-up:

Source

I teamed up with Marie who recently graduated from the OnRamp and since we’re about the same height, I figured it would take us similar time to get through the erg.

 

Skill: Back Squat 5×3 E90s

I was trying to PR on this one and go for 140#. It would have been a 5# PR. It didn’t happen, but I was close and considering I was still feeling my new depth at the bottom of the squat, it felt REALLY good. I felt strong, more able to keep my chest up and didn’t feel like I was “butt-stripping” getting out of the squat. Here was my progression:

120#-125#-130#-135#-140# (managed 1 rep and bailed coming out of my 2nd).

I think there was a lot happening for me on these:

1. I was seeing stars coming up from my 1st rep @ 140# and I didn’t take a long enough pause to breathe and recoup at the top
2. I was in my head a lot. I knew that if I managed to do this today, I was literally 5# away from my bodyweight back squat and I’ve been chasing this one for close to 2 years now. My heart was pumping fast and I could tell I was in a hyper mode.

I may not have PR’d my 5×3 and I don’t have a 1RM, but I’m confident that 140# was an amazing 1RM for me! The fact that I felt so good and strong during my reps gave me a ton of confidence. Also, being able to bail out of the lift safely made me feel good too. It’s nice to know that I not only have the technique to do my lifts in a safe manner, but I also have the knowledge to get out of them if I can’t complete a rep.

WOD: 4 Hundred

I paired up with Marie again and even though she was doing the FG+, I firmly believe that we both were working equally hard at it. I decided to try this one RX and it did not disappoint! I started us off on the wallballs because, well, in all honesty, I just wanted to get them done and over with! Lol! We broke them up in sets of 10 and I then had to break my sets into 2×5, pretty early in the game. Marie was doing squats while holding the med ball because of shoulder issues, which meant that she was done a lot quicker for her sets and I had less time to recover. She was nice enough to get us started on the push-ups and surprisingly to me, I was really struggling through those. We both did them all RX and Marie was so strong and straight throughout them all, I was super impressed! We split them up into sets of 5.

I took over for the reverse lunges and I was apprehensive about those as any split movement is usually what gives me sciatic pain. I tried my best to brace my deep abdominals and so far, *knocks on wood*, no butt pain! We split those up into 10s and got through them fairly quick.

I started us off for the Plates ground to overhead and it was my 1st time using the 25# plate for those. They felt really strong. It felt like I was really able to keep the plate close to my body and really use my hips to get it overhead. There were two reps towards the end where I struggled to get the plate to actually touched the ground, but even if we finished last, I felt really good about our work today.

Once I was done, I clean dup quickly in the bathroom and BeZU, Nanny and I were off to hit the stores. I managed to find one item on the girls’ Santa list and I was happy with that. I hid my purchases in the trunk and Béa was none the wiser.

After lunch, we came back home where I finished laundry and relaxed a bit on the couch. We then went to pick-up Rina at themes stop and we trooped everyone to a smaller mall where I was hoping to get the girls’ picture taken with Santa.  I had scoped the hours ahead of time and I knew the big guy was supposed to be there until 5pm. To my surprise, there was nobody in line when we got there. I forked out the $14 for one 5×7 pic (not without some grumbling) and approached the jolly red dude. Béatrice was scared to death and wanted nothing to do with him. She kept hiding behind my legs and I could feel her little body shaking against my leg. I asked Santa if I could sit next to him to warm her up to him and once he said it was fine, she climbed on my lap. I tried to get her to sit on his lap: No. I tried to get her to sit next to him: No. I tried to get her to stand in front of here sister (who was, by then, telling Santa everything she wanted for Christmas): No. In the end, I decided it was going to be a family picture and I got in there with the girls. After all, I wanted them both to have their picture taken, but I wasn’t gonna hang around there forever!

It turned out much better than I thought and at least both girls are smiling. I look like an exhausted, sweaty mom (because I am), but I couldn’t care less!

Once we were done, I went to get the envelope with the picture and noticed there was another sheet in there. At first I thought it was an order sheet to order extras, but when I took it out, I saw this:

Rina, handing Santa a drawing she had done

I was so unaware that the photographer had taken this one and I was really touched that she had included it in the envelope. I thanked her profusely and we all went on our merry way home, where we had dinner, I bathed everyone, made lunches for tomorrow, took my work clothes out and now, I’m about to make myself a cup of broth with my hot water bottle on my back and do my version of #NetflixandChill which is #Netflixandbroth 🙂

 

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!)

Source

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!

 

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! 😉

 

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!

Higher Intensity, Lower Reps

My alarm woke me up this morning and I felt like I could have used another 5hrs of sleep. Meh! I got up and instantly felt the soreness in my hamstrings, shoulders and butt from yesterday’s Beach WOD. I could also feel the bruises on my biceps and forearms from the KB thrusters. I had a feeling today was gonna be a little ugly at the gym!

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Skill: Back Squat 6×3 E90S

I had worked up to 130# the last time I did these and I was determined to attempt 135# today, but my body had other plans. Here were my reps:

110#-115#-120#-125# up to then, I had no problem. I then loaded my bar with 130# did my 1st squat and, although I struggled to come up from it, I managed my 1st rep. I couldn’t get out from the bottom on the second, so I bailed out safely. Coach Caleb came by to help me re-rack my bar and after we chatted about the weight, He suggested I go back to 125#. I did just that, did my 1st rep successfully, but had to bail out of my 2nd rep because I couldn’t come out of the bottom. It’s all good, I know my body was tired and I had that piece of cake as well yesterday… 😉

WOD: Over Under Up

I decided to go with FG1+ on this one with the following modifications in order to challenge myself:

• 75# Shoulder to overhead (I did press jerks). We had to clean the bar up from the ground and I had never used that weight for a WOD until today. My 3RM for push jerks was 80# back in January and I knew using 75# today would be really hard, but I was determined to give it a go.
• DUs (I had a feeling I would struggle to get any reps on these, but still wanted to challenge myself to doing them Rx)
• banded pull-ups with the red band only (1st time I let go of the red and purple bands combined)

To say my score was very low is the understatement of the year. I ended up with a combined total of 58, but I really pushed myself out of my comfort zone. The DUs really killed me. Here’s how my rounds broke down:

1. 5 push jerks, 3 DUs, 3 pull-ups
2. 7 push jerks, 7 DUs, 4 pull-ups
3. 5 push jerks, 6 DUs, 4 pull-ups
4. 7 push jerks, 2 DUs, 5 pull-ups

Like I said, not the best numbers, but I managed to increase my pull-ups on each rounds and finished strong with the push jerks, so I’m happy with that.

Since Rina is now done with preschool for the summer, I had the luxury of taking my time after the WOD and I even went to get some groceries. I had a plan in mind and, boy, am I glad I stuck to my plan. Ever since Tracey had us over for our little Whole30 girls’ night, I have been craving ribs (she had made a delicious recipe on that night). I perused my cookbooks and the internet and finally settled on this recipe, from Holly Would If She Could, since it is Whole30-compliant AND slow-cooker friendly. We had a bit of a break in the heat wave yesterday, but it came back in full swing today and there is no way I would turn on the oven to cook anything in this heat. The girls are having quiet time in their rooms, fans are blasting on full-speed and Béa even asked that she just stays in her diaper. Poor munchkin is HOT! As I was driving to the grocery store in the early morning, I rolled down my windows and there was a faint breeze coming in from the ocean and you could smell the sea breeze in the air. It lingered around until around 10am and every time the wind would pick up gently, you could smell the ocean. It was lovely and it made me thankful I get to live so close to the ocean that I get to smell it in the air, once in a while, without having to leave my house!

The ribs are filling the house with a lovely scent (I didn’t change anything to the recipe and used the same BBQ sauce. The only difference is I didn’t boil the sauce. Nobody got time for that and I figured the slow cooker would take care of that step for me! 😉 I will serve this on a bed of lettuce because it’s too hot to eat anything else. Tomorrow, I plan on making Salmon À l’Afrique Du Nord that was recommended from Kathleen. You can find the recipe in Well Fed by Melissa Joulwan, or on her blog here. I have everything at home to make it and using the BBQ means avoiding turning on the oven = WIN! I also plan on grilling Blueberry Breakfast Sausage on the BBQ, but I will replace the pork with ground turkey. You can find the recipe on the Whole30 FB page, in their photo album.

That’s it! The girls have decided that quiet time is over and I must go back to being a mom! See you all in a few days!

Ugliness

I finished work yesterday morning, went to sleep for 4hrs and then got up to take Béatrice to a Dr’s appointment (she has really bad eczema). The doctor told me to keep doing what we’ve been doing for her eczema and referred us to a dermatologist.

I came back home and was über cranky. Lack of sleep will do that to a person sometimes. I had absolutely zero patience and for about an hour or two, I had decided to take a day off Crossfit and not go in this morning. I changed my mind before going to bed, set my alarm and got up at 7am in order to take my time getting ready for the 0900 class. Rina begged to come with and although she was really clingy when I was warming up on my own before class began, she quickly cuddled Hank The Tank (Megan’s dog) on the couch. She didn’t leave his side after that! 😉

Turns out Kathleen was there too as well as Heather, Cindy and Kristin (and more people whom I forget the names, we were 12 in total). Everybody was bubbly and chatty and that gave me a little bit of energy to do this:

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Skill: Back squat 5×5 E90S, build to a heavy 5.

I had done 110# back in April and I set my goal for today to 120# with some expectation to fail at 115#. I reached my goal for today, which means a 10# PR on my 5×5! I’ll take it and that was the only good thing about today’s workout…

WOD: Runny Row Buddy

I think this is probably the one WOD I despised the most so far, even compared to 14.5 or 15.5. Maybe it’s because I was running low on sleep and recovery or because I had given so much to my back squats, but this one was UGLY!

I paired up with Kristin and started us off on the erg for 1000m while she hit the box jumps and the running. My pace wasn’t so bad on this one throughout, between 2:10 and 2:30. I then went onto the box jumps and needed to do 10 step-up ones in order to catch my breath before I was able to do them properly. At least, I kept moving. I then headed on outside for the run. It’s an out-and-back route that dips down before getting uphill just before the turnaround point. That means you dip the slope and have to go back up it just before coming back inside. Yeah, I found this one a lot harder than the one at our previous locations (uphill on the out, downhill on the back). Since I’m such a great runner (ahem, not!), I’ll have to build to it I guess! The second go around was absolutely disgusting for me. My rowing pace was between 2:30 and 2:40 and I wanted to quit after the first 200m (800m to go!) I actually took a break with only 110m to go. I kept having to close my eyes while I rowed and got so disheartened when I saw I had only rowed 100m at a time. Let’s just say Kristin got some decent rest! 😉 I went back to the box and had to do 15 step-ups this time around before I could start jumping the box jumps again. I set outside and was the last one out there. Everybody was lapping me on the way back and I made it to the turnaround point all alone. I was determined to not stop though, as hard as it was. I only stopped when a car was oncoming at the crossroad on my way back, but it was my lovely husband coming to join me so he let me go without me having to actually stop (thanks Hun!)

Kathleen came outside to cheer me on and told me to use my long light legs… I think she might need glasses! I told her I didn’t have any of these and tried to pick up the pace as much as my short thick legs permitted! I came in, looked at the clock and I was done! It’s rare that I’m really irked by a WOD, but this one, I REALLY didn’t like! I’m glad I went, but am now thinking maybe I should have used the rest day after all. One thing’s for sure, I am gonna nap on the couch as soon as I’m done with this post! 😉

I would definitely choose squatting over running ANY DAY!!!

Meeting Inspiration

I am so lucky to get to work out next to people I really look up to for inspiration! Most days, I am coached by an amazing Coach, but he is also a very strong competitor, the one and only Caleb Woiwod. Sometimes, I get to work out next to Lindsay McCardle who is just warming up on the floor (no big deal, this girl makes it to Regionals on a regular basis)! I also get to tackle some lifts while Lucas Parker drops his barbell when he does DL in the corner. I try not to cringe at the noise his bar make when it hits the floor. That bar is HEAVY, let me tell you! Then, there are the lesser known (to you)  people I look up to, like Tracey, Mark, and all my buddies in the 0600 class.

This morning, I got to meet Rachel Siemens. Rachel started as a Crossfitter and is now solely focusing on weightlifting. She is mighty(!) good at it too! She is ranked 3rd in her weight class in Canada and is pretty down to earth. I’ve been following her on Instagram and her lifts are impressive and she seems pretty goofy too! I bit the bullet and introduced myself. I’m pretty sure I sounded a little star-struck (combined with the high of my new PR, more on that below!), but I don’t really care. She talked about setting up a weight lifting class on Sundays and that would be awesome!

Let me back track and have a look at what we did this morning:

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Skill: Back squat 6×3 E90s

I was a little apprehensive trying those again. I’ve been missing a lot of the back squat skills on this rotation (a girl’s gotta work!) and the last time I tried these, I couldn’t repeat my PR of 125# and had to settle for 120#. I wasn’t super optimistic about surpassing 125# today, but I was still going to try it. Here were my reps:

105#-110#-115#-120#-125#-130#

That’s right! Not only did I manage my PR weight, I ended up with a new one! I was really focusing on keeping my knees out on the “up” and even though I was shaking in between rounds, I managed to get all 3 reps! I was beaming! That means I’m only 18# away from √’ing another one of my goals: hitting a bodyweight squat! 🙂

WOD: Boulder Shoulder

Sarah Showed up for the WOD this morning. I can’t remember if I’ve ever worked out with her, but she looked really good! I think she is recovering from an injury, but even in recovery mode, she kicked some serious butts! I was mesmerized by her pull-ups! I still finished dead last, but I was happy about my work today. Maybe I was flying high from my squat PR! 😉 Coach Caleb said that the previous times were from 4-5 mins to about 10. I was aiming for around 12:00 since I’m usually a lot slower than the average.  Here’s what I ended up doing:

• red and orange pull-ups
• full HRPU
• Rx AKBS @ 35#

I was really trying to hustle on this one, but the pull-ups did me in. I broke them into 4-3, 3-4, 3-2-2, 3-2-2, 3-2-2. As you can see, I wasn’t able to keep my consistency throughout the rounds. I did manage all the HRPU Rx, but I had to take breaks throughout the rounds: 9, 5-4, 9, 6-3, 6-3. I was pretty proud that I did manage to do all the AKBS Rx non-stop for each rounds. That’s probably what stopped me from reaching my original thought of time of 12:00 and I finished at 10:27. Not stellar by any means, yet I am super happy with this time! Celebrate the little victories in life!

Overall, it’s been another great day at the Box and I was energized to come home to do my usually pre night shift cleaning, laundry, blah, blah, blah! Ben took the girls to their gymnastics class this morning, which helped a lot. At one point, the washer and dryer were both off and there was absolutely no noise in the house. It was something I’m not used to, but it was nice while I finished my coffee! Hope your day is going well too! Until next time!

When DNF = PR

I haven’t blogged in a bit because I needed some time off. I’m back now and I have some catching up to do!

I went to Crossfit on Saturday and brought my two lovely ladies with me since Ben was out of town. Here’s what I did:

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Skill: Back Squat 6×3 E90S

I was really hoping to go up to 130# on these, but my body had other plans in mind. I managed to do the round at 120#, then went up to 125#, managed one very ugly rep and had nothing left for the other two. I decided to rest (this was my 5th set) and try again on the last set. Again, I managed the 1st rep, and couldn’t get out of the bottom on the second rep. I bailed out and dropped the bar. 125# was my previous PR and I had to settle for 120# on Saturday since my body just couldn’t do 125#. That means I’m 25# away from a bodyweight back squat. Something to work on this year! Rina and Béa were cheering me on with some “Go Mommy!” and “You’re doing so good Mom!”, it was pretty cute to hear them cheer me on!

WOD: 1K row

The last time I attempted this one, I finished in 4:38.4. I knew I wasn’t gonna improve drastically on this one, but I was hoping to drop below 4:30. I managed to barely do just that with a final time of 4:29.0. Just made it! Rowing is miserable when you’re short and although it was a tough one, it wasn’t as tough as I anticipated. I just stuck to my game plan and it worked!

Ben was coming home last night and I was very much looking forward to seeing him. Even better was the fact that I got the night off from work, so that meant that not only would I get to see my man in the evening, I also get 7 days off from work! I slept well during the day after my night at work and got a good night sleep once I went to bed. I felt good when I woke up this morning for this WOD:

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WOD: The Incredibles

The previous 2 times I had attempted this one, I had done FG with a 10# and less reps of everything as well as only 600m runs. Today, I was in the mood to try it Rx. I knew I probably wouldn’t finish in the time cap, but I was willing to try my best. We set out and I had a few goals I set for myself:

• run the 800m non-stop on each rounds
• break the wallballs into sets of 5 reps, but not break the form while I do them
• do the box jumps in 2×10

That’s it. We set out and even though misery loves company, I was quickly left in the dust, trailing behind everybody on the run. The sidewalk where we run the 800m in an out-and-back goes on an incline for the first 400m, getting progressively more pronounced on the last 200m up. I could really feel it and although I slowed down to a crawling pace, I managed to not stop moving. The first set of wallballs went according to plan and I had to pause a bit for my box jumps, so my strategy didn’t work for those, but I managed to keep proper form on the burpees. I set out for the second run.

It was brutal, my legs were done and my hip flexors were protesting heavily. The last 200m up the hill were laughable I was so slow, but again, I didn’t stop moving. I came back inside and went on to the wall balls where my plan worked somewhat. Some reps I had to break into smaller sets, but I managed to do all 25. I then moved onto he box jumps and managed to stick to my plan this time around. I broke the burpees into sets of 5 and managed most of them true-to-form. I looked at the time and it was past 21:00 when I set out for my 3rd round of running. I was spent, my hip flexors were furious and if I thought my legs were tired on the second round, it was nothing compared to this one. I kept crawling my way uphill and Tracey came out to run the last 400m with me (Thanks Tracey!). Coach Caleb was waiting for me outside and cheered me on to finish strong. I went back to the wall and started on the wallballs. I managed 22 before the 30-min time cap rang through. Even though I didn’t finish it this time around, I still consider this a PR since I attempted it RX. It was way harder to run the 800m stretches than I had anticipated, but I managed to “run” all 3 rounds without stopping. Also, I used a heavier wallball and did 10 more reps/round of them, as well as 5 more reps of box jumps/rounds and 10 more burpees/rounds.

It truly is amazing to me to see my progress. Yes, it’s slow, but I am not nor will I ever be an athlete. I am a mom who just wants to keep pushing myself and I did just that today. When I’m by myself and I get in my zone, I find myself thinking about the silliest of things. Today, I was wearing shorts and I was amazed at seeing my quads whenever I looked down on the running intervals. I have quads! Visible ones! I couldn’t see them a year ago! I also couldn’t do that many burpees true-to-form until very recently. Yes, I still resorted to doing some granny-style, but whenever I would catch my breath and feel somewhat recovered, I went back to doing them Rx. Celebrate the small victories, focus on the positive and keep being impressed by your progress, that’s the only way to go about it!

Breathe

After the exhausting day we had yesterday and being up for 30hrs+ straight, I looked at the WOD last night and didn’t feel like going to Crossfit. However I knew I’d feel better just stepping foot into the Box so I forced myself to go. It wasn’t pretty, but I got it done.

I was greeted by a huge hug from Tracey and that opened up my floodgates, but I honestly didn’t care.I expected today to be a release of the said gates and I was ready for it.

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Skill: Hang power snatch + OHS x 8

We had done something similar in a Oly class so I started at 50# for 4 reps and bumped it up to 55# for the last 4. My 2 middle reps at 55# were ugly, but I had a self-talk about bracing core, punching the bar up and dropping underneath it and finished off with better form.

WOD: Kitty Paws

I knew this would be hard, but I didn’t know just how hard it would be. I did a combo of TG+, which meant I used a 55# bar and decided on doing 10 DUs for each rounds. I may have been able to do 65, but I wasn’t feeling it at all, being on the verge of tears and all… The first round was uneventful and it took me a long time to get my 10 DUs done. It’s different doing them in my lifting shoes. The second round is where everything started to go downhill. I was tearing up a lot and had a hard time staying focused on the task at hand. I closed my eyes for the single skips and repeated that technique for all the remaining rounds in order to regroup. I honestly can’t tell you my time. I think it was around the 19:00 mark, but I didn’t even look at the clock when I finished. I just sank to my knees, put my head on them and bawled. I just needed to release all the sadness about Duke in order to be strong for the girls today. My goal is to not cry today with them, so I had a good go at it this morning. I was way last to finish and I’m sure people were probably wondering what the heck was wrong with me, but I really didn’t care. I have said it many times before, Crossfit is my therapy. I got my money’s worth today! 😉 After a few minutes, I tried to settle my breathing, taking one breath in, one breath out. I got up, picked up my gear and left.

A wise woman (my mom ;)) once told me to focus on the things I had power to change. I can’t change anything about the Duke situation. I can’t dwell on the “what if’s” and I need to be there for my girls. I need to be strong for them in order to let them feel their emotions about the whole thing. So instead, I will focus on the things I have control over: being a wife, a mom, planning my meals, enjoying my workouts and making the most of my days off with my little family all while breathing, one breath at-a-time.