Sigh

It’s been a busy week and I’ll try to recap quickly.

Last Monday was a Civic Holiday here and we enjoyed the day at the beach with Ben’s mom who was visiting from Kingston. We hiked to Mystic Beach and had fun in the sun and sand before we headed out for the typical lunch at Mom’s Café.

Béa’s natural summer highlights! I’d kill for these!

Rina, swinging from the rope swing on the beach

Cutie pie!

Rina, wave jumping

I had only 2 days at work before I was officially on vacation and although I was counting the hours on Wednesday. Let’s be real though, I kind of clocked out mentally around 1500, even though I was working until 1930. Nothing fazed me on that day and I was happy and lighthearted to make my way to my car at the end of the day! Off for a full month and I was more than ready for some time off. I already had 2 overtime calls to come in to work tonight so far… Not gonna happen!

I’ve spent yesterday and today getting some last minute shopping and making packing lists, getting everything organized and packed for our Cuban vacation! I can now say we are 98% ready to go, with little adjustments left to be done for our carry-on luggages.

I went to the Oly class yesterday morning and I was stoked to see Ryan show up: I wasn’t absolutely certain if there actually was a class or not and I was starting to think I’d gotten up at 0500 for nothing! Here’s what we did:

High hang, low hang, full squat snatch x6 E3M

Lots of rest for these and we were to work up to 75% of our 1RM. Mine was supposed to be 48.75#, but the closest I could get to was 48.5# (not enough small plates to make it a real 75%, but close enough). I was struggling on some reps and had to repeat a few, but as I warmed up, it felt smoother towards the end.

Squat Clean, Front Squat, Split jerk x6 E3M

Again, we were supposed to only go up to 75% of our 1RM so I used 67.5# for all my reps. The split jerk was unstable at times, but I managed all my reps. I was exhausted by the end! So much rest and yet, I was done for!

 

This morning, I woke up at 0500 again and I was still tired. I’ve been going to bed a little later than usual and I could definitely feel it this morning:

Source

I had misread the WOD last night and thought it was only 1 round. Gulp! There was no way I could do this RX seeing as my 1RM DL is 160# and my 1RM clean is 90#. That would have been cutting it too close to exhaustion and Coach Caleb wanted us to do close to 30 reps/30 secs. Sometimes, the guy cracks me up! 😉 No way I was going to achieve that either, but I was happy that I managed some pretty stable rep scheme throughout all rounds. I did FG with the following reps:

DL @ 115#:8-8-9-8-8

Front squats @ 65#: 9-9-9-8-8

DUs:5-7-8-11-12

Sometimes, I look at my reps and feel a bit discouraged at how low they are. Then, I analyze them in a different way and I’m pretty happy with my work. For example, my reps are low on the DL, but if you tally it all, it comes up to 4715 lbs moved in 2:30. For the front squats, it comes up to 2797 lbs squatted in the same amount of time.  As for my DUs, I only managed to string 8 in a row (last round), but they felt smoother with each rounds. Funny how I can do those better when I’m more physically tired. Maybe it’s because I’m not as tensed up?

I’m ready to put a hot pack on my shoulders and real for the evening before yet another busy day tomorrow!

Beach And Birthday Love

Phew! What a fund day we had today!

It all started with a fun Beach WOD that was held by our Box at Willows Beach. The setting was so pretty. Mt. Baker was so very visible in the distance and the ocean was just lying down in front of it. I really should have taken pictures, but I was too busy having fun with my Crossfit family. My real family was also there to cheer me on as Ben and the girls played on the beach while I worked a good sweat

The WOD was a team one that consisted of this:

In teams of 2 partners, 3 rounds for time:

• 50 double KB thrusters
• 50 burpees
• 1km run

Uhm yeah! That was totally Kathleen and I when the team WOD was announced!

The thruster and burpees were 1 partner at-a-time and the run was both partners together. We started strong with the KB thrusters (2×26#) and that got heavy fast. Coach AJ said that was probably close to a 70# traditional thruster. I did my half and then moved onto the burpees. I still can’t believe I did all my burpees Rx! Who knew I could be good at burpees!?! I sure didn’t! Then we went out on the beach for the run. Rina was keeping pace with us. I was amazed at her form and stamina and also, at the fact that I could barely keep up with her. 😦 My 4 year-old is better at running than I am! Kathleen was nice enough to slllloooooooowwwwww down her pace by a lot and she stayed with me, even after I urged her to go on without me.

For our second round, Kathleen ran ahead to our KB spot and started us off strong. She looked so good doing the double KB thrusters! Fierce! I did 3 and then switched to 35# KB taters. I tried again and did 2, then switched back to KB taters. I was having some bladder issues doing the double KB thrusters, so yeah, that was fun! Not! I ploughed through the burpees though and those felt good. Kathleen’s shoulder started to bug her by the end of the thrusters and she decided to modify them on the last round. Off we went onto the beach for our second run. I was worn out, but Kathleen kept motivating me by urging me to take deep belly breath, pace my steps on my breaths and to use my “long, light legs”. I tried to imagine my legs being long and light, but had a really difficult time. Still, We took only a few breaks and went back to the KB.

Once again, Kathleen started us off strong and I just resolved to do my taters. Burpees were good and I just couldn’t believe how good I felt doing them Rx. Not only that, but since Kath had modified them to a plank burpee, I figured I’d give her shoulders a break and did 10 on my last set so she would only have one last set to do. She urged me to run to the stairs leading to the beach and I obliged. Once we made our way to the compact sand, she also suggested we run to the “first log on the beach” that was almost at our turnaround point. Had I been alone, I would have quit much before that point, but because she was by my side, I kept moving forward, one step at a time. She let me walk from the log to the rock and then we turned around. I had made up my mind to run back to the stairs and I even managed to pick up my pace! Kathleen was such a good coach. I told her many times to take off ahead of me, but she wouldn’t leave my side! Best. Partner. Ever! I made my way up the stairs and then, with Kathleen’s encouragement, I sprinted back to our KB before falling on all fours. We came in last in 37:50, but I was pretty happy with how I had done overall!

I was a bit stressed about making our way back home as I had planned a surprise birthday party for Ben’s 40th. There was no way I wouldn’t celebrate this special occasion and I had to rush back home as I had told people to come around 1215.

There was a screw-up with my food platters order and they weren’t ready when my SIL went to pick them up 😦 We had to wait an hour before they were ready for pick-up and other than that little hiccup, I think the lunch party was a success. Ben seemed genuinely surprised (he thought I had something planned at the beach) and he thanked me a bunch of times after everyone left. Now if you know my husband, you know he’s not a man of many words, so for him to be so thankful meant a lot to me! I guess I did good!

Birthday boy and his girls!

You see that cake? It was a hazelnut/chocolate cheesecake. Now, I’ve been resisting all the temptations since starting my Whole30, but today, I allowed myself to have a slice of that cake. On day 22, I made the full decision to have something non-Whole30 compliant. Will I start back my Whole30 from day one? Nope! I knew full well my husband’s birthday was in the middle of my Whole30 challenge and I had made the decision when I started it that I would have a slice of his birthday cake. I fully assume this decision and I refuse to stress about it. I will keep it going as strong as I can until I leave for Cuba in August, but until then, I feel better not having the processed stuff. Not sure I have more energy, but I sure sleep better and I seem to perform better when I do my WODs. Also, I haven’t had to rely on these since I started, and that is a huge bonus!

So long, trustee crutch!

I posted this yesterday:

Said no to Bite-size brownies in order to rock my bikini in Cuba!

I may not have abs yet, but I have nice obliques and I,m so darn proud of my traps! The slice of cake was good, but I can feel it sitting in my throat now and although I’m glad I had it, it just goes to show that this much sugar doesn’t agree with me at all! Back on the Whole30 wagon as of now! 😉 I have given some of the cheesecake away to our guests and there’s about 1/4 of it left for Ben and the girls to have if they choose to have any. As for me, I’m more than happy to go back to my meat, veggies and fruits, nuts and seeds!

 

Girls’ Weekend Getaway of R & R

Even though it was raining this morning and grey for most of the day, I was able to enjoy a quick stroll on the beach before the tide rolled in and took some pictures with my mom and the girls. This morning, after an extremely early wake-up call (I’ve been up since 0245 tending to the girls playing tag waking each other up, and eventually, both ending up on my twin mattress with me), we packed up, went for a quick stroll on the beach and came back to Victoria. It’s nice to get away from the daily grind, but I’m glad to be back with Ben! I missed him and I can tell he missed all of us as well! 🙂

Everybody relaxes when in Parksville! 🙂

Rainy beach

I think she was getting cold

Loved my new rain boots today!

Mamie, you’re hilarious!

Crossfit pays off! Carrying both girls at once!

Rina, watching the stormy waves

Hugging Rina with Béa on my back

What a sunset!

Bunnies!

The calm after the storm

Blue skies in the distance

Playing on the beach

Cutie!

Change of Pace

I did the responsible thing this morning and skipped the WOD as per Coach Caleb’s advice on Wednesday. I’m still stuffed up and coughing so I decided to take a rest day. That also meant that we were able to hit the road a little earlier for our Girls’ Weekend Getaway to Parksville! My mom and I decided to go away for the weekend and we took the girls with us since Ben is working at a social event at the club anyway. I am currently sitting on a couch, next to the fireplace and with a wonderful view of the ocean. I think it will do me the world of good and we will be able to relax on this grey and rainy weekend!

I plan on walking along the beach with the girls tomorrow, rain or shine and will post some pics then! For now, my knitting needles are calling me!

 

Beautiful day at the beach

Sweet Rina,

After your Nonno and Grandma got here, we decided to drive to French Beach in order to enjoy the sun. However, once we got there, it was crowded with tons of people and not much beach to walk along so we hopped back in the car and drove to China Beach instead. It was a beautiful sunny day and I can’t help every time I am near the ocean to have a huge grin on my face. It was no different today and I enjoyed every second of my bare feet in the sand, even walking in the freezing cold ocean. I thought it was refreshing! We walked along the ocean for quite some time and I snapped many pictures. Below are only a few:

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You are currently sleeping, pooped after your day at the beach!

Love,

Mom & Dad Xxo