PR Day And A Date Night

I had a hard time falling asleep last night after I saw which WOD was awaiting for us in the morning. I was wondering how I should tackle it and was anxious to see if I had gotten any stronger at it. I woke up before my alarm went off and it’s a good thing too because I had forgotten to turn it on!

During my own warm-up, I tried to do TTB on my own, but they still elude me. I really wanted to try them on the rings, but I couldn’t reach any of the rings and it would have taken me too long to set them up for my height. Better luck next time! Here’s what we did:

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Skill: Back Squat 5×5 E2M

If you remember, we have done these just last week, but the interval was E90S. I don’t know if it was the longer rest period, but I felt much better doing them today. I even managed a new PR at 110#. I was pacing myself better and even though the last set was hard, I didn’t feel like I was going to pass out like I did last week!  Below are my reps:

90#-95#-100#-105#-110#

WOD: Jackie

The last time I tackled this one was back in February 2014 and I had finished in 13:10 with the following scaling:

• 1000m row
• 50 thrusters at 35#
• 30 pull-ups with red and blue bands

Here’s what I did today:

• 1000m row
• 50 thrusters at 45#
• 30 pull-ups with red and purple bands

We had to have 3 heats for this one because we are limited to 6 ergs and I chose to go in the 3rd heat since I’m so fast on the erg (NOT!)

I was actually impressed with my time on the erg. I finished the 1000m in 4:49 which is pretty good for me considering my very recent 1000m PR was 4:29.0 just earlier this week. I was just trying to keep my pace between 2:25-2:30/500m. Not surprisingly, I was the last one to get off the erg and move onto the thrusters. I felt good doing these and I tried my best to break them into sets of 5, rest the bar on my hips or on my back, then go for 5 more, but more often than not, my second set of 5 had to be broken down into 3 & 2 and then I would drop the bar on the floor.

Then it was on to the rig for the pull-ups. When I first got on the rig, I did 5, then 4 and then kept my sets at 3 reps. It took me a while, but I finished in 14:31 and even though I took longer, it’s a new PR for me since I increased the bar weight to Rx and decreased the resistance in the bands I used. Karen was a huge motivator and she was even holding the block of chalk up for me so I wouldn’t have to get off my box to chalk up (Thanks so much Karen, it saved me some precious seconds!) and Linda was cheering me on. When I was done, Linda said I looked really strong on the pull-ups and I probably could have gone even lower with the bands. I guess I’ll have to try next time! 😉

Now, I’m off to get my hair cut and then, the hubster and I have a date tonight! It feels like it’s been months since we’ve spent some alone time together and I’m very much looking forward to a nice, hot, uninterrupted meal with my love followed by some strolling around downtown! 🙂

Feels So Good

I was finally able to go to the Box this morning and it felt so good to be back in my happy place after an exhausting set at work. I even warmed-up on the death bike Airdyne, willingly! I also worked on my DUs and to my amazement, I strung 4 in a row! Go me! It’s not much, but it’s twice as much as my previous PR! I swear, I should be somewhat good to go for the Open!

Once we were fully warmed up, I got ready for this:

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Skill: power clean + hang power clean + thruster EMOM x 10.
I started at 55#x5, but it felt like I was sandbagging it. I upped it to 60#x2 and upped it again to 65#x3. That felt good for the cleans, but challenging for the thrusters.

WOD: Twintrix

WOD 1: I scaled this one with red and blue CTB. I managed 4 full rounds + 6 burpees before the 6 mins were up. I was doing jumps over box burpees before Coach Caleb set me straight and said they were just burpee box jumps. Oops! I corrected my reps and kept on going. It was tough, but I was surprised at how little “granny” burpees I was doing. Most of my reps were full ones and I was pretty happy with that improvement!  We then had 2 mins to switch stations and try to catch our breaths.

 

WOD 2: I did this one Rx (wallballs at 14# and RKBS at 35#) and paid the price for it. Those wallballs are so hard for me. I’m still struggling through them and I may have dropped an F-bomb at some point. I was doing them single and couldn’t seem to catch the ball. I would have to reset it on the floor before picking it back up and wasted so much energy doing so. Still, I managed 3 full rounds + 5 RKBS for a grand total of 89 points for this WOD.

I came back home to have breakfast, shower, throw some laundry in the machine and headed on out to get my hair done. It feels good to get pampered once in a while. I took advantage of being by myself downtown to go pick up my new necklace

My Unicorn In The Forest

Here’s the description that came with it:

This handcrafted talisman necklace features a unicorn, which is a mythical creature with healing powers that is said to be fierce yet good, selfless yet solitary but always mysteriously beautiful.

I thought it was a good representation of the woman I am: healing powers (NICU RN), fierce yet good (Crossfitter mom), selfless yet solitary (I give so much to my family, but I still relish those quiet stolen moments for myself and for knitting).

The girls love it just because it displays a unicorn! 🙂

I came back home and made a fresh batch of egg muffins for breakfast tomorrow. They smell so good, it’s very hard to resist eating them now!

I will now sit and relax a bit before I fold the laundry! Just another typical day at home with my girls, but to me, those are the best days!

Flashback

After my deep tissue massage on Monday, everything hurt yesterday. Seeing as my RMT had worked me good on my shoulders, back and neck because of my tension headache last Friday during the WOD, it meant that lying down on my back was actually painful. I am super sore still between my shoulder blades and when I try to roll that area out, it is too tender and bruised to tolerate the pressure yet.

I woke up sore and a little traumatized when I saw what WOD was awaiting… A little flashback to 14.5 anyone?!? The mere mention of 14.5 has me wanting to curl up in a ball on the floor and roll myself back and forth to my happy place! 😉

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Skill: Front Squat 7×1 E2M

Coach Caleb said to not work up to our 1RM (mine is 115 lbs), so I did these reps, but I felt like I still had a lot left in me when I reached round 7. Next time, maybe I should go a bit heavier…

80#-85#-90#-95#-100#-105#-110#

 

WOD: Certifiable

I tried at 65# (I can’t believe I did 65# for the Open 14.5), but it felt way too heavy on my sore shoulders today, I worked the weight down to 45#. I broke my 1st set of thrusters into 3×7 reps, 2nd set I broke into 3×5 reps and last one I broke into 5+4. I did all my burpees “granny-style” going down, but managed to jump back up for most of them. I finished in 10:32 and Coach Caleb came by and said I should have gone heavier, considering I had done 14.5 a year ago and all. He said it would have made for a longer WOD, but I still should have gone heavier. I didn’t tell him my shoulders were too sore to go heavier, but next time, you bet your little tush I will try my best to do this one Rx!

As promised, here is a pic of my new ‘do! Shot, easy to manage and it worked out well with my bangs pinned up with bobby pins for the WOD!

 

Short hair don’t care!

BeZU, keeping busy next to me while I blog!

My Hands Hurt!

Finally! I went to bed around 2230 last night and after a small meltdown from Béatrice at 2330, I slept right through until 0450 this morning. Sleep is a beautiful thing! 🙂 Speaking of sleep, I am IN LOVE with my pillow:

Mayukori Buckwheat Groat pillow
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I bought mine a little over a year ago and I look forward to resting my head on that pillow EVERY. SINGLE. NIGHT! Well worth the investment. I also bought one for Rina a month about 2 months ago and she’s still adjusting to sleeping with a pillow. I have to admit though, I don’t use the cover my pillow came with, I just modified our own pillow covers with a few stitches on the sewing machine and it works perfectly! 😉

This morning’s WOD:

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Captain Coach Kirk was filling in for Coach Caleb (who is away on holidays) this morning. It was nice to have him coach me again (he was my coach for the OnRamp class). Why is the Power Snatch + OH Squat so freakin’ hard? I consider myself pretty good at squatting (hehe!), but this was such a struggle! Here are my reps:

40#-45#-Failed 50# so I scaled back to 45#-45#-45#

I actually fell on my butt attempting the 50#. I felt horrible because I dropped the bar too and it didn’t have a big plate on it, just the little ones. It was the bar or my back, so I chose to protect my back and let go of the bar. I guess it’s another goal to work up to!

For the WOD, we had done this one back in September and my time was 6:35, but I had only done 4 rounds of 12 wall ball (10#) and 8 pull ups with green band.

Today I did the FG with 4 rounds of 12 wall ball (14#) and 10 pull-ups (green and purple band) and I finished in 8:48. I was slower today, but I increased my weights and reps, so I’ll take it! Progress is progress, even if it feels like regressing sometimes!

I came back home and my hands were BURNING from the pull-ups! I have some calluses, but for some reason, they were on fire when I came back home. Maybe it’s because I forgot to chalk up before the WOD? I’ll just moisturize them today.

Since Rina didn’t have her ballet classes today, I was able to book a haircut appointment and I’m very pleased with the result. I got some layers done so my curls are just a little crazier than usual, but I love it! 😉

Wavy ‘do!

W36D4: We had a dream…

Hello Bédaine,
First things first, I will no longer be calling you “little Bédaine” because, let’s face it, you are not little! Second, I’ve been calling you Monkey a lot over the past few months so it’s slowly becoming a new nickname of yours as well as Bédaine. You’ll probably see me switch between the two from now on.

I woke up with your dad this morning and told him I had dreamt I was giving birth to you at the hospital and we discovered you were a boy. Your dad replied that he had dreamt I had given birth to you in our living room (he helped me deliver) and you were also a boy in his dream. And for the past week or so, I’ve been having a strong feeling you are a boy. I try not to focus my mind on you being a boy just in case you are a girl, but it’s hard sometimes!

I just got off the phone with your Mamie (my mom) and it felt good to talk to her. I’ve found myself missing her a lot this week and I miss the times when I could just pop in my car and go over for a quick visit. It was nice to get to chat with her (although we do talk a few times a week, it had a calming effect on me today). Just a small proof that no matter how old you are, sometimes, you just need to talk to your mom!

I have been doing a lot of running around this week and today, I plan on taking it easy as I am tired. Oh yeah, I am now officially on maternity leave as of last Wednesday! So you can pretty much make an appearance anytime now! 😉 I’ve been experiencing a lot more Braxton-Hicks and cramping that goes from my lower abdomen to my upper thigh and some bloody spotting, all early signs of labour, so I guess we’re on par for that too!

In other news, I chopped off my hair yesterday. I had been debating it for about a month now and was trying to grow it out, but decided to chop it off. Your dad needs some time to get used to it, but I like it eiher way. I guess I’ll have to grow it again to please your dad! In the meantime, here’s what it looks like:

My new do and rosy cheeks, thanks to a pregnancy hot flash!

My new do and you W36D3! Don’t mind the tired look!

Your dad is getting pretty excited at the idea of meeting you and he’s being very vocal about it. He’s constantly poking and probing my belly to either feel you move or get you to move. Sometimes to an excessive point, but I try to let him interact with you as much as I can stand it as I think it’s pretty amazing he’s so excited about you! It’s his way of showing you how much he loves you and I think it’s simply adorable!

On another front, I have been catching up on my running reading. I can’t wait to hit the trails again, this time around, with you in your stroller. It’s funny what pregnancy does to you. Mentally, I really want to get out there and start running, but physically, I barely get out the door before I feel a wave of exhaustion hit me like a ton of brick! I guess I’ll just have to take it easy in the meantime and start very progressively once I do start running. I am still waiting for my minimalist running shoes to get here. I had ordered a pair of Vibram,  but they were just killing my pinky toe on my right foot and had to return them.

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Instead, I ordered 2 pairs of Sockwa Amphibians shoes. I am still waiting for my order to get here and if you’re interested in getting a pair, you can just contact me and maybe I’ll share a coupon code with you (if you’re nice to me, that is!) Here are the 2 colors I ordered.

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You can expect a full review once I try them on for a bit and maybe I’ll order some of their Dojo model for wearing in the house, depending on how I like the Amphibians. In the meantime, I am psyching myself up to getting back into running once you decide to show up.

Your dad and I feel ready for your arrival, so feel free to come anytime!
Love,

Mom & Dad Xxo