Partner Nurwor AKA The One That Destroyed Me

I looked at the WOD this morning and was not super thrilled with what I found. Partner Nurwor aka rowing and running. Not my best display of fitness, but I was determined to give it my all (as usual).

Source

Skill: HSPU Progression

I started those with 1 yoga block and 2×5# plates, did 2 reps and couldn’t do more so I went to get a 3rd plate. On the second round, I was really struggling with coming out of the bottom, so I chose to do balance holds instead. I managed a few 10-20s holds off the wall and was happy with that. Some days, your body just refuses to do what you want it to and there’s no point fighting it!

WOD: Partner Nurwor

Today was my 4th go at this WOD. I paired up with Tracey (she’s now been my partner for 3 of those 4th attempts, Thanks Tracey!) and we set up quickly. I started on the Erg 1st and we got going. I was so slow on that Erg. I forgot to look at my splits, but as the rounds progressed, I got slower and slower. I know that I was around 2:10 for my 1st round and between 2:30-2:35 for my last one. On the 3rd round, I felt empty. Coach Caleb came by with a wooden dowel to prevent me dipping too low. I was struggling really hard and trying to maintain form was a tremendous challenge. I kind of wish he could have done that for my last 2 rounds as well, but I had to be disciplined and take it upon myself to correct my bad form. A slug in peanut butter probably was faster than me. And that’s not even mentioning the runs. I was so slow that Tracey managed to get about 30 secs rest periods on each rounds while I just kept chugging through. On my last run, Bo and Dave came to run with me. I knew I had an escort, but I never turned around to see who was there. I just pretended they were after me and tried to outrun them. I picked up the pace so much that I felt like I was flying on the last 200m (downhill, thank you Sweet Baby Jesus!). I don’t think I’ve ever ran that fast in my entire life! I came back inside, made my way up the stairs, looked at the clock and fell on all fours. I didn’t even make it onto the mats, I just crouched down on the concrete floor. Not long after, I collapsed on my belly. I broke my promise to never lie down after a WOD. Nurwor broke me. Once I caught my breath, I got back up and hugged Tracey. I then looked at my previous times and realized I had PR’d the crap out of Nurwor by 1:46 with my trustee partner! That put the smile back on my face and I was elated! 🙂

Sometimes, you have to give credit where credit is due. I give massive props to Tracey for pushing me, even though she probably didn’t know it. That woman brings it and she’s a beast. You cannot help but try to bring your inner beast out, just so you keep up with her! Then, there were my two angels, Dave and Bo, who literally gave me wings on my last run. I was probably running at a slow pace still for them, but their cheers and support pushed me to finish strong. So happy to see how I’ve progressed on this WOD and to have had the support of my Crossfit family!:

Progress!

I honestly think this WOD should be renamed Let’s Destroy Val though… Just a thought! 😉 Time to shower off the stink and get ready to tackle the rest of my day with my darling girls! 🙂 Hopefully, I can nurse those nasty blisters too!

Hello blisters!

Yet another reason this shorty isn’t a fan of the Erg. I get blisters every time I get on that machine. I think it’s slowly become a toss-up between the Erg and the Airdyne as to which is the devil’s spawn between these two torture devices… Something to ponder! 😉

*Funnily enough, WordPress just reminded me that this is my 666th post on my blog… How fitting! 😉

Marital Thanks

It is Thanksgiving here in Canada and I thought I would take this opportunity to give thanks to the most important and amazing man in my life: my husband.

We both work crazy schedules and hours and he is most understanding of my need to escape and get some alone time. Lately, I’ve been struggling with being a full-time mother and although I love my daughters to no end, I also sometimes wish I wasn’t a mom. Let’s get real here.

We moved 5000km away from friends and family 6 years ago and have made the decision to start a family knowing full-well that we wouldn’t have any family support. We are adults and understand the consequences to our decision, but that doesn’t mean it’s always a walk in the park. Wanna go out for coffee with your friends? Oh wait, either you drag along the kiddlets (forget about uninterrupted grown-up talk) or, even worst, even going together as a couple since that involves getting a babysitter (make that coffee about $25 please and thank you).

Yesterday, I was trying to explore our neighbourhood and going out to see a park with some walking trails. I was trying to capture some of the fall foliage with my camera and decided to give my husband a break by taking both girls to the park with me and luring them by calling it a “hiking park”. I packed Béatrice in the hiking backpack (it’s mostly uphill from our house to the park) and carried her until we got to the park. Once there, I let her walk since the grounds were mostly levelled. We did very little exploring because as soon as we hit the trails, Rina had “to go poopoo” even though I asked her repeatedly if she needed to go before we left home. I asked her if she could hold it in for a little bit and her answer was “Maybe”. Hmmm.  A bit dodgy coming from an almost 4-year-old.

A few minutes of snapping some shots and walking around exploring before I recognized the all too familiar wiggle of the “I need to go” quickly followed by some whining and more wriggling about (is she a human or a dog?!?) before she finally announced she “really had to go now”.

I didn’t have any bags with me, wipes or any toilet paper and this child has been hiking since she was a newborn, so we did the natural thing: I dropped her pants down in a bushy area, got her to squat and she did her business in the grass while I foraged for some wet leaves to wiper her bum with… See what I mean? A little 1hr-long walk and you can’t even leave the house without an arsenal of equipment! 😉 After that little poopisode, Rina was pretty much done with hiking and wanted to go back home. Here are a few of my shots before we made our way back home

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

So this morning, I was very thankful for my lovely husband to let me off the hook for the morning. I got to go to Crossfit AND coffee with a friend without having to worry about the girls. I knew he would get them to run around the squash club chasing and hitting balls with rackets (perks of marrying a squash pro) and I got some greatly needed “me-time”. Did the girls have McDonald’s cupcakes and cookies for lunch? They sure did! Do I mind? Not one bit! It’s all about give and take and I needed alone time more than I needed my kids fed nutritious foods. I’m very grateful for my husband taking notice that I was in dire need of some alone time and for him to make sure I TOOK this time for myself. It’s not always easy parenting when you live away from family, but having a wonderful and understanding husband helps a ton. I am grateful to have you in my life and to give me breaks when I need them. Babe, you truly are the best and although I nag and complain a lot, know that I love you and am tremendously grateful to have you in my life. I wouldn’t have it any other way, good days and bad ones! 🙂

Source

Skill: Handstands and Kipping Pull-ups

I chose to work on those two skills for the 15 mins. I started with the kipping pull-ups. I was trying to make them a bit more challenging seeing as I’ve been using the red and blue bands for a long time now. I tried doing them with the red only, but no such luck. I had to add the purple band to it as well. I managed to string 3 in a row and once I got to talking to Coach France about the movement, I got too much in my head and focused about the pushing back down and couldn’t figure it out anymore. I’ll just need to practice them more!

As for the handstands, I managed to prop myself up on the wall very easily and according to Laura, My kick-up was very fluid and graceful. It felt good and almost felt like I won’t need the wall for much longer. Once I stabilized off the wall, I also managed a few reps of balancing on my own! 🙂 Progress!

WOD: Turkey Trot

This one was tough and I somehow knew running would be involved in today’s WOD. I even called it to Ben last night before the WOD was posted! 😉

I did the FG2 with the following modifications: 5 rounds for time of

• 400m run with a 14# ball
• 15 Taters with a 26#KB

The 3rd round was the hardest and although I was completely exhausted and dead last to finish, the 5th round was good. I managed to run for the entire stretch. Mind you, I don’t know if walking with a slight bounce could be qualified as running, but that’s what I did nonstop before heading back inside and doing the Taters non-stop as well. Looking back, I feel like I should have strategize a little better and set a goal for this WOD: either run all the rounds non-stop or do my Taters non-stop for every rounds. I feel like I was all over the place with both parts of this WOD and it might have been my demise. I brought back the rear and finished in 25:49. Good times!

I wish all my Canadian a happy Thanksgiving and may you be as lucky as I am to have an understanding partner who allows you to focus on yourself once in a while! 🙂