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!

 

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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!

 

Feeling Accomplished

I came home last night and French Nanny had done the laundry, baked a cake and cupcakes with the girls, cleaned the 1st floor, went to the pool with the little ones and played basketball with them. I could get used to that!

I went to bed exhausted and was looking forward to sleeping in until 0600, except our smoke detector chirped twice at 0515 for no reason. Of course, nobody but me work up from he smoke detector… So much for sleeping in!

I went to the 0700 WOD this morning and was surprised to see another 0600-er! Bo had missed the WOD yesterday so he was there to do it today, just like me.

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Skill: Kipping pull-ups practice

As per Coach AJ, if we were using band, she wanted us to do strict pull-ups and work on our swing instead. I tried using the red and purple bands, but had to increase to red and blue since I couldn’t do a single rep. I managed well considering and felt good doing those. Below are my reps:

5-6-7-7-7

WOD: Deadlimp

I had done this one back in May and had used 115# for the DL and had to go down from 35# to 26# for the reverse lunges as well as do step up box because my quads were seizing back then. My goal for today was to use 120# for the DL and 35# for the reverse lunges for all rounds. I had the 26# KB next to me, just in case. Midway through, I had to resort to doing step up boxes again, for fear of face planting on the box. I ploughed through with the reverse lunges and even though I had to break them into 2 sets of 6 for most rounds, I managed all rounds with that 35#KB! I was so happy! It was the 1st time I ever managed a full WOD with weighted lunges at that weight. For some reason, I’m still pretty weak on those and they are a struggle, but I pushed through and managed to finish it all with an average of 45s rest for each intervals!

I came back home and text Kathleen about the WOD. We had been texting back and forth about it last night and she wanted to know how I fared this morning (she had done it yesterday). I love how we can be “juiceheads” together and discuss and strategize over WODs! Strong women unite! I ate myself a lovely breakfast and got to work cleaning the rest of the house that French Nanny didn’t have time to do yesterday. I managed to do that while Ben finished the laundry (Thanks Babe! You rock!) and then got cooking. I am adapting this Beef Stroganoff recipe from The Paleo Mama for my slow cooker. I used ground beef and threw the beef, onions, garlic, mushrooms and seasonings in my InstantPot and sautéd it until the beef was cooked. I then shut off the sauté function, added 1 can coconut milk, 2 tsp of vegetable Better Than Bouillon, about 1-2 tsp of arrowroot powder, and about 2-3 tbsp of tomato paste (I usually freeze my left-overs from the can flat in a ziplock bag and cut whatever I need for recipes. Today, I just threw in whatever I had left in the freezer). Turn on my InstantPot on the slow cooker function on high for 4hrs. While this is stewing and filling the house with lovely comfort-food fragrance, I prepped a cauliflower head into rice and stir-fried my “rice” in the Wok. Now, everything will be ready for me to pack into work tonight when I get up from my nap! I’ll add some frozen kale in my container when I pack it up and that will be perfect, convenient and healthy! I’ll update with a picture once everything is ready to be photographed!

The girls have been absolute angels all morning. They’ve been playing together quietly while I was cleaning and I didn’t have to discipline them once! They sure are growing up!

Earning My Stripes!

So, this happened this morning:

BAM! Earning my stripes, one failed DU at-a-time! 🙂

50 shades of whip!

My lovely husband has finally come home from his long trip away and I was very much looking forward to spending the night snuggled up to him in bed… until he started snoring at 0230. He kept it up with me nudging and poking him for another hour before I headed downstairs to sleep on the couch. The heat was down in the living room and I was freezing. I think I fell asleep 15 mins before my 0500 wake-up call to go to the Box. Ugh. I was slowly regretting those two glasses of wine I had at dinner with my lovely Krista last night. She had asked me if I wanted to go out to dinner after my last night shift and I was very much looking forward. We tried a new-to-us restaurant/pub called Little Jumbo where the vibe was really nice and the food was excellent! I enjoyed the dinner, the company and the wine, but this morning, I was slightly regretting the second glass of wine I had last night! Oh well, I would sweat it out at Crossfit, right?!?

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Skill: Pull-ups practice

We did a bit of swinging from the rig, getting out shoulders relaxed then engaged, then we practiced the swing and then we practiced a few reps E90S. I had to use the red and purple bands for my reps. I’m really trying to make a conscious effort of hooking my thumb over the bar for pull-ups, but it still doesn’t come naturally. That’s ok, practice makes perfect, right?!?

WOD: DUBKUB

I was excited about attempting this one Rx. It took me a long time to row the 40 cals (about 2:35-2:40, can’t remember) and then, I was really winded for the DUs. I was struggling through the 1st round, but managed a few 3 and 4 in-a-row. I moved on to the AKBS (I used the Rx weight of 35#) and split them into 9-4-2. Not effective and I was going to switch my strategy on the second round. Coach Caleb came by and told me to keep loose during my DUs and keep jumping on my toes. I managed 6 in-a-row (a new PR!) on that round and finished my 30 reps before going back to the AKBS. I decided to split them into 8 and 7 and that worked out way better. Back to the DUs for my 3rd round. I was pooped and kept missing. There were a lot of single reps, but then, I managed another 6 in-a-row and I just kept chipping at them. People around me were finished or finishing up, but I just kept working. I did the AKBS in 8 and 7 again. Everybody else was now done and Coach Caleb was cheering me on, telling me I could finish in under 20 minutes if I worked really hard. I stayed loose, on my toes and got my DUs done, before moving to the AKBS. I split them again in 8 and 7 and I could hear Tracey and Marika, cheering me on. I put the KB down and looked at the clock: 19:22! I was dead last by a huge margin, but I did it Rx! I felt so proud and I was so thankful for Coach Caleb to let me attempt it Rx. I knew it would take me a long time, but I also knew I could get it done! Yay! New PR and a rare Rx next to my WOD today! Not too bad for a tired, hungover BabyMama! 🙂

 

A Good Day

I went to bed last night in the middle of a pretty intense windstorm. Nothing unusual for the island in the fall/winter. The pattern is usually rain for a few days, windstorm, sunny day, repeat. Ever since we moved into our new house, the windstorms make me very uneasy. I don’t know if it’s because we’re not on the lower level of our house and I feel/hear the wind more, but I just keep having to reassure myself that the house has been here since 1918 and it has seen plenty of windstorms. It’s probably sturdy enough to weather a few more! 😉

Once again, I was up way before my alarm (set at 0500). I stayed in bed, trying to fall back asleep and got up in the end to go to Crossfit. I really wish I didn’t have to see 0430 on the alarm clock some days! Sleeping has become a luxury and I long for the days I used to sleep in until 1000-1100!

 

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Skill: Kipping pull-ups 5x20sec E2M

I was determined to challenge myself with this today and I decided to forgo the red and blue bands and used the red and purple bands instead. I was happy to manage 5-7 reps/ rounds with these and I really focused on working on the follow-through at the bottom. I managed to do a max of 3 in a row and that was good enough for me!

WOD: Grunt

As we were warming-up for this one, Coach Caleb came by to assess our Hang power snatches and I had planned on doing the TG with the empty bar. Doing 5 reps with the bar alone was challenging enough, let alone 8 reps x 5 rounds. Upon Coach Caleb’s examination, he suggested I added weight to my bar because I looked “very powerful”. Dave got into it as well and I was convinced to add 10# for a total of 45#. I did the first round unbroken, but had to break them into 2×4 reps for all the other rounds. I did all my rounds with the TG modifications:

• 8x Hang power snatch @45#
• 10 Hand Release Push-ups (all on my toes)
• 10 double crunches

I finished with a time of 13:14 and was pretty happy about this. The Hang power snatches were a real struggle for all my second sets (#5-8). I was afraid of dropping the bar on all my last reps, but I pushed through and managed to do it all! Thanks to Dave and Coach Caleb for convincing me to go heavier! 🙂

Before we started the WOD, I jumped on the rig and attempted a few T2B. I’m not quite there yet, but I,m getting so close, I can taste it!

I came home to shower and decided to do my hair. When I came back downstairs, Rina was staring and saying: “Wow! Beautiful hair mom!” LOL! The girls are not used to me taking time to pretty myself up!

All dolled-up and nowhere to go!

Then, I guess Béatrice was inspired to doll herself up as well because she kept asking for a “ponytail”. After Rina had butchered her hair earlier this week and fellow Crossfitter Jordan fixed it up for her, I was skeptical about my ability to pull off a ponytail, but she seemed happy with the end result!

Cutie with a fringe!

Now, I get to spend the day with Ben and the girls and enjoy this beautiful sun with the family! 🙂

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

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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! 🙂

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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! 🙂

 

Choosing Rest to Become Stronger

I had a choice to go to Crossfit yesterday morning at 0600 or this morning at 0700 for the same workout. I chose to forgo my usual crew at 0600 yesterday and sleep in (ahem, until 0640, that is)! This meant I could also somewhat sleep in this morning, but it also meant I would have to go 2 days in a row (unusual for me) in order to make it 3x this week. It’s a choice I made and I’m totally comfortable with it. Today was a lighter skill practice and that meant I won’t be too sore (fingers crossed) tomorrow for class. As a full-time shift-worker, mother and Crossfitter, I want my workouts to remain challenging, but also fun, in a masochist kind of way 😉 .

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Skill: Handstand

3rd week doing these and I’m still struggling to balance off the wall or with a spotter, completely off the wall. I did, however, manage to get my wall walks with my belly up the wall last week and this week, so that’s a bonus. We did a few practices with kicking up our feet to the wall and I also managed to do a few practices with lifting one hand off the ground and alternating. This is all in order to get us ready to do handstand walks in the future. Nowhere near ready for this, but I feel strong and confident with my head inverted. I also need to keep up on this as we have enrolled Rina and BeZU in gymnastics class and I have a feeling it won’t be too long before Rina can do an unassisted handstand! 😉

WOD: KipSkip

This looked easier on the board than it was. I wanted to do FG1+ by doing 10 DUs for each round before finishing the round with single skips and using the red and blue bands for my kipping pull-ups. However, after the 1st round, I soon realized I would be there for 20mins if I kept the 10DUs for each rounds and I went down to the FG1 (5DUs for each rounds, followed by single skips). I can now string 2 DUs in a row, which is much better than none, but I get fatigued quickly and then have to add a single skip in between my DUs.

As for my kipping pull-ups, I started the first 2 rounds doing C2B I had so much momentum, but that dwindled quickly. By the end of it, I had to break my 10 kipping pull-ups in 4-3-3 or 4-3-2-1. I finished in 9:25. This is what I looked like upon returning home:

Giving Medusa a run for her money!

My husband was commenting yesterday that my wardrobe is now noticing an influx of Lululemon apparel. He’s right. It’s funny, when I started crossfit a little over a year ago, I remember saying that I wouldn’t prance around in my booty shorts and my sports bra while I was working out. Nowadays, I feel so much more comfortable in who I’ve become. Not just about my physical appearance or my strength, but I feel comfortable enough around my Crossfit family to know that nobody there will judge my flabby belly if I decide to remove my tank during a WOD and keep working at it in my sports bra. It’s not like I flaunt it around, I usually cover back up once the WOD is over, but if I’m too hot to keep my tank top on, I feel comfortable enough to chuck it on the floor and keep pushing. So yes, I have become a bit of a Lulu-whore. That’s all that’s comfortable to me and I wear it on my days off at home as well. Nothing like a pair of tight capris or track pants with a tank top! 😉 I’ve also recently ordered a couple of outfit from Fabletics and will review them once I receive them. Funny how your perspective can change in the span of a year!

What A Beautiful Day!

Phew!

To say that I’m exhausted is the understatement of the year. I am absolutely spent, but I am also overjoyed with happiness!  Here’s why:

I came back home from my night shift yesterday morning and was really looking forward to a few hours of sleep. I put my head on the pillow at 0930 and was hoping for at least a solid 5hrs of sleep. It didn’t happen. My phone woke me up at 1230. It was Ben. He was with our real estate agent, viewing a house and he really liked it and was wondering if I could come meet them to see it too. 15 minutes later, I was groggy, dressed up and in my car, on my way to see the house. The house is a beautiful 1913 character house that has been updated.

I walked in and was instantly overtaken by an Ahhh feeling. I can’t explain it otherwise. I don’t know if it is the original fir floors, the beautiful banister on the staircase, the very modern and updated kitchen or the open feeling of the main floor living/dining/kitchen plan, but it felt comfortable. It felt like home. Upstairs, the feeling only became more prevalent. The plush carpet in the bedrooms, the multiple sky lights in the master and bathroom, the claw foot tub and massive shower. It still felt lovely. The only downsides: no fireplace and a small lot (not to disappointing to me as I’m no gardener at all 😉 ).

After much back and forth, we decided to put in an offer on the house, knowing there already was another one in place. After scrambling to sign all the paperwork, we found out the first offer had pulled out and we were the only potential buyers for the property. We revised our offer and waited. Ben went back to work and I came back home, completely wired and unable to sleep. I got ready to go to Rina’s dance recital. She was so freakin’ cute in her little penguin outfit and she even moved a bit onstage, which was more than I was expecting from her! I was a proud Mama!

Backstage before her dance number

My coy girl!

The deadline for our offer came and went and I still hadn’t heard back from our agent. A quick text and 30 minutes later, we had a counter-offer to go through. I came back home, put Rina to bed and got on the phone with the agent and Ben. Our counter-offer went in at 2130 and they had until 2300 to get back to us. Ben came home from work and I called it a day at 2200, absolutely done! I fell asleep quickly only to wake up at 0400. I turned over to Ben and asked him sleepily if he had heard back from the agent. He replied just as sleepily that he had and our offer had been accepted! The only thing left to be done is the home inspection and unless something terribly wrong comes out of this, we are now home owners! Things should all be wrapped up next week and until then, I won’t get my hopes up until everything is final, but I can’t stop smiling!

Since I was already up and awake, I went to the 0600 WOD:

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Skill: Hang Power Snatch + OHS 5×2 E2M

I wasn’t sure what to try on for weight for this sequence, so I tackled it with the following reps:

40#, 45#, 50#, 50#, 50#.

I think I could have gone up to 55#, but I felt like my 2nd rep was always wonkier than the 1st one so I stayed at 50# and worked on technique instead.

WOD: #1: Max Kipping Pull-ups

I did these with the red and blue bands and I was glad to finally be able to go back to kipping pull-ups! It had been a while. I managed to string 18 before getting off the rig!

#2: 500m Row

Rowing. I knew I would struggle, but I was ready to push it. I still can’t breathe and had to cough during my row, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me! I finished in 2:07.3. I know it’s far from a good time, but for me, it’s a great time! I’m usually between 2:15-2:30 for my row and to finish in under 2:10, I was ecstatic! Yes, I finished dead last out of everyone, but I was ecstatic! That’s what I love about Crossfit, always pushing yourself to go further and stronger, getting a little better and a little faster everyday! 🙂

To top up this wonderful day, Ben and I are taking a night sans kids  (thanks to aunt Sandy for volunteering to spend the night with the girls!) and are spending the night at a resort nearby, enjoying their pool and a nice dinner out to celebrate our anniversary.

Fireplace and wine!

It was on the 25th and we didn’t do anything since I was working. I treated myself to a nice pedicure while Ben tried to relax in the hot tub (too many kids running around and screaming), we had a nice dinner with uninterrupted conversations and are now relaxing in our room, making lists of things we need to get done in the house. 😉

Where I’m hoping to catch some well deserved Zzzs

Just Do It!

I was back at Crossfit bright and early this morning after a rough night with Béatrice. She just wanted to stay up from midnight until around 0200. I finally managed to settle her and back to bed it was until Rina woke up before my alarm went off at 0500. Sleep is eluding me and it’s my most cherished commodity right now! Maybe tonight will be better…

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Working on the kipping was fun, but I felt like my hands were going to rip so I didn’t push it too much.

For the WOD, I decided to go TG+: 4 rounds, but with an empty 35# bar. I think I probably could have done the FG, but running is a major struggle and I didn’t know if it would kill me or not. Not surprisingly, I came in dead last at 15:00, but at least I did all 4 rounds and I’m pretty happy about that. Before we took off on the 1st round, we were talking about how running is a struggle for a few of us and I just blurted out: “My head really wants to go and run, but then my ass is like: Nope, you’re staying right here Missy!” It made a few people laugh, but it’s the truth. When I run, I can feel the junk in my trunk shuffle from side to side and it’s making my running that much more ineffective. Oh well, it’s done!

Speaking of done things, I also just did this:

Booya! I’m in! Nothing to fear as I probably won’t finish a single WOD! 😉

That’s right people! I just registered for the Crossfit Open 2014. A series of 5 workouts over 5 weeks. The workouts are released every Thursday and you have until the following Monday at 5pm to submit your score. It will be more of a joke and extra workout as I have no expectations of even finishing a single WOD. I mean, look at the 1st WOD from last year’s Open for women:

WOMEN – includes Masters Women up to 54 years old
Proceed through the sequence below completing as many reps as possible in 17 minutes of:
40 Burpees
45 pound Snatch, 30 reps
30 Burpees
75 pound Snatch, 30 reps
20 Burpees
100 pound Snatch, 30 reps
10 burpees
120 pound Snatch, as many reps as possible

I don’t think I could even finish one round! It’ll be good practice though! So there everyone! I registered even though I absolutely stink at Crossfit. What’s your excuse? Just do it!