For those of you in the CrossFit cult you know what Fran is how much of a bitch she can be. I usually ace around 7minutes when I do her, but I finally pushed out a 4:49 and boy was that dumb. That workout wrecks your entire body rendering you unable to fend for yourself. Fran usually leaves you disoriented and writhing in pain, wishing your arms would fall off, and is accompanied by a cough, the intense feeling of needing to vomit and shit. Not the best feeling in the world.
In other news the weather in Northern California has been wet and windy. We’ve had tornado warnings, highways closing due to snowfall, and some flooding. Woot. And rumor has it that those of us living on and around the San Andreas fault will get shaken up in the near future! Get your first aid and survival kits together, better over prepared than not prepared!
The Courage Games was definitely an experience. And once you overlooked the rain and the deafening pain of your hands and feet as they froze it was even fun. Don’t hate me for speaking up, but the judges were definitely not on the same page. They gave poor movers an unfair advantage over people who met movement standards. This is not the fault of the athlete of course, nor is it really the fault of the judges. It really comes down to the organizers and how it is their responsibility to hold everyone to the same standards. We see similar discrepancies in any CrossFit Competition, however, this was the worst I have yet seen. The reason this bothers me is because the outcome could have been different. However I feel like everyone took something from this event. Also, I feel that everyone left with a handful of new friendships. The first workout was fun. The second one made me cry for mommy, and the last one was a blast, but overall I’m glad its over.
Individual WOD #1:
a) 1.3 mile run
b) Ground to Overhead procession
Women – 65#, 75#, 85#, 95#, 105#, 115#, 125#, 135#
Individual WOD #2
10 KB Swings 53#/35#
40 Air Squats
20 KB Swings 53#/35#
30 Push Ups (hands off deck)
30 KB Swings 53#/35#
20 Burpees
Individual WOD #3
15 Deadlifts 275#/185#
10 Barrier Hurdles
30 Double Unders
20 meters out and back Overhead Lunge 45#/25#
Transfer your bar (275#/185#) 20 meters (anyhow)
20 Deadlifts 225#/135#
Sprint to Barrier
8 Barrier Hurdles
30 Double Unders
I think I’ll be getting sick. I think a full day of shivering left my immune system pissed off at me. Lesson learned, maybe think twice about doing a outdoor competition in the middle of Winter. I don’t care what the groundhog said this year, it is Winter still.
I was recently featured on TotalProSports.com and boy did my page views blow up! I was so inspired that I thought about posting to make it appear as though I actually have been keeping this blog up. Since my last post I have been keeping busy on the CrossFit front. I participated in the Amazing Grace fundraiser and Pr’d my last record. I want to hit this workout again soon since I had dropped down over seven pounds for that nutrition challenge. I think with this weight back on I can hit a sub 4minute time.
Also, I have taken to Freddy Camacho’s special training program for athletes who wish to compete in CrossFits 2011 sectionals. So far the programming has been challenging and a real eye opener to my strengths and weaknesses. I’ve learned that I am strong for my size, however my metabolic conditioning is all crap. This means that most girls will be able to crush me! As daunting as that sounds I find my resolve in that I am only trying to better myself. (But they better watch their back, cuz I’m commin!)
Fight Gone Bad 5 was a fun event. Having not done any metabolic conditioning consistently since the Nor Cal sectionals, I was surprised by how well I did. Although I will admit that it did suck and that I most likely wont really be doing FGB until 2011! This year one of the hosts for FGB5 was Prometheus CrossFit. They were very accommodating and a fun crowd!
As it turns out, the man behind me in the photo lost a bet, explaining his lack of clothing. The bet was, if he raised $400 for the FGB5 Fundraiser he would have to do the workout in a speedo. Turns out when he arrived he was only short by some minuscule number and of course, people chipped in and got him to that $400 goal. Something tells me he wasn’t very surprised about reaching that goal, must have been the fact that the speedo was packed and ready for event day action.
Now, on to the Paleo challenge, the first two weeks are always the worst, I was angry and hateful. I wanted to quit just to get that quick delicious sugar fix. However, in my desperation for something delicious I decided to try an idea I had for Paleo pizza which is
actually more of a thin meatloaf with lots of toppings. But let me tell you, it was amazing. I didn’t want to stop eating it.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
For the crust I used about a pound and half of ground beef, mixed in some almond meal then threw in some basil, oregano, chives, onion, and garlic salt.
For the sauce use a small can of tomato paste, I chose Hunts, but use whatever you like. I then empty the contents into a sauce pan, add as much olive oil as needed to get the desired consistency, then throw in some onion and Italian seasoning. Let that heat up until the onions become soft. Also be sure to check the flavor of the sauce, I like mine salty.
Then for the toppings throw on whatever you like. I chose more onion, olives, mushrooms, and Italian sausage.
This dish was to die for….nearly =)
If you are like me, unless you have a definative goal, you have trouble motivating yourself. Ever since the Norcal Sectionals, its been difficult for me to motivate myself to workout. Sure, I spent some of that time trying to let my right elbow recover, but really it has felt better for months. Sometimes I would go to the gym just to “chat” when my initial reason was to get my WOD on. So, in response to my prolonged recovery, *cough* laziness *cough* cough*, I decided to participate in another challenge.
As I mentioned before, although this is a nutrition challenge, it will also provoke me to force myself to beat myself up in the gym. Why? I want to make a huge physical change to my body. Why? So I can win the pot. Why? Because I’m broke. But there is another why! And the answer to that why, is to get healthy and active again. To remind myself why I love this CrossFit stuff so much. If I introduce a healthy serving of vanity, I now have several things to motivate me.
Scrambles have become my absolute favorite for breakfast, and breakfast has become my most favorite meal. I usually start out with enough olive oil to cover the whole pan. Then I sauté in some onion and green onion. Let that go on for about a minute, then I start cracking eggs, commonly 4. I then throw in some tomato, mushroom, and whatever else looks scrumptious!
So, so far the challenge has been fairly easy, however the cry of ice cream is ever strong and that will surely be the first thing I dig into when this is all over!
No one is good at everything, and we all suck at something. I personally suck at just about everything. These things that we are hindered by often become something that we “hate” and avoid and some things we hate more than others. First of all, why do we hate these things? Well, because we suck at them.
Take for example Tank who hates the air squat, reason being he can not go bellow parallel, it’s frustrating, and he just isn’t flexible. Tank decides he no longer will practice his air squat and will save himself the embarrassment of trying. Lets say Fran pops her little head in as the WOD. Well, Tank doesn’t have to do an air squat but he will have to do 45 thrusters with a barbell. This means that Tank will have to go into a full squat, most likely with 95 pounds, 45 times with his inferior squat. Yeah, that’s not embarrassing. Lets say Tank’s squat is so hideous that he can’t RX the WOD and has to drop the weight way down so as not hurt himself, well Tank is hurt, that little place in his head called the EGO will be black and blue.
WHY? It is so important to get better at the things you suck at because they directly tie into every other movement you will ever do inside or outside of the gym. If you can’t squat you can’t pick up your heavy groceries without hurting your back, you also wont be able to do thrusters and get that awesome Fran time. I constantly hear from Freddy Camacho of One World and so many others about how this practice is important.
Aside from overall making you a better athelete you also lessen the risk of injury. The human body is prone to breaks, strains and sprains. If you get the full range of motion and use proper technique you are less likely to hurt yourself and overall your performance will visibly improve.
First recognize your Weaknesses What do you suck at? Better yet, what movement do you HATE?
Prioritize your Weaknesses Put your weaknesses in order from the movements you hate to the movements you really HATE!
Practice your Weaknesses The movements that you hate the most you really need to zone in on. Make an effort to spend an extra five to ten minutes before or after your workout, at home or at the gym a couple days a week to just focus on perfecting the form and utilization of the movement. Talk to your trainer, ask for tips and ideas on “therapy”.
Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.
– Edmund Burke
