CF Saturday

Today I took advantage of the free workouts (yes that was plural) that Crossfit Central offered. This began with an 8am workout followed by a 9am Kettlebell workout THEN an 11am olympic workshop with Big Mike. Anyways the 8am workout went as followed:

4 rounds with 1min running clock at each station:
SDHP with KB
Box Jumps
Pull Ups
Lunges with 25# plate OH

On the last round we were suppose to count our reps. I did 435. Don't ask me how much of each I did because I just counted reps. It was nice to have an old friend now CF coach, Jen Cardella, by the pull up station to push me. This workout was a good one...even being as cold as it was I still sweated and got my heart rate up!

The 9am workout was a kettlebell workout. We broke up into teams of 3 and started at a station and rotated through the stations:

push ups
KB Swings (american and or russian)
Rope
200m Run
KB SQ Clean

We had 90 seconds at each station. 2 people could work at a time on the push ups, KB swing and KB SQ Clean while one rest. Then we each had 30 seconds at the rope then all 3 ran the 200m. I think the hardest part was figuring out who was going to work when. If you were tired then you might still have to keep going because someone on your team is worse off than you. I had a great team....Chris, JDawg and KP (me)! On the last round we were instructed to count our reps. We came in 2nd with 255 total reps!

The last event was an Olympic Lift workshope. We started off with trigger point. If you haven't ever used this...OMG...it hurt! Honestly I have never used it until today. OUCH! We just did our legs and WOW...I was tight. I knew I was tight but this just proved it. I'm horrible about this but this is something I need to do almost every...at least foam roll. WOW! After the trigger point we started working with our PVC pipes on hang clean, power clean, hang power clean, snatch clean, snatch power clean and hang snatch. Talk about mouth full. We ran through the proper form a zillion times with the PVC pipes then we picked up some weights. The workshop lasted about an hour and half. I think I benefited form it especially since we have to do the hang clean for our benchmarks.

Breakfast:
2 egg whites
1.5c grapes
1T almond butter

Snack:
2c strawberries
3 almonds
Americano with a tad of steamed soy

Lunch:
Chef Salad...all paleo!

Snack:
Almond butter

Dinner: This is one of my favorite meals!
1 egg and 1 egg white
1c butternut squach (olive oil, salt and pepper to season)
1/2 avacado

WAY to many coco balls...which I told myself NO more of...I'm done with yummy coco balls...

Friday

1.29.10
This workout took place at 8:30am. After our dynamic workout we set up for the following EPOC workout #1:
2 min max crunches/situps - 74 reps
2 min rest
2 min max push ups - 76reps
2 min rest
2 mile run = 14:25
0.25mi @ 8.3
0.25mi @ 8.4
0.5mi @ 8.5
0.25mi @ 8.4
0.5mi @ 8.5
0.25mi @ 8.6

This is an Army PT Test (all levels). We did our crunches on a mat on the floor. I just went through them. It sucked but what else is new. As for the push ups I'm afraid I wasn't going low enough. I would do 5, break, 5 break, 5 break...all the way till the end then I did 1 extra. However they were all on my toes :)! The 2 mile run was fast...way faster then what I normally run. But it is good for me so I would do it again and I would go faster...especially if Melisa was right there next to me!

As for the food log on this day...I didn't do good at writing it down....

Thursday

1.28.10
I began the day with my 5:30am workout which I LOVE so much! Today went as followed:

21-15-9 (reps)
Ab Mat Crunches
OHSQ 95/65# (squatting with a bar overhead)
superman (back extensions)
Blurpees
Box Jumps (22")

This means you go through the list and do everything 21 times, then 15 times then 9 times. I did 55# for my OHSQ because I'm VERY nervous about having weight over my head. However after we were all done, Pam, Melisa and I worked on OHSQ with 65#...we so should have done 65#. My time would have been slower than 10:40 but I would have put up more weight. Oh well it is done, I know for the future. Now for my food log:
Pre Breakfast (because my alarm goes off at 4:30am)
1 boiled egg

Breakfast:
2 egg whites
1 apple
1/4 of a cantaloupe
1/2 avacado

Snack:
1 boiled egg
1/4 cantaloupe
3 almonds

Lunch:
3.2oz almond crusted chicken
2c cauliflower
1c kale
1/4c salsa

snack:
1 boiled egg
1c strawberries
6 almonds

dinner:
3.5 meat (chicken and steak)
2c lettuce
2c kale
1c strawberries
almond butter
cashews (waaaaay to many)

Wed. 1.27.10

Okay I know behind but I'm going to catch you up! Today Melisa and I did the EPOC Workout #3 (elite level) workout which was:

100 dumbell snatches for time
men 55lbs/women 35lbs

This workout was rough...typical CF workout. Dynamic warmup then we grabbed our dumbells and headed to an open area. 5 reps with one hand, 5 reps with the other...back and forth all the way to 100. At the end it was my legs that hurt, not my shoulder/back/arms/etc. I'll tell you what...my first snatch I was off balance and BAM on the back of the neck. All I could do was reset and redo the rep. When I finished in 5:50 I had a nice bruise on my right arm. Then sadly after a discussion with Lisa the next day we found out we didn't squat low enough. You snatch, full squat and stand up with the weight. The stand up is the finish position. I thought about redoing the workout and actually considered it but then I realized how much my legs hurt, WOW! LOL!

After that workout we practiced some hang cleans because we have to do them for the benchmark workout. They went as followed:
5 @ 65#
5 @ 75#
5 @ 85#
5 @ 95# (my weight for the benchmark)

these didn't feel to bad. I was pretty impressed with them actually! I think I will be able to improve my benchmark time.

Well since I haven't been doing this I decided to give start putting my food log on here if I can remember. You can't have one without the other if you want to make improvements. You have to have nurition AND exercise. As most you know I have been following a paleo style of eating. So far so good. According to Melisa day 29th will be a habit. I started on Jan. 8th. Okay here it goes (FYI I REALLY need to go to HEB):
Breakfast:
1 egg
1 apple
almond butter

Snack:
1 apple dipped in almond butter

Lunch: Jason's Deli with the parents
I ate salad bar with all paleo stuff

Snack:
mixed nuts

Dinner:
almond crusted fish
2c veggies

Then I introduced mom to paleo coco balls: which I ate to many.
1.5c pitted dates
2c slivered almonds (or walnuts)
3-4T of all natural coco
I added pro power
I have also added goji (sp?) berries!
about 4-6oz of water

Put it all in the food processer, roll into balls and enjoy!
Okay so that was a BAD example of how to eat paleo....better next time!

Tuesday 1.26.10

This workout was interesting. I had to modify one part of it but before I go into that the workout is as follows:
5 rounds for time
400m run
12 HSPU (Handstand Push Ups)
10 K to E (knee to elbow)

This means after our warm up we began our workout. This was a perfect workout for Melisa and Me...she pushed me during the run and then I pushed her during the weights! I don't like to modify my workouts but I had to on this the handstand push ups. Since I cannot do the full deal I did the modify version for me with my knees on the box to create a handstand push ups. ugh. The best part was I was hauling it in for the last 400m (thank goodness) and I could hear Melisa coming up. She was POUNDING some pavement, so I tried to pound harder...nope LOL! Her and her little bad ass self passed me. LOL! I ran in finished the workout in 15:50!

I went on to teach a Pedal n' Pump class where I only participated in the cycle class then coach the "pump" part. Made for a good day!

Short and Sweet

Due to our upcoming workouts this week, we decided to take it easy today. The weather is BEAUTIFUL!!! Therefore Duke and I met Melisa at townlake and did the 3.??mile loop (I'm not sure what it is). To our suprise when we got done we both thought "humm that was fast" prob because there was alot of distractions going on. Or we are making progress and we just flew through it. I discovered that Duker doesn't like bikes or strollers with runners...interesting! I came home and took a quick nap now up doing housework because the parents are coming tomorrow! Tomorrow will be another 5:30am-er...can't wait!

"Gaudy 'n Grace" stays paleo!

Saturday morning Melisa and I got up had a nice clean paleo breakfast (eggs, fruit, paleo muffin, bacon...yummm). We got ready and headed to my church, Wesley UMC, to attend a ladies luncheon called "Gaudy in Grace", guest speaker Marty Sholars who was WONDERFUL! If you ever get a chance to go see her, DO IT! To make this luncheon happen ladies of the church offered to decorate and host tables where they could invite their friends to sit at their table. Lunch was served by Wesley Men who did an AMAZING job. We sat at my mom and Nancy's table which was decorated Mardi Gras...and it was AWESOME! They went over the top in "gaudy". As Nancy said it was border line gaudy and trashy. I LOVED it! They did a great job a promoting the event which was a success! Top right is a picture of Melisa, Mom and Me...yes she did wear that thing on her head and her boa the whole time and a pair of mardi gras glasses and beads. Next to it is a picture of Melisa and me wearing our table decorations they provided. Anyways...the luncheon was our our newest and hardest challenge. As you can see above this is what we were served, Turkey keish (HUGE slice), salad with feta and grapes. Oh and don't forget the cheesecake pie. This picture really doesn't do it justice, it looked good. It doesn't have the smell or the people around you eating with smiles on their faces. Thank goodness Melisa threw 2 boiled eggs in my purse. The boiled eggs were added for protein since we were not eating the turkey keish. We pushed the keish aside and text my dad who was a server and asked him to bring us more salad. He brought us more salad and grapes! This worked! We were able to eat paleo and like 5% zone (thanks the the feta which is more of a protein than a fat). Remember we did allow ourself 10% zone for situations like this. We finished our salad and believe it or not the pie didn't even tempt us! CRAZY...I NEVER turn down pie! LOL! We enjoyed our lunch and didn't even cheat! PERFECT! That was a tough challenge but we accepted it and won!

Friday Evening

Well Friday after I got off Melisa and I headed to Beaumont to visit my parents so we could attend a church luncheon on Saturday. Since Melisa and I are smart we brought food with us. On our car ride down there we packed:
boiled eggs
turkey
cantalope (sp?)
Paleo Muffins
Paleo CoCo balls
Almonds
THANKD GOODNESS we had these items with us! We were able to snack without having to stop at a gas station and pray for something paleo. Well we both have strong love for chips and salsa. Thinking of ways to help solve this craving WITHOUT cheating melisa read some where to get Kale (something I have never ate) and put it on a cookie sheet 350 for 15 mins and it should take the place of chips. So Friday night, before our tour of Beaumont via Daddy, we spent some time trying to turn Kale into chips (please see pic above). While it turned out "crunchy" it didn't replace chips, but it wasn't that bad and we dipped it into salsa. It was tolerable BUT it wasn't chips.

As for dinner that night, lucky for me I have WONDERFUL parents who support me during this crazy 8 weeks of my life. They prepared us a very good paleo meal. We had 'bobs with chicken and beef and peppers. Then mom prepared this salad with fresh veggies and man was it yummy...i went back for seconds AND took the meat home with me! Ask, find and get support for this if you should decide to go paleo. It makes a world of a difference! A huge thanks to my parents for helping keep us paleo this weekend!

Friday's Workout

Its official, I'm crazy! Technically I didn't have to be at work till 9:30am. Where was I at 5:30am, on a treader trying to keep up with Melisa. This is becoming a common thing...trying to keep up with Melisa, I love it! Since we were traveling to Beaumont this weekend we needed to get a workout in at some point. Therefore we settled with a modified version of an endurance workout. Modified meaning we had to cut the rest time in half because we were in a hurry. Therefore our workout went as the following (we it says "off" we went back to 7mph):
400m warmup @7mph
5min at 8.3mph
2.5min off
4 min at 8.6mph
2 min off
3 min at 8.6mph
1 min off
2 min at 8.8mph
1 min off
1 min at 9.0mph
1 min off
400 m cool down at 7mph

It was good little endurance workout, nice way to start the day! It ended up totalling 3.25 miles, not to shabby. After that I went to the 6am class where Melisa had us do a varity of different exercise including our EPOC WOD #3, even though we didn't have to do it since we did the others we took it on. The workout went as followed:
3 Rounds for time:
30 double unders (or 60 singles, I did the singles)
15 squats
10 push ups (I did mine on my knees)
I knocked it out in 3:22...wam,bam thank you mam. Got the heart rate up there too! I stayed around for a little bit more then headed for the showers and to take care of some work business. before my 9:30am client! This was a great way to end my week! However, my inner quads (aka adductors) are super sore....

"Cindy" Thursday

Above is a pic of our class with Coach Lisa AFTER we took on Cindy!

Well Thursday, January, 21st, 2010 we took on "Cindy". Lisa said "cindy" is a workout that when you attend Crossfit conference people "whats your Cindy time?". It is a rough workout, ask anyone who has been brave enough to take on Cindy. "Cindy" contains the following:

AMRAP in 20mins:

5 pull ups

10 push ups

15 squats

While this might sound easy...WRONG!! It was rough! Tuesday I had heard that Thursday we were going to be doing MORE pull ups. We did 125 pulls ups on Tuesday. Ouch. On Wednesday night I went to Walgreens looking for an ankle wrap (which I found none, apparently everyone in ATX has a hurt ankle because I was unable to find them at other stores, the search continues tomorrow) and came home with tape. I made myself what I thought was going to be a reusable grip to tape to my hands to prevent them from tearing up more. Well since my hands were bloody afterwards, so were my grips, so I no longer can use them. Any who...we arrived that morning to workout. Did our normal warm up and started to set up for Cindy. Since Lisa is so determined to get us off band for pull ups she said only boxes, no bands. So here is where I want to take a brief second to say CONGRATS to my kick ass friend Melisa who did not use a band! Take that Cindy! And we began. I thought 5 pull ups easy knock them out, struggle through push ups (which I suck at, still do them on my knees unless we are warming up. Come On, Chest to ground isn't that easy), and fly through squats back to the bar. OHHHH that lasted one round. Pull ups quickly became sets of 2-2-1, then 1-1-1-1-1 LOL! It wasn't my back giving out on me it was my stupid hands and the bloody rips. Lisa said aim for 15 rounds, I managed to squeeze out 17 rounds plus 5 pull ups, 10 push ups, and 3 squats. I'll take it!

My picture above is from my blackberry that was taken by melisa after we got our normal Tuesday Thursday HEB coffee, we are celebs there. It is a picture of my hands after pull ups Tuesday and Thursday. The picture doesn't really show how nasty they are which is prob a good thing but you get the just of it!

Cindy, you are a bitch but I'll take you on ANY day of the week...

Wednesday's Workout

Well I met Melisa on the treader at 8:30am Wednesday morning. We wanted to do some cardio as well our EPOC Workout #2. And we were off. Below is our workout (there was only incline when stated, other times we ran at 0% incline)

800m warm up @ 7mph
800m (7% incline) @ 7mph
800 m @ 8mph
400m (7% incline) at 7mph
400m @ 8mph
800m cool down @ 7mph

This took us 25minutes and it was tough! Those hills are a killer but having long speedy legs Melisa next to me help pushed me! I don't remember hills being this hard outside? Wonder why the change. Normally outside is harder for me versus inside treader workouts. I know alot of y'all are thinking, why so much on a treadmill? Well one is because we have a short amount of time and if we can squeeze in a workout like this between clients then why not. I can promise you I wouldn't go that fast (that is fast for me) if I didn't have her next to me! Oh well it was done and we did it on our own!

Since time got cut short because I had to teach my spin class, I had to do my EPOC workout #2 later on that day, alone. Let me tell you, working out alone isn't as fun as having a buddy. ESPECIALLY when you have been working out with a group. On top of that I'm clearly suppose to workout in the morning, LOL. The workout was:

5 rounds for time:
10 squat cleans (25lbs)
5x20yd sprints

Where on earth am I going to get 25lbs and 20 yards? Thank goodness my facility has a basketball court...and a tape measure. Honestly, I don't know what was worse the workout or carrying the weights down to the basketball court (those that work/workout at the Hills can only understand this). 10 cleans, then down and back 5 times...10 cleans down and back 5 times...repeat 3 more times. I'm not a sprinter so my sprints were not favored. However I finished in 8:30 flat. Working out alone isn't fun! GET A BUDDY! You will be WAY more successful!

Hand Ripping Tuesday

Well Tuesday was the normal 5:30am workout! Since I wanted to be prepared I brought with me my "gripper" for my hand to prevent me from ripping my hands any more. HA! The workout was:
5 rounds for time:
10 front squats
25 pull ups

We did our warm-up (shoes were awesome) then set up our bars and boxes for pull ups. I loaded 80lbs into my bar for front squats and found me a spot on the bars. I taped my right hand and was ready to go. 10 front squats done on to pull ups. I did a few then went down to doing 2-3 drop and reset. This was doing great until round 3 when my hands just started falling apart. There were rips and blood. I would do a set of pull ups then add another piece of tape. Another set up pull ups add tape. Finally my hands were hurting so bad I jumped on the box for 20, my hands hated me. Needless to say I made it through the workout in 14:52 and bloody hands. One of those hurt so good kinda things. However I am reminded of this workout when I wash my hair, hands, put lotion on, grap a weight, grap anything...pretty much all the freakin' time! LOL!

Monday's Workout

Okay so I'm playing catch up...i know...After I taught at 6am I met Melisa at 8am for the CF Endurance workout as well as our EPOC Workout #1 from the sheets that were given to us for this week. The endurance workout was 200m sprints (I suck at sprints, bad) with a rest in between. The rest in between was double what it took you to do the 200 in (i.e. if it took you 45 seconds to do the 200, you rest for 1:30 inbetween). Our workout went as the following:
800m warmup
Sprints 1-4 were at a speed of 6:40/mi
Sprints 5-8 were at a pace of 6:40-6:18/mi
800m cool down

This was tough BUT I don't think near as tough as the 3mi for time workout...WOW! We used 0.15 as our "200" but I think the actual count on the treader is 0.12. 0.15 was just much easier to add. We shorted our breaks a little, meaning they were not near as long as there were suppose to be, but that is okay.

Now for workout #1, like always following the elite. This one was TOUGH! AMRAP 12min of:
3 shoulder press (20lbs)
6 Broad Jumps
9 Back Extensions (aka supermans)
Now which of those 3 exercies do you think was tough? Freakin' back extensions liked to killed us! We were able to get 20 rounds in to the second of 12 minutes. I was wooped! We did the shoulder press, 3 hops one way turn around 3 hops the other, flop (not kidding) on a mat for back extensions/supermans. It was an interesting combo to say the least! LOL!

I wore my new tennis shoes for this workout and it they are AWESOME!!

Weekend In Houston...NO CHEAT!!

First of all I want to send out a HUGE congrats to my Daddy for completing the Houston Marathon 5K plus some, Aunt Barbara for completing her first half marathon in her goal of sub 3 and Uncle James for completing his first FULL marathon in his goal time of under 6 hours! I am VERY lucky to have such an AMAZING active family! Next year = no chasers!!!

Friday I worked all morning then jumped in the car and headed to Houston. I had my luggage, Duke's luggage and my food packed, I was NOT going to cheat or fail this weekend. I was invited to a Rockets game by my good friend Tony (his blog only has one entry so I'm not going to even try to link his here, LOL). I met him at his casa at 6pm and we went to the game. We walked into the Toyota Center and BAM...all the smells of food was amazing. Since I am strong, I walked passed every hotdog, pretzel, nacho booth and didn't stray. Since Tony is awesome we had passes to go down below the stands to a bar and watch the players run out...IN FRONT OF US!! Here the crew ordered drinks...and I ordered a water. This was hard. Who doesn't want an "adult beverage" while watching a sporting event. They were serving food, but we decided to wait till the half to order. Well the half came and we went back to the bar only to find out they stop serving food...aghhh!! I was starving HOWEVER when you make the decision to go paleo you must always be prepared...and carry food. Lucky for me I had made 2 paleo pancakes and put them in my purse. When the 2nd half started we went back to our seats and pulled out my pancakes and filled my hunger craving! The 2nd half came and went but I had survived without cheating at a sport event!! Well the crew wanted to out afterwards. We went to a bistro where there were a zillion of beers you could mix and match. I ordered a water with lemon and was just fine until I realized I was hungry. Crap. I had no paleo pancakes and there was no way 3 almonds, another item in my purse, was going to fix this. I got a menu and ordered a grilled chicken salad that was all paleo! Hey, I can go out and pass up beer and have a salad and have just as much fun. I got home late...if you know me, I like to be in bed early...but it was good to see old friends and NOT CHEAT!!! :) If you look close at the pic above, you can see my pancakes in my purse ;)

Saturday was the Expo/packet pick up. I got up got ready knowing that there would be MANY samples, and there was, I put in a zone 1 block snack (blueberries, boiled egg and 3 cashews) in my purse. We walked and shopped walked and shopped for many hours. Enough to stir up a stomach growl. FYI...I got a great deal on a new pair of asics and lulu shorts! So where to eat...more like whats my next challenge. After we left the expo, we decided to eat at Logans. Easy...Anything and Everything salad. I was even able to ignore the rolls that were screaming "eat me"...and we ALL know how good their rolls are! With all stomachs full we headed home to get off our feet and take a nap! Since it was the night before the runners were in need of carbs (which i'm beginning to think and learn is just a myth and you need something different). The pasta place was closed so we went to the "deli" of central market and the runners got pasta and I got a salad! Score...another day of not cheating! Life is good!

Sunday was the marathon! Day started early at 4am! We were up and getting ready. Once again I bundled up and packed my purse wtih food! Breakfast for me was paleo muffin and butternut squash YUM! Since I had nuts and paleo muffins in my purse I was able to avoid the bagles when we stopped for coffee and get rid of any hugar that occurs. After all runners crossed the finish line (I'm so proud!! ) We headed out for lunch. They wanted pizza which left me with salad....again. I'm beginning to get sick of salads but they keep me from cheating so I'll tolerate them and that makes me happy! I ate, showered and packed and headed back to ATX stopping to have dinner with the boy, Debra and Marc. Since lights were out on the block where Texas Roadhouse was we went to saltgrass. They have an excellent chicken and veggie dish with side salad. I made a happy plate and headed back to ATX!

This means I made it through the whole weekend in Houston without cheating! This was an awesome feeling! Congrats again to my amazing family...looking forward to 2011 events!

5:30am-ers

Well it was better than what I thought. Here was our workout for this morning (out to the side are my personal notes and weights)

20min Time Limit:
50 box jumps
100 push ups (all on knees chest to ground)
50 snatches (25/arm 15#)
50 press (25/arm 15#)
50 sprawl/DL (15#...prob should have done more)
100 squats (body weight butt on ball)
50 Double unders (or 100 singles...I did the singles)

Finished: 19:28

I quickly learned, if you stop it only gets worse. Alot of sets were broken up into 5 reps with short breaks only to let my muscles "regroup". As sad as it sounds, this workout was actually kinda fun...crazy I know. I do have to thank Melisa for pushing me. I was going at La-te-Da pace then Melisa started repping out those sprawl/DLs like they were no bodys business and so I figured la-te-da pace wasn't going to do it. After thanking her after the workout I discovered she apparently was pushing everyone...typical of Melisa, making everyone want to do their best! LOL! Any ways it was a good hard workout. The workout was a good one and I highly suggest you give it a try! Let me know how it turns out!

P.S. No HR Monitor...I wish I had it though...this will pass...

Listen To Your Body

Well my workout buddy/good friend Melisa has approached me with a challenge...no HR Monitor for the next 8 weeks. Crazy I know, but she has a good point. How many times have you busted it working out super hard just to look down and find out you didn't burn that many calories...this has happened to me numerous of times. Instead of getting frustrated and letting it ruin your day or your body (by over training just to burn X amount of calories) why not put it away and listen to your body? I will still wear the watch but not the strap. Wish me luck....Polar F6 I will miss you...see you in 8 weeks!

Today's Workout

Yep it is already done. EPOC Workout #2 is complete! This workout consisted of the following:

4 rounds for time:
10 thrusters (25lbs, each hand)
10 blurpee

Melisa, Pam and myself gathered equipment and found a spot in the gym where we could fit. We did the normal workout then figured out who was going where for thrusters and blurpees. The last thing you want to do is get hit with a flying dumbbell. Pam our lovely counter started her watch and we were off. 25s were HEAVY, but if you stopped it was worse. My moto for this one: the faster you go the quicker you are done. something about putting weight over my head dosen't excite me! LOL! Finished in 4:37...under 5mins...HELLS YES! Thank you Pam and Melisa for pushing me, y'all are AMAZING!

Now off to teach spin...

Tuesday CF Workout

Today's workout was rough, not one of my better ones...but still a good one. We all arrived at 5:30am, did our nomral warm up and got set up for our workout:

400m run
21-15-9
box Jumps
Swings (20lbs, each hand)

This means you run 400m then do 21 box jumps and 21 swings, 400m run then 15 box jumps and 15 swings, 400m run 9 box jumps and 9 swings. If you are thinking ouch...then you are correct! Melisa really helped me get through this! I don't know if I was sore or the fact that I was starving but this was rough. Finish time was 10:33. I'm okay with that, for now. 8 weeks not so much. After we cooled down, Melisa and I did 10 kipping pull ups because I owed her! We concluded our workout with a trip to the Westlake HEB where we are celebs...and turned down soy milk which they already put out for us.

1st Additional Workouts

Melisa tried to kill me...she is a GREAT workout partner! Sunday night we recieved an email with all the workouts we were suppose to attemt that week in addition to our normal crossfit workouts. These are 3 workouts and 1 endurance workout. After quickly planning our workout we began. We decided to take on the Endurance WOD first....3 miles for time. Because of the weather and our location we jumped on 2 of the better treaders at our gym and off we went.
0.5mi warm up, 3 mile for time, 0.5mi cool down. I did my 3 miles in 21:30m. This was a PR for me!!! WOW, a PR on my first workout...not to bad! Melisa is such a great motivator her time was 20:58 which is faster than 7 min/mi...she is FAST. The endurance workout of the week was done! Next we decided to take on one of the other workouts. As we headed down to the basketball court to mark 100ft we bumped into Pam (if she had a blog I would link it) who was doing the same thing. (Pam is a wonderful lady that I work with. She is in great shape and started crossfitting a few months ago. She is also suffering through the EPOC). We marked off 100ft on the court. Our workout was as followed for time:
100ft lunges
50 situps
100ft lunges
40 sit ups
100ft lunges
30 sit ups
100ft lunges
20 sit ups
100ft lunges
10 sit ups
Even though we just ran 3 miles we finished in 7:58...under 8 mins! Not to shappy...anxious to see how we perform at the end! This was a great workout and I was done before 8:30am that morning...it was awesome but I'm sore!!!!

January 9th - Benchmark Challenge

I woke up this morning and put on as many layers as possible, no joke. It was 20 degree weather and I was headed out to take on the first benchmark challenge of the EPOC Challenge. Since when do I like workingout in the cold...never! I picked up Melisa and headed north. We arrived and checked in then we were shoved into a line for pictures. I'm not talking head shot I'm talking strip down to your sports bra and smile, ouch. It was a good thing for me I was wearing my "muffin top" running pants because I didn't want the camera to miss my love handles, ugh. Don't worry I have already been in contact with the photographer about getting that pic so I can post it...i'm a brave woman to post these.

After recovering from that we bundled back up and headed out for the normal crossfit warm up:
10 Reps 2x:
squats
push ups
rotations

Dynamic Warm Up: cone to cone (10yds down and back):
high knees
butt kicks
punter kicks
lung with Rotation
400m run

Lucky for us Zach was leading warm up, we got to do 25 blurpees. Even though these are horrible they did warm us up. After the warm up we were briefed over the workout then instructed to set up our bar for hang cleans. The workout was as 3 rounds of the following:
400m run
15 pull ups
7 hang cleans

However we had a cut off at 12 mins...thank goodness. I put a box under the pull up bar as well as attached a red band as a back up. Then I loaded my bar...thanks to lisa and melisa pushing me I agreed to take on the level 3 using 95lbs as my hang clean weight. I stripped down to running tights, gloves, a tank, long sleep shirt and sweat shirt and a neck thingy and lined up to begin the first 400. We took off. I finished the run and began my kipping pull ups and OMG was that bar cold!!! WOW! I think holding on to that cold bar was harder than the actual exercise! I finished 15 kipping pull ups and quickly moved on to hangcleans. To my suprise 95lbs wasn't that heavy....then again I couldn't feel my fingers or my toes. Back out for the 2nd 400m, in for pull ups which I used the band on because I was unable to grip the bar tight enough to pull my body weight up. Finished through 7 more hang cleans...then back out for the last run. I was numb. I couldn't feel a DARN thing. 15 band pull ups, 7 hang cleans...then screamed TIME with everything I had...11:09, I'll take it!

I have NEVER felt pain in my fingers like that...never! I didn't know what to think or how to get them warm...in a way it was sort of scary! After gaining enough feeling to add my layers back on Melisa and I got in the car and headed back to her house where her mom was preparing us a wonderful paleo breakfast....fresh fruit, beef patties, eggs, and butternut squash and coffee (duh)! After breakfast, I headed home to spend time with my amazing puppy, Duke!

January 8th, 2010 - Goal Setting and EPOC Seminar

Friday January 8th, 2010 was the kick off to our 8 week challenge. During this meeting we recieved our Tshirt (see 1st post) then attended our seminar. Here we sat with our teams and listen as Jeremy Thiel and Kary Kepler motivated us to set goals. It was an interesting meeting. We set not only our goals for this challenge BUT life goals. Kary encouraged us to keep a journal of our life. I'm horrible at this and plus you cannot read my handwriting, so maybe this can be my journal. We also learned a little about EPOC and our body's reaction...again not going into many details here because there is an awesome link that explains everything much better than I can.

Prior to this meeting I had the every so dreadful body assessment. During this assessment Travis took my body weight, body fat (using pinchers), measurments of my calf, quad, waist, hips bust, shoulders, neck, and arms (am I leaving anything out?). The results were horrible. Well I got my baseline for sure. I must shrink these numbers.

After this meeting Jess, Melisa, Melisa's Mom Becky, and me went to Central Market for our "last supper"...the cobber with dressing. While even though I can remove toppings from this salad and make it paleo I will miss the feta cheese and dressing (thats all we would have to remove right Melisa?) which just adds so much to the salad.

Then in bed because we had to take on our first benchmark workout in the morning...in 20 degree weather, yikes!

The Beginning...

Eat meat and vegatables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar. Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not boy fat. Practice and train major lifts: deadlift, clean, squat, presses, C&J, and snatch. Similarly, master the basics of gymnastics: pull-ups, dips, rope climb, push-ups, sit-ups, presses to handstand, pirouettes, flips, splits, and holds. Bike, run, swim, row, etc, hard and fast. Five or six days per week mix these elements in as many combinatiosn and patters as creativity will allow. Routine is the enemy. keep workouts short and intense. Regularly learn and play new sports.


Yep that sums it up, fitness in 100 words or less. This was written on the back of the shirt that was handed to me last Friday night at the EPOC 2010 Goal Setting Meeting. I will adapt these principles strickly for the next 8 weeks and hopefully for the rest of my life. I will train hard, eat clean and see results.

Before I go into explaining all this crazy talk, let me back up to June 2009 when I made a VERY wise decision and joined Crossfit ...life changing experience. With an amazing, woman and athlete whom I'm very lucky to have as one of my cloest friends, Melisa, we started T/Th 6:30am CF Bootcamp at Jack and Adams. Lisa would put us through workouts that would leave us, as I like to say "hurt so good". Each workout was a new challenging experience which I craved; how much faster can I go? How much harder can I push myself? These thoughts and questions lead me to taking Elements (3 sessions that explain the concepts and proper lifting technique of a variety of exercies). This was my ticket to "indoor". In July Melisa and I moved to indoor classes, and became 2 of the first participants to take on the T/Th 5:30am (huge difference from 6:30am) at the Runtex location; we were even lucky enough to keep Lisa as a coach! These workouts are different than the boot camp ones and allow us to do numerous more exercises. Within 3-4 months of being indoor I was able to do a kipping pull-up (scroll down); and still can. I cannot even beging to list the strength improvements I have seen. We have a great 5:30am group. Rumor has it we are the most motivated, high intensity class at the Runtex location!

Now lets jump ahead to January 2010 when I decided to become a part of this crazy 8 week challenge that I am looking forward to... I AM CROSSFIT E.P.O.C. Challenge. Just to brief you, I am one of 150 crossfitters participating. We all have been split up in to groups and those into teams, I am Team 3. We are challenged with food logging, following Paleo way of eating, then adding additional workouts to our already crossfit workouts. My direct coach is Travis (who also was a great addition to our indoor class for a few months), and my other team coachs are Mike and Jen, both amazing! My team and coaches will offer me support and guidance as I take on the next 8 weeks...and no doubt after that. These people are already in addtion to my friends, family, current crossfit coach, Lisa, as well as my 5:30am-ers. How lucky am I?

I bet you are all wondering what on earth EPOC is, right? Well it stands Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption, mainly what is your body doing post workout? To prevent me from writing a loooong paragraph here, just check out the link!

Finally, for the reason of writing/starting this blog. I am asking for support from you. Thanks to my love of foods such as m&ms, chips n salsa, etc and the way margaritas, wine and vodka (not as a combo) taste....this isn't going to be easy for me. Please don't hold back any reminders of why I'm doing this challenge or the results I hope to see. Please encourage me to do just one more round of exercises or to pick up the bar and make it move. Please feel free to give me "a look" when I complain about anything, because this challenge is my choice and I do want results. I will use this blog to update you on what I'm doing and how I feel as I take on these next 8 weeks and possibly make these lifestyle changes.