A Great Week at the Gym & an Indulgent Weekend

This was a great week for me in the gym.  I felt strong, I listened to my body, and I didn't have any pain other than a little soreness in my back at the end of the week.

S - Rest Day

M - 1.0 mi dog walk + CrossFit

• Strength:
• EMOM 8:
• Minute 1: 3 Empty Barbell Muscle Snatch
• Minutes 2, 3: 3 High hang Power Snatch
• Minutes 4, 5: 2 Hang Power Snatch
• Minutes 6, 7, 8: 1  Power Snatch
• I worked up to 70 lbs.  I kept these pretty light because I know I hurt my back doing heavy snatches 2 weeks ago.
• WOD:
• 10, 9, 8... 1 Power Snatches (95/65)
• 1, 2, 3... 10 Pull Ups 
• I finished in 12:05 using 40# for the snatch.  The snatches were pretty light, I probably could've done more weight, but my back was happy.  My pull ups were strong and I'm now able to string 2 together consistently.  I feel like I'm so close to being able to do multiple consecutive pull ups, I just need to tweak my kip.  I was the first one done at the 5 pm class and I felt pretty bad ass.
• After Party:
• Max Unbroken Wall Balls
• I did 30 with a 14# med ball.  I could've done more, but they really suck and my goal was 20, so once I got to 30, it was enough for me!

T - CrossFit

• Strength:
• 3 x 5 Pause Front Squat (3 second pause at bottom)
• I got to 115#.  I was pumped because I was actually able to challenge myself with something heavy and I didn't feel any pain in my back :)
• WOD:
• 3 x 3 minute AMRAP:
• 3 Front Squat (135/95)
• 6 Lateral Burpees Over the Bar
• 18 Sit Ups
• 1 minute rest between rounds
• I finished 6 rounds + 21 using 75# for the front squat.  I love quick sprint workouts!  It sucks for a little while, but knowing that it's only 3 minutes at a time makes it so manageable.

W - 1.0 mi dog walk

I'm loving checking out everyone's Christmas lights on our walks.

Th - 0.75 mi dog walk + CrossFit

• Strength:
• EMOM 7
• Hang Clean
• I got up to 125#, which is only 10# under my full clean!  No back pain!
• WOD:
• 20-15-10-5 Hang Power Cleans (115/75) - I did 55#
• 40 Double Unders After Each Round
• I guess my dubs are here to stay since I busted out 20 in a row in one round!  They are still wicked hard and always leave me winded.  I still need to work on not doing tuck jumps and just pulling my feet forward into a pike position, but for now I'm happy!

F - 1.0 mi dog walk + CrossFit

• WOD:
• Minute 1 - 10
  • Odds: 1 Round of Cindy (5 Pull Ups, 10 Push Ups, 15 Air Squats)
  • Evens: 10 Overhead Squats 95/65 - I used 50#
• Rest 2 Minutes
• Minute 13 - 22
  
  • Odds: 1 Round of Cindy
  • Evens: 10 Kettlebell Swings 53/35 - I used a 26# KB
• Rest 2 Minutes 
• Minute 25 - 34
  
  • Odds: 1 Round of Cindy
  • Evens: 10 Burpees
• Score = Number of missed rounds (you want zero)
• My score was 0!  This workout was punishing.  I scaled Cindy to only do 6 push ups instead of 10 because I wasn't going to make it through any of the rounds.  WODs that are 30+ mins are not my favorite.  It just feels like it's never going to be over.  The burpees were the hardest part at the end because I was getting a good bit of rest after the overhead squats and KB swings, but the burpees gave me no time to catch my breath.  I also got lost and started doing Cindy again during a burpees minute, so I almost missed that round.  I really wanted to just take a full minute break at the end, but once I got past 30 minutes I had to finish it out!  And then I did this...

S - 2.73 mi dog walk

My neighbor's neat light post.

My weekend was not so health focused... Saturday Dave and I had 3 parties in row!  We started at Midgley Christmas and received some really nice gifts including some prosecco (Italian bubbly), a fancy candle, and a party hosting themed basket.  Our next stop was our old neighbors annual Christmas party where we huddled around some bonfires, enjoyed oysters and lamb off the grill, and saw Santa!

And our final destination was the city for separate bachelor and bachelorette parties.  I had so much fun celebrating the bride and dancing the night away!

I also cannot handle my liquor like I used to which lead to a REALLY rough Sunday.  I must be getting old.  I spent my Sunday stuffing my face until my hangover subsided.  Then I wrapped a bunch of presents and watched my fantasy football team pull off an upset!

I can't believe Christmas is this week.  I'm looking forward to a short week of work, spending time with my family, and embracing my inner cookie monster.

Are you ready for the holidays?!

Weekly Wrap Up - A Light Week

Well after going to the gym 4 times in a row last week, this week was sort of a dud.  It was a busy week and I was already struggling to get enough sleep, and on top of that my back was feeling kind of achy, so I just decided to let it go.  I'm really trying to listen to my body and actually heal my back!

S - 0.8 mi walk with dogs

M - 1.3 mi walk with dogs + Living Room WOD

• 10 Rounds:
• 25 Lunges
• 10 Push Ups (I did them on my knees)

T - 1.3 mi walk with dogs + CrossFit

• Strength WOD:
• Back Squat Tabata (20 sec of work, 10 seconds rest, 8 rounds)
• Men - 135/95/75
• Women - 95/65/55
• Score is total weight moved (reps x weight)
• I did 82 reps x 55# = 4510!
• WOD:
• 30-20-10-20-30
• Kettlebell Swings (53/35)
• After each round of KBS perform 15 Push Ups and 15 Sit Ups
• I finished in 13:31 using a 26# KB and I did the push ups on my knees.  The KB swings felt fine on my back, yay!  I hadn't done them in quite a while.  My chest and arms were already sore from Monday, so those push ups were painful.

  

 The sunset right before our walk at Wilson Farm Park.

W - 1.3 mi walk with the pups

 

We're so happy the park has lights!

Th - 1.0 mi walk with the pups

F - 1.0 mi walk with the pups

S - 2 mi + 1.5 mi walks with the dogs

The weekend kicked off with a chicken parm feast with my bffs from work.  The quantity got a little excessive...

Saturday started out with some laps at the park and then I tried to get the dogs to sit nice for a little Christmas card photo shoot...

Obviously that went well!  I cannot believe how warm it was all weekend.  70 degrees in December is just nuts!  It was really nice to spend some extra time outside in the warmth.  Our Saturday wrapped up spending some time with Leah, Pete, and their new little guy Reese.  We enjoyed some siracha honey wings and what I deemed the best burgers ever!  It was great to catch up and get some baby snuggles in.

On Sunday I woke up nice and early and headed to the Suburban One cheerleading competition.  A bunch of my girls from the past few years are now on JV and I wanted to go see them compete!  The girls looked great and I was so proud!  My FB memories from this week have been all about Disney and Nationals, so it was nice to spend some time with everyone.  I did feel super weird sitting in the stands as a spectator and it sort of gave me the coaching itch...

My Sunday concluded with a 2.5 hour nap, some football and Game of Thrones (which we just started and it's so good!) and a big old plate of sushi.

Hoping to get more workouts in this week since I know I'm going to turn into a cookie monster in the very near future!  I also just wrapped up a nutrition challenge at the gym which went pretty well for me.  I'm trying to eat healthy in between all of our holiday events so I don't take this train too far off the rails.  I feel like a lot of people around me are getting sick right now, so it's a great time to get in some extra veggies and sleep.  Nobody wants to be sick on Christmas!

How was your weekend?  How are you prepping your body for the holidays?

Weekly Wrap Up - Burn Off the Bird 5K & Lots of CF

I don't know about you, but I've been missing these weekly wrap up posts.  And I don't usually start with Saturdays, but I have to tell you about the 5K we ran last weekend!

S - Burn Off the Bird 5K (35:40) - Dave and I haven't really been running at all, but when I saw the t-shirt for this race included a turkey/Jurassic Park logo mash up, I had to have it.  We figured we weren't going to be running any PRs, so we decided to take a laid back approach and bring the pups along!  When we ran this race in 2012, we were happy it was in the 30s since the overnight lows were in the 20s (yikes), but this time around the weather was perfect with temps in the low 50s.  The course was a bit hilly, but changed from when we ran it last ran it to include more time on a trail and less time on the road.  We did a mix of running and walking, with an 11:28 overall pace.  The dogs were quite a hit, everyone was cheering for them and giving them tons of attention.  It was a really fun event!  (Side note: Dave and I ran side by side most of the race, but I felt like we were blocking the little girl in pink from finishing, so I ran ahead to give her some space, but when I saw this pic I was so bummed that Dave and I didn't finish together!  Regret!)

S - Rest

M - CrossFit

• Strength: Back Squat - 5 at 40% (55#), 5 at 50% (70#), 5 at 60% (85#)
• WOD:
• 8 Minute Clock
• 1000m Row buy in
• Then AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) "Ground to Overhead"
• Can be snatches or clean & jerk
• Women 45/65/95
• Men 65/95/135
• I finished my row in 4:18 and completed 32 G2OH with 45# in the remaining time.  I really considered using 65# because the actual score was your weight x reps, but I got psyched out at the last moment and settled on 45.  It was hard anyway, but I kind of wish I had tried the medium weight.

T - CrossFit Barbell Club

•  Warm Up:
• 3 x 5 Front Squats, Back Squats, Good Mornings (with 15#)
• 3 x 5 Deadlifts, Overhead Press
• Workout:
• 5 x 2 Hang Squat Cleans - I worked up to 85#
• 5 x 2 Deadlifts (with a pause at the knee) - I used 85#
• 2 Squat Cleans EMOM (every minute on the minute) for 6 minutes - 85#
• I hate not being able to lift as heavy as I want to, but I know it's a good life choice for my back.  I spent a lot of time working on not shooting up my butt in the deadlift portion of the clean.  My hamstrings were so sore the next day!

W - 1.25 mi walk with the pups + CrossFit

•  Strength: EMOM for 8 minutes
• Minute 1-4: Power Snatch (with a 3 second pause above knee)
• Minute 5-8: Power Snatch (no pause)
• I worked up to 85#.  I felt good at 80, but I lost my technique in my last snatch at 85#.  I should've kept it lighter.  My back was feeling pretty achy the next morning.
• WOD: Annie
• 50-40-30-20-10
• Double Unders
• Sit Ups

I was not excited about this one at all.  I have been crossfitting for over 2.5 years and double unders (jumping rope where the rope passes under you twice in one jump) seemed like the only thing that I couldn't seem to get better at.  They are extremely punishing if you're not good at them: they take you longer, make you more exhausted, and you will whip yourself... sometimes in the face.  I came to dread every workout with dubs and I started to wonder if I should just give up and do the scaled version of 3x singles.  And then last night... it clicked!  I had been doing dubs with singles in between and my first round I got 23 dubs in a row that way, which was definitely a PR!  And then about halfway through the workout, I decided to try and drop the singles in between and for the first time ever, it worked!  I did 12 consecutive dubs in a row!  They were the best double unders of my life and I still can't believe I finally made progress on them!  I finished Annie in 14:11, which is a super long time, but I Rxed and I am so proud of myself!

Can you find me in the back?

Th - 1.30 mi walk with the pups + CrossFit

• Strict Pull Up Ladder (do one, then two, then three...) - I used a light green band and I got 6+4.  Maybe one day I'll get one unassisted!
• WOD: For Time 
• 2000 m Row 
• Partner 1 rows to 250 
• Partner 2 does 7 burpees
• This workout kicked my butt.  I worked out with someone who rows a lot faster than I do, so I was barely finishing my burpees by the time she was done rowing, aka I didn't get much rest.  I also didn't want to hold her back, so I rowed as fast as I could.  By the last set of burpees, my back started to really hurt.  I should've taken this day as a rest day :/  I was pretty much out of commission afterwards.

F - 0.8 mi walk with the pups

S - 1.7 mi walk with the pups and Dave

The rest of my weekend was spent catching up with friends, pulling out all my Christmas decorations, seeing a show at a winery (aka drinking way too much wine), and honoring our yearly tradition of cutting down our Christmas tree with Dave's parents! 

 

 Do you think our tree is big enough?!  The pups don't know what to think about it.

I'll try to take more pictures throughout the week to make these posts more exciting haha.  Hope you're enjoying all this beautiful December weather and all the awesome Christmas movies on TV!

Do you have a yearly Christmas tree tradition?  

Hey Hey! What's Happening?

Well it's been a month and a half since I posted in ye old blog, so I thought I'd pop in and give you guys an update!

Fun:
At the end of September we spent 11 days in Italy checking out Florence, Orvieto, Rome, Positano, and Naples.  It was amazing!  I planned it all myself and everything seemed to work out wonderfully.  We stuffed our faces, walked 98 miles (I just added this up and holy shit!), and drank so much wine that I legitimately got sick of it.  We saw the David, climbed 463 steps to the top of the duomo, drank wine in an Italian villa with the owner of the winery, went on VIP tours of the Vatican and the Colosseum, enjoyed the unbelievable views of Positano, and ate 3 pizzas in one day in Naples.  It was fabulous.  I took over 2500 photos and frankly I've been avoiding them because they are so overwhelming!

Fitness:
I started PT at the end of August and was cleared to come back to CrossFit a few weeks later in mid September.  As directed, I took it pretty easy coming back, but I also found it hard to get motivated, especially right before vacation.  Then we went to Italy and after I got back, I was discharged from PT with no remaining pain!  My first workout after vacation was Fran and it was nasty.  Now I'm working on getting back into the groove.  I thought I lost a lot of my strength, but I'm finding that most of my lifts are coming back really quickly.  My endurance is another story.  I've definitely been feeling super winded lately (and I've even had a few dry heave finishes...) but I know the only way to help myself is to consistently workout.

Food:
My diet sucks.  The scale has slowly but surely been going up since the end of August and going to Italy obviously didn't help.  I did a Whole10 at the end of October, which debloated my tummy and really got me excited, until the next week where I gained back all 7 lbs that I lost.  Halloween, friendsgivings, and football... oh my!  My clothes don't fit very well and I find myself avoiding some of my favorite outfits because they are so unflattering.  Big time WOMP.  Coincidentally my gym is starting a 4 week challenge tomorrow!  You earn points based on eating whole foods, hitting the gym, and getting lots of sleep.  It's not as rigid as a Whole30 and there's even a 2 hour cheat window each week (yay Thanksgiving).  I think it's just what I need right now. 

Feeling:
It's seriously weird not running off to cheer practice 3 days a week.  On one hand, I love having time to cook dinner, walk the dog, and go to the gym in the evening if I blow off my 5:15 am alarm.  But on the other hand, there's this void that leaves me feeling really low when I think of all that I'm missing:  the coaches, the kids, the excitement, the hard work, the challenge, the victory.  After 15 years... my fall just feels kind of incomplete without it.

Throwback from 2000, my first year of coaching!

Family:
We adopted a new pup yesterday!  Her name is Carmela and she's a 8 month old pit boxer mix.  We weren't really planning on adding to our family until after the holidays, but when I saw this little face on the Pitties.Love.Peace facebook page, I knew we had to meet her!  The adoption was riding on how Butler felt about her, but their first meeting was great and they're romping around the living room as I type.  I'm so happy she's a part of our family now!

I hope to get back to blogging on a more regular schedule, so see ya soon :)

What's new and exciting in your world?

Our Honeymoon Recap Part 7: Saying Goodbye

Dave and I returned from Italy one week ago!  Our trip was amazing and I took over 2000 pictures.  I promise I will not take over a year to post about the highlights of our trip.  However, I need to finish out Nicaragua first!  So finally after almost a year and a half, here is the final installment of Our Honeymoon Recap!

The rest:
- Part 1: Traveling to Nicaragua
- Part 2: Fresh Fish & Adjusting to Island Time
- Part 3: The Mineral Springs, Hitchhiking, & Horses

- Part 4: Traveling to the West Coast

- Part 5: Monkeys, Massages, and a Sunset Cruise

- Part 6: Exploring

We woke up the next morning intending on doing yoga one more time, but after sitting on the platform for a few minutes we realized it didn't take place on that day of the week.  Bummer!  We decided to drink some champagne instead...

After hanging out on the beach for a little while, we grabbed some snorkeling equipment and decided to explore a little.  I had never snorkeled before and I found it to be super uncomfortable.  I decided I wasn't into it and had a smoothie on the beach instead.  I'll figure out how to snorkel when we go to Hawaii...

Eventually it was time to leave, so we packed our bags and hopped in our cab along with our new friends Glen and Andrea since we were both headed to the capital, Managua.  But first we went to check out a giant market in Masaya.  When we pulled up to the market our car was surrounded by a crowd of men wanting to guide us around the market.  At first I was very turned off, but eventually we ended up with one man, who in hindsight was very important since the market was like a maze and none of us spoke Spanish very well.

We wandered around the overwhelming market and found some beautiful souvenirs.  I wish I took some pictures of the market, but I think I was just too overwhelmed and trying not to draw any more attention to myself.

After we were finished, we headed into the capital.  Soon we were saying goodbye to Glen and Andrea and promising we'd stay in touch (spoiler alert, we didn't do a good job).  After we dropped them off, we headed to our hotel.  The city wasn't quite as scenic as the rest of our trip and I started to worry that we may have made a mistake staying here for the night.  I was relieved when we arrived at our hotel and it was both secure (hello giant wall with barbed wire on top) and beautiful.

I was pretty exhausted from our travels, so I resisted Dave's request to go out for dinner.  When he took a lap around the block and found multiple casinos and a few people trying to sell him drugs, he agreed and we ordered some mediocre delivery.  I was ready to go home!

The next morning we had a nice breakfast and headed off to the airport for another long day of travel, made longer by an awful experience in the Miami airport.  Let's just say I had something we now refer to as the Miami Meltdown... but my husband still loved me afterwards! We had a wonderful honeymoon and I would recommend Nicaragua to anybody who wants a little adventure off the beaten path!

The end :)

Our Honeymoon Recap Part 6: Exploring

Well I should be packing... or sleeping, but I felt compelled to drop some pictures into this post and get it online!  I feel like I should probably finish recapping Nicaragua before we go on our next trip ;)

Catching up?
- Part 1: Traveling to Nicaragua
- Part 2: Fresh Fish & Adjusting to Island Time
- Part 3: The Mineral Springs, Hitchhiking, & Horses

- Part 4: Traveling to the West Coast

- Part 5: Monkeys, Massages, and a Sunset Cruise

The 6th day of our honeymoon started with another delicious breakfast buffet.  Dave skipped yoga, but I went and enjoyed another class with a view.  We spent the rest of the morning on the beach at the resort before deciding to hike into the neighboring town with our new friends Glen and Andrea.

The hike into Playa Gigante was fairly easy, on a path through the woods.  When we got into town the beach views were amazing.

We walked around a little when we first arrived.  The town was small with a few restaurants and bars, full of a mix of locals and gringo surfers.

 
We stopped and had a few drinks at a random bar and happened to run into the fun bartender from our resort on his day off.  I really wish I remembered his name.  We ended up hanging out with him all day!  Dave also struck up a conversation with a gentleman who turned out to be a former diplomat who gave him some really nice cigars.  There was a taco stand right next to this bar that our friends got food from, but I wasn't hungry.  I still regret not getting those tacos!

We wandered around some more and went to another bar where we met up with another couple we had met at the resort.  We stuck out like sore thumbs there so we didn't stay long.  We ended up at a really neat bar right on the beach.  A bunch of locals and surfers were all gathered to watch a soccer game on tv and the drinks were flowing!

Andrea and I spent a bunch of time on the beach.  The sand was super hot but the water was very rough, so we spent our time alternating between.  They had a slack line out front and a few of the surfer guys came out to show us how it was done.  I couldn't walk across that thing if my life depended on it!

After we hiked back into town, we got seriously close to some monkeys!

Next we freshened up and got ready for our dinner at Mukuls.  The hotel had arranged a taxi for us for the 15 minute ride.  When we arrived at the resort, it seriously felt like we were at Jurassic Park because of the large extravagant gate at the entrance!  They took our IDs at the gate and we rode up to the front of the resort.  As soon as the car door opened, we knew we had arrived in the lap of luxury.  The resort was breathtaking.  We were lead through the entrance, each staff member more polite than the next.  The dining room hadn't opened yet, so they sat us in a beautiful lobby area where we ordered some delicious drinks.

Soon after we were sat in the open air portion of the restaurant with a wonderful beach view.  Our waiter was fabulous.  He was extremely nice, made great suggestions, and brought us a bottle of wine on the house.  We started our meal trying not to fill up on the tasty bread.  Next we ordered appetizers.  I had a cold dish with scallops from the bay served with red onion and goat cheese.  It was unique and delightful.  For my entree I enjoyed a medley of shrimp, clams, and crab meat in a rich sauce.  It was so decadent!  The meal was just wonderful.  I'm so glad we received the tip to go there.

After we wrapped up our dinner, Dave wanted to take a peek in the cigar shop.  I sat in the lobby and decided to take advantage of the wifi.  A friend had let me know that the PE (professional engineering exam) results were in for April.  I took the 8 hour exam a month before our wedding, like a crazy person, and I really wasn't sure I had passed.  I debated whether I actually wanted to know the results, but then curiosity got the best of me.  When I finally got my log in and password right, the webpage surprised me with a little green PASS.  I couldn't believe it!  I was seriously in shock.  Did I really pass?!  I took a screen shot of the results so I could pull it up at any point, just to be sure that sweet little PASS was still there.  What an incredible discovery on such a special night of our honeymoon!

Unfortunately, after dinner something did not agree with my tummy.  I honestly think it was most likely the ice from my cocktails in town during the day.  I could not imagine the food at that amazing resort making my stomach so upset.  The rest of the night was a little rough, but it could've been worse.

One more recap left... Part 7