15.5 & Phillies Charity 5K Race Recap

I was dreading 15.5 all day.  I'm usually finished by 7 am, but since our gym was doing a Friday Night Lights event, I had all day to contemplate the workout.

It took the pros 7 minutes and change.  I knew it was going to take me at least twice that time.  I figured I had to do the workout Rx because I knew I could, but the 65 lbs thrusters were going to be heavy!  I was right.  They felt heavy from the first one during warm up.  I kept looking around beforehand hoping one of my coaches would notice the panic on my face and tell me I should scale it (which was 45 lbs), but that didn't happen.

The workout started and I took my time on the rower.  All the advice I had read beforehand told me to pace myself rowing and save it all for the thrusters.  It probably didn't matter... the thrusters felt heavy immediately and chipping away the 27 was challenging.  The rest of the workout was pretty much a blur of trying to catch my breath on the rower and pushing through the pain on the thrusters.  My legs were burning and I was sucking wind.

During the WOD I just kept thinking of this mantra that I read earlier that day in a 15.5 mental performance tips post: I love getting to the dark place, because I know that's where the magic happens.  I'm not really sure anybody loves getting to the dark place, but I knew I was in it and knew it wouldn't end until I finished all the work.  All I can say is thank God for my CrossFit family.  I was seriously struggling, but everyone kept cheering me on and encouraging me and it helped so much!  I loved the energy in the gym all night!

Thanks for all the great photos Kate :)

16 minutes and 12 seconds later, I crashed onto the floor so happy that it was over!  15.5 was honestly one of the hardest workouts I've ever done in my life.  It was the perfect end to a mentally and physically challenging 2015 Open!  Like I said before, the Open took me out of my comfort zone and pushed me to accomplish things I didn't think were possible!  It was a great experience and while I'm glad it's over, I'll definitely be signing up next year.

Usually I'm not sore from CF until the next day, but my legs were really hurting immediately afterwards.  We all went out to a local sports bar for dinner, but when I got home I quickly popped some ibuprofen and covered my thighs in icyhot.  I woke up in the middle of the night and had trouble getting back to sleep because my legs were just aching.  When I woke up in the morning, it hurt to walk.  Between that and the 30 degree temps outside, I really contemplated trying to convince Dave to just skip the race.

But I knew I'd hate myself and I'd never be able to wear the nice tech T race shirt because I would just feel like a big liar in it lol.

We left our house around 6:30 am.  There was no traffic, so we cruised down 76 and parked a little after 7.  It was cold, so we hung out in the car until 7:30.  The race was very well organized.  They had a ton of porta pottys so I didn't have to wait in a long line, which is a race day win!  The announcements were loud and clear, so we knew what was going on and where to line up.  We settled in between the 9 and 10 min/mi pace markers and did some stretching.  Did I mention my legs were sore?

At 8 am, the race started and we were off!  The beginning was a little crowded.  It's always a little bit of scramble trying to dodge people and get into the groove.  My quads were on fire immediately and as we passed some people walking during the first mile, I was thinking that it would've felt pretty good (and also that I hate when people suck at lining up based on their pace).  We ran past the Fanatic and soon we were in FDR park and headed into mile 2.

The path was a bit more narrow in the park, but the further we got into the race, the less everyone was trying to pass.  At the halfway point, they were handing out water, but I knew if I stopped at all, I wasn't going to get my legs to begin again.  I realized we had been following a couple for a little while, so I made it my goal to stay with them.  I tried to zone out and just concentrate on them.  My legs felt awful and I was definitely winded.  I was so cold before the race began but now I was wishing I could ditch some of my layers.  I just kept thinking this will all be over soon enough.

We finished mile 2 and soon we were leaving the park.  As we headed back onto Broad Street, I could hear the announcer at the finish line.  As we rounded the corner, the finish line was in view!  We left our pacing couple behind and started to push.  Right after we finished mile 3, I saw a guy go off to the side and thought that's weird we're so close... until he started tossing his cookies.  The last little bit of the race was so tough, that 0.1 felt so long.

Crossing the finish line was the sweetest relief!  Our official time was 30:06.  While I didn't have any goals for this race other than to just survive, Dave wanted to finish in under 30 minutes.  My running app said we ran 3.22 miles (instead of 3.1), so I'm still counting it as a win!  We both only did 2 training runs beforehand and our legs were smoked already, so I was quite impressed with our performance.

Negative splits, for the win!  We grabbed our medals, some water, bananas, and soft pretzels, and made our way to the field entrance for our cool down lap around the warning track.  It was pretty neat being down on the field!

We snapped some pics and took in the sights, but soon I was cold and ready to get out of there.  We hobbled up the stairs out of the stadium (cruel!) and headed to the car.  We grabbed some cheesesteaks (at 9 am, breakfast of champions lol) and headed home!

Now it's Tuesday (Happy Birthday Mom <3) and it still hurts to walk!  Hopefully my legs will feel normal at some point this week....

Another Whole30?! + My Meal Plan

Oh God... not again ;)  This time, I wasn't even the instigator! Someone from my January Whole30 facebook support group posted that they were doing another round in April and next thing I know, the post is blowing up with "me too" comments and I started debating.  I really don't want to commit to the prep work required, but who doesn't want to clean things up and look their best right before summer?  We are headed down to TX to visit some friends at the end of the month, so instead of setting myself up for failure (and to make the challenge a little less daunting) I've decided to commit to a Whole24 beginning Monday March 30th and ending Wednesday April 22nd!

If you don't know what the Whole30 is all about go read this guest post I recently wrote for my hilarious blog friend Josie and go visit the Whole30 website!

I'm in a much better starting place than last time when I was coming off a holiday bender of treats and booze.  My diet has been part time Paleo and although I've consumed things like pizza, nachos, and oreos, I haven't let anything take me completely off track which was one of my goals for the year!  I did gain back a few pounds in February, but I've been tracking my weight every morning for the past month and I've been pretty consistent.  My weight has varied from 148 to 152, it goes up and down depending on my diet.  I've noticed that I'm typically at the higher end on a Monday after eating out all weekend.

Thankfully that's a habit I'll be forced to ditch since eating out is so difficult during a Whole30.  My gym just set up a partnership with Kettlebell Kitchen, a Paleo meal delivery service, so I may order a meal here or there if I'm looking for something that I don't have to cook.  But otherwise I need to psych myself up to get busy in the kitchen.  This week I'm mostly sticking with some tried and true favorites to make things as easy as possible.  Here's what the first few days will look like:

Monday

• Lunch: Leftover Mexican Chicken Soup from Against All Grain that I'll be making on Sunday
• Dinner: Paleo Shepherd's Pie

Tuesday

• Lunch: Leftover chicken fajitas that I'll be making on Sunday
• Dinner: Leftover Paleo Shepherd's Pie

Wednesday

• Lunch: Leftover Caramelized Italian Pork Chops with Sweet Onion Jam with roasted broccoli that I'm making Dave cook on Tuesday while I'm coaching
• Dinner: Salmon with sauteed spinach and applesauce

Thursday

• Lunch: Leftover Mexican Chicken Soup
• Dinner: Buffalo Chicken Meatballs with Mashed Cauliflower

 Friday

• Lunch: Leftover Buffalo Chicken Meatballs with Mashed Cauliflower
• Dinner: We're headed to a preseason Phillies game and I know I can bring my own food into the stadium, so I'm going to bring some chicken sausage with sauteed veggies and a sweet potato

Saturday

• Brunch: Sweet Potato Hash with Fried Eggs
• Dinner: Planning a Paleo dinner date with a friend!

A little throwback Thursday action for you, 2 years ago today I was prepping for my first full Whole30 (I did a Whole21 in January) and wrote this How to Succeed During Your Whole30 post! 

So who's going to join us?  Come on, you know you want to!

Guest Post: Leah's Whole30 Results!

I have been looking forward to this post for a while!  Leah and I have been friends for around 10 years, but I had no idea what she was going through with her health until recently.  I was so excited when she decided to do the Whole30 with us at the beginning of the year, but it was a phone conversation we had a few weeks after we finished that really moved me.  Leah told me that she thought she would always be tired and there was a certain sadness in her because of that.  But now, by changing her diet, she is finally free of her chronic fatigue and happier than ever!  To deliver this happiness to one of my closest friends is the reason I just can't shut up about this stuff.  They say the Whole30 will change your life... well it did for Leah.

My First Whole30 

This has been a long time coming.  When Amber started telling me about the paleo diet and how she was committing to 30 days without gluten, grains, dairy, sugar, legumes, alcohol, etc., I thought she was a little crazy…but then again, when I tell people about it now, they think I’m crazy…Until I tell them my story.

(source)

Let me start at the beginning: For my whole life I have been the one in my family who never wanted to get off of the couch.  My mom thought I was lazy, my sisters thought I was lazy and I just thought I had tired blood.  I had an active childhood, I played sports and ran around with my friends, but if you were to ask me what my most favorite thing was, I would tell you “sleep”.  My mom began to get worried so I went to a slew of doctors who could not figure out what the problem was.  I was tested for celiac, lupus, and a host of other issues…all results were negative.  I was 10 years old. 

Fast forward to high school: I was diagnosed with IBS and put on prescription medication.  Needless to say, it did not work.  I was experiencing so many side effects of the medication I decided to stop taking it.  I tried to change my diet, but continued to experience severe fatigue.  It was so bad that if I went for a walk in the morning, I was unable to get off of the couch for the rest of the day.  My sisters always wanted to hang out and go out at night, and I just couldn’t.  All I wanted to do was sleep. This was not good for my social life either.  I missed out on a lot of high school social events because I would be sleeping.   

I then came to the conclusion that I was just always going to be tired, and there was nothing I could do about it. This was just something that I was going to have to live with.  When I was 29 other weird things began to happen to my body.  My husband and I had been married for 2 years and we were ready to start our family.  We weren’t trying trying, but it was like, ok we are not going to try to prevent anything, so whatever happens, happens.  One month I was getting excited because my breasts were tender and my period was late, I was tired, all of these things were pointing to pregnancy! Well…not so much. I took a test and it was negative.  A few days later I got my cycle, but then it would not stop.  I thought I was having a miscarriage.  We were devastated.  After 3 weeks of bleeding (I know it seems like a long time, but it was not a heavy flow, so I thought it would stop) I called my gyn and got an appointment right away.  Everything checked out and I was given a clean bill of health.  I was still unsettled and sitting on the examination table dejected, when the doctor popped her head back in and said, “Have you ever had your thyroid checked?”  I responded, “No.” and she immediately ordered a script for me to get blood work.  She also checked to see if I had had a miscarriage, just to rule everything out.  My result came back positive for hypothyroid.  My older sister was diagnosed when she was 16 and this runs in my family.  I was shocked that I had never been tested before. 

So began my journey with hypothyroid.  The research that I did only brought more sad news.  We were going to have trouble getting pregnant.  At this point I’m 30, I just had this diagnosis, and needless to say I was devastated.  I became depressed and my symptoms just perpetuated.  I was prescribed synthroid to regulate my thyroid.  My bleeding stopped and my energy levels did rise a bit, but not as much as I has hoped. 

Enter the whole30: Amber encouraged me to join her (and many others) in January for a whole30.  I thought, what the hell, why not.  There is no way I can feel any crappier, if anything, I can finally figure out what is causing all of my stomach issues.  Backing up a second: My stomach issues continued and were getting worse at this point.  Like so bad, I was literally, TMI WARNING, pooping in my pants whenever I drank beer or ate anything.  So, Amber let me borrow It Starts With Food and my eyes opened.  I began doing more research on hypothyroid and realized that gluten and soy are straight poison for my body.  I was so mad that I didn’t know this information before! And why the hell didn’t my doctor tell me this stuff?!  

I then decided that, yeah, I’m totally in with this whole30, paleo thing.  Amber and Heather had both given me paleo cookbooks and I was set! When I started January 3rd, I weighed 128 pounds at 5 feet 2 inches.  Now, let me just quickly say, I was not in this to lose any weight, I seriously wanted to get to the bottom of my chronic fatigue and other stomach issues.  I dove headfirst into the cookbooks and loved everything that I cooked. 

A peak inside the Against All Grain Cookbook!

My husband was so super supportive.  Whenever I had a weak moment, he would keep me on track.  There were those days when I came home from work and all I wanted was a glass of wine and he would say, “Leah, it’s not worth it!” and he was so right.  We were in this for bigger and better reasons.   While he did not participate fully in the whole30, (he would never give up drinking for 30 days) he was “paleo by proxy” and enjoyed every meal I cooked.

I really enjoyed meal prep every week.  I would look through my cookbooks and mark pages that looked yummy, wrote out my grocery list and got to cooking.  I always made sure to buy in bulk and make things that could be transformed into multiple meals.  This cut down on my grocery bill and kept our palate interested.  I made big batches of soup on Sundays and ate that for lunches and breakfast, (yes, soup for breakfast, it’s amazing) because it was a quick and easy way to get my protein and veg in for the morning.  

I began to notice that my clothes were fitting better, but more than that, my energy level sky rocketed.  I honestly never thought I would feel this good without coffee and energy drinks.  As I said before, my energy levels were always so low, all I wanted to do was sit on the couch and sleep.  Not anymore.  I get up early, sometimes without the need for an alarm clock, and fall asleep at a decent time.  I am no longer sluggish during the day.  I also noticed that I had ZERO stomach issues.  ZERO!! I honestly didn’t even realize that I wasn’t having tummy troubles until I took a step back and reflected on my experience.  Then it hit me…I had not taken any antacids or pink bismuth the entire month.  I could not believe it.  When I told my husband he was shocked and so happy for me.  We had finally found the solution.

I also noticed that I did not miss drinking alcohol and my sugar cravings were totally gone.  I have not had any headaches (other than the detox headache that lasted a week) since I changed my diet. 

Ok, the results:  I lost 13 pounds and 4 inches off of my waist.  I fit into my tiny jeans that I have not been able to wear for years.  What a confidence boost, let me tell you!!  But with that said, if I didn’t lose any weight, it would not have mattered, because my biggest goal was achieved; my chronic fatigue and stomach issues were completely gone.  I am now a believer.  I do have to admit that I have eaten some gluten since ending the whole30, but I can tell immediately that it is not a wise choice because my thyroid flares up and then I regret eating whatever it was that tempted me.  Sometimes it is unavoidable and I have come to terms with that, but I avoid gluten and soy as much as I can.  

What I learned: the biggest thing that I learned during the whole30 was that sugar is in EVERYTHING!! Even in foods it has no place being.  I am religious at reading labels now. If there is anything weird, aka, something that I cannot pronounce or I have no idea what it is, then I will not buy that product.  I have become one of those people who has their smartphone out at the grocery store looking up the things on ingredient lists.  There are also weird preservatives in foods that, in very small doses are “ok” (according to the internet), but they are in everyday foods in a big way and are not healthy for us to be consuming daily.  I avoid these at all costs. 

What I eat now: I totally stick to whole foods.  I try my best to stay out of the middle aisles of the grocery store, and if I do need canned goods (tomatoes, stocks, etc.), I read labels.  I avoid vegetable oils when cooking at home and use butter or ghee when sautéing veggies.  The only starchy thing that we eat now is potatoes, and even then I limit them in our meals or sub it for sweet potatoes. 

I just went to the doctor and she was super impressed with my weight loss.  She said that I was never really overweight, but the pounds I did lose helped my body recover and become regular on many levels.  She said that I am smart for avoiding gluten and soy because of my medical issues, she also told me that many people think that soy is a healthy option, and it really isn’t. 

I am going to continue to live a paleo lifestyle…plus cheese, because let’s be real, cheese is amazing.

Read Leah's exciting Whole30 follow up!  Looking for more Whole30 Results?

• My Whole21 - Results! 
• My April Whole30 Results!
• Guest Post: Sarah's Whole30 Results! 
• Guest Post: Heather's Whole30 Results! 
• Even More Whole30 Results 
• Guest Post: Julia's Whole30 Recap!
• My July Whole25 Results!
• My January Whole30 Results! 
• Guest Post: Stephanie's Whole30 Results!

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