Weekly Workouts (+ Cindy)

After feeling kind of blah about the gym last week, this week was completely different :)

M - 0.7 mi walk + CrossFit

• Strength:
• Shoulder Press (Build to a heavy single for the day) - I missed most of the cycle for this lift with wrist pain, so I can't really say I've seen any gains.  I got to 80# and failed on 85.
• Push Press (Build to a heavy single for the day) - The difference between these two lifts is you get a dip at the bottom in this one, the shoulder press is strict, just your arms.  That dip is huge for me because I got up to 125# and I could've done more.  These felt great, no wrist pain :)
• WOD: 4 Rounds for Time
• 10 Squat Clean (115/75)
• 10 Toes to Bar
• 10 Burpees over the Bar
• 16 Minute Time Cap

I was planning on Rxing but when my coach said we should be able to do the first 10 squat cleans unbroken, I thought maybe I should pull some weight off my bar.  I considered doing 65 lbs, but it seemed silly not to Rx over 10 lbs in one movement when I knew I could handle it.  I did the first 5 squat cleans connected and then went down to sets of 2.  I think in the third round I did most of them as singles, but when I got to the last round I found myself thinking about my goal to push through the suck and get faster and was able to do sets of 2 or 3.  I connected some of my toes to bar in sets of five, but did others as singles.  Finding that rhythm is still really awkward, but I'm improving.  My goal was to beat the cap and I finished at 15:04!

• I was so jazzed up after I finished the WOD that I decided to work on some pull ups and double unders on my own.

T - 0.8 mi walk + CrossFit 

• Strength: Back Squat 6 x 2 at 83%, 6-8 Push Ups in between Sets - I did my back squats at 160# and they felt pretty heavy, but they went well.  I only did 4 push ups between sets because I know I'm doing a ton of them on Friday and last time I did a bunch of strict push ups, I was sore for days!
• WOD: 10 Minute AMRAP
• 2 Power Snatch (115/75)
• 4 Wall Balls (20/14)
• 4 Power Snatch
• 8 Wall Balls
• 6 Power Snatch
• 12 Wall Balls
• 8 Power Snatch
• 16 Wall Balls
• 10 Power Snatch
• 20 Wall Balls...
• Score = Total Reps

I wasn't sure if I should Rx this, but my coach said my snatches looked great and I should go for it!  I got through the 10 snatches and then did 10 of the 20 wall balls for 80 total reps!  The snatches really felt great, I only started to struggle at the very end.  Wall balls aren't my fave but they felt strong as well.

• I worked on my dubs afterwards again and they were going pretty well.  I figure they can only get better and the extra cardio work can't hurt!

W - Rest

Th - Rest

F - CrossFit - Friday Night Lights Gymnastics WOD

• Benchmark WOD Cindy: 20 Minute AMRAP
• 5 Pull Ups
• 10 Push Ups
• 15 Air Squats

I seriously love our big Friday night workout events.  Tons of people come out and there's just an energy in the gym!  I didn't get there till a little bit later, so I was worried that everyone was going to be finished and I was going to be working out by myself, but there was a few people gearing up for the next heat.  The pull ups went really well.  I did most of them as singles, but connected a handful throughout.  I ripped my hand, but not until the very end so it wasn't too bad.  The push ups were the hardest part.  I did them all on my knees when I did Murph back in May, but I knew this was only 20 minutes and I wanted to Rx!  Muscle fatigue was really the limiting factor for this workout vs. cardio endurance.  The push ups were just so tough.  Soon enough 20 minutes was over and I made it through 12 rounds + 1 pull up!  (And then I drank some tequila at the gym... :D)

S - 3.1 mi hike at Valley Forge with Dave and the pups + painting!

S -  Painting (we're almost done!)

And the rest of our weekend was full of hanging with friends (and wanting to steal their super cute babies) but apparently we all forgot to take any photos... fail!  Hope you had a good week!

Mental Health Day Required

Yesterday I left my house at 7 am and didn’t get home until 11 pm.  I had a pretty good day, but it ended with a stressful meeting and a 40 minute drive behind someone who had no interest in doing anything close to the speed limit.  I got home feeling drained!  I went to bed but couldn’t really fall asleep.  Fast forward to 2 am, when I woke up thinking about work.  EW!  I woke up with a headache and felt like I hadn’t slept at all.

Mental health day, boom!

I woke up 4 hours after my alarm originally went off and felt refreshed.  I put dinner in the crockpot and laced up my boots.  Puddin’ and I headed out on the trail to enjoy the sun peaking through the trees.

The temperature was almost 40 degrees, the trail was empty, and Pandora provided the perfect soundtrack.

I got my heart pumping up the mountain, focused on the peaceful feeling of the woods, and took a couple of extra deep breaths.

I already feel so rejuvenated.  The rest of my day will be filled with grocery shopping and food prep for the chicken parm dinner I’m making for my sweetie tomorrow (going out for vday is so overrated), cleaning and organizing, and I think I’ll finish with some yoga.  Mental health day success!

Do you ever take mental health days?  How do you fight stress?

Midweek Ramblings

I feel like I've been a bad blogger recently.  I haven't been taking pictures of anything lately and my blog posts have been few and far between.  So here's a rambling update!

I ran 4.75 miles today!  It's the second longest run I've done in my training so far.  The hills in Valley Forge are pretty killer, but I'm glad I'm doing them because I know that my half ends with a hill and I'm already dreading it.  I definitely think about the end of the half when I'm pushing through the pain on those hills!  I really wish I had brought my camera because the sunset was amazing, but I'm not really interested in carry anything extra while I'm running.  I've also been pressed for time and I've just been trying to get my run in before the sun goes down.  I'm super pumped for daylight savings this weekend.  Who doesn't love an extra hour of daylight after work?!  Maybe when the sun is setting later, I can get some snap shots after my run.

Dave and I are attending a prayer class at his church for Lent.  I wasn't sure how I felt about going but I've actually been enjoying it.  Tonight's topic was Prayer and Listening.  I honestly never thought about listening as a part of prayer, I always thought it was all about talking to God, asking for help, thanking Him for things.  But when the pastor started talking about a centering prayer aka sitting in silence for a period of time, focusing on what God has to say, using a word or image of your choice to refocus yourself when you get distracted (my word was peace and I pictured the sunset in the park), it made me think about the importance of meditation, regardless of how you feel about religion.  I think taking a few minutes out of your day to clear your mind, relax, and unplug is very important.  I want to add meditation to my daily routine, there are so many benefits and hopefully I can clear my mind enough to hear any messages God has to send to me.

Anyway, tomorrow is Thursday, which isn't bad, but it's not Friday!  I'm always living for the weekends.  At least tomorrow is supposed to be 70 degrees!  The weather has really been blowing my mind recently.  I do love snow, but I think I love the warm temps even more!  It has been sort strange though.  This seems like a distant memory...

One of the two snow dustings we got all winter, minus the weird Halloween blizzard.

Well I hope the rest of your week flies by :)

Do you meditate?

The Past Few Days in Photos

 

Insert sushi & wine pictures from our Monday ladies date... picture taking fail!

 

Do you see that?!  It's a key!  Dave asked me to move in!!!!  I hope you had a wonderful Vday :)

Did you do anything special for Valentine's Day?

Autumn Afternoon

Yesterday was a perfect fall Sunday.  I slept in, drank pumpkin coffee, and watched some football.

Lunch was a hot bowl of seafood chowder that we had been storing in the freezer since last year's soup sale at the Firehouse.  I love soup on a chilly afternoon!

And Puddin' and I went out to enjoy the perfect weather with a walk up the mountain.

And a regular view at Dave's house...

Puddin had a blast, as always.

Doggie smile!

Saturday was on the busy side since I got up early to search for Halloween costume stuff at multiple thrift stores in the area.  I refuse to buy my costume from a store, I love DIY Halloween costumes!  Then I headed into the city with my cheerleading squad for their competition.  They killed it.  I was SO proud!  I drove to Dave's after we got back from the competition and I was exhausted.  It was so nice to take it easy on Sunday and recover.

What's your perfect fall day include?

Swim, Hike, Enjoy

The best part of being unemployed is getting to spend my days outside.  My Tuesdays have been spent here hanging with Nicole, working on my tan.

And enjoying the butterflies.

On Wednesday Puddin' and I got out to enjoy the cool weather before the rain.  Temperatures in the 70s never felt so good.

I love that Dave lives directly next to Valley Forge National Park.  It's so beautiful.  I love hiking through all the nature, it's a great workout with a beautiful background.  Please enjoy Puddin's photo shoot in the park (and yes I found my camera)!

 

Puddin' is quite the little explorer and the park was so empty during the day (since it was only a matter of time before it started raining), so she got the treat of wandering off the leash, which also made for better pictures!  Usually she's not that lucky, some people are really funny about her since she's a pit... if they only knew how much she just wanted to cuddle with them.

Anyway this weekend involves celebrating my bestie Jes's birthday in Rehoboth, DE and Ocean City, MD!  And I have an interview on Tuesday, woot!  Have a great weekend :)

What's your favorite outdoor spot?  Do you like hiking?