2 PRs in One Day

Joe’s Pain Face (source)

Woke up early today so we decided pancakes would be on the menu.

Sweet Potato Pancakes and Bacon

Joe and I headed to CF for 9.  Our warm up was fun.  There were a million people this morning, I guess since a lot of people had off for the holiday weekend.

We started with Thrusters 3 rep max.  5 attempts.

• 65# x3
• 75# x3
• 80# x3
• 85# x3
• 90# x1  PR

I dropped the bar after my first 90# but that’s a new PR for me.

Next we partnered up for a 10 minute ladder of Thrusters 75/55 and Toes 2 Bar.  Comp group people had to do 105/75, which explains Joe’s pain face in the photo above.  Each partner had to do one thruster each then one t2b each, no passing each other and on every minute we had to do 3 broad jumps.  My partner and I went Rx and got 7 rounds and 30 reps.

We stayed after the WOD to practice some stuff.  I messed around with some HSPUs still can’t do them again!  Then I did 50 ab mat situps.  Joe and some people were working on squats and then moved on to squat snatches.  I decided I should work on Overhead squats and by default snatches since I figured I would only snatch the bar into position.

Yesterday’s WOD included OH Squats, the Rx for women was 95#.  I got 65# up into position and didn’t even attempt to squat since I felt all wrong.  During the WOD I used just the 45# bar and I still dropped it and almost fell.  I really needed to work on them and figure it out, and my coach wanted me to work on snatches so I figured the big girl panties needed to be put on and just do some real practice.

I started with a mere 33#.  Did that 5x and added weight.  43# x5.  45#x5.  50#x5.  55#x5.  60# x5.  65# x3. 70# x2.  PR.  Who am I!?!?!?  I can freakin overhead squat 70#!  I know that’s not much compared to games competitors but considering just yesterday I wasn’t coordinated enough to deal with 45# I am amazed.  I should have thrown 75# onto the bar but that weight at a snatch still scared me a little but next time I practice I will try it.  And I didn’t split any of my snatches so obviously I’m getting stronger with that as well, or at least a little better with my form.  My coach was happy and basically gave me a little I told you that you can do it you just need to practice. 

Joe also PR’d his Thrusters 165# x3.

Protein shake post WOD.

Vanilla Protein Powder, Iced Coffee and Coconut Milk

Joe went out with a few buddies for lunch but I stayed home to get some stuff done.  Threw together a salad for my lunch.

Salad with Grilled Chicken Avocado and Salsa

We threw together some burgers for a quick dinner.

Burger, Green Beans, Salad and Pickles

We had some my sis, husband and friends and their kids over, which involved wine drinking for us and tv watching for them.  Fun night.

Cleaning and and Outburst

My Box’s new Tees

I could not fall asleep last night.  Tv on Tv off, it didn’t matter.  Finally I turned the Tv back on around midnight and tried to pay attention to a show and at last I fell asleep.  My alarm went off this morning at 7 and I did not want to get up but I did.  I slowly made my breakfast and an hour later I felt a bit better.

Bacon, Eggs, Juice with Spinach, Zucchini, Apple and Ginger

CF at 9.

We did a few different things in class today.  After our warmup we did 2 minutes of knees up situps.  I got 54.  My situps are pretty slow because I kept moving the entire 2 minutes.

Next we worked on squat cleans.  Touch and Go 2-2-2-2-2, increasing load each time.  I had my own bar and worked at my own pace.  I think I’ve only done squat cleans once before but when you get the hang of them you can move much heavier weights than a power clean.

I did 65# to start.  Then 85#.  Then 95#.  On my first 95# my coach told me my elbows were too slow, so when I went for the second lift my elbows went fast but I lost my balance and fell on my ass.  So I repeated my 95# and got it.

Next I went for 105#.  I got my first and dropped my 2nd so I redid it and got both lifts.  New PR!

Since I was working solo I had some time left so I decided to try 110#.  I could not get that even once but I was close.  I think I’ll be able to get it soon.

Next was a 15minute AMRAP of 135/95

• 1 Power Clean
• 1 Front Rack Lunge Left leg
• 1 Push Press
• 1 Front Rack Lunge Right leg

I wasn’t sure if I could even push press 95# so I went with 85#.  It was tough with that weight.  I got 15 rounds, but I should have breaked less and moved more.  I didn’t practice anything else after class since my arms were pretty spent.

I made a shake when I got home.

Smoothie with Vanilla Protein Powder, Frozen Banana and Iced Coffee

Lunch was a salad.

Salad with Tuna

I had another anger outburst today but I feel it was justified.  I had to call to activate a replacement credit card, so I sit through the voice prompts and do all that nonsense and then got connected with a customer service person.  This person of course chit chats with you and then trys to sell me some kind of protection plan, that my credit card will get paid off if I become unemployed for the low fee of 1.99 a month.  I politely say no thank you to her so let’s get you signed up for this now.  I hardly ever use the credit card anyhow and if I can’t pay off a $100 balance then I obviously have more serious problems in my life.  Instead of accepting my no thank you, the girl goes right into the same 3 minute explanation and follows with so let’s get you signed up for this now.  Seriously people I get that it’s your job as a telemarketer or whatever but I’ve said no once, I’ve been on the phone listening to bullsh*t for the past 5 minutes and I don’t even freakin need this credit card.  My reply was I’ve already said no once and if you keep repeating the same things to me I will just cancel the credit card completely.  She kept trying to talk so I just hung up.  Arghhhhh!  Anger!  I’ve gotta get control of myself, but it feels good to not tolerate things that inconvenience me.  After that I decided to re-up our phone numbers on the do not call list because that sh*t makes me crazy too. 

Joe got home from his conference in Baltimore early.  I ate dinner and he had a shake and promptly fell asleep on the couch about 5 minutes after asking me what I wanted to do.

Sweet Potato, Steak and Kale

My intentions for the evening are to polish off the bottle of open Chianti on the bar.

Meal Plan May 19-25th

Sun 19- Burger and Kale

Mon 20- Steak, Kale and Sweet Potato

Tues 21- Out with Family

Wed 22- Grilled Chicken Salad

Thurs 23- Shrimp Stir Fry

Fri 24- Pork Chops, Broccoli and Sweet Potatoes

Sat 25- Out BBQ

Scaling for Blood

Rope Climbs

This morning started with a delicious breakfast.

Biscuits, Sausages, Egg, Bacon

We headed to CF at 9.  We had a long WOD ahead of us.

5 rounds

• 1 Rope Climb
• 5 KB/DB Thrusters (53/35)
• 1 Rope Climb
• 5 Deadlifts (315/225)
• 1 Rope Climb
• 5 Medball Cleans (20/14)
• 1 Rope Climb
• 5 Burpee Broad Jumps
• 1 Rope Climb
• 5 Chest 2 Bar Pullups

So for Thrusters I used 25# dumbbells.  I probably could have done 30# so next time I will.  For deadlifts I could barely get the 185# up once today so I went with 165#.  My chest 2 bar pullups I got on every attempt except one where I had to redo.  I climbed the rope until the I got to the 4th round where I pulled down my sock to check my shin skin and since it was bleeding I did the scale of 3 ring body rows instead.  It sucked.  I like rope climbs since it makes me feel like a kid but coming down rips my leg apart and I can’t stand it.

I am going to invest in some shin skins and hopefully put an end to the brutality that rope climbs cause my shins.

I finished 4 rounds.

I had a protein shake post WOD and was spent so I didn’t do anything extra today.  We made salads for lunch.

Salad with Tuna

I was going to make turkey meatballs today but I figured I’d do something a little different with the ingredients I already had.  I found a recipe for meatloaf, followed the instruction and an hour later I had something that vaguely resembled meatloaf.  Joe and I each took a bite and decided to go out for fish tacos.  Recipe FAIL.

Going to get prepared for the next two days at work.

Anger Management Stage One

Remember when I said I’ve been in a funk, well it’s probably worse than just a funk.  I’m angry.  Like all the time, at everything.  Yesterday my head almost exploded while I was at work, and it was about cable.  Yes cable.

Long story short I hate Direct TV.  A few channels have stopped working, fox tbs and something else.  I only noticed fox because I watch New Girl and take that show away from me and when will I get to laugh.  So Joe called in to see if they can fix it, since ya know, we pay them 90 freakin dollars a month for tv.  And channel 5 is one of them.  Ya wanna know what they told us…we can pay $50 for a technician to come out to our house to fix the problem.  Are they freakin kidding me!  I’m paying $90 a month for the 10 or so channels I do watch and your gonna take one away and not fix it without me paying even more!  So I write a nasty customer service email and they respond telling me that my $90 a month only pays for the channels in my plan, but service calls cost extra.  I tried to tell them that if they weren’t giving me the channels I pay for then how is my contract even valid.  I didn’t break a freakin satellite and make channel 5 not come in.  Ughhhhh…anyhow, I was furious and still am.  And now I’m being super stubborn.  I refuse to pay for a technician to fix anything that I should be provided with in the first place.  So our 2 year contract ends in Sept or Oct…until then New Girl will just be a memory.  Obviously I am cancelling these idiots, if they would have just fixed it I probably could have been suckered into another two years but they ruined that.  Joe is now saying we are not going to pay for tv anymore, we’re going to get Apple tv or one of those other things.  And only watch hulu and netflix.  I’m fine with whatever if it’s gonna save me 75$ a month.

Since I was having a flip out on the phone with Joe yelling at him to yell at them he thought I was going nuts (which I obviously was) and told me I need to chill the f out.

And he’s right.

I need to chill the f out, but I have no clue what the heck is wrong with me.  I decided that I needed to go for a run after work to calm myself down from the day.  I did a loop in my neighborhood for 1.3 miles and 11 minutes later I felt a lot better.

So I figure I’m gonna add a short run after work a couple times a week.  I’m aiming for 2.  Stage 2 of anger management is going to go into effect next week.  Hopefully on Monday.  I’ll tell you about it then.

So today.  I woke up and got breakfast together.

Bacon, Eggs, Juice with Cabbage, Carrots and Apple

I probably won’t buy cabbage again to juice.  It’s not horrible, but it’s not really good either.  And the cabbage shreds in the garbage made my entire house smell like a fart.  Not cool. 

I went to 9am WOD.

Our warm up was supposed to be an 8 minute AMRAP of 400m run and 40 pushups.  As soon as we all got out the door it decided to downpour and thunder on us so when we got back inside the building the coach just added 40 air squats after the pushups and called it a warm up.

Next was 22 minutes of 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1

• Power Cleans (135/95)
• T2B
• HSPU

I used Rx weight for the cleans.  I only missed on 2 attempts so that was pretty good.  T2B I did unbroken each time.  And my HSPUs I struggled with and used 1 ab mat.  The 10′s of everything took me 12 minutes!  Horrible!  I wound up with 79 reps total which means I didn’t even make it through the 8′s.

Post WOD worked on some butterflys again.  I’m definitely getting better but I start doing a regular kip at like the third one and it gets all screwy.  Then I did 100 ab mat situps.  The coach told Joe he needed to do that 3 times a week all summer long, so I’m doing it too.  But maybe only 2 times a week, we’ll see.

I drank my protein shake while we were talking after class and my coach asked me what is my worse thing we do at CF, the thing that when I see it on the board makes me panic.  My response was I’m not telling you.  He eventually got it out of me Snatches.  And now my homework from him is that I need to practice them.  He says he’s on to me when I use super scaled weight for them.  Good thing he doesn’t read my blog or I’d have homework on everything we do at CF.

I went out to lunch with my mother in law.  I wound up getting a Tomato Basil soup and Grilled Chicken Salad.  It was alright, but not really worth the cheat since I was hungry a few hours later.  I grabbed a coffee and a lemon Larabar told hold me over.

I visited my grandma for a few hours and then ran to pick up items I needed for dinner.

Chipotle Pork Chops, Broccoli, Biscuits and Chianti

The biscuits are from Paleomg.com.  Her recipes never disappoint.

And this is how I ate dinner.  With my little beggar on my lap.  She posed for a photo shoot so she did get her portion of pork.

Pretty Cat

How to Eat Through Back to Back 12 hour Shifts

It’s tough during busy weekdays to have home cooked meals every night.  When Joe and I first started eating more paleo it was incredibly time consuming.  I’m not gonna lie, it still is; but it’s gotten easier.

Since I work 12 hour shifts (which are really 12 and a 1/2) I leave my house at 6:15am and don’t return until 8pm.  This means all of my meals will be eaten at work.  I’m not someone who can  eat dinner at 8pm and be asleep by 9:30 for the next day so I choose to eat at work.  I used to just not eat dinner but that didn’t really work that well since I’d just snack on garbage when I got home.

A bit of time and some planning on my days off and I can get through my workday without ordering takeout pizza or subs and avoiding the endless amounts of cookies candy and donuts that litter the break room table.

I did some prep yesterday, chopping veggies for salads and such.  I also cooked myself breakfasts for 2 days and made sure to cook extra dinner so I’d have enough for 2 more meals for myself as well as extra for Joe to bring to work.  It may be boring eating the same things a few days in a row, but if it’s delicious it’s a hellofa lot better.  Here’s what I’ve got for Tuesday and Wednesday.

Sweet Potato Pancakes, Strawberries and Maple Syrup

My recipe made 13 pancakes, I sampled one and then Joe stole one out of my container because they smelled good.  So I have 11 pancakes for 2 days, might not be enough!

Salad with Grilled Chicken, Avocado, Olives, Mushrooms and Salsa

Lunches are simple enough.  My to go to salad with whatevers in the fridge.

Spaghetti Squash Bolognese and Asparagus

The return of last night’s dinner.

I also pack nuts and some fruit in case I need a snack.  And I drink a couple coffees and teas throughout the day so I don’t get lost in a windowless haze.

Butterfly

2 minute Bridge Hold (source)

We started our morning early and ate breakfast before I normally am even out of bed.

Bacon, Eggs, Green Juice

We headed to CF to get our WOD on.

We started with a little mobility and a warm up and then did 3 rounds of Cindy for time.  The goal was to be under 3 minutes.

Cindy

• 5 pullups
• 10 pushups
• 15 Air Squats

I finished in 2:34.  I was pretty happy with that.

Then we did some bridge holds which were killer evidence in the photo above.

The WOD was intense.

5 rounds for time (20 minute limit)

• 30 Russian KB Swings (53/35)
• 25 6inch Box Jumps
• 20 Wall Balls (20/14) 10 foot target

We were short a 35# KB so I got to use the 40#.  Fun fun fun.  I scaled wall balls for height because they are my nemesis.  I made it through 4 rounds and 17 reps.

A bunch of us wound up working on pullups after class.  Some regular some butterfly.  Our coach was helping us so it was really good practice.  I’m thisclose to getting the hang of them, butterflies that is.  I get all swingy on my third pull and it goes to crap from there.  But I’m starting to get the hang of it.  I also did 1 HSPU with one ab mat and one attempt from the ground which I couldn’t pull off.  But I’m getting better with that too.  Practice practice practice.  I had a protein shake and then headed home.

I had errands to run but I was feeling a complete and total lack of motivation to leave the house.  But Joe called and asked for milk so I decided to be a good wife and run to the store.  I prepped food for the week and finished up watching Revenge.  Lunch was leftovers.

Grilled Chicken, Brussels and Cauliflower with Hot Sauce

I was making Joe’s favorite tonight for dinner and unfortunately he was at work.  Luckily Bolognese reheats well so he’ll still enjoy it when he can.

Spaghetti Squash Bolognese and Asparagus

Meal Plan May 12- 18

I’m still trying to get the hang of meal planning.  Sometimes I’m really good and other times winging it seems easier, but winds up being tougher and harder on my wallet since we wind up eating out instead of foraging in the fridge.

Sun 12- Dinner provided by my sister in law

Mon 13- Spaghetti Squash Bolognese

Tues 14- Leftovers at work

Wed 15- Leftovers at work

Thurs 16- Pork Chops

Fri 17- Turkey Meatballs

Sat 18- Leftovers at work

Team

Happy Mother’s Day to those of you with children.  I like to think I’m a mom…to Black Cat of course.

Joe was in charge of solids this morning and I took care of liquids.

Bacon and Eggs By Joe

Juice by Me…Spinach, Kale, Cucumber, Ginger, Celery and Apple

 

I’m loving the juice, and so is Joe.  I think the juice is making me stronger…but maybe it’s just mental, since I am a little mental anyway.

Today’s WOD was super fun.  It was teams of 3.  We figured it was going to be a partner workout today since we usually do one a week and hadn’t done one so I asked Joe to be my partner last night.  He of course refused.  Then I asked again today and shockingly he let me!  I almost passed out.  So it was Joe, myself and another guy Joe does comp class with.

The WOD

• 400m Run
• 2x ME Ground to Overhead
• 30 Ring Body Rows
• 40 Toes 2 Bar
• 50 KB Swings (53/35)
• 120 Double Unders (360 singles if unable to do 3 doubles consecutively)
• 70 Walking Lunges with Plate Overhead (45/35)

So there were 6 teams of 3.  It went like this, 1st person goes through each modality as fast as possible.  When that person got back from the run the next person could start.  You kept moving through modalities but could never pass the person who started before you.  Your score was the time the last person finished everything and the weight from each team members heaviest lift.

The boys wanted me to start I requested to go last in fear I would be holding them up.  So they agreed and let me go last.  I did my run came back and took off the boys weight on the bar (we all had to share one bar per team).  I went with 95# for my lift since I was pretty positive I could do it with 2 trys.  I got it up easy peasy the first attempt so I decided I had nothing to lose if I didn’t get my next lift and might as well try the 100#.  I have done a 100# jerk before but I’ve never cleaned 100#.  The clean went well, landed perfectly on my shoulders, I didn’t take much time loaded my hip, dipped, drove up and split it.  Yup.  Stood it up perfectly.  This is where I think the juice is making me stronger haha.  By the time I was done with this Joe was done with ring body rows so I started right on them.  Rings were all set to the same height like regional standards and they were tough but I finished them up a few moments before Joe finished T2B.  I did my T2B quick but with breaks.  I moved right on to KB Swings.  Those were exhausting and my forearms felt like they were no longer part of my body but I finished them and got a little breather while Joe was finishing up his Doubles.  I did singles and they were just very tiring.  360 singles suck.  I had a few minutes before Joe finished the lunges so I got my plate ready.  That 35# plate killed me.  I should have done the lunges quicker but I was spent.  I finished them though.

Our team was middle of the road, which I’m happy with.  Our time was 31:42.  Our weight of combined best lifts was 435#.

It was so much fun.  I actually liked competing with a team, against teams.  Maybe because I was on a team with competitive people it made me more competitive and it was fun.  I most definitely worked harder than I would have if this was a solo WOD.  And I got a PR today so that’s awesome.

I had a protein shake post WOD and when lunch rolled around we heated up leftovers.

Sausage Hash, Cauliflower and Brussels

We watched the movie Argo this afternoon before heading out and it was so good.  Really a great movie.  Last night we watched This is 40.  It was freakin hysterical. Oh Paul Rudd I love you.

We headed over to my sister in laws house for dinner.  I had delicious clams and a burger.  And about 3 cocktails made with this…

Tequila Blanco, Seltzer, Limes

Probably my new favorite cocktail for sure.

I’m excited to watch the Revenge season finale.  Joe is not caught up so he is gonna suffer while I watch it and he has no idea what’s going on, but that’s what he gets for watching golf all day.

Carbs and A Challenge

I need them.

Especially before a WOD.

85# Hold (source)

If I am going to do anything for time, I need sugar.  A banana works sometimes, but other times I need starchier foods.  I made a big batch of breakfast hash yesterday and started my morning with it.

Sausage Breakfast Hash, Strawberries

It was pretty simple to make, reheats well and kept me fueled during the WOD.  I read a million “hash” recipes online and just decided to throw in whatever sounded good to me.

Sausage Breakfast Hash

• 1 lb ground pork
• 1 butternut squash
• 1 sweet potato
• 1/2 yellow onion
• 2 Tbs sausage seasoning (I made a mix at home with salt, italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, oregano and pepper)
• 1 Tbs Coconut Oil
• 2 tsp Minced Garlic

Shred raw squash and potato (I peeled them both first and used the shredder on my food processor).

Dice onion.

Mix seasoning into ground pork (works best if you use your hands).

Melt coconut oil in pan on medium heat.  Use a big pan this makes a lot of hash.  Saute garlic and onions until onions are translucent.  Add in meat.  Cook on medium heat stirring often until a little more than halfway cooked through.  Add shredded starches to pan, cover for about 5 minutes.  Finish cooking with cover off and stirring frequently until the squash and potato are to your liking (the pork should have all cooked through by now).  Eat.

This would also go good with a fried egg on top.

On to the WOD.

5 minute AMRAP

• 10 cartwheels (alt sides)
• 50 air squats

I got 146.  I kill it at cartwheels!  I guess everyone needs a strong skill, that one will be mine Ha!  Next

• 3x ME Barbell Holds 95#

I scaled for this since I have been feeling my OH lifts are garbage lately.  I went with 85#.  Those holds are killer.  My best time was 51 seconds.

Next up was a 12 minute AMRAP

• 6 Ring Dips
• 6 Push Ups
• 6 DB Squat Cleans (alt sides 35#)

I scaled for this and went with 25# DB.  For ring dips I used the stationary dip station, got through a few rounds on that and then had to move to the rings with my feet on a box.  I felt good during this WOD.  I wound up with 7 rounds and 10 reps.

I worked on butterfly pullups for a bit afterwards.  I can now do one.  It looks like this…feet and head circling, one attempt not high enough, get chin over bar on second attempt and then slow down and lose momentum.  Ha.  But I’m getting better.

The rest of my day was spent running around town.  I ate out and didn’t take photos, and it was most definitely not paleo and not even healthy.  One of those days I guess.

In an effort to get out of my funk I started this challenge…about 40 minutes ago-

Go 24 hours without complaining (not even once) Then watch how your life starts changing.