WODs & Well-Being

April 23, 2013 One of the most important "rules" that I have for myself is not to compare myself to anyone else. This can be quite the challenge at times. This applies both in an out of the gym. Clearly I believe in the importance of goal setting. Of course I feel like you should have someone to look up to, that you can strive to be like. Yes, its important to have people at your gym that challenge you and push you to work hard because you know your skill sets are similar. But if you start to compare yourself to people its a slippery slope. There are lots of things in life that determine who we are. In crossfit there are lots of things that determine where we are in our training. Not only our physical strength, but our emotional strength as well. You can take to people who are the same weight with the same measurements and close to the same lifts and their mindset can be very very different. This plays a HUGE roll in their performance. You can take two people who have b...

April 22, 2013 I have been trying to think of a way to write about the tragedy that began unfolding just one week ago today in Boston… I didn’t put it on hold on purpose, I just couldn’t sit down and put together the words I wanted to use to express my feelings. Writers block dosent happen often for me, as I write directly from my thoughts, but in this case I wasn’t even sure what I was thinking.   Boston. The Boston Marathon. Boylston Street. Patriots Day. All such familiar words, words that I have connected to for many years for various reasons. Those reasons have of course changed over the years. Boston was the place we went to on field trips in elementary school to go to the aquarium and over time in my eyes became the hub of a social scene, the heart of Massachusetts, where I went to school, where I worked for a time, where I had lots of very special moments. The Boston Marathon was an event I got to watch on TV as a child, thinking that these people we...

March 22, 2013 So, a few weeks ago (four actually) I decided it would be a really nice treat if I was to stop at the store on my way home and grab some stuff and surprise Hubs with a really great dinner when he got home from the gym. He cooks almost everything that we consume in this house, with the exception of anything baked and the occasional meal I might have to create when he isnt home... that is of course when he hasnt already prepped something and had it in the fridge for me (yes, I do know how lucky I am in case you were wondering). Having said all that, you can understand why I thought it would be nice to surprise him for a change! That I did... and he loved what I made!! It was pork, and it was cooked PERFECTLY (I had done some major damage on pork I tried to cook years ago and never tried again). I was really happy and so was he! The next weekend, it snowed. We were stuck at home for the day and went to the gym late. We had invited some friends over for dinner. Hubs had...

February 21, 2013 ... they will come! I went into the gym for my skill session tonight knowing there are still two very LARGE goats in my life. 1. Handstand Pushups 2. Chest to Bar Pullups One thing is for sure... even though I am not the greatest at handstand pushups... I have come a long way... WARMUP: 3 Rounds - Jump Rope Circuit - 10 Spiderman - 20 Abmat Situps - 10 Around the World Stretch SKILL: Handstand Pushups 10X5 Chest to Bar 10+5 .

January 11, 2012 WARMUP: 3 Rounds - 20 Double Unders - 5 Pullups - 10 Inchworms - 15 Air Squats Pigeon Stretch STRENGTH/SKILL Front Squat (Based off 215lb 1RM) 1 X 5 @ 75% - 160 2 X 5 @ 80% - 170 2 X 3 @ 85% - 180 1 X 2 @ 95% - 200 WOD: Chill Stop 4 Rounds for Time - 15 HSPU (first 10 Rx, remainder with 1 abmat) - 30 Jumping Squats (45lbs) - 250m Row (3 + 5) .

September 26, 2012 WARMUP: Row 500m 3 Rounds - 5 Ring Rows - 10 Spiderman - 5 Medball Clean - 10 Shoulder Dislocates - 5 Pistols Row 250m WOD: TABATA HSPU - 14 Pullup - 40 Back Extension - 75 Situps - 91 SKILL/STRENGTH: - 3X3 Rope Climbs - 50 Hollow Rocks (day 17) .

September 15, 2012 Ahhhh, Saturdays. I love Saturday mornings at the gym. I usually get a little more sleep than normal, I get to have a little coffee and "awake" time before heading over and since I dont have a time constraint (most of the time) so its a totally different feeling than 5:30am. On Thursday night M had posted a "challenge" on the board. He, K and another CFWer had completed it and when I was looking at it on the board he posed the challenge to me as well. Told him that I would go for it on Saturday... so today was the day! I woke up thinking about "The 7's" and I knew that I was not going to back away from this challenge. For some reason, I was nervous about this one. I think I was just letting it get the best of me. I knew after talking to K and M that it was pretty deceiving the way it is written on the board. I mean you look at it and think, well, that cant be THAT bad. Than you quickly remember that when a CrossFit workout doesnt...

September 1, 2012 Here we go!! If you have it, keep it... if you are working on it... work harder and if you dont have it yet... there is no better time than now! I have been so inspired lately with the Garage Games coming up to continue to work hard, stay focused and really push myself to be the best that I can be. I am not one to typically give excuses, skip workouts our half ass my workouts, but being a part of this competition with so many great athletes has really made me step up my mind game. Hubs and I are continuing our sugar detox and paleo chalenge and both are feeling really good. Our head are up and our minds are determined to be the best that we can be. A week from today 10 of us from CFW will represent at  Garage Games!! This week I didnt get much of a rest day, or even an active recovery day because I wanted to test out the running WOD on Thursday night. I took advantage of today at the gym and just did my deadlift that I missed Thursday (to keep up with my...

August 30, 2012 I was feeling pretty nostalgic yesterday and decided to look back at some of my old posts. I am so happy that I started writing as soon as I started crossfit. Not only is it nice to go back and be able to see my weights and times of previous workouts, but I also can really go back into my own mind when I wrote those posts and feel those feelings all over again. I can remember what each one of those feelings were like including every struggle and every accomplishment. Its almost like I can look back and relive what I went through and use it as fuel to keep moving forward. For every struggle I had, I had a learning experience and for every PR I had a humbling moment, its pretty cool to have a written reminder of that. Yesterday was a struggle day. I was so extremely happy with myself that I had got my ONE handstand pushup that I totally passed over the fact that I did all those squats… and the entire second WOD. I took some time to reflect on that when I got hom...

July 31, 2012 What would life be like if it was "fair?" I can clearly remember asking my parents if it was ok if I could go for a ride in my friends boyfriends car when he got his license and we were only 15. When the response was "absolutely not," my witty teenage whine "but Dad, thats not fair" came out without a second thought. I knew he was doing what was right for me... and keeping himself and my mom sane in the mean time... but I didnt understand it, it just didnt seem fair that someone else's parents didnt have the same rules as mine. When I was a senior in high school, I qualified for the State Championship for throwing the discus. My coach decided to have a Junior, who also qualified, fill the spot because she was "more consistent" than I was. I thought it was totally unfair that I was a senior and this was my last chance, and I got shafted for someone who would have another chance the next year. I had been so excited that I qu...

July 23, 2012 Today was a rough day. A perfect reminder as to why I choose to live the lifestyle that I do 99% of the time. Alas there is that small 1% of the time when I let myself go a little more than usual, yesterday, one of those days!! Hubs and I had an excellent day up at Salisbury Beach with our friend KP, T, H and their families (we missed you J).  When we arrived I was a little stressed, had an emotional morning and KP said the magic words "would you like a margarita?" After a FABULOUS day, lots of well needed laughs and smiles, quite a few drinks, some delicious ribs an antipasto salad and sun, sand and sparklers Hubs and I needed to head home because we had to work today. Let me tell you something... I had to be in work at 6:30am to leave with my big boss and another co worker for a meeting... and wow... I was feeling those beverages, thats for sure!! After only a few hours of sleep (more like passing out) and not enough water I was a hurtin unit. The car ride...

WARMUP: Row 500m 3 Rounds - 10 Spiderman - 10 Around the Worlds - 10 Toy Soldiers - 10 Squat Lands Row 500m Pigeon Stretch WOD: "Stellar" - 10 Wall Balls (14lbs) - 10 Bentover Rows (45 lbs) - 2 Gym Sprints (down and back = 1) (11 + 19 Rx) SKILL/STRENGTH HSPU 3X3 with 1 Abmat Killing Pullup Practice 10X3 Fish Game - 1470 .

February 11, 2012 Hubs handed me an article... its from the CrossFit Journal by Ben Bergeron and is titled "Think Like a Bumblebee, Train Like a Racehorse." Somehow seems like these types of things come into my life right when I need them most. We are training for the opens so every day I am thinking about how I can get better, how I can improve and what skills I need work on most. Saturdays are either a makeup WOD day or a skill day for me typically and since I have a tendency to put off the skills I need to work on, I really wanted to go in there and work on them some more. I have had some good progress the last few weeks. Back to the article, what does it mean? Well... they compare CrossFit athletes to bumblebees and racehorses... isnt that obvious? The bumblebee... the worker... defying all odds to fly. The mass of its body shouldn't be able to be carried by its tiny wings. However, it does. It works, it keeps going it never gives up. The racehorse... the ath...

January 9, 2012 Today is the first day of the "Paleo Challenge." Thats 6 weeks of strict Paleo for hubs and I. No, I am not pregnant (even though you wont see me drink for the next 6 weeks). No, this is not something we "have" to do... this is something we are choosing to do. The rules have been set by CrossFit Wachusett. There is a prize, but honestly, its not the prize that is my motivation for this one. Its a personal challenge, its a mental challenge and the satisfaction and results that will come from it are more than any physical prize I can be given. Whats the change? Hubs and I already pretty much eat Paleo already... Why change things up? Well because there is always room for improvement and currently we allow ourselves at least one "not so paleo" meal a week and occasionally we "stretch" the rules. We allow ourselves some sugars, protein powder outside of a 1/2 an hour of our workout and of course, there is the alcohol. We have s...

October 14, 2011 This morning was really different and FUN at the gym! Not only did I have company for my 5:30am workout... but today it was KP!! Like I said in my post the other day, she and I work really well together! Having another crossfitter there with me adds something different to my workout, but more than ever when someone like KP is there because I know that she and I have been neck and neck for a few workouts so we use each other as fuel to keep pushing! I got to bed a little late last night and had a hard time sleeping, so it was a shocker when my alarm went off this morning. I wanted to hit snooze so bad, but I know once I get out of bed and start moving I am fine. I made my way downstairs got my shaker and my water and off to CFW I went. Thank god its Friday! I didnt get a chance to look at the WOD last night, and K was writing it up when I got there. So I started the warmup. My legs are still a little sore from wall balls, cleans a...

September 23, 2011 What a nice change. I had originally planed to take today off and head to the cape, but one thing lead to another, plans changed and I was blessed with a Friday off and no plans. What a wonderful thing. Not only did it allow me to sleep in a bit, but it allowed me to head to CFW for 7:30am rather than 5:30am... its amazing what 2 extra hours of sleep does for me. I worked late last night and had another meeting, so when I got home at 10:00pm I checked the website. For the first time in a few weeks I wasnt sure what every exercise in the WOD was. I was excited to try something new! So after sleeping in a little later than usual I headed over to see what K had in store for me. It was great to see double unders in the warmup. I am really happy with my progress with them and the more I do them the better I am going to get at them. The first set of 25 in the warmup I did wound up doing more than necessary because I didnt want to stop when I got on a roll. I think I ...

September 2, 2011 Dear A-Hole Telemarketer that called Hub's Cell at 1:30am, I do not appreciate getting woken up at 1:30am to tell us that there was unauthorized use of a "Mastercard" that we do not even have. My alarm is going to go off at 5:00am for me to go get my ass kicked at crossfit and if you happen to call again in the middle of the night I am going to be VERY angry. Trust me, you dont want to make me angry... Your Unhappy NON-Customer and 5:45am Crossfitter, Sarah http://www.coverbrowser.com/covers/bestselling-comics-2006/27 Yeah.... so thats how my night went. Anyway. It was a struggle to get up this morning. Its funny how when I have a day off I think all day how I feel like I am missing something, yet the next morning I cant seem to get myself moving. The alarm went off and I laid there... and honestly the first thing that pops into my head (and I am not just saying this for the sake of my blog) is... "Get up, get moving, you want this....