WODs & Well-Being

May 23, 2013 Like everyone else on the planet, there are some morning I find it hard to get out of bed. There are some days its hard to put on a "happy" face and walk around like I have everything together. There are times when I take a long hard look at where I am in my life and think "is this where I thought I would be." I havent always been a positive person, I have talked about that before. In fact, the "glass is always half full" people always seemed to find a way to piss me off because I felt like I was just treading in deep water constantly and going absolutely nowhere. I was so unhealthy. I may have looked like I had it together on the outside (to some... dont ask Hubs, he knows I was a walking headcase). I had more nights than I want to remember where I say at home and beat myself up over where I was in life, what I was doing, why I was stuck in a crappy job, why I couldnt afford to buy a house... I wouldnt sleep at night because as soon as...

May 5, 2013 Every day I wake up with the passion to push myself further. I know that I can be more than I am, that I have more potential, that I can challenge myself more. I don’t discount my accomplishments and the fact that I have reached goals and surpassed my expectations at times, but a life without new goals and new dreams would just be boring. There are things in my life that I have not accomplished yet (of course). Some things scare the crap out of me and that causes me to drag my feet like I am walking in quicksand. I have a tendency in my life to reach for the stars in all that I do… but occasionally that bit of fear gets the best of me, brings fourth the procrastinator and the self-doubt… the words “what if I don’t succeed” cross over my mind. Totally normal, but I know I have to kick my ass in gear and understand my own words. Failure is part of the process. Believe in yourself and you can do anything. Don’t try, and you will never be what you want to be. I use to...

May 3, 2013 Whats on the menu? Chicken Spinach and Prosciutto Bundles (find it HERE ) with Spinach, Strawberry and Avocado Salad (find it HERE ) How easy was it to make?   I have realized why people eat chicken so much... because its pretty easy to cook (after you get over the touching raw chicken thing, which I am doing really well at). I think now is the time to point out how NOT boring eating Paleo is. Now we could slap chicken and beef on a plate every day, but WHY?! There are so many great recipes out there. Give some of them a shot, one or two days a week make something out of the norm. Too many and you might get overwhelmed, but just TRY it sometimes. You wont be sorry (most of the time). Now, back to the question, it was pretty easy. I cut the fat off the boneless skinless chicken breasts and arranged them on the wax paper first, than did the mushrooms. I was trying to figure out hot to minimize the amount of times I had to touch the chicken and wash my hands. I...

April 18, 2013   WARMUP: 3 Rounds - Run 200m - 5 Ring Dips - 10 Inchworms - 10 Lunges TEAM: Clean & Jerk 3 X 1 @ 70% (130) 3 X 1 @ 80% (150) 3 X 1 @ 90% (165) 3 X 1 @ 93% (165) *no more than 60 sec between lifts STRENGTH: Back Squat 1 X 10 @ 70% (170) 1 X 5 @ 80% (195) 1 X 3 @ 90% (220) WOD: Snake Bite 12 Minute AMRAP - 10 Squat Snatch (95) - 10 Toes to Bar (3 + 15 Rx) .

April 16, 2013 WARMUP: 3 Rounds - Bear Crawl - 5 Pullups - 10 Inch Worms - 10 Jumping Squats - 10 Scorpions 1 Minute Shoulder Opener STRENGTH: 5 X 3 Push Press 115, 125, 135 WOD: Chaser 3 Rounds for Time - Run 200m - 10 Front Squats (5:08 Rx) TEAM: 3 Rounds NFT - 20 T2B - 10 GHD - 60 Sec Noes and Toes .

March 30, 2013 Today was a perfect example of the support, encouragement and motivation that oozes out of the walls at CrossFit Wachusett. You see. There is a trigger point in everyones brains that wants their bodies to stop when they are in pain, or distress... most of the time (when not in any danger) the body can do so much more than the mind will let it. Sometimes it just needs a little reminder to not give up, not give in and fight to the last second. Round 2 of 13.4 was on the agenda today for me. I knew it was going to be a tough one, but lets be honest... they have ALL been tough ones. I had a goal. I was going to fight for it. I was going to push and drive as hard as I could. I had to. I was counting on myself. The Open only has one more WOD after this... and I needed a good score. We had a plan going in. I talked to M and K and watched many more attempts by other people to see what a good strategy would be for the toes to bar. I know what I could do with clean and jerks...

March 28, 2013 What a morning it was. Last night Hubs and I had to work late so there was no sitting around waiting for the announcement of 13.4. When I got home Hubs (who was battling a major cold) was in bed. I quickly made my second dinner, yes, I am a hobbit in case you were wondering... grabbed my lap top and headed upstairs with dinner and a lap top to watch the announcement with him. In awe we watched Khalipa and Spealer go head to head in an epic battle of clean and jerks and toes to bars. They make it look so damn easy... at the same time that they make it look so damn hard! Is that possible? Go big or go home right? Well this morning it was a battle alright. Me and toes to bar are not exactly friends... but I was determined to make this one one of my best performances yet because clean and jerk happens to be one of my best crossfit friends, especially when they are 95lbs. This is what is called a "ladder" workout in crossfit. The sequence dosent have to be t...

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 12, 2013 There are good days, there are bad days. There are days that you wake up in the morning and before your feet even hit the floor you are thinking you should have stayed in bed... but there are also days that you never want to end because they are just perfect. Life wouldnt be life if there werent both types of days. I know I have a tendency to let things bother me that maybe shouldn't. I might have a sleepless night over something I cant control, or have a totally crappy afternoon because of one bad phone call or a hearing some crappy news during the day. What I have been working on teaching myself to do is put that stuff behind me. Let whatever it is happen, react and work on putting it in the past and focusing on the future. I am excited about where my life is going. I am excited about the things I have learned about myself and am still learning about myself. There is so much more life to live. WARMUP: 3 Rounds - Row 250 - 10 Spiderman - 10 Shoulde...

February 28, 2013 WARMUP: 3 Rounds - 20 Double Unders - 10 Toy Soldiers - 10 Shoulder Dislocates - 10 Jumping Lunges 1 X 9 Fundamentals SKILL: Work on Doube Unders Work on HSPU Work on Kipping Toes to Bar .

February 25, 2013 I couldnt let this one go without noting it. This past weekend The UFC made history for having their first womens fight! The fight was the headliner for the title and was between Ronda Rousey and Liz Carmouche. Rousey too the win in the final seconds of the first round... but I feel it was so much more than just a title win for her. Made strides for all women! I love it!     WARMUP: 3 Rounds - 2 X Gym Shuttle Run - 10 Spiderman - 10 Shoulder Dislocate - 10 Toy Soldiers - 10 Pushups SKILL:  Max Effort Toes to Bar (10) OLY: Clean and Jerk EMOTM for 10 Min 3 @ 70% - 145lb 3 @ 80% - 155lb 2 @ 90% - 165lb WOD: Shake Up 12 Minute AMRAP - 5 Ring Dip - 10 Jerk (95) - 15 Air Squats (6+5 Rx) .

February 22, 2013 Today was an interesting day for me in my training. I was really excited to see that we were going to do 1RM deadlift, as we havent since back sometime last fall. M made it perfectly clear that we were not to "over exert" as we have the open coming up and it takes weeks to come back from a real deadlift 1RM. I have had this arbritrary number of 300# in my head for months, the number that I want to hit for my deadlift. We set my lifts to be 150 for 5, 205 for 3, 255 for 1 than one shot at 300lbs. I failed. You know what... thats ok. I have come to realize that there is so much  more to this whole thing than just numbers. Its so important to be well rounded and have the ability to not only lift a lot but to be able to compete metcons and pull and push my body weight quickly. In the last few months while I have not been focused on the deadlift I added 30+ lbs to my clean and jerk, 20lbs consistently to my snatch and taken minutes off of my times in girl W...

January 30, 2013 So, yesterday I happened to stumble back onto the “Run for the Diamonds” facebook page. I “liked” it when I had signed up for it looking to see if there were any tips for running oodles and oodles of miles… or perhaps what the course might be like. However, I found it to be a pretty stagnant page that occasionally someone posted something on (having nothing to do with the run).   As it got closer there were some posts about counting down the days and how excited people were. Finally race day, people were posting how inspiration it was to see all the runners, people posted pictures of people they knew and tagged the page so they appeared there… Other than that, it hasn’t moved much. I noticed that there was a post (because FB likes to tell me these things without my asking) that said “the finish line photos are up.” Oh boy. I never did write a post about the run. I was sort of in a blogging slump back in November/December. Things were going really well for me ...

January 24, 3013 It is no surprise that I do a lot of reading on CF stuff. I am subscribed to many FB pages with inspirational and motivational things to keep my mind moving forward. Every day I seem to come across another blog or page geared towards the same dreams and hopes I have for myself and that I write about in my own blog. Whats great is when I read what is written in other places about CrossFit I find myself nodding my head in agreement with everything they are saying... which is great! At least I know I am doing something right! I do realize that my blog isnt very "original" in the grand scheme of things... however everything I write comes from my mind even if it was inspired by something I have seen or read. I saw this on Journal Menu's FB page (which you should go over and "like" right now if you havent already...) and I had to share it. It hits home in so many ways and is EXACTLY how I feel about the crossfit community. Many of us are tryi...

January 23, 2013 WARMUP: 3 Rounds - Row 250m - 5 Pushups - 10 Ring Rows - 10 Inchworms - 10 Shoulder Dislocates - 10 Grasshopper Couch Stretch 2 Min Each Leg WOD: Richie Rich 3 Rounds for Time - 10 Chest to Bar - 20 KB Swings (1pd) - 30 Box Jumps (20") (10:05 Rx) SKILL/STRENGTH: Midline 3 Rounds - 10 Toes to Bar - 10 GHD - 10 Hollow Rock .

January 12, 2013 WARMUP: 30 Double unders 2 Rounds - 10 Lunges - 10 Shoulder Dislocates - 5 Ring Row - 5 Wall Ball SKILL/STRENGTH - Snatch Work, light weight, lots of technique - Clean Work, light weight, lots of technique - Double Unders  10 X 30 (all unbroken!) - 3 X 5 Pullups - 3 X 5 Toes to Bar (working kip) .

January 8, 2013 Hubs bought me a new rope for Christmas... it is kicking the crap out of me! The rope of course... I go off and on getting and losing my double unders. I dont know what it is but for some reason I just cant "relax" and jump. I know what I have to do, I know how to do it... and I know I can do it. Its SO.DAMN.FRUSTRATING. Today could have been disastrous... yesterday during the warmup I couldnt even string together 2 double unders. Thankfully, when we were doing some warmup drills getting loose and practicing double unders I was able to calm myself to get them. Looks like I have yet another thing to add to the list of "what needs work." I know I can do it, I know I can do them... just like everything else, it takes time and dedication. If you want it, you work at it and you get it. Plain and simple... ... even if I look like I lost a fight with a cat and have whip marks all over my shins and forarms... I will win that fight some day! WA...

November 27, 2012 WARMUP: 3 Rounds - 200m Run - 10 Ring Rows - 10 Spiderma - 10 Broad Jumps - 10 ATW WOD: Gas Pedal 3 Rounds for Time - Row 500m - 20 Toes to Bar - 1 Minute Rest (12:57 Rx) OLY: 1 Clean Every 30 Sec for 6 Minute 130lbs .

November 19, 2012 22 Days of Thanks 2012 - Day 19 I am thankful for the local food pantry. Tonight I took some time after work to volunteer at the food pantry in Devens MA.My office did this last year and I wrote about my experiences. It was such a eye opening night for me that I really wanted to do it again. This is the same organization that we ran the 5K road race for a few weeks ago. I was thrilled when I found out that I wasnt going to miss the date to volunteer for my trip for Thanksgiving. Again it was one of the most humbling and rewarding things I have been able to take part in. I am really looking forward to heading over there for their Christmas date this year. Already all signed up!   Take a moment to think about your local food pantries at this time of year... and all times of the year.  WARMUP: 3 Rounds - Jump Rope Circuit - 10 Air Squats - 10 Scorpions - 10 Back Extensions - 1 Rope Climb WOD: Open 12.3 18 Minute AMRAP - 15 Box Jumps (20) -...

October 31, 2012 WARMUP: 3 Rounds - Run 200m - 10 Step Ups - 10 Abmat Situps - 5 Pullups - 5 Inchworms Pigeon Stretch WOD: Goblin 12 Minute AMRAP - 6 OH Squat (65) - 9 Toes to Bar - 12 Burpees (6 Rx) OLY: 1 RM Clean 10 minutes 95, 125, 145, 155, 165 .