Friday Favourites

1. These individual oatmeal bakes from Sugar Free Mom. When I made the recipe I ended up with way more than she did, plus I added cranberries to the batter.  But these are fabulous and filling, especially warmed with a bit of maple syrup. Divine.

2. My new Run:Pacesetter Skirt from Lululemon.  I’ve wanted a running skirt for a while, just because they are so cute. This is the one I got (please excuse my fantastic iPhone photo and wicked lighting. I swear I do know how to take pictures)

I love this pattern

I wore this skirt combined with the Cool racerback tank to CrossFit on Wednesday. It was fun to clean and jerk 90lbs wearing pink and a skirt (and my silver sparkle BIC Band).  Who says you can’t look cute while lifting weights?

Awkward smile, check!

3. Running! I don’t think I’m going to make it out for my second run this week, I probably ran a little harder than I should have on Tuesday and I’m afraid to hurt myself by pushing for a second day.  Or I’m a wimp.  Either way, it was so awesome to slap on my Garmin and actually get out and do a real running workout. Yay running!

Another awkward smile, and now complete with windblown hair. I'm a class act

4. We have mourning doves that are living on our porch.  They pirated a nest that other birds had built but never used last year.  The Mrs bird is always in the nest, while her Mr comes and goes, bringing her food and company, I guess.  I named them Pierre and Margaret Trudeau, and this joke is probably only funny to Canadians, and probably then only to people who remember anything about politics from high school. And clearly I need to learn to write in less run-on sentences.

The love birds (I know they aren't really love birds)

5. Fringe.  Fringe is one of my favourite shows of all time.  Yes I realize this makes me a science fiction nerd, but that is a whole other post in and of itself.  There is a huge social media campaign happening by the show’s fans to bring attention to the popularity of the show to Fox Broadcasting, and so far it seems to be working. Last week the hashtag on Twitter was #WhereYouBelong, and Fox even got on board and displayed the hastag during the episode.  This week the hastag is #ChangeYourWorld.  Watch for it on Twitter and, if you can or want to, please RT and help support this undervalued, awesome show. The world needs more Fringe, and way less reality TV.  Check out Fringenuity for more information on the current campaign.

Have a great Friday and an even better weekend! See ya next week!

Getting Back in the (Running) Saddle

As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been dealing with ITB syndrome and have been to physio (from which I graduated!).  I’ve been slowly introducing short runs (400-800m) as warm ups and cool downs at CrossFit and they have been going really well.  Minus the fact that apparently I have lost all my cardiovascular ability in the few weeks I haven’t been running.

I’ve been afraid to try going longer distances, or running for more time, as I’m afraid that my knee will start to hurt again and I’ll just be back in that depressed place I was a few months ago.  But really, it’s time to push that fear aside and start running again.  And now I have a plan!

(Source)

I think I posted before about wanting to try CrossFit Endurance as a running plan, both for fitness as well as training.  I finally sat down this morning and wrote out a training schedule that I think will work really well for me.  I will have to modify it a bit as I get stronger as I like to do long runs, and I don’t think that, for me, 10km as the longest run will have me adequately prepared for a potential half marathon in the future.  Right now I want to focus on getting back in the saddle, and running 3 times a week, and maybe (hopefully) getting a bit faster.  And I think that CFE is perfect for this goal, at this time.

Also…if the next few weeks go well I will be signing up for The Limberlost Challenge, a trail race in July! I’m aiming to just do the 14km race as I’ve never done a trail race or run anything over 16km before.  The idea of a trail race really appeals to me, as it’s more about just finishing and getting through it, rather than how fast you completed it.  Running on trails, in the woods and by lakes is a huge bonus, too!

So fingers crossed my knees and ITB syndrome behave themselves so that I can get to training for that race.

This is what my first week of CFE training will look like:

Tuesday: 9 x (1:00 on, 1:00 off), 1:00 at 95% max effort.  
                    Yoga
Wednesday: CrossFit
Thursday: 5 min on, 2:30 min off, 6:00 min on, 3:00 min off, 7:00 min
                      CrossFit (if time)
                      Yoga
Friday: CrossFit

I work all weekend so will not be attempting the “long” run this weekend, as I’ll either be working or sleeping.  And besides, I’m just easing back into running and I think that these 2 workouts will be just fine for that.  I can adjust the effort as needed, at least at this point.  Next week I’ll do the full 3 workouts – the longer run is a 5K time trial which will be a great “long run” distance for me as I get back into this running thing.

Wish me luck!

Dear CrossFit Games 2013 – Watch Out, I’m Getting Better

I know I haven’t written in a while (again) but I don’t like feeling *forced* to produce a blog post.  I find the blogs that post multiple times a day or even many times a week to sometimes be “fake”.  I suppose to some degree everyone has an online persona but they all seem the same.  I don’t want to become something I’m not, in order to increase blog traffic or twitter followers or more “likes”.  I want to blog for me, and to share information with others. The blogs I love don’t follow a “format”, don’t post what they eat every day all day, and have an attitude and aren’t afraid to speak their minds.  They are interesting, and stimulating, and make me think or learn each and every time I read.  That’s what I want this blog to be (one day…).

That being said the last few weeks have been very busy.  I spent the week after my DNF half marathon working at a horse farm so needless to say I was not only sore but super tired.

Cold, snowy week at the barn

During that time I also got sick and didn’t complete 12.3, and then I worked the weekend of 12.4 and just didn’t do it.  It’s not that I didn’t want to, but I think I realize just how much I have to work on to even properly compete in the CrossFit Games.  So now I have my list of things to work on for next year’s games:

- strength and form for Oly and power lifts.  I bought Rippetoe’s “Starting Strength” and I plan on programming myself a strength program starting this summer. I’m also going to make a real effort to attend my gym’s Oly lifting class when I’m not working. Can’t wait to get back there next Wednesday.

A little "light" reading. Bring on the PRs

- gymnastic type movements.  I still can’t do a kipping pull up, so this is my immediate goal.  We are having a gym event on April 21 and I really want to do it prescribed, so that’s my deadline for learning the kip.  I need to get better at push ups and sit ups as well, as well as toes to bar.  Increasing core strength will help me overall anyway.  Muscle ups are NOT in my future, at least not at this point.

- nutrition.  I know I don’t eat properly a lot of the time, and although I can’t fully commit to a Paleo diet I do plan on eating a lot cleaner over the next year.  I did join Weight Watchers again 2 weeks ago, in an effort to lose the “last 15 lbs” but it’s already a struggle to eat less while working out more.  We’ll see how this goes.

- commit to the gym 4-5 times a week, minimum.  I’ve gotten back up to 4 regularly, and did 5 last week (I also just finished my 4th day in a row). The more I’m in the gym, the better I’ll get.

So those are my “CrossFit Goals”.  Let’s see if I can stick to them this time around.  I’ll need to kick my own ass to get better.

Happy Monday, everyone

What are your goals to improve in your sport? How do you stick to them?

Musical Motivation – CrossFit Open WOD 12.2

As I posted yesterday, this is the workout for WOD 12.2 of the Open:

Proceed through the sequence below completing as many reps as possible in 10 minutes of:

30 Snatch (M 75 / F 45 lbs)
30 Snatch (M 135 / F 75 lbs)
30 Snatch (M 165 / F 100 lbs)
Max Rep Snatch (M 210 / F 120 lbs)

This workout begins from the standing position. The athlete will complete all reps at the first weight before advancing to the next weight. Score is total reps completed in 10min.

I’m not super strong on this lift, so I’m unsure if I’ll even be able to get any of the 75lb ones, but I sure am going to try!  The following are a couple of songs that I plan on having on my playlist when I tackle this WOD later this morning!

“Soldiers”, by Otherwise

Best lyrics:
We are the ones who will not go unspoken
No we will not sleep, we are not sheep
We are soldiers

Next up: “Bangarang” by Skrillex

There is some swearing in this song but overall there really aren’t many lyrics.  It’s the general feel of the song that is so kick ass.

Finally, we have “The Enemy” by Godsmack

An oldie but a goodie. Best lyrics (there is some swearing in this song, too):
I am realizing that everybody’s lost their simple way
And now that it’s here, I see it all so clearly
I’ve come face to face with the enemy, the enemy

Hope you enjoy the music, and I hope it pushes me through WOD 12.2!!
 

Friday Five

1. Got my bloodwork back from the doctor on Wednesday – and of course nothing can ever be straight forward with me! So a few months ago I noticed pain and swelling in one of my index fingers.  It eventually went away but then came back in other joints and fingers on both hands.  My doctor is testing me for rheumatoid arthritis, which is an autoimmune disorder where the body attacks the joints.  It can manifest in hands, elbows, hips, knees, and feet, among other places.

My bloodwork was fairly inconclusive – out of all the factors they tested, 3 were elevated but this can be normal in about 10% of the population according to my doc (although, for example, one of the normals was 1 and my reading was 8!!).  I had some x-rays of my hands today and have an appointment with a specialist in a few months, so hopefully we’ll be able to figure all of this out fairly quickly.

2. WOD 12.2 of the CrossFit Open was posted on Wednesday night:

10 minute AMRAP:
30 snatches at 45 lbs
30 snatches at 75 lbs
30 snatches at 100 lbs
As many as possibly at 120lbs

This is a snatch:

The 45 will be easy – I’m just hoping to be able to get at least one 75lb’er tomorrow! I was SO CLOSE tonight!

3. Physio was kinda fun on Thursday – minus the pain when she rolled out my IT band.  I enjoy being attached to the machine that tingles my knees while they are being iced.  I nearly fell asleep.  I also got some exercises to do at home to strengthen my glutes and quads.

4.  I’m still sad I’m missing my race on Sunday. But I’m not dwelling on it anymore. I’ve got other things to worry about (hello, 75lb snatch!!!)

5. So we got Bubba back tonight. His mom was diagnosed with ovarian cancer earlier this week and we are going to watch him for a few months for her until she gets a better handle on her health.  I’d appreciate prayers for her if you can spare them.

Sorry for the lack of photos, it’s been a long week! I’ll post my Snatch Motivation Music tomorrow morning before I head on over to the gym.  Wish me luck.

Have a great weekend!