Swim WOD

Yes... I finally bit the bullet. I did it. It wasn't as grand as I had hoped but next time will be better! I'm just glad I got through it without anyone asking questions or getting kicked out of the pool. :) The video is of the 4th set of thrusters. I did 5 RFT of 50 yard freestyle and 10 thrusters. It was a good one! Looking forward to hitting it again soon with friends!

Crack o' Dawn

Calm before the storm.

I get up early. Usually I'm up around 3:30am. I'm not sure why or if it is "good for me" but I wake up early. In my defense, I work east coast hours (I live on the west coast). During the week, I also coach the 5am class two days per week. Since cutting the junk from my diet (going Paleo), I wake up READY TO ROLL. I feel good, my brain is functioning, my body is rested, and it is go time.

This morning was a little different... I woke up even earlier. It might be because I just got back from a trip to the east coast so my body just thinks it is on eastern standard time? Not sure? I love it though. My house is so quiet. I was able to  work for a few hours before going into the box. I rocked my work. I mean, I killed it this morning. So productive.

Then I drove to the box to coach my 5am class. I LOVE being the first one there. I unlock the door. I turn on the lights. I set the stage for what is about to go down there all day long. It is quiet. It is peaceful. It is perfect. It is full of possibilities. It just screams, "Come and get it."

Within 15 minutes, people start trickling in the door... some half asleep. It is funny because we all know that  half asleep feeling won't last for long. And shortly after, there is "3-2-1-GO!" and all the quiet is gone. The peace is filled with sounds of effort. Work is being done. People are pushing themselves, some are succeeding and some are pushing themselves to failure. When the storm is over, all are stronger, all are braver, all are better for waking up so early. Anything their day throws at them is nothing compared to what they've already done. So bring it "today". You got nothing on me. I own you. Today is MY day.

Goals

Goals... I'm not sure I technically have any. Well, at least not "CrossFit" goals. At one time, I did. Then due to life, things kinda got derailed, and now I'm not so sure where I stand anymore. I mean, I have certain things that I would love to have happen... Snatch 100#? Yes, please! String together pull-ups in sets of 20? Sure! But as far as true goals go... I'm more focused on family, friends, and the world around me. What can I do to improve these aspects of my life? I can be a good role model. I can always try to take the high road. I'm not saying that I'm perfect (I'm completely aware that I'm not even close to perfect!) but if I'm put in a situation where my actions or decisions are questioned, I can always "check" myself. Was my decision made with good intentions? Was it made with a good heart? Is it something that I can be proud of? If the answer to any of these self check questions is "no", I own it. No need in trying to make excuses, I just hope whatever it was is something that others can look past and forgive me.

I can also be my best me. This has been a tough one that I'm still navigating. I always thought I was a good person; always trying to do it all and help others whenever I can. I'm learning that this isn't always a good thing. It comes at a price. Nothing good for me or anyone around me comes from spreading myself too thin. It usually leads to stress, guilt, unrealistic expectations, and sometimes failure. I've been there for the last year or so. I'm just now learning how to say "No", limit my expectations (of myself and others), and to celebrate the most minor of baby steps towards progress. Those baby steps eventually add up to giant leaps. You gotta start somewhere if you want to move forward. Usually the hardest place is at the beginning - choosing to start.

So for the past year, I've been working on cutting back. Focusing my time and energy on the things and people that matter the most. This has included CrossFit in some ways (I'm there multiple times per week, trying my best.) but in other ways, I've let some of CrossFit go. Everyone states that the community is the best part of CrossFit... so much so that it feels like family. In ways, that is true. It is probably a lot of what has kept me coming back for more. The influence of CrossFit family is a true force in the world. I've written about it before.

"The more I thought about it, the more I realized that a lot of my obsession with CrossFit has to do with the relationships that I’ve formed as a result of CrossFit. There’s something amazing about the journey taken together by CrossFitters... We sweat, we share pain, we sometimes bleed, we cry, and occasionally we even carry each other. I’m not saying that we literally pick each other up and carry ourselves around (although in some WODs, we do!) but we “carry” each other. We all have our weaknesses, we all have our insecurities, we all have that “thing” that we’re self concious about. In some weird way, all those “things” have the ability to disappear when we walk into the box if we let them. If you’re ready to embrace your weakness, expose it, and let others “carry” you, your insecurities and weaknesses will disappear. We’re all here to better ourselves in every way, the amazing thing is that we often better each other without even realizing it. While the concept of CrossFit and individual WODs can be done solo in a globo-gym, what sets us apart is the miracle that takes place everytime we hear “3-2-1 Go!”. We work hard for ourselves and often we work harder for those around us. This community has the potential to conquer amazing things when we’re together and improve lives in ways that stretch far beyond imrpoved physical fitness. We actively decide to show up every day to work hard for ourselves AND each other."

It is truly a miracle what we can do when we all come together for a common goal. I urge everyone to to keep in mind how strong we can be as a whole. All inclusive, together, we can do whatever our hearts desire. That's power.

So kudos to everyone out there working on whatever is important to you. If you CrossFit or not! If you're focusing on your grades, being a better husband or wife, whatever! And... when you PR something important to you, please stop by here and let me know. I'd love to celebrate the baby steps you've taken along your journey.

I realize this is a cluster of writing with little focus. Take it for what it is... a cluster. This is me. This is my life at the moment. Chose to love me or don't. Bacon.

Choose to be awesome. 

Changing It Up!

Guess what? You never know what you like or what you don't like until you try it. Sometimes we choose to make a change and sometimes life just hits us like a sledgehammer and the next thing we know, changes have been made... whether we wanted them or not.

My friend, Michelle, actively chose to make a change. She's an amazingly strong woman, wife, and mother. Years ago, she was overweight. I'm not sure what changed inside of her to cause her to pursue a healthier lifestyle but one day she made the choice. I'll let the photo results speak for themselves. This was achieved by exercise (some CrossFit too but not entirely) and Paleo/Primal nutrition.

Michelle, before and after!

Here is Michelle's story in her own words.

"In December of 2000 I topped the scale at 328#, the doctor wrote on my chart "morbidly obese" in bright red pen. In January of 2001 I started following a program called Body-for-Life and slowly and at times VERY painfully losing weight. And when I say painfully I don't mean physical pain. The emotional process of losing excess baggage is far my trying that beating yourself up in the gym everyday. Two years ago I wanted to try something different as my workouts had gotten kind of boring. I started CrossFit. I'm proud to say that I love it, it scares the crap out of me more often than not and it's made me a better, tougher and more thoughtful person. A day doesn't go by where there isn't a struggle, whether it's with the barbell, some food I want to eat but shouldn't or whether or not I should enjoy a glass of wine. But compare those decisions with someone going into treatment for Cancer, having heart surgery or some debilitating disease, I've got it easy. Today, over 12 years later I wake up and see that father time is now chasing me down but you know what??? At 49 I am in much better shape that I was at 39! Chase on old man time, I'll keep running from you until I'm in the ground. For all of you ladies out there.... come on and run with me!! We've got nothing to lose but flab and we're never too old to reach for amazing!"

You can see why I'm so proud of her and why it is my privilege to call her a friend. Michelle's story isn't over... She recently went on a girls mini vacation with some of her healthy friends. Even while she was on vacation, she stayed true to her clean eating and exercise (part of their vacation was attending the CrossFit Games in the Southeastern Region!). On her second day there, she suffered from a massive migraine headache which she hasn't suffered from in years. The only trigger she could think of to cause it was a small "indulgence" in a single serving of greek yogurt. This event paved the way to her latest experiment in learning about nutrition... a cleanse.

Again, in her own words, she explains why.

"We are all clean eaters in some form or fashion and we pretty much stuck to our normal foods. However, on day two I began to break out in hives. I narrowed it down to the two foods I thought were the culprits. I left in Greek yogurt because secretly I adore it and refuse to admit I could have any type of food sensitivity. Well lets just say by Wednesday of the glorious vacation I was wrecked with hives. I ended up at the Minute Clinic and with a prescription for prednisone.

All that being said, my system has been completely out of whack for what is now my second week after returning from vacation. What to do, what to do?

After consulting a friend who is very well versed in the art of nutritional cleansing, I've taken the leap and decided to do a full nine-day cleanse. A cleanse you say? Yes indeed. At this point a cleanse simply cannot hurt me any further than what I'm already going through."

When she first told me this, I'll admit, I cringed a little. I was thinking... "Oooo... Really? What in the hell are you thinking? Where will you get your protein?" But being a good friend (or at least I'd like to think I'm a good friend), I fully supported her. After all, it is only nine days. Even if it was a COMPLETE disaster, it wouldn't hurt for too long.

Michelle's cleanse journey has been interesting! You can read all about it on her blog, "Garage Gym 107" . She's about done with it and while I don't know the full results yet (she'll be blogging about that on Monday), it has been successful for her. Her writing about the cleanse, life, and finding a pair of jeans that fit her has been entertaining and educational! She admits that even if this experiment had been a failure, sometimes you just gotta change things up to shock your body into adapting. Good or bad, you always learn something by changing your habits. It takes courage and Michelle is a courageous person.

Strong

Michelle at the CF South East Region Games

What did you learn from the 2011 CF Games?

I’m not a competitive person. Sometimes I am jokingly competitive and I have even told someone I’m going head-to-head with during a WOD to “Bring it!” (Cade!). While it is fun for me to competitively joke around sometimes, competition is something I usually shy away from. I’ve been a competitive athlete before and during that time in my life, it wasn’t fun. Eventually I became burnt out and I gave up my sport because I didn’t enjoy it or the environment that came along with it.

When the 2011 CrossFit Games rolled around, I was nervous. I didn’t want to compete. I could care less about how I ranked against everyone else in the world and I didn’t want my new sport of CF (that I love!) to turn into something that might not be fun for me anymore. As the registration deadline grew closer, I knew I had to make a decision. If I did it, there would be no turning back for me… when I commit to something, I finish it. For me, the deciding factor was trying to get a Kitsap CrossFit team into regionals. I truly believed that we had a shot at regionals and if I could contribute to getting a KCF team there, it would be worth it.

As the weeks went by, some WODs were good, some were bad, and some were just down right ugly. When WOD 11.3 showed up, I was scared. The WOD consisted of a 5 min AMRAP of 110# clean and jerks for the women. Prior to this, my 1RM C&J was 113# - that’s it! I thought I’d be lucky to get one round completed and doubted that I’d get any more. When the time came to do it, I actually surprised myself by completing a few rounds at this weight and I learned a few things about myself along the way... 1) I would have never taken on this weight if I hadn’t been “forced” into doing it (this is true for multiple Games WODs), 2) I’ll push myself a lot harder when I’m doing something for others than I ever would if I were just doing it for just myself, and 3) I think my 1RM clean and jerk is now more than 113#! I never knew these things about myself until I decided step out of my comfort zone and give the Games a try.

As you all know, our team never made it to regionals but I’m still happy and proud of our results. I learned a lot about myself and I saw numerous people from KCF do extraordinary things because they were forced to try it. Lots of people not only PR’d as a result of a Games WOD but they did it multiple times over!

If you PR’d as a result of a Games WOD, please post your PR below. If you learned anything (good or bad) as a result of the Games, please share your experiences below. It doesn’t matter if you were officially registered as a team member or not, we ALL pushed ourselves, and each other, through these WODs every Wednesday for six (well, actually seven) weeks. Let’s recognize all the milestones we accomplished along the way, no matter how big or small.

Why is CrossFit Better?

A few weeks ago Erin Okonek, Coach for CF oly lifting courses and general all around bad-ass, posted the following on her FaceBook page:

 

“Hey Crossfitters!!! I am about to write an article regarding the reasons that Crossfit is better than other workouts! I have my opinions, but am curious as to everyone else's. Any feedback?”

This was my response to her post:

“I've been thinking about this a bit lately. For me, it isn't about competing, "chasing a rabbit", becoming an athlete, or a firebreather. CF makes me a better mom, employee, wife, and overall a better person. I'm more focused, stronger (mentally and physically), dedicated, and ready to embrace everything that life throws at me because I know I can make it through. Don't get me wrong, I love lifting heavy shit, love to PR, love being faster, and definitely love looking better but it is all a means to make me a better, more confident, well rounded individual. I'll do things now that I wouldn't have dreamed of doing with my kids before I found CF... AND... it takes less time to do CF than it does to do any other "workout" program. To me, that means less time in the gym and more time living my life the way I wan to live it. Good luck with the article and let us know how it turns out!”

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that a lot of my obsession with CrossFit has to do with the relationships that I’ve formed as a result of CrossFit. There’s something amazing about the journey taken together by CrossFitters... We sweat, we share pain, we sometimes bleed, we cry, and occasionally we even carry each other. I’m not saying that we literally pick each other up and carry ourselves around (although in some WODs, we do!) but we “carry” each other. We all have our weaknesses, we all have our insecurities, we all have that “thing” that we’re self concious about. In some weird way, all those “things” have the ability to disappear when we walk into the box if we let them. If you’re ready to embrace your weakness, expose it, and let others “carry” you, your insecurities and weaknesses will disappear. We’re all here to better ourselves in every way, the amazing thing is that we often better each other without even realizing it. While the concept of CrossFit and individual WODs can be done solo in a globo-gym, what sets us apart is the miracle that takes place everytime we hear “3-2-1 Go!”. We work hard for ourselves and often we work harder for those around us. This community has the potential to conquer amazing things when we’re together and improve lives in ways that stretch far beyond imrpoved physical fitness. We actively decide to show up every day to work hard for ourselves AND each other… it is something that simply doesn’t happen in any other workout program.

Below is a photo of Erin doing what she does best (lifting heavy stuff!) after an Oly Seminar at Kitsap CrossFit.