Fight Gone Bad

Yesterday was the Fight Gone Bad Fund Raiser. Sadly I had a wedding, so I was not able to participate in the festivities. I did however, do it today. I would not say I kicked its butt. I did do it Rx for the first time (it was only my second go at this evil work out). I wanted to get the same score as my first attempt just with more weight and a higher box. I did not reach that goal but I was close. I did reach my fund raising goal. Thank you to all of those who helped out. The big news is that I actually jumped on to the 24 inch box today. Next jumping goal... the pull-up bar. Oh, and Happy Birthday Ollie!

Marinated Pork Chops with Asparagus and Peaches

CHOPS:
2 pork chops (3oz chop for 3 blocks and 4oz. chop for 4 blocks). Chops should be about 1.25 inches thick.
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar or beer
1 tbsp. brown sugar
1/2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 clove garlic, minced

Trim fat from meat. Place chops in a plastic bag set in a shallow dish. For marinade, combine beer or apple cider, brown sugar, worcestershire, chili powder and garlic. Pour marinade over chops and close bag. Marinate in refrigerator for 6-24 hours, turning occasionally. (You don't have to marinate it that long, I didn't and it was still good, but it would probably be better if it had time to marinate).

Place chops in saute pan with marinade. Brown on each side. Then cover and cook 4-5 minutes until cooked all the way through.

ASPARAGUS:
Lightly steam asparagus so still crisp.
Place steamed asparagus in saute pan and pour some marinade from above over the asparagus.
Slice a peach and add to the asparagus.
Saute for a few minutes to allow flavors to meld.

12 asparagus spears equals one block of carbs. 1/2 the peach equals one block.

You will need to add fat to this meal.

Italian Cauliflower Tort with Turkey Bacon

1 cup egg substitute
6 whole eggs
4 oz. parmesan cheese
2 heads cauliflower
1 cup corn
4 tsp. dill
2 tsp. parsley
salt and pepper
4 slices turkey bacon (each slice is 6 grams protein..you can find this at Whole Foods. Most turkey bacon only has 2 grams protein, but most of the ones at Whole Foods seem to have more).

Preheat oven to 350.
Cook bacon and set aside.
Cut cauliflower into small florets and steam until tender. Pour cauliflower into glass casserole dish.
Beat the eggs in a small bowl and mix in all remaining ingredients.
Crumble turkey bacon and add to egg mixture.
Pour egg mixture over cauliflower and bake for about 30 minutes.

Makes 10 servings. Each serving is 2 blocks protein, 2 blocks fat and 1 block carb.

Lean Eggs and Ham

Try this delicious breakfast recipe for a change from the usual eggs and bacon. Serves 4. Each serving is 3 blocks protein, 1 block fat and 1/2 block carb.

2 whole eggs
6 egg whites
1/2 cup 1% milk
1/3 cup chopped chives
8 slices deli ham (8oz)
1/2 cup shredded low-fat cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350. In a bowl, scramble eggs, egg whites, and milk. Add chives and stir to combine.

Spray muffin tins with cooking spray. Line each one with a piece of ham and then divide egg mixture evenly among the cups (you should have 8 muffin cups total). Place in oven 15-20 minutes

Top with cheese and cook for 5 more minutes.

Makes four servings, each serving is equal to two "muffins."

Do-over

This is a second attempt at this blog post. My last attempt seemed to really upset some people. This blog was not created to cause strife. So, this is my do-over. Monday night was the affiliate training. After the WOD we joked that about Sarah's amazing lack of photo coverage. For those of you unfamiliar with the awesome Dunsey, she won 2 events and came in second in 1 event. There are lots of references to her but little to no actual photos. I told her that could be easily rectified; she just needed to dye her hair blond and get a boob job. Presto, a media darling. We said this jokingly but unfortunately it is true.

One of the things I love about Crossfit Durham, is the atmosphere. The emphasis is on the work out, not what you look like. This is suppose to be the over all focus of Crossfit. Hell, there are even t-shirts devoted to it. My favorite is "Dude! Are you watching yourself curl?"

I am not alone in this feeling. A friend of mine said today: "One of the main reasons I picked Crossfit was because it seemed like a gym were males and females could just "work out" without the superficialness of some larger gyms, where people are just there to "pose" if you will...and the fact that if you go to other gyms and lift heavy weights as a female you get very strange looks."

I do understand the pride that goes along with making your body look and feel better. If you have made yourself a brick house and want to flaunt it, by all means, flaunt it. My issue is not with the appreciation for the amazing bodies that some women and men have worked amazingly hard to get. My problem lies in the lack of appreciation for people who work just as hard but do not have the magazine cover image. There is a great NY Times article that demonstrates that amazing things come in all sorts of packages.

As for the Crossfit games next year.... I plan on rectifying the lack of Dunsey coverage by going out there and taking a ton of photos of her myself.

I love Melinda

Tonight I eavesdropped on a conversation between Jack and Greg. I was not doing this intentionally, but they started chatting right next to where I happened to die after tonight's WOD. The gist of it was this: It is easy to forget how badass you are. We spend a great deal of time around fellow badasses. Being around these amazing people makes us forget that we too have come a long way. My mom would refer to this as the top 1% effect. My mother is usually talking about academia but it is basically the same thing. When you spend all of your time with the Ivy League crowd, you forget that you are indeed intelligent too. You tend to compare yourself to those around you and not the general public.

I fall prey to this in Crossfit too. It is ridiculously apparent when I am doing the affiliate training. I think to myself, I suck. I was so much slower than everyone else. Of course everyone else includes Mitchell, Sarah, and Ollie. Greg pointed this out tonight. He reminded Jack and me that if you were to pull the average Joe off of the street, you would kick his ass (I am paraphrasing).

One of the most kick-ass people that I know at Crossfit is Melinda. She has stuck with it through pain and all. She has just figured out other ways to complete the WODs. Mostly she rows instead of running (which I think is much worse). The point is she has not given up. I know this about her but just like I think I suck compared to Mitchell, she thinks it too. The funny thing is that I can see it in her and completely miss it in me.

So, good people of Crossfit, try to remember you are awesome.

Runs

Today involved a great deal of running. I don't mind running but I am not a big fan of doubling back. Instead of running the 400 twice to make an 800, I decided to run around the block that loops behind the building. I thought that it would be close enough to 800. It also had the added bonus of more shade. I looked up a few of loops on Google maps when I got home. This is what I came up with:

The green line is 1032 meters, or just a bit over 1 k (32 meters).
The red line (my sub for 800 meters today) is 973 meters.
The blue line is 1.04 miles.

Uber Crossfit

Friday I started the affiliate training. I was not going to do it originally because, honestly I do not think I would have a shot in hell at making it to the games. Jack and Dori convinced me to go anyway.
First of all, the "warm-up" is a WOD in itself. We did: 20, 15, 10 super wall balls (the have to go up higher than the top mark) and double unders. I am HORRIBLE at jumping rope, so I did 3 regular hops for every double under. I would like to believe that if I bought a Buddy Lee jump rope that his wonderful jump roping skills would some how pass through the jump rope into me; but I know that is not going to happen.... sadly.
I digress, the first WOD was: 3 rounds for time of 10 back squats, 10 jumping squat things, and 10 pull-ups. I went with only 85lbs on the back squats because my butt still hurts from the 150 lunges we did the other day. The jumping squat things consisted of performing a squat and then a leap into the air from said squat. These jumping things are the worst things on the planet. No one should leap into the air from a squat. Whoever thought of those should be shot. If I had a world of my own I would outlaw those. You sir, that is a lovely air squat you are performing, now come out of it appropriately and do not even think of performing any frog like motion. I used the blue band on my pull-ups and attempted to kip. Thank you Landy for your help the other day. I truly believe I will have it some time soon.... I did this WOD in 5 something.
The second (or third if you count the "warm-up") WOD was: 5 rounds for time of Row 250, dead lift your body weight plus half (this is absurd and I think only Mitchell is capable of such silliness... and Mandy, but Mandy has been bitten by a radioactive spider or something so she does not count). Finally, you finish it up with burpee box jumps. I had to modify a few things but I finished in 15:49.
I know I sound negative in this blog, but I love it. I have never been athletic. I was on the swim team and track team in high school but I was always last and really sucked at it. The other night I did several WODs with some of the best people at Crossfit Durham and did not absolutely suck. In fact I was downright okay. You might be rolling your eyes and saying, "Bea you need to stop beating yourself up." But the truth is, I'm not. I am really proud of myself. Sure, I was wiped out afterward, but so was everyone. I am in better shape now than I have ever been. I am stronger and healthier. I use to be thinner but I was kind of weak.
I am well aware that Crossfit is not for everyone. It is hard, you will hurt afterward, and you may even think very bad thoughts about whoever came up with those squat leaping things. I on the other hand love it and the people I do it with. It has made me stronger, happier, and honestly, a little proud of myself.