Lucky

Almost all CrossFitters these days have a blog. I read a great number of them. I especially pay attention to the blogs of my fellow Crossfitters from Durham. Today I was reading Erin's blog and it occurred to me how lucky I was in high school.

I too was on Track & Field and Cross Country. I, unlike Erin, was more into the sprinting distances. But I do not think there was ever any kind of animosity between the sprinters and the long distance runners. I gather this is, from reading Erin's blog, because we never had to fight for track position. Coach Johnson, my awesome track coach and former player for the NFL (and then signed my senior year to play for the AFL), use to take us across the street to run. The beach was across the street. You think I am kidding, but I am not.

This never led to fighting... It led to complaining. He use to make us run in the soft sand or in the water on hot days. Some times he would make us do both. For those of you that have never tried to run in either, it is hard. It actually is a great work out and I might make myself do it next time I go back to Florida.

Talk about functional fitness. He was a man ahead of his time. And to think, now I pay to be told to do that sort of thing


Additional note: I was just told by an old high school friend that he now has a student athlete program and runs the Granada bridge with the students. This is the Granada Bridge:

Heaven in a tub

Has anyone else tried the Ben & Jerry's peanut brittle flavor. Holy S#!t is it good! No, it is not good for you, technically.... but it does not have wheat in it. Trust me, you should eat this. What ever higher power you believe in wants you to, because they want you to be happy.

Sickness

I had a beer the other night when I went out to my friend Becky's going away party. I got violently ill. I did not even drink the entire thing. This made me reassess my eating habits. The sickness I get seems to be getting worse. Maybe I build up a kind of resistance when I keep eating it so it is not so bad but I never feel 100%.

After some research on line and discussing these issues with a friend that has a similar problem, I am going to try to go with out wheat, barley, or rye for a while. I will still eat rice corn and potatoes.

I have also found some cookbooks that have ideas that are not quite paleo but closer than most. I am going to experiment a little and report back.

If you have flu like symptoms; including upset stomach, severe abdominal pains, low grade fever and skin irritation after drinking less than one beer I would love to here about it.

Stupid Girl

I spent a lot of time in high school not trying things because I was told by one person or another that girls don't do that. I found ways to be near the sport with out actually getting to do the sport. I was a: weight lifting, foot ball, soccer, and wrestling trainer. Now, this is the sad one.... and I dated a surfer.

What is a trainer you ask... It is a person that tapes ankles, spots weights, catches and throws balls (to help you train in your catching or throwing of said ball), and makes sure you are hydrated.

I really love football. Because I was doing all that catching and throwing with all three teams (Freshman, JV, and Varsity) , I got really good at throwing the football. Do not get me wrong, my dad had been tossing the ball around with me since I was little; but 3 hours a day after school every day leads to improvements. At one point during my Sophomore year I got the courage to go up to Coach Yokum (head football coach) and tell him that I wanted to play. I presented my case on why I would be good for the team and this is what he said back to me: "Because of Title IX, I have to let you on the team but know this; it does not matter to me if are better than the boys. You will be riding the bench the entire year." And that was it. I should have argued, but I didn't. I just went back to my place as a trainer.

A few years ago, I realized how stupid this was. I decided that if I wanted to do something, I was going to do it. I am far from an elite athlete. I am slow, uncoordinated, and compared to a lot of my fellow CrossFitters, weak. One thing I do have though is determination, everyone should especially girls. A lot of people will tell you can't do this thing or that. The trick is, to learn how to ignore them.

I did actually ended up trying to surf. I love it. I suck at it but I do love it.

The monster that lies within

I do not know about you but I become one moody little person if I do not eat. I go from 0 to huge scary monster in 2 seconds flat. This is not a problem when I am eating like the majority of Americans. When I decide to be a good little CrossFitter and eat Paleo, I do not get the normal hunger pains. These hunger pains are very important! Why do they disappear when eating Paleo? We have already discussed my laser like focus (lobster if you are from CF Durham). I do not pay attention to the outside world when I am doing, well anything really. I need my body to say: "Hey! Go eat!"

When it does not, I suddenly feel very angry at the silliest things. Example of such an annoyance: my cousin's overwhelming devotion to photograph every pizza he eats and post it on facebook. Here are but a few of his photos:

There is another problem with paleo.... Other people. It really isn't just paelo it is any kind of diet. If you are vegetarian or vegan or whatever, people will give you a hard time because it is not what they are eating. For some reason people want you to eat what they are eating. Today I was eating my lunch alone in my cube when a coworker walked by and said: "It does not look like you are sticking to the outside rim of the grocery store." I was eating this:

Salmon and avocado.

It made me wonder where does he shop? Other than those little issues I think I am doing surprisingly well this time around. I have not gotten any headaches and as far as I know, I am not in ketosis. I do think that if it were not for my love of pizza I would be able to do this for life.

Laser focus

I get really focused on most things that I am doing. The result of this laser like focus, is an utter lack of awareness of anything else around me. This obliviousness leads to many problems. Problems like coffee tables jumping out at me to attack leading to large bruises all over my legs.

I also get the crap scared out of me when eating my delicious pineapple Greek yogurt when ninja like women sneak up behind me to through out their Super Big Gulp cups.

If only there was a way to hone this focus and use it for good.... like double unders

happy place

Well, it was bound to happen. As my friend Bronwen would say,I lost my shit this morning. What is worse is I lost my shit on 2 friends. It was over something so silly too (it was over seating assignments). It was just the final straw in a very large quantity of straw.

I actually started having involuntary muscle spasms last night. Primarily they are limited to my left arm. I seriously need several days of sleep and peacefulness. Let this be a lesson to all of you. Your body will start to revolt against you, if you do not give it enough sleep. Even if it is one muscle at a time.

One of the friends I lost it on told me to be "very generous with my rest days". The issue is that one of the things that has been keeping me sane is working out. That was his awesome response, by the way. I freak out. He tells me to take more Bea time. I have met some amazing people through CrossFit.

I was looking through my photos to see if I had any of straw and I found a photo of the dock at my parents house. This is my happy place. I think it is better to focus on that instead.

Better

Last night I got to lift with a good friend and it really made my day. As I said, I have been super tired and worn down. Having a friend around to help push you is incredibly helpful. Even more so when they are as positive as this one is. She has such a happy outlook on life even when she is over worked and wiped out too.

Gandhi said: "You must be the change you wish to see in the world." When you are positive and happy it changes the people around you. I need to try to be more positive.

That is my next goal: be positive or at the very least don't be such a downer. I told her that I behave better when she is around. She asked me if I meant food or exercise.... I said both.

It is true, if you have a partner in the fitness / health thing you are better about it. Cynthia Breazeal did an experiment where she gave people on a diet either a computer, a robot, or a pen and paper to record their diet. The people with the robot had the best out come because they felt like they had someone to report to. They had a connection to their robot and did not want to let it down. Here is a photo of said Robot, from Dr Breazeal's website:

I personally would rather report to this one:

Sleep

I have been over worked for the past 6 weeks. I did this to myself and I have 5 more weeks before a break. What I mean by a break is I have a weekend off. I scheduled myself in this way without realizing it. I am a photographer that is trying to get my business off the ground; so, I did a Living Social Coupon. I was lucky enough to have 93 people sign up through this deal. 93 amazing people that I need to photograph in the next 6 months. That would not be difficult except for the fact that I also have a temp job that is 40 hours a week so that I can pay the bills. I coach CrossFit 3 days a week. 2 of the three jobs I love. Unfortunately, the job that I do not love takes the most time. Needless to say, I am exhausted.

This morning when I woke up to my alarm, I started crying. This is not a good sign. I am so tired right now that it is painful. I know my exercising is suffering because my fatigue. Last night my dead lift felt so heavy an it was no where near my one rep max... 55 lbs from my one rep max. Trying to do double unders is an exercise in futility. I need to sleep so tonight after class, I am going to go home and go to bed.

I really just want to go to the beach and in lie the sun all day. I would kill for a trip to the beach right now.

Music

Everyone has a particular type of music that gets them going. I call the music I require for motivation, booty music. It is really a mix of rap, R&B, punk, and pop. My play list has Eminem, Green Day, the White Stripes, Rihanna, Lupe and yes, even a little Britney Spears.

Some times the music I pick embarrasses me a little. Okay, a lot. I have one song that I like a lot for kettle bell swings on my ipod. (Yes, it is that specific.) I forget it is on there because I have a really large work out play list. It does seem to rear its ugly head every time I plug my ipod into the gym speaker tough. Of course certain friends are not capable of letting it go. Even though one of them has a techno version of Phantom of the Opera on their ipod.

That humiliation made me want to try to use Pandora for a work out, but my experiment failed miserably. Pandora was just in a very melancholy mood. It kept trying to get emotional on me. What was the seed song you ask... Rude Boy. Do you have a suggestion for a seed song that would not lead to a slow song?

too much shoulders

I have discovered that too many of my goals involve shoulders.

1. higher box jump
2. one handed hand stand
3. better at double unders (try not to be a spaz)
4. better at pull-ups
5. butterfly pull-ups
6. get stronger
7. get better at dips
8. muscle ups
9. wall free handstand

This is not a big deal; but after yesterday's WOD I realized that there is a problem. My shoulders are now very sore. I have added some additional goals that will allow my arms a break every once and a while.

10. take time off of my incredibly slow mile.
11. pistols
12. learn how to climb a rope (Dori uses her feet mostly.. must get Dori to show me how)
13. Faster row

Yes, I do realize that my goal is basically: be better. There is nothing wrong with that. I want to be a better Bea.

Yesterday's WOD was this:

Elevated Parallette Pushups - I can do 5 in a row with my feet on the 17 inch box. I did not try to do a higher box. I should have.

AMRAP in 15 minutes: 10 Overhead Squat 10 DB Push Press

I did not do this Rx. I am still having issues with wrist stabilization from my surgery in June of last year. It is a lot better but not good enough to overhead squat 64 lbs (I did 45lbs). I did 22.5 lbs on the push press; mainly because I did not bother reading the board. It was a deceptively difficult WOD.

Here are some photos from last June:

Injuries suck. You can choose to do one of two things: let yourself heal then try again or let yourself heal and be scared to pick up a weight again. I am trying again.

Lent

Today is the start of Lent. For those of you that do not know what Lent is: it is the period of the liturgical year leading up to Easter. People of Episcopal / Anglican and Catholic faith tend to give up something for this period of time. This Lent I am giving up Chocolate.

This is going to be particularly difficult because I have given up so much already for Paleo. I have come to rely on dark chocolate at night as a little pick me up. I know that I am just shifting my food addiction to a specific food, but that is what I have been doing. I actually have been having exactly 3 pieces of dark chocolate a night for quite some time now.

I, like most people in America, use food as a comfort. I use chocolate, specifically, as a comfort. Do not get me wrong; I have no desire whatsoever to give up chocolate. I view it as one of life's great pleasures. I fully plan on gobbling up a large quantity of chocolate on Easter.

The extreme difficulty with this sacrifice is that I am going through a very stressful time in my life right now. Several things are changing and I have no clue what my life is going to look like in 3 months. I decided yesterday, that I need to focus on the things I can control.

With that in mind, I can control what I do with my body. I am going to continue to give myself little goals that I may or may not achieve so that I can focus on that instead of the stress. Yesterday's goal: a one handed hand stand. I came upon this goal in kind of a silly way. I was looking through some photos a friend just posted on Facebook of their vacation and stumbled on one of him doing a one handed handstand. I thought: I want to do that. I will do that today.

another rant

I seriously thought this was a joke when I saw it in a magazine. It is amazing how much your mindset changes by the people you spend you time with. The website says that it has an app now and it was number one on the NY Times best seller list. Of course it was! 3 years ago I would have bought it. A book that tells me I can eat pizza and loose weight? Sign me up!

They also quote a woman named Nancy L. Snyderman that says: Your weight is not your fault. I have news for you Nancy: yes, it is.

I am the one that decided to sit on my butt and not go to the gym. I am the one that ordered the pizza and then ate half of it. No one else did that to me. I did it. I am also the one that decided that I want to be strong and lean not skinny or fat. I am the one that has lost 10 lbs of fat over the past few months by eating paleo and doing CrossFit more religiously. I know it is fat because I am stronger than I was in November. I am the one that worked hard to get to a 32 inch box jump and will continue to work hard to get an even higher jump. If you take away my fault you take away my glory too.

It is easy to forget about the obesity epidemic when you are surrounded by CrossFitters. 63% of Americans are over weight. 26% of Americans are Obese. That is insane! I know I am preaching to the choir but if we allow people to believe that "it is not their fault" then they will only let it continue.

because that is what we do.

I had a conversation with my mom yesterday about my ummmm, determination. According to my mom, I have always been... I will be honest with you, she said hard headed. The example she always uses is of my 16th birthday. I wanted to spend my 16th birthday in the same place I spent my 8th birthday. I wanted to spend it at Warwick Castle. (They have peacocks everywhere; it is down right magical.) This is not as big of a demand as it sounds. My father is an airline pilot. Needless to say it happen.

Today, I wanted to get a bigger box jump than I ever had before. Box jumps, for some reason, scare the crap out of me. I decided that I was going use my determination to get at least half my height. I am 62 inches. For those of you that are very bad at math, I was attempting to get to a 31 inch box jump. I know that is not very high when the Jacks and Seans of the world are jumping north of 53 inches but my previous jump was 20 inches.

I wanted to do it when no one else was around because, well I thought I was going to fail. I did not fail, I got 32 inches. I did however have someone walk in on me while I was doing it, though. The guy that owns the yoga studio came over to ask me to turn down the music. He said that Eminem's lyrics were not conducive to relaxing. He then asked me what I was doing. I said jumping on that, and pointed to the above box with plates on top of it. He asked why. I did not really have an answer for him, I just said because that is what we do.

sweat wicking

I have started to move away from sweat wicking attire. I have found that although, it is nice that the shirts, socks, pant, etc. want to remove the sweat from my body, it is for very selfish reasons.

My sweat wicking clothes do it because they like the smell. Yes, folks my sweat wicking clothes have the same philosophy as my little dog. They think that it smells lovely and want to smell like that at all times. They are amazingly skilled at holding on to my lovely post WOD smell. I can wash them in hot water, bleach, or vinegar... the oh de post WOD continues to linger. I have Febrezed them with no change other than they have little speckled stains of Febreze all over them now.

I have purchased a shirt from Lululemon that has magical silver thread that prevents stinkyness. The jury is still out on that shirt; but I also have issue with spending that much money on a t-shirt.

I am now going to just buy American Apparel Cotton tees. True, I might be soaked at the end of a workout but at least it is better than stinking before I start.

Here is a photo of my little dog that loves the smell of post WOD attire.

Just like eating a shoe

A little while back I bought a tun of grass fed Paleo Kits. The flavor is good but the meat is so tough my jaw hurts after eating a couple of bites. It is almost like eating a well seasoned shoe. I usually end up digging through and pulling out the nuts and the one strawberry provided. I think we still have several left in the pantry. I just can not bring myself to buy any more of them.

I think I might start making my own. I recently was informed, through social media, that there is a thing called Jerky of the Month. It has free shipping. I might just give it a shot. I need an easy to carry snack so I do not turn in to a huge grump. This is especially important during wedding season. Reception food is never paleo.