Wednesday, August 31, 2011

My arms do not work

The last 2 days have been a shoulderpalooza. Monday was: 15, 10, 5 man-makers (with an extra push-up) and 50 double-unders. I liked this one. I liked it a lot. So much in fact, that my bootcampers will be doing something very similar tonight. The masochist in me loves man-makers. I feel like I have really accomplished something when I do them... must be the pain involved.

Yesterday, we did: presses, ring dips, push-up, and shuttle runs. My arms fell off. I had to resort to grunting during this WOD. It actually helped.

I think it goes with out saying but I did not do my muscle-up training.

Husband came up with a WOD the other night that sounded horrible and wonderful all in one neat little package. It was:
15-10-5
Man-makers
Body-blasters
If you do not know what a body-blaster is, it is a burpee pull-up into a toes to bar. Of course because yours truly is so short my body blasters have an added component. They are: burpee to box jump to pull-up to toes to bar. That is right I can not reach the bar.

I want to do it. Maybe this weekend. It seems like a good one to do on Labor Day. My arms should grow back by then.

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Inspiration

Yesterday's WOD was a tough one. It was 15-10-5 Man-makers with 50 double-unders in between each round. It took me forever because, well it was hard, and I suck at double-unders. I was going to work on my muscle-up program but I was so exhausted after this WOD that I just did not have it in me.

Honestly, I like this kind of WOD a lot. It makes me feel like I have accomplished something during the day.

Side note: One of the higher ups in my office just said good morning to a box of doughnuts and then happily walked away carrying a Boston Cream like it was a great prize. It was honestly a very cute interaction but now I know there is a big box of doughnuts around the corner from me.

I was a little defeated after the WOD when I started to teach my 6 pm bootcamp. We did two smaller WODs. The first one involved wall balls. I have one bootcamper that has been with me for over a year. Honestly, I am very attached to her. When she started she was scared to jump on the little box and had to do push-ups against the wall. She jumped on the 20 inch box on Friday and does all of her push-ups on her toes now. She has also lost a ton of weight for her wedding that is coming up soon. Yesterday she grabbed the 20lb wall ball. I have never grabbed the 20lb wall. She is, in my mind, the epitome of a badass. When I grow up I want to be just like Sam.

Then at 7 pm, Martha showed up. She is another long term bootcamper. With the same history as Sam - the wedding. Her knees all bruised and battered with a huge smile on her face. She said: Do you want to see my hat?. Of course I did.



Badass! (Yes, she just did the Warrior Dash.)

I need to stop being a wimp and work on my goals. At 8 I worked on my handstands.

Monday, August 29, 2011

Goals

For the month of September I am going to continue to try to get the elusive muscle-up but I am going to also try for a free standing handstand. I have already gotten a friend to agree to hold my feet.

The hardest thing about the handstand is the fear. Why is it scary? Simple, no wall to stop me from falling over. That is why I will use my friend at first, or at least until I figure out how to control the getting up part.

The funny thing, I find, about CrossFit things is that I want to do them all the time. At least when I have a goal. It is not socially acceptable when walking by a blank wall to just flip over into a handstand. It is also generally viewed as odd to want to do pull-ups when you walk by pipes coming down out of the ceiling (granted, this would probably lead to some sort of flooding but that is a small price to pay for fitness). The worst is when I see a guy in another gym taking himself very seriously Dead-lifting 65lbs. I have this overwhelming desire to push him out of the way and snatch it.

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Being a girl

I have lost a bit of weight recently so I am a little more comfortable in my own skin. The result of this and talking with Rich and 2 other friends is that I am going to try to stop dressing like a boy.

I told one friend that it was a lot of work being a girl and he said that is the point. With that in mind, I went to the mall today. I looked at several different stores tried a few things on and learned several important things.

1) I still have swimmer sholders. I did not think this was the case. I was wrong. According to all designers, my sholders are just too broad. This is a little upsetting. Even going up in sizes did not help. It just made all jackets bulky in every other area and the sholders were still too tight.

2) Being a girl is expensive. I found a pair of heels that I really liked. They were comfortable and came in a size 5.5 (not easy to find). They were over $100.00. I put them on hold.



3) I do not understand a lot of fashion trends. As I stated earlier, I have big sholders. I do not need sholderpads. Why are sholderpads coming back in? Those are just silly. I also do not understand 3/4 length sleves, especially on a jacket. What is the point. The lower part of my arm will get cold or I will be shoving it up above my elbow because it is annoying.

That is it for now. I will keep you posted on my quest to become a girl.

Friday, August 26, 2011

Be Firm Beatrice

Two of the men in my life have told me this in the last 24 hours. I apparently need to be firmer with people when telling them what they can not do during a class. I had this issue when I was a middle school teacher. I hate confrontation so I am bad at telling people to stop doing something. This is a very bad trait for a middle school teacher to have. That is why I am no longer a middle school teacher.

So watch out everyone... I am going to be firm (but I still love you just don't behave badly please).

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Magic belt

I tried out a weight belt last night after Ashley told me: "It's the greatest thing ever!" She was not lying. I went home and ordered one immediately.

To cut to the chase, I PRed my front squat. Now, I am not as strong as a lot of the CFD ladies, so it is not that impressive. I did my body weight. It made me excited about lifting again. It also did not hurt that there were only new women and me in the 5 pm... So, I looked REALLY impressive (which I am not). I just thought: this must be how Sarah G feels every day. When I grow up I am going to be just like Sarah G.

I also got help last night from Jack and Johnathan on my muscle ups so hopefully that will not be to far off in the distance.

Sorry for the grumpy post yesterday.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

and I suck

(Will, STOP READING NOW. This is a self deprecating post)

I have noticed a trend over the last few weeks. I seem to be getting worst at Crossfit. My double-unders are still abysmal. Yesterday, when I did ring push-ups I only did ten at a time. I still can not do a muscle up. All weight has been feeling heavy

I seriously need to tighten up. Maybe I just need to focus on a goal. I would like that goal to be a muscle up. I think I am going to try it every day until the damn thing happens.

I also need to go back on the 4 hour body diet. I love carbs but I think the reduction in protein is affecting my performance.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Yay Football!

The majority of my dad's side of the family live in Connecticut. You would think that this would lead to peace and happiness when we have large get togethers and talk about sports. You would be VERY wrong.

You see, Connecticut itself, does not have major sports teams. The states on either side do. Those states are Massachusetts and New York. I am going to leave hockey out of this discussion and just focus on the 2 major sports for the Parker clan. I am of course talking about Football and Baseball.

My parents live on the Northeastern side of the state. My dad was born in Boston (I am sure you can see where this is going). I am a Patriot. I am also a Red Sox fan. Only mildly on the Red Sox part though, just because I find baseball boring unless you are there in person. Football though.... I love football.

My cousins, Tommy and Christopher, grew up in New Fairfeild. You could toss a rock at New York from New Fairfeild. (And honestly if you had the chance of hitting a Jet why wouldn't you?) This makes for some interesting gatherings.

At our 4th of July gathering my dad made me go put on my Brady jersey just to annoy my uncle. It worked.

This is just a long winded way of saying that I am happy football is on and I think it would be fun to do some football WODs (Uhmm, Dave).

Monday, August 15, 2011

Boot Camps

I was talking with two other coaches a few days ago about the classes we all like teaching. The two coaches were boys. They like teaching the regular classes the best. They enjoy interacting with people who are confident and wanting to achieve more.

I personally love my bootcampers. I love seeing them do things that they did not think possible. The look of shock and joy on their face is truly awesome. I get really attached to them. I get so proud when they push themselves when they think no one is looking. It feels like it means more.

I am sure it is cool when you can teach someone like me to do a muscle-up.... But I do not think it is as amazing as proving to someone that has a hard time running to the end of the block that with a little bit of work they can run a 5k.

Silly boys.