So I chose to not work out yesterday or today, not so much because I had just finished the competition, but because I’m still recovering from this cold that popped up out of nowhere last week, and I’m feeling REALLY good, and the last thing I think I should do is go and completely exert myself and stress out my immune system.

Holy run on sentence. Sorry..

But yeah, I just ya know, if I work out today, even though I feel good enough, I’d be absolutely pissed if I started to feel crappy again after we both started to feel back to normal. So, one more day. I’d like to plan on heading to Crossfit tomorrow, and even then, I’ll gauge how hard I decide push myself when the time comes.

There’s a fine line between slacking off and listening to your body though. I think a lot of people use the whole ‘Oh I needed a rest day’ as an excuse to just not do anything, which pisses me off. I don’t want to be labeled as that. You have to be disciplined enough to know the difference between giving your body a break and when you’re just feeling lazy.

I’m not in the mindset of going balls to the wall lately, especially now that I’ve taken on a much more full time role in our business again; requiring me to be on my feet most of the day, lifting rolls of material, stooping over to load material, etc. A few times and it’s no big deal, but after hours of doing it, by the end of the day, I’m ready to be done. Being full time in our production again is not something I’ve done in quite awhile. It used to be just Dave and me running things, but then for years we had a full staff who took on these roles for us. It was then that he was able to pursue golf on a more serious level, and I was able to pursue Crossfit, as well.

While Crossfit is still a very important part of my life, I’m at the point where I need to develop a good balance, whether it’s going in the mornings again (hard to do when I’m blogging at 11p and still trying to catch up on the day’s work) or setting a time to go in the evenings and sticking to it basically no matter what.

I’m happy with my decisions thus far, though. Sometimes, people make comments like “Hey Stranger!” or “Oh, I see you decided to show up this week..” which is frustrating, because I don’t think they truly understand the workload involved in what Dave and I do. Our livelihoods, our business, what we’ve worked so hard to grow and build from the ground up, is at a point where we’ve decided to take on full time roles again within the company. It’s annoying when people act like I’m just choosing to slack off, instead of thinking that there may be other reasons why I can’t be around as much, like, trying to run and maintain and improve our business and production areas.

When I DO try and explain this to people, they immediately think that we’re suffering or hurting, business-wise. Also not the case. We’ve just realized that things run better and more efficiently when we’re there. And right now, we feel it’s really important that we’re there to oversee things, to train our employees in different areas, to make sure things get done to our standards.

Going to the gym at 10a isn’t something I plan on doing during the week anymore. It was nice while it happened, but it’s not realistic now. I’d honestly like to maintain a 3-4 workouts a week routine. I think that’s fair, plus any Saturday WODs.

Today was nice though. When we got home, he wanted to go play 9 holes at the course, so I changed and went out with him. Figured I’d play a few holes, as well. 🙂 Right from the warm up, I started hitting well just by adjusting my grip, and ended up playing the best I’ve ever played (which isn’t saying much, but I hit the ball really well for the most part!) It’s the most consistent I’ve ever been with any of my shots.

It was absolutely beautiful out, and I love going out on the course with him when I can. Just nice to be able to spend time together doing something that HE loves, too! 🙂

Marsh Landing Golf Course

WOW. I had an AWESOME TIME this weekend!!!!!!

I wasn’t really nervous going into it.. this is mainly because going to an event in South Florida is like going home, especially if it’s in Broward County.  This year, the Crush Games were held at the BB&T Center (formerly Bank Atlantic Center, formerly National Car Rental Center).. the giant arena next to Sawgrass Mills. The giant arena I spent 3 years looking at while I worked at Bahama Breeze across the street. I’m VERY familiar with the area! I loved it.

So.. let’s start from the beginning.  Thursday morning, (yes I usually pack the day of) I got all my shit together. All my cold meds, pillow and baby blanket (don’t judge), my BCAAs, a couple bananas for the road, 300 pairs of lululemon pants and crops, and about a dozen crossfit shirts, cause you know, you just DON’T know.. my oly shoes, 2 pairs of New Balance shoes, my athletic tape, my gym bag with my gloves, wrist wraps (3 pairs), gymnast straps, 3 jump ropes (they’re in my gym bag!) etc. You get the idea. I was a crossfitter on a long distance drive!

I made great driving time. What I thought would be 5 hours ended up being about 4, and that was going between 70-80 the whole way. I even got there early enough to stop at my old school, McFatter Tech, where I used to teach at the magnet high school. (shout out, go Fusion!) After my hellos and visits, I got told by one of the other educators (I’m being vague to protect identities!) that I was feeling rather firm, and that he wanted to hug me again just to make sure of the hardness that he felt on my back. It was so typical of him, but so funny! And we all joked that it wasn’t harassment in the workplace since I didn’t work there anymore.  He then went on to compliment my new (to him) physique and called me a brick house. And then he looked me up and down a few times. And then it got awkward and it was time for me to go. 😀 Actually it was time for me to go.. but it was perfect timing!

So.. I headed over to the Arena, worried about traffic but whatevs. Typical 595 traffic, I’m just not used to it anymore. Got there, parked, and walked right in. I was probably one of the first 10 people to pre-register, got my bag, and headed out. Wooo! Swag bag complete with an American Apparel shirt. Bonus Points for Crush Games for not skimping out on the shirt brands!

I was enjoying my South Florida rush hour time so much, that I opted to take Sunrise Blvd the whole way from Sawgrass to the Beach. I was enjoying it so much (I’m being serious) that I remember actually saying to myself, wow, it’s so pretty out here! (I would’ve never called anything between Sawgrass and 95 pretty in all the years that I lived down there!) But yeah, it was so nice to be in the area and just not needing to be anywhere at that moment. No hurrying, no rush. I was good to go!

My hotel was AMAZING. The Crush Games had all sorts of partnerships with your typical standard hotels in Plantation and Sunrise, to which I said no thanks. I opted to go near where I used to live.. BEACH SIDE! Yes please. I did some searching in this one particular area that we’ve stayed in several times.. It’s called North Beach Village. Basically, the part of Fort Lauderdale Beach just south of Sunrise between A1A and the Intracoastal. It’s INCREDIBLE!  So, what they did, from my educated but unverified guess, is this investment company came in and bought up all of these old run down properties, abandoned, condemned, whatever, and completely gutted them and did entire overhauls to each of the properties. Giving them their own character and uniqueness. So, now they’re hotels, but they still feel like apartments and condos and efficiencies right out of the 60s, except modern and fresh and new! And they’re incredible.

I stayed at this one placed called Tranquilo. So perfect! It was an efficiency with a kitchenette and a VERY COMFORTABLE king sized bed. It was absolutely perfect for me. 500-600 square feet, if I had to guess? Nice and roomy, comfortable, clean, and just great. I was thrilled.

Tranquilo Hotel, Fort Lauderdale

So, for what, $110 a night? I got this. I got to prepare my own meals, cook when I wanted to. Have cold water straight from the fridge. Fresh eggs, etc. Beats eating out every single meal, especially when I’m competing! I ended up cooking breakfast all three mornings I was there, and was able to snack on my yogurt and grapes at will. Fresh pot of coffee every morning, it was heaven.

Breakfast Saturday Morning. Sweet Potato Hash and Chicken Sausage.

So yeah, I got all checked in to my hotel, and then met up with a good friend of mine, Lori, for a delicious pre-workout meal at Chipotle. Hey-o! We then checked out one of our favorite old shopping areas, The Galleria Mall, and then she tagged along to Publix with me as I needed to stock my little kitchen for the weekend ahead. I naturally stuck to the outside of all the aisles, as I always do. chicken sausage, eggs, coconut milk, fruit, sweet potatoes, and yogurt. water, butter, olive oil (yes I use olive oil, yes I know about the whole high temp thing. I dont care..)

Again, because of my familiarity with the area, and where I’d be going the next day, I really wasn’t worried or nervous about the competition itself. It was really nice to just NOT be nervous about it. I was more concerned with traffic on Friday morning than anything else. I also wasn’t really that concerned that I was going to be doing 5 WODs with having taken almost a week off of Crossfit. I felt really good, despite recovering from my cold still.

Up at 6a Friday morning, breakfast cooked, coffee made, shower taken. I was ready. Let’s do this! I walked into the BB&T Center with a big smile on my face and a boat load of confidence. Just happy to be there. The WODs were hard, but doable. I wandered around, got my stuff together, had my numbers drawn on me, did my warm ups, and went after it.

My panorama of the arena, first thing Friday morning.

 1st WOD consisted of 3 minutes of Lateral hand release Burpees and snatches. I finished 13th place for those, and went into my 2nd WOD immediately following that 3 minutes. 25 KB swings, 35 box jumps, 55 wall balls, 15 kb swings. I got through 45 wall balls when time was called (8 min) and my throat was so dry! I wish I had brought my water out with me. I left the floor happy with my progress, but shaking all over. Quads, hands. I couldn’t hold my phone still enough to send a text, nor walk up the stairs very well after gathering my things. I ended up placing 49th place! for that one.. (these are the final scores/standings, after Saturday’s group had gone too. Out of 86 total athletes)

Got to spend time with Streaky!

3rd WOD I didn’t do well on, but I did it! The toes to bars slowed me down, but I did them! The WOD was 3 rounds of 500m row, 20 jumping lunges (got a couple no reps cause I didn’t want to slam my knee onto the concrete, ouch!) 20ft balance beam walk, 15 T2B, 20ft balance beam walk. I got through 3? T2B in my 2nd round. final standing for that one was 72. Ouch.

4th WOD was max Clean, which I placed 7th for, and I PRed my Clean! I got 165lbs. 10 lb PR!

We went right into the 5th WOD, which was 3000lb shoulder to overhead. I opted for 65lbs, at 47 reps. I blasted through those and finished at 1:38, which got me 19th place.

In between the WODs, I got to have lunch with some old friends who go way back! Fred and Sandi are like 2nd parents to me, and I know them back from our Car Club days! We both had Camaro SSs and used to hang out on the weekends, and they totally treated me like their kid. They have two sons around my age, so it just worked. They came by the BB&T Center and picked me up, and even bought me lunch at Grand Lux! Had great conversations with them, and just an all around good time. 🙂 They were going to come and watch, but spectator tickets were $25 each and that was just ridiculous, IMO. They brought me back just in time for me to do my max clean and shoulder to overhead WODs. They were good luck!

After my final WOD, the shoulder to overhead, I headed back to my hotel. I was so excited to be done for the competition. I had placed 17th out of 41 and assumed I wouldn’t be moving on to Sunday. I was pleased with my results, and that was that. We had to place top 36 to move on to Sunday, but while I thought that meant top 36 COMBINED men and women, it actually meant top 36 men, and top 36 women. I found out Saturday evening, after indulging in some ice cream with my sister at Aventura Mall of course, that I placed 35th overall for Womens Amateur and would indeed be competing again on Sunday.

WHAT THE HELL?!?!!!??! I MADE IT?? I MADE IT TO SUNDAY?!?! I actually did better than more than 50% of the other competitors in my division. I have never done so well to advance to a final or semi-final round. I couldn’t believe it. Even Dave was excited for me! (It’s a big deal when Dave gets excited about something..) The WODs were definitely a good balance for me. They showed my strengths and really highlighted my weaknesses. But what I was super thrilled with was, I did this while I was still somewhat sick, and after not working out for almost a week. I just came to have fun, and I FUCKING ADVANCED TO THE NEXT ROUND.

NOW I was nervous… Why?? Why am I nervous now?? Now the competition was actually ON for me. I knew I’d be going up against the best of the amateur group, and jesus they were good. Again, I woke up at 6a, made my breakfast, nervously browsed through Facebook while eating, showered, and jittered all the way to the BB&T Center again. Holy shit, holy shit.. why am I nervous?!? I do this every day. Chill out, Alicia.

I walked in feeling proud. I knew that my being there on Sunday meant that I’d truly accomplished something I had never done before. I had done better than 51 or so of the other competitors in my division. I was calm now. Walked to the warm up area, started stretching, taped up my hands in preparation for the Toes to Rings, and tried to focus on just doing my best.

21-15-9 Toes THRU Rings and Deadlifts at 145lbs: 10 min timecap

I did my 21 and 21, 15 and 15, and then got through 7 of my 9 Toes thru Rings when time was called. My athletic tape had pulled off during the set of 15 and my hands hurt so badly. I watched other girls finish and call time just as I was starting my set of 15 deadlifts. Holy fuck these girls are tiny and fast and strong. I am not these girls. Ran back to the rings to start in on my set of 9, chalked up, and willed my arms, hands and core to be strong enough to get me through as many as possible. It was one other girl and myself, and the other girls came over to cheer us on (thank you!)  I got no-repped a few times, because my toes didn’t go through the rings, they only touched them. By this time though, I just wanted to be done. I knew I wasn’t finishing, but I just wanted to do my best. and OMG MY HANDS HURT. When time was called, I made sure I hadn’t ripped any skin and wasn’t bleeding. Nope! Good.

Some of the girls gave me this sympathetic “Hey girl, nice job! You did great!” thing, like I was disappointed in my performance, to which I wanted to respond “Hell no! Don’t feel sorry for me!! I fucking made it to Sunday! Are you kidding me?! I’m THRILLED with what I’ve done today!” I was shaking and sore and my hands were burning, but I was smiling ear to ear. I fucking did it. No I didn’t advance to the 7th WOD, but I had made it to Sunday. 🙂

I knew I hadn’t advanced, so I went to the bathroom (shaking!), washed my hands, my face, got my stuff together, and headed to the parking lot. I had to keep refreshing the scores to make sure I didn’t advance to the 7th WOD. I was hoping not! My mom confirmed it for me by checking the scores again online. I was done. With that, I headed back to the hotel. I had done my best. 🙂 So happy. My hands hurt so badly I couldn’t grip the steering wheel with my palms, but I was still ecstatic.

I accomplished way more than I had expected to, and got to experience competing by myself. It was actually really nice and not weird at all. At these Crossfit competitions, you end up seeing so many of the same people over and over, especially in South Florida. Everyone says hi and is friendly. I was completely overwhelmed by the number of text messages and Facebook posts I received from friends and family while I was down there. People wishing me luck, cheering me on, giving me words of encouragement. I was alone, but in spirit, there were so many people who were cheering me on. That’s something else that’s never happened before. I’ve never had this kind of support or community to back me up before. To truly want me to do well. Whenever I feel down or crappy, I’ll need to think about this weekend and what it meant to me.

The skylights at Aventura Mall

I haven’t gotten worse, but I’m thinking I may have actually gotten slightly better. My sore throat has now just turned into congestion in my throat and sinuses. I feel stuffy but I can breathe just fine.

I’ve been completely ODing on Vitamin C and Zicam, trying to will it to go away. Alka Seltzer cold and flu, all that good stuff. Lots of liquids. I have found that I’m eating more when my throat hurts, because I think I subconsciously want to soothe the soreness in my throat. And stuff like honey and other soft foods just make it feel better. Cold Chobani yogurt, water, coffee, sweet potato brownies……..

Hopefully tomorrow I’ll feel even better, so that Friday I can give it my very best shot at the Summer Crush Games. 🙂

I feel like I owe excuses as to why I haven’t been working out as much as usual, and it’s mainly because of 2 things:

1) I am listening to my body. If I don’t feel good, or if I feel tired, or am sore as of late, I take a rest day.

2) I have been working way more than usual lately, which also requires tons of heavy lifting repeatedly throughout the day. That and I am on my feet the entire time, so by the end of the day, I am sore, tired, achy and I just want to go home and rest. It’s a non stop movement, so my feet hurt, my back hurts, everything is just done.

SO..with that being said, I have been trying to make an effort to go at least 3 times a week, just to keep up with the physical activity. Now that things are slightly back to normal with work and our business, I’m thinking to try for a 7a class again. We’ll see how I feel about that come 6a tomorrow morning.

I only have tomorrow and Wednesday to train and work out before I head to Fort Lauderdale on Thurs. I have a competition this weekend. It’s mainly Friday, with the possibility of advancing to Sunday. Not gonna lie, would be really awesome if I placed well enough to advance, but I just don’t see it happening. Granted, it is a lot of weight stuff, so there is a chance, and it would be cool, but I’m not counting on it.

My sister’s birthday is also on Thursday! So that will be the more important reason for going down there! 🙂

This morning I woke up with a slight sore throat that has remained throughout the day. I’ve been taking large doses of Vitamin C in an effort to will it away, cause really, the last thing I need is a fucking cold for my competition. Not sure why I’ve gotten sick what, 4 times now this year? Kind of random and out of nowhere. I didn’t even do anything crazy to warrant this! Hoping I feel better tomorrow.

We decided to make it for the Saturday WOD, which is something I haven’t done in awhile! We had an awesome time, and it was a wrecker, of course!

We worked on a couple things:

banded KB swings. Banded Pull ups (with banded resistance, yeah, not there yet)

Our WOD was the following:

Resisted Helen with Partner.
3 RFT
100m resisted run
21 resisted KB swings
12 strict pull ups

I tried 1 resisted 35lb KB swing and it immediately caused pain on my left shoulder. I switched to un-resisted 55lb KB, and that was just too trying on my body, so then I did regular 35lb KB swings. Jesus!

I finished in 11:24 while Jamie cheered me on, and then we immediately went into her WOD. We finished at 24:17. Wee! She did awesome and we had a great time. 🙂 

The night before, we set out to make paleo brownies. They were AMAAAAZING.  Here’s the link to the recipe:

Sweet Potato Brownies and Jamie’s awesome Blog

Paleo Brownies

My e-bff Jamie came in to town to visit for the weekend, and of course the first thing we did was WOD together. Was awesome!

Strength: Hatch Cycle W3:D2

HBBS: 1×10 @60%, 1×10 @65%, 1×8 @70%, 1×8 @75%

Front Squat: 1×5 @60%, 1×5 @65%, 1×5 @70%, 1×5 @70%

WOD:

7 Minute AMRAP
8 Wall Balls
8 Pullups

*Pullups must be unbroken or *3 burpee penalty

I got 4 rounds even, and I had to use a green band. Ah well. Good stuff.

After this weekend, I was looking forward to getting back to my regular WOD schedule, except that I’ve had painfully sore hamstrings since the cert! Holy moly, they wrecked our hamstrings, hahaha. It’s pretty awesome though, it’s that good kind of sore that makes you remember that you did something great.

Today was Back Squat and Front Squat Day. Week 3 Day 1. I failed big time on the front squats.. I only got my first set in of 5 at 140lbs and I called it quits. My legs and hip flexors just weren’t feeling it. I made it all the way through my back squat set, though, all the way up to 3 reps of 210 lbs. Holy jesus.

My wrist was bugging me too from the front squats, so instead of pushing myself to getting hurt, I just re-racked the bar and instead, got ready for the workout.

If I keep pushing myself to the point of getting hurt, how can I get stronger? 

Tonight was a 9 min AMRAP

10-Ring Rows

30-Slam Ball Tosses (20lbs)

10-Slam Ball Step Ups (5 on each leg, up onto a 20″ box)

I completed 3 rounds plus 42 reps. Yay! I only wanted to get through 3 rounds. 🙂

I took it easy Friday because we were doing our Crossfit Powerlifting Cert this weekend at CFTC. I wasn’t sure how much heavy lifting we’d be doing, and I really didn’t want to wear myself out before the weekend even started. The cert was taught by Shane Sweat of Crossfit Conjugate, and he also operates The Sweatt Shop. They are affiliated with Westside Barbell, too, I believe! Shane and Cody Koeppel were hands on with us all weekend, good stuff!

We ended up having a great time, and it was really super awesome since Russell turned the AC on for the first and ONLY time ever! It made the cert so much more bearable, and we were all thankful for it!

We learned a ton of great stuff. It’s amazing how much we focused on mobility and rehabilitating the body, and taking care of the body! Pre-hab! We learned a lot of great techniques and accessory movements, and even got to move around some heavy weights. 🙂 For anyone who’s up in the air about doing the Powerlifting Seminar, I’d say go for it. It’s one of the best ones I’ve taken thus far.

For the certs, you always meet great people, and you can always walk away with some useful knowledge. Win/Win if you ask me!

Pulling sleds outside.

Apparently backwards sled pulling is great for knee therapy and rehab!

The newly certified in CF Powerlifting CFTC staff, along with Shane and Cody.

I could only pull him about a foot! Notice my shoe coming off.. that kept happening, and I couldn’t stop laughing!

Learning proper bench press technique. Shoulder blades back, feet into the ground, and try to separate the bar with your hands!

So I close my eyes when I get ready for Sumo Deadlifts.. good to know.

The entire class from this weekend. Awesome time!

Totally off topic. But goddamn it.. I love my Yukon, I really do. The Silverado is a 2007, and we’ve had him since he was brand new, and our Yukon Denali is a 2009, and we’ve had her since Fall 2010.  I’ve NEVER had one car, let alone TWO cars for this long! Crazy. The truck we’ve had for 5 years now, and the Denali we’ve had for 3.

I am posting this here because if I put it on FB, people will be like, jesus get a grip.

I was joking with Dave that say, in the next 5 years, I want a Panamera. Not the most expensive one or anything, but a Panamera. I’ve never had any desire to have a Porsche, let alone anything besides a GM brand, but these cars.. holy hell.. They’re just so amazing. Sex on wheels.

Maybe some day. That or I’ll settle for a CTS-V coupe. In white please.

Mid life crisis? Maybe, but at least I’ll have a fucking badass car still. 😀

Workin on our split jerks today! I got up to 125lbs for a set of 3 and we ran out of time. I think I told them I got 120, but whatever. I recalculated later and realized it was 125.

Our WOD today was Annie. The last time I did Annie was in January, and my time was 13:22. I did singles, and sit ups. and got a totally raw ass crack.

Today, I did DUs the whole time, but I only completed up to 30 reps of DUs and sit ups. I felt the skin just rubbing raw on my right butt cheek, and it’s SO not worth the pain and suffering to finish the last sets of 20 and then 10. So I got a DNF. 🙁 I don’t think I’ve ever gotten one of those before.. I voluntarily quit. I really only went in to work on my DUs, just in case they pop up at the Summer Crush games at the end of August. But fuck.. DNF?

Not worth the raw butt crack. It’s already sore. Had I pushed it and finished, I would’ve been bleeding for sure. When I stopped, everyone else had finished already, and I was about 12 minutes in.

“Annie” is
50-40-30-20-10

Double Unders
Ab Mat Sit Ups

I even used a yoga mat this time, too. The friction of my giant ass just must be too much. Sucks. Sit ups don’t bother me, but raw skin on my butt certainly does. 🙁