So I ended up spending a week up north with my Mom, and it was amazing! I basically set aside my entire week to spend time with my family up there, for traveling, visiting, playing, and relaxing. No CF time was scheduled, or anticipated, and I really just intended to take the full week off.

Of course, until my 15 year old niece asked me if she could go with me before I left. I’m always shocked now when people say they want to go with me, because it’s usually me pestering others about going along, and they always scramble for excuses. To the point where I really don’t even ask people anymore. But Miss Kaycie wanted to go, and I instead did the scrambling! I emailed the new owner, Bryan, at the gym I usually go to, CrossFit Connex, and made sure we could do the drop in. I explained my injury and Kaycie’s experience with CF, and I got the nicest response the next morning! So, I texted Kaycie and let her know that we were good to go! I picked her up that afternoon from school, we got some snacks, and off to the gym we went. My oldest sister, Tori, even came along!

The WOD:

5 RFT
250m Row
25 Box Jumps 24/20 (I did 15 step ups)
25 Wall balls 20/14 (I did 15, at 14lbs)

I finished in 16:40. Was a great workout! The girls did an awesome job too. They paired up and did a modified version, as well. I wanted to make sure they’d be able to walk for the next few days! 125 wall balls isn’t beginner level! But they did their work and they loved it. So proud!

I just wrote this on Facebook earlier, and I keep re-reading it. Is this really me, am I really like this? Why am I questioning the very words that came out of my own head? But it is me. I have moments of courage, discouragement, anxiety, strength, mental clarity. It comes and goes, but usually, I’m pretty determined about stuff, unless I truly don’t care.

And if I have gotten to the point of not caring about something (or someone), especially something I used to be passionate about, it will take an act of God to reverse my feelings. You have just about lost me if I went from ‘caring a lot, to giving zero fucks’. It’s possible to reverse, but it’s not easy. With that being said… here’s what I posted.

Give me a set of rules with the intention to restrict and confine me, and I will find every way in the book to push those limits and test those boundaries. The rules can be physical, unspoken ones, too. They are just there. They just exist. And there are people in this world who simply accept them and go about their lives with their clear-cut rules set in place, and then there are others who say no… this will not deter me, govern me, define me. I will set my own rules…

I am reminded by my own mind, will, and determination every day that I was born to be the latter. And I love it.

Sleeping Bear Dunes on Lake Michigan

Another Bring a Friend Day! I didn’t have any takers today though, but that’s alright. It seemed like a fairly doable WOD for me, and I knew I could modify without too much trouble if I needed to.

I did however skip out on the Dodgeball game that took place. A) I suck at throwing those stupid foam balls,  B) the guys destroy them and they hit really hard and C) I didn’t feel like throwing my shoulder out and completely gimping out for the weekend.

BUT. Moving on to the workout, we started with an 800m run for time. I did the ski erg, and I went all out. I totally pushed it and it was rough. I ended up skiing 800m in 3:37, which is pretty fast for me. It was right on par with a lot of the 800m run times, and god, even on a good day I don’t think I’d ever be able to run 800m in that time! Maybe 5-6 min, but NOT under 4! Holy crap.

WOD:

14 min AMRAP
5 ball slams EMOM
2 Shoulder to overhead (95/65)
2 Box Jumps (24/20)
*increase reps by 2 each round

I ended up getting 8 rounds even, and I did step ups for the box jumps! My cleans and presses were flat footed, so they took more out on my upper body, but that’s alright. In an effort to save my foot and allow it to heal, it was perfect. My arms are toast!

Derek loves me.

I took Wednesday off, but mainly because I had a splitting headache that wouldn’t go away. I figured out today what it was coming from, and realized it was a direct result of taking this stuff called Super Cissus that I bought for speedy bone healing and recovery. I mean, it’s awesome if it works for that, but I can’t handle these headaches. I experienced them again this morning shortly after I took my two capsules, so yeah.. No more Cissus Quandrangularis or whatever the hell it’s called. Bummer, you guys!!

In the meantime, I’ve been religiously taking my Vitamin D, Vitamin K-2, Glutamine, Super B Complex, and my BCAAs. We’ll see how this all goes.

Today was Bring a Friend Day and my friend Claudio from yoga had been wanting to try CrossFit out. He actually showed up! I love it when my friends don’t chicken out. He got there, put in the work, and did such an awesome job!! So proud. 🙂

I got to work with Thais, and she was an amazing buddy! They bolted soon after the workout, so I couldn’t get a partner photo, but they have a new baby at home to get back to!

The WOD:
20 min AMRAP

partner 1 :
400m run
partner 2:
20 firehose slams
10 kettlebell swings (55/35)
7 wall-balls
5 toes to bar

I rowed instead of ran, and we used a 12 lb wall ball, but I did it! My T2B were more like hanging knee raises, but I was worried about coming off the bar! Instead, after my 5 knee raises, I’d tenderly step down onto a plyo box (the same one I probably propped my foot on Saturday!) and got down off the bar that way. It worked, and it was great. We finished 11+15 rounds and reps. 🙂

Claudio and me. He did great today!!

So Monday afternoon, I didn’t know I had a broken 4th metatarsal yet but I was still determined to work out. I suspected what the problem was, and just vowed to be careful and only do what didn’t hurt.

The WOD:
every minute on the minute for 10 minutes:
4 front rack lunges + 4 front squats (increase weight each minute)
then
as many rounds in 10 minutes of:
1 squat clean thruster (135/155/185/195/205/215/225/235)
3 burpees
25 double unders

My WOD:
10 min EMOM
4 front squats with 95lbs (didn’t cause any pain, I just wanted to be careful I didn’t lean forward onto my toes, so I kept the weight light.)

then
10 min AMRAP
1 push press (95lbs) and this was more like a use your left leg for the push and your upper body for the press. Done.
3 push ups (getting down onto the floor and back up took longer than the actual push ups. Toes were good, but I stayed mostly on my left foot, and gave my right toes a vacation.)
8 cal ski erg.

I ended up completing 7 full rounds. I was pretty happy with that score!!

I asked Nate to get an action shot of me, and he snuck the camera over the barbell, but I saw him. So he got mad at me for posing. So here I am laughing at him, trying not to pose, waiting on the next minute to start for my 4 front squats. 🙂

No pain in my foot and happy as a clam to be at CrossFit!

I was excited about doing Lift Up Autism. It’s a WOD that we do every year that supports Autism Awareness and research, and you can read more about it at the link above.

It’s a simple WOD. Only 5 minutes! Easy Peasy, right? Sure. 

5 min AMRAP
4 power cleans 155/105
24 DUs
10 Pull Ups

Bre and I were teamed up, and we decided that I’d go first. I banged through the cleans, (I even got to do the class demonstration! I love those… warm up weight!) and then I went on to do singles. They said just 24, so okay!

Then came the pull ups. I did 1, 2, 3, and then jumped off the bar to do my signature spinny thing (jump down, spin around to face the other way, jump up again). Except this time, when I landed after the 3rd rep, I felt a sudden, jolting, sharp pain in my right foot. Total zinging, hot, sharp pain. WHAT THE FUCK DID I JUST DO.

So I yelped, looked at Bre, she asked if I was okay, I said no, and I did what most crossfitters do: I kept going. I got through the rest of my pull ups, somehow, except I landed on my left foot, carefully after each one! And I was like, I gotta walk it off, it’ll go away. So of course I kept using my foot, except I was limping profusely. We’re talking no weight at all could go on it.

I hobbled over to my bar, did 1 regular power clean, cried out, and then did 3 flat footed cleans. I couldn’t go up on my toes on my right foot without it exploding in pain. I really fucked up.

I hopped over to my jump rope, and I did my 24 freaking jump ropes on my left foot. Derek saw, so I guess it was pretty awesome. Then I hobbled back over to the bar to attempt my pull ups again, but I couldn’t. Jumping off the bar was too painful and awful, so I skipped the rest of them; stopping after 1 or 2, and went right back to the cleans. I finished my 4 cleans, flat footed, and just couldn’t do anymore. I just stood there. What did I do?? Why do I feel this way? What the hell happened???

I stumbled over next to the whiteboard, leaned over on the Reverse Hyper, and just started crying.  I rarely cry during crossfit, but this was an exception. Bawling, in pain, crying. Poor Bre had no idea what had happened, except that I hurt my foot. She offered to get me ice, which I nodded yes to, and I just stood there sobbing, with my head on my arms. So stupid. Tom came over to check on me, Derek too. And then Russ. Bre came back with ice and I looked at the bench that was 2 feet away from me like it was across the planet. It was such a long hop away. I managed to get over there and just collapsed onto it, head in my hands, crying still. Taking my shoe and sock off was a feat by itself.

Tom went and got me a plyo box to put my foot up on, and he went to adjust the ice pack and put it on top of my feet and I shrieked in pain from the weight of the ice pack. The look on his face was priceless. Like holy fuck.. what the hell just happened here??? I then proceeded to laugh, and cry, and it was awful. I sat there for 20 minutes, and poor Bre did the WOD without my support. 🙁 Russ told me it was no big deal, Tom said it might be a fractured metatarsal. (nooo) and yeah. I was sort of left on my own, because everyone had shit to do, and I finally stood up and decided to get myself back across the gym.

The longest walk. From one side of our giant ass warehouse to the other. I had to use the inside of my right foot and my heel. I basically had to drag it along behind me. My poor left leg was under so much strain and pressure. 🙁 I kept stopping, breathing, and sobbing. I had to drive to Vero to see April! How the hell was I going to spend a weekend with my sister in law if I couldn’t fucking walk?? She’s going to kill me. I’m going to be late to her house. Dave’s going to kill me. I hate that I did this. FROM PULL UPS.

I got home somehow, driving very carefully! and showered with Dave. I just kept crying. That something so stupid caused me such pain, and was going to last for who knows how long? I have a long drive ahead of me, I have to go to Wisconsin next week!!! Oh god..

The weekend was pretty awful, mobility-wise. So grateful April was so cool about the whole thing. We hung out, I iced it, I took lots of Aleve, I ordered voodoo joint and bone health supplements on Amazon. (come on, Super Cissus, do your magic!!) I did my Google research and self-diagnosed myself with an acute fracture on my 4th metatarsal. And then vowed to make a doctor’s appt on Monday. All I had to do was wait and wonder! Stay tuned.

My lovely and supportive friend, Bre!! I was just finishing up another round of crying here. Glad you can’t tell..