A little behind here, I’m sorry!

Saturday’s workout was a blast.. hard as usual, because we do the partner WODs.. Saturday I was with 4 other amazing girls, Amy, Shannon, Nicole and Jamie.  We had to do the following, Follow the leader style:
500m row
30 jumping squats
400m run
50 firehose slams
30 KB swings (35lbs)
30 parallet push ups
30 pull ups (banded)
30 slam balls (20lbs)
20 burpee box jumps (20″)
10 KB thrusters

Totally awesome, and very difficult! The thing I love about Crossfit is… we’re all there to support each other. I had a great team.. one of our girls was having a really difficult time doing the burpee box jumps, she was just tired and spent.  Amy and I stepped in and each did a few more for her, so that she could take a break.  I love that.

OMG Friday the 13th!

Anyway, today was my 5th day in a row at Crossfit Total Control. Awesome! Pretty happy about that because I still feel good! This afternoon, after our workout, I definitely started feeling it though. For the first time this week I’m drained and kinda spent and sore. Not like usual soreness, but like, oh jesus.. I’m beat! kinda thing. I had an extra BCAA packet for good measure. (and it tastes fabulous..)

We worked on Front Squats today and I KNEW I had to PR it again.. I had just hit my PR of 200lbs a few weeks ago, so it was gonna be tough for me to do it again, but I did! 205 lbs YEAH!

Today our WOD was the following:

12 min climbing ladder
starting with:
2 squat cleans
2 push press
2 thrusters
2  T2B
20 DU (or 60 singles)

then.. you go up to 4 of each (but jump ropes stay the same) and then 6, and so on.

I finished 3 rounds + 10. I was aiming for 3 rounds, and I did it!

I also did T2B successfully for the first time too.. I’ve never been able to get my toes all the way up, and I diiiid it!!

Double Unders are still a work in progress. 😉

My new goal shirt.. It fits, but it’s a little too snug for my liking. :/

After our workout today! Tom, me, and Ken

At home, after my workout today. <3

So.. I started taking supplements last week, and I was a bit reluctant with it, but I figured I needed to do something more for my body if I was going to up it to 5-6 days a week. I have been perpetually sore, as you might have read about previously, pretty much since I started Crossfit in January. After much reading, and the advice of a friend (which is what really sent me over the edge and convinced me!) I decided to take the plunge into the supplements world.

THERE IS SO MUCH SHIT OUT THERE TO CHOOSE FROM!!!!!

I tried to keep it simple.

Protein Shakes
B-A (beta alanine) capsules for endurance
BCAAs (branch chain amino acids) for muscle recovery

I bought some protein shake mix, but turns out, the stuff I already had not only tasted better, but it had more protein and more vitamins/minerals. Sooo.. guess I’ll be sticking with that!

I bought the Labrada B-A Endurance capsules, and damn.. the first time I took them I didn’t realize what was happening for a bit. I remembered reading about the ‘skin tingle’ you get with beta-alanine, but I wasn’t sure what it would feel like, etc.. My skin started to feel like it was ‘brushed’ after a mild sunburn, and I was like, “wtf is going on?? Ohhhh!!! It’s those Beta Alanine things!!!!” hah

Do I notice a difference? I suppose. I sweat A LOT MORE. To the point where it’s embarrassing, but whatever. I’ve been keeping up with my workouts, so I’m not gonna stop at this point! For these, I just take 2 thirty minutes before my workout..

NOW.. where I notice the huge HUGE difference is my muscle recovery. I bought the SciVation Xtend Variety Pack to give it a shot, and OMG what a difference! I didn’t think it was doing anything, because you can’t feel anything happening. It’s just that, all of a sudden, I wasn’t sore like I used to be.  This is just BCAAs, or amino acids, that help with muscle recovery and regrowth. Apparently something I really needed! Hah.. Karla was right.. the Green Apple is amazing. I just bought a big jug of it.

For the BCAAs, I take a big 32oz glass of water and add one packet to it and drink it thirstily right after a workout.  Supposedly you’re supposed to drink it during, but I’d rather have water. And this is so good it’s like a treat after I’m done. Can’t complain! I just hope my new shipment arrives before I run out of the packets. 😀 😀 😀

So yeah.. the BCAAs I think are what have helped the most with feeling GOOD.  They’ve really allowed me to step it up to the increased workouts, 5-6 times a week. This is the first time I’ve done Crossfit this many times in a row without hurting or wanting it to be over. I’m just like, okay cool. Time to go work out! I like that. 🙂

Today was good.. I opted for the 4:30p class, since there was a nutrition seminar at 6:30p, and I figured everyone who wanted to attend that would be coming to the 5:30p class, and therefore it would be really busy! Smart, I know.

Our WOD today was
4 rounds
1 min max calorie row
1 min ring dips (banded)
1 min 2 for 1 wall balls (reg wall balls for me, 16lbs)
1 min rope climbs (I did the lowering to the floor and pulling back up mod)
1 min rest

The score was the number of reps for each thing all totaled up. I ended up with 174.

Was another good day!! 🙂

Aye crap.. I didn’t even write about yesterday yet! I had this page open and ready to go, and I must’ve gotten up and walked away. Sorrryyy..

So.. yesterday’s workout was great. Initially I was going to take yesterday as a rest day but I didn’t hurt and felt pretty good and was like, umm.. I don’t feel like I need one so why take one? I went to the 6:30p class.

We worked on our Clean and Jerk which I finally found my 1 rep max for!

I can officially clean and jerk 135lbs. I was going for 150lbs, but I just couldn’t get that extra weight up. I was really bummed about it, but next time!

 Our WOD was pretty simple. It was 6 min EMOM 2 clean and jerks (100lbs) and then burpees for the rest of the minute. I ended up completing 27 burpees total.

Weeeee.

We did Angie today.. a modified Angie anyway..

If you don’t know, Angie is the following:

100 pull ups
100 push ups
100 sit ups
100 squats

I got the push ups, sit ups and squats, but pull ups??? I can’t even do one unassisted. 

I was freaking out at first, because Russ is big on no jumping pull ups, and wants banded pull ups instead, and since I can’t do any at all on my own, I was like, omg.. I have to do 100 banded pull ups?? And then I’m gonna DESTROY my butt skin (sorry.. it is what it is) on those 100 sit ups! I totally have 100 sit ups.. but the skin on my butt, just below my tailbone, gets rubbed raw. IT’S PAINFUL AND IT TAKES FOREVER TO HEAL.

I even brought along little pads to stick in my butt crack for this.. (of course I left them in the car, I’m a moron..) But fortunately, we had 2 options, which turned into 3.

Level 1 is 75 of each
Level 2 is 5 rounds of 10 each

and then there’s mine and Emily’s version, which was 7 rounds of 10 each.

So.. 7 rounds of
10 banded pull ups
10 push ups
10 sit ups
10 squats

and the skin on my ass crack is still destroyed. It hurts. I have diaper rash cream all over it, it’s gross, I’m sorry.  BUT.. it was a great workout, and I felt awesome after finishing it. 🙂

We first set out to do 5 rounds of 10, but since Emily and I finished so fast (12-13 min) Russ was like, umm how about 2 more rounds? haha So.. we threw in 2 more rounds and I finished at 18:59. Whoop whoop!! 

I suppose it’s pretty crazy that I don’t even bat an eye when someone says I have to do 100 push ups, 100 sit ups and 100 squats.. that’s kinda badass.. 😀

Check it out! She just got featured on Nutrition Warehouse and is even sponsored by them!!! Awesome!!! So proud of you, chica!! <3

We spent time on our snatch today.. Something I’ve never really worked on PRing, so that’s good.  What sucks is, when I add on more weight, my form slips and I don’t do it correctly, which keeps me from lifting as much as I should be.

We spent 20 minutes working on our 1 rep max for power snatch. I tried and tried and tried to get that damn 115lbs over my head, but I couldn’t do it. I PRed at 105. Sucks, because it’s only 10 more pounds, really? Why couldn’t I lift 10 more pounds? Ah well.

So, 1RM Snatch – 105 lbs

What also sucks is, tomorrow night is an olympic lifting course at 6:30p, and I won’t be able to make it because we’re attending a VIP business dinner for this 50 Fastest Growing Companies thing in Jacksonville. We’ve had some great growth for our business in the last couple years, and actually applied to be a part of it this year and made it. Very cool indeed, but sucks that it will interfere with my wanting to get better, performance-wise!

Our WOD today was the following:

10min AMRAP
2 Power Snatch 135/95 (I did 65lbs)
2 Squat Snatch
100m run fowards
100m run backwards

I finished 4 full rounds. 

Today was definitely a better day! Thankfully.. I went in for the Saturday workout at 10 am, and it was another Partner WOD, which is cool. Because then you can share the load with someone else! It all works out, especially when each person has strengths in different areas.

I partnered with Gina today, who is a machine! We also have the same shoes, very excited about that. 😀

Our workout was the following:
(after a ton of mobility stuff)
400m run with 25lb plate overhead, pass back and forth
100 wall balls (16lb)/lateral plate jumps
80 KB swings (55/35lbs)/handstand holds
60 p-push ups (with the handle things)/planks
400m run with the 20 lb slam ball

We finished in 24:59. Not first, not last, but it was pretty great. 🙂 Was nice to do something all the way through and be capable of it! Gina did more of the p-push ups in the end.. whew! She was better at those than I was!!

Today I felt a little defeated. Slow and terrible with my endurance. I was happy with the workout though, but I’m disgusted with myself for always being last when it comes to stamina with this shit! I feel like my first 5 months of Crossfit was a sham, or a false sense of accomplishment (I know this isn’t true, but its how I feel sometimes) because I was with others who were around my skill level, some better, some worse, but I always felt like what I was doing was good and that I was making progress. Now I feel like I’m the slowest, the fattest, and the almost always the last to finish. I feel like everyone else is waiting on me, pitying me, and that I’m not really a part of the new ‘club’ yet because I’m not as fit or as strong or as confident as they are.  I still miss my old family and that camaraderie we all shared. I miss my trainer, I miss my friends, I miss being a part of that awesome group where everything was fun and a challenge, I miss playing my cheesy hip hop music that got everyone going. I haven’t found that yet with my new, giant family, and although I see all of them having what I had, I’m stressing that I won’t ever feel like I belong with them, that I can’t reach their level. I hate that I’m even posting this, really. I just need to suck it up.

And I say Tired of Sucking in the title.. I know I’m strong. I know I can lift weight, and lots of it. But I want to be able to RUN 800m without feeling like I’m going to die. I want to be able to do 100 burpees without wanting to die, I want to be able to do 50 box jumps and 50 dead lifts and 1000m row without my shin bones wanting to split through my skin. I love me some box jumps and wall balls and back squats and rowing, and sit ups! And KB swings! I’m losing my confidence in myself because it feels like we’re always doing really HARD shit that I suck at mixed with a couple things I’m good at, and the shit I suck at just drags me down. I don’t feel like I’m making progress like I used to. GOD I’m tired of complaining about this.

I messaged my coach after our workout today, explaining a little of this and apologizing for my distance today. I felt like I needed to explain myself and apologize to him for being shitty and not getting the movements (hang cleans) right, and he suggested coming to the oly class next week to learn better skills for my form.

When I responded to him, I let him know I’d like to go ahead and up my membership from 3 days a week to unlimited. His response was ‘lol see ya later, spin class!’ and he’s right. If I want to step it up, I’ll be ditching spin and committing 100% to crossfit. I LOVE spin, but I’m never sore afterwards, except for my feet, and I often feel like wtf is the point if I don’t feel the pain/soreness after? So… tomorrow, I am cancelling my YMCA membership, and proceeding full time with Crossfit Total Control.  Whew. I need to make the most of this. Do I do 5 days a week? 6 days? Can I even do that? Am I physically capable of doing that? Will that even do anything for me?

I hope I snap out of this and step it up. This attitude doesn’t do me any good.  🙁

Anyway, today..
15 min spent on getting our max hang cleans. I’m maxed out at 135, and frustrated that I can’t go any higher. My form is shitty.
Our workout today was the following:

3 RFT
5 muscle ups (awesome, something I can’t do) substituted with 10 ring dips and 10 ring rows
5 hang cleans 155/115 (I did a measly 65 lbs, to try and focus on form)
5 front squats 155/115 (Jenny insisted I do the Rx on this one and set up a new bar for me, so 115 lbs here)
15 GHD sit ups – Now, I can do these, but Russ had the ‘beginners’ do 25 regular sit ups instead. This slowed me down, and made me feel like a fool since I finished last. Awesome.