Good Week

After quite a few weeks of feeling in a complete rut, I've been starting to feel really alive again at the gym. My diet is pretty solid, I'm working a lot on my form, and ever since one of my most recent posts, I've been making my mental outlook during WODs a priority. I was so thankful for the opportunity to redo Filthy Fifty, because I absolutely knew that I did not do my best the first time around. I was actually pretty nervous beforehand and almost chose to run the 5k instead, but everyone at the gym encouraged me to stick with my original choice and I am so thankful and happy they did!!

Stuff to work on: I stopped adding HSPUs to my warmup a while ago and when I tried to do one the other day, I could definitely tell. So I want to add those in again, plus more wallballs and practice with Olympic lifts. The running drills I've been working on are making a HUGE difference as well, so I definitely want to get more of those going.

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Zone Challenge: 31.5

Push Through

Over the past couple of weeks and especially the past two workouts, I've been realizing the incredible value of mental toughness. Before my weekend in Las Vegas, I had far too many days where my head was completely out of the game. I felt like a substandard athlete and let it show in the WODs.

After arriving at CFV not too long from getting into the airport, I had every opportunity to give excuses about being deprived of sleep, on a poor diet, etc. but instead, I decided to do the exact opposite. I'm not sure if the trip recharged me or what happened, but I decided to step out of my comfort zone and utilize what I've been adding to my warmups and working on for a while: regular dips. I finished about 4 minutes after most everyone else, and I couldn't lift my arms after the workout (much less today for that matter), but I finally integrated dips without modifications and set the standard for my future workouts. I'm stoked to see that my efforts were finally made evident.

Today was "Filthy Fifty", my first time completing the workout as prescribed and my first time back at the 6am class in a while. My arms were still very sore from the dips, but my energy was surprisingly up in the beginning of the WOD. It was during this workout, though, that my ultimate goat was exposed in my mental intensity. Through so many WODs, I find myself in a trench of negativity, which affects my ability to just pick up the bar or knock out a few more burpees. This, in turn, has slowed my progress with my metcon, and that is a huge barrior for me!

The only way to fix this is actually in the WODs, to push through at every opportunity. I've seen the effects of discipline in adding goats to my warmups, and I'd love to see that translate over into my mental endurance as well.

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Zone Challenge: 27.5

New Places, New Faces

It's an amazing experience visiting other CrossFit affiliates, and if you're ever traveling I highly recommend doing so as much as possible. This past week was a complete whirlwind...

First on Tuesday, I drove down early morning to get a WOD in at CrossFit Marina. Denise was the trainer I had for that morning, and she was extremely welcoming and helpful. The WOD was AMRAP in 20 min. of 250m row, 21 SDHPs, and 15 pullups, and after the max pullups from the day before my arms were completely toasted after the WOD. I learned some fun new tips though, like putting superglue on my hands before a workout to prevent rips. I rip all the time, but didn't rip that day =) And if you're planning on going to the SoCal qualifiers, sign up now!! I was told that they are capping the competitors at 180 athletes, and on Tuesday they already had about 100 signed up since reigstration started on the 1st.

After getting a hearty dinner in for my dad's birthday that night, I again woke up very early the next morning to head to Valley CrossFit so I could get a WOD in before work. There were 11 of us in the 6:30am class, with Mike Latch as the coach, and that was such a great experience! I tried out some new movements at their facility, and worked out with an amazing group of dedicated, supportive CrossFitters. Our workout was the "Filthy 32"--similar to "Filthy 50", only with the obvious difference of having 32 reps instead of 50 (in honor of one of the members' birthdays) and with a bunch of other twists as well...regular pullups instead of jumping pullups, reverse wallballs, ball slams, barbell lunges (62 of them) instead of walking lunges, and doing box jumps on a 24" box. I was really looking forward to working out with Valley CrossFit after meeting so many of their members at the Fight Gone Bad Fundraiser at Thanksgiving, and I'm looking forward again to having our members at CFV join in a WOD together with them someday.

Thank you so much Denise and Mike!! I hope to see you soon =)





This past Wednesday and Thursday I ended up having to work double shifts and just completly deprived my body of the proper rest it needed. Then, yesterday early morning we flew into Vegas and, with all of my family and some of my closest friends visiting from out of town, I proceeded to spend the day doing everything but rest, including a 11pm Hold'em tournament that lasted until about 1:30am and more cash games for another hour. I woke up this morning and felt more wrecked than I have in a while with little sleep and not so great diet. Then, since I knew I wanted to attend a class at CrossFit Las Vegas and wanted to wake up a little more, I tried doing something that I have not done in many years: drink coffee. Little did I realize that doing this would send me even more bodily distress =) I felt so nautious and exhausted that all I could do was go back to the room and get as much sleep as possible. I hope to make it to the 8am class on Monday though!! The only thing that will stop me is our flight, but I really want to try...



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Zone Challenge: 25.5


It's been really helpful limiting my cheat meals on non-Zone days for the challenge, and I'm sticking with that adjustment; however, there's a small problem with one of my other conditions. While I'm still going to definitely limit my grain/sugar intake during the week, I realized that if the only carb sources I have available to me at a certain time are grains and I've already reached my 3 block maximum, then it would be even more detrimental to go out of the zone than to stick to the zone and just eat the grain. So I'm still limiting my intake, but just not giving it a maximum.

Gut Check

CrossFit Marina

I'm super stoked to be visiting other affiliates this week! On Tuesday I'll be visiting CrossFit Marina, Wednesday morning at Valley CrossFit, and then this weekend at CrossFit Las Vegas.

This past week was a pretty sluggish week for me all around, which I'm sure was due in part to lack of sleep, poor diet, etc. During "Grindy" yesterday, I did not push myself at all, and took the whole workout at a pretty mellow pace. In fact, Mase even had to yell at me a few times to get me back into the WOD while I was watching what everyone else around me was doing. Only got 3 points for the Zone Challenge, and my right wrist is killing me for some reason (it's been hurting for a little over a month now).

Now that I vented a little bit, onto the good stuff...Even though I was totally mentally out of it during "Grindy", I did manage to pay more attention to my form and was happy with the results. My dips/KBS/pushups are much stronger, and as I said before, I'm focusing on doing more pullups in a single set. I'm also tweaking more things to get back on track =) All of my past adjustments have been helping me a lot, so I'm just continuing to adjust.

I really want to dial in on a 3-on-1-off workout schedule. I haven't been doing that because of late nights at work (which translated to either having to miss the evening classes or being too tired for the 6am), but it will be better for me all around if I get to bed earlier and stay consistent with a training routine. I also want stretching to become an essential part of my workout every time I visit the gym.

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Zone Challenge: 23.5

The condition I set about subtracting a point for overwhelming cheat days has been helping a lot, and in addition I'm setting a couple more conditions. I want to limit my grain/sugar intake, thought not eliminate it completely to stay realistic. So starting tomorrow, in order for me to qualify for a point for the challenge, I can only have a maximum of 3 blocks from grain/sugar or I will subtract another point. And I'll only double my fat blocks on days that I save half of my carbs for post WOD.

Progress & Practice

I'm really happy with the results I've been seeing as a result of adding Kettle Bell Swings, Dips, and Handstand Pushups to my pre-class warmups. Yesterday I was able to do the first round of KBS in Helen unbroken, then only broke up the next rounds once or twice. My dips are more solid, and I've gone from using two abmats in HSPUs to only one abmat.

I'm still going to keep practicing these things, but start to shift focus now to other very looming weaknesses. First, thinking I would add sprints to the WODs was pretty unrealistic of me, and I think what I need to work on now is proper form and running technique. I'll do more research in the next few days and post again. I also want to start adding pullups to warmups again, because I've gotten into a nasty habit of doing one or two pullups at a time quickly, whereas I should be doing many more at a time. Last, whenever I have the chance I want to start working on proper Olympic lifting form with the PVC pipe.


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Zone Challenge: 22.5

New Jump Rope!!

My new Buddy Lee Aero Speed jump rope came in today, and I'm so stoked! I'm definitely going to start adding extra practice during the week.




I of course can't leave the blog without talking about THE champions of the NFL, and in the opinion of many, the ULTIMATE franchise in American sports.



Incredible. Absolutely incredible. The emotional roller coaster from this game was seriously insane. Just a few stats to keep in mind =):

In the history of the NFL...

Steelers' linebacker, James Harrison, with his 100-yard return, set the record for the longest Super Bowl play and longest interception return.

Mike Tomlin is the youngest Super Bowl winning coach.

Pittsburgh is the first franchise to win six Super Bowl titles.

STEELERS ARE THE SUPERBOWL CHAMPS!! ONE FOR THE OTHER THUMB BABY!!!


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Zone Challenge: 20.5

I'm changing a few things in regards to the Zone challenge. First, I'm changing the # of blocks and fat. Second, I'm adding a little twist to the challenge. On days that I don't get a point, if I am off for any more than one meal, I will subtract a point from the challenge. I'm hoping this will minimize the urge to splurge on my non-Zone days, because it seriously just doesn't feel good.