The Astoria Column WOD

During my marathon training Crossfit had to take the back seat for awhile. Since I am not really a professional athlete or remarkable as a physical specimen in any way, twice a day workouts were not prudent. Therefore, I lost some strength. Sad but true. After I recovered from the race (I had difficulty just moving for a few days, ouch!) I merrily resumed my love affair with the Crossfit-ing for a few days but then it was time for vacation. What to do? What to do? My husband and I drove down the Oregon Coast under beautiful sunny skies. Sun in the Pacific Northwest= Joy! Our first stop in Astoria provided WOD fodder.The Astoria Column in 164 spiral steps of torture for which you are rewarded with one of the most stunning 360 degree views I have ever seen. The first time up I thought, yuck that was hard, I don't want to do that again! Which of course reminded me of my love for Crossfit and the first vacation Workout of the Day was born. Five column ascends for time! It was really fun to experience that view again and again, plus we got to help out some kids by returning their little airplanes to them for multiple launches. High Intensity exercise and happy memories, check! My right calf muscle still has a major knot from this adventure which means it was a good one right?

The Run after the Run

This morning at seven am I had my first run since race day. Race day was June 25th, today is July 14th. That is 20 days of not running- at ALL. Why is running again after the big run so hard?

Back in October 2003 I ran the Boulder Back-roads half marathon in 2:15 minutes ish, after training with the intention to run the full marathon. That means that I completed a twenty plus mile training run. I did all of the heavy mileage alone then didn't run consistently or seriously until this spring...yep, this spring. Which puts the down time just shy of EIGHT YEARS!

What made the difference? Friends. I was able to get out of bed and make it over to the same old lake to run yet another lap because I knew someone would be there waiting for me.

Where I am at right Now...

I am at home, sitting in my red foam chair wearing my jam jams with a headache and what feels like a hangover but it actually what I am going to call "sugar sickness." For the past two and a half weeks I have gone way over board with the sweet things in life. Although fun for a little bit, I think the pendulum is about so swing back to the other side...the non sugared side. Last night was the Fourth of July, and one of my favorite holidays. Since my Husband was out of town for the last 5 months we decided to make a good day even better and celebrate our missed anniversary too. Each year I remake our wedding cake: chocolate layered with apricot preserves and marizpan then coated in chocolate ganche and topped with raspberries. It is beyond! It is so rich it is absolutely necessary for us to invite our friends to help us celebrate. We love our friends and had a great time enjoying the day with them. We got to spend time with our church friends in the afternoon then join our medical school friends for pie and fireworks at night...so great but so much sugar!

May-July Update

So I really should have posted previous to now, but late is better the never right? Plus the news is big enough I really can't move forward till I announce it.

I WON the Paleo Challenge! That means that I won the $865 dollar kitty and have paid for my CrossFit habit through December, Hooray! Such a blessing, really...At my lowest I got down to 123 pounds and approx 15% body-fat. It was a new low and high :).

Second big news item, I ran the Seattle Rock and Roll marathon in 1:57! Excellent, better than expected and fantastic are just the beginning of how I felt and feel about it. I am seriously impressed that I was able to do that. I feel very grateful for my training group and my running partner Dave. I know it would not have been possible without their help and support. I think the interval work I did with my super human friend also really improved my speed, and most importantly it would not have been fun without friends!

Third, I am seeing a pattern...I respond very well to challenges that involve other people and a bit of competition. And now it is time for a new goal or three.

Getting Ready: Follow Up to the Post About Jess

So after I had my meeting with Jess there were still several weeks until the SpringLEANing Challenge started. I had the idea to ease into it with some small changes. I started to eat more protein and veggies but also experienced an interesting phenomenon. I am curious if anyone else has had this happen...Just the thought of giving up bread, dairy and desserts made me cling to them so much more! I ate TONS of the "bad things," like almond croissants, ice cream, and raisin toast. But I did get myself organized and prepared a game plan, then a funny thing happened. When it was go time I really didn't have much of a problem with the changes. Surprise! I was really worried that I would be tried and grumpy all the time but it just didn't happen. I feel pretty much normal.

The first couple of days I didn't eat enough and was kinda spacey (I left some of my purchases in the cart at Costco!)but I think it was just my body transitioning to it's new fuel. Then I felt good and happily free from the constant need for snacks, snacks and more snacks. Another interesting sensation I experience now is that when I am really hunger I crave fat, not fatty foods, FAT! Like I could eat butter the way I used to eat sugar, hmmm....

The photo is a picture of my first Paleo lunch at work; seared salmon and roasted veggies and avocado. I now know that I need more fat in proportion to protein/carbohydrates to feel satisfied and have balanced energy till the next meal.

SpringLEANing at CrossFit Seattle

The Paleo Challenge at my gym started on March 12 and I have not written a single word about it, even though I have so much to say. So, in a very Annelisa-like fashion I will be attempting to address the last two and a half months in reverse semi-chronological order.

Today, after looking at my friends beautiful wedding photos, I started to wonder if I could still fit into my wedding dress. I got it out, slipped it over my head and zipped it most of the way up, then had to call my upstairs neighbor Debi to finish the job. It did fit! But in a whole new way, which got my thinking about my college jeans...the ones that I used to wear when I ran 40mile weeks and was 19/20 years old. I put them on and voile, they fit too...in a whole new way.

What is the whole new way? Well, in my opinion, my glutes/hams/quads are much larger and now tell the clothing what shape it should have, i.e. very round in the back. Also my arms and shoulder are bigger and more toned. Now, this is not what I had originally fantasied that CrossFit and paleo dieting would do for me. I had hoped to get smaller, as I think most women prefer but now I feel really great about it all. I am pleased because I look how I feel- healthy, happy, strong and vital. I am amazed by the things that my body can do now and feel much less concerned and critical of it's shape. I am confident that I am doing the best I can with what I am working with.

In numbers I have lost a few pounds and am around 128lbs depending on hydration, the moon, sleep time, etc. etc. I feel good about where I am at and plan to continue this style of healthful eating after the challenge is over. That being said I still have 15 days to cut weight and hopefully win the kitty. Things may get a little less holistic the next two weeks as I focus on the thousand or so dollar prize! I need that money to pay for the next 6 months of CrossFit!

Also a note on the photo, it is really hard to take a full length iphone self portrait :(

Let's talk turkey...

and salmon, tuna, eggs, chicken, shrimp! So, as I have previously mentioned the CrossFit ideas on nutrition have been percolating in my brain for a while now. I am seeing some really wonderful and encouraging signs that CrossFit is "working." I am certainly stronger and more fit, and I do feel pretty jazzed about what I am doing with my time, money and energy but sometimes I still think I should be running much longer distances, much more frequently. It is pretty hard wired in for me that "more is more" but I am trying to be patient. Now for the turkey talk...I like having more muscle and the feeling that gives me but, like most vain women I would really like to trim down. I want to SEE those muscles and FIT those jeans. Insert picture of Jess Mullen, trainer at my box and my new nutritional adviser. Okay, so I failed at the literal inserting of Jess' picture...please see above. (hopefully, if she ever sees this she doesn't mind I borrowed it).
I met with Jess yesterday in her adorable little backyard cottage/office for an intro discussion. I brought along my food log from the past five days which she was able to very quickly diagnose as being insufficient in protein and over abundant in carbs...like crackers. I was really interested in her opinion of what my goal body fat and weight should be. She suggested in her strong/direct and sort of colorful way that I would start to look like a man around 14% BF. Okay. Convinced. She then seamlessly shifted the focus to what I can easily do better and fostered an "let's see what happens" attitude, which in truth, will probably work better for me than a hard core "let's cut weight no matter what" drive. I left with a good feeling and a sheet with 7 bullet point objectives (that you can't read but are pictured at the top of the post, eek there has to be an easier way to do this blogging thing but that is a goal for another day)
Now, I am not going to be changing everything in a day, I think in this case a lot of preparation will pave the way for a lot of success. I made a quick little list of things to do before I start "for real." (Although, I did implement a few things already today. ) Here is the list:
1. Go through my favorite recipes and determine what is already "Paleo" or can be easily adapted.
2. Find some new recipes that I am willing to try.
3. Establish a general daily guide.
4. Take new "before" pictures and measurements.
5. Clean out/organize my fridge, freezer and cupboards.
6. Plan a specific menu for the first week.
7. Get an excellent braising book
8. Give the house an intention setting deep clean to get me focused and in the right "can do" frame of mind.
That is actually quite a bit of real work. I am giving myself this next week to prep. I plan to get down to business Saturday the 12th AFTER my French Bistro cooking class :) Oh, I would also like to brag just a bit that I made it to the six AM class this morning.

Updates

Body Fat: On Saturday it occurred to me to have myself remeasured. I checked the interweb and discovered the dunk tank truck was right down the street from my house. Twenty minutes from the moment it crossed my mind I had my new numbers....I am at 18.3% Body fat and my lean mass has increased by 2.75 lbs! That is .4 lbs of muscle per week of Crossfit. I am thinking this is really good...but now I weigh more. I am still trying to decide if I care about this....

Nutrition: I am doing well with the no sugar/treats so far. I have had a couple things sweetened with fruit juice and some Iranian bread that probably had sugar in it, but overall no problem. I am now eating protein right after working out and adding egg white to smoothies.

Goals: My major performance goal is also coming along nicely. I plan to accomplish all the "Level 1" skills by March. I can now do at least 3 unassisted dips, one dead hang pull-up, a 1:45 400 M, and a slew of other less impressive movements like 50 free squats in a row. I have been trying to chose a weight and leanness goal but am not sure what it reasonable and moderate. I am going to meet with Jess the nutritionist to get a little help with this. I would like to be at 14% BF. If I stopped gaining muscle today that would mean I need to lose 6-7 pounds of fat, which seems really do-able...hmmm. I am looking for a long term maintainable goal, so hopefully I can get the expert advice I need in the next week or two.

Soccer: I played in last nights game for the first time since breaking my toe and I feel like I had a great game. I was a little more tired than I remember being last fall, but I felt strong. I was even asked if I had been training...I said, "Yes, Crossfit!"

Early Morning Class 7:00am

With my new job the evening class is usually not an option so I have started going in at 7:00am. This means I have to leave the house by 6:40ish, and for me that is early. I find that I am not as with it and certainly not as flexible as I am later in the day. Plus I am SUPER hungry! I forget about that once the WOD starts but during warm up I am mostly not listening...Okay, anyway, today was my first time doing "Fran." I am not sure I should get to say I did it because I had to do jumping pull-ups and I only did 25K/20K. I started with 55lbs but Sean bumped me down after the first set of 21 thrusters. Sad Face :( I hate it when I am not able to do as much as I want to...but at least I know I am playing at my edge. My time was 5:35. My 2K post workout row was really slow but hopefully it got some of the lactic acid moving. I anticipate lots of soreness 2 days from now. I would really like to make it in to the gym 5 days a week but that would mean 6am classes! That is a lifestyle change I am not sure I am up for...we will see, I can feel the addiction taking hold. Also, I have discovered that getting yelled at really helps! I could have probably benefited from getting yelled at more as a child, it makes me think I really can do it if someone is shouting at me that I can. On Monday yelling helped me get a new military press PR, 29K! I was thinking that was hot stuff until Dave informed me that I should be able to do my body weight and "brachiate" like an ape...fun things to look forward to!

The Inspiration

Back in January of 2010 I saw Avatar, (January 14th actually as documented in my journal) and it awakened a sleeping part of myself. I am going to call that part of myself "WARRIOR." I was completely engrossed in the film. It had me thinking and feeling differently for days, no weeks. I was struck by how joyfully physical movement was portrayed. It was like I could feel that state of health and strength in my own being somehow. I wanted that feeling to be real. I started thinking about what that type of fitness would mean for me and how I could get it. I made a list of things I wanted to be able to do...real pull-ups and push ups, bench press my own weight, run FAST, jump high, do gymnastics exercises, ride dragons...and off to 24hour fitness I went! (and as a side note I also invested in IMAX...the 3D on this movie really blew me away to the point I was saying things like "it's the wave of the future" again and again). I purchase a 6 month membership and got a personal trainer. I went often (106 times in that six months) but did not ever get close to what I was really looking for. Two months into that 6 months I heard the word Crossfit and looked it up on the internet...low and behold other people had come up with the same list of things they wanted to be able to do. They get to together and they call their work Crossfit. I couldn't believe it I was so pleased that my dream existed "out there." I talked to Dave at Level 4 and knew I had found the desire of my heart! I still had to finish at 24, and get the dollars together (see previous post) but now I am fully engaged in the pursuit of my dream and in one word "Grateful." Yep, very, very, grateful for Crossfit and Avatar, also very, very sore! I also appreciate the social/human/cave person aspect of working together in groups with out headphone, tv, magazines or mirror. That's what they would do on Pandora!

One Month Anniversary

I started at Crossfit Seattle on December 4th but it seems like no time at all has passed. I have been having so much fun and learning so much. It hasn't seemed hard like so many other changes I have made in life. I would say it was much easier that learning to floss everyday. I guess I was really ready for this addition. I just show up and my workout is great and rewarding every time!
Above is a picture of me doing the "12 Days of Christmas" WOD, I am supposed to be touching my knees to my elbows. Wouldn't I make a cute monkey? I am seeing some muscle development in my back and arms now, which is encouraging, and I am starting to remember some of the other monkey's names that I hang out with. Yeah for good clean fun!