I love CrossFit

I am still loving CrossFit! My favorite part thus far has been doing olympic style lifts! I LOVE IT.
During my last On Ramp class, we worked again on the power clean, but this time added in the jerk!
It was seriously so much fun. I feel so strong when I do these lifts. I am definitely getting the hang of it, too.  You really have to put your legs into it with a jump to get it over your head. It is definitely a confidence booster when you throw that weight over your head.

He then took me through a metcon workout that was AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) in 15:00 minutes:
-5 power cleans and jerks (I think my weight was 65lbs...i keep forgetting how much the actual bar weighs!)
-10 pushups
-15 squats
-20 sit ups

Listen, this doesn't seem all that difficult, but I can assure you that it was!
I ended up doing 4 rounds plus 17 (17=5 power cleans/jerks, 10 pushups, and 2 squats before the clock hit 15).
The pushups proved to the most difficult for me, even when I went to my knees. My arms were just so tired from the lifting. I was soaking wet, dripping sweat all over the floor. My face was bright red (so pretty, right?).
Honestly, I could barely lift my arms afterwards because they were so heavy!!!
After resting a bit, we worked more with the kettle bell. He tried to show me a turkish get-up towards the end, but I was so unfocused and tired that he gave up! ha. Next time, though!

I went to the WOD this morning alone because Mirza said he was "too sore." pft. lame.
The warm up was 10 sampsons, 10 pushups, 10 tea kettles?, 20 of __ (<--taking a large bar and stretching it behind your back), running around the building (325 meters), 50 double unders or 150 single jump ropes..I think that was it? I always seriously forget what we do in the warm-up!

I'm in the black

So, here was the WOD, which didn't sound so bad when I initially looked at it, bahaha (1st rule of CrossFit for me: never think, "this will be easy"):

Plate Run and Burpee Box Jumps

5 rounds for Rx.  3 rounds for beginners

• 10 Burpee box jumps 24/20 inches
• 325 m. Plate run 35/25 lbs. (one lap around the building) 5 equals 1 mile.

Carrying your plate any way you can, run around the building.  There is a 5 burpee penalty for setting your plate down outside of the box to be done before advancing.  There is a 15 burpee penalty for throwing your plate down.

Initially, I said I would do 3 rounds because I am a "beginner," but then another girl was doing 5, and I said, "FINE, if she's doing 5, then I am, too."  I knew I would be the last to finish, but I was determined to get it done...and with the prescribed workout, meaning I wouldn't use a shorter box or lighter weight. 

I'm in the black standing up about to do a box jump!

Essentially, you're doing a burpee and then jumping up onto the 20 inch box. 10 of these. Then you run around the building with the 25 lb plate.

 

Getting ready to jump...

And jumping! POW!

Box jumps always sound so much easier to me than they are in reality. However, I do love them. I love how you really have to slam your whole body to get up sometimes. POW!!!! It makes a huge noise. 

 I didn't actually carry my weight like this for long because my arms are so short. I ended up carrying it behind me, kind of on my back/butt. It looked awkward, but honestly, it's what worked best for me. Any other way just made my stomach hurt!!

By the fourth round, I thought about giving up. I honestly thought while running, "okay, four is better than three." But when I got back to the box, I just went for it. I knew I was last, but I didn't care since I was doing the prescribed workout! 

Two other people "ran" with me at the end. When I got back, I threw my plate on the floor and demanded a marker to write my time by my name. 29:13 rx!!! Seems like forever, but it was quick in my head.

And then I laid down.

 Sporting my CrossFit tank

Grieving process

Currently battling a cold--stuffy nose, tickle in the throat, etc. Annoying, right?

I wanted to touch on something quickly.

The last year, as you know, has been difficult for me. Okay, let's just say it: the last year SUCKED. Plain and simple.

The main aspect was my mother's death. Towards the end of 2011, I was incredibly depressed and angry. There was an entire weekend when I honestly think that Mirza was afraid for me because I laid in bed all day crying, cursing, and generally being miserable. That was a low point.

I don't know what studies say, but once we reached the one year mark (January 5th), it was almost like I entered into the "acceptance" stage of grieving. It's funny, though, because I was actually afraid of this date. I understand that we will go through the stages of grieving in no particular order, and may go back into the stages as time progresses, but I've definitely felt a shift of some sort.

On the anniversary of my mom's death, I decided to take the rest of her ashes from my closet and bring them to the beach, in front of one of her favorite spots: The Swigwam. This was a bar on the beach that looked more like a hut. People would write all over the wood, leave messages, koozies' hung from the ceiling etc. When we first moved to Florida, it was definitely one of her favorite spots to sit back and relax with her sisters when they visited (and have a few (+) drinks, of course).

My mother (left) and Aunt Deb enjoying the Swigwam

Since we have already scattered her ashes at Margarittaville in Key West (she would have loved this), and throughout her favorite spots back home in Massachusetts, including a lilac bush in my sister's yard, and her father and mother's grave site, the Swigwam was definitely the last spot on the list.

At first, I couldn't find it! The hotel it was associated with had been bought out by another company. I walked and walked down St. Pete Beach and finally stumbled upon the bar, but it was different. It was no longer the Swigwam by name, but it looked pretty much the same. I felt like I harbored a huge secret with my mom's ashes in my purse, but I walked up the stairs to the bartender and asked him, "Did this place used to be the Swigwam?" to which he replied, "Yes." I told him that's all I needed to know and made my way closer to the shore. I sat on a wooden chair and buried the rest of her ashes in the sand. At this spot, 18 years ago, you would have found a younger me building sand castles. I literally said out loud, "Bye Mom," and made the long trek back to my car. It wasn't a huge sentimental moment for me at the time. I was casual in my thought and process. I did what needed to be done!

 While it's sad that a piece of my family's "history" in Florida has been changed with the death of the Swigwam, I feel it's only fitting that it died along with my mother...

Since then, I've felt free. I don't know what happened. Maybe I am in the acceptance phase? There will be days that I will be angry, depressed, in denial, etc, but I think for now...I am accepting it. I feel good. And I hope I'm not speaking too soon.
It reminds me of a poem that my uncle Gary wrote (that my Grandpa "read" during her memorial service)

It's hard to be strong when you're fighting back tears

If you think of past memories as just wasted years.

Life can seem cruel and very unfair,

But you can't change the past; it will always be there.

Days may look darker, nights may feel long,
Things may seem different, but you have to be strong

The knots in your stomach may hurt deep inside,

The tension, and the anger, the hurt of your pride.

You try to be strong and keep it together,

But things just don't seem real and time takes forever.

Thousands of thoughts just whirl through your mind;

Your life, your future, you try to unwind.

Answers seem hard to the questions you ask;

You think to yourself, "how long will it last?"

The present begins as the past slips away.

It lasts only a moment, it's not here to stay. 

So look to the future and learn from your past.

The future starts now, 

But your memories will last.

So try to be strong when you're fighting back tears. 

Because memories are memories, and not wasted years.

I did keep a small amount of her ashes for one day when I do own a home, I can plant something pretty for her.

Friday's WOD, grad school, and wedding planning--oh my!

Are you getting sick of my crossfit posts yet?:)
Currently, I'm only doing crossfit twice per week, but the owner told me I could come in on Saturday! However, I work on Saturday:( I told him that I needed my crossfit fix (I can easily see this becoming an obsession) because Tuesday (our next on-ramp) feels like months away, so he let me come in today. Score.

Again, the terms for what we did still escape my mind at times...

This was only my 2nd WOD since I've been doing on-ramp classes. There were 3 guys, and then me!

He told us that this was an "easier" WOD. bah!

I began with a 500 meter row.

And then we warmed-up
We warmed-up with 2 rounds of:
- 10 sampsons (lunging/walk/stretch)
- bear crawls (crawling across the rubber floor like a...bear?)
- plank crawls (ughhh!!! ouch my wrists)
- 10 ___ : NO idea what these were called, but essentially, in a plank and then bringing legs up to meet hands quickly on each side

We then worked on hanging from the pull-up bar. I hung for one minute.< Insert curse words here.> It wasn't bad when doing it, but letting go: my palms were bright red with white spots. ouch, ouch, ouch. After this, we practiced hanging with swinging through and then stopping. Apparently, this is supposed to get you prepared for real pull-ups!

Onto the WOD:

For Time:

150 ABMAT Sit-ups

5 Push-up EMOM

Rest precisely 3 minutes, then:

150 Air Squats

5 Ring Dip EMOM

For sit-ups and squats, you will do 5 push-ups and 5 Ring Dips respectively, on the minute, every minute.  The faster each athlete completes their sit-ups the less push-ups are needed, and the faster the squats the less ring dips are needed.  Long rest periods are your enemy on this WOD, so be good to yourself and get it done.

Post total time.

 So, essentially, your goal is 150 sit-ups, but every minute, on the minute, you have to roll over and do 5 push-ups. If it takes you awhile to do sit-ups (like me!!), you'll end up doing even more push-ups!! Once you get to 150, you rest for 3 minutes in preparation for the second part of the workout. This is when you begin 150 squats, and on the minute, every minute, you stop and do 5 ring dips!  I modified my goal to 100 sit-ups/squats. Actually, he told me I could modify. At first, I was like, "NO, I CAN DO 150" in my head for about a millisecond, but I was on about sit-up number 75, and quickly agreed with him! ha.

The entire thing took me 14:55! Pretty certain that I will be cursing my mid-section by tomorrow morning...

This is the kind of photo you take after doing crossfit: completely blurry.

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Mirza is going on Monday after work to his first on-ramp/baseline workout!!! I could not be happier. I am constantly trying to get him to exercise or do anything, but he just doesn't. Not that he doesn't want to, but he always has the same excuse as everyone else. 

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After crossfit, I spent 2 hours in one of the study rooms at the library. We have our first 50 question quiz in Advanced Patho on Tuesday. It's weird to be studying again after three and a half years of just working. I used to be a study-aholic! 

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I am currently stressed out about wedding planning, or should I say, lack thereof! I've booked the venue, hired the photographer, and...that's it! I did go wedding dress shopping once, but nothing felt right. On the 1st, I'll be going again. However, I am constantly thinking about all I need to do: call caterers, taste testings, music, flowers, centerpieces, decorations, save-the-dates, invitations etc. It's so overwhelming. I just want to go to the court-house and call it a day at times. Never mind the costs! Our wedding will be small, intimate; only 35 guests! But, it still costs money! Oh, and I have no idea what I'm doing. I've been to one wedding in my entire life...

But I am sure all of the work that goes into the one day will be worth it when we've finally tied the knot.

On-Ramp Class #2 #crossfit

The purpose of the on-ramp classes is to get me conditioned and ready to start in the group WODs. I'm not going to know everything, but they want me to have the basics down, as far as form and technique.

Again, I may not know the correct terms for everything we did, so I apologize...

This morning was my 2nd on-ramp class; one-on-one with the trainer.

I started with a "warm-up," which is pretty much a joke because the warm-ups leave me breathless, shaking, and wanting to lay down!!

 He wants me to get used to coming in and looking at the board, doing the warm-up first.

I did a 500 meter row, and then honestly, I can't remember when the warm-up ended and the class began since this was on-ramp and not your traditional class, so I will just recap what we did. Seriously, the warm-up is rough at times.

He told me the whole point in these exercises was to get me used to everything, but especially to warm-up my hips and back in preparation for the power cleans.

After the row, I did 10 sampsons, which is pretty much a walking, stretch lunge. Afterwards, we worked on the jump rope! I don't remember the last time I jumped rope. I was not one of those girls at recess who did this, I can tell you that. He showed me double unders, which is when you get the rope under your feet twice during one jump, but today I focused on my forms with singles. I did approximately 150. Tiring!

Following this, we worked on the med ball cleans. Power cleans is what we were working towards today since I had a rough time with those and he wants me to get them done the best I can. The real WOD looked INSANE:

• 50 burpees
• 10 hang clean and jerks 45/35
• 40 burpees
• 20 hang clean and jerks
• 30 burpees
• 30 hang clean and jerks
• 20 burpees
• 40 hang clean and jerks
• 10 burpees
• 50 hang clean and jerks

For time.

No. I did not do that today! I don't even know what a hang clean is yet?

Okay, so med ball cleans: essentially, you're holding the med ball (10lb for me), squatting like in a deadlift and coming up into a clean with the ball, as if it's the bar! We did quite a few of these.

Then we did med ball wall shots. ugh, those kill me. You're squatting with the ball, and then jumping up and throwing it to a 10 foot target.

source

He then took me through the basics of a tabata work out. Usually, you would do 8 rounds of this interval training. For instance, the med ball wall shot: 20 seconds of as many as you can do, but probably at around 85% of what you could do. Rest 10 seconds, repeat. Trying to continue with the same reps you did the first time. Repeat times EIGHT.

Eight! ha!
We did four today, just to get the idea.
4 rounds of the med ball wall shot. I think I did about 8 each round.

We then worked on box jumps!! The idea is to really power through it and get the hips into it. We did 4 rounds of these.  I cannot remember the height of the box, but it was rough!! But totally a fun challenge.

Then it was time for the kettlebell! He really wanted to make sure I was putting the action into popping my hips. It's more hips than anything!! We did 4 rounds with 20 kettle ball swings with the 16 lb (?).

source: google images

Now is when the idea of popping your hips from the kettlebell swings really resonated with me: during power cleans!

Last week, he introduced cleans to me, and I totally sucked.

In fact, the other day while sweeping, I even practiced with the broom! Crossfit is infiltrating my mind and everyday activities now! I still need tons more practice, but he say my body knows what to do, it's really just my brain getting in the way by over thinking it all!

I don't remember how many we did because we did it quite a few times, going over form, what I was doing wrong, etc. At the end, I did a 4 round tabata with the power cleans. I only did about 5 reps each time, with 55 lbs.

Here is a basic you-tube video of a power clean.

I started to get the hang of it. I even have the beginning of a blister on one hand!! yikes.

I posted on Facebook this morning about how much I am loving crossfit. This may not sound all that significant, but deadlifting 85lbs and power cleaning 55 lbs is a whole different world for me!! Seeing as I came from my girly Shapes gym where all we ever do in group fitness was lift dinky little 10 pounders, and at most...15 lb bar for deadliest.

I just know that someday, I am going to lift more than my body weight and then some, especially once I get the form and technique down.

I don't go back until Tuesday and this makes me sad. He said after two more on-ramp classes, I will be good to go. And starting next month, I am pretty sure I'll be upping my frequency to 3 times per week because 2 is just not cutting it!

First On-Ramp Class #crossfit

(I am mostly doing these posts to document my own experiences with crossfit, so I can go back and see how I've progressed.)

Saturday was an open-class, but today was my scheduled On-Ramp class. These classes are designed to help newbies become accustomed to the different moves in crossfit classes. They are small, or one-on-one, like mine was today.

This is what we did:
You'll have to excuse me because I do not know the names of all these exercises.

For a warm-up, I started with a 400 meter row, keeping the numbers on the screen at or below 2:20 (not sure what this is called).

Afterwards, I did two rounds of 10 walking lunges with my arms stretched high above my head, followed by 10 jumping squats.

Next, we worked with the rope. I believe it was called tsunami-something.
Essentially, they have this long, heavy rope that is folded in half. I am at the open side with the two pieces of rope in each hand, while the trainer is position on the other side with the curved piece of the rope.

This is just a random photo on google images, but it looks similar to this

I would then take each rope in my hands and while squatting down, slam the rope into the ground, really lifting it up and down and then slamming. We did this for 30 seconds, then rest 30 seconds. Following this, same idea, but one arm at a time as fast as possible. 30 seconds on, rest 30 seconds. Then it was jumping jacks with the rope in each arm. So difficult for me! And finally, I don't remember the name at all, but essentially, grabbing the rope close together and then moving from side to side, kind of like a boxer would to duck. I know these explanations are terrible, but all I can say is that they were rough!

I swear that sometimes just the warm-up in crossfit is enough exercise for my entire day!

After warming up (I was still out of breath), he took me through the proper way to do a deadlift, which is different than how we learned in the gym group-exercise classes because of the smaller weights used there. We really focused on getting our butt down and chest up, facing the wall. I used 85 lbs and we did quite a few, maybe a couple rounds of 10 once I got the form correct. I know it sounds dumb since obviously I lift heavy objects all the time (hello, pulling people up in bed, 300+ pounds, rolling, etc<--life of an ICU nurse), but to lift 85 lbs seemed like a huge accomplishment for me since at the gym, we only ever used under 20 lb hand weights! Oh, and I now understand the reason why I always see pictures of crossfitters wearing super long, high socks..

photo source

Because when you're really starting to lift the heavier weights, you're going to be as close to your shins as possible to really get it up there!

Next were "cleans," which I really sucked at. I need lots of practice. He said he would be beating me into submission on Wednesday by adding more and more weights to really get me to understand the proper way!  ha!

At this point, the 9am class was coming in the door, so he made me do a quick, modified version of their WOD.
The WOD was this:

• 400 meter run
• 10 burpee pull-ups
• 12 thrusters 95/65lbs.
• 15 overhead plate lunges 45/35 lbs. plates
• rest one minute between rounds.

Instructions for the WOD.

If you do not possess an unassisted pull up it will be hard to complete a burpee pull up.  The substitution for this will be 5 burpees and 5 pull ups.  For those of you that are able to do this exercise Rx, you must pick a bar height that you must have to jump at least 8 to 12 inches to reach the bar.  For the lunges you must tap the trailing knee to the ground for the lunge step to count unless this is part of the scale down.  At the end of each round it is up to each athlete to monitor the timer to take exactly one minute rest period, no more and definately no less.  At the end of the WOD you will subtract the two minutes of rest from total time.

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Being short on time, he had me do 400 meter run, 10 burpees, and 15 overhead plate lunges with a 25lb plate x 2. It took me 11:11!

I am seriously loving crossfit.
My favorite part of crossfit thus far is the functionality of all movements. The trainer says you will never see us doing bicep curls or triceps because they are simply non-functional in terms of everyday life. When will you need to do those in everyday life? You won't. You'll be doing movements that are basic motor patterns; they aren't single joint, but multi-joint because that is how the human body moves in real life. For instance, we will carry awkwardly shaped, and heavy objects...it just makes more sense. You carry it however you can because your body was made to do all of these awesome, crazy movements. We aren't made to just stand in one spot and move our arm up and down consecutively...what function does that serve?

My first real WOD

You can read about my baseline workout here.

This Saturday, I was super excited to go to crossfit since they told me to bring along Mirza.
After practically dragging him out of the bed in the early morning, we made it.

Here was my first official WOD (workout of the day):

One Round for time of:

• 20 burpees
• 325 m. med ball carry (once around the building)
• 30 wall ball shots (10 ft. target)
• 325m. med ball carry
• 40 supine med ball get ups.
• 325 m. med ball carry
• 50 med ball sit ups.
• 325m med ball carry

Special rules:  You cannot set your med ball down while in the med ball carry.  To do so will cost you 5 BURPEES on the spot.  If you throw your med ball down while in the carry, that will cost you 20 burpees on the spot.  So unless you just love doing burpees, keep the med balls off the concrete.

Loved, loved, loved it.

It was in the 50's, perfect weather. The class was small, and even though it was difficult, I had a smile on my face probably the whole time. Mirza was kind of cursing me a bit, but only because it's been awhile since he's worked out and this was way out of his activity level.

They took some pictures of us, as well!

Here I am running around the building with my med ball (in the green).

Getting up from the "get-ups," which is basically holding the med ball and laying down on the ground, and getting up...

On the ground! I liked these because they allowed me to lay down, haha!

Burpees at the beginning!

More get-ups!

On my way out for another run around the building!

Sit-ups!!

Abs are dead.

Can't wait until tomorrow.

My first Crossfit experience

I'm going to preface this post with a brief history of my fitness regime.

Lately, I've been so bored, tired, and sick of my workouts. Nothing is satisfying. I lose interest so quickly. I don't like being the type of person that doesn't stick to one thing, who gives up, etc., but then again, maybe that's good because I'm experiencing a variety of workouts? But I don't want to be a flake! It seems like everyone in the blog world has their "thing." The runners, the yogi's, the triathletes, the body builders, fitness competitors. I can't seem to find my niche. Not that one needs to have one necessarily.
I know one thing: I like a hard work out, and I prefer strength training over cardio.


I began working out in the summer of 2007 when Mirza went away to Bosnia for a month and I was stuck alone, in nursing school. I joined my local Shapes gym (all-woman gym) and quickly fell in love with group exercises classes. My favorite were weight training and kickboxing. I saw a lot of results with kickboxing. I went every Friday evening. It was a nice routine. After I graduated, I continued with my Shapes membership in St. Pete, but I didn't go to the group classes as often. I got bored with them. I knew the routines too much, or the instructors weren't as good, the time frame sucked, etc. At one point, on a Sunday afternoon, my car window was smashed and items stolen. I pretty much wanted nothing to do with the gym after that.

I decided to maybe try triathlons! It was also a goal I had in the back of my mind. I mean, doing a triathlon just sounds cool, you know? I think it should be on everyone's life goal to do a mini or sprint triathlon. I hated to run, but I did it, anyway. I did couch to 5k! I took swimming lessons! I did/do love my bike, but sometimes the process of getting my bike in the car makes me not even want to go out at all. I did my two sprint triathlons in Summer of 2010, and then stopped. During all of this, I always did yoga, which I loved. My passion grew and I decided to join Yoga Teacher Training at my local studio. I began paying the hefty price in August 2010 for a January 15, 2011 start.

Of course, my mother died January 5th, so I honestly did not give my all during YTT. It's a shame because I do love yoga, and I spent a lot of money on the training, but my head was not in it. How could it be, though, really? It's been one year, and I still have 10 classes to finish to earn my teacher training certification. Luckily, the studio is awesome and gives you one year from the last day of classes to finish! I don't know if I will ever teach yoga. I did not set out to teach, but to just gain further understanding of yoga and for the experience. It was a great experience and I don't regret it for one minute.

After the past month's failed attempt at half marathon training...ok, so "failed attempt" is kind of the wrong term. I did not fail. I flat-out quit. I know that I have it in me to run 13.1 miles, but I just completely don't love running. I cannot make myself do something that I don't love! After my mom died, this premise stuck with me so much: life is too short to do anything you don't want to. And I don't want to run (right now, anyway), so I'm not. Of course, I'm an idiot and will lose out on my $60 paid for the half marathon, but that's okay.

So, that brings me to today. I've been looking for something to do. Something to get me into shape and have a good time. Something to make me stronger! I miss feeling strong. When I did kickboxing, I felt super strong, and I looked strong, too. Not anymore.

I started to look into krav maga, martial arts classes, kickboxing. Anything! Lately, all I hear about is CROSSFIT. 

Today, I gave it a try.

And I loved it!

I like that you're in a place that has no mirrors, nothing pretty, no fancy machines, no televisions: just down and dirty exercise! I love the premise of exercising like you did as a child: jumping on boxes, climbing ropes, good ol' fashion push-ups, pull-ups, etc.

But you're really kicking your own ass.

Crossfit can be expensive; as much as $150/month for unlimited access. However, the "box" near me has a good deal. $85 for 2 days per week. No up front fees, no contracts. I like it!

I began with a "baseline workout."
This included:
500m row (pretty much the only machine you'll find)
40 squats
30 sit-ups
20 push-ups
10 pull-ups

All for time: do these in the shortest time possible.

I was nervous and scared. I don't even remember the last time I did a sit-up; only crunches. And pull-ups? HA, that's a joke.

The two trainers that I met were great. They gave me a tour of the facility, which is basically a storage unit converted into the crossfit gym. They went through the exercises with me for proper form. And then we were off...or I was!

Took this from their website

Man, oh, man. I am out of shape. The sit-ups about killed me. The pull-ups, even with a green assist band were terrible. I was pooped. It took me 11 minutes 43 seconds.

I was soaked, red-faced, out of breath.
I may be thin, but I want to be STRONG.
A workout that is under 15 minutes and takes this much out of you? WORTH IT.

I am definitely going back.