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Day 83: Pictures of Hike Yesterday

Some pictures of yesterday’s hike…

I was at the Mount Sanitas trailhead at 6:10am. The sunrise started at about 6:45 and I wanted to be part way up the trail for before it started.

Day83_1HikeSunrise

I walked along the ridge a little slower than the day before to enjoy the scenery.

Day83_4HikeSunrise 
There is still snow but it wasn’t too cold.

Day83_2HikeSunrise 
It helped that I was bundled up.

Day83_3HikeSunrise

Once the sun came up it was plenty warm and the sky was clear.

Day82_5HikeSunrise

Before I knew it I had reached the top.

Day82_6HikeSunrise

On the way down I ran into some friends…

Day82_7HikeSunrise

Start Date of Body For Life Challenge: January 7
Days Left: 2

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Day 82: Hiking, hiking, more hiking

Day81_SunriseMtn With only 3 days left I still have a lot to do. On Saturday I decided I am going to go hike Mount Sanitas every morning for the last five mornings. I need to get as many more good workouts in as I can handle before the photo shoot on Thursday. Today will be hike number 3. It is still dark out so I should be hiking while the sun is rising and will get home before breakfast. In the meantime I also have a TON of work to get done since I am taking Thursday and Friday off. We only have April to test our current release and I want my test plans in top shape. The less I have to work nights and weekends the happier I will be but I am prepared to do whatever is necessary so… could be a rough month.

Start Date of Body For Life Challenge: January 7
Days Left: 3

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Day 80: Low Carb Chili

Day80_ChiliLast night I made Low Carb Chili which was a nice change from chicken and fish. Todd enjoyed it even more than I did. Of course, he had his with a bunch of Fritos. Mmm. I could smell those salty Fritos. Actually, I found just the smell of them pretty satisfying. I wasn’t tempted though. I have worked too hard. Anyway, here is the recipe. It is even better the day after it is made:

1. Saute a large onion, chopped and a large garlic clove, minced
2. Add 2 lb extra lean beef and 1 lb mild italian sausage and brown just a bit*
3. Stir in all of the following ingredients, bring to a boil, and then lower heat and let simmer half hour to an hour stirring frequently:

2 x 28oz cans Hunts diced tomatoes well-drained **
1 x 6oz can of tomato paste
1 x can Rotel mild tomatoes and chilies 
1 x 4oz can Hatches mild green chilies
1/8 C brown sugar (can omit)
1/4 C chopped fresh parsley
1 T chopped fresh oregano
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 T salt
2-3 T cumin (to taste)
Dash of cinnamon

*Replace the sausage with another lb of beef for a lower fat content
*Also the more you brown the meat the more dry it may end up, particularly if you omit the sausage.
**If you don’t drain the canned veggies really well you will end up with chili soup.

Start Date of Body For Life Challenge: January 7
Days Left: 5

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Day 79: Clean and Jerk Plus “Cindy”

I was so right yesterday. This morning was the most difficult CrossFit workout we have done in a long time. It might have been the first time I had serious thoughts of giving up during the middle of it. He mixed 55 Clean and Jerks into a workout called “Cindy” which is several rounds of 5 pull ups, 10 push ups, and 15 air squats for time.

This is a Clean and Jerk:

The workout is timed (meaning you are racing):

1 Clean and Jerk @ 100# (girls)  155# (boys)
One round of “Cindy”
2 Clean and Jerks
One round of “"Cindy”
3 Clean and Jerks … cont.
Repeat cycle until you reach 10 followed by the last round of “Cindy”

It was so brutal. It took 35 minutes. Ugh! Not my best performance. I am so tired.

Start Date of Body For Life Challenge: January 7
Days Left: 6

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Day 78: Signed Up

Day78_MotivatedPeopleOnlyStart Date of Body For Life Challenge: January 7
Days Left: 7

I officially signed up for Affiliate Cup Team Tryouts on Saturday, April 10th. No more flying under the radar during CrossFit workouts when I am feeling too tired. I think the real work is just starting. More weight! Go faster! I have a feeling I am really going to get beat me up over the next couple weeks.

Click Here To Read: Motivated People Only

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Day 76: CrossFit Affiliate Cup Team?

crossfitOrange Start Date of Body For Life Challenge: January 7
Days Left: 9

The head trainer and owner of Flatirons CrossFit asked if I wanted to try out for their Affiliate Cup Team to compete in the 2010 CrossFit Games in California in July. Tryouts are in less than three weeks. On one hand I feel not ready at all for that. Three weeks is not a lot of time. On the other hand I suppose I have been training for it since January on some level. They only have 3 spots to fill plus 3 alternates. I guess it wouldn’t hurt to tryout…

http://games2010.crossfit.com/

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Day 75: So Close… Keep Going To CrossFit

Day75_Chest2BarPullups Days Left: 10

Ten days left and one pound to go. This morning at CrossFit we repeated a workout that was part of a competition over the weekend. I found out that if I had competed I might have finished in the top 10 for that workout!

The workout: For 10 minutes do as many rounds as you can of:
6 squat cleans – Boys: 135#  Girls: 95#
9 chest touches bar pull-ups – kipping/butterfly are allowed
12 box jumps – Boys: 24” box  / Girls: 20" box

It was brutal. This is a squat clean:

 

 
Day75_WeighIn136 WEEKLY WEIGH-IN:
Starting: 157
Last week: 139
Original Goal: 137
Today: 136
New Goal: 135

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Day 74: The “Biggest Losers”

Start Date of Body For Life Challenge: January 7
Days Left: 11

It is normal to want to quit during a workout or not to want to start at all. It is tempting most mornings to sleep in or to come home from work and veg-out. The inner-strength comes in doing it anyway knowing the benefits outweigh the costs.

Day74_TheBiggestLoser  

http://blog.changemyselfchangetheworld.com/?page_id=2153

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Day 73: Queen of the Beach

Day79_indoor-sand-volleyball-court Start Date of Body For Life Challenge: January 7
Days Left: 12

Today I will play in my second Queen of the Beach Volleyball Tournament this year. I am excited. There is nothing like being able to play at an indoor beach in your shorts and a tank top when it is 32 degrees outside. Plus, I am in so much better shape than I was last time. I am moving faster, jumping higher, and hitting harder than I have in a long time. The tricky part is that what people are capable of and how they actually perform can be two very different things. We will have to see how it goes today. I will have an update this afternoon.

UPDATE: 24 girls played this morning. We are put in groups of 4 and play one game with each person in that group. If you win you go up. If you lose you go down. In my first round I played horrid and barely broke out of the bottom. I went into my second round ranked 4th of the 4. I turned it around though and ended up 1st in that group and then again took 1st in my final group with a fairly high points total. So I should end up somewhere around 9th of 24. Not too bad!

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Day 71: The Master Cleanse

Days Left: 14 

The picture from the other day is of The Master Cleanse Diet. For 10 days you are supposed to have nothing but water with lemon, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper! People have been known to stay on it for as long as 90 days! Can you imagine? Proponents say the diet helps cleanse the body of harmful toxins while losing weight. But opponents say starving yourself makes you lose weight anyway and that your body has natural mechanisms to remove toxins. I tried to do this diet once and I don’t think I lasted through the first day. I would never survive a diet like that. I love food too much not to eat. It always makes me laugh to hear someone say “I got so busy I forgot to eat”. That is probably the one thing I am never in danger of forgetting to do.

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