As many rounds and/or reps as possible in 10:00 of:
60 Bar-facing burpees (jumping over the bar)
30 Overhead squats @ 90 (120 for guys)
10 Muscle-ups

Four down. Two to go. The top athlete in the world in this event made it through 1 full round plus 60 more burpees and 18 more overhead squats. Just getting through the first round of burpees and the overhead squats was a top-60-in-the-region-worthy performance for the ladies. Unfortunately, I wasn’t even close. This one sent me plummeting down to somewhere around 70th with only two more chances to secure a spot in the top 60. The MBS team is still holding strong in 3rd place in the region and 19th overall.

I failed several reps on my first attempt at this and ended up only getting through 17 of the 30 overhead squats. It would have been so much easier to just let it go at that. But I really want to fix those things. What better way than to face them again while still under pressure? I decided to go for it again on Sunday. I changed everything. Wider grip. Narrower stance with wider knees. I clean and jerked instead of snatching. I rested instead of rushing. And guess what? I got the exact same score. But I am so glad I put myself through it again. On Wednesday my squats were a little better. On Sunday my arms were a little better. Now I just need to put them together.

Saturday we had a ridiculous “mountain biking” adventure. Todd will tell you why “mountain biking” is in quotes: Mountain biking this weekend.:

10:00 as many as you can of:
60 burpees jumping over a barbell
30 overhead squats at 90# / 120# (for guys)
10 muscle ups

CrossFit workouts are intended to be constantly varied. After doing heavy squats and weight overhead last week I didn’t think it would show up again so soon. But “constantly varied” is not evenly distributed – by definition. The goal is not to make things even and fair but to find your weaknesses. And your goal is not to have any. Everyone has certain things they would rather see in a workout. Some they struggle with. Strengths and weaknesses. But then there is the kryptonite. The thing specifically designed to take you down. You can be the fastest, best, most powerful athlete in the world and still be taken down because you can’t do double-unders.

My kryptonite is overhead squats. For well over a year I avoided them to protect my volleyball shoulder. What I didn’t realize is that I was just avoiding a problem instead of solving it. Ever since I started to do overhead squats last year my shoulder pain is gone. If only I had known sooner! Regardless, I had very positive thoughts last night before the workout about having a major breakthrough. But no luck. Positive thinking is great but it has to be accompanied by practice, a lot of hard work and dedication.

There is a lot I can do. Yoga for the flexibility and for straightening my ever-crooked elbows. Dips, jerks, and handstand pushups. Front squats. The trainers were even trying to think of torture devices like hanging me upside-down while i hold weights or strapping me to a medieval rack and cranking away. All those things would help but what will help most is repetitions, repetitions, repetitions. To face my kryptonite as much as I can until I am immune to it. I may not fix this by Saturday but I will fix it.

On Sunday we were invited to play some golf with a few of the MBS crew.

It was more like a dare than an invitation. It was freezing cold and windy which explains why we were the only ones on the course. Our spectators found a way to keep warm. 1 round for time of whatever came to mind:

I am not really much of a golfer but I still managed to outdo my worst game. On this one I putted all the way across the green to a foot from the hole and then missed it.

The other day I promised to introduce the girls – my extremely studly workout buddies. From left to right: Mary Finck, Leah Hosburgh, Samantha Griffith, Johanne Snavely, and Jamie, the birthday girl.

When it was hard to concentrate on golf we found other ways to entertain ourselves.

Thanks, Johanne, for getting us all together!

And thanks to Dan and Todd for dealing with our constant giggling on the longest 9 holes of golf ever played..

5:00 as many rounds as possible of
Squat clean 110#
Jerk 110#
My score: 21 rounds 1 rep = 43 reps

Ouch. That workout hurt. Both times. Squat cleans and jerks are not my strongest suits so I was okay with my score. I tried again anyway and got the same exact score. The first time I paced myself and finished right before time ran out. The second time I was faster and felt better but with 15 seconds left I reached total failure and couldn’t even clean it anymore. So far its only dropped me two spots from 40 to 42. We have seen people rise and fall by dozens of places every week so I can’t complain. MBS is still holding on to 3rd place of 67 in our region and 18th of 761 overall.

It was weird not stepping on the scale this morning. It used to be right by the shower door. I checked my weight as automatically as I brush my teeth. Now it’s on a shelf in the closet not to be touched until Saturday, April 23rd. I showed the Food Log to Todd. The first thing he said was “You eat too many carbs and not enough protein”. I know he is right. But right now the rice and potatoes are not what gets me in trouble. It is Doritos and Peanut M&Ms. One day I stay clear of carbs entirely and the next day I dive in to a double pepperoni with cheese and breadsticks. The frequent wild swings can’t possibly be good for my health and not fixing it can’t be good for my mental well-being. I just want a few weeks to feel good about all my food choices without worrying too much about the details to see if I can balance it out a bit. I want to be able to stay focused on my performance but still have the mental energy for other things like excelling at work and projects around our home, If I can make a more balanced diet a habit then I can tweak the details from there.

The updated and cleaned up the food log I will use for these two weeks is here: The Food Log.

After a three day free-for-all of Mexican food, drinks, and desserts I really felt the difference. Crash and burn on the 2nd attempt to clean up my diet. With only 9 weeks left until Regionals I better get it together. I have decided to test a new theory for two weeks. Through years of dieting and un-dieting I think deep down I already know what to eat. There is a little inner voice that tells me when I am good or bad. All the diets, planning, measuring, and tracking are just different ways to prevent myself from ignoring the voice so I can have cookies and donuts for breakfast. I aspire to be a health nut but in reality I am nowhere near the point where it makes sense for me to decide whether carbs or dairy are good or bad. I usually follow up those decisions with white chocolate Kit Kat bars and Reese’s Peanut Butter cups.

I want to forget the details for two weeks and see if I can train myself to stop “dieting” and just listen to my inner voice. It tells me to gravitate towards foods higher in protein and eat lots of vegetables, some fruit, and a little nuts. But I am not banning carbs, dairy, fat, or even treats. No weighing or measuring. No specific weight goal for me either. I think I have weighed myself just about every day since college as a habit. For the next two weeks – NO SCALE. As of Wednesday morning I weighed 142. At the end we will find out whether I lost, gained, or stayed the same.

The only rules for this experiment are to eat real food real slowly whenever I am hungry, to stop eating when I know I should, and to prevent myself from flipping that subconscious switch that suddenly tells me to go ahead and eat half a pepperoni pizza. To keep myself aware of what I am eating, I am writing it down and posting it here for everyone to see. This time it is only a list of foods with no measurements. Instead of using my measuring cups and scales I will see what happens when I use my conscience as my guide.

The first two events proved to be tests of endurance. This week’s event is going to favor the strong and will definitely cause some movement in the ranks. The challenge is to do as many squat clean and jerks as possible in 5 minutes. But the required weight is what could make or break people this week:165# for guys and 110# for girls. Some people use that weight to warm up with. But many more will find it a lot closer to their 1 rep max. Or over it.

Workout #3: As many rounds/reps as possible in 5 minutes of
Squat cleans at 165#/110# plus Jerks at 165#/110#

The weekend had everything I could have hoped for. Laughter, adventure, relaxation, a little shopping and a lot of fun. Friday night we went to dinner at The Yardhouse in downtown Denver and then went to see the rant comedian Lewis Black.

On Saturday we went mountain biking at Picture Rock near Lyons. Made a new friend.

After eating lunch at Oscar Blues we went to La Bellezza Spa located at a small winery. We spent an hour or so hanging around their gorgeous property testing their wines. We soaked in their hot tub for a little while and then enjoyed some very good massages. We ended up chatting with the therapists for about an hour afterward. Guess we just didn’t want to leave.

Finally we had some Mexican food for dinner. Todd told the waiters it was my birthday so of course they put a sombrero on me and sang. Surprisingly funny after 5 glasses of wine and a couple margaritas. Haha. I had a Gummy Bear Margarita. It really has gummy bears floating in it! So good.

On Sunday we went shopping, had Asian cuisine at TQ Asian Bistro by our house, and then came home and watched 127 Hours. Pretty intense. Then yesterday we went to Blackhawk. The original idea was to play blackjack but after the dealer got four 21s and seven 20s in a row we abandoned that and played the goofy penny slots instead. Never been a fan of the slot machines before but we had a blast without spending much. What a nice weekend!

Event #2 is out of the way. MBS CrossFit held on to 3rd place in the region this week. Somehow I managed to climb up one spot from 41st to 40th in the region as an individual. In fifteen minutes I completed 10 rounds plus 9 dead lifts, 12 push ups, and 5 box jumps. The goal is to land in the top 60 as an individual and for our team to be in the top 30. So far so good. Tomorrow I can tell you about my birthday weekend and then I think I will introduce you to my workout buddies, past and present. My girls are really kicking butt. I am so proud!

Yesterday I felt lazy. I didn’t go to CrossFit telling myself I would run later. But then I wasn’t sure I wanted to run either. I told Todd I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go and he sent me this:

 
I took the long way.