Dear AMRAP, I like you today

AMRAP = As Many Rounds As Possible

"Nate"

AMRAP in 20 minutes:
2 Muscle Ups (scaled)
4 Hand Stand Push Ups (scaled)
8 KB Swings - 16kg

I got 13 full rounds done and was on my way to the KB swings when time was called. Not too bad!
In keeping with the CrossFit way of no glass ceilings ever, the elite kettlebell weight for women has been upped to 24kg. It used to be 16kg.

This is what a 24kg kettlebell looks like:


Itty bitty thing ain't it?

This morning was one of the most successful workouts I've had in a long time. While we're spending the month of October on Heroes and Girls, I'm going to direct my attention to getting faster. I feel like such a slow poke, and I know that lifting heavy means sacrificing time, but let's mix up the intention a bit and see how close to first I can get. Even on the heavy days.

Shameless Self Promotion Time: I'm making journals! Hand bound journals, quality products with customizable interior logs. Each book is exactly 90 days (front and back, 180 pages) and the cost is $25 for blank pages. For a hand bound journal it's a steal! Let me know if you are interested.

FGB IV and Angie: 48 Hours Apart

Saturday morning at 8am I started Fight Gone Bad IV in the Elite Female Division. The workout, Fight Gone Bad, consists of three rounds total of one minute at each of these stations:

14lb med ball wall ball
55lb sumo deadlift high pull
20" box jump
55lb push press
row for calories

After cycling through all stations everyone gets a minute long rest. First off, barely any of my wall balls counted. They didn't get high enough. As my wonderful counter, Miriam, stood next to me saying "Erika you have to get it higher, no, no, no, didn't count" I realized that I had to let go of hitting above the line and focus on giving it everything I had. If it counted great, if not, I tried. My total score was 150, which is pretty low, but at the intermediate level I would have scored too high. I couldn't feel good about that at all. So I jumped in, feet first, probably could have pushed a little harder, but I'll save the personal glory for FGB benchmark workout in December...

Angie was yesterday. Remember my last Angie? This one wasn't nearly as traumatic. I decided that I'd switch to a band once my first big rip showed up, and low and behold there she was right at 60 reps into my kipps. I did the remaining 40 on a skinny little purple band and was able make it through to the push ups. Carey and Jen didn't stop me, so I was able to finish up and do the entire 100, pull ups, push ups, sit ups and squats which added to the feeling of accomplishment. My total time was 28 minutes, push ups on toes (but not totally chest to ground), 60 reps of the pull ups were kipps. Not too bad. I can use my hands today and feel most of the muscle tissue in my core and arms, T-Rex all the way baby.

I'm going to use the month of October to get faster. We are scheduled to do nothing but Girls and Heroes this month, which is exciting and terrifying.

Here's the Fight Gone Bad victory shot, moments after time was called.....

Five Days Down, Eight to Go

Sugar and I have a rocky relationship.
Since my thyroid apocalypse I have been fairly incapable of metabolizing it well and it really can cause a great deal of woe if I get too comfy with having it every day. After the women's challenge this past weekend I decided to nix the sugar, unless it comes from a vegetable, for 14 days.

The first day was easy enough. Slight itch for the sugar, but nothing a little deep breathing couldn't handle. The second and third days were the worst. Grumpy, grumpy, all day long. Nothing could satiate the cravings. Had to buckle down and push through. Yesterday, day number four, was great! My energy was up, the grumpy pants fell off and the veggies pulled me through the day. My sleep patterns are off however. I'm fairly certain that my body raided ancient fat storage and knocked loose some old toxins in the process. Peak times for organ regeneration are between the hours of 2am and 5am, typically speaking, everyone is different. For me, if I'm waking up to pee or need to gulp some water multiple times during these hours it's usually because my body is working hard on repairing itself. Yes, it is terribly annoying, but whatever, I appreciate the help. Thanks, liver and other organs, keep up the good work.

This morning, energy was down and I didn't feel as strong with the power cleans. Normally 75# is easy peasy, and this morning it really didn't pan out that way. "Grace" was the workout, clean and jerk 30 reps. Max is 95#, which I can power clean, but doubt I could jerk. Well, maybe ONCE, but that would be it. I think my brain got twisted around the weight feeling heavy on the jerk and killed my clean power. Who knows? Meh. After class Anna and I ran an 800m and boy is she fast! I'm so envious! Today I was 5 seconds faster than Wednesday, and hopefully that will be a continuing trend. One day my legs will be as swift as my brain so wishes them to be!!!

I just heard that today's free company lunch is pizza. At this stage in the game, adversity and myself are BFF's. Bring it on bitches. I dare you to plop a massive chocolate cake in front of my face, taunt me with fruit platters and mock all my hard work with cookies. Just thinking about it all has given me heartburn.

Epic Soreness and the Case of the Phantom Fat Roll

I've resigned myself to forever having busted knees and shins. I don't think that I am capable of sustaining scab and bruise free skin on my lower extremities. If there is the possibility of a gash or a welt, by God I will exploit it. My knees took a beating yesterday. Between the burpees, the snatches and the deadlifts, the skin was sure to be strawberried up in no time.

At this stage in the game if I'm not nursing muscle soreness, busted knees or broken callouses on my palms I feel strangely lost. In the instance of missing soreness, I begin to feel soft and puffy, almost floating instead of grounded and stable. It's strange, I fully admit to that. When I woke up this morning at 4am to use the restroom, the roll to my side left me no questions as to how Sunday would pan out. It would be slow and thoughtful because holy hell I felt it all. Every major muscle group in my body was perfectly toasted. I could walk (thank you!) and lift, but not fast or careless. I wasn't injured (except the damn foot from the 3 miler last Tuesday, damn!) and that was exciting... I felt extra accomplished.

Yesterday at our post-Crossfit ring of fire challenge meal, fellow x-fitters and myself were discussing the strange quality of the "Phantom Fall Roll" and how no matter how much weight you lose, the lingering discomfort of being bigger than you want to be sticks around....For a lot longer than it actually should. It's a strange thing, and most of us feel like complete idiots for feeling this way. Numbers don't lie. We are all blissfully more fit and stellar than we ever have been and yet, we glance in the mirror and still see our old selves. Obviously this behavior is not rooted in reality, it is reminiscent of an obsession into flaws that were present at one time; but while the actual flaws have lessened in intensity or disappeared all together, the knee jerk reaction to obsess about them is still there in full force.

Ok, problem has been stated, now what the hell do we do about it? I'm not really sure how to answer that question. Rather than bemoan feeling like a 15 year old, I'm going to spend some time and really solidify how fucking amazing I feel. If you feel amazing, you will look amazing, those two are inseparable. I'm hoping the rest will just fall back into line.

I'm embarking on 14 days of straight veggies, no fruit, tomorrow. We shall see how this unfolds. The sugar cravings will start in tomorrow around 3pm I'm sure, and the grumpy pants will slowly creep themselves up. Whew. You would think at some point I would tire of battling my inner 3-year old, but really it just gives me more strength to deal with the rest of the world. If you can conquer your inner beast, you can pretty much handle anything.

TEAM PHOENIX!!!

Oh dear, what a day.

At 6am the alarm went off, that's when the benign innocence of a Saturday morning disappeared. My feet hit the floor and the anxiety immediately set in. I put the sweet potatoes for my team in the oven to bake, started the coffee, started the oatmeal, started to pace....

What is it about the anticipation that is the killer? The questions are relentless: What if I get hurt? What if I can't finish? What if..What if..blah blah blah blah.

By 7:30am I was much more prepared and the anxiety had turned into excitement.

It was raining, pouring intermittently, and the first workout was this lovely monster:

2 mile run includes:
*1st Check In Point @ the start line: As a team 150 burpees - each member is responsible for a minimum of 25 reps

*2nd Check In Point: As a team 200 kettle bell swings- each member of team is responsible for a minimum of 25 reps (2 people can swing at the same time)

Reach turn around point - each member must get marked

*3rd Check Point: As a team 200 med ball passes AND answer nutrition questions

*Must return questions to envelope and hand to designated volunteer before returning to run

Yikes. The run was beautiful. It winded through a gorgeous section of the Shoal Creek Trail and included passing next to a rock wall. Very pretty. Holy shit was that hard. The burpees covered us in mud. The kettlebells covered us in mud. The med balls covered us in mud. I'm fairly certain I haven't been that dirty in my adult life, and it was so much damn fun. My fancy new running shoes will never be pretty again.

When the run was finished, we were halfway through. At 11am we embarked to conquer this pretty little thing:

*75 barbell power snatch (45#)
*200 box jumps
*175 ab mat sit ups
*100 pull ups
*125 duo dead lifts @ 95#s
*150 jumping ring dips
*100 duo shoulder press (55#)
*Run 400

Jesus. Yes, we finished. However, I loaded the bar heavier than it needed to be by 10lbs. Fail. Catherine, Anna and myself busted ass through the entire thing and I couldn't be more proud of my team. Anna just started Crossfit last month and really dedicated herself to stellar eating and pushing through the workouts. She's in Dallas now installing an entire photography show. Total rock star. Catherine has had a hell of a year recovering from a very severe case of tendinitis in her wrist and her upper body strength (which was impressive) took a hit. You never would have guessed that was the case watching her throw that 16kg kettlebell over her head.

The best part of this entire experience is that in spite of how horrendous the workout looked, each and every one of those women finished. Our ages ranged widely, from the teenager to the mom with multiple kids. Each with different backgrounds and battles behind them, who all made a commitment at some point to better themselves and their quality of life. There was a time when each of those women would have looked up on that whiteboard and said the workout was impossible; that they would not be capable of completing such a challenging request. In my opinion, one of the greatest things about Crossfit is it can literally turn people into fierce athletes. No longer is athleticism solely about genetics, or aptitude. Just because you never have, doesn't mean that you never will. The human body is an amazing piece of machinery and it will do whatever you ask it to do. All you have to do is ask and show it how to behave.

I'm so very proud of each and every one of those women today. You are all inspirational beyond words and I hope you get some delicious rest. I can't wait to see the pretty pictures of our terribly contorted faces.

We'll go slowly at first so I don't hyperventilate.

My website is finished and I'm slowly leaking out the url for crits and comments.

Be gentle, as much as this is invigorating I am still shaky and terrified. I'm sad to report that my artsy confidence has waned over the last few years and I've become much more comfortable hiding in the back of the crowd. The pitfalls of shrinking away from being a maker and allowing that very large part of myself to get covered in cobwebs and dust are far reaching and slightly painful.

However, I have a plan...a plan that involves cephalopods and diatoms.

Anycrazydaygluedtotheputer...

I made some more progress on my pull ups this morning and after 45 reps didn't rip my hands. Hey Angie, I'm getting ready for you, you nasty bitch.