March 19, 2014

Tuesday

Yesterday I had a surprisingly good visit at the gym! I had to get a money order for my wedding photographer (guess who lost their checkbook?) and somehow totally missed the bank on the way to the gym. I ended up knocking out 5 miles in 48:37, which is pretty good considering how little I’ve been running lately! I did all speed work, as usual on the treadmill. Anywhere from 5.5-8mph. Typically I don’t go any lower than 6, but I was spending a lot of time between 7-8mph, so I needed more of a break. Then I did 5×5 back squats at 105# and 5×5 deadlifts at 115#. I knocked out a few pull ups, push ups, and abs and then it was 4pm, so I stretched and headed over the bank, which was CLOSED at 4pm! When did Bank of America start closing so early? Guess I’ll be paying my photographer a little later on. But I was a little bummed that I hurried out of the gym to make it to a closed bank.

After my workout, I ate 6 pieces of bacon (I really wanted chicken sausage but didn’t have any). Jon bought Oscar Meyer nitrate/nitrite free bacon, but Oscar Meyer is just SO salty! I prefer my 365 brand from Whole Foods all the way. And really, I wanted some chicken sausage but it smelled a little off, so I decided to forego that option and just have some bacon. I had a pretty big serving of my squash casserole and a smoothie with kefir, PB2, berries, a banana, and greens. I was surprised I ate so much. Then I followed it with 6 Thin Mints. Oops. I need to get these Girl Scout Cookies out of the house.

My squash looks like throw up.

I definitely was feeling much more “on” after a workout and being able to eat my own food and I had slept in my own bed too. I get thrown off way too easy by being out of town. I don’t eat out that often (Jon and I were just commenting on how we’re eating out so much lately- which is Mexican once a week compared to maybe 1-2 times a month before) and eating out for all my meals just don’t work with me. And for just 2-3 days, I don’t want to go buy all new food to eat for where I’m staying. I also am feeling much more motivated to work out after getting just one good day in. I’m too easily derailed from the gym lately and really need to work on that.

I got home, cleaned, and studied for my test. Jon was gone most of the evening and went to bed when he got home, so it was a quiet night before a day of work and an evening of tests!

Tonight, after working all day, studying for a test, and taking a test, I was excited to get to the gym to walk out all my soreness and do some abs and a little upper body! I got to the gym (still in my scrubs from work) and realized I forgot my sports bra! Bummer! I was actually really in the mood to be at the gym too! I was about to work on in scrubs though, and I also wasn’t about to work on in a tight white t-shirt with a black bra with red lace on it. No thanks.

Off to upload some engagement photos and eat a 10pm dinner!

January 25, 2014

Typical week! Too much work and school!

Let’s not talk about how many times I’ve eaten out this week. Seriously. Except let’s. I don’t typically eat out for meals because it’s expensive and I just prefer my own food. However, I noticed a Fresh 2 Order right near the Whole Foods I go to and I love their Asian chicken and sweet potatoes. If you have an F2O, do yourself a favor and order this.

That was on Tuesday. But I did find my wedding dress on Tuesday and was able to finally have some time hanging out with Crista, so I was glad!

Wednesday Jon and I found our wedding venue! Lake Allatoona Inn. I don’t think I can even begin to put into words how happy we are to have found a venue! And even better, they had Memorial Day weekend available, so our wedding is set for May 24th! There are three bedrooms at the B&B, so Jon and I will have a room, his best man and his wife, and my maid of honor and her boyfriend. It’ll be so nice to have them there with us the whole weekend! We are beyond excited and I think both of us are breathing easier! Jon and I celebrated with a meal at Iberian Pig because we were in the area. I should have gotten pictures of my bacon wrapped dates and pork cheek tacos, but I didn’t. Delicious, however. I had been craving that! We topped our meal off with Cheesecake Factory cheesecake and I was a happy camper!

Thursday was work and class. As usual, my day consisted of nothing else other than a quick nap.

Today I was off again! I did homework this morning and made it to my first workout of the week! We did 30 pull ups, 30 ring dips, 21 clean and jerks, and a 2000m row. I finished in 21:07. Nate (the owner) tried to jump my 55# C&Js to 75# during the WOD, which after not lifting in so long, I could barely do. Which is sad because I used to do all my C&Js in WODS at 85#. But I’m just not feeling it. I love CrossFit. I love lifting heavy. But my heart isn’t where it used to be. We did muscle up progressions and I have done 3 muscle ups in my life. On my attempt to get the fourth, I felt like I almost ripped my shoulder off. After not working for three months because of a stupid injury (my thumb, not my shoulder), I refuse to put myself in a position where I feel like my body could be compromised. I can’t afford to be out of work for so long because I hurt myself working out. I want to push myself to my limits- not where other people think I should be. I felt exhausted after the WOD, which is rare for me. I was exhausted before it though, too.

Jon came home and we had some things to take care of. Then we went to Leon’s Full Service Garage for dinner. I had been wanting to try it.

We decided to get somewhat fancy today. You can’t tell by my sweater, but I did have a dress on. It was just really cold.

I had some zucchini fritter thing and a sandwich with a portobello mushroom, cashew and basil pesto, cheese, and tomatoes. It was really good! Then Jon and I came home and took naps.

Way to take off your clothes and get in bed before our squishface.

Anyway, my head had been hurting since after dinner and I woke up with a headache, so I took my Goody’s powder and did some homework tonight. Jon and I cleaned up the house a little bit and now I’m heading to bed! I have to work from 7-3 tomorrow and Sunday morning we’re running a 5k. I haven’t been running at all because life has gotten in the way lately (work, school, wedding planning!) so I’m sure I’ll want to die. I’m a little disappointed that my running ability has decreased, but at the same time, I just don’t have the time right now to do CrossFit and run and with my schedule this month, something had to take the backseat and I choose running. My schedule seems better next month, so maybe I’ll be able to get back to running more.

Off to bed!

January 17, 2014

What women “should” look like

“You’re supposed to have curves. You’re supposed to have an a**. You’re supposed to look like a woman. Being a woman does NOT mean you are automatically weak. It doesn’t mean you can’t be physically capable.” – from Lean Bodies Consulting

I read this excerpt from an article today. The article had an overall good message- it’s about loving yourself and accepting yourself for how you are. However, I have a problem with all these “love yourself” articles and photos. Why is this article telling women what we’re supposed to have? So I’m supposed to have curves and I’m supposed to have an ass? And you include this information about what I should have in the article about loving yourself?! Well, I don’t have an ass and I don’t have curves and I’m still a woman! I hate this type of “validation” on what your body should look like as much as I hate the media out there that tells you that you should be strong or you should be thin or you should be something or other!

What you should be is healthy!

I like feeling strong, don’t get me wrong, but what if somebody is skinny?! What if that is their natural body type (which it is for me- I’m naturally about 95lbs- I can get up to 105 max if I’m lifting heavy and lifting very often)? So these images are spread all over the internet telling people who are naturally thin that now they need to be strong because it isn’t sexy anymore to be skinny, basically. And I know the message intended is to actually tell people that they should be strong and fit and not strive to just be thin. There is more to life than just losing weight (because I do know that that actually is the main focus for a lot of women out there- which I think is just as crazy as focusing on the numbers on the scale- muscle weighs more than fat, guys). However, as a thin women with absolutely no hips and curves, I am so tired of reading how I shouldn’t be skinny anymore and I should be fit and how women are supposed to have curves!

I have a ton of CrossFit friends so my Facebook newsfeed is obviously full of other CrossFitters. They like to post a lot of articles about CrossFit. A lot. Especially people who are new into it and feel like it’s omg the coolest thing eeeever. I’m so tired of seeing articles about how CrossFit is good for you and all these benefits of it with pictures of clearly jacked men and women. Yeah, there are a lot of people in CrossFit who are jacked. There are also a ton who are overweight or who are thin or are really just average. Include those pictures in the articles about CrossFit!

I’ll consider it a success when all the focus really does shift to being healthy and when the images of the healthy women actually vary. It is true that no matter how “healthy” you are, added weight does increase the risk of other medical problems. Your body isn’t meant to operate with all that added weight. However, you can have a few extra pounds, be in great cardiovascular shape, strong, and eat healthy and not lose all the weight! Who cares?! You’re healthy! Who cares if you never have curves? You can still be healthy without an ass or curves just as you can be healthy with them!

Rant over.

I did make it to CrossFit today for the noon class. We did 2x2x1x1 front squats. I maxed at 113#, which is really good for not squatting much in 7 months. I have no idea what my 1RM is… I think it was 135# for front squats. Maybe one day. Maybe not. Then we did a 7 min EMOM (every minute on the minute) of rope climbs and 8 kettle bell swings (I did 35#). I love rope climbs but didn’t think I’d be able to keep up with 7 after being out of the gym for so long. I was wrong. I finished each round in 30-32 seconds. So I was glad that I made it! Definitely felt good to climb some ropes again! Then I grocery shopped and now it’s time to study and cook until it’s time to go wedding dress shopping tonight! I’d love to run today because it’s so nice out, but I don’t think I have time! The only reason I sat down to write this blog was because my accent chair was being delivered and I knew I couldn’t concentrate on studying with random people in the house!

Everybody have a good day!

January 17, 2014

WIAW and my first tricep workout since the rhabdo

I decided to go ahead and do a WIAW (from Tuesday, on Thursday). I already recapped my Tuesday without food so here’s just some quick pictures.

Two eggs with spicy brown mustard (DO IT!), mashed sweet potatoes with goat cheese, and mango slices for breakfast around 10am.

After a quick workout and running some errands: Slice of colby jack cheese and a few slices of Boar’s Head Tuscan Turkey, and then stir fried veggies made with coconut aminos. I think this was around 4ish.

Green Mountain Gingerbread K-cup with So Delicious French Vanilla Coconut creamer with my meal.

I actually ate this in my car at 6:30 on my way to class while I sat in tons and tons of traffic. Noosa honey yogurt. My favorite.

Dinner after class around 9pm: Apple slices, same veggie stir fry with coconut aminos, except with chicken this time.

Wednesday was spent working. I had hoped to get off work at 3p because the WOD at CrossFit looked really good, but I ended up being “called in” (I was already there anyway) from 3p-7p. So I got home around 8, did a short workout at home and watched my online syllabus review for biology, and then watched Nashville before bed.

Today I ended up getting called off of work from 7a-11a. They called me while I was getting dressed, so while I tried to fall back to sleep, I calculated my missed pay for those 4 hours because they would have put me into overtime pay for this week. While I wallowed in poor self pity (I kid), I managed to drift back off to sleep. I still went to work from 11a-3p, which was so insanely easy. The slowest day I’ve had in months!

I went to a new LA Fitness tonight right after work. It’ll be my new gym for Tuesday and Thursdays before class. It was actually a really big gym! It just kept going and going! They had the Precor EFX machine which my gym doesn’t have. I think I liked it better than the regular elliptical cause I felt like my butt was getting a better workout. I only did it for about 15 minutes and then went to do my standard hand stand push ups. I haven’t done any tricep work since the whole rhabdo thing, so this was my first attempt. This is actually really my first full day where my triceps weren’t bothering me at all. Anyway, I fell flat on my head once I got into a handstand and couldn’t get back up. I read that rhabdo leads to muscle weakness so I’m a believer now. I can easily do anywhere from 15-20 hand stand push ups before needing a break, so I was totally shocked not to even be able to get one. The gym was super busy so I felt intimated by walking around and finding the things I normally like. I also noticed at this gym, a lot more guys were making eye contact with everything but my eyes… I’m not a big fan of being checked out while I work out at all. I find it awkward. So I didn’t end up doing a ton but at least I went! I didn’t even get there till 5pm tonight because of getting out of work late and running an errand, so I hope to get there before so many people are there on the Tuesdays and Thursday to come! Although I have a feeling I’ll end up hating my schedule on Thursdays if I work (because I’ll typically be up from 5am and not getting home till 10:15pm), it is sort of nice that it forces me into the gym for awhile. And as long as I get out of work on time and don’t have errands to run, I think I’ll have plenty of time to study and to get a workout in!

The gym worked out perfectly because it took me about 10 minutes to get to campus after! Much better than the 1hr and 50min drive on Tuesday! My biology lab was over pretty quickly and this professor seems so much better than mine from last semester! I was so excited to get out at 8:30 (it ends at 9:45) that I left my book in the classroom! I realized that I left that stupid $250 book in the classroom when I was almost home and then I had to have security come let me back in! So I made it home around 9:30 tonight and Jon was cleaning, so I ended up cleaning until Parenthood came on.

I’m off work tomorrow, so I’m definitely going to CrossFit, getting started on all this biology work, grocery shopping and cooking (I work Saturday, Sunday, and Monday- all 12s!), and then I’m wedding dress shopping with my friends! Woohoo! I should be looking at some venues next week and hope to find a good one so we can book it! May is coming fast!

I actually have more I want to say that includes more than just a “blah blah blah, I woke up at this time and did this, blah blah blah” but it’s 11:30 and I’m tired! Now that Jon is back in school, my computer time is severely limited! Maybe tomorrow!

To end this with, here is our new mantle! The lighting is weird cause the porch door was open. That’s my Croatia picture (I carried that thing ALL OVER CROATIA AND ITALY- and it was impossible since I’m 5′ tall!), my little wooden face guy from the Grand Canyon, and the wine bottles are our two bottles of wine from Italy and our engagement champagne. I’m not positive that those things will be staying, but it’s a start!

January 13, 2014

The weekend and rhabdo!

Friday I got off work at 3 and drove over the the gym. I got to the gym and had a bathroom emergency and was exhausted, so I wrestled with whether or not I really wanted to go to the gym at all. I had decided to at least do 45 minutes at the gym doing whatever my heart desired once I got in the doors, but once that bathroom emergency hit, it was over.

I came home, got out of my scrubs, and crashed for 2 hours. Maybe I dream too big for working 5 days in a row. Nurses aren’t used to that sort of thing. I did feel justified in my decision not to work out when I slept that hard though cause clearly I needed it.

I woke up hungry and grumpy and waited for Jon to get home (he was supposed to be home way earlier and hadn’t let me know he was staying later at work). Once Jon got home, we packed for the cabin as quickly as possible and headed out the door.

Our night started with awesome massages. After going back to CrossFit, I needed it. I thought I was going to cry when he dug into some of the knots on my back. Jon loved his massage just as much as I loved mine, so maybe we’ll go back. After our wonderful massages, we headed up the my parent’s cabin in Blairsville.

I woke up throughout the night with intense pain in my triceps. I’ve never had that happen before. After not working out as much and still being in the mindset I was in 7 months ago with CrossFit, I overdid it. I’m extremely careful going back into doing lifts, but not as much with the number of reps of bodyweight exercises. I’m almost positive I ended up with a mild case of rhabdo. Luckily, it was just in my triceps. People with the highest risk for rhabdo are athletes who are getting back into working out and overdo it. Hm, sound familiar (and by athlete, I just mean former CrossFitter- I don’t feel like an athlete of any sort). I barely slept all night because of the pain in my arms and could barely move them. I’ve done CrossFit for over 4 years so I know what it’s like to be sore. I’ve been in agony when I’ve been sitting down on the toilet before. My muscles frequently hurt just to touch and feel bruised. But this was different. It wasn’t just a sore muscle. My arms at rest were in a constant aching pain and that radiated into the surrounding muscles, leaving them feeling like they were in constant muscle failure. If I moved my arms, it felt like a tearing pain, and when I got to a certain point (which was after very minimal movement), it felt like I was having the most severe muscle cramps in my triceps. They were swollen and Jon said my left one looked bruised. I drank tons of water to flush out the myoglobin casts so they didn’t occlude my ureters (I peed way less than normal- oddly enough, but my pee was still light). I was feeling nauseous a lot of the day also. Jon even had to dress and undress me. I couldn’t bend my arms enough to get my clothes on and off. Last night I still went to bed in pretty bad pain, but luckily woke up this morning (only woke up a few times overnight) and was able to move a little bit more. Tonight, I’m able to move more for sure, but bending my arms is still really painful and the constant ache in my left arm is about 1/2 of what it was the other day! Anyway, I blame myself completely. I know who is at the highest risk of rhabdo. I know my own limits. I definitely pushed them and the coach on Wednesday had told me to only do 14 dips per round and not 20, but I still did 20.

Anyway, yesterday morning Jon and I woke up to this:

Instead of enjoying a day hiking as I had hoped for, we went to The Sawmill Place for breakfast. Afterwards, we ended up heading back to the cabin and we both napped for a few hours. I’ve been really taking a ton of naps lately, which is so rare for me. I usually never want to nap. I slept so good too after being up all night in pain the night before. We woke up to a nice sunny afternoon so we decided to head out to look for possible wedding venues.

We drove around and enjoyed some nice scenery! Didn’t find much in the way of venues, but we have a few places we want to check out. We had dinner at an Italian place that was okay. Enrico’s in Young Harris. Jon made fun of the girl when he ordered “caprese” and she verified that we wanted the “capreeese.” It’s “capraysay,” duh. We went to Italy. We know. (I’m kidding, but we did go, and Jon does feel all Italian now.) They used sandwich tomatoes for their caprese which ruined it. But our entrees were pretty good!

We went back to the cabin and read all night. This morning, we woke up to a beautiful morning!

I would love to get married in a field like that! Jon and I wondered if we just set up in a field, if anybody would stop us. We don’t think so, but I think the logistics may be a little tricky. We ate a really good breakfast at The Crimson Moon Cafe in Dahlonega and then headed to Amicalola Falls to check out their B&B as a possible wedding venue.

The view from the lodge. Unfortunately, you can’t see the falls from the B&B.

I’m curious to hear the pricing on that place. Anyway, we went to pick up Jon’s wedding band and sent off my engagement ring for resizing. I have a feeling it’ll squish my fingers when they swell in the summer, but I’m tired of worrying that it’ll fall off into the sinks at work when I wash my hands a million times a day!

My parents came over tonight to help us hang up pictures. After they left, we’ve been organizing all day. It sucks that we left so much to do today because it was a beautiful day out and we could have done so many fun things! Our guest bedroom was still in shambles after we did the floors, so I have most of that together. Now I’m catching up on laundry. I really wanted to clean the glue off the floors but my arms are still really tired and hurting, so I didn’t. I also didn’t want to run today because I didn’t want to damage any other muscles and release anything else into my bloodstream to be filtered out by my kidneys! I’m such a paranoid nurse, huh.

Anyway, time to go relax and watch a movie with Jon. It’s back to reality this week… I have a class for work tomorrow and am on call till 3 (I hope to check out a wedding venue after!) and then Tuesday is back to class. Ugh.

January 9, 2014

Bloggeriffic. What I did. What I ate. What I worked out. Pictures included.

I had a really productive day for once today! I worked until 3:30 (I start getting really antsy to leave at 15 after whatever hour I should be leaving, so by 3:15 I was calling my relief and asking what was going on!) and was actually glad to spend my last 4 hours at work at the greeter desk. It’s the only area in the ER that we have any windows (since it’s in the waiting room), so I got to enjoy looking at the bright, sunny day for once!

I came home from work and was motivated to run! I was starving, so I had a quick snack:

A gluten free biscuit, two mango slices, and Boar’s Head Tuscan turkey breast- it’s nitrate and nitrite free and costs $11.99/lb at Kroger, but let me just tell you, Jon and I agree that this is hands down the best deli meat out there! It is delicious!

Jon ended up walking in the house while I was finishing up my snack so he agreed to go on a run with me! I kind of forget at times that my running actually has improved, so I run farther and faster than him. We headed out to do a 4.2 mile run (I don’t think he knew how far he agreed to when I asked if he wanted to run to Wal-Mart) and after 2 miles, he was done. A 21 minute 2 mile. I was planning on going to CrossFit tonight, so I was fine with it. Besides, it’s rare that Jon agrees to run with me so I was just happy to have him go!

We spent our 2 mile walk home talking about our future wedding plans and freezing our asses off. We were dressed to run! So a walk in 40 degree weather in the shade was definitely cold!

I don’t normally add pictures of what I look like before running, but today I’m fancy. Also, I don’t have a clue if that’s a headband or ear warmer, but I think it’s the perfect ear warmer and a stupid headband, but I’m not really up on all the fashion trends in the fitness world. I own all the same shorts, pants, tank tops, and long sleeved shirts to work out in.

We got home at 5:50 so I stretched until I headed out the door to CrossFit. Tonight was 5 rounds of 20 ring dips and 14 thrusters. Since this is my first real workout with my thumb, I went light on the thrusters. 33#. And I scaled the dips because my triceps died. It was awful. It was absolutely not a cardio workout at all for me, but I definitely hit muscle failure on my last round of dips.

After getting home and talking Jon into massaging my triceps for me, I made us some quick dinner.

Salad with ranch dressing and then portabello mushrooms, spaghetti sauce mixed with cream cheese, and parmesan cheese. I ate another mango slice too (not pictured). Also, that looked like a ton of mushroom when I started sautéing them, but then we hardly had any by the time they finished cooking. Lesson learned.

I was way too lazy at the store this week to think of a real meal and I didn’t feel like having to cook much on a week where I was working every day, so that was it. But it was good.

In case you wondering about what I ate for the rest of my day, my breakfast at 6am was roasted carrots, chocolate milk, and pumpkin coffee with So Delicious French Vanilla coconut creamer (I don’t ever have carrots for breakfast but I left my tupperware with sweet potatoes and goat cheese at work and I’m pretty sure my eggs are expired). Side note: I bought Dunkin Donuts mocha k-cups and hate them. They expire at the end of this month though, so I’ve been drinking them every morning and just adding plain coconut milk and hating my morning coffee. So today I splurged and went back to my good old favorite- Green Mountain Pumpkin Spice k-cups with the above creamer. Mmmm… End side note. For lunch at noon, I had spaghetti squash with parmesan cheese and spaghetti sauce and a Noosa yogurt… Which come to think of it, after that small lunch, it’s obvious why I was so hungry when I got home from work at 4 because that’s a really small lunch for me when I’m at work.

Anyway, after dinner, Jon and I cleaned our room and bathroom and now we’re working on laundry! How exciting. I was all excited about watching Nashville tonight after we finished our cleaning, but it’s not on till the 15th!

I’ll leave you with this last picture before going to cuddle on the couch with Jon and head to bed soon. Another work day tomorrow!

My loves on the couch. Jon and Tom. Although most of you don’t follow me on Instagram, this is an accurate representation of my Instagram. Jon on the couch with Tom on his chest. Nightly occurrence.

PS- This post was really bloggeriffic with all the photos and what I ate and what I did.

January 3, 2014

2014, My Brain is Fried

Happy 2014! I had decided to schedule myself from 7a-7p on the 31st and from 11a-11p on the 1st so that I would still be able to go out and enjoy the night! However, after working 12 hours (and waking up at 5am), I had no desire to go out at all! Jon wanted to but thankfully, he decided he didn’t want to drag me out of the house being as tired as I was. So we watched a House Hunters marathon on TV and I drifted off to sleep on the couch by 11:30. I’m such an old lady.

I’ve been in a bit of a funk this week. I’ll attribute it to the complete lack of sunshine every. single. day. of. the. week. I’m really over this Georgia weather. The entire year has been cloudy! It’s making me miss the severe drought days when it was sunny every single day for months on end (that was years ago). We just had no water in the lakes. Tonight I walked out of work and it was like an arctic blast.

I would really like to say that I set some goals for myself this year but I haven’t. I definitely want to run a 1/2 marathon, but that’s not a new goal. I want to get my muscle back, but have no set goal as of how to achieve this goal. I am itching to get back to CrossFit more regularly after the class I did on Monday night so I’m pretty excited that I’ll be off at 3 two days next week so that I can go. I want to start eating more along the lines of Paleo again (I like the 90/10 rule), which I had been doing for a long time and then in the last month or two have just been eating way worse than usual!

Aside from gym/food goals cause life is definitely about more than that, I’ll keep working on not having expectations. I expect for things to get done my way (this is obviously mostly in regards to Jon) and get aggravated when they don’t. So if I don’t have the expectation, I won’t get aggravated! It worked last night! 1/1.

I know there are more things I need to work on, not just because of the new year, but because I’ve been working on them. But I’ve worked too much this week and don’t want to give anything that much thought. I think I’ll just get caught up on touching up some paint!

December 31, 2013

Back to CrossFit!

I did it! I finally went back to CrossFit! I never ran or made it to the regular gym earlier in the day. I really did want to run, but I felt like I was lacking energy and was irritated that there were so many people everywhere once I made it out. Apparently nobody was working. At all. You should have seen the Whole Foods parking lot! It’s never like that during the week! Once I made it back from the grocery store, I started cooking in my little tiny area of counter space! I have no idea how people live with tiny kitchens! I guess the house Jon originally lived with me in only had about 2-3 feet total of counter space, but I wasn’t a big cooker then. Drove me crazy.

Anyway, I had asked Jon to go to CrossFit with me. I saw that they were doing 5×5 back squats and that was all it said. I love back squats so I figured it’d be a good day to go! Jon decided not to go with me, so I almost backed out. I don’t know where all this nervousness about going to a new gym came from. Although I’ve definitely grown in being fairly confident in my CrossFit abilities, I think I’ve also grown used to surrounding myself with small groups of people. So going into a new gym was really intimidating for me for some reason. I got there really early and sat in the parking lot and almost went home! I felt really anxious for a few minutes and then decided I just needed to go in. I can’t let being uncomfortable with new groups of people keep me from doing something I love.

It was awkward at first. I showed up during a huge 5:30 class in the middle of their WOD and as Jon said, the gym has their competitors that can do what they want at the gym, so it seemed kind of chaotic. I just stood around until the class actually started. Thankfully, there were only three of us! Another girl that I think is about my age was there and she was really nice! It was less intimidating being with such a small group of people.

Since my squatting form isn’t great because of my lack of mobility, I worked on that with another coach instead of doing the back squats, which was totally fine with me. Then we did 21-15-9 of a calorie row (21 calorie row, etc) and front squats. I only did 55# on my front squats and felt tired! I was really glad it wasn’t anything long and that I didn’t go any heavier. It took me 7:15 to finish. I was glad to get some lower body work in today though and definitely want to go back to work out more.

It is definitely weird to feel intimidated by CrossFit after so long. And truly, it is not by CrossFit at all. It’s just weird having that anxiety over having to work out in front of people. I have always felt that at LA Fitness, but it’s been a long time since I’ve felt that at a CrossFit gym. I’m hoping to push myself out of my comfort zone at least once a week (cause that’s my goal right now with CrossFit) to get a workout in. If my school and work schedule is ever slow enough, I’d be happy to get back into it more, but I also want to keep running. And I really do need to work on my mobility so I may have to try to throw in some yoga classes.

So, while I have no set resolution for the new year, I do need to be dedicated again to working out. I don’t even want it say CrossFit. I know I can do various things and am seeming to be more into the variety than just sticking to one thing. Once I get into the swing of working out again, it’s not a problem. I’ve just been out of being in a gym on daily basis for 7 months now, so the initial jump back into it is difficult for me. I really hope to get Jon back into the swing of things and get him to be more active than he has been lately.

Anyway, I’m off to bed. It’s 10:30 and I took some Benadryl awhile ago to help me get to sleep after my lazy day and late workout. Working 7a-7p tomorrow 😦

December 10, 2013

Run day! Finally sunny!

I woke up today to another dreary day. I made Jon breakfast before he headed down to campus to take some finals and then I started studying. Around 12:30, I decided to head out to the gym. I live in a pretty dark house surrounded by trees, so I don’t typically have a great indication of the weather when I’m in my living room. I went to open the door and look what I saw!

This is the first day there has been any sun in so long! I was immediately super excited! I planned on going to the gym and then running after, but decided to skip the gym entirely. I have a final tonight and wasn’t sure I’d have time for both and I really wanted to at least enjoy the weather!

This is my favorite place to run! The river runs along most of the trail for this section so it’s really nice! It was pretty chilly out and my nose kept running, but I felt really good for the whole run. By really good, I mean I actually kind of felt like I was dying and couldn’t breathe very well, but I was so excited about running in the sun that I completely ignored that feeling the entire time. I also ran in my Minumus shoes again and it felt so much better! My ankle had pain as always, but went away immediately when I quit running, as always. The bottom of my right foot was a little tight, but I’ll lacrosse ball it out. I haven’t gone running in these shoes lately but it was like my feet were at home again.

I was surprised to keep my pace at 8:33 for that whole time but happy. I’m going to run the Hot Chocolate 5k on January 28th and I’m sure it’ll be freezing and first thing in the morning (I’m not a morning workout person), but I would really really really like to get one of my miles into the 7 minute range at least. It can be 7:59. I don’t care. I just want to see a 7 on there!

Told you I was happy. I never take pictures of myself after exercising. It’s kind of weird. But do you see the sun shining behind me?! Glorious!

I even love the parking lot area in this weather. Can anybody else tell how much I’ve been needing a sunny day? I really wish I didn’t have a final tonight or I would go hike Stone Mountain since I have an annual pass now and it’s not very far from my house. I’m really hoping to wake up to some sun tomorrow so I can enjoy the entire day off outside before heading back to work Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

After I left the park, I went to check out a CrossFit gym. It’s the one that Jon used to go to. I must have been feeling motivated today because I hadn’t even decided for sure that I was going to go back yet. But I told the owner that I’d come by for a WOD tomorrow. I’m a little nervous. After taking 6 entire months off, I can guarantee that my form will be shaky and pathetic. Normally I wouldn’t mind this, but it’s at a completely new place so the coaches have no idea what I do in the gym normally! I remember going back after taking a few months off in the past and my clean and jerks were just sad. I had to actually remind myself to have fast elbows and it was only like, 55# too. The only downside to this gym is that they have a really competitive nature. I mentioned to the owner that I wasn’t sure I wanted to get back into very heavy lifting because of my thumb and he seemed to think I could work on its strength. I probably can work on it a bit, but I also am not risking my thumb. People with thumb injuries often have residual effects for the rest of their lives and I need my thumb. So I’m not pushing it. I honestly don’t care if I never compete again. Competitive CrossFitters are too competitive. They like to win. I don’t care about winning. I like to beat my times. So why pay $80 to compete, come in last, and do 3-4 WODs in a day when I really don’t want to do more than 2 in a day, ever? No reason.

When I got home, I ate this beauty.

I only bought the bread for Jon to have last night, but then I ended up eating it on bread too and let me just say, it’s worth it. This sandwich is amazing. I very loosely followed this recipe that I found on Pinterest for a chicken pesto sandwich. I used walnuts instead of pine nuts because pine nuts were $14 a bag (are you kidding me?!) and I definitely used way more nuts than the recipe called for. I almost never follow recipe measurements (unless it’s Paleo bread or something cause I’m not that good at baking) because I hate having to clean up so many tools in the kitchen. There’s just no reason to ever have to wash measuring cups or spoons. So I eyeball it and add things as I want. I also made three chicken breasts worth. But anyway, if you need a new sandwich idea and like basil, make this. Also, if you don’t own a crockpot and food processor, you’re missing out. Crockpots make the best chicken (throw in some broth and water and you’re done!) and I use my food processor for almost every recipe I make. Best $40 I ever spent. (Also, I left off the lettuce and tomato and ate it on a ciabatta).

Anyway, I better get showered and back to studying! I ended up making an A (a 90.8, but it’s an A) in my biology class and an A in my computer class (which was only worth 1 hour), and tonight is my lab final. I’m actually really nervous about it, but I think I only need a 50 to pass the class. But still, I’m nervous about making a 50 because sometimes the things we have to find using a microscope are impossible and I always get horrendous headaches and really impatient and discouraged when we use the microscope.

Everybody have a great day!

December 2, 2013

Run day #2.

I am seriously lacking all motivation to study for finals! And Jon is in the same boat as me, so we spent our night last night drinking wine and I watched a horrible movie on Netflix (The Babysitters, anyone? Soft core porn pretty much…). So, clearly I didn’t study last night. At all.

I slept in until 10 again today! Early wake ups just aren’t happening for me! I have spent almost my entire day trying to motivate myself to study. I hardly got anything done. That leaves me with Thursday during the day to study (my final is at 5:30 at night). Clearly, I will not have time to do everything that I would have liked to do, but I don’t care. I’m burnt out! I need a break!

I did spend a good portion of my studying time lacrosse balling my lateral left calf down into my ankle. I noticed it’s extremely tight, so I’m sure I have some things to work out in there.

I managed to make it out for a 4 mile run (37:something). I really wanted to die the whole time (that’s a lie- I wanted to die intermittently but the urge to die was more prevalent than the urge not to die) and thought I had gone way more than 4 miles. My goal was 5, but after running 4.75 miles yesterday, my knee started bothering me. I’m actually considering going back to my New Balance Minimus shoes as my primary shoe since my shoe doesn’t seem to be making any difference with my knee. Either way, I suppose almost 9 miles in 2 days is a good start. If I do run tomorrow, it’ll be a mile or 2 since I literally won’t have time for any more than that, and I may not even have time to do that. Besides, it has been really dreary. Today the ground was wet and the leaves were all over the sidewalk so I spent 80% of my run deciphering where I should be running. Not motivating at all. So I feel good for even making myself go. But I miss lifting right now (I could probably go if I could get real studying done instead of finding 90 other things to do while I’m studying).

Anyway, I just ate my post run dinner and I need to go shower and get back to studying. Hopefully I’ll be more motivated since Jon is home now and will be studying at the same time as me.

	lavitanuestra on Short post
	Liz on Short post
	lavitanuestra on Short post
	Angela on Weekend.
	Liz on Weekend.

at20something

The life of an average 20something girl.

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