CrossFit Essentials Day 3

Today was my final day of Essentials and it was more than awesome.

As I mentioned before, we had homework for today's class, which was to read about presses and squats in the CrossFit Journal and to watch how to do a snatch and a clean and jerk on YouTube. As a former teacher, I take homework very seriously although I can count on one hand the number of times I graded it in three years. 

I was able to accomplish an impressive amount of work this week so my Friday was pretty light. This gave me ample time to watch CrossFit videos at my desk before class. And then there was the moment when I realized that my coworkers could see me following along with the videos.

I got over this potentially embarrassing situation fairly quickly (I just don't think I'm capable of feeling embarrassment anymore), and proceeded to own it. And by own it, I changed into my workout clothes 30 minutes early and full on jumped around my cubicle.

Jesse has been rehired as photographer

Jesse came back to MEGA Desk and was overwhelmed by the beauty of my day-glo outfit, saying she loved everything about what was going on there. Then I made her take some photos.

I've got some more weight to lose and I'm excited to work on my core in CrossFit, but can we please just take a moment to admire how amazing my legs look?

I headed down to the box at around 5:50 PM and went upstairs to wait for class to begin. I feel so much more comfortable hanging around up there now than I ever have before, which is good because I was willing to wait in my office until the very last minute if necessary.

My cubicle practice paid off big time when we learned the snatch and the clean and jerk for real. I was solid with the pvc pipe rather quickly and I felt confident in my movements. I watched this video on how to teach the snatch three times today and I think that really made the difference. Jim started showing the different components and I was like ohhh, I remember this.

We used the barbells to practice the snatch for real but we didn't get a chance to do that with the clean and jerk. The barbell I used had 35 lbs plates on it. At first I scared myself a little when I tried to snatch and didn't follow through. I tried a few times and my last attempt was apparently pretty decent.

Basically I'm already obsessed with CrossFit and can't wait for next week so I can start making an ass out of myself doing the WOD. When I got to my parents' tonight, I was demonstrating what I learned with a broom and neither my parents nor my cat were impressed. Perhaps they're not my target audience.

CrossFit Essentials Day 2

On this bright and glorious morning I am in the office working, and by working I mean doing my CrossFit homework. Last night was Day 2 of my Essentials class and it was awesome.

I had packed a really cute day-glo outfit to wear last night but then I realized that I had forgotten to shave so I had to wear some running gear I had stashed in my desk. Note to self: Now that you've quit Equinox, you can no longer rely on a nice woman stocking up on disposable razors and Barbasol for you. I need to better equip the gym locker that is my desk. What? You keep work-related items in yours?

I was concerned that I might be ridiculed for wearing an I ♥ Running tech shirt to CrossFit but apparently what you wear isn't really a concern of anyone else's. This blows my mind because at the Long Island Equinoxes (almost) everyone is in color-coordinated, class-specific outfits all the way down to their shoes. Why do you think I own so many sneakers?

Jesse is fired as photographer because I look like a shrunken midget crackhead.

We reviewed the shoulder press, push press, and learned the push jerk. We did a little work on the rings. We practiced being angry gorillas (it has to do with form.) We learned the sumo deadlift high pull, which somehow I was able to execute reasonably well. We learned to properly row and then we did some burpees. I'm good at burpees. Thanks Yves for all that practice.

I'm nervous that I am going to forget everything by next week and flail around hopelessly. I am going to ask on Friday what time is their least busiest class and then sign myself up each day.

I went home, took a shower, and made Dr Praeger's Potato Crusted Fish Fillets with a side of frozen vegetables. Baby steps people. I'm not going to become Julia Child overnight. But someone who is a pretty amazing cook and blogs about it can be found here.

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Mine didn't come out looking like this by the way.

And I hopped on the scale to see if my eyes had deceived me. No. I actually weighed 0.2 lbs less at the end of the day. BAM.

Yoga Mat for Sale

Last night I was Facebook chatting with one of my best and favorite friends from high school, Elissa. She is awesome, lives in Burlington, and is effing amazing at yoga.

We discussed the importance of the public service announcement "Don't get hooked on legalized speed to fit in your jorts." Sometimes I fear that not everyone gets my sense of humor and will hurt themselves. Not everyone can be a massive drunk who runs marathons after two days of partying. (I really did run the Yonkers Marathon drunk but I don't recommend it.)

Elissa shared a link to what might be the most incredibly funny Craigslist ad in the history of Craigslist ads. Read it here to see if you're interested in a gently used yoga mat.

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Weight Loss Wednesday 6.19.13

Today I stepped on the scale and weighed 137.6 lbs. That is 10.4 lbs less than I weighed last month. Please feel free to applaud.

Now normally on Weight Loss Wednesdays (which happen whenever I damn well feel like it), y'all get photos of me in a sports bra and shorts and a shot of my scale. Sadly, on this joyous occasion, I was sleep-deprived and in a hurry to get to work and completely forgot.

I really wish I were wearing pants today so you could see how flat my stomach is.

Instead you get a creepy photo of me in the bathroom at work. My face is noticeably slimmer, my legs looks amazing if I do say so myself, and I haven't had to apply Body Glide to walk to the bus this week.

Many of my colleagues have commented on my weight loss. I was out of the office a lot and a lot of them travel as well, so they noticed the difference right away on Monday. A lot of them have been asking how I lost the weight and if I did it healthily. I'll let you decide.

I stopped eating Chinese food. I haven't had Chinese food since May 9 and I know that because I checked my Grub Hub orders. I was consuming thousands of calories of ten ingredient fried rice, crab rangoon, and fried dumplings each month.

I spend more time on my feet. I have a stand up desk, which I've had since December, and now I walk to and from my weekly doctor appointments weather permitting. It's a mile each way and that adds up.

I don't eat it unless I want it. This probably sounds obvious but we always have leftover catering or treats in the office. I used to go grab some every time we received an office-wide email, regardless if I had already eaten lunch. Now I only go if it's something I really like to eat.

I drink a lot of coffee. I like my coffee black with nothing in it. (Everyone is always trying to put sugar in my coffee and it drives me nuts.) At about 2 calories per 8 oz cup, I can drink 64 oz and it's not affecting my waistline.

Alterra sent this to our office. No one seems to like it but me.

I drink water and seltzer. I don't really drink juice and I gave up soda. I haven't had a Diet Coke since December 2012 (whoa!) but I did have a full calorie Sprite recently. I was hungover. Sue me.

I'm stressed. I firmly stand behind my future self-help book's title: Hungry People are Mean, Happy People are Fat. I think it's safe to say that 2013 has been the worst year of my life thus far. Life has decided to really let me have it, but I'm not the kind to take shit lying down. I've also done some really great things this year so as much as I claim that I want a mulligan on 2013, I don't think I would redo it if I could. Regardless, when I am focused on getting out of shit, I tend to lose my appetite.

I know that I frequently joke about chasing Adderall with Ritalin and that's how I stay skinny. It's no secret that I am prescribed and regularly take study meds. I've been on them for the past 6 years, except for a time during my first year out of college. Any initial loss of appetite caused by these medications goes away once your body becomes accustomed to them. Believe me, you can binge eat on Addies. Please do not get hooked on legalized speed as a way to fit into your jorts. 

CrossFit Essentials Day 1

Today was the first day of my Essentials class at CrossFit Hell's Kitchen and I loved it. I was really nervous about going today because I didn't know anyone and I knew I was going to have to sit upstairs by myself and be super awkward waiting for the class to begin. Since I work above the place, I didn't leave until 5:50 for the 6 PM class, but even that gave me ample down time to pretend to stretch.

No worries. I'm awkward and I know it. I was just going to stare off into the distance and think about the work I needed to do when I got back to the office afterwards.

Soon Jim, our Essentials coach, rounded us up and introduced Annalisa, another coach. There's eleven or twelve people in our class (honestly, I cannot pay attention to so many stimuli at once and was constantly distracted by loud noises and new people) and we got our PVC pipes and we got down to business.

First we learned to air squat. Turns out I can still remember to do that kind of well. I struggled more with the press. I know full well that my arms don't extend straight and behind my head the way that they should and hopefully CrossFit will help rectify that since six years at Equinox did not.

We also learned about pull-ups today. The last time I was at CrossFit, I learned that if you use a band that is too strong, you will end up tangled in it and hanging by your foot. This time I used a blue band and was able to show up off my paltry pull-up moves. My chin cleared the bar so I'll take it.

I struggled through the push-ups but they could have been worse. They do these push-ups where you get yourself lying flat on the ground and then you have to lift your hands and place them down and THEN you push yourself up. Princess over here has goals and they are to school those push-ups like nobody's business. I refused to half-ass them and completed my ten fully.

I'm pretty decent at sit-ups so that wasn't an issue and then we learned the deadlift. Now I know about the deadlift. Morgan at Equinox spent weeks teaching me to deadlift and I think I'm still paying off the credit card charges from those personal training sessions. I lined up my laces under the bar, I reached my arms down and kept my legs straight, I bent down bringing my knees to the bar, and then I executed what I believe to be two beautiful deadlifts. The weight was really light but that is not the point. My form was still there. It was like riding a bike. (Or actually not because I find riding a bike is a skill that doesn't just come back whenever I try it and the experience is horribly stressful for at least the first 10 miles.)

I had a really great time and I felt more comfortable right away. Jim told me I did a great job (woohoo brownie points!) and that made me really proud. I cannot wait for Wednesday.

I would also like someone to explain to me the shower situation. This is clearly not Equinox with its Kiehl's and eucalyptus towels anymore.

Planning and Still Failing

Sometimes you can plan ahead and still fail.

This past week I was in San Diego for work. Yay San Diego! Many of you know what my profession is, but for those of you who don't, I help a non-profit create new regions around the country. I travel each month for meetings, but I was out in San Diego for a week of team building, community involvement, and immersion in the city's educational landscape. Long hours as you can imagine.

the great looking pool I never got to get into

It was an amazing week, yadda yadda yadda, lives were changed, impact was made, and yet despite my best efforts, I never once exercised. The hotel had a gym and the weather was perfect for running. This June Gloom business is basically a race director's dream by the way.

When I packed to come home, I put all of my clean workout clothes in my carry-on. It was full of things I didn't wear.

more clean clothes for CrossFit!

Sometimes these things happen and you have to move on. Despite my sedentary lifestyle, I am down 10 lbs from the beginning of May. I think making better food choices (like avoiding the leftover potluck on the 9th floor) have been paying off. That, and a massive amount of coffee.

First Night at CrossFit

I finally went to CrossFit! Wooooooohooooooooo!

No, but really, it's been close to three years of me talking about quitting Equinox for CrossFit, two years of aggressively researching CrossFit, and a year of staring at CrossFit Hell's Kitchen every time I exit or enter my office.

I really liked CrossFit.

Can't do a pull-up, can't do anything on the rings, made a total ass of myself, had the time of my life.

I can run 800m up and down 36th Street REALLY WELL.

looking ferocious back in the office

Thank you Selby for putting up with my shenanigans and bringing me to take your friend to CrossFit night. This was almost as fun as the time I took you to my favorite bar.

National Running Day

National Running Day is June 5th this year. Since I haven't been so great about running on National Running Day in previous years, I was adamant about running on this very special day in 2013.

And then this happened.

Guess who dragged her still drunk ass out of bed to go running and was out pounding the pavement by 5:38 AM? The drunk girl below making (what she thinks are) sexy faces at herself in the mirror.

Please take a moment to acknowledge how a diet of
Adderall chased by Ritalin has been really paying off.

I also found it appropriate to photograph my bruise. I think it might be time to reconsider spanking now that it's bikini season.

So I'm having the time of my life running over to Central Park and I see an apartment building where I used to wake up a lot. At least I think it's the apartment building I used to wake up in. I thought you all needed to know this so I took a photo.

For the second time ever, I beat T to the park! So I sat on a bench, checked in on foursquare, and took awkward selfies.

It's a little under 1.5 miles from my place to the park and then T and I ran the smaller loop which Garmin tells me is 5.6 miles. I headed over to Juice Generation for a Peanut Butter Split on the way back so I didn't really run much as I was busy enjoying a delicious breakfast treat. The beauty of running 7 miles in the morning is that you can pretty much sweat out all the alcohol and then feel awesome for a full day of work.

And I hope you appreciate that I wrote this post EXACTLY the way my drunk self intended.

Bikram Yoga Herald Square Review

My friend Sarah recently asked me about hot yoga and I realized I never finished this post on Bikram Yoga Herald Square.

First off, hot yoga just means any type of yoga done in a heated room. Bikram Yoga is the 26 postures sequence selected and developed by Bikram Choudhury from Hatha Yoga and it's not really Bikram unless you're doing it in an approved Bikram studio (read: franchise) with certified Bikram instructors. The classes are always 90 minutes and the room is heated to 105 degrees.

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I've been to three Bikram studios and since I am a germaphobe, I was seriously skeeved out by the first two I tried. I went because I love how Bikram makes me feel, but I seriously struggled with the smell, the hygiene of students and staff, and the overall lack of cleanliness. And then I learned about black mold and how it grows under the carpets and I was done.

But then I saw this GILT deal for an unlimited month at Bikram Yoga Herald Square for $45. Since a class usually costs $30, I was enticed. It was supposed to be a brand-new studio that prided itself on cleanliness. Located two blocks away from my office, I hopped in the elevator and went to go check it out. I met with the owner, Elizabeth, who graciously offered to take me on a tour. She had me at hypoallergenic studio flooring. The spotless locker rooms, no time limit on showers (I'm looking at you Bikram NYC), and complimentary mats and towels were just icing on the cake. I obvs returned to my desk to purchase my deal.

Elizabeth

Their website describes the studio as,

"New York City's premier and largest Bikram Yoga School. Conveniently located in Herald Square we've designed the space to give you the best possible environment for your yoga practice and to make your overall experience the best it can be from the moment you walk through the door. 

We aim to surpass your expectations with exceptional service, education and support. Not only will you get fit and healthy, but you'll enjoy a friendly, warm environment where everyone is welcome. Come and visit. Prepare to sweat. Expect a change."

Bikram Yoga Herald Square doesn't disappoint. Everyone is super nice. They're not judgy. If you have to pee, they don't make a huge deal about you slipping out to go to the bathroom. Basically everything I ever wanted in a Bikram studio, plus a water machine to refill my gigantic Poland Spring bottles. On top of that, their locker rooms allow you to shower up and look human so you can return to work after a midday session.

I went classes with Anthony, Elizabeth, Gregory, and Veronica. They're all lovely, but Veronica is my favorite. She also had the cutest leopard print yoga shorts so that might have had something to do with it.

The rates are rather reasonable as far as Bikram goes and classes are held throughout the day.

I sent out an email to my office after my studio tour and quite a few of my coworkers signed up. Flopping around on a mat in a puddle of sweat, wearing your underwear is great for office culture.

Sunday Funday: Bike Boat Bike

My friend Alyssa decided we needed to spend a Sunday Funday casually riding a 50 mile bike ride out east. Turns out it was a typo and we had signed up for a fifty-EIGHT mile bike ride called Bike Boat Bike. It ended up being a lot of fun (I think?) and we both survived (kind of.)

We spent Saturday night at my parents' house because they live an hour away from the starting line. Alyssa, bless her heart, picked my drunken hungover ass up at the New Rochelle train station and then babied me as I cried about my impending death, struggled to swallow water, and analyzed minute details of a conversation I had had with the 23 year-old man-child. Remember the 34 year-old? Some people just must be known by their age.

Anyway, so Alyssa and I drove the bikes down to Long Island to enjoy a surf and turf feast with my folks. Alyssa's awesome dad loaned me his mountain bike, put air in the tires, showed us what to do if we had mechanical issues, and wished us luck. And he loaned us the Wrangler so we could be mistaken for cool surfer dudes on the highway. Have you ever noticed the number of women who will slow down and look over to check out who is in a Wrangler?

I obviously overslept the next morning, but we managed to be on the road with gas, iced coffees, and breakfast sandwiches by 8 AM.

Alyssa got us set up at Strawberry Fields and we were on the bikes by 9:25 AM.

And then I started to panic because I had ridden a bike ONCE in the past decade (on Shelter Island last summer) and it was not on a major highway with trucks. I also realized that the bike was too big for me to put my foot down at red lights. Can't stop, won't stop.

Alyssa ended up much farther ahead of me and I was silently cursing her for thinking this was a good idea. We met back up at the first rest stop and by then I felt a little more confident on the roads.

Bike Boat Bike has multiple distances that allow you to visit either Shelter Island or Orient Point. I love Shelter Island and demanded that we go there.

on the ferry from Greenport to Shelter Island

view from the ferry

My dad and sister and I went to Shelter Island on vacation last summer and went on a 13 mile bike ride on one speed bikes that were lying around the Pridwin Hotel. Turns out our ride was a good part of this course. It's a heck of a lot easier to ride when you have a few gears with which to work.

We rode along Shore Road, back around the other side of the island, and then went to Ram Island. I love Ram Island, hills and all.

Alyssa passing the Ram Island Inn and telling me not to Instagram her butt

The volunteers were awesome and the aid stations were well stocked with snacks. I enjoyed peanut butter, honey, and Nutella sandwiches and scarfed bananas and Fritos and blue Gatorade. And then my teeth started to ache.

Somehow I ended up ahead for the Shelter Island portion of the bike ride. It was probably the lack of traffic and risk of being taken out by a tractor trailer.

peonies

We felt pretty great on the ferry back to Greenport. Seventeen more miles couldn't be that difficult, could it?

my fuschia sports bra decided to run all over my yellow tank, again.

It could and it was. The wind was brutal and the dust was blowing everywhere. After hours on the bike, my pikachu was really over being squashed into the saddle.

Pikachu on the average day, "Hooray! Let's invite a boy, preferably one who was in middle school when you graduated high school, over to play!"

Pikachu after bajillion mile bike ride, "No sex for you."

It took like 6 hours, but I finally got back to Strawberry Fields. And then I couldn't find Alyssa. I ate a watermelon while I waited.

And then I went to look for her.

And then I started to call people because I was bored.

And then I made small talk with other riders. Apparently the mountain bike was significantly heavier and more difficult to ride than a road bike. As one man told me, since I did so well on the mountain bike, I could have been to Manhattan by then if I had ridden a road bike. I don't actually know how to ride a bike besides for the purpose of staying up right, so I had no idea if this was challenging or not.

Alyssa finally appeared after being sent on a 2 mile detour by some well-meaning riders. (Or so she claims.)

As Sunday Fundays go, this one was pretty sick and I don't even have a hangover. Instead I got a sunburn. I didn't even know I could get sunburned. You live, you learn. Who's riding with us next year?