15.1

I've submitted my 15.1 scores and I must admit that I am pretty pleased with how I did. My goal was to complete 2 full rounds of 15.1 and then get through the deadlifts of the third round. I ended up completing 3 rounds plus 2 TTB for a score of 92 Rx. My 1RM clean and jerk had been 115# so I made my goal 105# because I factored in being tired from the first 9 minutes of the workout. I was able to PR with a 117# clean and jerk.

Workout 15.1

9-minute AMRAP:

15 toes-to-bars

10 deadlifts

5 snatches

  (M 115 lb. /  F 75 lb.)

Workout 15.1a

1-rep-max clean and jerk

  6-minute time cap

Kristen Alexander Photography

I prepared for 15.1 by getting my underarms waxed and curling my hair. I learned last year that the Open means our professional photographer boxmates can often be found with their cameras. As a self-admitted narcissist, I have no shame telling the world that I perform much better if I think a camera is on me. There doesn't even need to be a memory card or film in it. I LOVE the photo that my friend Kristen took of me locked out with my 117# jerk.

I was very lucky to have Coach Victor as my judge. I also loved the Friday Night Lights format and appreciate the Bud heavies waiting for me after I finished.

The Open is Here!

Guys, the most wonderful time of the year is here! The 2015 Reebok CrossFit Games officially kicked off last night with Rich Froning and Mat Fraser going head to head in 15.1. I watched it with Frank on my couch and cheered my head off for Fraser. Dude, 3 reps? And he missed that last jerk? Bah!

So how am I preparing for 15.1? We've got Friday Night Lights at CrossFit Identity tonight so I took off yesterday. Weekday rest days kill me and I found myself voraciously hungry. Might have been because I forgot to take my Ritalin all day. I ate all the rice, all the butter, and then ordered some sushi with extra rice for good measure. When I honeybadger the shit out of the workout tonight, I will credit my excessive butter consumption. Fun fact: Frank's favorite treat is grassfed butter!

I also borrowed Frank's favorite ball to work out some knots in my shoulder. I'm a little nervous for the toes to bar and the 75# snatches but I've decided to compete Rx. Anthony says no one at CFHK is allowed to go scaled and I'm following his lead.

CrossFit Dix Hills with Coach Chad

When I was in New York a week ago, I had the awesome opportunity to drop in at CrossFit Dix Hills. Coach Chad, formerly of CrossFit Central LI, and one of my absolute favorite coaches ever - CrossFit or otherwise, is head coach there. CrossFit Dix Hills opened earlier this year.

Their 3,200 sq. ft. facility is conveniently located on Jericho Turnpike in Dix Hills, NY. As convenient as that is for a Long Islander commuting home from work, it is not convenient for someone who is visiting her parents' in Oyster Bay. The trip was entirely worth it.

Weight Loss Wednesday 2.25.15

Weight Loss Wednesday is back! In honor of the Open, which starts tomorrow, I am slipping into my favorite patriotic shorts and taking pictures on Wednesday mornings for the next five weeks.

I gained five pounds while I was in NY and weighed in this morning at 148.6. Let's see where five weeks gets me. Maybe I'll even have my body fat hydro tested again after the Open ends.

I will say that I liked my mirror in my New York apartment better.

Finding Something to Love

When I was younger, I hated my legs. I thought they were fucking huge, and they certainly didn't look like the dainty stick straight legs of many of my popular classmates. I remember a soccer player in my 5th grade class telling me he wished he had my legs because I had huge calves like a man. Not really the compliment a 10-year-old girl is looking for.

I got a sweet staph infection when I was in the 8th grade and ended up with some pretty nasty looking scars. I was so embarrassed by them that I wore jeans for an entire summer no matter how hot it was outside. I also remember that I was nervous to "confess" to my boyfriend freshman year that I had been hiding these hideous and disfiguring scars. I still have them but they're more white than purple and I often forget they're there.

Now I think my legs are my best feature. They look fucking awesome and they are huge. I have those muscles that pop out on my thunder thighs and calf muscles too large to fit into most boots. I can back squat 200 pounds. I can do front squats for days. I run a 400m warmup faster than most people can go all out and I always use a 24 inch box for box jumps. I couldn't do any of those things with the legs I wanted when I was younger. And besides all that my legs can do, they're just plain hot.

So in honor of Valentine's Day, I challenge you to think about your body and find something to love.

I've been rocking no pants and jacked legs way before it was cool.

the Natural Grip

I've wanted a pair of Natural Grips for a while, but somehow managed to let myself get talked out of buying "overpriced pieces of tape" in favor of other grips. Fifty dollars worth of grips I never wear later, I stopped listening to well-meaning advice and got myself the only grip that actually protects the part of my hand that rips. Go figure.

Yesterday I did Jackie Rx for the first time. 1000 m row, 50 thrusters with the bar, and 30 pull-ups. No rips, no hot spots, no ugly white blisters under my callouses. 

I have a sweet pair of Shark Blue grips, which were named for the Natural Grip's appearance on Shark Tank. They are now offering mixed combos of colors if having too different colored socks, shoes, gloves is more your style.

Traveling 101

This post was inspired by the RelayRides Travel Must-Have's campaign. Because I am the worst, I didn't write this post before the holidays and ended up ignoring my own advice and that's how I found myself in Walmart at 9:30 PM digging around their workout clothes section. Do you know they don't sell shorts in the winter?

I've got quite a bit of travel this month and this time I won't forget these fitness travel essentials.

1) ALWAYS pack one workout outfit in your carry-on. If you don't, your checked luggage will 98.9% of the time make a detour, even when on a direct flight to your grandma's. This is a major bummer when you have the 12 Days of CrossFit early the next morning.

2) Pack lightweight multi-purpose shoes. I love to bring my Saucony racing flats because I can use them for running and CrossFit and they barely weigh anything.

I own the Grid Type A4s but the newer Type A5s are on sale.

You could also spring for the Type A6s but I don't like the colors as much.

3)  Bring a jump rope. If you're into CrossFit, you know how annoying it is to do doubleunders with someone else's rope. And no matter what you're into, you can get a great workout in wherever you are with one simple piece of equipment. I have an Again Faster rope but I covet an RPM Fitness bare cable rope. They're absolutely beautiful and they really hurt if you miss.

Hook Grip Lessons

The hook grip is a method of holding a barbell. Instead of just holding the bar in your hands, you put your thumbs under your pointer and middle fingers and this creates a stronger, more effective grip. The hook grip is hard at first. It doesn't feel natural. It can hurt. I kept hearing that once you got used to the hook grip, you'd never go back, but it didn't feel right to me. My thumbs didn't feel long enough. I couldn't clean the weight I was used to.

I keep gym equipment stock photos on my computer for this very reason.
This is an old one from CrossFit Central LI.

Planning My Macros

It's January so everyone's on a diet. At least four people have told me they're going to lose 20 lbs by cutting calories and doing lots of cardio. I cringe. You can totally drop a lot of pounds off the scale if you eat nothing and run your little heart out, because I've done it like 9 times, and I'm not going to tell you not to do that if that's the plan you choose. I just thought you might want to know my plan of attack for 2015.

Things I know to be true:

1. I need a plan if I am going to be successful.
2. I need a tracker if I am going to be successful.
3. I won't cook vegetables that don't come out of microwavable bags.
4. High quality ingredients are expensive and then you have to cook them yourself anyway.
5. Carbs are the devil. I need to eat a certain amount of protein and fat every day to meet my goals.

I know how to eat clean. I know how to read labels. I'm pretty damn knowledgeable and yet I don't have the body I want so I've decided to make some changes. My goals are to give my body the nutrition it needs to train at high intensity multiple times a week and to change my body composition. I was looking at photos from old Weight Loss Wednesdays where I weigh the same as I do now, and I look much different, (read worse), because I had a lot more fat and a lot less muscle. I want to lose body fat while maintaining the muscle I have now AND hopefully add some more. This means that my weight in pounds doesn't matter to me but the percentage of my weight that is fat does.

Progress

Yesterday I got to ring the PR bell at CrossFit. It's kind of a big deal because it means you set a new personal record. When you first start CrossFit, you PR practically every day. Now that it's been a year and a half, I might not PR as often but I know that I am making progress. For the first time ever, I completed the workout Nicole Rx. Feel free to clap.

You might be wondering how I got such a flattering angle for this photo. My friend Sam is 6'7" or 6'8" and this is the photo he took by just standing a few feet away from me. Where was Sam when we needed him for all of sorority formal photo shoots??