13 Things I Learned in 2013

It's that special time of the year when I reflect on lessons that I have learned in the last twelve months.

1. CrossFit is life changing. In six months my life went from empty to overwhelmingly full. I am stronger physically, mentally, and emotionally. I feel human. I have hope.

2. I have true girlfriends. A pretty awful thing happened this year and I learned that I have seven women in my life that are completely there for me. I didn't really let them in but knowing that they supported me meant more than I think I bothered to tell them. So ladies, thank you.

Fitting In as Much Fitness as Possible in 2013

It's recently come to my attention that some of my readers are not pleased with the focus on CrossFit and preferred the days when posts were almost exclusively about running. Well I went for a run today and my knees hurt so don't get your hopes up anytime soon. I went to my last WOD of 2013 this morning and then came home to find the cleaning couple cleaning my parents' house. I didn't want to get in their way so I changed and headed out for a run. It was probably about 3 miles but my phone died, which meant no GPS tracking and no music. I promptly turned around and was left with my own thoughts. And my own thoughts apparently go straight to imagining my future glory at a Team Dangerous team WOD with 30 of my closest CFHK friends.

it's 21 degrees out and this is my 44 oz iced coffee

CrossFit Collages from December

Here are some photos from December that never made it into their own posts.

I think I'm getting bigger and I bet a lot of it has to do with poor food choices (Cheetos, Chinese, cookies), but putting on muscle has hopefully also played a part. I like this blog post on accepting your CrossFit body and was glad to see that other women can't fit into their damn clothing anymore either.

Can never have too many locker room selfies.

Volunteering at Tough Mudder Tri-State

Way back on October 12, my friend Susie and I volunteered at Tough Mudder Tri-State. If you have the opportunity to volunteer, I highly recommend it. Not only do you get to participate in a future Mudder of your choice for only $20, you get to spend the day with some pretty awesome people.

We manned the Phoenix obstacle. We all know how I feel about pyrotechnics so I was effing thrilled. The most amazing part of the day was witnessing the love the guys from the Adaptive Sports Foundation showed each other as they completed every single obstacle, no matter what. I was honored to carry their packs around to the other side of the pit.

Enjoy the photos. If they say Tough Mudder on them, they are property of Tough Mudder.

Trust, Goals, and Growth

As I was gathering my thoughts for this year's XX Things I Learned in 20XX post, I started reflecting a lot on personal growth, setting goals, and trust.

I think I've grown a lot as a human being this year. I don't feel the need to hide behind the overly friendly, too loud, larger than life and always up for a party persona I created to basically just deal with people so many years ago. I feel more present, less manipulative, and I'm not going through the motions as a means to an end. As the Lumineers (anyone else secretly love their music but feel ashamed to admit it?) say, "It's better to feel pain than nothing at all." Feelings ain't so bad. They're actually kind of refreshing and break up the monotony of the day and week.

I had to set so many goals when I was teaching that the word actually makes me cringe a little bit. Backwards planning, benchmarks, progress to goal... These are things that I've applied to CrossFit. I told myself that I was going to have three consecutive pull-ups by Christmas Day and I figured out what I needed to learn to do to get that done, including accepting feedback about using my lats and reassessing my progress. I didn't have access to a pull-up bar until today but guess who has THREE CONSECUTIVE PULL-UPS? This girl. The first two I banged out but the third took a little extra effort, but at no point did my hands leave the bar nor did my feet make contact with the ground. Setting goals is a good thing because it makes me push myself to be better. My self-performance review at work always includes me admitting that I never believe my work is good enough for the next day because whatever is good today should be better tomorrow. Continuously improving and relentless pursuit of results.

Trust is a crazy thing when it comes to human relationships. I believe that you will act in a certain way so I allow you to get close to me and I confide in you? That sounds pretty risky to me. 

If you haven't seen the meme for this yet, let me pass off: 

“Friendship is weird. You pick a human you’ve met and you’re like, "yup I like this one," and you just do stuff with them," as my own.
(Source: MandySchmandy)

12 Days of Christmas CrossFit Kilo Style

This morning I had the pleasure of celebrating the 12 Days of Christmas CrossFit Kilo style. I commandeered the rental vehicle for the drive up to Cedar Falls and I remembered how much I love me a Tahoe. It was about a 40-minute drive but totally worth it.

because who doesn't do this in their hotel room?

Home for the Holidays

I came back to Long Island last night and leave for Iowa in a few hours. I obviously couldn't leave without making it to CrossFit Central LI so I drove over this morning for the 5:45 AM WOD.

I was a little sleep deprived/hungover from my cough medicine, but felt pretty good going into it.

WOD
5 rounds
:
Deadlift 4 Reps @same weight as last week

30 Double Unders

5 rounds
:
5 Power Cleans @185/125

10 Burpees

Brittany's Birthday Burpees

A little over a year ago I met my friend Brittany at a work conference. She's based out of our New Jersey office so I get to see her but not nearly enough. She started CrossFit about a month after I did and she goes to CrossFit Jersey City. They had a scheduled rest day so Brittany came to CFHK with me for a birthday WOD. I was so excited to spend this morning with her!

Deadlift PR

Monday is deadlift day and since deadlifts are my favorite, it is always an awesome day even when it also includes handstand push-ups and toes-to-bar and other necessary evils. I went to the 9 PM class after putting in a full day of work, which included trying to track down the grant application process for an organization whose website is a hot mess of interactive icons. I don't care how cool it looks - if it's adding time to my brief research, I hate your marketing people.

I was very excited to get downstairs to let out some of the aggression I felt towards these web designers. Since I was able to lift 143# pretty easily during our last wave 3, I told myself I should aim for 155#. I have that Big Lifts app but I'm pretty sure I didn't set it up properly and I just keep overwriting my original numbers with new numbers and screwing the whole thing up. When I got to 125#, I was like this is too easy so I decided to throw some more weight on there. If it was too heavy, I'd take it off. It's not like I've gotten to the point where I can't admit that something is too heavy for me - I just wanted to see if I could push myself. I got 6 reps at 183# so I'm standing by my decision to see what was possible.

A Sense of Humor

People often point out to me that while I may initially get very upset about incidents or situations, I usually calm down pretty quickly and approach whatever bothered me more rationally. I can be very logical, perhaps to a fault, because I can take all of the emotions out of a situation and see it as  a cut and dry series of events. That might explain why some people have the misperception that nothing ever gets to me. I just think I tend to see the humor in situations. If you don't laugh at yourself, no one can laugh with you. (Very profound, I know.)

If you had told me six months ago that I would be calling the 23-year-old (now 24) for advice about a guy I like who doesn't like me (blows my mind too), I would have told you that you were insane. We weren't speaking and the kid once admitted to having the relationship skills of Miley Cyrus. Now he's happily dating the love of his life and spouting wisdom like he's Dr. Phil if Dr. Phil made any sense at all.

no really he did and then I sent it to Texts From Last Night

Friday Confessional

I have a confession to make. I used to like musicals A LOT. I've seen Annie Get Your Gun, Camelot, Carousel, Cats, Footloose, Grease (twice), Guys and Dolls (at least twice), Jersey Boys, Jesus Christ Superstar, Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, The King and I, Les Miserables (three times), The Music Man, Oklahoma!, Once Upon a Mattress, Peter Pan, The Phantom of the Opera, Ragtime (twice, it wasn't any better the second time), The Red Shoes, and I can't remember if I saw South Pacific or just memorized the soundtrack. I even went to, wait for it, musical theatre camp.

Now I hate musicals. Everything about them makes me uncomfortable. Why are they breaking into song? And why are they smiling so wide? Is it time for intermission? Can I sneak out at intermission? I went to Jersey Boys last year somewhat against my will and I promptly closed my eyes and pretended I was just listening to Frankie Valli, whom I love dearly. A couple of uncomfortable hours later (anyone else notice that the actress that played his heroin addicted daughter also played the dancer/prostitute that wanted him to cheat on his wife?), and I was telling myself that at least it wasn't The Lion King or Rent. God, I cannot imagine a worse musical experience than Rent.

The BEST Day EVER

Kate's Facebook status this morning

Deadlifts and That Time I Could Have Died

Remember that time I fell off the rig with my foot trapped in a band on my fiftieth pull-up and all of the 8:10 and 9 PM classes let out a collective gasp? Yup. That happened. I landed on my well-padded rump and was perfectly fine, but I think I scared a few people when it happened.

sometimes you have to work with what you've got

Being a Big Girl

So this morning I woke up in a t-shirt with the sleeves ripped off and I have to say, I looked fucking awesome. Then I found a video of me ugly crying on my phone. If I sent that to you, I am so so sorry.

I woke up this morning feeling awesome because I went home alone last night at a reasonable hour like a big girl. And by reasonable hour, I believe it was 3 AM but at least I didn't shut down the bar. Anyway...

Make NYC Your Gym

This temporary tattoo is the brainchild of somebody at NYC's Health and Parks Departments. The Make NYC Your Gym campaign kicked off in 2011 and these are still floating around the office. Taking this charge to heart, I found a new use for scaffolding.

CrossFit with Friends

This morning I woke up and realized I was going to be late for the 9 AM WOD I had sort of entertained going to in my head. And then I checked Facebook. I got back in bed for another 45 minutes, took a leisurely shower, chugged an Alka-Seltzer, and didn't bring my gym bag because classes were cancelled today.

But then they weren't.

Rest, a Four Letter Word and Other Challenges

Today is my rest day and I am already feeling anxious and restless. I don't like to rest, I find it difficult to sleep, and I prefer to be moving. But you don't get stronger if you don't let your muscles recover, so today I'm taking the day off from CrossFit and will likely find myself running instead.

December is a new month and it's time to challenge myself.

Yesterday, December 1, I returned to my apartment with two closets full of clean clothing and one closet full of clean linens. Can I go until December 22 without doing laundry?

Yes, my studio apartment has 3 closets.

I might not have 18 sports bras and I know I have to buy some black tights, but otherwise I think I've got this.

Sunday Funday: Let's Pack as Much Fun Into Today as Possible

This morning I was in my car by 7:45 AM on my way to the Greenbelt Trail to meet my running friend Michael for a quick run. We were supposed to do the full 15ish mile loop yesterday but there was a bit of a miscommunication. Since I absolutely refuse to miss Oly Sunday if I am on Long Island, I had exactly one hour to run and not a minute more.

It was a warm 36 degrees this morning so I wore compression calves sleeves and compression arm sleeves underneath leggings, a tech long-sleeved shirt, and my winter running jacket. I also wore gloves and a hat.

As you can see, I am thrilled to be freezing my ass off in my car. 

A Perfect Saturday

Today was a great day. I started my morning right at CrossFit Central LI. Because it is absolutely ridiculously cold out, I need to wear all of that to even drive to the box. Spandex, knee-socks, CFHK t-shirt, long-sleeved shirt, CFHK hoodie, and sweatpants JUST TO GET TO THE BOX. Remind me why we didn't move to California again? The theme of today was patriotic.

The WOD was a doozy. Lance and I formed Team No Pants and turned it into a partner WOD. Some folks actually read the website and rested a minute in between rounds. Others folks, Lance and I included, used the 400m run as active recovery slash time to complain about how cold it was.

Thanksgiving Turkey Trot

This year I ran the 2nd annual Oyster Bay Turkey Trot because no one is willing to drive my ass to Garden City anymore. I'm okay with this because the Oyster Bay Turkey Trot turned out to be a damn good race.

There's a kid in my neighborhood who my family calls the Runner. For at least a decade I can remember seeing him running along the side of the road, fast efficient strides, no music. It's 100 degrees out? Oh look, it's the Runner. It's snowing ice pellets? Oh look, it's the Runner. You saw drove down 25A and saw him at 11 AM and now you're on your way home at 3 PM? Oh look, it's the Runner. My dad once called the police about him because he was concerned and apparently the local station got calls at the time. He's an athlete in training, he doesn't have a problem, and thank you for his concern.

I Am Not a Clothes Hanger

I've been reading reactions to "strong is the new skinny" and "strong is the new sexy" and how both are exclusive to people who are not physically strong. Strong doesn't mean you have to look like Camille Leblanc-Bazinet, although you should probably want to. It means you can actually pick up something heavy (whatever heavy is to you) because you haven't spent all day starving yourself to look like a clothes hanger.

source

Maybe I Should Fire My Shrink

October 18, 2012 to October 18, 2013 was probably the absolute worst year of my life. I had my heart broken, I was roofied, I made an ass out of myself, I blacked out, I spent more hungover hours on planes than anyone should in their entire lifetime, and my grandmother died. I take responsibility for everything except my grandmother. I made a lot of bad decisions during that period but spending time with my grandmother during the last two months of her life is the best decision I made all year.

The second best decision was joining CrossFit. CrossFit has changed my life. Before you dismiss that statement as another rookie who has chugged the Kool-Aid and wants to tell everyone about how great life is in knee-socks, hear me out. I had found rock bottom and I was sad. I was facing the kind of sadness that left me hopeless - that nothing was particularly wrong except for me and that if I weren't so broken then things would be different. I have good friends, a job that I love, and a patient and devoted family, but my life felt empty because I felt empty. 

Sometimes I feel that I put my personality on in the morning and that left to my own devices, I would stare at people like I sometimes find myself staring at blank walls. I have no problem with prolonged direct eye contact that most others find creepy if not terrifying. My natural resting face is often devoid of emotion. It's like bitchy resting face, but less outright mean and more "Oh shit, that's the kind of girl who throws you onto the subway tracks because you cut her off at the turnstile."

I think I've just never felt truly a part of anything until now. I wanted to be in the CrossFit community so badly that I have entirely stepped out of my comfort zone. Instead of being quick with sarcastic comments, I am quick to encourage others and cheer them on. I introduce myself to strangers, high five folks I met 5 minutes before, and care about my classmates' success as much if not more as my own. I ask if I can join too when folks are discussing fun plans in the locker room, I sign up for 5Ks because people post about them in the Facebook group, and then insist we all need to have brunch together afterwards to celebrate. I don't recognize myself and for that I am glad.

I went to CrossFit Prom last month and buying a ticket to a party where I know no one is not my style. I was obviously not showing up alone so I invited JP, but I'm pretty proud of myself for being social with everyone else and I didn't even have to blackout to do it. I apparently can't be that bad since these folks actually agree to be my friends in real life. I'll admit that it still feels a little strange to be included in things - like spending a morning volunteering at Sports Explorers with students from PS 188 - but I like it. 

So I was right - it was me that was holding me back. CrossFit has given me the confidence to stop being such an asshole. It's given me the strength to be vulnerable. And if I haven't proven my point to you yet, I now let people touch me without flinching or holding my breath. That's right - I hug. With two arms. It is a miracle.

A Few Too Many Toasts to Wishes

Happy Friday folks. Hope everyone is feeling as solid as I do.

A Great Day

Today was a great day.

(And by today, I mean yesterday because it's 12:51 AM.)

I got to go to the dentist. I love my dentist, Dr. Mishaan. I love my dental hygienist Karen even more.

shiny clean teeth courtesy of Karen

Money Well Spent

WOD:

BARBELL GYMNASTICS
HANG SNATCH
1X3 at 60 percent of 1RM
1X3 at 70 percent of 1RM
3X3 at 75-80 percent of 1RM
3X2 at 85-90 percent of 1RM

You will be given 20 minutes to complete ALL the work, including warm up. Rest 60 seconds between all sets.

CONDITIONING
METCON (TIME)
For time:

40 Burpees
40 Double-Unders
40 Split Jumps

30 Burpees
30 Double-Unders
30 Split Jumps

20 Burpees
20 Double-Unders
20 Split Jumps
15 minute time cap

What Really Happened:

CrossFit Pittsburgh

A month ago I was in Pittsburgh for work and I had the pleasure of dropping in at CrossFit Pittsburgh. Super big thank you CrossFit Pittsburgh! Yinz were great.

Because I approach every chance to travel as an opportunity to drop in at a box, I emailed Mike the owner and head coach before I even booked my flight. He got back to me right away and wait for it - told me it was FREE to drop in if you were a member of another CrossFit affiliate. I knew in my head I was going to Pittsburgh to interview candidates, but my heart told me I was flying down to WOD with the fine athletes at CrossFit Pittsburgh. (I knew I'd like them because my teammate is from Pittsburgh and Yinzers possess wonderful qualities such as friendliness, authenticity, and genuine interest in others. They're like made for CrossFit.)

So Wednesday rolls around and I don't care that I have slept a total of 6 hours in the past 2 nights nor do I care that I keep picking at my lunch in between interviews instead of eating a proper meal. I also don't care that I am beginning to shake from the combination of lack of sleep, limited nutrients, and excessive amounts of caffeine. I was going. My parting words to my roommate were, "This has the potential to end terribly. The last time I went to a WOD feeling like this, I ended up pinned underneath the 33 lbs lady bar."

Oh how right I was. We were working on the 3 position snatch. The 10 lbs training bar felt like the heaviest thing I had ever tried to lift. I tried it with 5 lbs plates and had to take them off. I was jittery and flustered because my GPS was off by less than a quarter of a mile and kept telling me to pull into a State Police K9 unit pen. I gave myself a buffer zone of 30 minutes and ended up only arriving 6 minutes early although I had been driving on the correct road the entire time. I probably had no business being in that box. And as I thought those very words to myself, I got my arms up above my head and completely, totally forgot to drop my body under the bar. It was like the lower half of my body wasn't getting messages from my brain and my brain wasn't even aware of the disconnect until the bar smacked me firmly in the forehead. The sound reverberated around the box. I could hear it in my ears. I got a metallic taste in my mouth and then realized that I was still standing so I switched to a PVC to get my form back. A month later, the spot is still a little tender but at least I don't have a horn.

The candidates I interviewed the next day had the sense not to ask questions.

Late Night CrossFit

A few Thursdays ago I went to the 9:15 PM CrossFit because I knew there was no way I was getting out of work any earlier. Turned out to be the best decision I've made all month. It only took 4 months, but I have finally found my class.

CFHK's schedule got a little shakeup recently and each class is now 50 minutes, meaning the 9:15 PM is now the 9 PM. I'm okay with this because I don't have to stay at work as long. Stephen coaches the 9 PM each evening it is available, Monday through Thursday.

If you've been reading this blog since my Equinox addiction days, you know that once I find an instructor or coach that I like, not Hell, high water, or a trip to the emergency room will keep me from class. True story - I once dug my car out of a blizzard at 6 AM to go kickboxing with Yves. Stephen is the Yves of CrossFit, which means I happily wait all day to train at 9 PM and it doesn't phase me at all when I don't get home until 11. It's actually not that bad because I can sleep in until 8 and still work a 12 hour day.

There are other perks to working and working out late. It's pretty difficult to make poor life decisions when you're busy until bedtime. All I want are my baby blankets and my DVR by the time I get home.

Sometimes I work from home in the morning if I got back from the box super late.

Sidekicks and Life Decisions

The man-child is attempting a monogamous relationship, Alex2 was confronted by Jesus in the form of an attractive tall blonde in a bar, and I failed to stay up past 10:30 PM each night this past weekend. Shit's gotten seriously weird.

To add insult to injury, my favorite CrossFit coach is away for work in San Francisco.

Although my forearms are screaming like nobody's business, I went to kickboxing class because I figured this is my opportunity to go without feeling like I'm missing out at the box. I actually like all of the coaches but please don't argue with my logic here because then I'll never use these dang classes. 

I felt like absolute garbage from the minute I walked in the place, probably because I felt like garbage before I left work. The workout was just as good as it usually is (from the 2 other times I've actually shown up) but I just didn't want to be there. My partner was this exceptionally patient girl named Anna who didn't hate me even when I epically failed at sparring.

The best part was holding onto the bag for dear life while Anna pummeled it with sidekicks.

source

Today I made a decision about moving to San Diego. I have decided not to leave New York before my lease is up and will be here for another winter. Get excited.

Sunday Funday: Team Dangerous WOD

Yesterday might have been the best Sunday Funday in the history of Sunday Fundays. Yup, it was really that good.

I went to the Sunday Funday Team WOD hosted by Team Dangerous, the anti-clique of exceptionally attractive and athletic New Yorkers whose goal is to bring together fitness folks from all over to enjoy one another's company in my favorite pastimes - working out and drinking. It was at CrossFit Black Box on W 28th Street from 2 - 5 PM. (Note: You should Google CrossFit Black Box and not just Black Box when looking for the address. Otherwise you might end up at a burlesque nightclub instead like someone we know.)

I arrived a little before 2, slightly flustered and sweaty. I always forget how far Park to the westside actually is because it looks a lot closer on a map and it's not the whole park or anything. My friend Mark, who I haven't seen in four years, met me there and we had a joyous reunion while I struggled to get out of my two fleeces. Mark is a member at Black Box. Mark is also the only person I've ever met that manages to smell good, not okay but good, after two WODs. Something is up with that but we'll investigate in the future.

I signed a waiver and paid my $10 for Hurricane Sandy relief efforts to Dave who was manning registration. As a person who has headed up registration for multiple events, let me tell you that Dave's registration system was solid. And I got a hug so that was neat.

and Dave looked around and saw that it was good
courtesy of Team Dangerous

Sunday Funday: Oly Sunday 2

I had such a great time last week at Oly Sunday that I came back for more.

My legs have been getting banged up so I finally started wearing the knee high socks. Often mistaken for some cultish CrossFit fashion trend, they protect your shins from barbell scrapes and bruises. I'm wearing a pair of American Apparel knee high socks that I've had for years but have never really worn. I used to think they made my legs look fat but now I think they look pretty good.

Flywheel Wednesday(s)

So I coerced my friend Jay into going to Flywheel with me again tonight. Basically I'm thrilled when anyone is willing to workout with me and call it quality time. After last week's stressful late arrival, I made sure to leave work an hour before class. Of course the C train arrived immediately and I was in the west 80s with about 40 minutes to spare. I used that time to stake out possible places to inhale dinner afterwards.

Class was even better than last week. The playlist was better and by better I mean there was more thugged out rap dance mixes because apparently that's what I love to listen to when sweating my little heart out. Not so secret confession - I LOVE reggaeton when I'm running. I think the class's energy was better as well.

Sunday Funday: Oly Sunday

This morning I awoke to a gluten-induced hangover and I took my sweet ass time getting out of bed. I finally got myself dressed and out the door to CrossFit Central LI.

my CrossFit Pittsburgh tank has finally arrived!

CrossFit Prom

Last Friday I had the pleasure of attending CrossFit Prom thrown by Team Dangerous at 320 Studios, which is conveniently located one block over from my office. My friend JP graciously agreed to be my date. He goes to CrossFit NYC and as you can see we color-coordinated his shoes with my CFHK wrist wraps. I bought them specifically for prom so we'll see if I started wearing them to WODs or not.

© Clint Mejia

This is my actual prom dress that I wore in the Spring of 2004 to what my high school called the Last Hurrah. It was basically a bootleg prom. It looked a lot better on me this time around but I was slightly nervous that my newly sculpted shoulders were going to bust through the flimsy straps.

A great time was had by all. There was music, dancing, and an open bar. I ended up drinking tequila rather early into the evening, probably because it's paleo. There were glow-sticks and neon Team Dangerous swag, which I obviously snapped up because no one loves a pair of plastic neon sunglasses as much as I do. 

And the best part was making new friends, on Facebook and in real life.

© Clint Mejia

Team Dangerous says it is "a social fitness community bringing together like minded individuals together from around the US and beyond [to] form the most badass community of crazy people loving fitness enthusiasts on the quest to spread the Team Dangerous loving." If CrossFit prom was any indication of what they're all about, it's a bunch of ridiculously good-looking, extremely nice people who are in great shape that want everyone to have fun and feel included. Sign me up.

Flywheel and Fabletics

So last night I went to Flywheel UWS with my friend Jay. Although I left my office 45 minutes before the start of class and I was only traveling 49 blocks, I ended up arriving after class started and I missed the first 10 minutes. The people at Flywheel were wonderful because they recognized the sign of crazy in my eyes as I ran in flustered and unhappy. They checked me in and set up my bike while I got changed and even got my clips in the bike when I was freaking out some more. I don't like being late.

The class was great and it was hard. My lingering hangover didn't stand a chance with the torq in the high 30s. Neither Jay nor I had taken a class with the instructor John Wellman before, but I really liked him. He was funny, his music was great, and he reminded the class about our form. I'm under the belief that anything a coach says you should consider as directed towards you, and while I'm not narcissistic enough to believe that John spent the class evaluating my every move, I did find that his advice and feedback applied to me.

Running, Pull-Ups, and Hand Maintenance

So I have a confession. After seeing Jason Khalipa's Instagram photo below, I grabbed the razor out of the gym drawer at my desk and shaved down my callouses during a call. Hours later, and I mean HOURS, I found the callous bits... in my hair.

A normal razor works just fine for hand maintenance but make sure your skin makes it into the garbage the first time.

Proud of My Arms

Yesterday while we were drinking our tea at the end of yoga class (I'll write about this yoga class eventually, I promise), I could tell that Selby wasn't actually listening to whatever I was droning on about and when I gave him my patented, "What the fuck is the matter with you?" look, he was all, "Sorry, I'm just distracted by your arms."

This made my effing day and since someone sent me a link to dinosaur erotica earlier that afternoon, this compliment trumped pterodactyl porn.

I'm fucking proud of my arms.

I've been doing a pretty decent job with working out regularly but I've really ignored my diet. Too many carbs, not enough protein, and too much alcohol. Checking out my arms in the mirror made me want to make better food choices, but I was too tired to wait for the chicken to marinate by the time I got to leave the office last night and make it to the market. Instead I improvised with this for dinner. Prosciutto, grape tomatoes, sugar snap peas, and dried apricots. Sugar snap peas aren't actually paleo but the Whole 30 lets you eat them so meh. You can't out train a crappy diet and princess needs to look good for prom. My ticket is already purchased.

Saturday's WOD and Rowing

WOD in pink, warm-up is the black chicken scratch on the side

On Saturday I went to one of my favorite places - CrossFit Central LI. I didn't get there in time to do a full warm-up (actually, I probably did but I take a lot of time going to the bathroom and wandering around, and putting my hair clips in), but I did some stretching and a few squats. Not warming up definitely came back to bite me when the first 800m run felt like garbage. Lesson learned.

Using Your Aggression for Good

Have you ever had a moment of clarity when you suddenly see a situation for what its worth and your delusional behavior is highlighted in neon Sharpie? For me such a moment came at about 3:32 AM on Saturday morning. After two months of entertaining ideas of relocating to San Francisco to try to see if a relationship could work, I realized two things: 1. I fucking hate San Francisco and 2. Someone who ignores your phone calls but views your SnapChats isn't into you. I'm easily enthralled by grand plans and flattery. I'm also afraid of ending up alone with cats.

Monday Night WOD

The stars aligned and Selby and I ended up in the same class. Since he's an 8 AMer and I go at 7 AM, 4:45 PM, or 7:45 PM, it's an unlikely but not impossible occurrence.

Folks at the box are participating in a paleo challenge. I ate an entire container of vanilla frosting lying in bed watching the Chargers game on Sunday. Shame shame on me.

Flywheel Upper West Side

Darryl is BACK. New Yorkers rejoice!

Rebecca and I made plans to finally go to a Darryl Gaines spin class together after seven months of discussion. So at 12:30 PM on Saturday afternoon, I could be found clicking my spin shoes into the bike at Flywheel Upper West Side.

The commute from East 82nd to West 83rd was a struggle.

Yes I did send this photo to my brunch date.

CrossFit Isn't Dangerous Plus 3 WODs

I've been seeing a lot of articles about how dangerous CrossFit is on Facebook, on Twitter, and in my inbox. After careful review of each, I realized one person wrote a poorly written article and every other news outlet cut and pasted various portions onto their own sites.

Now I have a blog about pushing limits to extremes and not using common sense. Yes, these stories are true but I never said they were a good idea. If you've been reading this thing since 2010, you might have noticed a change since I started going to CrossFit Hell's Kitchen in June. My workouts are now planned and managed by great highly-trained coaches.

courtesy of CrossFit Central LI

Jumping Rope

I read a post on CrossFit Central LI's website that really hit home with me. That Chris is just so wise.

"If there’s some movement or exercise that’s been haunting you that your just having trouble getting down.  Take the time to practice it, don’t ignore it. Ignoring it only frustrates you when it comes up in a workout… Unless of course you ignore it in the workout also."

The exercise that I avoid is double-unders. I'm competitive and I can jump single-unders for over 5 minutes straight, so instead of practicing double-unders during a WOD, I've taken the scaled version which usually just doubles the number of single-unders. So today I decided to practice double-unders.

I warmed up. I got into a good single-under rhythm. I did one double-under! Not really sure how, but I did. I did some more single-under jumping. Got another double-under, pretty much on accident. And a few more jumps later my jump rope broke. Oops.

I went for a 3 mile run instead.

I'm someone who really relies on muscle memory. The only reason I can dance at all is because there are certain moves that are so ingrained in my head that I can just do them. I don't know what it feels like to do a double-under so at this point I'm not sure how to do it again.

Friday Night CrossFit

After a long week that seemed to fly by, I was really excited to cap it off with a 7:45 PM class at CrossFit Hell's Kitchen. I fought with an Excel spreadsheet for most of the afternoon, submitted my finished task to my boss, and headed down to the box a little early to watch the 7 PM class.