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.

Sniffles and a Shake Out Run

My allergies flared up like crazy after yesterday's WOD. Feeling like garbage, I struggled to fall asleep and I had a 6:20 AM run scheduled with the Professor.

2 AM. Wide awake. Don't I look sexy?

Burpee Box Jumps

I'm back from Tulsa and back at CrossFit Hell's Kitchen. There's been some renovations while I was away and the place looks great. I especially like the dressing-room-style glamour lights over the sink in the ladies' locker room.

Anthony also got us Wodify so that we can track our performance. It looks sick and I cannot wait to start using it.

I know I haven't done a Weight Loss Wednesday in a while and I think I might be gaining weight back. I know that I have definitely added muscle but I've been eating a lot of junk (i.e. rice, dairy, bread, Cheetos) and not monitoring portions at all.

First Feelings of Fall

This morning I stayed in bed until a normal person hour because I was tired and probably concussed. My black eye looks much better, so I think this decision was for the best. I got a head start on my inbox before heading out for a brisk run. 

Emphasis on the word brisk - it was chilly out this morning. Long sleeves are back! I also wanted to get some use out of my racing flats and see if I can handle more than quick jaunts around the CrossFit parking lot in them.

Trip to Tulsa and CrossFit T-Town

I was in Tulsa this week for a conference. I extensively researched CrossFits in the Tulsa area in advance and decided that I wanted to drop in at CrossFit T-Town. I called ahead and spoke to owner/coach Christina Merlo about dropping in and she made me feel completely jazzed about coming by. I pretty much couldn't have cared less if I made it to the conference sessions, but I was getting to CrossFit T-Town if it killed me. (The sessions turned out to be pretty neat too and I attended every single one I signed up for.)

Belching Fran

The Belching Fran relay, otherwise known as the WOD that made me want to kill myself, was a great way to kick off an epic Saturday. I woke up much less hungover than I deserved to be and I was very thankful that I signed up for the 12 noon class.

Selby and I headed to the office to get our sneakers. I wore my Real Tree hat because who wouldn't?

Some Runs I've Done

This morning I met the Professor for a run in Central Park. Today might be the first time he and I have ever done a weekday morning run come to think of it. It was a casual combination of road and the reservoir and we cut out onto the pavement at Columbus Circle.

Since I haven't posted a lot of my recent running photos and I just upgraded my picmonkey account, I made you some collages.

iPad Mini Giveaway Contest from Blood Sweat & Cheers

Last week I became insanely popular at work when I sent an email inviting some of my more athletic fun colleagues to pre-register for the Bad Prom 5K. Yup. A 5K that has a course of the top overplayed cliche prom themes. They encourage costumes. There's day-glo. Clearly there's some kind of inception nonsense going on and race directors are taking my dreams and making them reality.

After my favorite work friends enthusiastically pre-registered for the NYC event, they all said a version of, "Alessandra, this is awesome! Where did you find out about it?" Three (four?) words: Blood Sweat & Cheers.

My friend Anna and her friends in Atlanta do really cool and really fun things EVERY WEEKEND. No really. Their group's motto is, "I'm having a great time." They even have neon sunglasses. (Dude, Brandon, you promised me a pair.) I've decided it's my mission to bring this level of organized fun activities to my friends in New York. Blood Sweat & Cheers' free daily email has already given me plenty ideas of things that are fun and active that we can do together. Let's get out of the dark and crowded bars people! Unless the game is on, obviously.

The emails spotlight the latest crazy obstacle courses, local beers and bar games, workouts that don’t feel like work, and the sweetest new gear - clearly all things In Shape Out of Mind readers enjoy. I'm a huge fan of the Soundcloud playlists and the articles on slightly out-there gear. Did you know that there's a core muscle trainer that uses a mechanical bull saddle? Well you would have if you read Blood Sweat & Cheers.

Sign up today and you have a chance at winning a free iPad Mini. I know I had you at Bad Prom 5K, but contests are neat too.

I leave you with this photo from my prom.

Disclaimer: This is a post sponsored by Blood Sweat & Cheers. ISOOM readers have a chance at winning an iPad Mini after they subscribe to Blood Sweat & Cheers, but the contest is not exclusive to ISOOM. All opinions are my own.

ERG: 5K Day at CrossFit Hell's Kitchen

Today was supposed to be my rest day but then I heard through the office CrossFit grapevine that today's WOD was to run a 5K. I need a timed 5K for my Oyster Fest 5K training so I was all about going. I figured it was like a practice race without actually having to go to a race.

The only way to get out of running the 5K was to have a preexisting condition. My preexisting condition is "I actually like to run". Don't show up to a 5K WOD in a shirt that says I ❤ Running.

21:54.9 bitches.

Gratuitous spandex shot.

CrossFit Labor Day WOD

This morning I went to the 9 AM at CrossFit Central LI and it was the first time I've been able to attend a WOD with a lot of the other members. Today's WOD had us split into groups of five at each station. I felt pretty good about myself when a few ladies asked me if I wanted to be in their group.

WOD:

3 Rounds
Complete as many reps as possible in 1 minute for each exercise then move to the next exercise with no rest.
1 minute rest after the 5 exercises are complete.

Row for Calories
Dumbbell Thruster @35/20
Box Jump @ 20″
Hang Power Clean @95/65
Burpee

and apparently I can't spell burpee properly

There weren't enough dumbbells for every group so my group used a 40 lbs barbell for the thrusters. I started with burpees and I'm glad I did them first because I was able to get them out of the way and I got to rest for a minute after the hang power cleans. This is the heaviest weight I've used for hang power cleans and while I was able to do them, they were hard. This also tells me I should be increasing the weight I use and stop playing it safe.

I wish I had been able to get a photo of the group during the WOD because it was pretty fucking awesome to see so many people working hard at the same time. Now I know that I'm good looking (people tend to act a little shocked when I say that, but I own a mirror, I know what I look like) but like everyone else, there are times when I feel that I look my best. Most folks would probably say that I look my best when I am showered, wearing a dress, and have my hair did and make-up on, but I feel the most beautiful when I am sweaty, red in the face, covered in chalk, and pushing myself to the point of puking. Today was one of those days when I rolled out of bed and considered lying on the couch. An hour later I felt, and in my opinion, looked awesome.

I was running a little late this morning because I didn't want to get out of bed. I arrived in time to get my rope jumping and Samson stretching in and then completed the warm-up after the WOD. As we know, I love kettlebells and didn't want to miss out on my swings.

CrossFit Central LI

I've made it to CrossFit Central LI three times this week. Even this morning. One of my favorite things about having friends who live in Hawai'i is that when I'm up at weird hours, they're up for real. This is a beautiful photo I took of myself and sent to my buddy Alex. He was out at some bar.

CrossFit: Post-Happy Hour Edition

There are a lot of benefits to having a CrossFit and a bar share the same address as your office.

This is not one of them.

It's all fun and games until someone misses a filing cabinet.