May 2016 Goals

Life and Wellness goals: Life is pretty awesome, but I haven't managed my anxiety very well. It sucks when I know that I'm wasting precious time when I become paralyzed with anxiety, but then I just sit there freaking out and then I have more anxiety the next day because I wasn't productive the day before. Vicious cycle. I'm trying to be more mindful and let myself feel my feelings without going into full-blown panic mode. And I'm trying to curb my online shopping problem. There's just so many workout clothes I want! And then I start thinking about how that is not helping me reach my financial goals. I'd like to have actual savings and use them to purchase a house one day. Instead I have 5 pairs of Nanos...

May was really fantastic for friendships. I got to spend some much-appreciated quality time with my CrossFit community at Regionals where we cheered on our badass coach, Breona Evans. (Look her up. Pat Sherwood has recognized her greatness so you know it's true.) I felt very much included and had a great time going to festivals with box friends and apartment complex friends. I've also got myself a group of 5 PMers that I want to see every day. I jump around classes a lot, which allows me to meet a lot of people, but I really benefit from having a group that is going to motivate me and consistently show up at the same time.

I'm happy with my nutrition progress. I've been a lot more loose with my macros but I did weigh in at 140.2 lbs on May 25. I read Natalie Noe's ebook and I follow her on social media, and she talks about how she eats for performance. She doesn't care if she can see her abs one day and not the next because she has a goal - to be sick at CrossFit. I've gotten pretty lean but I'd like more definition, but I don't want to lift any less or not be able to keep up. Sometimes I see myself working out in photos and I'm disappointed that I don't look leaner. Or I'll be running around the gym in a sports bra and shorts and wonder if I have a muffin top. These things aren't important. I'm not going to ruin my performance by trying to suck in my gut so I look better in my shorts. Our coach requested that we send before, progress, and after photos his way for a motivation board at the gym. I looked at my photos from November 2015 (right after I started working with Jenna) and now, and it was a really good smack in the face. I'm proud of my progress.

Pure Barre Goal: I went to Pure Barre 4 times this month. I took some time off from CrossFit in preparation for Murph and did Pure Barre instead. I've attended class 39 times this year. I'm getting close to the 100 Club.

CrossFit Goal: 58/200 WODs. I went to CrossFit 13 times this month. I'm seeing a lot of improvement and I've been Rxing more of the workouts. I'm finally feeling like I'm getting back to where I was before I got mugged last May.

Mileage: I ran 18 miles. This included my first long run in a very long time. I need to be better about prioritizing running because I need to build a base for marathon training. The good news is that 10 miles felt comfortable. I've got another 5K with the boyfriend this weekend that I'm pretty excited about.

Weight Loss Wednesday 5.25.16

I got on the scale to see what a weekend of Regional spectating did to me and I was pleasantly surprised to see 140.2 on the screen. I went for a 2 mile jog on Friday morning and took the rest of the weekend off. I drank a lot at Shaky Beats, I danced a ton, and I ate a massive amount of biscuits. One weekend isn't going to derail all of your hard work. Sometimes a physical and mental break can even help your progress.

I worked with my nutrition coach, Jenna Carelli, from November 1 through April 30. She's definitely one of the best investments I've ever made in myself. Her support helped me to trust the process and she helped hold me accountable. I struggle with moderation (big surprise!) and tend to go too far too fast. For example, if I see progress with 10 few grams of carbs per day, I start trying to knock off another 50 grams. This is not okay. Carbs are our friend. Fat is our friend. Food is our friend. I needed someone to tell me my numbers and make adjustments for me so that I could establish consistency. 

First Long Run in About 2 Years

I signed up to run a Hotlanta Half course preview last Saturday. I figured it was a great way to get myself to complete a long run. I got a little nervous as Saturday approached; I hadn't run 10 miles since I completed my last half marathon on November 8, 2014.

So I wake up at 5:45 AM on Saturday in an attempt to kind of recreate race day conditions. I needed to leave the house between 6:45 AM and 7 AM to make it to Big Peach Running Co. on time. Back before I had two dogs, I would have been able to wake up at 6:40 AM and make it out the door on time. Now I dragging two dachshunds around in the dark asking them to go potty. After the troops were pooped, fed, and watered, I ate some raspberries and drank a protein shake. Then I neurotically peed a few times and headed on my way.

The Big Peach's midtown location is 1.8 miles away from my house. I ran/jogged/walked over there and sadly my GPS didn't pick up. I didn't realize I didn't connect to the satellites until a mile into the group run. We started and ended in the same location, but Garmin shows the start as somewhere near Georgia Tech's campus. The nice thing about the Garmin Forerunner 630 is that it continues to track your mileage without the GPS, unlike my 305. I lost so many miles to that damn thing.

Grid Sunday

About a year ago I got roped into participating in a Grid match and I never published the post. I think I was waiting for my friend and very talented photographer, Kristen Alexander, to post her fantastic photos. All the images in this blog post are hers.

We no longer have the grid rig (thankfully), but this was a cool experience and I'm glad I got to participate. The italicized text is from the original post.

My coach Victor Pellegrino is an athlete on the National Pro Grid League's Phoenix Rise. He is a gymnastics specialist and super badass and if you don't follow him on Instagram @buffyoda, you should totally get on that. Earlier this year, we installed a grid rig at the box, and by we, I mean we, since about 20 members came to install the thing and I held up part of it and it was bolted into place. We've been doing team Tuesday WODs using the quadrants but yesterday we finally put it to it's true use when Victor and his wife Wendy hosted a friendly Grid match at the box.

This was my team. Omar and I go to CrossFit Identity. I knew a few of the other athletes from Faith Rx, which I totally should start going to again now that it's at a closer gym and on Wednesdays. Quite a few of those beasts compete(d) in the Southern Amateur Grid League.

The Southern Amateur Grid League (SAGL) is just what it sounds like - an amateur grid league here in the South. Some of the best CrossFit athletes from around Atlanta are in the SAGL, some of whom I've been blessed to meet at Faith Rx'd. Most of the people participating in yesterday's match were SAGL athletes. And then there were a few of us from CrossFit Identity.

Body Fat Retest

I've been trying to get my body fat retested since February. Between conference food catering, travel, and Sunday Fundays, something has always come up that's made me postpone the test. I finally got my opportunity on Saturday.

The good news. I have retained all of my lean body mass. I have lost only fat.

The bad news. I didn't lose as much body fat as I had hoped, or did I?

Hydrostatic body fat testing is the gold standard of testing. You submerge yourself in a tank of water, blow out all of the air in your lungs, and the technician measures the results. Bali takes three readings to find the accurate amount of lean body mass. I had always assumed that the test had to be an accurate reading of body fat, because come on, science! But then I realized that results have room for error.

Dogs and Diet

I mean nothing to them if the boyfriend is over.

Poor Frank is on a diet. I increased the amount of kibble he ate when he went to daycare on a regular basis and neglected to reduce his food now that he spends more time at home with Daisy Mae. I love my chunky monkey, but I don't want him to hurt his back or joints so he's getting less kibble. But don't feel too bad for him. He is getting treats more often to reinforce good behavior, and I've been using my work breaks to play fetch and chase with both of my little couch terrorists.

Daisy Mae has proven herself to be a badass CrossFit dog. She barks cheers for anyone who passes her and was able to drag a 54# kettlebell a few inches in an effort to get more attention.

Fun Little Saturday

I was a fantastic girlfriend on Saturday morning and woke up early to follow the boyfriend to Nissan so he didn't have to sadly sit in the waiting room all day while his car got serviced. After I creepily sneaked up behind him to give him a kiss, we went to Walmart and bought everything. I am now the proud owner of leopard print flipflops and a new 8 inch skillet. And I found a replacement for the Fitbit Flex band I really liked to wear last summer. Target sells it in a pack of 3 with 2 other not so great bands, so I never bothered to buy a new set, but Walmart has it as a single item. Hopefully I don't develop an allergy to this brand too.

We made our way to Brookhaven for brunch at J. Christopher's, and then walked over to a farmers market for fresh strawberries and kombucha because we are turning into the people I hate. The strawberries were fantastic. I ate them all on Sunday when I was hungover.

The best part of the trip was a visit to Big Peach Running Co. I've been telling the boyfriend he should get himself some new running shoes for a while. Old running shoes make running feel like crap, and I know I'm always more excited to run when I like my sneakers. He got gait-tested and picked out two sweet pair of kicks - some Nikes with a palm tree print and a pair of Asics. I treated us both to a new pair of Balega Hidden Comfort socks because those things are like running on clouds.