September 2016 Goals

Pure Barre Goal: Zero, but my colleague from our New Orleans campus is a certified barre3 instruction and she taught a class at our retreat last week. She is a GREAT instructor. I can't say if I like the method because it wasn't a traditional class in a studio. We took over the basketball court and borrowed equipment from the hotel gym. I'm going to make her take me to class with her when I go visit her campus this year.

CrossFit Goal: 115/200 WODs. I dropped in at Reebok CrossFit 5th Ave and PR'd my Fran time! I also did a two-a-day with my best betch Kayte. I am so proud of her and her dedication to CrossFit. She hits the gym twice a day regularly. She let me row with her and then we did clean and jerks and GHD sit-ups and some handstand work. If I could get my life in order and get on top of all of my work, I would definitely train with her more often.

Mileage: I ran 7.6 miles while traveling for work. I did a 5.37 mile run in Alexandria and found a nifty trail. I then did a short 2.26 jog around the golf course with some coworkers while we attended our retreat at the Minerals Springs Spa and Resort in New Jersey.

Life and Wellness Goals: September was freaking stressful. I felt like I was in a bad mood the entire month. But a lot of good things happened in September. We passed our site monitoring visit for our New York State grant, and I was really concerned about that. I got to see some great friends while I was in New York. I had a great conversation with our CEO and finally feel like maybe I'm doing a good job at work. I got to spend two days with my colleagues at the retreat and actually make a few work friends. Working from home is the shit, but you don't get to make friends in the mailroom because you don't have one.

I've been sleeping pretty well, eating pretty okay for the amount of travel I've done recently, and binge drinking a moderate amount. Things could definitely be worse.

Lately, I've been catching myself trying to cut calories or skip meals. While this can deliver results in the short-term, it can really fuck up your metabolism. I've been playing around with my macros to see what I respond to best. I am currently aiming for 135g of protein, 150g of carbohydrates, and 55g of fat a day. This is less fat and more carbs than I'm used to and it's been working pretty well. I feel rich in carbs and that makes me feel good about what I'm eating. If I do a long run on Saturday (which I've done exactly once), I up my carbs to 300g and my fat to 80g. I'm not a doctor and this is not advice. The macros I use won't work for you because they're not based on your size, goals, or activity level. If you want your numbers calculated, I highly recommend Jenna Carelli.

The Best Week in New Jersey Ever

This morning I woke up from a really weird dream where I was at a house party in Princeton, NJ and something really creepy was living in closets filled with water in the basement. While definitely terrifying, it was also a really fun party. Frank was there but he did not want to go in the basement, because he is smart.

My dream got me thinking about the last time I was in New Jersey. I fly up a few times a year to attend meetings with the New Jersey Commission on National and Community Service. Last month's meeting was held at Mercer County Community College in West Windsor and I decided to stay at the Hilton Garden Inn in Hamilton. Dude, I stay in several hotels a month and we know I've got loyalties to Hilton, especially Garden Inns, but this was my favorite hotel to stay in ever. I walked in and it was like Cheers. There's a bunch of regulars who come in each week for work and everybody knows their names and I really really wanted to become a regular too. There is also a mini putt putt course. And party lights in the lobby.

Fran at Reebok CrossFit Fifth Ave

Way back in 2013, I was sleeping with this guy who was really into CrossFit. He routinely asked me how many doubleunders I could do, and the answer was always zero. He was a member at Reebok 5th Ave and he invited me to drop-in with him pretty often. I always said no because I was ashamed that I had gotten so out of shape. I made many poor decisions, including sleeping with him, and ordering a ridiculous amount of Chinese food instead of going to the gym. He told me that if I ever got a 5 minute Fran time, he would publicly declare me superior to him and buy me a tiara. The relationship ended terribly, but it was the catalyst I needed to turn my life around. I signed up for my own CrossFit box and now I have friends and I say nice things to them and let them say nice things to me. I can't even relate to Tilikum anymore.

I was back in New York last week and I got to work out with two of my favorite CrossFit loves, Abby and Svetlana. They now go to Reebok 5th Ave, and ironically the workout of the day was Fran. It's been three years and I have now dropped at 5th Ave and I can easily do 100 unbroken doubleunders. I do not have a 5 minute Fran time yet. I did knock 21 seconds off of my time for 7:09.

I literally couldn't do a handstand the last time I worked out with these ladies.

We finished off the perfect night with spicy margaritas and tacos at Mexique.

It's Football Season!

Yesterday was a fantastic day. I woke up at 5:30 to get ready for a long run with the Chattahoochee River Runners. I just joined this running club and this was my first run. This week's course was in Brookhaven, which is an area of Atlanta that I really like. I met some really lovely people, and I am grateful for Henrik who pushed me and kept me entertained for 10 whole miles. I haven't run 10 miles that fast in a very long time.

For real. Look at these splits.

There's a coffee social after the run and I chatted with some great ladies while enjoying some iced coffee at Starbucks. Then I met up with Kayte for brunch at J. Christopher's. I ate all of the things because long runs mean high carb day. We walked over to the farmer's market and bought some green beans, and then I was off to my rolfing appointment. Yesterday's session focused on my thighs and quadratus lumborum and it was intense. The QL muscle is the deepest abdominal muscle and mine is apparently very tight.

I walked my dogs, spent some time at the pool, and then got ready for the highlight of Labor Day Weekend - the Georgia football game. Sadly I did not have tickets this year, but we went to Highland Tap to watch. Martinis, steaks, and football is truly a winning combination.