Why I Am Doing the Open

I wasn't going to do the 2019 Open because the 2020 Open is taking place in October 2019. Will we even call it the 2020 Open? Will it be 2019B? With two Opens this year, my plan was to sit this round out and focus on my upcoming Strongman competition. But then I was asked to be a team captain for the CrossFit Identity Open Intramural Competition, and how could I say no to that? This will be my sixth consecutive Open, and I'm glad I'm signed up because it's the last February/March Open we are going to have.

As much as I have loved participating in the Open for the past five years, I have never been thrilled with its timing. I had business travel every single year. I think I may have done more Open workouts as a drop-in my first year than I did at my home box. This year 19.4 falls over my Spring Break, so I will have to do the workout at 5:30 AM on Friday before my flight, but otherwise I am home. I am looking forward to the season changing to October. Hopefully it falls over Halloween so we can wear costumes.

For those of you who have not been motivated to become a CrossFitter from reading this blog, the Open has traditionally been the start of the CrossFit Games season. Everyone can participate, from the very new beginner to the most elite CrossFitters in the world. Performing well in the Open got you invited to Regionals, the competition that qualified you for the CrossFit Games. Regionals are gone, the season weirdly started in back in December with the new Sanctionals, and rumor has it that the CrossFit Games will not be broadcasted so unless you are able and willing to travel to Madison, Wisconsin to watch them live, you are out of luck. The Sport of Fitness might be crumbling before our very eyes, but we can still benefit from the magic of the Open.

Some members of the Grey Leopards. Please note that I already owned grey leopard socks.

5 Year CrossFit Anniversary Post 5

In honor of my 5 year CrossFit anniversary, this week I am sharing five things that have changed since I started. The fifth are my friends.

When I started CrossFit in 2013, I didn't know how to make friends. I was 26 years old and apparently never learned this essential skill, and apparently it was the root of 99% of my issues. I had some friends but for the life of me I can't figure out how or why they wanted to spend time with me. I was a real gem back then. Read: a huge pain in the ass and a loose cannon.

If you go back and read some of my first posts about CrossFit, I talk about being nervous about having to sit alone and be awkward until class started. It sounds a little stupid to me now, but it never occurred to me to walk up to anyone and just introduce myself. And that wasn't just at CrossFit. I confidently navigated work situations, but the whole meet people, decide you like each other, and then start hanging out thing was really out of my wheelhouse.

5 Year CrossFit Anniversary Post 4

In honor of my 5 year CrossFit anniversary, this week I am sharing five things that have changed since I started. The fourth is how I face my fears and tackle the unknown.

When I started CrossFit in 2013, I was dealing with some serious imposter syndrome. I felt like I was pretending to be successful at work (I was actually succeeding at work and worked really hard) and pretending to have my shit together personally (I was actually really struggling to keep it together). Feeling inadequate is still something I struggle with on a regular basis. My biggest fear, besides home invaders, is that people will figure out that I don't have it all together and that I'm a hot mess and decide that I can't do my job or take care of my dogs and take everything that I've worked for away. I am actually quite good at my job and I manage a team of 4 people, who regularly give me positive reviews as a boss. I am a fantastic and responsible dog mom. I know these things rationally but don't always believe them. I still wrestle with self-doubt but it used to be closer to self-loathing. I was just waiting for someone to realize that I was a terrible person who sucked at everything and for that someone to announce it to the world.

I've always been someone who has been uncomfortable with not being good at things. I used to hate to go to ice skating lessons because I didn't know how to do the cool or fancy things that other kids could do. I would try to distract the instructors with my charming conversation skills (I was 4) to avoid having to skate at all. I eventually quit. Years later, I decided I wanted to play ice hockey and the same feelings of inadequacy came flooding back. I eventually quit that too. I developed a tendency of intentionally avoiding new things because I was afraid I'd be bad at them.

That's a big reason I flip flopped on leaving Equinox and joining a CrossFit box. I was intrigued by CrossFit, but also scared of it. I wasn't afraid of getting hurt. I was afraid of not being good and being judged.

Tons of shit at CrossFit is scary. It was scary to walk into the gym for the first time, feeling overweight and out of shape. It was scary to be the newbie in a room full of strangers who could do so many things that I couldn't (yet). It was scary to try to climb a rope for the first time since elementary school. It was scary to take off my shirt at a place where many people have visible abs because what if they thought I looked gross. It was scary to be vulnerable and admit that I didn't know what to do and that I needed help. CrossFit was scary because it was filled with daily opportunities to face a fear and the unknown.

Honestly, the best thing I have ever done was just show up to the gym each day. I did what was asked of me. I trusted my coaches. I did things that scared the crap out of me because I wanted to be a part of CrossFit. That first year, I got really used to being uncomfortable.

Screenshot from a 2014 video of me climbing a rope at CFID

CrossFit forces you to get out of your comfort zone. That's why it's life changing. Climbing a rope was a big deal to me because it felt impossible for a long time. I'm not a big fan of heights and there's been some moments where I'm worried about falling, but I was most afraid of failing. In my head, I'm often still a fat kid who thinks she shouldn't be able to hold her own bodyweight up while dangling in the air. But I've learned to climb the 16 foot rope and I can do it several times in a workout. Sometimes, when I'm reaching up to touch the tape at the top of the rope, I almost can't believe that just 5 years ago I couldn't do this. CrossFit provides me with tangible proof that I am capable.

Screenshot from a 2014 video of me climbing a rope at CFID

The gym is the space where I can try new things and fail at them while I'm learning. There are things I'm really good at (doubleunders) and things I really suck at (handstand push-ups), but I had to let go of ego and put the work in to get good at those doubleunders. Sometimes I feel like a strong badass and totally have my ass handed to me during the same class.

CrossFit gives me the opportunity to build my confidence and be vulnerable every single day. It keeps me humble, it keeps me hungry. It let's me prove to myself that I am enough.

5 Year CrossFit Anniversary Post 3

In honor of my 5 year CrossFit anniversary, this week I am sharing five things that have changed since I started. The third is how I spend my evenings.

When I started CrossFit in 2013, I spent a lot of time in bars. I was going out 5 or 6 nights a week. It wasn't unusual for me to work all day, go to happy hour at 7, go back to the office until 10:30 and then go straight to a bar on the UES. I was maintaining "regular status" at four different establishments. It's safe to say that I drank a lot.

I lived alone, I was in my twenties, and I was in New York. I wasn't the only person in those bars every night. CrossFit gave me something to look forward to in the afternoon and evenings. But I was definitely still going to happy hour either before or after class.

I moved to Georgia in May 2014 and I had no friends. The only people I knew in Atlanta were one girl with whom I went to college who seemed to like when I visited her but shut me out as soon as I moved down here, and my then-boyfriend's family. I was dating my boyfriend long distance. I had no social life. Suddenly I had a lot of time on my hands.

I was at the gym a lot. Since I worked from home, it was the only human interaction I had all day. I went to sleep pretty early because it's not like I had anyone keeping me up, matching me drink for drink. I've never been good at CrossFit, but during this 10 month period, I improved like crazy. I got my first handstand. All my lifts went up. I squatted 200#. It was a magical time.

In the fall of 2014, Eric and Brandon bought CrossFit Identity and brought over a lot of members from CrossFit Decatur. The majority of CFID's original membership were married with kids. A lot of the new members were single and into going out. I think the community has a nice blend of people in all stages of their lives, but I remember being pretty excited about the new demographic. On a side note, being a member at CFID has shown me that you can be happily married with three kids and still be the coolest couple ever, so my fears about marriage and children are largely unfounded.

My boyfriend and I broke up the following summer and I decided to make up for every single night I stayed in while we were together. I became a regular at some Atlanta bars. (You can see my smiling face on the back TV at Moe's and Joe's.) I made friends with the people at my apartment complex. I was back to going out regularly. I definitely woke up with a lot of hangovers, but my dogs kept me in check. And bars close a lot earlier in Atlanta than they do in New York.

Somewhere over the past year, I found more of a balance. I do enjoy going out and I am so thankful to have so many friends here in Atlanta, but I stay in most school nights. I rarely drink at all during the week. Having wine with dinner on a Tuesday just isn't my thing. I train at 5:30 AM two days a week and I need to get to bed early to be able to perform at that ungodly hour. I'm singlehandedly keeping the rosé industry operating Friday and Saturday, but I box it in.

CrossFit has given me an opportunity to socialize daily without alcohol. It has also given me the greatest group of friends to drink with. CrossFit can be contradictory.

5 Year CrossFit Anniversary Post 2

In honor of my 5 year CrossFit anniversary, this week I am sharing five things that have changed since I started. The second is how I eat.

When I started CrossFit in 2013, my diet left a lot to be desired. I ordered Chinese from Hunan Delight thirty-eight times that past year. THIRTY-EIGHT TIMES! (There was an intervention in 2012.) ConEdison contacted me every 6 months to inform me that the gas might not be working in my apartment because the stove had not been turned on during that period. There was a lot of skipping meals followed by epic binges.

One morning I woke up one Saturday hungover and didn't eat per usual, and I pinned myself under the lady bar. I realized the reason I always felt like garbage was because the majority of the calories I consumed came from alcohol and dumplings. I slowly started cleaning up my diet.

I followed a pretty common CrossFit diet trajectory. I decided to embrace the Paleo diet after dabbling in it in the past. I tried another Whole30. I remember coming home at around 11 PM after going to the 9:15 PM CrossFit class and being so damn tired that I would throw a bag of veggies into the microwave and just cover them in coconut oil. I'm not sure I ate protein besides bacon. Someone pointed out to me that cocaine is Paleo but oatmeal is not, and I started to question if it was really that bad to eat Greek yogurt. I switched to Primal and ate a lot of Kerrygold butter.

My diet got better when I reconnected with an old boyfriend who tracked everything he ate in MyFitnessPal like he would be executed if he didn't. I still followed a mostly Primal diet on weekdays but then we would binge eat all weekend. Nothing like two former fat kids in love and let loose in a Publix. We would strategize the cocktail hour at weddings to make sure we maximized our hors d'oeuvres intake. He would beeline for the bar and get drinks while I filled up two plates and found a table. Then we would alternate returning for our favorites while the other person held down the fort.

I tried to follow macros but was still very wary of carbs. I tried using a Paleo meal service but got discouraged when I realized the macro calculations were significantly off. I started prepping my own meals, which sounds like crazy talk to anyone who knew me while I lived in New York. I ended up hiring a macro coach and had some success with her. I'm not very compliant on weekends or when I travel, and it was only after I acknowledged and embraced that fact that I started to see real progress.

I learned that I could eat anything as long as it fit my macros. I went from being scared of carbs to putting Gatorade in my protein shake and eating Jolly Ranchers during workouts.

I tried reversing and a bulk, which left me a lot heavier than I would have liked but it taught me a lot about how I eat, what my triggers are, and what I can do to set myself up for success. After being able to make almost anything fit my macros, I realized I like eating whole foods, and I enjoy chicken and broccoli. I track from 7 PM to 6:59 PM so my dinner informs the remaining 24 hours. This switch has been the most helpful.

Right now I am using macros from Affinity Athletics Coach Delta and trying to be reasonable on weekends. To be honest, that usually means eating small amounts to offset the amount I drink in the pool. I prep almost all of my own foods when I'm home, but do eat out frequently because of my work travel. I will always make room for tacos. I still enjoy margaritas.

CrossFit has made me see that what I eat (or don't eat) has a direct impact on my performance in the gym. You really can't outtrain a shitty diet, abs really are made in the kitchen, and it's really hard to get bulky because I've tried.

This is just proof that I do sometimes use my oven:

5 Year CrossFit Anniversary Post 1

My 5 year CrossFit anniversary was Sunday. It was also Father's Day so I didn't want to steal my dad's thunder, but it felt like a momentous occasion. A lot has happened and changed in five years, and I credit all of the good things to my decision to start CrossFit.

I chose my CrossFit anniversary as the date I started CrossFit Essentials, basically the same on-ramp, foundations, 101 you took at your CrossFit, because it was the day I committed to being a member at CrossFit Hell's Kitchen. Earlier that month, I had convinced my friend and then-co-worker Selby to take me with him to a class. We did Nicole. I got stuck in a pull-up band hanging from the rig. Years before (in 2010), an old boyfriend took me to a soon-to-open aspiring CrossFit affiliate in Connecticut. None of the things I love about CrossFit (the community, barbells, lady wolfpacks of badass women) were there because it wasn't actually open yet and so I kept my Equinox membership for three more years. Sometimes I regret that, because what if my first CrossFit experience was awesome and I had started back in 2010? But I don't think I was ready for it yet. I needed to become an ultrarunner and continue to make terrible life decisions for a while.

A Terrible Day

Today I had a terrible time at CrossFit. CrossFit is literally the only time in my entire day when someone isn't asking me to do something for or give something to them. I look forward to going usually. I recently committed to staying after class on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday to complete the exit work programming, even if I don't like it because I want to be better at CrossFit. It's been difficult to reconcile that pretty much the entire gym got better in the past two years and I have gotten worse. Yes, I can look at my stressful job and my required work travel as justifications for why I am where I am now, but the straight truth is a lot of people worked their asses off practicing and I did not. I spent 8 minutes in the bottom of a handstand push-up last Saturday, not even remotely kipping off the ground, which shouldn't be surprising since I haven't attempted a HSPU since 2016. The last time I did them, I used two ab mats.

Which brings us to tonight. The extra work programming today was 10x10 unbroken handstand push-ups. I told myself last night and all day today that I had to stay and practice. So after the workout, even though I wanted to go home, I went and grabbed two ab mats and went to practice HSPUs by myself. Apparently we don't use two ab mats anymore, even for practice, which I learned when the coach stopped coaching the 6 PM class to ask me if I liked breaking ab mats. I don't think he meant to hurt my feelings, or at least I hope he didn't, but I was humiliated. I wasn't trying to break anything. I just wanted to work at something that I am really bad at in hopes that I could improve and not spend 8 minutes futilely attempting to handstand push-up next year. I felt so stupid, so fat, and so uncoordinated. When he told me to put the ab mats back, I choked back tears while I wiped them down. And then I walked to my car and cried. I ugly cried sitting in the parking lot for 10 minutes. I ugly cried all the way home. I ugly cried while I texted my friend Kayte. I'm actually ugly crying now.

I think I can usually take a joke. Maybe it's the constant feeling of failure at work, or being at home all alone all day, or not seeing my boyfriend for months, but I've just felt awful for a really long time. I didn't want to be a person who sneaks out of the gym to cry in the parking lot. CrossFit used to make me really happy, but lately it's just a reminder of things I can't do well anymore. My working sets for 80% back squats today was my old warm-up weight. It's humbling. It's also easy to walk out right after the workout instead of staying to work on things that I suck at, and so I guess I was particularly sensitive to these comments.

So of course I want to quit the gym and find somewhere else or something else to do, but I know that if this happened to someone else and that person asked my advice, I'd tell her to let herself cool down and just go back tomorrow and put her head down and get back to work. I guess the only thing I can do is put my head down and practice because otherwise the only person I am hurting is myself.

Here's a picture of my new Blender Bottle. I think it's pretty and it's about the only thing I've got going for myself today.

Pain in the Rib

You know what's not fun? Shooting pain in your ribs. Back in September, I was walking down the stairs to take my dogs out and I missed a step. Of course my hungover ass couldn't find my regular flip flops so I was wearing a pair of Palm Beach Sandals with slick leather soles. I desperately tried to save my footing but instead I slipped and went up in the air only to crash down on the concrete stairs. I then proceeded to clunk clunk clunk on my side down to the next landing. It hurt. Really hurt.

I felt short of breath and sore, but the real pain came a week later. It felt like my rib was going to puncture my lung. I could barely lift 50% of any of my one-rep maxes. I called my primary care physician but no one ever called me back (I should probably reconsider him as my PCP), and I didn't have time to sit at urgent care (which is never that urgent, is it?) I figured I would've found myself in the back of an ambulance if I had a punctured lung, and resigned myself to scaling all of the workouts. ALL of the workouts. I couldn't row, go overhead, do pull-ups, do burpees, or box jumps. I apparently could still run a mile faster than most of the gym but it was over a minute slower for me.

Around that time, I realized I had several Pure Barre classes that were about to expire and so I committed to getting there 12 times in between all of the work travel I have been doing. It was pretty awful at first. Apparently I hurt my intercostals, the small muscles between my ribs. That's a lot of core intensive work when your ribs are on fire. Slowly but surely, I stopped feeling like I was going to throw up between each sit-up, tuck, and hold. I was able to do planks again.

I spent a week up north and went to yoga, and then kept up with the Pure Barre when I got home. Last Wednesday, I realized my ribs were pain-free and I have developed a lot of core strength.

On Saturday, the boyfriend and I went to his box for a partner WOD before the Chomp and Stomp chili and bluegrass festival. We shared an 85# bar. I was able to do pull-ups for the first time in over a month! My wallballs felt solid. My cleans were on point. I struggled with the jerks, and probably need to build up the weight I use for those, but overall I am pleased with my performance.

I plan to get back to my box this Wednesday and get back into the swing of things while remaining healthy. I haven't been a fan of the programming in a while and so I'm hoping that I enjoy it more coming back this time.

On Wednesdays We Wear Pink

We have a fun little tradition at CrossFit Identity - on Wednesdays we wear pink. Many of you likely get the Mean Girls reference. What I like the most about our Wednesday custom is that no one ever officially announced that this is something we do. People started wearing pink and then greeted other people wearing pink by saying, "On Wednesdays we wear pink." The coaches also ran an order on custom men's Virus shorts with a hot pink option, so that probably helped.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, another time when we are encouraged to wear pink. For every person who wears pink to a Wednesday class this October, Pure Barre Virginia Highlands is donating $10 to the Pink Agenda Atlanta and 15% of all retail sales will benefit this organization

These are some of my favorite pink things that I am wearing this month.

I ordered these pink 3.25 Fleo shorts because they are adorable, and I came to accept that we weren't ordering CFID custom booty shorts any time soon. I like the 3.25 because they give just a little extra coverage, which is nice when the WOD involves running or burpees. They are still available on the Fleo website as of October 16.

I bought the new Pure Barre Breast Cancer Awareness socks. I really like that they are a light heathered pink. I would wear them with grey leggings all year round. They are available online and in your local studio.

One of my favorite tank tops is from Pink Iron, the awesome all-women CrossFit-ish gym in West Hollywood where everything was pink, including the dog Barbell. Pink Iron doesn't exist anymore, but Holly has a new gym called Burn Babe.

We got these sweet crop tops for Regionals one year. Our coach Bre competes at Regionals, hence the pun.

I've been eyeing the pink Reebok CrossFit Grace. I really don't need anymore shoes but they are just really pretty.

August 2017 Goals

Hi friends! I'm back! I've found it pretty difficult to blog all summer. I've been struggling, and sometimes I hesitate to write about it because it feels like I'm airy dirty laundry. Work has been hard. I got an awesome promotion that recognized the hard work that I have been doing, including the additional responsibilities I've taken on since a colleague left in June 2016. But more money and a new title didn't add any hours to my week. I try to keep things in perspective but I broke down and cried on Tuesday. My team is so understaffed and my right-hand woman works remotely from Houston. Her house is destroyed by Hurricane Harvey. I am so thankful that she and her family are safe, but she's offline for the foreseeable future. That's 25 hours of work a week that's back on me. I'm trying to get temps in but that's a whole extra level of stress when I work remotely from Atlanta and the temp agency is in New York.

The travel is killing my personal budget because I'm spending so much money on dog boarding. I don't want to go anywhere for personal travel when I rarely get to enjoy a day off in Atlanta. That being said, I just got back from some trips that were pretty great. I had a really great birthday in Charleston. My Mikes planned me the best weekend where we ate all the food and drank all of the rosé. I got to see the eclipse in totality and a special someone threw me the best space themed birthday party.

Eclipse Margarita

CrossFit is Better with Friends

The most magical thing happened last week! My friend Erin was in Atlanta and she dropped in at CrossFit Identity. Erin and I went to college together, but we didn't know each other well. Years after we graduated, we both got into CrossFit and rescue dogs and started chatting about our shared interests on Facebook. Erin and her husband are fantastic dog parents. Their dog Chance is the coolest, and he has been a wonderful foster brother to TWENTY-SEVEN foster dogs. I am so thrilled that I got to spend some time with Erin in-person at the box. She's super strong by the way.

To make the day even better, my brand new Endless Summer by Nikki Leonard Fleo shorts arrived! These babies are the 3.25 contour, which have become my favorite Fleo short style. Just long enough to minimize chafing during runs, but still short enough to be cute, sassy, and #teamnopants.

We retested a workout that most people dislike but I kind of secretly love. You pick a heavy odd object and run 1,000 m around the loop. Our gym is located on this random street that has everything from psychologist offices to a tech incubator to 3 different yoga studios to a framing place run by veterans plus a nature preserve. The run route is a mix of parking lot, gravel, and mulch trail. On June 13, I used a 50# dumbbell and finished in 9:32. On August, I used a 50# dumbbell and finished in 8:35. Progress folks.

The Chestee

I finally bought a Chestee sports bra and let me tell you, it most definitely works. What the heck is a Chestee you might be asking - it's a sports bra with a built-in collarbone design so you can have all the fun with a barbell without the bruising. Whacking yourself in the clavicle with a barbell hurts and it's not fun when your boss asks you about your neck bruises later that week when she thinks they are hickeys. Speaking from experience here y'all.

Tackling the 10K

This year I won a bib in the Peachtree Road Race, which is the biggest 10K and apparently the thing to do in Atlanta on the Fourth of July.

I've got a confession to make - I'm a little scared of the 10K. It's not a distance I've ever felt comfortable in because it's not a distance that feels natural to me. A 5K makes total sense. A half-marathon makes total sense. A 50K is just ten 5Ks. But the 10K has always lurked there. Is it a fast race? Is it a paced race?

My best time was at the Great Cow Harbor 10K back on September 17, 2011. I finished in 46:04.2. Those are 7:25 minute miles. Here are some terribly blurry screenshots I found in an old unfinished blog post.

April 2017 Goals

Fitness and Nutrition

CrossFit Goal: 62/200 WODs. I did 13 WODs this month, including the Loganville Lockdown competition with my girl Amy.

This is me during every workout ever - shirtless, tummy out, mouth wide open.

March 2017 Goals

March was a hard month. My grandmother died the last week in February and I really miss her. Honestly, it doesn't seem real yet. The Open started the same week, and it took a lot out of me both physically and mentally. It was the first year where I could do almost all of the movements Rx, but I just didn't do them that well. There was no glorious feeling of getting my first toes to bar or my first chest to bar pull-up. It was just heavy. I felt heavy. I felt like I was competing against other people at my gym instead of against myself. I wasn't particularly proud of any of my scores, except for the last workout. I didn't expect to get a muscle up. I wanted a 95# snatch but I didn't believe I could do it, which probably prevented me from doing it. But 17.5 was my jam. I said it was going to be similar to 11.1/14.1 (snatches and doubleunders) but with thrusters, and I was right. I really should have bet some money on that prediction. I finished 10 rounds for time of 9 thrusters at 65# 35 doubleunders in 12:07. That's a pretty good score for recreational CrossFitter in case you were wondering.

I needed a vacation in March. Not travel for work (I was gone most of February), but an actual left my computer at home and turned off my phone vacation to somewhere warm. The boyfriend and I had vacation plans that didn't come to fruition. I'm not going to air our dirty laundry because he's a very private person (apparently not everyone keeps a blog on the internet?), but I was pissed. I was pissed in a "don't fucking call me from Florida!," stay out all night and not answer my phone, maybe won't call you for your birthday kind of pissed. I just need a few days on a beach, but pool season came a little early so I've managed.

The good news is I didn't kill him! I even announced that he now has a Bonus Birthday and we celebrated at Beetlecat in Inman Park. For two people who grew up on the water, the price of oysters in this city is a little mind-boggling, but the food is good. Like I grew up in Oyster Bay. I'm still not sure how to live landlocked, or what's so great about a lake created by the Army Corps of Engineers.

Bonus Birthday dinner

Daisy Mae celebrated her 4th birthday on March 10. She's back to walking and running and being her absurd little self. She loves to wear party dresses. Before you roll your eyes at me, come over here and watch how excited she gets when I pull one of her dresses out of the drawer. And then see what happens if you try to take it off of her.

Fitness and Nutrition

CrossFit Goal: 49/200 WODs. I did 17 WODs this month.

Not CrossFit: I went to Be Hot Yoga on Friday and purchased a 30 day unlimited class pass. I ran 2.3 miles.

Macro Tracking: I've tracked every day but I'm still pretty lax on the weekend.

Water: I'm averaging around 80 oz of water a day, not including the water in my shakes, coffee, or BCAAs.

Daisy Mae's birthday cake

Happiness

Church: I went to church 3 times and I officially joined as a member on March 19. That was an incredibly great day. I am so thankful that I have found a church community that feels like family.

Call a Friend: I didn't really feel like talking to anyone. I'm not good with sympathy, and I get awkwardly direct when facing difficult times, such as the loss of a loved one. However, I did catch up with an old friend at Moe's and Joe's. It was good to see him.

The return of my Parliament Light dress, just because it makes me happy.

CrossFit Open 17.2

Dave Castro's making sure we get the most bang for our buck out of those dumbbells. Fuck my life, do I resent dumbbells. I miss my bar. I miss it's weights. Praise the CrossFit gods that we can get a barbell at any weight in 17.3.

So after a work week in Austin that included a fantastic bout of food poisoning, I was finally home in Atlanta. I was so excited for Friday Night Lights and the day couldn't go by fast enough. I made it over to CrossFit Identity around 5:30 PM. Man have I missed that place.

All photos in this post are by my talented friend Elena Pesavento of Spot-on Photo. You can follow her on Instagram at @spotonphotoatlanta and Facebook. She also has started an awesome Women of CrossFit page on Facebook and at @womenofcrossfitatl.

This is our community.

February 2017 Goals

Fitness and Nutrition

CrossFit Goal: 32/200 WODs. I went to CrossFit 13 times this month, which I find impressive because I was gone so many days. I dropped in at CrossFit Downtown Atlanta, CrossFit Cool Springs in Tennessee, and CrossFit Central in Austin.

The all-ladies morning class at CrossFit Central.

Not CrossFit: I went to Pure Barre once with my mom, which I always enjoy. I went to Bikram in Roslyn with my friend Keith, and I went while I was in Houston. Bikram Yoga Meyerland Plaza was really nice. I really want to add Bikram to my regular schedule, but I want to take advantage of this 30 day unlimited deal and I can't decide on the best date to start.

Macro Tracking: I loosely tracked every weekend but I wouldn't say I fully captured my days or hit my numbers. I'm a little fluffier than I would like to be but at least I've put something into My Fitness Pal.

Water: I've been really shitty at tracking my water intake. I'm going to say I failed this goal this month.

Happiness

Church: I went twice this month and hit my goal. Woot woot!

Call a Friend: Even better than calling a friend, my best pal Kristen was in Atlanta for work and she met me for drinks at Ladybird. It was so wonderful being able to spend time with her in person. She was just happy she got to see where the Real Housewives of Atlanta live.

CrossFit Open 17.1

The Open is here! It's the magical time of the year when the community comes together for 5 weeks of anxiety, PRs, vomiting, and a general hate for Dave Castro. I am so fucking excited.

All I want is an Open season where I don't have to travel for work at all. Unfortunately February/March tends to be my busy travel season. I thought I had planned my travel perfectly so that I would fly back every Thursday night in time for Friday Night Lights, but God laughs at our perfectly made plans. Last week I was in Houston and found out that I would need to fly to Iowa on Thursday to attend my grandmother's funeral on Friday. I'm sad. She was a fantastic lady, and I will miss her very much. My poor boyfriend has bore the brunt of my sadness and associated nastiness because I'm a jerk who can't let people be nice to me. And because I am neurotic as all hell, I decided to become obsessed with pinning down exactly when and where I would do the 17.1 workout since I'd be freezing my ass off in Iowa while all my friends were at CrossFit Identity's Friday Night Lights.

All the fretting was senseless because I went with the boyfriend to CrossFit Downtown Atlanta on Sunday morning and everything was great. Coach Michael got us all set up. Coach Brian was my judge. The boyfriend and I got to compete at the same time, which meant I wasn't available to judge him or cheer for him and he didn't have to throw a 50# dumbbell at my head. (We actually really like each other. I promise.) All great things.

Coach Brian and me post-WOD

Twenty-Four Hours in Tennessee

I had to drive to Tennessee on Sunday evening for a meeting yesterday. I left at 5:30 PM Eastern and arrived at 9 PM Central. I then left the following day at 4:30 PM Central and arrived at 10 PM Eastern. That means I drove on I-24 in the pitch black dark both nights. It was terrifying. My hands were shaking, my stomach was in my throat, and I was close to tears.

But the trip wasn't an entire bust. I got to see my Volunteer Tennessee and fellow program manager friends. I listened to Barbell Shrugged. I went to an all you can eat Chinese buffet and ate as much as I could. I enjoyed some scattered, covered, and chunked hash browns at Waffle House. And I kicked ass during my drop in at CrossFit Cool Springs.

First off, I'm a big fan of their logo. I am an even bigger fan of all the people I met. Everyone made me feel very welcomed and included. And I accidentally left my old temporary paper license on the ground (I guess it had been living in my gym bag all these months?), and Coach James sent me a text message to let me know within minutes of me leaving.

We had two metcons, and I was pretty decent at both. 

Metcon 1

13 minute clock

800 m run

75 wallballs (kill me)

AMRAP squat cleans (95/65) for the remaining time

I got 35 and those squat cleans hurt after all of those wallballs.

Metcon 2

200 doubleunders

30 KBS

100 doubleunders

30 KBS

50 doubleunders

I finished in 6:33 and felt like a rockstar.

This was plate 1 of 3 at China Buffet in Kimball, TN. It's exit 152B off of I-24. I had just listened to Obese to Beast aka John David Glaude on Barbell Shrugged for the past hour and he talked about his inspiring journey from 360 lbs of fat kid to CrossFitter and physique competitor. He briefly mentioned Panda Express at the beginning of the interview and obviously Chinese food was my primary takeaway.

I saw this Instagram post on Sunday afternoon so I obviously reposted it and then had Waffle House on my mind. But for real, I love Waffle House. One of my favorite things about living in the South.

There's a Waffle House at practically every highway exit but I chose to dine at the lovely establishment in Cartersville. The fine folks were so nice to me. It was clear that I was exhausted, cranky, and starving. I left full, mildly less bitchy, and thankful for my to-go Diet Coke.

And this is me when I arrived home. It was too late to pick up my dogs, the guy I have been seeing had agreed to substitute teach the next morning (?!) and so he was already asleep, and it was just me at home terrified of home invaders. I'm definitely staying an extra night the next time I have a 3 hour meeting.

Weight Loss Wednesday 1.18.17

The Fat Loss Accelerator program has been a bit more challenging than I expected. Princess doesn't handle low fat very well. Katiesfitscript, one of my favorite bloggers, has written about how some of her clients do better when she increases their macros because it gets them to stop binging on the weekends. Dude, I made it until Thursday night before I was like fuck this noise, and went to Hacienda for fajitas and margaritas. That guy I've been seeing came home the next morning and I used that as an excuse to keep drinking and eating whatever I wanted... which was apparently lots of dumplings and dan dan noodles. I committed to (and paid for) this program, so I'm getting my ass back on the wagon, but I don't think these are sustainable numbers for me. I mean it's a four week program for a reason, right?

1/18/17 at 143.2

Despite my love for tequila, pinot grigio, and meat wrapped in dough, I otherwise ate pretty well (did I mention that this guy cooks a lot better than I do?) and I got a bunch of workouts in. I went to two different CrossFits on Saturday, made it to Pure Barre on Sunday, and went to CrossFit on Monday and Tuesday.