~* All Apologies *~

I just realized how long it's been since I blogged. I apologize. Life has been interesting. Nothing crazy, just busy.

I came in 2nd out of 2 in my competition a few weeks ago. I was a beginner. My competition was not so much. But I had a blast and I'm glad I did it.

I've been working as much as I can, but it has been the slow season, so I'm stressing. Fingers crossed I end up doing ok for September.

I've been having a lot of doctor appointments lately, which I will update when I actually get some news.

I've been working on my personal life, which I will also update more when I get some news.

And, I've been brainstorming topics for some writing samples. I don't have time to write them out right now, but I will soon.

~* Competitive Bitch *~

Who, me?? Nahhhh.

Ok, maybe just a little.

Okaaaaaay. Fiiiiine. Ya got me. I am a competitive bitch. Usually, against myself, but tomorrow I have the opportunity to compete against the world. Not even an exaggeration. I signed up for my first Crossfit competition, and it's part of the Garage Games Series called World Wide WOD Aftermath. I will be competing as a beginner, and have no hopes of doing exceptionally well, but I do believe it will be worth the experience and I'm kind of excited about it. A little terrified, but also excited.

Along other lines, I have had some interesting run-ins with the male species since I moved in. I had an overnight guest, because he was bored and lonely. I solved the lonely problem that evening, not the bored. I do enjoy sleeping next to a man. I've been hit on by a married man- whose wife I adore. Slime. I gained a cheering section for the competition tomorrow in J, who I haven't seen since I moved. And, I have had dinner with my gorgeous neighbor. Possibly, probably more on that in the future. I'm liking 30 so far.

~* There's No Crying In Crossfit *~

Bullshit. I bet there's a LOT of crying in Crossfit. I did a bit myself today.

J and I went out to SoPi since we both had the day off, and today's WOD was awful. Well, it wasn't really. I just kinda fucked it all up. 3 rounds, for time, of: 9 overhead squats, 18 kettlebell swings, 9 ring dips, 18 sledgehammer swings, and 400m sprint. So, it would have pretty much sucked anyway, but I made it a lot worse for myself.

First round in, I dropped the damn barbell. Twice.
Then, I got hung up on the ring dips. I'm a newbie, so I use a band for assistance, and I kept getting it all backwards. Lost probably 4 minutes trying to figure that shit out. There was a 20 minute time cap. I made it out the door for the sprint in the 20 minutes, but was so winded that I know it probably took me 25 altogether.

I got so mad at myself that I cried. Just a little bit, but it still happened. I know I could have, should have, done better.

"Progress is not made without struggle. Do not wish for it to be easier, wish to be better."

I will be better next time.

~* There's a New Judge In Town *~

That's right, folks. I am now an officially certified Crossfit Judge!

 

I took the online course last night, after I saw the Facebook ad that volunteers were needed for the regional competitions. The Mid-Atlantic regional is in Landover, MD, and I never pass up an opportunity to head back toward home. Now, I absolutely do NOT feel qualified to judge anyone really, even thought I somehow passed that course. But, as a CrossFit newbie, it was really beneficial to see and learn all of the moves done both correctly and incorrectly. And who knows, maybe I'll get to judge somebody famous!! At the very least, I paid $10 to pass the test and get into regionals, with a cool tee shirt. I'll mark that one down as a win.

~* One More Great Weekend *~

I did have a pretty fantastic weekend. Let's break it down, shall we?

Friday- I was done work at 9:30am. Yeah, I know, it's ridiculous. I'm actually just taking Fridays off for the foreseeable future to avoid going in for just a few hours. Anyway, after work, I headed out to J's place, let out the wrinkle-faced monster, and gorged myself on spaghetti squash alfredo. OMG Paleo amazingness!! He really is an amazing cook. After the energy tank was full, I went to SoPi Crossfit for my first one-on-one session. I LOVED IT!! My sessions are with a chick named Mila, and she's awesome. She's friendly, but she's tough, which I need. I've been too easy on myself lately, and I need that extra push. I learned a few basics, and how to fix my deadlifts. Then, I did my first Fran. I don't think it was timed, and it wasn't Rx- I only used the 45lb bar, and I used bands for my pullups- but I'd guess it came in somewhere around 7 or 8 minutes. It felt like an hour and a half. All in all, it was a great workout, and she kicked my butt!

Saturday, we headed back to SoPi so J and A could do 13.3. I love watching the whole group get together and just suffer to be better. Then, we all went for ice cream. Ugh, my body hates dairy these days. It's funny how quickly I've adjusted to eating super-clean. But, it was delicious. Later in the afternoon, J and I went to the range and shot a zombie. That was a blast. I don't think he expected me to be very good, but I'm a decent shot. I may not have a lot of gun knowledge, but I have pretty spot-on aim. Then we went to Smokey Bones for dinner with a couple who we will be dogsitting for next weekend. They were an interesting pair, but it was a nice dinner.

This morning, I made French Toast with the Paleo coconut bread we scored out in SoPi, and then whipped up the rest of the egg-batter-mix-stuff into scrambled eggs. It was a little weird- eggs with cinnamon and vanilla?? But not bad. It was a nice change up since he's always doing the amazing work in the kitchen, but he's still a WAY better cook.

Right now, I'm sitting back in my own kitchen, waiting on my pork in the crockpot. This week's food adventure is going to be shredded pork with plantains. The recipe actually calls for mashed plantains, but I think I'm just going to slice and fry them up in some coconut oil. Wish me luck!

~* Mission, Accomplished *~

I did it. I finally did it!! I took my very first CrossFit class today!!

I had an 8hour break in my schedule today. Yeah, my schedule blows sometimes. But- I used that free time to make the 2hour round-trip drive out to Southern Pines and do a WOD as a beginner. And I loved it!!!!

I've been doing the same things over and over for a while now. Never the exact same workout, but all the same movements, with the same equipment, in the same gym. Since I ran the other day, I've been craving a change, and I feel like this was exactly what I needed. I lucked out for sure, it was a pretty easy WOD, but it was still nice to be doing something different. And there was a couple who was telling me how to do everything, but nobody was hovering like "let's all stand and stare at the new chick". It was more like "this is how you do this, so...do it".

I did sign up for 3 one-on-one sessions with a trainer to get the movements down pat. I loved what I did today, but I don't wanna jump into a bigger, badder WOD without knowing what I'm doing.

So- moral of today's story- whatever it is you've been wanting to try, just try it. You might just love it.

~* 13.1 *~

Fuck no, I didn't do it! I've never done Crossfit, and I damn sure am not gonna start with 13.1!!

BUT- I did go watch it at Southern Pines CrossFit, and I have decided to take an intro class for sure. It was a blast to watch these people kill themselves for 17minutes just to try to be better than they were when they walked in the door. I watched a chick PR on her snatch. You could see it, she had never done it before...then she did it again, and again, and again. It was awesome. The vibe was so chill but encouraging all at the same time. I'm super-excited! The only downside is that Southern Pines is sooooooooo far away. No joke, like an hour from me. I have to try to squeeze it in between my morning and afternoon sessions, on a day when I'm not taking my poor car through inspection....Or....Fridays are always early days for me.....but I don't wanna wait....sigh. We'll see what happens. It will be this week, for sure.

On a semi-related note, I am LOVING this Paleo thing. I've been doing it for about 2 months now, and most of the time, I take the easy way out. Breakfast- eggs, bacon, fruit. Lunch- tuna-stuffed avocado. Dinner- grilled meat of some kind and whatever random green veggie I have laying around. I've been studying too much to put a whole lot of work into it. But today, I decided to try one new real recipe each week, even if it is a simple one. Today was banana donuts with chocolate coffee frosting. I don't own a donut pan, so I made mini-muffins instead, and they are AMAZING. I got the recipe here...  http://paleomg.com/chocolate-coffee-banana-donuts/.  Delicious. Warning: It has been incredibly hard to stay away from the fridge, where 21 more of these mini muffins are waiting to be eaten.