Crossfit Central aka PR Central!

After many, many false alarms and cancelled trips, I finally made my way back to Austin, TX on a work assignment. The last time I was out there was in August 2010 and I had the pleasure of dropping into Crossfit Central. Since that trip 10 months ago, I've met a dozen people on twitter who either are affiliated with Crossfit Central or work out in boxes around the Austin area. So needless to say, I was pretty stoked for this trip!

Last week was Crossfit Total at Central, and due to the class size and limited 45 minute duration, we ended up breaking up the movements per day. It had been roughly 6 months since I had done my last Crossfit Total back in December 2010, so I was ready and excited to max out.

On Wednesday 6/1, we started with back squats. Previous 1 RM in December was 185lb and in February, 189lb. With much joy, I was able to bust out a 200lb back squat for my 1 RM! It felt pretty good too and I am pretty sure if I had time for one more rep, I could have tried for 205-210. Nevertheless, I was ecstatic to finally be part of the 200lb back squat club!

Side of humor: During warm ups, Coach Big Mike introduced me to the class by saying, "Everyone say hi to Jaimie, she is visiting us from Crossfit Invictus; they are kind of a big deal...." Funny, as that is what CJ and I said about Crossfit Central as well.

Me & Holly before our back squat attempts:



With such great results on Wednesday, I decided to drop in the next day so that I could test out my Deadlift. Previous Deadlift 1RM back in December was a disappointing 215lbs, so this time around I was only expecting to maybe get to 225-230lb, if I was lucky.

Coach Jefe was also my coach the day before, so when he saw me warming up my deadlifts, he pulled me aside and asked me what the previous 1RM was. I told him it was 6 months ago at 215lbs and since he saw my back squat the day before, he instantly made me throw alot of weight on the bar and start my first of the 1-1-1 reps at my previous max. The 215lb was easy peesey and I started getting that mixed feeling of excitement but nervousness of the unknown, like I knew something great was about to happen.

With the amazing motivation and instruction from both Coach Jefe and Coach Zach, my rep/weight set ended up being 1-1-1-1, 215-235-245-255. Yep, that's right - I ended with a 255lb deadlift. It was one of the most amazing feelings of accomplishment I've had during Crossfit, ever.

I didn't get a chance to test out my shoulder press (previous in Dec 10 was 95lbs) but my two new PRs were satisifying enough. My next goals, of course, would be a 225lb back squat and a 300lb deadlift. I know that if I work hard and keep at it, I'll see those goals met before I know it.

And, of course, to top off a fantastic week, I finally got to meet Diego! I usually shoot the shit with Diego on twitter on an almost daily basis, he's an awesome member of the SICFit crew and a fellow Progenex rep. I can't wait to party with his crew at the Games in July.

Finding new motivation.....part 1.

It has been a week since my last blog post and I feel like so many positive things have happened! So here is a quick recap.

A few Saturdays ago, Sage Burgener (who is an OLY coach at Crossfit Invictus) put on an OLY Meet at our box; it was open to all athletes who wanted to sign up. I really haven't done any snatch technique practice since the Windy City OLY Meet over 6 months ago, so I decided instead to just volunteer to help out Sage and Jen. I know, such a cop out. It was a relatively small meet but it packed a big punch with some amazing females lifting some amazing weight. You want some motivation? Watch a 19 year old who weights 116lb cleaning and jerking 150% her body weight. It was amazing.

Although being surrounded by awesome guys and gals pick up heavy weight all day was a cherry all in it's own, I will say that the highlight of my day was meeting Kris Clever. I was pleasantly surprised when she walked in the door before the meet; I didn't realize how close Valley Crossfit was to San Diego plus I figured she would be resting before any Games competition. Not only did I get to watch her lift, I also got to shoot the shit with her afterwards as we discussed the aforementioned amazing 19 year old who's name I can't remember to save my life. Even Kris found her motivating.

This past weekend also marked 2 weeks since I started my meal planning and nutritonal discussions with Coach George, and it was time to take some new measurements and pinching. Pinching hurts, by the way. I didn't think my jeans felt any looser but atleast they weren't feeling any tighter, so I wasn't all that optimistic going into the measuring session. He took some quick measurements and then, as if he was a doctor running tests, he told he would let me know how it went.

Later that night, I got this email from him:

"So you're weight didn't change, but your measurements did...4 out of 8 sites were significantly lower, to include the umbilical and supra-illiac (right about your hip). Your umbilical site went from 34.4 to 28.2!"

I don't know exactly what he was measuring as I know he didn't mean my waist is now at 28 inches but either way, it was motivating to see that my work is paying off.

Beast Mode: 2011!

I'm not a big fan of making "New Years Resolutions"; as a devoted Crossfit'er and Paleo lover, I try to live each day as "RX", as they say. So I don't make New Years Resolutions for myself and basically ignore everyone elses...however, I am definitely jumping on Crossfit Love's 30 Day Paleo Challenge. If I were to have any 'resolution' to start in January, it would be to use my crock pot slow cooker alot more often to make delicious, inexpensive Paleo-approved meals that I can 'nom' on for a week.

My first experiment? Beef Brisket. And it was a total success. Even my non-Paleo roommate loved it. This recipe made a huge crock pot full, which will last us for the week!



BEEF BRISKET WITH MIREPOIX

Mirepoix makes everything in life better.

For the meat:
3lb beef brisket
4c beef broth
1c red wine
4 cloves garlic peeled and sliced
3 bay leaves

For the mirepoix:
4 carrots diced very tiny
6 stalks celery diced very tiny
2 onions chopped fine
3 strips good salty, smoky, fatty bacon

Cute up Brisket into cubes and pre-cook the bacon in a pan. Pre-sauté veggies in the bacon grease, throw everything in the Crock pot. I cooked mine on high for 3 hours, and then on low for another 2-2.5. Meat came out perfect!

Today's MetCon at Lincoln Park Crossfit was a fun one for me! I really suck at Double Unders and have been practicing a lot this week; each day, they seem to be getting worse! Today was total beast mode though:

Strength: Push Press 3-3-3-3-3

Previous PR was on 10/28 at 105# x 2
Today I got 105# x 3 and 115# x 1

Conditioning: 225/135 and 24kg/16kg

21 Deadlift
21 Kettlebell Swings
50 Double Unders

15 Deadlift
15 KettleBell Swings
50 Double Unders

09 Deadlift
09 KettleBell Swings

I haven't been sleeping well this past week due to letting life get me down, so when I walked in to the 7am class exhausted this morning, I wasn't expecting Beast Mode at all. I did the MetCon at RX, got it in 12:24 and my DUs weren't so bad. I felt amazing after the MetCon - and rewarded myself with a nap :)

Body By Burpees December!

Yay! Today is December 1st! Why am I so excited? First of the month = new challenge!

A few months ago, my now dear friend Heather was tweeting on Twitter about an October Burpees Challenge, which is how I found her on twitter and we've become great friends since! I did this challenge for a few weeks - yes, not all of October, but still, a few weeks in and it has greatly improved my speed and efficiency...just ask the cute guy at my box who I beat last week at a MetCon containing burpees ;)

The challenge: 15 burpees a day + the date. Simple math. (Oh Crossfit, how you've made me a better math student....)

December 1st: 15 + 1
December 2nd: 15 + 2

And so forth, until December 31st, which is 15 + 31 = 46....and then January 1st is the day of rest.

Doing this burpee challenge on your WOD days is not very difficult; it's really not that many burpees. What got me back in October was I would forget on my rest days to do them. And who wants to do 15+x twice for making up a missed day???

My goal for this month's challenge: Do as many as possible unbroken. Leading up to December 15th, I'm going to try to do all unbroken. Then we'll see after that. 30+ burpees is no joke!

One of the things I absolutely LOVE about this month's challenge is that my loud mouth has definitely paid off in support; I posted it in my Facebook status and all over twitter, and now I have seriously 20-30 people saying they will be doing this challenge with me! And these are not all Crossfitters, which is what I love.

#GetSome folks!

January's challenge....maybe Double Unders?? I'm taking suggestions!

Where does your meat come from?

If you are following the Paleo diet, there's a very good chance the main component in your diet is meat, especially if you also do Crossfit. Protein, protein, protein! Growing up, I had the normal diet that is common in the United States, which is basically meat with every meal. In the winter of 2008, I moved to Chicago to be with my boyfriend, who only ate fish and chicken; no beef, no pork. I quickly adopted his diet, since we lived together and it was just easier when cooking our meals. I had no problems or stress with this diet change, since Chicago is a big city and living here does make it easier when you have 'dietary restrictions', as my coworkers call it.

A couple of months later after the move, I read the book "Skinny Bitch" and it changed my life and my views of the foods I was putting in my body. I quickly changed to a vegetarian, or rather, pescatarian diet, since I was still eating fish. I started buying soy milk instead of dairy, rarely ate cheese, and never bought eggs. After spending the weekend with a vegan in December of 2009, I decided to go all out vegetarian; no fish, no meat, no eggs of any sort. I still didn't drink milk, but I did enjoy cheese. And I had no problems with this diet. You can say the main motivator behind this diet choice for me was the inethical treatment of 'factory farm' animals, which is where most of the US meats come from.

Four months after that: enter Crossfit. Initially I went back right away to eating fish in order to get in my protein. But since I no longer live on the coast, where fresh ocean seafood is plentiful and inexpensive, it became difficult to afford eating fish all day, every day. It got pretty boring. So against my wishes, I started adding chicken back into my diet.

I hated it. I felt guilty with every piece of chicken I ate. But I knew it my body needed it and that my first and foremost concern should be my health. So to ease my guilt, I made it a goal of mine to try to find the best chicken around, in terms of healthiness and humane treatment of the chickens.

Thankfully, I didn't have to look far; Treasure Island in Lakeview/Boystown sells Miller Amish chicken. Although this chicken is much more expensive than your regular brands ($12 for 2lbs, which is roughly 3 large breasts), it is well worth it to me for what you get at that price and it helps ease my guilt.

1) The President's Message specifically talks about their humane treatment of the chickens
2) All of the farms and processing centers are in close proximity to each other in the Midwest and to me, which makes their carbon footprint minimal
3) They are fed an all-vegetable, drug free diet and are hormone and antibiotic free.

So long story short, what's my point? Know where your food comes from. Know how your food is being grown, how it's being processed. You work so hard to achieve great fitness, whether it's marathon training or Crossfit, so you should also work hard to ensure you are giving your body exactly what it needs, and nothing less.

OLY Meet and Homemade Shakes

I've been doing CrossFit religiously for just over 6 months now and as the result of this dedication, I've met a lot of small goals and have seen myself progress rapidly in some areas. (Remember when you ladies couldn't do even one push up or pull up?!)

As much as I love and appreciate all of these little victories, I am now super excited to have a big goal to work towards - the 2nd Annual WCCF Winter Weightlifting Meet! This OLY Meet is here in Chicago, exactly 5 weeks from tomorrow, and consists of a snatch and then a clean & jerk. This will be my first competition as a CrossFitter and I'm excited that its an OLY competition since that's my favorite part of CrossFit. I am on Day 5 of strict Paleo/no alcohol and plan on keeping that up until the competition.

As of today, my numbers are as follows:

Cleans: 3 Rep Max at 105# on 11/5/2010
Jerks: 1 Rep Max Split Jerk at 115# on 9/15/2010
Snatch: 1 Rep Max at 80# on 8/31/2010

One of my coaches told me last week that I have a pretty solid split jerk, which makes me happy, but as you can see I haven't worked on snatches in months! I'm hoping to drop into a 2 hour OLY class at CrossFit Coastal next Saturday and get in some more practice.

One of my dietary goals for this month is to try to get in more protein. I'm not a big meat eater and tend to only eat meat with lunch and dinner, so it can be hard for me to get in the recommended 120-160g of protein a WOD day that my body needs. If I were to guess, I would say that I am around 80-90g a day, so I am constantly trying to find ways to sneak in more protein when I can.

Even before CrossFit, one of my favorite post workout meals has always been the protein shake. I've always tried to stay away from sugar and processed products so I've always made them homemade, and find them delicious! I'm always looking for ways to switch up my shakes so let me know any suggestions you have.

My shake today:



1 Scoop Chocolate Whey Protein
1 Medium Frozen Banana
1 Raw Egg
1 Cup Unsweetened Almond Milk
4 Fresh Strawberries

I have two canisters of Beverly Protein Powder; Chocolate and Vanilla. I like to switch off between the above recipe and a Vanilla Powder/Frozen Banana/Frozen Blueberries version. I use to love to put peanut butter in my chocolate shakes for the added fat/protein/taste but I'm trying to kick my peanut butter habit so that is forbidden right now. I find that the frozen banana gives the shake the condensity of a milkshake - such a treat after a hard WOD!

Crossfit Arlington Heights

This past Sunday, we continued our little CrossFit/Wedding weekend road trip with a stop at CrossFit Arlington Heights on our way back to Chicago. The box was pretty awesome but my condition....not so much. Lets just say I got up close and friendly with a bottle of Patron the night before at my crazy family's wedding reception and I was pretty drunkover on Sunday. By the time we got to the box, I was yawning big time.

Box #26:



WOD:

5 RFT:

400m Run
3 Snatches (65#)
12 OH Squats (65#)

I love snatches and overheads!

Before heading back to Chicago, we got to sign their visitor's box. First time for everything! Pretty cool idea.....

Creamy Avocado Dressing

Avocados are definitely in my top 5 favorite foods. I love the texture, the color, the taste, how versatile they can be and of course, I love how healthy they are.

I don't remember how I happened upon this recipe but I will thank CrossFit Central Relentless Bootcamp for posting it. Normally my week day lunches consist of a big salad with tuna fish and some kind of Paleo dressing; today I decided to give this dressing a try since it basically contains all of the things I normally put in my salad anyways.

Recipe of the Week-- Creamy Avocado Dressing

1 avocado
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
½ cup water
¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper

Place avocado, olive oil, lemon juice and water in a blender

Puree until smooth then blend in salt and pepper

Serve over green or chopped salad




Simple, fast and inexpensive. I already had all of the ingredients in my kitchen. This recipe made enough so I can store some in the refrigerator for tomorrow's salad. I also think this is the type of recipe that could be 'open to interpretation'; maybe add a little salsa or chipotle seasoning to it. Let me know if anyone comes up with a variation!

Quad City CrossFit & CrossFit Progression

What started off as a 3 hour drive to Kaukauna, WI for a wedding turned into a nice little CrossFit road trip! The final count was 6 boxes/WODs in four days.

The first stop on our trip was to Quad City CrossFit in Davenport, IA for some 'Jump Your Wall Balls Off!' action.

10 RFT:

10 Wall Ball 20/10
Standing Broad Jump Across Mat (15') Touch both hands after you land
10 Box Jumps 24/18
Standing Broad Jump Across Mat (15') Touch both hands after you land

Thanks to Austin for coaching us through this WOD and letting us drop by.



After QCCF, our trip led us north to Rochester, Minnesota for CF Box #2. To be honest, I really wish we could have switched these WODs around that day, because WOD #2 was the Lumberjack 20! I was really hoping to do this Rx but no dice.




"The very first CFP Boot Camp"
Lumberjack 20 for time:

20 deadlifts @ (275lb/185lb)
400m Run
20 KB swings @ (70lbs/53lbs)
400m Run
20 Overhead Squats (115lb/85lb)
400m Run
20 burpees
400m Run
20 Chest to bar pull ups
400m Run
20 Box jumps @ 24inch/20inch
400m Run
20 DB Squat Cleans @ 45lb/25lb
400m Run

Although this was definitely one of the harder WODs that I've done, I did have a great time with the CrossFit Progression crew; everyone was super friendly and supportive throughout the WOD. This picture sums up the mess of weights that were left Post-WOD.

Day 10, Shoes, Road Trip & Shout Outs!

I've finally hit Day 10 of my 10 Day Advocare Herbal Cleanse Challenge. The results?

Weight: Started at 158.5#, ended today at 155#, although my lowest was 154#. I'm not too discouraged because I have been lifting heavy this week and as CrossFitters, we all know the scale doesn't always reflect our true measurements.

How do I feel and how hard was it? I feel fabulous. It really wasn't as hard as I thought it would be; I thought missing coffee would be the hardest part and it wasn't, thanks to Spark. I've been eating paleo on and off for months now so the clean eatting wasn't hard at all. Yeah, sitting in the bar with my friends over the weekend, watching football and not drinking wasn't my idea of a great time but being 100% sober actually let me put all my focus on the games, so I didn't miss a play. And I definitely didn't miss being hung over.

Did I cheat at all? I will admit, last night, Day 9, I did have two beers, two cookies and some chocolate at a celebration. How did I feel after? Like total shit. Was not worth it. I don't think it effected me too much but to be extra cautious, I may throw in a second WOD for today (just a run).

So my next steps? I'm going to continue on the Spark and Catalyst and I'm now officially an Advocare distributor. I may try some of the performance supplements but that won't be for a few weeks.

In the meantime....my new CrossFit "Toy"...my new INOV-8 F Lites 195s!! I'm so stoked to have a pair, as I was watching the AgainFaster.com website every day for a few weeks now. My Coach bought the same pair as well. So far, we love them. I did a big happy dance on my front porch when the post master dropped them off last week; he found it entertaining. :)



I got the shoes just in time for my big weekend road trip! Me and Navy Mike are starting in Davenport, IA on Friday morning to WOD at Quad City CrossFit, then shoot up to Rochester, MN to WOD at CrossFit Progression. Then on Saturday morning, it's Handstands in front of Lambeau (aka...Heaven on Earth < 3) and then to check out the new CrossFit Green Bay box. But I think the hardest part of the trip will be getting through my cousin's wedding that afternoon....after all that WODing, it will be interesting to see if I can stay awake during the ceremony.

And lastly today, I wanted to give a couple of shout outs! My buddy Khristian Moore was just interview on CrossFit Radio last week; it's an inspiring yet entertaining interview so I recommend everyone listen to it:

http://journal.crossfit.com/2010/10/crossfit-radio-episode-141.tpl

For those that haven't heard mine & Navy Mike's interview yet, you can find it here:

http://journal.crossfit.com/2010/09/crossfit-radio-episode-137.tpl

Also, my buddy Ric Stokes just started a Paleo challenge, on his way to a healthier CrossFit body and has started a blog to document with photos how his progress is going. I know he'll do great! :)

Sleep : Quality over Quantity

Day #4 - Still Rockstar
Weight - 156#

Most "diets" are different; some are low cal, some are low fat, some are low carb, some are all three, etc. But the one thing that every diet or every personal trainer will agree on is that sleep is a very big key to anyone's fitness, whether you are trying to lose weight or just be healthy.

Sleep has always been a horrible thing for me; I've had sleeping disorders since I started sleep walking at the age of 3. Most of the disorders have subsided by now but anyone that has been following me on twitter over the last 6 months knows that sleep walking to the kitchen for a snack has pretty much been every night over the last 6 months. It's hard to lose weight and stay positive when your sleep quality is horrible and you are consuming an extra 200-500 calories at 2am.

I went to the doctor and got tests done; his only suggestion was to switch from a Paleo diet to a more rounded Zone diet due to a carb deficiency. I started eating oatmeal for breakfast and I was able to sleep 3 or 4 nights without sleep walking.

I've been talking to a couple of girls this week that I know who are doing the same Advocare cleanse that I'm doing and one of the first comments I made was that I wonder how I will sleep while taking these supplements; the smallest things can effect my sleep so I didn't know if I would be sensitive to the supplements or not. Sherris reassured me that she has never slept better.

And I have to agree! I'm on Day 4, and with each day, I'm feeling more and more rockstar. I know there is no one key reason to why I feel this way; but I do feel like all of the reasons are all fitting together in a way that makes me feel the best I have in months. This cleanse, the supplements and this diet are doing my body good, which is making me get fantastic sleep at night (whether it's 5 hours or 8 hours), which in turn is definitely showing improvement in my MetCons at the box. How could you not feel rockstar?



This picture is for my girl Kelsey :) Thanks to my influence, she has discovered the power of the knee high socks during her WODs and she's hooked. Get some, girl! <3

Day 2!

Weight: 157#

I can't believe I'm saying this but thanks to Spark, I'm not having a hard time not drinking coffee. Sometimes I miss the taste of it but I am definitely not depending on it for energy. Work up at my normal 5:30am this morning and was feeling super duper tired (more so than normal). I think a fell asleep around 11pm last night and pretty much slept through the night so I don't know why I was so tired this morning. (I don't want to place blame on the Advocare supplements I took before bed just yet). So I took my Spark and took my Catalyst and within minutes, I was ready to go.

Today's Lincoln Park CrossFit WOD:

Bench 5x5
95# (4 sets), 105# (1 set)

MetCon: 15 mins AMRAP (Got 4 rounds)
200m Run
20 Ring Body Row
40 Stick Jumps
20 Ring Push Ups

Even though I was still somewhat tired, I did great on both! I actually wished the MetCon was 20 mins versus 15. (Not very often I'll say that, ha)

So I don't know exactly yet how much the Advocare 'Catalyst' supplement helps with toning and muscle development, but I can tell you that it kicks ass with curbing my monster appetite. I am definitely staying safe and within my appropriate calorie range; I'm just not starving or overeating anymore. Since I usually work out in the a.m., I'm starving by afternoon, no matter how much I eat between my workout and lunch time. My afternoon, between lunch and dinner, is when I normally consume the most of my calories.

Now, if I take a Spark and some Catalyst around noon and wait 30 minutes to eat lunch, I'm now consistently full throughout the whole afternoon until dinner. I actually have to make myself have a snack half way through the afternoon! All of this has also been cutting back on overeating at dinner as well.

The verdict thus far, through Day #2 of 10 - so far, so good. :)

A Date with "Josh" at Cactus CrossFit

I had the joy of visiting Cactus Crossfit in Scottsdale this morning for their 6am 'Express' class. (Warm Up/MetCon only, 30 mins) This is box #20 for me in the past 6 months and I'm finally glad I got to stop in! Started the morning with meeting Coach Jason and we immediately went into some banter about the Vikings and their acquiring of Randy Moss. (He's from Minnesota and I'm from Green Bay) Talking football is one of my favorite things. :)

Warm Up: 500m Row easy, then 500m Row for Time (1:55)

MetCon: "Josh" in 9:40

21 OHS, 42 Pull Ups

15 OHS, 30 Pull Ups

9 OHS, 18 Pull Ups

Did the OHS at Rx of 65# but haven't really been practicing my kipping pull ups much while on the road so those were shit today :( Ended up with jumping pulls and some extremely sore forearms. It was my first time doing "Josh" and I loved it.

Although I'm a few days late, I finally started the 'October Burpees Challenge' after my Cactus CrossFit WODs today. 15 + date = Burpee Count, from now until the last day of October, so today I got in 21 burpees. Actually wasn't that bad; I like burpees and will use this challenge to work on getting my maximum number of unbroken burpees. (Today was 15 unbroken) Since I'm late on this challenge, I may add those 5 missed days on to the end....haven't decided! :) (That's 51 burpees on the last day!)

Thanks again Cactus CrossFit and Coach Jason; I hope to be back soon!

Amazing "Grace".....

Today I learned a big lesson in doubting myself and tuning out my surroundings.

I'm back in Phoenix for work this week and since I have to be at the office by 8-830am, I have no choice but to take a super early CrossFit class. I've been to three boxes in the Phoenix area over the past few weeks and all three have been amazing boxes (thanks again for hosting me!) but so far, Core CrossFit in Downtown Phoenix has been the most convenient in terms of location and class time (530am WODs).

Today was my 3rd time visiting Core CrossFit over the past 3 weeks and I do believe that I'm becoming a familiar face with the 530am crew. I was really excited when I checked out the website this morning to see we were doing "Grace" as our WOD for today. I love cleans and I love jerks and I know I can lift alot so I was looking for total domination today.

For those who have never had the pleasure of meeting 'Grace', it is 30 Clean & Jerks, for time, with the RX for Men being 135# and 95# for Women. (Scabable, of course, as all of CrossFit is)


As we were setting up our bars for the WOD, I thought the RX for Women was 85#, so I loaded up my bar for 85# and did a couple of practice clean & jerks to test out the weight. It felt heavy. I wouldn't say REALLY heavy but it was still slightly heavy. Thinking back now, it's kind of a 'Duh!' moment; of course it was heavy. It's supposed to be. Its not supposed to be easy.

I wouldn't say that at that moment I was intimidated. But I made two mistakes; I underestimated my abilities and I got 'uncomfortable' with my surroundings. Don't get me wrong; Core CrossFit is an awesome facility, I obviously love it there as I keep going back, and everyone has been super nice/friendly. But I do tend to go more 'All Out' at my own box versus when I visit other boxes. I really don't know why.

I bumped the weight on my bar down to 65#, Coach Tom said 3-2-1-GO! and bam! I flew through Grace with great time; I finished in 2:28 minutes. 30 C&J at 65# in under 2.5. Within 15 seconds of finishing, after catching my breath, I was instantly dissatisified. There is no doubt in my mind that I could have and should have gone heavier. There are definitely occasions in CrossFit where going heavier could actually be harmful for me; in this occasion, I believe the opposite to be true. NOT going heavier this morning was more harmful for me.

But hey, that's what I love about CrossFit, versus alot of the other workouts out there today. For me, it can be such a humbling and motivating experience and it always leaves me wanting more. Sure, I wasn't happy with my efforts this morning; but I've identified what I wasn't happy with, and I just plan another date with Ms. "Grace" for sometime in the near future. And I know for damn sure that next time, I'll go 'All Out', no matter which box I'm at.

You can't get that from doing bicep curls in the mirror.....