Two of CrossFit's dirty little secrets, and another disappointing blood test

In the past week, I experienced 2 new things at CrossFit that I'm not that excited about:

• Ass crack rash - first time doing 150 AbMat sit-ups, and got one sore butt (and very sore abs for 4 days and counting...) 
• Double-under incontinence - I can do a million single-unders no problem, but I finally strung together 10 consecutive double-unders, and sprung a leak! WFT?!

However, I also experienced some new things that I'm pretty psyched about:

• Finally strung together 10 consecutive double-unders!!!
• Did a deadlifting WOD using the RX weight of 135# - woo hoo! And was the first to finish in my session (including all the guys!). Couldn't do the entire WOD at RX though since RX was alternating deadlifts with double-unders, and I had to do single-unders. Maybe next time though!
• Got through several days of being my sorest EVER since starting CrossFit thanks to lots of lunges while holding a 35-45# barbell. Ouch. But now I'm stronger for it!

Sadly, my goal of getting into the 180s by the time I do my CrossFit No Baby Leave the Socks On Throwdown is not looking good. I've plateaued around 195.5 for a solid month now. I must be getting too many carbs from various stuff that I was avoiding while doing RepairVite (bbq sauce, dressing, etc). I tracked my food for a week on MyFitnessPal, and I was supposedly keeping my carbs under 100 each day, but apparently, I need to be even lower. And right now, it is not helping that I have a bunch of extra frosting in the fridge from helping my daughter's Daisy Scout Troop make gingerbread houses. Frosting is my crack. I should just throw it away, but can't seem to do it... And Thanksgiving coming up will not help either...it's going to be pretty carbolicious between the df/gf stuffing, cranberry sauce, and apple & pumpkin pies I'm making...  

Had another check-up with the doc, and had a body comp analysis done. Since my first appointment with him on 7/13, I've lost 22 pounds (although I've actually lost 25 since starting RepairVite after I put a few more on during my pre-RepairVite binge over the next month). Of that, the report says that only 13 pounds is fat loss, which seems strangely low to me considering the changes in my photos. Another 6 pounds was water loss (almost 3 liters). That makes 19 pounds...so not sure where the other 3 went...poop??? However, my % of fat-free mass increased by almost 2.5%, so I'd like to interpret that as a 5 pound muscle gain from all my heavy lifting. I was bummed to see that my BMI was still 30.11 though, which still puts me in the obese range (I'm ALMOST almost to the range of only being overweight though!). The report says I still have 36.1% fat, and my ideal is 21.6% fat - wow, I can't imagine what I would look like after losing another 15% bodyfat - I've supposedly only lost 2.4% of body fat so far, although the report says that was 13 pounds of fat...this report is very confusing... Losing another 15% of weight would put me at like 165 pounds. Never imagined I could get that low. Maybe it's really possible...and man, would I be jacked!!!

I had a blood test last week to see if taking the following new supplements for a month made a difference:

• HemeVite  (increase iron): only 1-2 pills/week
• Thyro-CNV (increase T3 conversion): 2 pills 2/x day
• MagneGel (magnesium): apply 1/4 tsp 1x/day

The HemeVite seemed to work - my iron increased to right in the middle of the normal range, so that was good. However, my magnesium barely budged, so now I'm going to double to dose to 2 applications/day. But the Thyro-CNV didn't seem to do anything to increase my total T3, which is still too low at 69 (although I realized the other day that I'd forgotten to include it in my pill box for about a week before my blood test, so I only took it for about 3 weeks - oops). So, instead of continuing with that supplement, he wants to take a different approach since now he's thinking that the issue my be with my pituitary feedback cycle. So, I'm going to take Thyraxis-PT instead, which is supposed to help the pituitary release TSH, and also ArdrenaCalm to help with any increased stress/cortisol issues. So, here's my new supplement list:

• Current: 
• AdrenaCalm (adrenal and stress support): 2 pumps 2x/day applied to skin
• Thyraxis-PT (helps the pituitary release TSH): 2 pills 2x/day
• MagneGel (magnesium): apply 1/4 tsp 2x/day applied to skin
• Lecithin (increase cholesterol): 1000g 2x/day
• HemeVite (increase iron): only 1-2 pills/week 
• D3 (supports immune system & absorption): 2 drops 2x/day
• EPA-DHA (Omega 3 fish oil): 2 pills 2/x day
• B12 (improves energy & digestion): 10 drops (1mg)/day under tongue (have been using GNC B12 instead since I ran out of Strengtia)
• Strengtia (probiotics): 1 pill 2x/day (have been using GNC Probiotics instead since I ran out of Strengtia)
• Discontinued:
• X-FLM (supports TH-2 immune response): 1 pill 2x/day
• Thyro-CNV (increase T3 conversion): 2 pills 2/x day
• H-PLR (fights infection in gut) - 1 pill 3x/day (increasing to 2 pills/serving if I can tolerate it)
• HCL-ProZyme (supports production of hydrochloric acid) - 1 pill 3x/day with meals

3 month before & after pics! 25 pounds down!

Well, it's been 3 months since I've changed my eating habits in a major way: no gluten or dairy for 3 months straight. And it sure has made a difference.

It was unbelievable to lose 15 pounds in the first 30 days. In the 2 months since then, I've "only" dropped another 10 for a total of 25. However, I have lost so many inches, which I think is very obvious in the photos. And I think I've been putting on a little muscle since I started CrossFit six weeks ago too - I love the heavy lifting days! I'm looking forward to hearing the results of my next body composition analysis on 11/26. I am really getting to the point that I need a whole new wardrobe for work. I only have 2 pairs of pants that fit, and I have to wear a belt to keep them up (and I'm on the smallest notch!). And most of my tops are too big. I'm pretty solidly into a medium now unless it's cut too tight across my shoulders - I never thought I'd be less than a large!

To get back on track, I am recommitting to eating clean until Thanksgiving. One of my coaches asked how my Paleo was going after I told him that my weightloss has plateaued for a couple weeks, to which I replied, "pretty good." And he said that "pretty good" is my problem. So, time to cut out the tortilla chips, sugar, and booze for a few weeks (might get a pass on Thanksgiving though. And my sister's birthday party.). I'd like to get into the 180s by my next CrossFit throwdown - that's 7 pounds in 4 weeks, which SHOULD be totally attainable. My mother-in-law just started doing the Whole30 (yay!), so we'll have to support each other. 

I've begun tracking my food in My Fitness Pal again to ensure that I'm getting my macro-nutrients in the right ratio. When I was losing so rapidly in August, I was averaging about 70g of carbs (or less), 80g of protein (or more), and 60g of fat. So, I want to aim for those ratios again. I just bought some egg-based, no-carb protein shake to help boost the protein - hoping it's tasty! 

I'm also hoping to break this cycle of head colds I've been battling since September. I just came down with my 4th one in 3 months, and this time, I went to a walk-in clinic because I suspected a sinus infection due to the piercing pain in my temples. I was right, and was sent home with some antibiotics and Mucinex (non-stimulant version!) to take for a week. I took the day off from work to rest, and took a nice, long nap. My head felt so much better this morning (although I slept like crap last night thanks to the nap). I feel like my workouts have been dragging a bit lately, and it may be because I've been fighting this infection. I think all the stress of the massive layoffs and outsourcing initiative at work is getting to me - at least we'll finally hear who's getting laid off next week so I can stop worrying about it (I think I'm safe, but I just want to know for sure! I'm worried about some friends though.). When I mentioned the antibiotics to my functional practitioner, he said that he wished we could have resolved the infection neurologically instead of taking antibiotics which will kill some of the good flora that I'm been working so hard to build up - not sure how that's done, but he said he'd explain it next time.

Brian made Salmon Patties with a Creamy Lemon-Dill Sauce for dinner tonight, along with some roasted asparagus and sweet potato fries. Very tasty! But I still find salmon SO filling - I just could not eat the last couple bites of my second patty (about 5oz in all). I was starving in the late afternoon today though. For lunch, I was in a time crunch, so I just had the last of some old soy protein shake with some SunButter, frozen bananas, coconut milk, and rice milk. Apparently, that was not enough to get me through dinner. I was getting desperate while shopping at Target, but there's just not a whole lot there that fits into my diet these days, other than some fruit or carrot sticks (all the commercial beef jerky there had wheat and nitrates). So, I had some beef jerky when I got home.

Today was the first time I attended to Olympic Lifting session at CrossFit, and I'm so glad that I did. One of the events in the No Baby Leave The Stockings On! Throwdown is to establish my heaviest complex of 1 Clean + 2 Front squat + 1 Jerk. It just so happened that today, we worked on finding our 1 rep max for squat cleans, so I got to practice some cleans and front squats. I was able to get to 105# for the squat clean, but I haven't been able to do the 2 front squats at that weight. I can do the front squats and jerk at 85#, so I'm going to try a few more times at the Y tomorrow to see how much better I can do. So much of this is just getting the form right, which is still so new to me. I wanted to stay for the WOD afterward, since it was a partner WOD and I was going to have fun doing it with Brian. However, the kids would not cooperate and just sit and watch a movie as I'd hoped, so I had to take them home. So, around 6pm, I decided to go outside and practice doubleunders in the driveway (in the dark), and that worked up enough of a sweat that I took off my fleece and did them in shirt sleeves in 45 degree weather!

I started doing a little CrossFit shopping this week too. ;) Got my first pair of tall socks to wear to the Throwdown since it's a requirement to wear tall socks (however, I will not be pairing them with booty shorts!!!). Then one of the coaches mentioned he had some tall socks leftover from the last throwdown, and offered those for only $5, so had to get those too! And, on a whim, I got a pair of Reebok CrossFit Nano Speed sneakers since someone on my CrossFit group mentioned a 40% off sale - sweet deal. I've worn them twice now, and they're pretty comfy, and far fancier-looking than any sneaker I've owned in my entire life (I had been thinking about getting new sneakers since I hadn't replaced my in a year and a half - long overdue). Brian says I'd better be careful or I'm going to drown in the Kool-Aid. ;)

Second FitAthlon

Today, Team Human Cones tackled our second FitAthlon. This one was just over 2 months later than our previous first run at it (I did the first one about 2 weeks into my RepairVite program). We all agreed that today's version seemed a little tougher than our previous one - there seemed to be a lot more frequent and longer stretches of running, and a couple nasty new events: namely 3 hikes up & down an incredibly steep hillside carrying a weighted backpack, 2 sets of wind sprints, and monkey bars (which I could not muster up the courage to try). And some of the old nasty events resurfaced too, namely the long stretch of walking lunges. HATE THOSE. We did the "Beginner" level again, just as we did last time - not quite ready for the next level yet! See the list of obstacles at the end of this post.

Over all, I did feel a little better during today's event than last time (as I should after losing 10 pounds and CrossFitting for a month since the last one!). I was able to scale the 8 ft walls a lot better (it helped that it wasn't as wet and slippery), and the 5 ft walls seemed easier too. I finished in about 65 minutes (and burned just shy of 900 calories!). I'd like to think that if I wasn't hanging back a lot for my teammates and did more jogging than walking on the trails, that I could have done it in well under an hour. But, I have to admit that standing around (well, sometimes sitting) and waiting felt pretty good at the moment! My husband and our other guy friend took off and left us girls in the dust. Brian finished about 10 minutes ahead of us, and our other friend was about 10 minutes ahead of Brian. He really hustled. Maybe that will be us next year!

After the race, they threw an after party with a cookout. The initial registration listed it as a bbq with pulled pork and brisket, but, apparently, at some point, they changed their minds about the BBQ part. BOOOOO!!!! So, I had some salad, a burger and a hot dog (sans buns), and passed on the beer/wine and bags of potato chips. The hot dog was SO delicious! Not sure if it was the fact that I hadn't had a hot dog in over 3 months, but it was so good that I had a second one too (along with more salad to keep it healthy - ha!). On the way home, Brian and I stopped at our favorite Mexican place for celebratory margaritas and some chips, guac, and salsa. Then the bartender started talking about how good their ribs were, which just made me crave that missing bbq at lunch even more. So, we grabbed the kids from their grandparents' house, and went right back to the restaurant for ribs (ok, and another margarita). So tasty. I was going to indulge in some fries too, but they were battered. Just as well since I'd already had more than my share of tortilla chips. Need to get back on the lo carb bandwagon tomorrow (especially since my weight loss plateaued this week)... 

While at Brian's folks, my daughter started doing handstands and cartwheels in the yard, which is nothing out of the ordinary. What was extraordinary is that I decided to give them a whirl myself, and didn't die! Although I went a little too far on one handstand and ended up tipping over, ending up in quite the quad stretch on the ground. My knee was not pleased about that. But then I tried another handstand and kept my feet straight up in the air for at last a good 5 seconds - not bad! And after a few tries, my cartwheels were pretty decent too! So how about that?! Pretty sure my mom wasn't doing handstands and cartwheels with me at 38. Love that I'm becoming an active mom!

1. Calisthenics – Squats, push-ups and box jumps/(step ups)
a. Newbie – 20 of each 
b. Beginner – 30 of each
c. Challenger – 40 of each
d. Competitor - 50 of each

2. Run – Trail run – Short maybe ½ mile

3. 8’ Walls - Big walls. No worries you have a rope to help you. You’ve got three walls to climb.

4. Wheel Barrow Push - It sorta looks like a wheel barrel. It’s our version. Push it through grass UPHILL for the designated distance and turn around and come back.

5. Cargo Net - Balance, core and upper body strength will be on display in this obstacle. It’s a simple 8 foot climb across the net. Again and again.

6. Over and Under - Leaping and ducking. Over 2 foot hurdles, Under 3 foot hurdles.

7. Lunges – You’ll be lunging on the beach. The distance varies by level. Guaranteed to make your legs burn. Take a rest if needed but you can only lunge - no walking. Hands must be behind your head as you lunge.

8. Suicide Sprint – If your heart rate wasn’t high enough, this should do the trick. Maybe 100 yds in total.

9. Chain Pulls -30lbs, 100 yards. You must pull it while backpedaling. This will fire up hams and glutes.

10. Tunnels – 2 feet high- Time to hit the ground and get your crawl on.

11. Speed and Agility - Tires,tires, tires. Add some cones, hurdles, hay and ladders. Let’s see how mobile and agile you are.

12. Monkey Bars - 8 feet across. They bars are flexible so don’t panic. You have to grab every bar. Competitors if you fall you must go back to the beginning.

13. Tire Flips - 200lb+ tires. The tires are different sizes but pretty much weigh the same amount. You can do it solo or with help. It doesn’t matter unless you’re a competitor. Competitors must flip the tires solo.
Newbie – 4 flips
Beginner – 6 flips
Challenger – 8 flips
Competitor - 10 flips

14. Pass Through Walls – Not over, not under but you pass through the middle of the walls

15. Transverse Walls - We gotta see you move in different planes. Hope you’ve tried rock climbing. Climb to the end without touching the ground or the top of the wall. Competitors if you fall off you must go back to the beginning.

16. Balance Beams – Let’s see your balance. 4 inches wide and 8 feet long planks. Competitors if you fall off you must go back to the beginning.

17. 5’ Walls - Up and over and over and over and over. There will be help for everyone but the competitors. Watch the video on our Facebook page if you’re not sure how to climb them.

18. Ruck Sack Hills – Time to attack the hill. You’ll be carrying 25lbs on your back.
Newbie – 2 trips up the hill
Beginner – 3 trips up the hill
Challenger – 4 trips up the hill
Competitor - 5 trips up the hill

19. Over and Unders - Leaping and ducking. Over 2 foot hurdles, Under 3 foot hurdles.

20. Run – Beautiful trail run. Back to nature. It’s maybe 1 mile, maybe more.

21. Ropes - 40ft, 2inches. Slam it as hard and as fast as you can for the allotted time. 2 hand slams ALL OUT! 30 seconds! Competitor – 60 seconds.

22. Ladder Climb – 11 Ft. high. Up and over 2x and you’re done.

Second round of blood lab results: some progress...

I had an appt with my functional practitioner today. I had some blood tests done on Thursday, and was eager to hear the results today to see how much I've progressed since starting the RepairVite. 

Positive changes:

• signs of inflammation in my gut were less
• my body is making more T4
• Vitamin D just made it into the normal range (but should be higher)

Still needs improvement:

• Still have low T3 conversion
• Thyroid-Stimulating Hormone (TSH) was even lower
• Glucose is even lower (below normal)
• Cholesterol is even lower (below normal - somewhat shocking considering how much fat I've been eating!)
• Triglycerides are even lower (below normal)
• Magnesium was unchanged (below normal)
• Iron levels were up, but still not quite up to where they should be
• Still have signs of malabsorption due to low HCl acid in my stomach

So, I got some new supplements to help. My pill box runneth over! I had to do some serious Tetris-ing to get 2 weeks' worth of pills to fit! And that's not including the 2 supps I'm supposed to take with lunch (which I am terrible about remembering to do).

• New: 
• Lecithin (increase cholesterol): need to clarify dosage
• HemeVite (increase iron): only 1-2 pills/week 
• Thyro-CNV (increase T3 conversion): 2 pills 2/x day
• D3 (supports immune system & absorption): increase to 2 drops 2x/day
• MagneGel (magnesium): apply 1/4 tsp 1x/day to skin
• Continued:
• X-FLM (supports TH-2 immune response): 1 pill 2x/day
• Strengtia (probiotics): 1 pill 2x/day
• EPA-DHA (Omega 3 fish oil): 2 pills 2/x day
• B12 (improves energy & digestion): 10 drops (1mg)/day under tongue
• H-PLR (fights infection in gut) - 1 pill 3x/day (increasing to 2 pills/serving if I can tolerate it)
• HCL-ProZyme (supports production of hydrochloric acid) - 1 pill 3x/day with meals

We were also going to do a body mass reading, but, sadly, the machine wasn't working. I was really curious to see how much actual fat loss I'd had vs water, and if I've gained any muscle in my month of CrossFit. Have to wait until next time. He's having me take another smaller battery of blood tests before that appt to see how my T3 and iron are doing on the new supplements.

Great weekend: 5K and cake!

Well, it's been 3.5 weeks of not having to adhere to any crazy restrictions. Definitely enjoying the freedom, but struggling to eat enough veggies. I've gotten pretty tired of salads for lunch...need to punch up the veggie level at lunch. 

Brian and I did our first 5K in a while on Sunday. It was my first time running more than a mile since my 5K in Killington back in August, so I was just hoping all the cross training I'd been doing since then (and dropping over 20 pounds!) would carry me through! It was a "Spooktacular" at our YMCA, and dressing up was encouraged! There were also events for kids, so we all donned our pirate garb from my son's birthday party in September. Although I was happy that I never had to take any breaks to walk, I was a little disappointed in my time of 35:38. I really thought I'd be averaging closer to 6mph now, but that was much closer to 5mph. But I did overtake Wonder Woman in the final stretch after trailing behind her for 3 laps - that should count for something! Brian did great - he broke 30 minutes for the first time. Proud of him! The kids did great at their events too: my daughter did a 1K and really legged it out at the finish, and then they both did a cute little obstacle course. But if my coach really thinks I will be running 8 minute miles next year, I've got a lot of work to do... I think I need to work on lengthening my stride. I wish the dark, cold mornings of fall weren't here so I could still hit the high school track for some training.

On Sunday, Brian's cousin hosted a big family dinner that featured making your own pasta from scratch. Well, suffice to say, that didn't do much for me! The kids had fun making some though. Brian and I brought spaghetti squash and dug into some sausage and peppers while everyone enjoyed mounds of fresh fettuccine.

Mmmm...cake!!!

However, the dinner did give me the chance to make my first experimental baked good since I had the opportunity to bring a dessert: apple cake with coconut maple whiskey glaze. I have SO been craving some cake ever since my birthday since I never got around to having a delicious piece of frosting-laden cake that day, and have had to pass up cake at several birthday parties since! We used to make a dairy-free version of the apple cake from scratch, but since we haven't found a good nut-free wheat flour replacement, I used the Betty Crocker gluten-free dairy-free (and tapioca-free!) cake mix as directed on the box (it's at most grocery stores in the cake mix aisle). I was so excited to have a little lick of batter off the beaters...but that was disappointing - it was not creamy and fluffy like wheat flour-based batter. :( Then I peeled and sliced 6 Mac apples, and mixed them with a TB of cinnamon and 5 TBs of coconut sugar. Then I greased a bundt pan, and put in a layer of apples, then cake mix, then apples, then cake mix. For the icing, I used this recipe, but also added a TB of whiskey (although this made like twice the icing I needed, which actually worked out since I plan to make another cake for our work Halloween party this week). As soon as the cake came out of the oven, I could not wait to taste a little chunk! And oh, did it taste good!!! It kind of fell apart coming out of the bundt pan, so after piecing it together and drizzling the glaze, I also dusted it with confectioner's sugar to make it look prettier and taste a little sweeter. I did quite a bit of picking that night...and then had a good sized piece at the party. However, part way through, I could have tossed the other half. And I didn't have any urges to pick at the leftover piece we brought home. It was tasty, but I guess I got my fill of the forbidden sweet. 

The next day, I found that I felt really guilty about indulging in all the carbs from the cake and a couple glasses of hard apple cider. Not so sure I was able to stay under 100 grams of carbs that day! So, I decided to try IFing (intermittent fasting) until lunch. I really wasn't hungry when I woke up, and made it through my CrossFit WOD fine. Then I ran all over doing errands, which kept me too busy to think about eating! However, my breaking point was when my son begged to go to McDonald's for lunch after his gymnastics class - I broke my fast with a few of his french fries. For shame. Hopefully all the fat keeps the carbs from spiking my insulin too much! When I got home, I snacked on some of my home made beef jerky when I felt a little hungry. Then we had a tasty meal of crock pot pulled pork (with some bbq sauce WITHOUT tapioca!) and sweet potato fries. And, voila - when I stepped on the scale this morning, I was down another pound. So, that's 5.5 pounds in the last 3 weeks. Still a very respectable pace! 

Becoming a food label slacker...

Definitely getting lax, and need to stop it.

The other night, I wanted something sweet before bed, so I decided to make a shake. But instead of using my leftover ClearVite, on a whim, I decided to try Brian's new Primal Fuel Vanilla Coconut shake instead. When Brian saw me drinking it, he was like, "What are you doing?! That's whey-based!" Duh. Totally just didn't even think about it, even though I knew it had whey when he bought it. So I went to bed in fear of impending bloated pain or worse...but nothing happened. So, I looked on my array test again, and noticed that I was only "equivocal" on whey, meaning I was just barely inside the "normal" range. So, apparently, my body wasn't that unhappy about the whey, which is good...but what was I thinking?!

Yesterday, I bought some BBQ sauce to go with some leftover pork tenderloin for lunch. I thought I was being so good getting an organic one that didn't have high fructose corn syrup as its first ingredient. So, I enjoyed my bbq pork, and then, later, Bri asked if I ate any BBQ sauce, to which I replied, "Yeah, why?" Then he informed me that it contained tapioca (apparently I didn't read far enough down in the ingredients). COME ON!! Why the hell is there tapioca in the bbq sauce?!! I did have one strong twinge of abdominal distress later in the day - was it a reaction to the tapioca? Who knows.

I've also indulged in some corn, bananas, and other higher glycemic foods lately that I really shouldn't be if I want to be strict Paleo and really focus on keeping my carbs low (did I mention the gf df chocolate bar I found at Whole Foods?). And, I was VERY sad to hop on the scale and see it pop back out of ONEderland instead of it going the other way. So, I decided to buckle down and lay off those less desirable foods all day, and was doing well until dinner... I prepped some sweet potato fries, forgetting that Brian wanted to experiment with fried plantains. So, I ended up having a fairly high carb dinner between them both. Although I was still probably under 100 for the day. Ugh.

So, although I am definitely enjoying my freedom from the crazy RepairVite and ClearVite restrictions, I really do need to rein it in, and try to stick to the lower end of the carbs. Especially with the upcoming holiday indiscretions awaiting me!
This is dinner from last night. It was so tasty that I wanted to mention it. Roasted pork with apples (the apples were cooked along with the pork), sauteed carrots, and zucchini fritters. Yum!

Our first CrossFit Festivus Games!

Brian and I did our first CrossFit competition. And we are hooked. I'm almost tempted to do a scaled ladies-only "No Baby, Leave The Stockings On" event in December, but not sure I'd have as much fun without watching Brian compete too. And probably better to get a little more practice under my belt. And I'm a little scared of some of the events. ;)

We arrived about 30 minutes before the games began, and wandered around doing some warm-ups among all the other athletes. Because Festivus is geared toward novices and intermediate CrossFitters, there were competitors of all shapes and sizes, which made us feel a lot more comfortable! There was a group of big girls whom I initially thought must be newbies like us, but when the games started and the mc asked if anyone had done Festivus before, they all raised their hands, so I had no doubt they were all very strong since they'd already been at it at least 6 months. And they were! In fact, one of the bigger girls was the winner. So much for looking the part of a toned athlete to have the power and endurance to win these things!

Powering through the
first 35# thruster

The first event was the thruster ladder, where a 10 barbells were laid out in 8x8 boxes in order of ascending weight, and you have 1 minute to lift the weight before moving onto the next one. For me, they started with 35 pounds and increased by 10#s. For Brian, they started at 65#. They had the female novices go first, alphabetically, so I was 8th - so glad I could watch a few other girls go first! There was one tiny girl who topped out at 65#, so I hoped I could at least get that far! I hadn't done a max 1 rep test for thrusters yet, so I really had no idea how far I could go. Turned out I was able to get through 85# no problem. But when I got to 95#, I had trouble. I tried 3 times: the first 2 times, I just couldn't get enough power coming out of the squat to get the barbell up over my head. The third time, I did finally get the barbell up, but I forgot to squat. Oops. So, no rep; I was out. I really thought I could do it, otherwise, I would have given up and jumped rope to earn some extra partial points for the remaining minute. As a novice, I just had to do single unders, but it was amazing to watch the intermediate girls do double unders - each girl had their own crazy form, and although some seemed really inefficient (and aggressive!), they still got the job done! I can't wait to be able to do that - my record right now is 3 double unders in a row! Of the 29 novice women, only 13 got past 85#, so I was in good company (however, 11 of them jumped rope to get a slightly higher score than I did). Only 1 girl got to the end of the ladder, lifting 125# - strong girl. Next year, I want to be that girl! I really felt that I could have lifted more if I just had more experience. I'd only done the full squatting version of a thruster maybe a dozen times - not nearly enough. But, hey, not bad considering. Brian kicked butt on the men's novice ladder - he made it through to 135# beating 2 other guys (including some good jump roping after giving up on the 145# thruster).

Brian enjoying his 
burpee box steps

A couple hours later, it was time for the second event, which was the one I really feared I wouldn't be able to finish in time: 21 calorie row, then 15 burpees with step-ups onto a 20" box after each burpee, then 9 cleans with a 65# barbell , then 15 more burpee step-ups, then another 21 calorie row - all within 7 minutes. And I did it in 6:57!!! Holy crap!!! By the last stretch of rowing, I just had to close my eyes and dig in hard, tuning out all the people who were cheering me on (which was really nice of perfect strangers to do!). And when I was done, my chest was on fire, and my arms were DEAD. And my chest stayed on fire for a good 10 minutes - haven't felt that way since the Jillian workout where I had to sprint up a 15 incline. Apparently the limit of 7 minutes didn't seem to actually matter, but I gave it everything I could to make it in under 7 mins since I didn't know that! I actually had a better time than 12 other girls - if the 7 minute limit was actually enforced, it would have increased my ranking quite a bit since there were 9 people ahead of me in the final rankings with times over 7 minutes. Oh well. I was just very proud that I was able to blast through all the burpees without having to rest in between - that is a huge improvement from when I did the FitAthlon in June! I guess watching some burpee efficiency videos on YouTube did help, even though I kept meaning to practice more! Brian had to step up onto a 24" box and lift 95#, but he still finished in 6:42 beating one other guy. Sucks to be a guy! ;)

Finishing up my deadlifts

I felt confident that I could finish the third (and final) event since I'd already done a successful run-though at the Y in under 9 minutes: 15 deadlifts at 95#, run 800 meters, then another 15 deadlifts - all with a 10 minute limit. I got a little slower start on the deadlifts than the other girls in my heat (it wasn't that it was too heavy, I just should have gone faster!), so I was the last to start the 800m run. And, I was the last to finish, by far. I felt a little dumb when everyone was cheering for me to keep at it while on the final stretch. And when I did my last 15 deadlifts, I was the only one still lifting, so the entire crowd counted out my reps for me. Again, felt kind of silly, but that was a lot of positive encouragement coming my way! I banged through them and finished in 6:11, WAY faster than my trial run at the Y. So, despite being the slowest runner, I was still going a lot faster than the 5.5-6mph pace I usually keep while jogging. When I finished, the MC, who happened to be one of the trainers at my CrossFit, gave me a fist pump and announced to everyone "And how long have you been doing CrossFit?" To which I replied "Almost 4 weeks!" and I got a huge round of applause for being such a newbie and still doing pretty well, which was cool - I felt a little better finishing last after he explained why to everyone! ;) However, had I been in the one of the next heats, I would have felt even better - my time was better than 4 other girls (one by more than 2 minutes) so I wouldn't have finished last. Oh well. Brian had to lift 135# which got pretty heavy toward the end, especially after he ran pretty quickly - he finished in 5:19, beating one other guy.

Prik King beef stir fry

Magenta!

Once we finished our final event, we treated ourselves to some of the on-site vendor's BBQ brisket, pulled pork, and sweet potatoes while we watched the other competitors finish up. Bri also indulged in some bacon-wrapped meatballs that I skipped since they contained breadcrumbs (boo). Then, poor planning on my part - I bought tix to go to a Rocky Horror Picture Show play that night, so once we got home, we ordered some quick Thai take-out (tasty Prik King beef stir fried with red curry paste, string beans, bell peppers, kaffir leaves - never had it before...even treated myself to a little white rice), got dressed in my best Magenta costume complete with big hair & make-up, and went off to the show. I had a couple well earned drinks there, splurging on tonic with my gin - yum! I finally got to bed around 1am and slept 6 hours or so (and subsequently took a nap with my son later that afternoon). In the morning, my shoulders were pretty stiff, but that was it, really. Although I did develop a bruise on my collarbone from all the barbells I hefted into rack position there so many times. Nothing compared to the bruises that Brian had on his collarbones though! He was a mess! And he was a bit sore in the lower back too from lifting such heavier weights.

So, in the end, I finished 26th of the 29 novice girls, and Brian finished 7th out of the 8 novice guys (see the scores). We really didn't go into it with any expectations, other than the hope to just be able to finish each event. We not only finished each event, but we didn't get injured, and we didn't come in last - that's really all we could ask for! We are really looking forward to the next Festivus 6 months from now, and are hoping to kill the novice division after CrossFitting that long and gaining tons of strength and endurance!