Totally worth it

Okay, so Amy is dying to learn about this experience I had today, but if you aren't into reading about body hair removal, kindly skip ahead to the WOD. :)

Getting my first Brazilian wax (as a welcome home, as well as other reasons!) was seriously not bad at all! First off, it probably helped a ton to take a Motrin IB an hour before the procedure, and second, my technician was Laura the Brow Queen (http://www.laurathebrowqueen.com/Laura_the_brow_queen.html). She began by asking me what I wanted, a full Brazilian or a half, and had me take off my shorts, leaving my underwear on. That in itself was surprisingly calming! You never are completely showing any of yourself down there because you use your panties to serve as the boundary, if that makes sense. It's an interesting strategy, and it works! Nice and even and straight. She explained to me that I would be doing "Ready Freddy" for the waxing. If you're curious, let me just say, it helps to know when your hair's about to be ripped out. I was expecting pain and a lot of discomfort. I was completely wrong! I felt a few of the pulls but only for a split second, a little sting really, and that was it. Laura was quick, efficient, and very friendly. She knows what she's doing! She powders you before she starts and before a big pull so your skin is nice and dry for the wax. The hot wax was probably the worst part (no joke!) of the whole thing, especially in the more sensitive areas. But pain? None whatsoever. It was so amazing!! I fully endorse this procedure AND Laura the Brow Queen (she's located in the Eliza Salon Spa off Central Expy and Walnut Hill in a shopping center). Do it! You will not regret it. Oh, and she did my upper lip even though I didn't schedule it. I asked her if she had time to do it for me, and she said it was not a problem. That didn't hurt at all either, and the last time I had it done somewhere else, it didn't feel too great! This lady is absolutely wonderful!!!! I was smiling and hugging her afterward. She said most people leave laughing. I was definitely feeling relieved, though, for getting it over with since I wasn't entirely sure how painful it would be. I'm even working out two hours afterward! :D


WOD:

Every minute on the minute for 20 minutes:

3 Hang power cleans

3 Front squats

3 Push-press

This one looks fun, plus I need to work on my hang power cleans since I always psych myself out when the load gets to a certain weight.

Ugh. That one hurts already!!!! I used 53#, which felt like a ton by the 13th round. The push presses were the most mentally challenging for me. I wanted to rest so many times, but I kept telling myself, just keep going. It helped to hear Erica yelling at me a few times, too. :) This was a great workout! It was funny to see all the people at the 5:00 drenched in sweat and then be one of them after I did this WOD. What a boiler the box was today!!! I'll take dry heat anyday. CD was 20 GHD situps--should have done some handstands and planks, but I had to hurry to meet Erica's friend at Kozy. Yummy meal as always. That's twice this week already! I feel spoiled. :) I was a bit worried my wax job would bother me during the workout, but I was fine! Love it!!! Going to get to bed at a decent hour tonight so I can hit the 6 a.m. tomorrow. Then spend all day cleaning, organizing, and packing. Woohoo! It feels like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders now that I've finished all my projects. All I need now is to respond to two Power Point presentations my colleagues posted, but so far, it's just me and this other lady. LOL We're such over-achievers. :) Assignment is due on Thursday.

Crunch Time

Well, it is almost time to go to SC to see Kason graduate from ABT!!!!!!! It's hard to believe the end of July is almost here already, but looking back, there were times when I couldn't believe how slowly time seemed to creep by. And he called me twice today (I was CF'ing :( ) and told me he gets to come home a day early! Woohoo!!! Got my 50-page case study done this morning and have been trying to submit it, but it seems it's too big of a file. I e-mailed my professor to see how I should go about it.

Today's WOD was fun and challenging! Kat kept time for me, and I averaged 1:20-something. The damn straps on clapping push-ups and C2B pullups slowed me down. -_-

Pro Shuttle Interval

5 rounds, each for time:

30m pro shuttle

3 single-arm snatch (each arm), 45 pound dumbbell

5 clapping push-ups

5 chest-to-bar pull-ups

5 box jumps, 30 inch box



I used a 20# dumbell for the snatches, blue straps for the push-ups, and a red strap for the C2B pullups. I should have used the medium box for box jumps, but I allowed myself to wuss out and use the baby box, plus Kat was too nervous about using the medium box. It was fun working out with her since I haven't seen her in so long. Was a good workout.

Well, time for my final project, then serious cleaning time!

New PR?

I am excited to do back squats today and hope I can beat my old PR of 150#. I'm quite relieved that we are doing max lifting today, too, because I don't know if I'd be very effective if it were a met-con like the past three days. I am a bit concerned about the rather numerous numbers of attempts we have, though. I'm going to follow Corey's advice on the blog and try to get my max on the fifth attempt; otherwise I will be too tired, probably. Plus my legs are still really feeling the Tabata Mashup from Wednesday! I love the pain!! :)

WOD:

Back Squat

1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1

Woohoo that was fun! Started out with 80% of my PR weight: 120# and worked up from there. 120 - 125 - 130 - 140 - 150 - 155 - 160 - 165 - 170 - 175 (25# PR)

I got to work at my own rack because there are now six, and the other two girls didn't know what their max back squat was. The nooner wasn't as big as it has been in the past, so it was a nice, laid-back group dynamic. Then I was getting ready to do situps with Jared, but Wayne was putting on a weighted vest and I asked him what he was going to do. He said go run so that a normal 800m run would feel really easy, so I figured, why not? It might help me get a faster time on the sprints when I do that one again. So I put on the lightest vest (the wonky gray one that's way too long for my short torso), and I ran it with him. It was challenging! I would like to do it as a CD regularly, time-permitting, though. Spencer is building a new platform for rolling out/stretching, so I had plenty of time today. Then I did 50 GHD situps and did a minute plank hold with Wayne. He's a cool guy. I'm going to enjoy my rest day tomorrow! Looking forward to some skill work and maybe sprints on Sunday with Amy and Sandy if they're both there. Gotta get cranking on this case study and PP presentation for class.

Argh, more push-ups!

Well, I am going to do more of what I hate: push-ups. Today's WOD requires me to do 105 of the suckers.

7 rounds for time:
10 KB swings
15 push-ups

Bleh! Just got back and I HATED THOSE PUSH-UPS even though I did knee ones. -_-

8:20
26# KB
knee push-ups

Amanda was an awesome partner--she really encouraged me and made me keep moving on those awful push-ups. She did her first three sets of push-ups unbroken!!!! Inspiring as hell! I'm looking forward to getting to know her better and working out with her more often. She plays on a national level ultimate frisbee team! Anyway, I'm happy that today's WOD is over with and am treating myself to some pool time with Erin and then ginormous Jenga at Barcadia tonight. Sweet! Oh yeah, for CD she and I did 50 GHD situps. For some reason, I can't really get past 50. :/ Last time I did 100 was with SamZ three weeks ago. I'm slacking!!

Aww, pool time got cancelled--it started raining. But that's a good thing, too, because I need to get two more assignments done today since I'm going to Barcadia tonight.

Sandy, it was so nice to see you! I hope you had a good workout and wish I could have counted and cheered for you like old times. Hope you made it back in time for your conference call! Are you free this weekend for some Kozy with Amy and me?

Tabata goodness

Today's WOD was nice and different--Tabata mashup. Almost every muscle in my body feels yesterday's workout, oh how delightful! It sure is a wonderful feeling being painfully reminded of the different muscles in my back, my shoulders, my quads, hamstrings, calves, and ribs (all around)!!

Alternating Triple Tabata Mash Up

8 rounds, 20 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest, alternating between the following:

Wall-ball shots, 20 pound ball

Knees-to-elbows

Medicine ball clean, 20 pound ball

Partnered with Amanda and I'm so glad we had a partner to count for us and keep us moving! Got 12 wall-ball shots the first round, then 11, and then I leveled out at 10. KTE is something I could stand to work on, although I stayed pretty consistent--7 and 8 until I dropped to 6 near the end of the whole thing. Med ball cleans were pretty consistent, too--7 and 8 throughout. I could have and should have done more, though. Always room for improvement! That was a great met-con, and I love the variety. I felt that we did a lot of lifting the week before I had surgery, but this week has been nice and varied. I really wish I could have done the sprints on Monday, though. :( I will probably make those up on Sunday if anyone is interested in doing them with me. :) I also plan to do skill work that day beforehand. Did 50 GHD situps for CD and missed my situp buddies.

Time for a shower and nerding it up.

Great to be back!

First day back to CFDC and I'm feeling great!!! Although, during the WOD I wasn't feeling too hot...but I MISSED that feeling! I missed pushing myself to that brink of am I going to get sick? Am I going to be able to keep going? I really hated the push presses, although I should have not been such a wuss and tried doing at least one set of the handstand pushups as prescribed.

WOD:

15-12-9-6-3 reps for total time of:

185 pound Deadlift

Handstand push-ups

Vertical leap, 1 foot above reach

5:48
95# Deadlifts
20# push press
Female wall ball target for VL

20 burpees for dessert

I know I could have used more weight on the deadlifts, but I didn't want to push it too much since I've had a week off. That sounds wussy, but I definitely hated taking seven days off and didn't want to have to take even more time off due to a silly injury that was preventable. I was really amazed watching Linda do her handstand pushups like it was nothing. Erica really kicked ass on them, as well. She would not give up, and I truly admire that about her.

It was painfully satisfying to wash my hands with hot water and feel it burning my reopened blisters! Haha! I also noticed a few burns on my arms from doing negative ring dips, and of course since we did burpees, I got a bruise on each knee. It was cool: after our WOD, Sam gave us a mini-lecture about the 10 metabolic pathways and how he and the coaches measure our fitness level. It really opened my eyes to the fact that I seriously need to swallow my pride and work my ass on improving the moves I suck at: handstand pushups, overhead squats, ring dips, muscleups (looooooong way off for those but still need to work on it), running more efficiently, and doing more kipping pullups unbroken. We did two rounds of 20-second L-sits, 10 pullups, 10 broad jumps, 10 ring dips, 10 GHD situps, and 10 GHD back extensions. I could do three pullups unbroken but just couldn't get my chin up after that, on both rounds. So I had to use the red band for the remaining pullups, grrrr. I did negative ring dips, but it did feel less difficult this time compared to the last skill practice we did. The other stuff was easy but really got my blood moving and my heart rate up. Loved it!

As tempted as I am to do 5 on 2 off this week, I talked to Sam, and he told me that doing 3 on 1 off is the best way to go and to do bodyweight moves and sprints while I'm traveling. I can easily do invisible Fran in my hotel room while I'm in SC! No excuses!! I was also considering going to my friend's bootcamp this Saturday to see how I do, but I can't--got a hair and nails appointment. I love being girly sometimes, and I want to be all prettified for when I see Kason at his graduation. I can't believe how quickly the months passed! CrossFit and the awesome girls I have met at CFDC, plus grad school, have made the time fly by. I am so happy that I met y'all and have gotten to know you--you are all beautiful, inside and out, and I am so grateful for our friendships!

Okay, time to get back to the books! Do any of you find it difficult to make yourself eat after a WOD? I seriously have to make myself eat; otherwise, I can go for two or three hours afterward without eating, which I know is not good, right? Ugh!

Update: Just had a freaking BEST Japanese cuisine in my entire life!!!! Went to Sushi Sake in Richardson with my friend, and OMG what an experience. We ate at the sushi bar, and the subtle details of everything, from the little porcelain chopstick rest bar to the warm, damp towel (oshibori) to wash off our hands, made the two hours we spent there amazing and just so special! Our sushi chef was both attentive and friendly, explaining unfamiliar ingredients and names to us so cheerfully. Next time we go, we're going to let the sushi chef make all of our choices (I can't think of the term right now). I'd like to go there once a month, but we'll see how my budget looks. So incredibly fantastic! Oh, we started out with the aji sashimi, which was exquisite--it melted in your mouth and definitely did not taste how you would think raw fish would taste. The gingery sauce that accompanied it was wonderful, too. Then the waitress took the rest of the mackerel and had it fried for us. That was amazing! It was light, crispy, and slightly sweet. I ate a bit of the fish head (I was feeling brave LOL), and it was quite yummy. After the aji, we had a beef and asparagus roll, which was exactly what it says: asparagus spears wrapped in beef cut into bite-size pieces. Then we had steamed clams in sake and shumai (with shrimp). Wow, every dish was more delicious than the previous one! One of my favorites was the Louisiana roll, which was fried crawfish wrapped in sushi rice and nori. What a treat! Finally, we had a beef and tofu soup (niku tofu), which was probably my favorite out of all we ate. We shared these dishes, by the way, so while it seems like a ton of food, it was just right for the both of us. For dessert (couldn't leave without seeing what they offered!), I had the red bean ice cream, and my friend had mochi ice cream with mango. I am hooked!! Oh yeah, and I had a boxful of their featured sake--that's right, a boxful. They served it in an interesting wooden box cup, called a masu; it's the traditional way to serve sake and a symbol of prosperity. :)

Withdrawal

It has been a tough seven days of not being able to go to the gym!! I know it is all in my head, but I feel like I have lost my tone, especially around the middle, which I've spent these past three months working so hard for! :( I also don't feel as healthy as I do after a great, ass-kicking WOD. I haven't slept as well, either. Last night, for example, I kept waking up every thirty minutes. Well, my A/C has been thawing (weird, I know), so it's been making strange clicking and scraping noises. I called maintenance about it earlier today, but I guess since it's still working, my case isn't a priority (that's fine). I just wanted to be sure it wasn't an electrical issue causing those sounds, but then I saw the bathroom ceiling--where the unit is installed--was leaking and knew that it was thawing. It is so weird how it does that, but it's not uncommon. I can count at least four or five times since I've lived here. August 15th will be our second year living in this apartment. It is nice to be able to say that! I'm so sick of moving. Anyway, I can tell a big difference in my mood, eating habits (in terms of being motivated to stay strict, not that I have totally indulged in tons of cheats this week, although I did get a double dip of Blue Bell cookies n' cream at the movie!!), and overall mental health. School work has been wearing me down, and I really miss having the mental and physical break that CF provides. I can't wait to get back into the gym tomorrow!!!! I considered going to the rooster, but I need to catch up on my sleep, although I have been waking up at 7 a.m. on my own lately...it's not going to be too hot (it's amazing how cool 90 feels after 100+ degree days!), so I'm going to wait until the 5 and give Dee the books and movie for her daughter. I really lucked out on that situation, and I am so grateful that Dee allowed me to work with her daughter for my class. I have to write up the case study later this week, and I think it will be interesting to see the finished product, as well as share it with Dee and her husband.

Well, enough rambling...I'm looking forward to a week of sore muscles and achy body parts!!!! :D I'll probably do 5 on and 2 off since next week I'll be gone for three days. Woohoo!