Getting Back to CrossFit and Making It Happen for 2015

I took about 9 months off strength and CrossFit workouts.  Some women could have had a baby in that time, me, I just couldn’t manage to fit it into my schedule.  Initially when hubby moved to Indiana ahead of the family, I tried to do CrossFit at home.  I called them my “home grown” CrossFit workouts.  I had a 36# Kettle Bell and a few other pieces of strength equipment. I tried to make it work.  But let me say, with kids and dogs to trip over, moving thru one of these home grown workouts was difficult at best.  Plus I was either making the workouts too easy or too hard.  It was a giant flop.  Fast Forward 9 months and I’m trying to get myself back together.  I’m focusing on strength once again.  I’m knocking off the weight I gained last year due to stress and the move.  I’m eating right.  I’m drinking water.  I’m trying to avoiding alcohol.  As they say, muscles are made in the kitchen, not the gym.  But we all know they go hand in hand.

abs-are-made-in-the-kitchen

So muscles are made in the kitchen, not the gym.  And we can’t “outrun” a bad diet, right?  Right! But for those of us who have been “on the run” for a long time, running just isn’t enough.  The body settles into a holding pattern and running becomes normal.  What to do?  Something different!  Use different muscle groups, add in speed workouts to your routine, spin, swim, CrossFit or circuit train.  We can’t do the same thing we’ve always done and expect different results than what we’ve previously recorded.  You want to change something?  You want to run faster?  You want your pants to fit better?  What are you going to change to make it happen?

Make it happen_dale adams

So basically 2014 was a year that I just “let things happen”.  And I didn’t like the results.  Yes, I had a stellar year and ran a lot of races but I gained 23 lbs, if I’m being totally honest, and well, what the hell is left now but honesty?  So in 2015 I’m going to make things happen, not LET them happen.  I encourage you to join me in this journey.  Know that things don’t happen immediately but start thinking about what you want, no what you NEED to change.  Now make an action plan and follow thru with it.  Make it happen. 

For me, I have to get my foot and body in a healthy spot.  I’m working on that and have a plan of action and for the first time in a very long time, I actually confident that I’m going to be healthy sooner rather than later.  Secondly, I’m going all Food Nazi, and yes, I can say Nazi cuz I’m like 100% German.  I’m currently doing the  AdvoCare 24 Day Challenge and I’m KILLING IT.  Third, I’m moving back to high intensity workouts like CrossFit.  However, this time, I don’t have a “box” and a CrossFit coach (miss you Jared!) but a normal gym where I’m making it happen each and every day. 

My high intensity CrossFit workouts for the week occurred at the YMCA of DeKalb.  Normal gym, right?  Let’s look at what I did.  

1)  5 Rounds: 15 – Knees to Chest (or abs if you are me!); 15 – Squats w/ weight bar only (33#s); 30 – Double Arm Battalion Rope Waves; 15 – KB Swings (20#s); 15 – Bicep Pulls (each arm – 17.5 #s).  Time – 25 minutes

2)  5 rounds: 15 Knees to Chest; 8 thrusters – 33# bar only; 20 – side to sides w/ 12# ball; 15 – 20# KB Swings; 30 Double Arm Battalion Ropes Waves.  Time:  24:44

3)  5 Rounds: 20 – Medicine Ball (12#s) Bounces off angled trampoline; 20 – Ab Baskets (12# ball); 20 – Side to Sides (12# ball); 10 – Hand Release Push-Ups; 15 – Squats w/ 25# Kettle Bell; 30 – Double Arm Battalion Rope Waves.  Time:  24:55

I will say that the Y purchased a Synrgy 360 and this piece of equipment has been integral in my workouts.  If you have one at your gym, don’t be scared, try it out.  It’s fun and very useful!!

Synergy 360_3

Synergy 360_1  Synergy 360_2 

Get after it and try something new.  Get that metabolism blazing and confuse those muscles.  Move it and Make It Happen!

** Make It Happen ** Amanda – TooTallFritz

The Journey of One….

As a follow-up to yesterday’s Don’t Count Yourself Out post, I asked my friend Angela to write up a little something about her journey.  Angela is a good friend of mine who I have known for years.  When we first met, I believe it is safe to say that she was NOT a runner.  But alas, she finished the 13.1 Miami Beach race on Sunday right there along side 3200 other RUNNERS!

Angela’s Journey (unedited)

Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending. – Author Unknown

Until 3.5 years ago, I had no idea how to re-write my ending.  I was constantly unhappy with the face and body that looked at me from the mirror.  I was in a constant state of wanting to change, but lacking the power, dedication and knowledge to do so.  But when my daughter was born, a switch in me flipped.  It occurred to me that if I didn’t want her to grow up with the same body image issues I have had for my entire life, I had to make a conscious effort to change the path of my life.  Otherwise, she would most likely end up as I did—a teenager ashamed of her morbidly obese mom and incredibly lacking self-confidence.  

So a few weeks after Summer’s birth in September 2008, I began the new chapter of my life.  I was 220 lbs.  I enrolled in a boot camp at our local YMCA.  By showing up and giving my all, I was able to win a six month membership that helped keep me on the right track.  

My neighbor was a runner. My husband was  a runner.  For so long I had sat around and said “I could NEVER do that.  I’m not built for it.”  But I finally made the decision to give it a shot. I was tired of staying behind and of saying I couldn’t.    So one day I started running.  I made it less than half a mile and thought I was going to die. But I didn’t.  Every day I went a little farther.  And farther.  Until one day I made it all the way around the 3 mile loop in our neighborhood.

In February 2009, I ran my first ever race, a local 5K.  It was so great to have something active to do with hubby. 

But I still had a very love/hate relationship with running.  I hated it while I was doing it, and I hated the thought of doing it, but I was always proud of myself afterward.  It wasn’t until Christmas 2009, when we took a trip to Missouri and got basically snowed in, that my attitude shifted.  As I ran on a treadmill at the Y there, after being holed up with my two crazy kids for several days, I realized I would never again look at running the same way again.  When we got back home to South Florida, it was no longer something I just did. It became something that defined me. 

Lucky for me TooTallFritz and I had become friends in my former life.  I picked her brain a lot. She wrote in her last post that sometimes you are lucky enough to have a friend who will support you and give you motivation, and she was that friend for me.   I always knew if I was hung up or stuck, I could drop her a line.

I don’t race much.  My race history can be summed up as a couple of 5Ks and a sprint distance triathlon.  I don’t run to train for things.  I run to stay sane, to be strong, and to set a good example for my kids.  I would race more if we were not on such a tight budget.  Every single year, I plan to do a few races, but I usually end up doing only one.  I’d been thinking about doing a half marathon for a while, but was having a hard time justifying the expense.  I finally took the leap last year and signed up for the Miami Beach 13.1 in March 2012.   You have to understand.  Up to 3.5 years ago, this fell under the category of IMPOSSIBLE.  UNIMAGINABLE.  UNATTAINABLE.

Now, nothing is impossible.   The whole thing was made absolutely perfect by the fact that Amanda decided to make a destination race of it and came to see me for this thing.   I always tell people that if I can run, they can run. Nothing is impossible.  The only limits that apply are the limits that you impose on yourself.  Sometimes I have a hard time coming to terms that I will never be the fastest—in fact, everyone I know is significantly faster than me.  But no one has my story, and I have to remind myself of that often.  I finished my first half in 2:49:52.  It was made extra awesome by all of the friends waiting for me at the finish.  By Amanda coming back to run those last few miles with me.  

Nothing is impossible.  Dream big and go for it. 

Angela – March 9, 2012

I think we can all agree that this is an amazing journey. It’s amazing because she wanted to make the change and she did it.  Nowhere will you see her say that it was easy.  We all know it w

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