Making It Happen | TooTallFritz

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.

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?

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!!

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

Some people call me motivated, others call me crazy. It really doesn’t matter as long as I am focused and moving toward my goals. I’d like to think that I am Making It Happen for me, not just out there day in and day out being “crazy”. In my quest to Make It Happen, I recently just got back to swimming HERE and onto the bike HERE in prep for my 2012 TRI season. One thing that I have realized over the last month, jumping back into TRI mode, is that I didn’t have all this ~~damn~~ hair the last time I had a SERIOUS TRI season. When I’m in transition, I don’t have an infinite amount of time to try to jam this mop under a bike helmet. Ponytails & bike helmets don’t mesh well. And I’ll just skip the details on trying to get a bunch of hair under a swim cap. OUCH!

So I pulled a pic of me in TRI season…..

Yep, it’s a ~~slightly~~ younger version of me and my baby girl, Aby (now 10) but obviously there wasn’t any trouble shoving that hair under a bike helmet. So the plan was to chop off my hair as soon as I could manage getting into a stylist amongst the family, training & Aby’s track schedule. I understand that I look more attractive with long hair that I can actually style but let’s be realistic, I have a two-year old and it’s been ~~since Christmas~~ a while since I styled my hair. Yes, it has actually occurred to me that you “might” be ~~crazy~~ serious about your TRI training IF you chop off all your hair to be faster in transition. Then vs Now:

Thank goodness I have lots of PunkeeLove Headbands now to use in my hair for fun & “styling”! If you need a few stylish, kick ass headbands, don’t forget to use the one time per customer code: tootall20 for an extra 20% off!

So now that I cut my hair, I thought it would be fun to do a You Might Be Serious About Your Training IF segment. I’ll start and then I’d love for you to add to this in the comments below!

You Might Be Serious About Your Training IF

You cut your hair to better fit under your bike helmet & swim cap.
You own a bike that cost more than some people’s car.
You carry your workout clothes in your car “just in case”.
You know exactly how many miles you have run this year and how that works into your 2012 goal.
You plan “A” races and “B” races (AKA – Practice Races).
You spend more $$ on training/workout clothes than you do on your work wardrobe.
You don’t mind having black toenails, you can cover them with dark polish, right?
You schedule your life around training runs, bike rides and swim workouts.
You get up before ~~your children~~ the sun on the weekends to get in some training before “life” gets in the way.
You gave up high heels in favor of running shoes to tame the plantar fasciitis.
You have dropped ~~all~~ most friends who don’t workout or run.
Your social life revolves around your running/TRI friends….. if you have enough energy for a social life.
You ~~make~~ beg your mother go on running vacations since your hubby refuses.
You adopt/buy a dog based upon whether they will be a good running partner.
You consider your GPS watch one of your most “precious” possessions.
You start a blog to talk to strangers about running to keep your hubby from being bored from all the “gory” details that you just need to share with “someone”.