football/futbol sunday

today, donny and i played in our very first co-ed soccer game. neither one of us is really in "soccer" cardio shape, i am mid-sinus infection, and it was quite warm. needless to say, we are utterly exhausted. but, we did survive, although our team got beat pretty badly. i think, aside from the physical discomfort, it was pretty fun. and as they say, the couple that plays together stays together... i assume that includes recreational adult sports?

my amazing friend april came in town friday night to host a little jewelry soiree, which was a blast thanks mostly to my awesome coworkers and my family and, of course, april. erin and my niece, kate, stayed the night as well and erin, april, and i had a really nice "slumber party", with lots of girl talk and a little late-night grey's anatomy. the next morning erin, kate, and i headed to houston, where donny met up with us after his "amazing" creed concert. yes, you read correctly, creed! donny tends to appreciate really terrible bands from the nineties, and i love him in spite of this. saturday night donny accompanied my brother-in-law, zac, to a 'stros game, where he dropped a foul ball that came right to him- i love him in spite of this, too (and hey, he made it on tv!) erin, kate, and i went shopping and got some frozen yogurt at swirll (which just happens to be my favorite thing in the entire world to eat), and i bought a dress for one of my showers. successful weekend, all in all.

tonight donny and i are working hard, assembly line style, to finally get our invitations completed and mailed... look for yours in a mailbox near you SOON :)

i do have one confession... as you may have guessed already from my lack of a blog entry, i did not make it to my 4th day of CF last week. this was not for lack of motivation or desire, though. my body has really been taking a beating from some of these workouts, and on thursday-saturday i was suffering in some freakish ways. i had migrating pockets of fluid built up in my muscles, that actually kind of resembled tumors. first i had one in my right tricep, then my left a little bit, and then it moved up to the front of my right shoulder and finally finished at the back of my right shoulder. i know my description will not do these things justice, but they were freakish. friday night i looked a bit like quasimodo. but i'm finally back to normalish, not including the sinus infection, so i will be back at CF attempting a 4 or 5 day week again. wish me luck, i'll need it...

pukees

+ still cool outside! i got to wear a real jacket (albeit a light one) for the first time this school year. also i wore my toms to work, which makes my days so much more bearable. i try to work them into my "professional" outfits as often as i possibly can, which isn't always easy, but gives me a special sense of accomplishment and fulfillment each time it happens. (btw, should my career as a speech pathologist ever come to an end, i could most likely find a job with toms shoes-every time i talk to anyone about them i sound like i am trying to make a sale. in all honesty, they are just THAT awesome)

other than that, today was alright. woke up late and didn't have time to fix my usual egg and meatless sausage scramble for breakfast. i also kept thinking it was thursday today and was then slightly devastated each time i remembered it was only wednesday. but my kiddos are pretty awesome (for the most part) and make most days worthwhile.

i also made it to CF today, my first time to go 3 consecutive days. i was a little worried because i woke up this morning unable to fully contract my right arm due to an incredibly, atypically sore tricep, and it only worsened throughout the day. luckily today's workout didn't require fully bending my right arm, so i was ok. but first, here's yesterday's time:

30-25-20-15-10 thrusters

1:33-1:12-:59-:35-:26

some rounds were better than others, but overall it felt good

CrossFit 9.23.09

warm-up

250m row

burgener warm-up

strength

3-3-3-3-3 snatch pulls, 52lbs

my form was actually pretty good on this (for once- usually i struggle with form), so i was pleased

WOD

ten rounds, kettle bells/burpees (first 3 rounds with 25lb bell, rest with 20lb):

10/1 - 9/2 - 8/3 - 7/4 - 6/5 - 5/6 - 4/7 - 3/8 - 2/9 - 1/10

time= 7:36

if you haven't guessed yet where the title of today's post comes from... i loathe burpees. they are officially my least favorite, up to this point, move we do in CF. and, in addition to making everything sore and bruising my knees, they make me incredibly nauseous. hence, i refer to them by the more accurate name of "pukees". burpees seemed to me a misnomer anyway- they definitely don't induce burping. all in all though, although my time was the slowest of the group by about 15 seconds, it wasn't a bad showing. 

i also added a new CF goal to my list:

to do push ups from my toes in workouts (still doing them from my knees now)

will probably also add using 35 lb kettle bell to the list

honeymoon

ok, so this isn't about our actual honeymoon... i am currently consuming a honeymoon, blue moon's seasonal summer beer (which i LOVE). and, i am going to add a + because treating myself to a beer is definitely a good thing today.

bonus + i found out a coworker friend of mine is expecting! i'm super excited for her. babies are the best. she is going to be an adorable little pregnant woman who only shows in her stomach and looks completely normal from the back. and, she's going to be an awesome mom to boot :) congrats, april p!

today was rain-filled, which was fine with me primarily because it was also cool. i love cool weather, and we don't get much of it here due to our lack of autumn, so today was sort of awesome. our ac at home didn't even kick on all day! i did get rained on more times than i can count because i was traveling between schools today, but it was totally worth it.

for once, i wasn't sore when i woke up today- a first since i started CrossFitting. CF was pretty good today. i don't have my time to report(there were 5 times to remember, way too much for my little overworked brain to retain), but i'm going to write it down tomorrow. here was today's workout:

CrossFit 9.22.09

warm-up

250m row

3x 6 reps on GHD

WOD

30-25-20-15-10 thrusters (start from squat with bar in front, under chin, then stand and lift bar over head, fully extended)

this one was much tougher than it seemed at first. my time was decent, but in my effort to have a solid time i think my squat form suffered. i am going to be hurting tomorrow, though.

also in CF today we set personal goals. my goals are for the next 6ish months (although hopefully less) are:

150lb dead lift (currently 118lb- but i think i can do more than 150 by then)

use 10 lb medicine ball for wall balls (currently using 4lb)

solo ring dips (without resistance band)

football, food, fantastic kate, and flu shots

+got my first flu shot (maybe ever?) today, and although i was more scared than the children in line behind me, it hardly hurt at all, just a slight sting. no tears or subsequent humiliation. i'm a big girl now, at long last :)

the weekend was a success, mostly because of kate. she definitely didn't remember us, and was a little wary at first, but eventually she warmed up and let us tickle, kiss, and play with her to our hearts' content. donny and i just adore her beyond explanation... not only is she the most adorable thing in the world, but right now she keeps the baby fever (his, not mine) at bay, which is definitely a good thing.

his mom also made an amazing spread of football-watching snacks for sunday. although i couldn't eat most of them, i COULD eat the brownies. and man, did i eat the brownies! i think my grand total was 5. plus 1 today. plus maybe 1 more later tonight... have i mentioned yet that willpower is my problem? but alas, the wedding is still more than 2 months away; when we hit the 2 month mark, i'll really get down to business (hopefully)... i have an expensive dress to fit into, not to mention some skin-baring bikinis to adorn on the h-moon :)

as far as CF is concerned, i was all business today- a great start to my 4-day-a-week aspirations...

CrossFit 9.21.09

warm-up

250m row

3x 10 wall balls (6 lb ball)

strength

3-3-3-3-3 back squat (bar across shoulders)

67 lb max (again, pretty weak, but definitely my best effort)

WOD

20-15-10 reps of:

dumb bell push press (10 lb db's)

ring dips (with medium band)

time= 5:50

this was a solid time, and i felt good. i exceeded mine (and my trainer's) expectations, as she first recommended that i just do static dips, then that i should start with rings and switch to static if needed. not only did i complete them all on the rings, but my time was one of the strongest of the women. most also did the 10 lb dumb bells as well. great start to the week, but hope i can move my arms tomorrow. i suspect i will need them for something, like driving. or writing. or eating. 

 

tgif

+ i discovered i LOVE heath bars. ok, so this was only half positive, as eating 8 bite size bars was hardly helpful with the "eating healthy" pre-wedding plan, but holy crap those things are delicious! i also owe the speech team an apology as i completely wiped out the heath bar portion of the candy supply at our meeting today. will power, why must you always escape me?

this week crawled by at an unbearably slow pace, but the weekend is here at last. finally. and i get to see my adorable niece, kate, tomorrow. finally!! it's been nearly a month, and that just isn't acceptable... she's gone from a crawling rookie to a crawling gold medalist in that time! 

did absolutely nothing wedding related, not even crossfit, the last couple of days (but i DID partake in a delightful happy hour and small office-watching party yesterday)... i was so sore i could hardly get out of bed, and walking down stairs nearly had me in tears (literally) one morning. donny was nice enough to give me "massages" a few times to try to get rid of the acid buildup and loosen my muscles. let me just say that massages do not always feel good, and in fact, they aren't always even tolerable. but on some rare occasions, when muscles reach a certain level of soreness, massages actually serve as a method of cruel and unusual punishment. this week was like that. but today i finally felt decent enough to get back to work...

CrossFit 9.18.09

warm-up

250 m row

10-10-10 reps on GHD (glute ham developer)

strength

3-3-3-3-3 SDHP (sumo deadlift high pull)

92 lb max

WOD

"karen"

150 wall balls (used 4 lb medicine ball)

time= 8:24

decent time, but again, my weight is weak. apparently i'm just not strong at all... but i'll get there eventually! and i WILL do at least 4 days next week...

one thousand and ninety-five days (and some fish)

that's how long donny and i have been dating. today is our three year anniversary, and in about two and a half months, we'll have a new one to celebrate.

+ woke up this morning to flowers and a card in my living room. donny went out and got them after i fell asleep- he turned off the door chime and took off penelope's collar so i wouldn't wake up. what a sweet man!

tonight i decided to cook a gourmet feast in honor of our special day. now, this may not sound like a big deal, but for someone with as little domesticity as i possess, this is quite a task. donny usually does the cooking, and he inevitably helps out even when i am cooking as i am multi-tasking-disabled. since i don't eat meat, we can't always eat the same thing, but lately i've been really trying to eat more fish (apparently mac and cheese is not considered a well-balanced meal by most standards). donny likes fish too, so we've been eating the same thing more frequently. over the last week i've/we've made two fish recipes that have been fabulous. both are from allrecipes.com, but with some slight modifications. enjoy...

pan seared citrus soy tuna steaks

2 large tuna steaks

3/4 cup Peach Mango juice (substituted for OJ as we didn't have any)

1/4 cup lite soy sauce

1 1/2 tblsp lemon juice

1 tblsp honey

1 tsp garlic powder

Sprinkle of pepper

mix ingredients and marinade tuna steaks for 2 hours. pan sear tuna steaks in marinade for 2 minutes on each side. optional: spoon excess marinade on top when serving.

broiled parmesan crusted tilapia

2-4 tilapia fillets

1/4 cup parmesan

1/4 cup reduced fat cracker crumbs

2 tblsp margarine

1/2 tblsp lemon juice

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp celery salt

preheat oven to broil. spray cooking spray on foil-covered pan. combine ingredients to form paste. broil tilapia for 2 minutes each side, remove from oven, and apply topping with fingers to top of fillets. broil for 2-4 minutes, until topping is browned.

CrossFit WOD 9.15.09

"grace"

30 clean and presses

time= 5:38

weight= 42 lbs

i felt like i might have been able to do more weight, but my form would have suffered- it already wasn't great. i am EXTREMELY sore tonight, can hardly move...

hello stranger

+ i made it through another monday. also, at my urging, donny rescued two turtles from certain death (vehicular turtleslaughter/accidental suicide) yesterday.

well, i've failed miserably so far. i could provide a list of excuses, all of which would be true and somewhat valid, but the bottom line is this thing intimidates me. i've had a million things i've wanted to blog about, but haven't. so i've now decided that this venture needs to be slightly more focused, at least for the time being. what, you may wonder, will this focus be? 

if your first guess wasn't my upcoming, quickly approaching nuptials, you probably haven't talked to me in the last, oh, 10 months or so. wedding planning and preparations have been more or less all-consuming... i prefer the terms "involved" and "detail-oriented" to "bridezilla", though ;)

the most recent development in this three-ring circus has been my pre-wedding fitness methodology, CrossFit. what IS CrossFit, some of you may be wondering?

"CrossFit is a core strength and conditioning program. We have designed our program to elicit as broad an adaptational response as possible. CrossFit is not a specialized fitness program but a deliberate attempt to optimize physical competence in each of ten recognized fitness domains. They are Cardiovascular and Respiratory endurance, Stamina, Strength, Flexibility, Power, Speed, Coordination, Agility, Balance, and Accuracy.

Our program delivers a fitness that is, by design, broad, general, and inclusive. Our specialty is not specializing. Combat, survival, many sports, and life reward this kind of fitness and, on average, punish the specialist.

The CrossFit prescription is constantly varied, high-intensity, functional movement. No aspect of functional movements is more important than their capacity to move large loads over long distances, and to do so quickly." -from the CrossFit website

in summary, CrossFit is unlike anything i've experienced before, it is kicking my ass, and i am loving it. i will be using this blog/journal to record my daily CF workouts, in addition to the previously stated purposes, primarily because it seems like an easy place to keep track of them (which is recommended), and it is indirectly wedding related. i just finished the introductory "on ramp" course last wednesday; my first two "real" workouts are detailed below...

9.11.09

5 sets of:

5 burpees (like up-downs in football, but with an added jump into the air after the up part, repeated as quickly as possible)

15 box jumps (from standing, jump onto a 20 inch box, extend knees straight, and jump off, repeat as quickly as possible)

15 wall balls (throwing a weighted medicine ball at a 10 ft high target from a squat, catch, repeat as quickly as possible)

time= 13:18

this one was really tough. without a doubt the most difficult workout i've ever done. i was sweating from places i've never sweat from before and wanting to die about halfway through.

9.14.09

max dead lift= 118 lbs (weak, but plenty of room for improvement)

bottom-to-bottom tabata squats (20 seconds of work, 10 seconds of "rest" in bottom squat position, for 4 minutes total; lowest number of reps in any work interval equals your total)

total= 10 reps

much more difficult than it sounds, but i felt pretty good while doing this one.