Confessions of a Teenage Meathead

 

Back Squat #170 - New 1 Rep Max

(More videos at http://www.youtube.com/themeghamix.)

 

 

• I lift at the gym either in the early morning with the old dudes or in the afternoon with the high school football players and wrestlers.
• I consume at least one protein shake per day.
• I have a favorite protein powder and can give you a run-down on the good, the bad, and the ugly of the protein world.
• I used to eat small meals or snacks every 2-3 hours.  Now I eat with at least the same frequency, but a WAY bigger appetite.
• I get special chances to give input on fitness products and supplements at work because everyone knows I take that stuff seriously.
• I almost got caught by a coworker flexing my biceps in the mirror at the office.
• I practice "fast elbows" for my cleans when I think no one is looking.
• I watch YouTube videos of people lifting heavy or busting out muscle-ups.
• I put way more effort and moolah into what I wear to the gym versus what I wear to work.
• I felt like a total pansy lifting dumbbells this week. 
• I have explain fitness equipment and movements to the less informed guys at my office.
• Last week I hurt my elbow trying to air-practice a lift in the bathroom stall.
• I need a ton of sleep each night or I get grouchy (here's hoping I'm in the midst of a growth spurt).
• I was kinda pissed that I missed a chance to PR my bench press last week cause the guy I asked to spot me actually didn't know squat about spotting.
• I have guys at the gym tell me they don't lift like I do because they don't wanna bulk up.
• I scoff at the wimps doing "pushups" who don't actually touch chest-to-floor on each rep.
• I scoff at the other wimps doing "pullups" who don't fully extend their arms on each rep.
• I care way more about the weight on my bar than the weight on my scale.
• I don't have time for yoga because it would cut into my lifting days.
• I do make time for mobility because K-Starr says it'll up my front squats.
• I'd rather go to the Olympic lifting and "Girl" WOD class than the team/partner WOD class.
• I'm saving money for my L1 CrossFit Cert since after that I can take the Striking course because I love to hit stuff.
• I want my husband to choose his med school based on CrossFit gyms and resources in the area (UCSD = Mike Burgener.)
• I can explain Wendler's method cause I use it regularly.
• I'm more stoked about compliments on my traps than my hair.

Oh yeah,

 

AND I'M FREAKED THAT TOMORROW I WILL WAKE UP WITH A CRACK IN MY VOICE AND HAIR ON MY FACE. 

 

Sincerely,

Former 20-Something Girly-Girl

 

SELF Day 11.12 (New 1 Rep Maxes)

Flowers from one of my girlfriends - felt so loved!

You may feel like I have a lot of Self Days over here.

Well, I do.

I try to take one every month, especially since I've noticed that if I miss a month...it shows, and everyone kinda suffers for it.

This Tuesday was November's day off to enjoy life and rejuvenate myself. 

Little things in life (like hippie playdough and
monster dish-scrubbies) go a long way

I started out with a bang by lifting weights at the box.

It was my day to retest my deadlift and overhead press one rep maxes.  After a month of Wendler training, I was so ready to see if my dedication had paid off.

Technically I probably should have retested at the gym instead of at CrossFit, since the bars and plates are different, but I knew I'd have the box to myself and so I caved to my introvert criteria.

The overhead press seemed a little harder at the box than at the gym, because the bar itself is heavier (45 pounds instead of 40) and so I think the weight distribution at the ends makes balancing a little more difficult?  (I welcome your opinions...I honestly don't know much about lifting yet and don't know what role the bar can play.)

I warmed up really well, then started progessing up in weight until I hit my previous one rep max of #70.

It went up alright, and so after a few minutes of rest, I went on to try #75.

My first attempt failed, so I took a little break, and then did a few reps with the #15 bar, just to remind my body that I do know how to do this.

I went up  to try again with good focus on form, and well...here's what happened:

After getting a new PR of #75 I was debating whether to try for more, since the lift was a struggle.  I figured I could at least try #80, and if it didn't work...oh, well.

I could hardly get the bar off my shoulders...so we'll say #75 is an improvement over #70, and so I'm content.

My deadlift was another story - the plates in the fitness center have a much smaller diameter, so the range of motion for a deadlift from the floor is a lot greater.  The bar is also kinda slippery, even with the hook grip, which makes the lifts more challenging.  At the box, I knew it would be much easier and I could definitely nail my goal of breaking #175 and hitting at least #180.

I warmed up sufficiently, and worked up in weight to my previous max of #175.  I felt great and decided to jump to #185 instead of #180.  I made #185 with no trouble, hit #195, and then decided to try for #205!  This would be the first time I'd ever lifted anything so heavy...but I knew some of the gals at my box had recently done #205 and it really motivated me.

After sufficient rest, I went for the lift:

Not the prettiest form, but I got my hips fully extended at the top and was SUPER proud (as you can tell from me skipping and applauding myself).  I thought about trying for #210, but didn't want to hurt myself and decided to just be proud and call it a day.

This was my first experience videoing myself while lifting, and I must say, it was really eye-opening.  I was able to see where I was weak and where my form slipped on things - I bet you aren't surprised to hear that my back was sore and my hamstrings were not...oops.  I decided to set up my own YouTube channel and am excited to have realized this (free) resource for improving.

The rest of the day was delightful!  I got to catch up with my dear friend Beth and her adorable son, Charlie.  We had coffee and then ended up walking and talking for hours.

Charlie's a total lightweight, though.  He crashed about 30 seconds into the walk.

Afterwards I ran a few errands and then went home to enjoy snacks, my latest murder mystery (a Lord Wimsey), and the company of my space heater.

I went out later to take my husband some dinner before his basketball games, and then went to visit my buddy Meghan on her break between teaching (she's a kempo karate instructor).

Meghan and Meghan

I got there early, and figured she'd want protein (as usual), so I stopped at Emerald City to grab some smoothies and read a little more.

I peeked in for the end of her class and then we got to chat a little while consuming frozen produce and protein powder through straws.  She's a champ.

Then I finished up the evening with my sweet mother-in-law watching Jared play basketball and win.

Such a good day.


You tell me:  Do you ever take vacation days just because?  What's your favorite smoothie joint?  Any tricks you've learned to improve your lifting techniques?

"Meghan" WOD (Birthday Part I)

Mom, Jess B, & Patti helped me celebrate.
Workout details below!

On Tuesday I hit my first quarter century (and no, I don't mean in cycling terms).  Between early presents and belated celebrations, October is turning into Birthday Month!

I have been so blessed by my family and friends - here's some of my swag so far.

Jared bought me chocolates.

Taryn got me a cute purple tote...I think it was meant as a gym bag, but I eat so much that it's now my lunch bag.

My parents got me new Nike workout pants... 

...and a new lululemon top.

You can't see very well from the photos above, but the bra of the top is the awesome blue print I was in love with:

And of course, what is a birthday without CrossFit?  (Well, for most people, probably a good one.)  I was stoked that Coach Corey made a birthday WOD for me - our whole box did it all day on the 23rd in my honor.  It was a fun mix of stuff I hate (wall balls, thrusters) and stuff I like (pullups, cleans).  It was kinda brutal - very deceiving.  The weights aren't super heavy so it doesn't seem too tough...at first.  Apparently everyone at our box hates me now...go figure.

My goal was to finish in under 25 minutes...and I made it! 

I also ended up with kind of a nasty blood blister...but I felt super proud of myself for doing 50 unassisted pullups in a workout! 

More gifts and festivities to share with you next week...boy am I getting spoiled.


Celebrate with me!  Here are two ways you can join in the birthday festivities:

1. Take on "Meghan."  You can do my birthday WOD in your box or gym!  If you are not familiar with the movements in the workout, PLEASE enlist a certified personal trainer or CrossFit coach to walk you through these.  And by all means, scale if you need to!

"Meghan"

Row for 25 calories

(be sure and set your rower to show calories and not meters)

Then, 2 rounds of:

25 wall balls

(guys use a 20 pound ball, girls #14)

25 pullups

25 squat cleans 

(it's me as a CrossFit newbie in the video!)

Then, when you finish your second round,

25 thrusters

(75 pounds for guys, girls #50)

If you workout at home but still wanna join the fun, try this one instead - no equipment needed!

"Meghan Lite"

25 jumping jacks

Then, 2 rounds of:

25 pushups

25 sit-ups

25 air squats

Finish it up with:

25 burpees

2.  Send me a present!  In November, our CrossFit team will be running the 7th Annual Winter Pineapple Classic - a 5k run with obstacles along the course followed by a luau. 

100% of the proceeds go to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.  Please support me by going to www.winterpineappleclassic.org > click donate > type in Meghan Matson > complete the donation process.  All donations are 100% tax deductible.  If your company has a matching gift program please request a match of your donation.  Thanks for supporting me!

Portland Rock 'n' Roll/Upcoming Races

Let's take a little trip down memory lane.

This spring, Jared and I ran the inaugural Portland Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon.  (If you are not interested in a 5-month late post, scroll to the bottom to see what's on the horizon.)

I trained by loosely following the CrossFit Endurance blog.  (I say loosely because I did WODs at my box instead of their prescribed WODs.  And because I was busy and missed some of their outlined training.) 

It was spring in the Northwest when we started training.  At the time I was also volunteering with my musical theatre class, going to hot yoga several times a week, and CrossFitting regularly.  (Oh, and that full time job thing.)  But we had signed up for the run a year in advance because we love Portland, and the entrance fees were on sale!

Needless to say it may not have been the best time to train for a half, which is why the CrossFit Endurance approach seemed fitting.  Most of the runs are short but brutal, and the idea (in my perception) is that you are packing the intensity of "normal" training into less time.  This meant my longest runs were on the weekend and fairly comparable to other long runs, but my mid-week runs were usually some sort of programmed speedwork (example:
"Run (TUE): 4-8 x 400m, rest 1:30, hold within 3-5 seconds" - so in this case you're only covering 1-2 miles total).  This saved me planning long routes and allowed me to get a lot of running done on the treadmill at my office...which was great since doing track work at that time of year reminded me of the story of Noah's Ark...ya know, where God floods the earth:

The water came up to my ankles at parts of the track



I felt pretty good going into the race.  My previous times for a half were 2:04 and change for the Kirkland Half and 2:05:48 for the Bend Half.  I was reasonably optimistic about breaking 2 hours since I felt like I was in better shape all around than my previous races.

However, it was not to be...we started out too fast for me to maintain, and one thing I had not expected was that my lungs had benefitted from the condensed intensity, but my FEET had not built up their usual toughness.  Partway through the race I had enormous blisters and each step became excruciating.  I told Jared to finish without me when we were about halfway.  Highlights included onlookers with boomboxes playing "Thiller" and "Footloose" (one of my all time faves).  The bands themselves I found disappointing...perhaps because much of the time I seemed to arrive just after a song or set.

Then, a few miles from the end, my knee problem from the previous December kicked in with a vengence (likely because the blisters were throwing off my gait).  I was actually crying at mile 11 because my knee hurt to run, but then if I walked my blisters would hurt for that much longer.  Luckily at that point one of my favorite coworkers caught me.  Her plan was to go slow and walk through all the remaining water breaks. 

I finished with her in one ugly piece at 2:17:29, over 10 minutes slower than my previous times. 

Jared was able to break 2 hours, clocking in at 1:56:17 - so glad I encouraged him to push on alone!

I could barely walk around in the pouring rain to get my awesome swag.  I was impressed that they had "rain ponchos" ready for all of us and great goodies in addition to our medals.

The rest of our trip to Portland was amazing:

Delicious!

Nike store - duh

We hit up lululemon as well as Nike, and in addition to great gear, I got a free headband since lulu was giving them out if you'd run the race!

We read about the Sunshine Tavern in a magazine of Jared's and it was absolutely incredible. 

Fresh air seating

Ginger ale shanty

Dessert as an appetizer

I beat Jared at one of the arcade games!

The enormous burger we split

We spent the first night (before the race) at the Hotel Fifty, since it was affordable and right between the start and finish lines.  The second night, we splurged on a Starlight Guestroom at the Hotel Vintage Plaza.

It was too rainy and cloudy to see the stars, but I was so sore and blistered from the race, that we pretty much spent a day reading and eating snacks in the hotel room.  It was awesome to have so many comfy places to sit and all the gorgous natural light! 

We went out for Stumptown, and I even got coffee!  I'm usually a tea drinker, but this stuff was just delightful.

We woke up early on the final morning to beat the line for Voodoo Doughnut - we planned to go on our first day, but the line looked like Disneyland! 

SO worth it.

Our swag from Nike, lululemon,
Voodoo Doughnut, and Powell's Books!

While the trip as a whole was absolutely amazing, the race for me was horrible.  Nothing like crying on the course and then limping to lunch afterwards with some friends who also ran the race.  I was miserable and felt like CrossFit Endurance had kinda let me down.  I was sure that I would not be running. Ever. Again.

Well, after about 5 months of focusing on other things like paring down my schedule to something reasonable, I have not one, but THREE races on the horizon.

October: Pumpkin Push

 I ran this with friends in 2010 and volunteered with a friend in 2011.  This year, I'm doing both!  (Seriously, they let you run for free and give you a tee shirt!  All you have to do is be there at 5am...oh wait.)  Here's the inspiration for my costume:

I'm stoked! 

November: Winter Pinapple Classic

I ran this with Jared in 2008, 2009, and then missed running it in 2011 because I got the days wrong.

Still dating in 2008...with our pineapple baby!

This time, we will be running as part of a big team with our Mercer Island CrossFit family!  This Hawaiian-themed event is all for a good cause as 100% of the proceeds benefit The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). Please support us by going to www.winterpineappleclassic.org and clicking donate. Type in my name or Mercer Island CrossFit and then donate to the cause. Thanks for your support in the fight against blood cancers!

December: 12ks of Christmas

This has been a holiday tradition for Team Matson ever since we got married. Jared is not huge on Christmas, but he loves running with me and so this was a great thing to start doing in 2009.  2010 we ran again just the two of us, and in 2011, we roped our family in as well!

I'm hoping to have one of my best friends join us this year - this is the only race of the three that I'll really have to train for - eek!


You tell me: Any races coming up for you?  Have you ever cried during a race?  Do you have a favorite VoodDoo Doughnut?

Fallin' for Fall



My fall "inspiration board" at work - Cider week
(from Self mag), Pumpkin Push flyer, & gnomes!

Happy Friday!

Hope you are enjoying October as much as I am.  The weather here has been absolutely incredible - getting chilly, but the rain has held off for weeks now.  Makes walking to the bus in the mornings a delight instead of a chore.  School has started up again, which means I'm volunteering a couple times a month with my beloved teen musical theatre class.  Leaves are turning, my birthday's coming up (quarter century - eek!), and there are all sorts of glorious things to enjoy!


The Seattle Greek Festival:

Walking around Seattle looking at pretty houses:

Tree fort!!!

Shopping at lululemon:

Seriously, I'm in love with this blue pattern

So happy with this bag!

Pumkpin in my daily Fage yogurt!

Spaghetti squash:

Hard apple cider - checked this out per Self magazine's recommendation...holy smokes.  Incredible.  Perfect fall dinner: hard cider, paprika sausage, and spicy butternut squash:

Have a delightful weekend!  Get out and enjoy the crisp air...or stay inside with a good book! 

You tell me: What are your favorite things about fall?