Ballerina 'do

One of my favorite workout hairstyles lately is the topknot/ballerina bun/fasionista blogger updo.

Okay, so maybe too fancy - but still awesome! (Source)

I work out five days a week in addition to working full time, volunteering, running a household, and trying to sleep 7+ hours a night.  Chances are, you are just as busy as I am, if not more so.  You'll appreciate that I'm ALWAYS looking to save time on lower-priority tasks (e.g. taking less time with my hair instead of skipping mobility after my strength session). 

This 'do is a lifesaver.  It takes practically zero time to create, stays in place well, and totally shines post-workout so you don't have to wash and dry your hair!  (Now the whole world knows I skip shampooing a lot.  Oops.)

FYI: I have very thick, naturally wavy hair that is on the medium-long side...so some adjustments may be necessary if you have different hair.

Step 1: Shower.  Shampoo and condition.  Towel dry.  Comb out your hair (or don't) and then put minimal product in...preferably something curl/wave enhancing.  Don't overdo it or your hair will be crunchy later.

Step 2: Bun it.  Flip your hair "upside down" and use your fingers to comb into a very high bun.  (The height will depend on the length of your hair and your personal preference.)  Secure with an elastic and a few bobby pins if needed.  I can usually make the bun work with just the elastic but I need to pin up the back of my hair since a few pieces are too short to make it into the bun. 

Step 3: Sleep on it.  Your hair should be pretty safe unless you really toss and turn a lot.  Plus your workout will thank you for a good night's rest.

Pre-workout

Step 4: Get up and head to the gym.  You shouldn't have to do a thing to your hair except maybe pin back a stray or two.  I have not run with this hair, but it has lasted me through tough CrossFit WODs and strength sessions.  (If you run with it, let me know how it does!)

Step 5: Skip showering and still look and smell great.  I highly recommend buying a stash of Playtex sport wipes to keep in your gym bag/car/home bathroom.  They are absolute life savers and work for me after ANY workout except hot yoga.  And you hair is still secure and also not all sweaty on the ends from sticking to your face, neck, or back.

Post-workout

 Step 6: Go with the flow.  After sleeping on the bun a second night, take it out the following morning for volume and waves.  If your previos sweat session was intense, you can freshen up with some dry shampoo.  Otherwise, just pat yourself on the back for all the time and water you've saved!

Day-after - so easy!

You tell me: What's your current fave workout do?  Do you skip showering to save time?  Do you have OTHER secret time-saving tips?  I NEED THEM.

Pigtails and Kettlebells (Helen)

Good morning!

Yesterday's WOD at Mercer Island CrossFit was Helen, one of the "CrossFit Girls." 

I was feeling a little down about doing Helen, since I'm not yet up to doing more than 1 "real" pullup...well, I can do at least 2, but not linked.  I've gotten to this point at CrossFit where I feel like I should be RX'ing more workouts.  It may be silly, but I kinda feel discouraged looking at the WOD and realizing, "Oh, even if I work really hard, there's no way I can RX."

But...I am working on not cherry-picking WODs and also having a better attitude and just getting out there.  So I sucked it up and headed over after work.  (I also looked up "Helen" workout tips online to get myself more motivated...I found this website really inspiring!)

I ended up getting to the gym early (a miracle, for anyone who knows me) and headed over to the box at about 5:45...the 5pm class was finishing up.  My friend Turk was there and challenged me to a pre-WOD game of racquetball!  I got my butt kicked as usual, but I made a few great kill shots and had one good lob serve (Dad, I hope you're impressed).  I tried not to play too hard since I didn't want to be tired for CrossFit. 

After our Warmup of the Week (which included chest-to-bar pull-ups that for me were more like chest-closer-to-the-bar-than-normal-does-that-count pull-ups), we hit the first part of the workout, a skill.

Skill

2 Rounds:
Row 500m
max effort
rest 3 mins

I'm not a super rower, but I really like it.  There's always been something fun to me about a cardio machine that uses your upper body (and no, I don't think the elliptical counts).  My time for the first row was a lot slower, in part because I stopped to fix my shoe early on and forgot the time was already going.  Oops.

I felt a little queasy after the second row.  I decided that for Helen, at least this time, I was gonna focus more on strength and form than speed, since it was a hot day and the row kinda wore me out!  It wasn't until recently that I started strategizing and giving myself a clear goal for WODs (ya know, besides just "don't die").  I went with the red band for pullups, even though I knew it would slow me down, and the RX 35lb kettlebell.

Coach John let us take the kettlebell part of the workout outside into the parking lot.  I had loaded up on sunscreen beforehand and was stoked.  He counted down and we all took off on the run.  I fell behind the other women pretty quickly, but reminded myself that I was working on form.  I concetrated on breathing, a mid/fore-foot step, good arm swing (i.e. not across my body like I'm prone to) and engaging my core.

I decided to try for all 21 kettlebells unbroken. 



Tee - Nike; running skirt - lululemon;
shoes - Nike; muscles - Mercer Island CrossFit



I love kettlebell swings, and Heidi (one of my fave gals at MICF) had given me some great encouragement about my swing at last Saturday's team WOD.  When I started getting tired and considered bailing on the "unbroken" idea, I remembered what she said about my form and how strong my arms looked...and so I powered through and just kept on going. 

Thanks, Heidi!!!  I made it unbroken on all three rounds!

Our box at the 5k WOD Challenge...with Heidi on my left

The pullups were really hard.  I made it through 8 unbroken on the first round, and after that the most I got through was 6.  In my final round, I did 6, 4, and finally the last 2. 

Coach John got out the sidewalk chalk
to cheer us on for the final round!

 I finished Helen with a time of 14:47. 

Honestly, I think I could've gone faster.  I could've run a little harder and stuck with the pullups a little better.  However...my goal for the workout was to build strength and focus on form, and that's what I did. 

And, since a lot of folks find my blog while looking for workout hairstyles, here's one of my faves: the low pigtails!

I do a deep side part, and then I actually bobby pin the right side away from my face.  This means if (haha) I get really sweaty, I don't end up with side-swept hair plastered to my face.  Pigtails definitely beat the classic ponytail if you'll be doing anything while lying down on the floor (yoga, core work, etc.), and if you have thick hair, they don't give you a headache like the weight of a ponytail can.  Plus they're uber-girly.


YOU TELL ME: What's your best time for Helen?  What slows you down most - the run, the kettlebell swings, or the pull-ups?  Do you get discouraged when you can't RX?  Do you sport pigtails on your WOD?

Happy Birthday/CrossFit Games 2012

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear little blooooooggggggg!  Happy birthday toooo yoouuuu!!!


This week, TheMeghaMix turned one.


Thanks to all my readers for your interest, comments, and support.  "You...are...my biggest fan."


For those of you who are just joining us...my name is Meghan.  I have a great husband (Jared)and a desk job...and I spend my free time mixing all kinds of workouts...including a recent self-defense/karate stint.  Currently I keep busy with Crossfit (2-3x per week), racquetball (1-2x per week) running (2-3x per week), and glorious hot yoga (2-3x per week).  I eat a mostly "clean" diet which includes at least one square of uber-dark chocolate today.  I love encouraging people to find the healthy, fit lifestyle that's enjoyable and sustainable for them.

Me and my fave running buddy

Right now, we are in the middle of the 2012 CrossFit Open!  I am still not entirely sure how I got sucked into it...Jared had been planning on it for months, and he's a champ: competitive, strong, and fast.  I am not highly competitve and I'd never RX'ed at CrossFit before.  I tend to do well at things like hot yoga because I'm flexible and detail oriented, where Jared excels at Crossfit because, as I mentioned...he's strong and fast:

Elastigirl

Mr. Incredible

But the first WOD of the games was burpees.  I'm a sucker for burpees cause (shhh!) I really like pushups.  Weirdly enough, I got stoked about pushups through a summerstock-type musical early in college.  Our director said, "I am too busy to go to the gym this summer...so you guys are my workout," and would have us do as much as 50 pushups in a row.

Burpees are to me glorified pushups.  And with a little encouragement from the hubby and our CrossFit coach...I took the plunge and registered for the 2012 CrossFit Games competition.

Here are some photos from our first Open Wod!  WOD 1 was as many burpees as possible in 7 minutes.  You had to touch something 6 inches higher than your standing reach for the rep to count.  I got 73!!!

On me: headband, tank, pants - lululemon;
sports bra - Victoria's Secret;
shoes - New Balance

Our coach had us judge each other...which didn't go so well on WOD 1.  It was a good spouse challenge, though.  We realized we needed to communicate clearly beforehand about our expectations and how we would help each other most effectively...which applies pretty much to any aspect of marriage, huh?

On Jared: tee, shorts - lululemon;
compression leg warmers - Sports Authority;
shoes - Nike

Due in part to some miscommunication between us...Jared felt like he could've gotten a better score.  So we went out to Stoneway Crossfit on Saturday morning so he could retest.  This time, one of our coaches judged his reps, so I could just worry about cheering him on!

He did even better than his score the day before!  109 burpees...this dude is a beast.

Post-WOD 1 retest

The following week, we tackled WOD 2!  We didn't get to test together since Jared was out of town.  We go to Crossfit as a team when we can...

...but that isn't always possible.  Jared tested the night before he left, then retested at a box in Colorado to bump up his score (yet again).  Here's the official notes for WOD 2:

Proceed through the sequence below completing as many reps as possible in 10 minutes of:
30 Snatch (M 75 / F 45 lbs)
30 Snatch (M 135 / F 75 lbs)
30 Snatch (M 165 / F 100 lbs)
Max Rep Snatch (M 210 / F 120 lbs)
This workout begins from the standing position. The athlete will complete all reps at the first weight before advancing to the next weight. Score is total reps completed in 10min.

I made it through 30 snatches at 45lbs, and tried to get a few at 75lbs, but it wasn't happening for me.  So I had an official score of 30, and then cranked out 18 more reps at 55lbs. 

Last Friday found us at WOD 3...this means we're already halfway through the Open!  Official description:

Complete as many rounds and reps as possible in 18 minutes of:

15 Box jumps (M 24" box / F 20" box)
12 Push press (M 115 lb / F 75 lb)
9 Toes-to-bar

You are allowed to count individual reps instead of just completed rounds.  My official score was 15, since I had to scale the weight for the push press...but I was stoked because I did 20" box jumps and toes-to-bar for the first time since starting Crossfit in the fall!  I dropped the weight to (if memory serves) 55lbs.  I completed 3 rounds, another set of box jumps, and 5 of the push presses (which could be done as push jerks) before the time was up.

Jared and I judged each other on WOD 3, and our communication and teamwork improved a ton since WOD 1.  Go team!

They will be announcing WOD 4 tomorrow evening.  I'll be sure to keep you posted on how we do...hopefully I'll remember to officially record my score this time.  (I forgot with WOD 3.  Oops.)

You tell me:  Are you competing in the 2012 CrossFit Games?  Any scores or milestones so far you are particularly proud of? 

Love List

Clockwise from top left: 

• Scrubs season 8 - Jared and I have been laughing our way through Scrubs for a few months.  Yes, we live in the dark ages and don't have TV.  Perks: no commercials, unbounded hilarity (particularly the My Muscial episode a few seasons back), and getting to unwind together after work.
• Endangered Species All-Natural Extreme Dark Chocolate - Jared bought me this a while back, and now I'm hooked.  I'm a dark chocolate gal by nature, but after this 88% pure gold, almost everything else tastes like milk chocolate (read: dirt) to me.  Perks: antioxidants, very low sugar content, and seratonin boost.  Mmm.
• Nike Game On tee - I bought this last week on a shopping trip to Sports Authority that officially was for Jared to get a padded shooting sleeve for basketball.  Somehow I ended up with this tee, new Nike capris to match, and a long-sleeve Nike therma-fit shirt for running.  Perks: cuteness, sweat-wicking properties, and minimal to zero buyer's remorse.
• Real Marriage book - We attend Mars Hill church and are currently going through the Real Marriage series, to which this book and the study guide are companions.  This book has been astoundingly controversial to people of all opinions and beliefs.  We personally have found it incredibly helpful...but if you don't like it, don't read it.  It ain't the Bible, folks.  Perks: learning how to be a better friend to your spouse, going on date nights as required homework, and getting some honest advice from a humble couple.
• Basketball @ The SJCC - Basketball is totally my favorite sport.  It moves fast and I actually understand some of the rules and most of the scoring.  I really love getting to watch the hubby hit some threes...even if I get kinda stressed when we're losing.
• KIND Healthy Grains - Generally, I'm not a huge cereal/granola kinda gal...but these are pretty much amazing.  We're currently enjoying Vanilla Blueberry Clusters with Flax Seeds, Maple Walnut Clusters with Chia and Quinoa, and Oats & Honey Clusters with Toasted Coconut.  Perks: low sugar, amazing taste, and perfect way to upgrade Greek yogurt into a parfait.
• nuun Lemon Tea: I first started using nuun when training for a half marathon...did the trick to keep me hydrated, but didn't really wow me.  But I think maybe I just hadn't found the right flavor until I tried Lemon Tea!!!  I drop a tab in a water bottle full of...water (genius, right?), let it mix up, freeze it overnight, and take it with me to hot yoga.  LOVE IN A BOTTLE.
• ToneItUp.com: I first saw Katrina and Karena in a copy of Self I'd picked up from the library...I was so impressed with their workout that I made a photocopy to keep in my health and fitness binder!  I've done it several times, and it requires minimal equipment and kicks my butt.  A few weeks ago, I realized they have their own website/mini fitness empire!  They are super inspiring and offer a TON of resources for free on YouTube.  Their Valentine's Day workout is absolutely adorable.

You tell me:  What are you loving these days?  Do YOU have a favorite brand of dark chocolate?  Do you get a kick out of watching your spouse/friend/sibling/random stranger do something they love? 

SNOWPOCALYPSE! (Snow Day Fitness)

Last week, Seattle and the greater Eastside withstood snow, ice, power outages, zombies, and other terrors during one of the most signficant area storms in decades.

New England and Mid-West folks mock the way our cities shut down for a few inches of snow.  Yes, we are probably wimps.

But boy was it gorgeous!

The view from our porch

  

Sunday morning the 14th, we started getting the first flakes...we were serving on the parking team at church as usual.  I was doing my happy snow dance and putting my tongue out to eat snow like the tiny kids around me.  (I'm pretty short, so I think I blended in alright.)  Our team lead said he felt like saying, "Merry Christmas!" to the folks driving in and out.

Jared and I made our weekly trip to the grocery store right after we were done at church...I like to put things off, and he likes to get things done ASAP.  Good thing we followed his lead this time, because after we got home with our food, the snow started really coming down.  Usually we take Sundays as a rest day from working out (and from life in general), so it was just an extra-beautiful rest day.  Although I was doing my Calvin & Hobbes dance every few minutes, shouting, "Snow! Snow! Snow! Stick! Stick! Stick!" and praying we'd be snowed in so I wouldn't have to go to work on Monday.  Hopefully Jared found my antics cute instead of annoying?

Well, I got my wish.  Our apartment is at the bottom of a very steep hill, and Monday morning Jared watched a few cars trying to be Dorothy Hamill before deciding we should stay put.  Between Sunday and Monday, we did a ton of chores, and Jared made a ton of food.  (We try to get some cooking and prepwork done at the beginning of the week since things get VERY busy from Monday through Friday.)  Most notably, we went through the "plastic bin of crap" as I fondly call it - which had been sitting in a closet waiting to be organized for almost 11 months. Go team!

Jared made dark chocolate
raisin oatmeal cookies.

Monday evening we made it out for a few hours.  I stopped by work to gather up some things I could do from home, and Jared ran a few errands.  We parked at the top of our hill in hopes of making it to work alive the next day.

Tuesday morning, we walked up to our car in thoroughly safe conditions...it honestly felt like it had simply rained or something.  Roads bare and wet, etc.  But by Tuesday afternoon, the storm was heading in for round two.  They closed Jared's gym and my team at the office started to run for the hills.

We toodled back home and I tried to get motivated to work out. 

Usually, this is not a problem for me...I sort of live for my workouts.  I have plans and spreadsheets and class schedules and racquetball dates and training plans.  Working out keeps my stress and anxiety way down and my happy appetite way up.

But after two rest days in a row that included eating of food, watching of Scrubs, and enjoying of cozy fire...I was not feeling it.  What I recommend to fight the "Gee I'd rather sit on my butt and eat cookies and read"?  A good kick in the pants from a great friend.

Yay for motivational texts!

My friend Meghan is a natural at kicks-in-the-pants, since her workout of choice is karate.  We keep each other posted on workout fails and successes.  Although we rarely get to workout together, I think of her as my workout buddy and accountability partner for getting a good sweat. 

The only sad thing about this is I have realized we have no good photos of the two Meghans.  And by "good photos" I mean existing photos.  Lame.

So, I put on my new workout clothes, dug out my binder of workouts, and turned on a musical-theatre heavy playlist.

10 minutes of physical therapy (band), 5 minute warm-up (jumprope - not mine...I hate mine, so I assume this one must be better), 20 minutes of core work (kettlebell), 35 minutes of WOD-style strength and conditioning (mat - if I bought a new one, this would be it), and 10 minutes of yoga/stretching.

We keep workout magazines on our table.  Just in case.

Tank - lululemon,
sports bra - Victoria's Secret,
running tights - lululemon

I was honestly surprised at how much the no-equipment workout kicked my butt.  It probably helped that I treated it like a WOD.  There were 3 circuits with 3 moves apiece.  So my workout went like this:

Circuit 1: 16-14-12-10-8
Circuit 2: 16-14-12-10-8
Circuit 3: 16-14...and I think I pooped out at this point after 35 minutes.  It's amazing how much harder and faster I work if I just set my little phone timer.  If you are short on time, skip cardio and treat your strength workout like an AMRAP WOD: if you have 20 minutes at the gym, race yourself (safely with good form!!!) to see how many rounds of your workout you can get done in 20 minutes.  And then go shower and feel proud!

After working out, I refueled with clean cookie dough protein bites and black cherry juice mixed with water.  YUM.

No, I didn't eat ALL of this cookie dough.

Wednesday we were totally snowed in.  I made the most of the day by waking up early (morning person...what can I say?) and tackling some chores, having tea, and reading.  Jared and I got some Real Marriage homework done, had a snowball fight, and went for a walk in the snow.

Finally wiped down my hot yoga mat...about time.

This tea is AMAZING!!!

We couldn't make it to Crossfit, even if we could've driven over safely, because the J was still closed.

No barbell snatching in THIS storm!

So with another magazine workout in hand and snowboots on my feet, I walked with Jared up to our complex's "cabana."  We call it the clubhouse since cabana sounds uber-sketchy.  We are blessed to have a mini workout facility with real showers available to residents.

There is also a pool, but for some reason we didn't feel like swimming.

10 minutes of PT, 10 minutes of core work, a 15 minute kettle bell "WOD" (I made it through 4 rounds, plus 2 reps on each side for the 3rd move), and 10 minutes of yoga/stretching. 

Jared did the assigned "snow day" WOD - that man is a beast. 



 This is one of my favorite workout hairstyles.  I call it the German pony.  Technically I know it's sort of a French braid...but my blood is significantly German.  Plus headband style braids make me think of German beer girls...er, milkmaids.  I like it because it's cute, keeps the hair out of your face, and does a great job of hiding the fact that you just worked out and didn't have time to wash your hair afterwards.  Shh, don't tell!

Plus I grew up with only brothers...so I know how to french-braid my own hair.  Fast.

Tank - lululemon, sports bra - Victoria's Secret,
capris - lululemon, socks & shoes - Nike

Refuel?  My favorite "chocolate milk."  Seriously, this stuff is udderly amazing. 

Thursday we made a brief foray into the world with our chains on to beat the ice and snow.  The gym (and Crossfit) were still closed, so back we went that evening to the clubhouse.  10 minutes of PT exercises, and 10 minutes of the shoulder stability work I do once or twice a week...then WOD time!

Jared made up a WOD for us to do with the equipment we had available at the gym.  We had to switch it up after the first round, since he realized we were doing a ton of pushing and not a lot of pulling:

3 rounds for time...5 pike pushups, 10 plyo pushups, 15 rows, 20 lat pull downs (originally overhead press machine), 30 walking lunges holding a weight plate or with raised arms. Jared finished in about 13 minutes...it took me around 21.

After the WOD, I am thrilled to say I ran my first pain-free mile after 3 weeks of no running and a lot of physical therapy!!!  I went very slow and focused on form.  Woohoo!!!

I'm back!!!

Jared was going a little stir crazy from not being able to play basketball, but thanks to the big screen at the clubhouse, he got close.

All in all, even though a lot of folks found the it stressful and inconvenient, I'm really thankful for the snowstorm.  It gave us extra vacation time together, helped us get through a lot of projects at the apartment, and forced me to stay dedicated when my usual routine and resources went out the window.



That being said...I'm also glad it's over.


You tell me:  Did you have snow last week?  Lose power?  Find creative ways to work out?  Did you win or lose your snowball fights?

Weight Sled WOW/On the third day of Christmas

Happy 2012!!!

One of my resolutions this year is to be more consistent about posting...this post was gonna be on Wednesday.  Whoops.

My workout of the week is from Friday's WOD at Mercer Island Crossfit.  The SJCC now has a spiffy weight sled, so before Crossfit, Jared and I pushed the sled arond and played a little racquetball.

The sled!!! Ho Ho Ho

You can pull it...

...or push it! 
Hoodie - MI Crossfit, tee - Nike,
running capris - lululemon, trail shoes - New Balance

I had to take it a little easy on the WOD due to a cold and my good ol' IT band.  But I was SUPER proud of myself for one thing:

Box Dips.

Every month Coach Corey has us working on a skill...we test ourselves at the beginning of the month, and then re-test at the end to see how we progressed.  I did more than twice as many reps.  I think I should switch to ring dips!

From 30 to 63!!!

And I know everyone is back to work and resolutions and chores...but here's a peek at Christmas Day with my family.  We like things to be very low key...sweats or pjs, pecan sticky buns and pineapple for breakfast, and lots of laying around and reading books or playing with Legos.  Although no one gets Legos for Christmas anymore.  Sad.

And this year we also watched Harry Potter 7.2 since my folks hadn't seen it yet.  The best part was my brother Max saying, "Okay, here's what I didn't like abou...stop punching me in the stomach!" and my brother John with "SH!  Mom hasn't seen it yet!"



Official Family Portrait

  

Daddy

Mom



My brothers thought it would be
HILARIOUS to buy us a baby book.



Presents

Stockings

Me probably trying to count how many
pecan sticky buns I ate and whether the yoga
I did will negate any calories

You tell me: Any resolutions you've already managed to break?  What was your favorite/best workout this week?  Did you get Legos for Christmas?