Murder Monday: Death Comes To Pemberley (Review)

 

I recently finished my first P. D. James novel, which is incidentally a sequel to Pride and Prejudice.  A number of friends asked me to let them know how it was, and so I shall:

 

A basic look at the plot finds Darcy and Elizabeth (several years after their marriage) at home with Jane, Bingley, and a few other house guest on the eve of Lady Anne's ball.  To their surprise, a carriage pulls up in the midst of the storm and Lydia falls out shouting that Wickham has been murdered.

 

I found this story to be exceptionally true to the characters in the well-loved classic.  Perhaps more impressive was James' ability to further explore out-workings of previous themes and consequences of former doings.

 

Language and sexuality were extremely mild.  A limited use of "Good God" or "Damn" here and there, and of course the euphemistic references to Wickham and his previous misdeeds.

 

Violence was a bit more intense, due to the nature of the murder itself, but the death wounds were not described in terribly gross detail.

 

Some twists in the story will bring about a few deliciously familiar faces.

 

As a mystery: the plot built steady and then increasing excitement until concluding with an interesting and clear solution to the events which had befallen the inhabitants at Pemberley.

 

As a novel: this sang.  The mystery itself took (for me) a backseat at times to the glorious character development and atmosphere.

 

I would highly recommend "Death Comes to Pemberley" for any lover of Jane Austen or mystery buff.  The beautiful prose makes this book ideal reading for the fall with a cup of tea and a roaring fire.

 

REVIEW: Western Pacific CrossFit/Spring Sweataway 2013 Part II

 

No vacation for Team Matson would be complete without a CrossFit field trip. 

Back in September, I met Elizabeth at Graham CrossFit, who told me to check out her brother's box in Kirkland, Western Pacific CrossFit.  We'd been meaning to visit ever since, so Jared emailed Nate to find a good class time for us to drop in.

Western Pacific has a lot of good class times available, in particular a block of morning classes from 6:30am through 9:30am Monday through Friday.

Nate said we were welcome at any class, so we decided to pop into the 8:30am.  We had a little trouble finding the place because of all the business park/warehouse buildings in the same area, but eventually we made it!

 

 
Nate was really welcoming and let us ask any questions and do mobility as the 7:30am class finished out their WOD.  Jared talked coaching and the Open with Nate while I snapped some photos of the space!
 

 
It's so big and so pretty!  I love the way the space is laid out so a lot of athletes can be working at once.
 

 

Jared loved the black ERGs!

 

You know I had to buy a shirt - love representing any good box.  I went with the neon green tank...so cute and very true to size!

 

 
There were 3 athletes in the 7:30 class, and they were all really friendly and welcoming.  We talked about how everyone had done on 13.3 and what people's thoughts were for 13.4

Another athlete popped in, so it was three of us for the 8:30 class.

The warmup was really thorough and straight-forward.  Nothing too complicated but definitely got your muscles moving and increased some range of motion (we had to hold the bottom of a squat for basically forever).  The strength work was back squats - it was really fun to each have our own squat rack.  Plenty of bars and plates - even some little 1, 2, and 0.5 plates for breaking plateaus!

I took it a little light after doing back squats on my own the day before.  Nate gave some really good cues that helped me improve my form, and I ended up with two reps at #153.

Next, we were on to the WOD:
 

My hands were still shredded from Chelsea.  I had taped up really well, but I took one rep on their pretty pullup bar and felt fire on my right hand.  I asked Nate about subbing in different movements for the kettlebell swings and pullups.  I ended up with 15 medicine ball cleans ("Can you do the #20?" - yikes) and 10 v-ups. 

I had to use a band for the ring dips, but I got the double-unders and even had a few good sets of linked repetitions!  Progress!
 

 

Some final thoughts on Western Pacific CrossFit:

 

I have not seen any better deals on monthly memberships in the Seattle Eastside area.  They even have a couples membership which is an even better deal...if you both do CrossFit, chances are you will both KEEP doing CrossFit.

 

The coaching is excellent.  The more boxes and events I'm around, the more picky I get about the person who is coaching me.  Someone said recently that the best coaches compliment form and effort.  Nate does just that.  His focus is on encouraging his athletes towards better quality of movement, and congratulating people on working hard. 

 

OLYMPIC LIFTING!  We haven't yet had a chance to visit one of the bi-weekly Olympic Lifting classes, but these are led by Lincoln Brigham who has worked with Mike Burgener.  These are offered on Monday and Wednesdays at 6:30pm and are even open to non-WPCF members for a drop-in fee.

 

Jared and I were so impressed with Western Pacific CrossFit! 

We hadn't even gotten in our car before both saying, "If we had to switch to a new box, this would be the one." 

Great coaching, great space, and great people.  Definitely give them a vist.

 

We finished up our day watching Argo (such a great movie!) and getting a late lunch over at Paddy Coyne's in Seattle.

 

 

 

Our drinks were excellent, but the food was only okay.  I'm so spoiled having such a great chef at home that when we go out to eat I am often disappointed! 

 

Oh, well.  It was nice to have time to talk and not prep or do dishes.  Plus the trees in Seattle are just beautiful this time of year! 

 

 

Uber thankful for some much-needed time off work.  And so thankful to Elizabeth for telling us to visit Western Pacific CrossFit!!!

 

 

Workout Recap/REVIEW: CrossFit Excellence

 

 

Monday: 5pm MI CrossFit.  Walked a mile from the bus stop and arrived early enough to sit in the sauna a little to warm up.

 

Skill work (not strength) was deadlifts.  We worked on form...although it turns out our coaches haven't all conferred on what they feel is good form for deadlifts, so throughout the week we got some differing opinions.

 

Kept the weight very light.

 

 
Scaled the handstand pushups to plates.  Used my kip which is helping a ton.  Can't wait until I get stronger and can do them RX from the floor!  Red band for the pullups since there were so many.  Scaled kettlebell swings to Russian swings with the #26 due to a tight back.  RXed situps and (my fave!) burpees.

Was trailing the boys for most of the WOD but knew I could make some of it up in the burpees if I REALLY pushed myself.  I did, and I was pretty happy with my time!  Loved Wodding with some folks I don't always get to see.

Got in some extra mobility at home before bed.  Always a great idea.

Tuesday: Travel/rest.  Between work and driving to Portland afterwards, not much time for moving.  Packed healthy snacks.  Went to bed early.

Wednesday: CrossFit Excellence.  I was looking high and low in Portland for a good box to visit while Jared had his med school interview.  I was surprised to find that almost every box has a drop-in fee, even for first time out of town guests!  All the boxes I've visted previously offer the first class for free, or, better yet, offer free classes to any travelling CrossFitters.  Got a little spoiled at CrossFit Amped and Graham CrossFit, I suppose.  Posted on Facebook my plea for help, and some friends from MICF suggested CrossFit Excellence in Lake Oswego.

I emailed Jen at CrossFit Excellence, who got back to me right away and was really welcoming!  She asked what class I'd like to visit and made sure I knew that they didn't charge visitors.  I told her I'd be at the 9:30 class...I had to drop Jared off at the school at 8 and I didn't know what to expect from traffic (and my own lack of directional skills).

Well, even with getting a bit confused and arriving and then leaving and arriving again (parking is below the building - look for this door which I missed), I was there by about 8:15.

Jen was doing "Gwen" and the box was pretty much empty.  I apologized for being so early, but she was really flexible and said I was welcome to work out at 8:30 if I felt ready.

 

She asked whether I wanted to do my own thing or follow their programming.  I love to see how various boxes run things, so I asked to do their programming for the day.  She started me out with five minutes of mobility.  We focused on feet and calves (partner calf mobility hurts like heck but is soooo good for you).  I mentioned Kelly Starrett and she replied, "Everything he does is art."  I knew I liked this place!  Plus I got the class to myself - gotta love personal training.

After mobility, we went into the warmup, which was preset drill/skill work.

I was a level II, so I started with 5 minutes of work on my double-unders.  So thankful Jared bought me a rope for Christmas!  I brought it on the trip and whipped it out of my bag.  Then I did paralette L-sit (for a personal PR of 0:27!) along with bar dips (holy crap those are hard), false grip pullups, and some GHD work. 

I do kinda wish there had been more of a MICF type warmup before the skill work.  I have really tight shoulders/neck and it's tough to go into something challenging like L-sits and dips without doing something light like pass throughs first.

Then, we were on to the WOD!  It didn't look too hard until I realized it was 3 rounds long.  I thought it was a once-through for time!

I love situps and kettlebell swings, but running is always a challenge for me.  I told myself I was not gonna be a wimp and I was gonna RX in under the time cap of 30 minutes.

We did abmat situps, which are different than what we do at MICF, but Jen reviewed proper form with me.  She also translated pood for me so I knew which kettlebell to use (ladies was #36).

With Jen cheering me on, I finished my first round in 9:18.  I knew it would be tight to get it done in the cap since it's sometimes hard to keep your first round pace.  I was able to do the situps unbroked, but had to break the swings into sets of 10-20 reps.  Jen said my form was great on the kettlebell swings (shoutout to the great coaches at MICF!) which was encouraging.  I really made myself push it on the runs and tried distracting myself, since usually the mental part of running is the hardest.  You know, when you tell yourself, "This is so hard.  I suck at running anyway."  Instead I counted steps, thought about good form, tried to lengthen my strides, and recited Scripture in my head.  Oh, yeah, and watched out for a train when crossing the tracks.

My second round was actually faster than my first, which really movitated me.  It was a killer workout and I couldn't do more than wave at the gal who showed up early for the 9:30.  But I finished in 27:49, which means I had negative splits for my rounds!  If that is a CrossFit appropriate phrase.

By the time I caught my breath, there were about four ladies present and doing mobility for the 9:30 class.  They were really sweet and glad to have me visiting.

Overall, I would highly recommend a visit to CrossFit Excellence!  It reminded me a lot of Mercer Island CrossFit.  Not super fancy box, but well equipped.  Knowledgeable coaching (Jen just renewed her L1 cert - she's been coaching for over 5 years and has done additional certs including going through the CrossFit Endurance seminar twice) and friendly community.  You'll get a great workout and feel right at home.  Thanks to Jen for having me and to Chris and Heidi for recommending it!

Post WOD with Coach Jen

I also got in an hour of walking toodling around Portland and did 15 minutes of mobility after our long drive home.

Thursday: Rest Day.  Got in a good little walk home from the bus and 20 minutes of mobility.

Friday: CrossFit and Racquetball.

Skill work was the 2 Minute Challenge for February: Med Ball Cleans.  Coach Jared gave us a run down of good form...and bad form.  We got one "free" warning on our form but if he had to no rep us and make us slow down to do it correctly, he would.  A good mid-range number to shoot for was 40.  I got 39!

Debated scaling the WOD but decided to try to RX...later it turned out I should have scaled since my numbers were so low.  (The point of this type of workout is a high output of reps.)

 

Had to run to the bathroom at the last minute before we started the WOD, so I missed the first three movements in the first round, hence low score for round one.  Double-unders kicked my butt...could only do a few at a time.  Gotta keep working on form.

Love love love finishing my weeks with racquetball.  I played REALLY well this week and made a stellar comeback to (almost) win on one of the games.  My endurance and hand-eye coordination continue to improve.  Fun to see CrossFit paying off in other sports.

Saturday: Mobility/Wendler's Week 1 (Deadlifts).  Started doing mobility to get in the mood to workout since all I wanted to do was eat cookies.  Realized I really needed the mobility and took like 35 minutes on it.  Yikes.  Was gonna do deadlift and strict press but only had 20 minutes left so did deadlifts only.  Highest load for the day was one lift at #185.  Nice to see the months of working on dumbbell rows pay off in my deadlift form.


You tell me: Do you pursue any other sports besides CrossFit?  Try any great boxes lately?  Ever do any less glamorous lifts to help your fancy lifts?

New Year's Date Weekend

I don't know about you, but I'm loving all the 2012 recaps and New Year's Eve posts and 2013 goals.  I kept my two resolutions from last year, which were "get more sleep" and "eat at least 3 servings of veggies every weekday" - I only missed a few days here and there and saw a ton of improvement in my body and mind as a result!
 

Sneak veggies into breakfast
and you're 1/3 done for the day!

I don't have 2013 goals yet, but I DO have a New Year's recap for you.

Every quarter my husband and I try to have a weekend "away."  Even when we can't afford to actually go anywhere, we make sure we get focused time to relax together.  Our last trip was in September, so we were due for another "sweataway."
 
Things are a little tighter right now and our work schedules were a challenge, so we got creative for our New Year's Date Weekend.  We'd spend part of it at home, but enjoy New Year's Eve at a nearby hotel!  I searched around to find something within our budget but still really nice and settled on the adorable Hotel Deca in the U-District!  The reservation experience was really smooth and we got a great deal on a room with a view.  I heard great things about this place and was excited to be going somewhere fun but close to home.
 
Sunday the 30th: After a morning at church, we built a fire and spent the afternoon and evening relaxing together at home.  We read books and had fun snacks (yeah, protein smoothies!) and watched a movie.  Ahhhhh....
 

 

 

 
Monday the 31st: Monday morning we both had to work, so we were up at 4:30.  I dropped Jared off at the gym to teach his boot camp class, and went back home to pack. 
 
After September's trip (well, and practically all our other trips) when I wasted literally an entire afternoon of our vacation "packing" and we were both stressed and frustrated, I decided that was a sucky way to start a fun time.  So I went back home to surprise Jared by getting my packing done early!  SUCH a good idea.  I am a morning person and so packing at 6:00 and knowing I had to leave by 6:30 really helped me be efficient and prioritize.  I also set a timer, which helped, too.
 
I headed off to work, and got my half day in.  Then it was off to CrossFit for the 11:30 class!  The box is having a recovery week, so lots of cardio.
 

 

 
 
The WOD was kinda hard!  I did okay on the double unders, which was really encouraging since I'd taken a break on these after my frustrating jump rope experience at the end of November.  My burpees were on fire and super efficient.  I actually scaled up on the first round of famer carries, using the #35 kettlebells and then using the #26s for the last 2 rounds.  My lungs were burning!  I'm so slow usually that I don't feel the cardio burn as much - this one really worked me!
 
I'd already done the 2 minute challenge, so I worked on skills at the end of class instead. I showed Heidi some tips that helped me on my burpees and handstand pushups, and I also worked on strict pullups. I can link 3 good ones, but I really want to get more, since I think the strength would help me on my chest to bar pullups. 
 
I also had a massage scheduled post-WOD while Jared played basketball.  I SO needed it...great way to relax for our mini-trip!
 
We went home to pack and Jared was really impressed with what I'd done earlier in the morning.  We were able to get everything together pretty quickly and left excited for a night in Seattle!
 
We had an early dinner at The Ram down in U-Village.  It was fun to catch part of a game or two, and the food was great as usual. 

Then we checked into our hotel! 

There was a surprisingly long line for check-in, but the staff was really kind and did their best to move everyone along in a timely fashion.  By the time I got to the front, they got me checked in really seamlessly.  Before we knew it, we were settling into our room.

 

Adorable black & white bathroom

 

 

TV and DVD player!

 

We don't exactly travel light...

Jared was excited to find that the iPod dock worked for charging his iPhone!

We brought a bunch of things to read:
 

 
 And of course a bunch of snacks.  I got hungry after a while and finished up my "Faburge'" burger from The Ram.

 

 

Never too much chocolate!

 

 When we started up the fifth Harry Potter film, we chowed down on the veggies, tropical fruit, cheese, and salami with some good pita crackers.  At first Jared thought we should wait till midnight for the champagne, but then we realized it was only 7:-something and we wouldn't make it to midnight.

 

We enjoyed our movie, champagne, and snacks, and went to bed before 10pm.  Yup.  The excitement basically never stops.

We woke up to an absolutely gorgeous morning - never mind the delight of getting up without an alarm!

 

 

We had some of the breakfast snacks I packed and planned our "busy" morning based on checkout time (noon).

 

After some serious reading and enjoying of the view, we headed across the street to Trabant.  Being in the U-District brought back all the memories of when we lived there after we first got married.  Trabant was the first place I'd ever had chai!

 

Jared got coffee of some sort and more coffee in a bag (I know so much I should be a barista) and I got a really fun drink called "Pfeffernusse -- ginger molasses syrup, espresso (optional), rimmed with our Mexican chocolate, nutmeg, and pepper"

 

So delicious!

 

Our hotel...literally across the street

 I kept ruining our photo.  Lame.

 

They didn't have a lot of food on hand (although they played killer big band swing while we were there) so we went back to the Tully's at Hotel Deca for some real breakfast.

We watched another movie (Spy Game) and watched more mountains come out of hiding from our window.

 

 

We finally said our good-byes to the U-District.  I would highly recommend Hotel Deca, especially if you are looking for an affordable local "getaway."  There is a lot of great shopping in the area, second hand stores nearby or fancier shops down at U Village.  You can run over to Greenlake or downtown really easily.  The hotel itself is really cute and the staff friendly and helpful.  All in all, a great experience for a great price.

We headed back to the box to "practice" for Saturday's competition.  I had a PR with Grace, and then we chilled back at the apartment for the rest of the day.  I felt so relaxed I could melt from happiness.  Now I can't wait for our next little trip in March!


You tell me: How did you spend your New Year?  Ever found that a less "fancy" or "planned" time is the most fun?  What are your favorite snacks to bring on a trip?