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?




 

2012 in Review

10 Things I Did:

• My first CrossFit competition
• My first hot yoga class
• My first CrossFit Open
• My first "real" win at racquetball
• My first double under
• My first unassisted strict pullup
• My first unassisted kipping pullup
• My first RX Girl WOD
• My first Paleo challenge
• My first full range of motion kipping handstand pushup

10 Things I Realized:

• Cleaning is way better and more fruitful if I do reasonable chunks daily, instead of putting it off and then letting it consume my weekend.
• My job drives me crazy but has a lot of perks I couldn't get anywhere else.
• I really do want to save for my $1000 tee shirt.
• Eating 100% Paleo makes me want to die.  Eating 60-75% Paleo fuels me really well and keeps me happy and sane.
• Working out four days a week is healthier for me at this point than working out five days a week. 
• Parts of my life that previously brought me only guilt, grief, and shame can (and will) be used by Jesus to bring Him glory, others help, and me joy. 
• I don't really like running.
• I REALLY like lifting heavy.
• Massages are worth every penny.
• More protein is never a bad idea.

Grace RX

Hello and Happy New Year!!!

I started 2013 off hitting a long-held goal of mine...a Grace RX!

Grace is one of the CrossFit Girl WODs...30 clean and jerks for time.  I've done the WOD a few times before, but never at the RX weight for women of #95.

We've got a competition coming up on Saturday that was supposed to include 30 SQUAT clean and jerks at #95 for women.  I knew that I needed to get in and try it on my own before Saturday or I wouldn't have any confidence going into the competition.

With a lot of help and encouragement from Coach Allison, Jared, and fellow athletes Heidi and Chris...I did it!!! 

It took a really long time (typically this WOD should take under 5 minutes), but I squat cleaned on each rep which takes longer than power cleans.  And #95 was so heavy for me!  My most recently tested 1 rep max for clean and jerks is #110...so I did 30 reps at 86% of my max!

One thing that REALLY helped: I smiled before each rep.  I used to play softball (heaven only knows why) and at my level if you got 4 balls while at bat, your coach would then come out and pitch to you.  My strategy was to grin away at the pitcher, who would always get weirded out and throw poorly.  And then my coach would come and pitch and I'd often get a hit.  I decided to smile during this WOD to relax and give myself some confidence (ever notice how much Lebron James smiles while making shots during a game) and it helped me a ton.  Plus it reminded me that I really do like doing cleans and to focus on having fun.

I also mentally could not think about doing 30 reps.  I get really paralyzed by my own fears and doubts.  I had to drop the bar almost every time, but I tried to go in sets of 3 without any break.  After a dozen or so reps, I started to get overwhelmed, but I kept smiling and told myself, "You don't have to do 30 if you can't do 30.  All you need to do right now is one more pretty rep."  Yes, I am super tough...pretty is my code for good form.  I tried to go from my 15th rep straight into my 16th without letting go of the bar...but I got up from the 16th squat clean ready for my jerk...and dropped the bar.  ???  So after that I just focused on one at a time.

At the beginning I was trying to split jerk since usually that makes heavy weights more manageable.  However, my split jerk has never come naturally to me, and push jerks feel really straightforward.  So I decided after a while that I should do what works for me and found it WAY easier to push jerk.  Go figure.

It surprised me that this WOD felt consistently hard.  Some WODs feel fairly easy when you start, but you're dying by the end.  Honestly the first rep was hard, and the last 3 reps were pretty tough, but I never felt like I wouldn't make it. 

After I was done...I cried.  I've never cried after a workout before!  Okay, I may have cried on the way home about unrelated emotional drama...but never because I had surprised myself so much!  My mental game is often the hardest part of CrossFit for me, and I was so thankful that God helped me to take it slow and overcome my "I Can't" mentality.

My advice for you if you want to tackle Grace:

• Have fun and smile.
• Focus on good form for one rep at at time.
• Don't push yourself to do what works for someone else - if you are good with a split, go with that.  If your push is stronger, go with it!
• Once you get to 15 reps you're pretty much golden.
• Consider wearing waterproof mascara.

You tell me: How did you start the New Year?  Ever surprised yourself by something you've done?  Do you cry after workouts?

Reebok CrossFit Nanos 2.0 Review

Happy New Year's Eve!  Hope you have plans to celebrate the way you like - whether that's getting together with friends, going out, or staying home and having a relaxing evening.

One of my favorite Christmas presents this year was a gift from my mom and dad - the Reebok CrossFit Nanos 2.0!

There are a ton of great colors available, but I wanted them in Camille colors:

Source

My first WOD in the shoes was Friday - it was my first class ever where I was late and had to do burpees, so I got to test out the "burpee toe" on the shoes.  Note to self - TRIM TOENAILS before doing burpees.  Shoes were great, though!

Our skill work was 2 minutes of push press.  I hadn't done the original test so I was just going for hopefully a good number.  I didn't get as high as I wanted...but Coach Jared told me I had my elbows set for a jerk instead of a push press which apparently slowed me down.  But my mom was a total champ and RXed the weight!!!

Our WOD was a great one - heavy lifting and pullups! 

I did #75 (#77 = 70% of my 1RM).  I went a little slower than I would have hoped but I was really proud of mysef for getting back on the bar(s) really quickly and not taking long rests.

And my shoes seemed really good for the lifting!

After class on Fridays, I usually have a racquetball date with my dad.  I didn't want to bring another pair of shoes, so I played racquetball in the Nanos.  They didn't do as well as my Nike Free trainers on side to side movements, but overall they were still really decent on the court.

I would say overall this shoe is an excellent investment.  Good all around shoe for lifting, CrossFit, and apparently decent for racquet sports, too!

Plus the Nanos are dang cute.

You tell me: Have you tried the Nanos yet?  What's your favorite shoe for working out?  What are you doing for New Year's Eve?

Presents of Mind

I made an important decision...well, maybe not to you.  But to me.

I recently altered my workout schedule from 5 days per week to 4 days per week.  This is giving me more time at home to get chores done and relax and consequently helping me be less stressed and anxious, which I think we all can agree is a major win?

New plan:
Monday - lift (currently on dumbbell rows and overhead dumbbell presses), core work, mobility
Tuesday - REST (this can include walking to or from the bus, shoulder stability, yoga, and mobility)
Wednesday - CrossFit, core, mobility
Thursday - REST (see Tuesday)
Friday - CrossFit, core, racquetball, mobility
Saturday - CrossFit, mobility
Sunday - More Happy REST!

Yesterday was a Thursday and I was crazy sore from my attempt at Diane (and also my successful handstand pushup).  Thank God it was a planned rest day.

I was at the office for over 10 hours and was ready to be done for the day.  I ate a crap ton of food for dinner (1 spinach salad with dried cherries and olive oil, 2 eggs with 1 piece of prosciutto and half a piece of Swiss cheese on an English muffin, 2 MORE eggs with another English muffin).  I say your body is a pretty good judge of what you need.  After the first round of McMuffin, I had some water and waited a little while and read Self magazine.  When I still definitely felt hungry, I went back for seconds.  I didn't feel at all stuffed or like I overate.  Clearly I needed those calories!

Wednesday I'd made myself a small list of To-Dos for Thursday evening.  I tend towards two extremes: either make a huge list and leave no time for relaxing, or make no list and waste an evening being totally unproductive and later kick myself for it because I get stressed the next day.  I limited the list to 5 things:

Take out trash/recycling
Unload dishwasher
Reload dishwasher
Fold laundry
Yoga/mobility

I got everything done except folding laundry.  I realized we were set on clothes at least until Saturday and if we needed anything...we could dig it out of the baskets of clean clothes.

I took a bath instead of folding laundry. 

Massage bar (works in place of post-bath lotion) from my dear friend Meghan.  Apparently this one is for people with "tired muscles and busy brains."  Yes, that would be me.  It smells like lavendar.  Mmmm.  Poirot murder mystery from the library.  Not precisely a Christmas present but definitely crucial for relaxing.

Bath bomb from my sweet sister-in-law, Lauren.  You want a bath bomb, too? (Of course you do.) Here's the one I had: LUSH party popper! It makes fun fizzy and popping noises and looks pretty and smells incredible:

After bath bombing, reading, and lavendaring myself to bliss, I threw on the comfy sweats Jared bought me at H&M.  They make me feel like a little kid cause I think they look like Jasmine pants...they swell out before bunching in at the ankles.

And then I busted out 15 minutes of moblity and another 10 of yoga.  Great way to celebrate a rest day!


You tell me: How many rest days do you program per week?  Do you notice emotional burnout before you see physical burnout?  What's your favorite way to unwind?

Christmas Week 2012

Merry Christmas!  What a whirlwind of a week!

Friday was my first trip back to the box after over a week off.  Brutal WOD to come back to...the 12 Days of Christmas!

I RX'ed (except the handstand pushups, which I did to 2 #15 plates) but man I thought I was gonna die.  I spent probably half the WOD standing around and breathing hard and sweating.  I got so mad during the wall balls (I kept missing reps) that I kicked the ball.  That'll show it.

Jess B. was my hero!  She was my WOD buddy and kept encouraging me to keep pushing when it got tough.  Love working out with this chick.

 

Yeah, 37:21.  Yikes.  Honestly, I could have done a lot better.  My mental game sucked on this one.  I kept telling myself I couldn't do it and that it was too hard...not helpful.  Also Jared said I need to work on the catch and release for my wall balls - it should help me if I can improve consistency.

Saturday morning I hit up the Olympic lifting class with my fave, Coach Jared.  Every time I go to this class I feel like I learn a TON!  It's usually a very small class and we get extra time to go over technique for our lifts.  So much fun.  For the WOD, my mental game was way better!  Every time I had to rest, I gave myself a count of 8 and got right back into it.  I was so proud of myself!

Sunday we did parking team at church, and then had Jared's sister and her husband over for lunch...and then saw the Hobbit with them!  So fun - although we were up front and my eyes hurt and that night I dreamed I was going blind.

Monday (Christmas Eve) Jared had to work at 6, so we got up at 4:30 like a typical Monday.  I went and did my Wendler W1 lifts.  I decided to do another cycle of dumbbell rows and dumbbell overhead presses.  They're not as glamorous as deadlifts and backsquats, but I've seen a lot of payoff in how they affect my pullups, lifts, and handstand pushups, so I decided to keep at it.

I was only planning to lift on Monday, but Sunday evening Jess texted me to ask if I was gonna WOD on Christmas Eve...so I said I'd hit the 9:45 class with her.  The perk of lifting at 6 is you can go home, do chores, and wrap presents before coming back for CrossFit!
 

 

The WOD was "Frandy" - a mix of Fran and Cindy. 

There were a ton of people at the class, my forearms were bugging me a little, and I didn't want to have to lose my cute hat to WOD...so I scooted into the court across the hall and subbed out the thrusters for wall balls (to work on my catch and release) and the pullups for handstand pushups to plates.  Jess and I both said we'd shoot for 10 rounds in the 20 minute time cap.

It was harder than I expected to do the regular pushups - Jared explained that it was because I was doing 3 pushing movements in a row.  But I finally got the kip on my handstand pushups!  I was so excited!  Plus I tied with Jess for 9 rounds and 7 reps.

Poor Jared ripped up his hand on his WOD...bar muscle-ups on a textured bar = no bueno.

But we were both still glad to have started out the day at the gym.  Go Team Matson!

We showered at home and loaded up the sleigh to head to Jared's mom's for Christmas Eve!  Jared and Michelle made some incredible food, including butternut squash soup and cherry vanilla rum bread pudding.

 

 

 

We opened presents, played games, and later had a gift exchange with some of the rest of the family.  It was a really fun and relaxing day!

Christmas was spent at my folks.  McDevitt Christmas requires a breakfast of sticky buns and pineapple.

 

 

 

After stuffing ourselves silly, we headed over to open presents.  My mom and dad got each other snowshoes!

My mom and I took a walk in the afternoon, and we all caught some of the Heat/Thunder game.  More good food was followed by a hilarious family screening of Despicable Me, complete with Jared's Tom and Jerry drinks.

Wednesday was goal time for me.  I only have a few days left to finish my "end of 2012 goals", so I needed to get in the box and get after it!  I had "open gym" all to myself, and after warming up and doing 15 minutes of mobility, I went to work on my full range of motion handstand pushup! 

I started with some box pushups to get warmed up, and then went for gold.  It didn't go so well.

I shook out, grabbed a #15 plate and did one to the plate.  It went great, so I figured I could try again.

Success!  I was SO proud and excited!  Not only will kipping help me go faster, but now I can start RXing more workouts - so many times I was RXing everything except the handstand pushups.  Watch out, WODs!

After one success I was ready to beat another goal: a sub-10 minute "Diane" with the handstand pushups to one #15 plate.

It was ugly.  The last two times I've done Diane, I used #135.  For some reason, I thought #135 was the RX weight, but apparently the girls RX weight is actually #155.  I was expecting to blow through the deadlifts and slow down on the handstand pushups, but that was not the case.  I linked the first 10 deadlifts but went to fewer and fewer reps at a time.  My form also wasn't good (my back is so sore today) and then the handstand pushups were killer.  By 9:59, I had done 21 deadlifts, 21 handstand pushups, and 14 deadlifts.  I was only about two thirds done with the WOD.

The good news is that even though I didn't reach that particular goal, I can tell I've REALLY improved.  I'm keeping this goal on my list for the next quarter.  And my folks got me the CrossFit Nanos for Christmas, so this coming year I know I'm really gonna tear it up at the box!


You tell me: How was your Christmas/Hanukkah/Etc.?  Any year-end goals you're squeezing in?  Eat anything really killer?