Weekly workout recap – or the one where I almost vomited

With self-discipline, most anything is possible. – Theodore Roosevelt

Hi there!

It’s been quite the week of workouts. I’m actually pretty thankful to have a rest day today (rain + homework = stay inside all day) and tomorrow. My quads still need some rolling out and my shoulders, pecs, and hands (yes, hands!) are still recovering. But, I’m not complaining. That’s the best kind of sore. 🙂

Monday

I could have gone to the box on Monday. But, I went shopping with Thing 2 instead. Mother/daughter time vs WOD? Yeah, I made the right decision. 🙂

Tuesday

6pm CrossFit

On the surface, this looks like it wouldn’t be too rough. Which is why you should never just look at the surface (did you ever notice how ‘surface’ is a strange word?) or judge a book by its cover or think any workout that involves both running AND rowing and manages to throw in burpees and lasts 30. Minutes. Long. is anything BUT rough.

Of course, I’m still not running so I had to sub 10 calories on the air dyne bike.

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The idea was to finish whatever you were doing around the 50 second mark so you would have a small amount of breathing/transition time. Coach told us most people would scale the workout and that was recommended. He even had to scale the run! Then, he also said he spent a little bit of time with his head hanging over the trash can. Oh goodie.

So, I started off pretty well but by round 4, maintaining 10 calories on both the rower and the bike was getting really, really hard to do. By round 5, I scaled down to 8-9 calories on the rower, 7-8 burpees, and 8 calories on the bike. And that’s pretty much where I stayed. And, it was quite possibly one of the toughest things I’ve ever done. I wanted to quit. For reals. Just stop and breathe. But I didn’t. Not until Coach called time, that is, and I fell off the bike and laid on the floor. And, I didn’t vomit. But I thought about it.

Wednesday

5:30am Spin Class at the Y

Because I am a glutton for punishment.

This class was so much better than the first class I went to! Got in a great leg burning workout! After the class, I went out to the floor and did a little core work – mostly planks, Russian twists with a 10lb ball, and V-ups. I definitely felt that later.

6pm CrossFit

thankfully, NOT a metcon

The snatch is one of the most difficult and complex olympic lift. Most people really struggle with it and I am definitely one of those people. BUT, I’m getting better!

Coach had us warm up with 2 rounds of 5 push ups, 5 ring dips, 5 GHD sit-ups, 5 GHD back extensions, 10 walking lunges, 5 supermans, and 5 PVC overhead squats.

That was in addition to the standard warm-up that I had already completed. OY!

I started off with just the 35# bar working on the complex. Coach really wanted us to work on our hook grip and form during this stage – it wasn’t about the weight.

The hook grip is SUPER difficult. Basically, when you wrap your hands around the bar, your thumb goes UNDER your first two fingers. So, you’re not actually holding the bar, per se; you’re more holding your thumb. This helps with control of the bar – since you’re holding your thumbs, the bar is less likely to slip out of your hands. It’s very uncomfortable until you get used to it. And I’m definitely not used to it. My hands were TORE UP and so stiff by the time we were done.

I ended up finishing the complex at 45#. Coach gave me some great critique and said that he could see that I’ve improved and that I’m really concentrating on getting it right. I struggle with speed in my hips (but, they’re a LOT faster than they used to be!) and sometimes, the bar goes too far out in front of me but I’m getting there. It’s work in progress.

For the 1 rep max of the hang snatch, I got 55#. I tried 60# but failed. A few times. That’s alright, though. Work in progress. 🙂

Thursday

6pm CrossFit

I wore my cute new grey capris!

*Note to self – don’t wear the cute grey capris to a sweat-inducing workout. Especially if you take sweating very seriously. Or you are a sweaty betty. It’s not attractive when it’s all over.*

This workout, though.

My hands were still pretty stiff from the snatch complex so I wasn’t sure how all those pull-ups were going to go. But, somehow, I managed to Rx this workout. Without ripping my hands! I finished in 18:52.

Friday

5:30am Spin Class at the Y

Why do I do this to myself? Oh yeah, glutton for punishment. Crazy. Nuckin’ futs, as my sailor likes to say.

Apparently, Fridays are the “advanced” class. Um, yeah. This workout was a beast. One of the students had a heart rate monitor and he said it showed 900-some odd calories burned. Yeah, I could see that.

Then, I did an abs circuit I found on Pinterest.

 

Dude, this was NO joke. I couldn’t do all 6 rounds. I did 4 rounds and couldn’t do any more. I couldn’t do all the movements for 30 seconds – the V-sits, bicycle crunches, and tummy tucks kicked my butt. My abs were on FIRE. It was awesome!

Talk to me: How long did it take for you to get comfortable with the hook grip? What core workouts are your least (or most) favorite? Are wall balls the worst thing ever?

– jennifer

Friday Favorites (aka my sweet tooth is showing)

Happy, happy Friday!!!

I’ve been a busy, busy bee during this short week! Between work and working out, I’ve had little time for school work so you know what my weekend is going to look like! I should probably take a day off work so I can get ahead on the school work so I’m at the front rather than the back of the week. *sigh*

Hopefully, my schedule will sort itself out once the new box opens. I need to spend less time in my car – I need that time for getting As!  I haven’t heard officially yet but I know they were planning on next week! EEEPP!

I’m also hoping to squeeze in a dinner and a movie date this weekend with my sailor. I’d really like to see “Into the Woods.”  I ❤ Anna Kendrick! Anyone seen it yet?

So, let’s chat about my favorites this week.  I apparently have a major sweet tooth.

Found this little gem at a cute little store we’ve driven past and thought about checking out but never did. Perhaps that was a good thing because I believe I am now addicted to this stuff.

My name is Jennifer (hi, Jennifer) and I’m an addict. I once ate an entire jar of chocolate peanut brittle in one sitting. And I thought long and hard about driving to get more afterwards.

OMG, have you TRIED this cashew milk yet?!?!?!  It kinda has a sweet taste to it – it’s very different from almond milk – and I’ve been LOVING it in my protein smoothies! I also recreated the Overnight Quinoa Oatmeal using the cashew milk (instead of almond) and adding honey and almond butter (I subtracted the brown sugar). Holy. YUM.

I don’t even remember where I found this coffee but it is so good! The caramel and sea salt flavors are so subtle that all you can taste when you drink is really. good. coffee.

I’m usually a light roast girl – medium roast can sometimes upset my poor sensitive tummy – and I don’t often care for flavored coffee (creamer? yes. coffee? not so much.) but this stuff is pretty smooth and light. I’ve heard/read somewhere that you can actually taste the difference between regular coffee beans (ie. Folgers, etc) and organic (usually more expensive and harder to find) coffee. I believe them!

Speaking of coffee, has anyone tried the Bulletproof stuff? I’m intrigued. It’s really expensive though!

Sometimes, I enjoy having a cup of tea in the evening. I have coffee (usually only 1 cup) in the morning, I drink water all day, and then, in the evening, I’m in the mood for something different. And because drinking wine every night probably isn’t the best decision I could make, tea wins! 😉

I recently picked up these two new flavors (new to me, that is) of tea from Celestial Seasonings. I love their Sleepytime Series and their Tension Tamer (that one has catnip in it. for reals.).

hm. I think I’m being stalked.

I wasn’t too sure how much I was going to like the mint flavor (I’m funny about mint – I like it in gum and with chocolate but I wasn’t sure about drinking it) but I’m all about the flavor of vanilla so I figured the Roibos would be an excellent choice! I had a coupon for .75 (or something like that) off 2 so that’s why I grabbed both. And, I’m happy to report that they are both excellent!

yes, this picture is a little blurry. i cannot explain it.

I’ve recently learned chatting on Facebook (hey, have you liked my page yet?!) that I am an inexperienced tea drinker. I need to change that. STAT.  I need to try Yogi tea and something about dragon pearls. I don’t know. I’m intrigued though. Where do I find such teas?

Have a great weekend! 🙂

– jennifer

Wine Wednesday – Skinnygirl™ Chardonnay

Hi there!

NOW, guess what day it is? 🙂

Whoop, whoop!

Seriously, though, did you or did you not love Will and Grace? Karen was my idol. 🙂

If you said you did not love that show, you just probably didn’t watch enough of it. Or drink enough wine. I suggest Netflix so you can start over.

Anyway, I finally did it.

I broke down and bought a Skinnygirl™ wine.

I’m not sure what came over me. Maybe it was the allure of the 10.99 price tag. Maybe it was the allure of the “SILVER MEDAL” sign hanging below it. Maybe I meant to grab the Columbia Winery Chardonnay but missed? I don’t know.

Not that I have anything against Skinnygirl™ – as a wine lover, that brand just seems more, I don’t know, commercial to me rather than actually wine oriented.

I can see the draw though – the thought of “low-calorie wine” could be very attractive to someone who’s on a diet and still wants to enjoy a bottle glass bottle-sized glass of wine.

See, the thing is, this wine boasts 100 calories for a 5 ounce serving. So you THINK you’re getting a great deal on calories but the same portion of a traditional white wine (not “skinnyfied”) is only about 110 calories and 120 calories for red wine.

Hm. You do the math.

Plus, it still has 12% alcohol by volume (that means sugar). Most wines are 13% (unless they’re really, really big Syrahs or Cabs and they clock in at 14+%) anyway so, really, where are these “calorie savings?”

And, I have to be totally honest. This wine was WAAAAAYYYY too easy to drink. So, whatever “calorie bonus” there actually goes out the window with each glass you pour. Because, it does get easier to pour. And drink. And then it’s gone. Just like that.

So, if you’re looking to buy a bunch of wine for book club – okay, wait. I cannot seriously recommend that you buy this wine. If you are having people over that you DON’T like and you have to provide the wine, then maybe this is a good choice but if you are having friends over and you want to have a nice wine with your meal/book club finger foods/cocktail party/etc, buy something real. From a vineyard. That cares about wine, not calories.

Besides, you don’t want to wear your 4 year old daughter’s pajamas anyway. 😉

Okay, side note: if you regularly buy/drink/love this wine, please don’t get mad at me for my review. I’m kind of a wine snob and I’m very particular. AND, I spent 3 years in Monterey, California with some AMAZING wine available to me. That being said, it WAS tasty. And I did drink it. ALL. I’m not proud. Or sad about it. Although, I did have a slight headache the next day so, that part wasn’t fun. I am SO not in my 20s anymore.

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– jennifer