End of January

Retrospective....

J and T were here for holidays - so much fun..miss them so!

There is a fairy tale - I think it has something to do with swans and an unrecognized princess - where the UR is knitting or sewing something that needs to be completed and thrown over the swans so they won't perish by stake burning. Huge sense of urgency to get it done, lots of pressure, very time bound kind of story. She does it and they LHEA*. Same sense of urgency without the stake burning possibility but, hopefully, the same LHEA ending with this that I made for J and T while they were here....

*Live happily ever after

C had a bday! 25 and beautiful. smart, funny and together as ever. I am so proud of her.

Back to work - need I say more - but I am thankful that I am working. So many are not.

Stayed true to fitness intentions - crossfit at least 3 times a week/paleo dieting without many diversions or distractions. J, I do miss you at the gym - you made me try harder, go faster, lift more and so on.

We all waved goodbye...

or at least one did

And said hello...

And were happy!

But first there is the glory...

then there is the work

and a lot of work there is.

I do have hope.

That same historic week included a bday for the Lo! A very big 6!!! A joyful, happy, beautiful, adorable, smart, funny and amazing 6!

Then J had a birthday! January is busy. We sent him a bunch of videos of us wishing him a happy one - the good ones and the outtakes. We could just see him smile and hear him laugh as he watched them!

Just got back from a week long trip to Minneapolis for work - it was zero degrees, that's right, no degrees!! Blippin cold and, of course, I only have California weather gear. I survived but am glad to be back. I was reminded of how unhealthy business travel really is. I did do some of the cross fit warm ups while I was there and did try to eat healthily - but it was not easy. I really do understand how I blimped up the 18 months I was on the road!!!

That was January - I am off to crossfittin!

Yesterday it was lifting

WOD January 30 2009
Complete as many rounds as possible 20 minutes of:

95 pound Thruster, 5 reps

95 pound Hang Powercleans, 7 reps

95 pound Sumo Deadlift High-pull, 10 reps

only I did 22 pounds and did it 16 times.

Looking forward to today....

hey hey hey

156 baby!!!

For posterity

in case I never do this again or in case I do....

today I ran 4 times 800m (which for those wondering, it equals 2 miles) for time. So it went likes this...
1st 800m = 6:17
2nd 800m = 6:03
3rd 800m = 6:05
last 800m (thank you!!) 5:45!

Now, I know that is not the fastest or probably not impressive to most...it is, however, more than I have ever run and, therefore, faster than I have ever run!

J...lookin all over for you...

love these shoes

They are the bomb!!!! Need another pair!!!

sorry...

for the silence (to all my one readers). Been travelin, etc.
Anyway - on the fitness front - in case I didn't post it, I am down to 157 which is another pound. They are not falling off as fast as they did in the beginning :-(, but I am still on the paleo plan.

Workouts since last post - did not work out on Wednesday... Friday was the split jerk 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 and top weight was 55. Sounds light, but I held it to that because I was still wobbly at the top.

Saturday, we did luck of the draw. For those who don't know - it is two teams, four exercises (sit ups, pull ups, squats, burpees) each assigned a suit (heart/club/diamond/spade). One team picks for the other team - if they pick 10 of diamonds then the other team needs to do 10 squats. The other team picks (say a Jack of spades), the first team needs to do 11 burpees. And so on for time. Our team did NOT get the luck of the draw - we got most, if not all, of the burpees - and we got most, if not all, of the high cards. So we would do the 11 burpees, then their card would tell them to do 2 situps, then we would do 15 situps, they would do 3 pullups and so on. No rest for the weary. Time for the other team was 1/2 of our time - so that should show you. And, in case you are wondering, I did NOT hold them back. I only finished last in maybe two of the rounds.

Forgot to tell you - in the warmup, we ran 800 meters. and, to my immense surprise, I ran 800 meters!

Today's WOD

Three rounds for time of...
50 reps of 24" box jumps 50 reps (I did 22" step up/down)
21 reps of deadlift (I lifted 83 lbs - rx is 135 for women)
30 pullups (I did jumping pullups)
my time was 26:16 ... better than some on the board.

Still holding at 158 - but I do think that I have lost more inches than the weight indicates.
Paleo diet is still on. J - I do agree that I am able to do a WOD like this primarily because I am eating right. I know I would have had a much tougher time if I wasn't. Make no mistake, my friends, I was wiped out!!!

Will be traveling this week so will crossfit Tuesday and then again on Friday.

Annie...

was the WOD today... that is: 50-40-30-20-10 of double unders and situps

for time. I did jump ups (or some such name)

instead of double unders.they said that they would scale the WOD back to 25-20-15-10-5

but J, you would be proud of me...I would have none of that!!!

I did Annie's jump ups and situps starting at 50 then 40 30 20 10 and I did them

in 13:35 which was faster than at least 3 people on the white board,
two were younger than me.

SCORE!

new year's blues

although I did lift 57 lbs in the clean and jerk today, on the whole, I am not feeling very amazing these days.

Jay 'n me at Crossfit

For the past few weeks, Jay and I have been Crossfittin together. Jay had at least two personal records and for Fran made #1 on the big greaseboard in the sky!!!

For my part, at my son's "gentle" urging - I now can do 30 pushups the regular way (that is on my toes, not my knees), do ring rows and have tried jumping pull ups, recently did 150 squats as part of Monday's WOD, and so on and so on.

And maintained my winning weight even after all of the holidays. I credit Jason with that - not just because we went to the gym at least 4 days each week, but mostly for getting me involved in this in the first place. One of the best things that I have done for myself.

Jay and T left on Sunday... when I went to the gym on Monday, one of the trainers said that he already missed Jay. I understand that - my son has such an enthusiasm for life, it is contageous. He challenges himself and those around him to be better, to have fun and to get the most out of everything that they do - whether it is a workout, playing Rock Band, snowboarding, or just enjoying a movie or a conversation. He is an amazing human being - I am so incredibly proud of him.

I miss him too.