Inspiration

Sooooooo close. Between the kippers and skippers workshop last month with Tenacious T, B-rah rah and Coach Hurly and some one on one work with W this past week my kip was starting to look more like...well more like a kip. Then today with the support of Fancy Nancy I was this close to getting my chin to the bar. Pretty good Christmas Eve workout if you ask me!!! It pays to believe in Christmas magic I know that if I get this kip thing down I can do Fran prescribed. After the self doubt that has been creeping in over the last week or two this is just what I needed.

Watch out b$&@#!!!! I'm coming!!!!!

Inspiration

In elementary school, teachers celebrate the 100th day of school.  And because there is 100 days left until FRAN I thought a little song a friend of mine shared might be appropriate.  Considering how often I play the mental game of breaking up my reps in different ways this is quite fitting. 

How Many is One Hundred?

(to the tune of "Mary Had a Little Lamb")

How many is one hundred,
One hundred, one hundred,
How many is one hundred?
It's ten groups of ten.

How many is one hundred,
One hundred, one hundred?
How many is one hundred?
It's twenty groups of five.

How many is one hundred,
One hundred, one hundred?
How many is one hundred?

It's fifty groups of two.

How many is one hundred,
One hundred, one hundred,
How many is one hundred?
It's one hundred groups of one.

Iram Khan

Blogger's block

I thought a blogger never ran out of stuff to say! Isn't that an unwritten blog rule-rant and rave ALL the time even if its about nothing in particular.  Well its hard for me to admit it but I got nothin'.  There have been very few times in my life that I haven't found something to talk about.  I am good at talking, its kinda of my thing.  So the fact that I have written once in December and have about 6 half written mediocre "essays" that just aren't that exciting or interesting is a little frustrating and has started to wear on me.

To be honest I think that my naive idea to try one of the most famous CrossFit benchmarks was based on very little personal knowledge of what I would have to do to complete FRAN.  And as time has passed this fun way to get in shape has taken a serious turn! In fact I think like many who sample the kool-aid I might suddenly be in "too deep" to sarcastically comment on the things I used to.    

This new respect for the idiosyncrasies of CF combined with a lack of valuable screen time (wait a sec....valuable + screen time = an oxymoron) has left me with a very sparse blog this month.  I find that my time online has been consumed with other things lately.  Who knew that this one time, reluctant, weekend CrossFit skeptic was going to someday be scouring the Internet soaking up any and all information about anything and everything to do with this not so underground fitness phenomenon.  No seriously, I used to surf the web for cool ways to teach balancing equations to grade 10s or fun things to do with your toddler.  Now I am looking up ways to improve my front squat, finding tips and tricks to help my thrusters and the majority of my time I just watch videos from Mobility WOD....oh come on....you would be hard pressed to find a CF lady who doesn't love that guy....for that matter any lady who doesn't swoon over that guy...Sigh....

Inspiration will come...it always does, but for now I will spend my time pretending that K Starr is my personal mobility coach and even if I have nothing to ever say again I will at least be limber :)    

attemptedwriter.com

Inspiration

So this isn't me....don't get too excited.  I have just mastered doing a 30 sec handstand against the wall without falling or freaking out. 

I just joined pinterest.....hello, where has that been all my life!!!! It takes friend stalking to a whole new level. 

Found this picture among other awesome CrossFit inspired stuff on Coach Jazzy J's pin board. 

Family means so much more...

Families take on all shapes and sizes. Ones more traditional than others. They can be called many things; a fellowship, a network, a fraternity.  Some families are referred to as tribes, clans, even cults.  No matter what you name it, it feels good to belong some where,  in one way or another. We all have the desire to feel connected and in times of sorrow it couldn't be more true.  Blood may run thicker than water but family can extend well beyond our genetic makeup. Who belongs or how they "got in" doesn't really matter because those who do, share a bond that bands them together.  The family at Ignite is no different than so many kinships that have developed over time and result in an investment in each others lives.  The folks at there are interconnected and linked,  an entity that at times functions and feels like one unit. When one person hurts, so does the collective.   There to celebrate each others successes and with heavy hearts mourn each others losses.  Like a team of mountain climbers, roped together, standing ready to offer support and open arms when a member losses their footing or at the summit with arms raised waiting to congratulate the epic feat.  Full of understanding, caring and empathy a family is more than just a last name, it is a sense that you will be thought of and loved even when you are in your darkest moments.    

Inspiration

W came across this video on one of his absolute favourite CrossFit sites, CrossFit Connection out of Burlington, Ont.  I have been scouring the Internet looking for a solid tutorial on the "proper" way to do a thruster so I was super excited when W pointed this one out to me.  Who could ask for a better firebreather to teach it either!  

Sidelined

Whether it's because of injury, illness or just life in general, when you have been metaphorically benched from the activities that you love, for any period of time, it can be really frustrating.  Think Sidney Crosby and his suspiciously long absence from the Penguins line up.  Maybe he really is THAT concussed, maybe it is just his GM trying to make a statement to the NHL, either way it can't be easy for arguably, the best player, in the league to sit on the sideline and watch.  All athletes, whatever the sport, elite or not, can relate to the feelings that come with not being able to get in on the action. Feelings of being unproductive, useless, frustrated, angry, worried, anxious swirl in your head. Not being able to work towards a goal you have set for yourself because of circumstances you couldn't avoid can be hard on the psyche. 

Over the remembrance day weekend I went home with one intention, to meet my two new beautiful nieces, but I did so much more.  I gorged like a biggest loser during temptation week, ingested sugar like I was a Dr. Shepard on Private Practice getting her next fix and drank like a recovering alcoholic falling off the wagon on Celebrity Rehab.  The negligence to my health wouldn't have been so bad but mix that with seven kids all fighting seasonal colds, late and/or sleepless nights, lots of running around, driving for a total of 18 hours and absolutely no working out and Voila you have yourself a recipe for germ filled disaster.   I am border line mad at myself and definitely not proud of my choices and now I am paying.  Shortly after starting the trek home I realized that I was coming down with all the classic symptoms of a common head cold.  Sinus congestion, chest rattling cough, splitting migraines and achy muscles.  And just like that my short weekend hiatus from my "plan to pull up" has been unexpectedly extended. 

I can't beat my self up about getting sick, people are bound to get sick, it happens all the time.   You wake up one morning and you feel like you have been hit by a truck.  There are those days when just the idea of getting out of bed  makes grab a family size NyQuil from your medicine cabinet and jump back under the covers.   I have been sick before and continued to do what I always do; go to work, take care of my kids, run errands, do chores around the house, I have even gone to the gym to run on the treadmill (BC of course) and made it through the day.  There are ideas out there that working out through your sickness can boost your immune system but there is something about trying to CrossFit while sick that makes me question this school of thought.   The idea of doing a burpee while fighting the flu, hanging upside down to do a handstand push up while dealing with a case of sinus congestion or trying to carry around a box of Kleenex while doing your WOD because your nose won't stop running makes me wonder how good of a workout would you really be getting anyways?

So I sit idle, taking some time to let my body rest and get better but I worry that I might have done quite a number on my progress and am concerned that I have derailed to the point where a pull up is much farther off than just the end of November.  Argh!