Start Each Day with a Grateful Heart

Even though we should feel this way every day, there are some days that I just feel especially humbled and grateful to have the things, people and opportunities that I do in my life. Sometimes it is losing something or someone or a feeling in your gut you can't ignore, but it is always a physical and mental reaction for me. 

I woke up this morning and I complained to myself about going to work. Instead of letting that be the way I start my day (as per suggestion from my incredible best friend, Kate Schuh), I grabbed the notebook I keep by my bed and wrote down 3 things I am grateful for. It has probably been one of the best practices I have incorporated into my daily routine. 3 things when I wake up and 3 things when I go to sleep.  I start every day positively and end every day positively, no matter what happened in between. 

For some reason, it is SO natural for us to complain about things. We hear it all day at work, waiting in line, from our friends, on social media. It is infectious. I catch myself caught in it all the time. I (and we all should in my opinion) need to make a more conscious decision to look around and realize just how much we have. 

The people we love. Our crossfit boxes. Our health. Food on the table and a roof over our heads. Internet access! Our freedom. Seriously, there's not much more you can want. 

So please...start each day AND end each day with a grateful heart. 

My oldest friend, Meghan, lost her father this week to a long battle with cancer. Please consider donating in support of her and her family: 

http://mskcc.convio.net/site/TR/FredsTeamEvents/Freds_Team?px=2865736&pg=personal&fr_id=2150

Strong & Skilled

I always have felt like I either have a great day of training or a terrible day. 

Today was different. 

I went into the gym incredibly, prepared to work through the programming, but didn't have much expectation, positive or negative. It ended up being a day of learning. I didn't lift my heaviest, string together 10s of ring dips or feel particularly smooth in my cleans, but this gave me the time and brain power to focus on technique and skill. 

I made sure I went low enough on my dips. 

Worked on my breathing in my front squats

Widened my hands in my HSPU (amazing!)

Dropped my ass as fast as possible on my cleans 

Lesson learned: not every day is for lifting the heaviest weight or for being so frustrated you end up in tears. There are days to slow down, to make the little things better and walk out feeling accomplished. 

Crossfit is just as much about being strong as it is about being sound. 

Let yourself be strong AND skilled. 

One day at a time. 

Incorporating New Training

throwback to when my chicken legs really were chicken legs

As I said in my last post, I had been a little disenchanted with Crossfit for a couple weeks (for my own reasons), but I also started to realize that I appreciate and love Crossfit even more when I mix in other kinds of training. That may sound counter intuitive, but it:

1. helps me stretch out and rest my muscles that I may not do otherwise  

2. makes me appreciate the feeling of using a barbell and pushing my body to it's limits 

3. humbles me and reminds me that just because I can squat so and so lbs does NOT mean I can go into any other fitness arena and master it. 

Here are some things I decided to throw into my routine: 

1. open water swimming- this is obviously a season sensitive thing, but it will hopefully give me more reason to jump in the pool when the colder weather rolls around. 

2. kayaking (season sensitive seems like a theme)- but it's beautiful and a great core/upper body workout

3. pure barre- at first this was way too 'girly' for me, but it helps with smaller muscle control and stretching

What kind of cross training/alternatives do you throw in?

kayaking in the LI Sound

lake swim at Lake Padden in WA

Crossfit's Personality

Before I start my rant, I have another rant. I really don't like the name of this blog anymore, it doesn't really portray what I'm about or have grown into over the past 2 years, so it may change. Heads up :)

Anyways. I decided last night that Crossfit has a personality. For the past 2 or 3 weeks, I was so disenchanted with Crossfit, my knees were aching from running and every time I did go I struggled and that just pissed me off. After a few great weeks of training, that BS happens. Not surprisingly, how I was feeling in the gym is exactly how I was feeling in my life. It's like Crossfit decided to play a trick on me. Luckily, like most things in my life, I don't give up that easily. 

Last night, I finally got back into the gym with a positive attitude and PRed my 3RM hang clean/killed the workout. I found myself (no I'm not that crazy), talking to 'Crossfit' in the car ride on the way home. "Did you really just let me PR after practically 3 weeks off?! It's like a relationship you can't stop yourself from going back to. Ok...fine, I'm back into it" 

Crossfit (and your body) sometimes lets you be amazing, to PR, kill workouts, feel great. Sometimes it makes you feel slow and heavy, even angry. But one thing I can say, even with this bipolar personality, it is always there to challenge you, to remind you that life is not always exactly as you want it but it is exactly as you need it. 

OK fine...crossfit and life are related, linked, whatever. Positives outside of the gym equal inside the gym and vice versa. Oh Crossfit.

Crossfit Barbie hits the PNW

 This is a few weeks late, but it's really cool so that'll make up for it. :) I was out in Washington and Oregon about a month ago for a business trip; I flew into Seattle and made my way out to Eastern Washington, down to Eastern Oregon, Portland and back up to Washington. Most of my trip was driving and meeting with customers, but I did get to throw in some "adventure" i.e me pushing a meeting back to run up to waterfalls and walk through the Oneonta Gorge. The customer would never know right? You don't get many chances to be a lot of these beautiful places, so take a break from work sometimes and just do it!

Unfortunately I was sick for the first 2/3 of the trip, so I only finally got to visit a CF gym in Portland, but being outdoors, walking around some incredibly beautiful areas of our country was a peaceful mental WOD that was much of what I needed. You'd also be amazed at how elevation changes things...

Not my best look, but overlooking the Columbia River was priceless

the Oneonta Gorge in Oregon

Sunset over Eastern Washington

Lake Chelan

Snow Caps in 80 degree weather in Stephen's Pass

Cashmere, WA Desert Mountains