It's FRIIIIIDAAAAY!!!

Happy Friday, also the eve of my 13th half marathon!  Tomorrow I'll be out and about at the crack of dawn to run my 3rd Brooklyn Half.   NYRR does a great job with this race, even though it's a pain to get to and I have to be up at 4am.  I also have PR'd every time I have ran it, although I'm not expecting much tomorrow.

Anyway....

Thing's I'm loving right now!

Trampolines!
I went to Skyzone for one of their Skyfit classes.  I have to say, I was expecting it to be easy, but it was pretty hard! The instructor even incorporated weights into the mix.  Definitely an awesome way to spend a birthday or a fun day date with the gals.

And if you can do this...even better!

Crossfit231
I'm back at it with a vengeance! A new box opened up at the end of my street, which means walking distance which also meant that I left Cobalt which I was loving, but was just not getting to. These guys are great, it's a bit of an older crowd which I really like.  Not that I am old, but it's nice to workout with people who are more my age (30's), also helps on the social angle.


8 pounds
Gone and NEVER coming back!  Now I just need to lose about 10 more.  I'm about 40 days off of wheat, life changing! Have I had trace amounts yes, but nothing obvious like a hunk of bread or a box of Cheeze-its.

What are you loving right now?

Confession

I have a confession...I'm enjoying Crossfit so much that I don't want to run, like ever.  I need to get my running mojo back considering I start NYCM training next week.  Gulp.

I'm still shocked by how much I'm enjoying the CF...it's like I've had some cosmic shift.  It also helps that I love the new box, and the owners, and the, well, everything.  It's not elitist, they are actually normally people.  With anything there are cliques, people that have been friends awhile, but this place just makes you feel welcomed.  I'm even thinking about participating in one of their league nights...I know, who am I??

That Time I Went Back to Crossfit

I'm still not sure how this happened, but last night I found myself at a Crossfit box ready to do my first WOD in god, probably over a year (maybe longer?).  I certainly didn't cherry pick  - we did 7's.  It was hard, my hands split open, I scaled back like woa, but I did it.  Or almost did it, we had a 35 minute cutoff, I got through 6 rounds plus 11. 

I used to hate CF.  I quit CF and was not that sad about it.  I was always looking for my perfect fit, or something.  I never quite got the magic of the whole thing.  And frankly, I still don't, but I know that I want to get stronger and fitter and overall kick some ass so this is the cheapest way with the best bang that I could think of.  The only caveat is that I have to work it! I need to max out my weight, not take it too easy.  That was part of why I never saw results, I never gave it my all...and I hated it.  So this time?  I'm determined to love it.  I'm determined to work at it, I also want to feel a part of.  CF has an amazing community aspect to it, if you get involved.  So I'm going to get involved. 

The best part is that I have time - the new job is awesome and I get home in time to have a life.  Things with the boy are still on the fence, so for now, it's all abut me.  Crossfit, yoga and of course running.  All things I love and want to get better at.  All things that define who I am. 

I'll go back on Thurs and officially join.  I though that maybe I would go all over and find the perfect spot, but after one class, I think I have found it.  I'm excited.  Now I just need to invest in tape or gloves so I can shake hands and not worry about grossing anyone out!

I Moved The Scale

The scale is both my friend and enemy.  I like to know where I stand, but when that number fluctuates, I may or may not get a little evil to be around.

I've been on a crazy-weigh-my-self-obsessively kick lately.  Sometimes 2x a day, and for sure every day, but I only "count" my Monday morning number.

All this weighing in business is exhausting so I have moved the scale. Drastic measures people!

 For now it's under my bed, but I may move it to the basement. It's time to focus on healthy eating, not a number. 

I'm still a little all over the place with the quitting Crossfit thing, but part of me feels relieved which makes me think it really is time to go.  I'm still active until March 1, so I will definitely make a few classes.  CF became this rigid thing for me, if I didn't make a certain number of workouts it was a waste of money, and there wasn't a lot of flexibility.  For instance, today is going to be close to 55 degrees so I'm hoping to run, but I haven't make a single CF workout since last week, normally I would have a resentment and go just so I wasn't wasting money, today I'm like who cares, just go for the run...It's nice to just do, not fret about the dollars and cents of a workout!

Quitting Crossfit

I've been going back and forth for awhile about Crossfit: stay, quit, like, love, worth the expense, not worth the expense...so on and so forth.

I'm still on the fence, but I think I'm going to give it up.  I'm not seeing the results I was hoping for and it's getting harder to fit in the workouts (hence the not great results).  I'd love to say that for the past 6 months my body/life/self has changed drastically because of CF, but it's just not true.  I have gotten stronger for sure, but I think I can continue to build strength at my regular gym.

Does CF work?  TOTALLY, if you work it.

I know my food isn't 100% and I'm only there around 2 -3 times per week (along with running and the occasional spin class) and it's still cheaper than a personal trainer, but in my heart of hearts I just can't justify the expense.

I've always been a believer of the "don't quit before the miracle" adage and I think that's part of why I have held on for so long.  But as I write this post, it's clear to me that I need to move on - for now.

I'm going to miss some of the movements, and most of what I will miss I can do at my regular gym, but will I?  That is the beauty of CF, I get to do things I would normally not do.

So for today, the plan is to terminate for March, then re-evaluate in a month.  I'm pretty regimented as of late, so maybe I can build out some sort of a plan for myself and see how I do.  And who knows, I may end up back in a box, maybe even a new one....the beauty of this workout journey that I'm on is that it's MINE and I can make changes and figure things out as I go.

Lastly, and I CANNOT stress this enough about myself....I NEED to clean up my food.

Chicago Here I Come!!

It's officially official....I just registered for The Chicago Marathon! I am beyond excited! I knew I wanted to run another marathon and since getting into NY is so slim through lottery I figured why not and so here I am, confirmed, running partners in tow and I think we may even have our room squared away. Yes, I am aware that it is only Feb 7.

Even though I was knee deep in taco dip at last nights Super Bowl party, I'm feeling back on track with food. I logged every bit of food I ate last week and will continue to do so until I die, or something like that. I took 2 spin classes and hit up crossfit 3x, including Saturdays WOD which was probably the longest CF workout ever...I think I finished in 46 minutes. It was tough, sweaty and loooong but I loved every second of it.

Aside from obsessing about Chicago, the plan for this week is to continue watching my food, spin tomorrow at 6am with Sully, CF at night and a mix of CF and running the rest of the week.

Those few pounds I wrote about last week are more like 5 so the goal is to get those off plus some this month. I'm toying around with the idea of staying away from the scale. I'm thinking I will weigh in only 2x per month...I hate that I am a slave to a number, even though I do think it keeps me on track.

Crossfit, Weight and Fear of Failure

I had a big "come to jesus" talk with my Crossfit coach this week, we spoke about my sometimes frustration, my dedication and overall if this is for me. I've been Crossfitting for awhile now and I've seen some change but I constantly question the HUGE monthly fee and if it's worth it.

Two things I know for sure, in order to be successful I need to 1. clean up my food and 2. work harder. Plain and simple. For whatever reason I'm stuck on carbs (the junky ones) and they are really what is killing me. Oh, and ice cream too. But I know I will reap the rewards if I make these little changes.

Since our talk I've had two very good workouts. We talked about my form and my function - form is spot on, I was trained well prior coming to Fusion, I'm not really working on my function, really powering through. I should feel totally wiped after a workout. You know those pics of people laying on the floor when a wod is done...yea, that's not me. So the new focus is upping my intensity which I have done big time my last two workouts.

Next up is the diet, which it seems, is always next up...

I figure if I keep blogging about it I'll eventually do something about it, right? RIGHT?!?!?

I recently read a post from one of my favorite bloggers. She sums up better than I could about what has been going on for me - fear of failure. I guess I'm afraid that if I do the work, the real hard work and fail, it wouldn't have been worth it. All this time I have been afraid of my own success. Don't get me wrong, I'm also afraid of the work, the uncomfortableness that comes along with dieting. But I've been here before and SUCCESSFULLY lost weight. So today I'm going to focus on doing - forgetting about the fear and just powering on.

Weekend Recap

This weekend was rather dull. The Manhattan Half got turned into a fun run so I decided not to trek into the city for a cold, wet and snowy race. My knee thanked me. It would have been a struggle to begin with as I wasn't really ready for the distance, at least not to race so I was pretty happy to sleep in. The rest of the day was spent on the couch eating pancakes with the boy and working on our stuff (pancakes = fun, working on our stuff was not). On a happy side note we still get 9+1 credit for the race. Holla!!

Yesterday I ran the 3rd Winter Run at Caumsett State Park. Nothing to write home about, we were late so we got stuck behind the walkers and it was hard to dart in and out, the path was narrow and snowy so I just took in the scenery and had a nice race. I managed to negative split and my knee was pain free throughout. Today I'm a little sore, but not too bad.

This week the plan is Crossfit Today/Weds/Thurs. Tue will most likely be an off day unless I do something in the morning, then off to the mountains for a ski weekend with the boy and our friends.

Old Box? New box? No Box?

I have been thinking a lot lately about Crossfit and whether or not it's for me. I had wanted to join for quite awhile and finally bit the bullet in August. I knew I wasn't going to be a die hard right away, I had the marathon to think about, so hitting up the box 4 days per week wasn't going to happen. I was happy with my 2 -3 times per week, but wasn't really seeing any major notable change that I couldn't attribute to the running. Anyway, I kept with it and now I'm sort of feeling like it isn't for me.

Or could it be that my current box isn't for me?

I want to love it, but really I think that where I am going is the problem. I'm not really motivated to go, it's far enough where I feel it's out of the way, but close enough that I can and should go more than I am. I'm also not digging the culture. I'm old (ok, 34) the average age is like 20 something, male.

A few weeks ago I posted about a new box opening, which really got me to think about EXACTLY what I am looking for...close to home, clean, fun, supportive (and by supportive I mean be happy that I'm running marathons, don't look down on it!). I'm not sure the new place will have that, but for now I know Lindy is out. It's not meeting my needs, so why try and force a square peg into a round hole?

I have decided to check out Crossfit Fusion which is literally 400 yards from my office. They seem to have nice thing going on, I have been checking out their blog for quite sometime and it seems more my speed. I had a long talk with the coach this morning and I'm going to do a WOD there tomorrow. If I like it I'm going to sign up for Dec. There are a tons of pro's: close to work (so no reason why I cant go 4x per week), clean, I know a few people there, from what I can tell a nice culture, people more my age. The only con is the price, they are expensive! I'll be looking at $150 per month VS $100.

I'm going to miss Lindy and my coach, but if it's not working it's not working. I'm committed to giving CF another go at a new place, if I'm still on the fence, I'll bail and go back to Fitness Incentive as my main gym. I do know this, I have to DO WORK in order to see results, feel a part of and really love it, so along with my goals from yesterday, this is one that I am definitely going to work at.

Pictures of My Box (TWSS!)

Lindy!


Crossfit has been this weird thing that I do that no one seems to understand and I can't completely explain.

I do know this it's hard and I love it. I work out in a box, doing functional exercise and sweating... a lot, sometimes on top of other peoples sweat which is gross and sometimes reminds me of why I think hot yoga is a little icky.

I digress.

The last few WODS have been so tough. I swear my workout on Sat left me drained for the entire day. I was also crazy sore until probably yesterday.

Last night, well, let's just say I was toast. I got promoted to a heavier kettle bell, it was heavy and hard and I loved it. I felt part of the crew and strong and all those good things that you feel after a really tough workout.

As much as I loved marathon training, I'm excited to ease up on miles to allow for more Crossfit workouts. My goal is to go no less than 3 times per week which I should be able to do fairly easily. I think the reason why I haven't had the post marathon blues is because I'm so excited to focus on something else. I have a goal and plan and I'm ready! Yesterday I spoke about possibly going to another gym once it opens, but I think I'm going to hold off, at least for right now. I'm pretty happy with the way things are (even if it is a little out of the way).

Run for the Warriors PR!

I love the Warrior Run, ran it last year and it easily became my favorite race.

This year was no different. The spirit on the course as well as the start is really amazing. Tons of vets run as well as active duty guys. This was a race that I for sure wish I was taking pics, there was a group of Navy guys all in formation, a few guys "bear crawling" at least the first mile with heavy pacs on. Good stuff.

I had no real strategy, I wanted to run it out and see how I would do. Yesterday was probably the hardest WOD I have done, so today I am crazy sore, plus I'm 7 days post marathon.

I was a total positive split, but only off by by 30 seconds from fastest mile to slowest mile, so not too bad. I kept in the low 9's, one mile in the 8's. I was crazy tight and my achilles got all wonky (always happens with new sneaks).

I had a feeling a PR was possible, but I couldn't remember what my time was last year, which i think was a good thing because I might have blown it had I known. Mile 6 was hard, but I just kept pushing and used the whole warrior mantra - if our service guys and gals can do their thing, I can do this.

Final time 57:29! Hootie hoo! A PR by 15 seconds, still counts!! Last year was also a PR on this course, I think it's a good luck 10k for me.

Aside from the great race, bands, opening ceremony, I spent some time with one of my old friends who I haven't seen in ages which was so fun, plus I hung with the who's who of the LI running scene (umm, or just regular runners that I'm friends with). My parents also came out to cheer me on, after the marathon they are getting the hang of being my own personal cheer squad!

Another great race in the books. Love it!

Weekends....

Weekends....

Sometimes I love them, other times I hate them.

When I first got sober weekends were killer, I worked at the restaurant just so I had something to do, but the nights killed me. Then I got a social life and I still sort of hated weekends, plus I was a mess. I was 26, missing my party life, missing Fire Island, old man bars and just the craziness of what at the time I though was fun.

Thank god I did work, got better and started to embrace life (whew!!)

So fast forward to 8 years later (yup, 8 years with no booze) and I love my weekends, cherish them actually, until the fall comes around. Summer - beach all day Sat and Sun, Winter - skiing almost every weekend in VT.

Fall? B-O-R-I-N-G.

Ok, I know people love the fall, but I'm just no that into it. I never know what to wear, if I should put the heat on or what to do. Last fall I was with the boy so we did stuff, which was good, this year no boy = boring sundays.

I'm learning to like boring though. Yesterday I ran 5 then came home and watched TV for hours, which is so not me, but It felt good to just sit and do nothing. I'm trying to embrace the "nothing". It's working. Then I busted out of my TV induced coma and got my shop on and ate pizza. I'm still full (when will I learn that 1 buffalo slice does not need to be chased with a meatball slice?).

Sat was much more productive, tried on Mary Kay makeup, had dinner with friends, saw another friend celebrate her anniversary then went to a party. I really was non-stop all day, which made my TV induced coma on Sunday almost ok.

And today? Back to the grind. I'm a big Monday fan. Seriously. Plus I got my Crossfit on, was up at 5:30 so I headed over to the 6am class. It was great, Push press, front squats and pull ups. I feel strong and productive and centered. Just 1 week away from the marathon. I'm ready.

Feet Don't Fail Me Now!

Cheers to no stress fracture!

Boo to possible tendinitis!

I'm a little bummed to have an overuse injury and really can only blame myself, should have been icing, BUT the good news is that I can run and my Doc is going to give me a shot of cortisone next week to get me through the marathon.

I can run this week, just not anything too crazy, so I'm happy about that, but if I feel pain, I'm going to stop. Last Night I went to Crossfit where coach was like SEEEE, running is bad, blah blah. I told coach to suck it(ok, not really), obvi I have not fully drank the Crossfit Kool-Aid yet, although I'm close :) (actually, I'm drinking it, just not ready to admit it,HA!)

So this week the plan is to ice, get an ultrasound done, take a lot of Advil, run just a little, then my 8 miler on sat, Crossfit maybe 2 more times and get myself psyched up for the BIG DAY!!!

Food Police!!

Wow. I'm hungry, or just really into shitty-for-you foods.

If I told you guys what I ate today you may yell at me or call the food police. Seriously, but here goes...

I had a nice bowl of cereal, then some almonds, then Trader Joe's chicken marsala and spinach salad....all planned and all relatively healthy.

Then came DD, Iced coffee with a side of a pumpkin donut please.

Then the killer, a leftover Mc D's cheese burger.

I'm gross. And it's not even 3:00.

Thank god this is not a typical day and I guess I should be thankful that I'm back in my skinny pants (all of them thank-you-very-much). But woa, I cannot have another day like today.

Last night was a great night at Crossfit, I felt a little less like an idiot and more like a real Crossfitter. We did squat thrusts, box jumps and ring rows (everyone else did pull ups). Box jumps are really hard for me, and it's all mental which is super weird, but I'm proud to say that I graduated to the small box and killed it. Holler!

Mentally preparing myself for Sunday's 18 miler. I'm really excited for it, but am seriously considering picking up some compression gear for my calves. I can't wait to crush this distance.

Getting Close!

47 days till the Full Mary!

I'm getting excited. Not nervous, like at all, which I'm sure will happen sooner rather than later. I am a little afraid of getting hurt though, which considering I got caught up in a dog leash yesterday and almost rolled my ankle during Saturday's 12 miler is sort of funny.

So back to the 12 miler, I felt really good, especially the second half which was amazing considering I ate like shit all week at my national sales meeting and didn't run at all.

This week is a light run week, but I have to get back to Crossfit - the goal is 3 sessions, plus 2 3mi and 1 6mi runs. Sunday is the 18 miler in Central Park which I'm pretty psyched for.

Some Highlights

So busy, like barely can breath busy - but here are some highlights from the last week or so:

I turned 34

Long Island had an earthquake

We also had a hurricane

I ran 15 miles

Then 10 miles before said hurricane

Haven't been to Crossfit a ton, averaging 2x a week, need to kick it up to at least 3

Got new sneaks,a few hours before said hurricane (and it was packed!!!)

Saw Wicked on Broadway

Am texting like mad with new boy that I haven't met from #onlinedatingworld and I think I might like him. It also helps that we have a mutual friend, so I know he's not a serial killer.

Am pretty much over the old boy (thank god the back and forth for months is over!!!)

Of course, in poor blogger fashion I have no pics, but that's how I roll. And my 3 readers are OK with it.

Fitness Friday

I love running early in the morning, even though lately I can barely get up...

I made plans to run 90 minutes with gym partner (we have been recently reunited). While I train by distance, she goes by time, but since we were running in the 10's so I could monitor my heart rate it worked. Gym Partner is speedy, so I felt bad, but we were consistent and finished the 9 at a pace of 10:18 and she felt good. She's tri training, so the pace worked.

I wish I took some pics, but the morning was so amazingly peaceful and calm. We ran the normally busy Montauk HWY from Babylon to Bay Shore and back. It's a straight run that I love, no turns no twists, just the calmness of the road and some nice scenery along the way.

Tonight I head back to Crossfit for the last of my Foundations training. I'm not exactly sure what I am getting myself into, but so far I'm really liking it. I can tell that CF will push me to limits that I can't get to alone. I just hope I don't get injured...I have never really been fearful of injury (except for when skiing) but I have heard some major injury stories with CF. Crossing fingers!