Power Snatches and the Consultant Issue Continues

6:30 AM CrossFit, check! We worked on our power snatches…still difficult technically…still at 5 x 2 at 45 lbs.

WOD:
9-15-21
Over the box jumps (hop on and then hop off to the other side, 20 inches)
Front squats (60 lbs…5 more lbs than usual. Sheesh, who knew that 5 lbs would make a difference?)
Time: 8:32

Today is the last day in the office before the 4-day weekend. I had some data to check and an article to turn in for our quarterly magazine. I normally would switch my telework day from tomorrow to today since the big boss was so nice to give us tomorrow off without having to use any vacation time, BUT there's free breakfast hosted by one of the departments and meeting leftovers for lunch (Chipotle). I can't miss out on that. There was also an ice cream social in the lobby, but my stomach opted for the Chipotle leftovers.

Well, unfortunately my email from yesterday didn't work because the attachments that the consultant replied with don't make sense either. The initial issue was that I didn't have anything to compare his data in his final report to. And now the issue is that the data in the two documents he sent as a reply to my email don't match either. I don't understand what the problem is. The director called me this afternoon, and before she could get too far into her freak out session, I told her basically "Nope, I'm not going to write another email about how we are confused about the data. I've done it so many times already. My ability to be tactful has expired. I'm tapping out. Your turn. You fix this." I'm wondering if it's even worth it to do another contract with him for FY17. We're obviously not communicating well.

Pull-ups and Consultant Issues

I woke up this morning with my upper body feeling sore, so I texted my sister and Maria that I’d shoot for the afternoon CrossFit session. Today's liquid lipstick: Sephora cream lip stain in Cherry Blossom. "On Wednesdays, we wear pink."- Mean Girls.

The rough start to the morning continued when I got to the office. I got a call from one of the directors this morning. Uh oh. She was NOT happy with the work that one of our consultants turned in. Oh boy. Ok. Imma let you finish. (Come onnn. I JUST sat down at my desk. I haven’t even eaten breakfast yet! Can I pencil in your freak out session in like 15 minutes?) I was asked to write a tactful email to the consultant, asking him to double check his work.

As promised, I did go to 5:15 PM CrossFit. Wow, quite the rowdy bunch, these afternoon class folks. Or maybe us morning class folks are still just trying to wake up at 6:30 AM? I dunno. ANYWAY, we worked on our pull-ups.

WOD: 12:00
400 m run
5 rounds of:
- 3 pull-ups (green and red bands)
- 7 push-ups (red band)
- 15 squats
400 m run
Max burpees for remaining time, and I was able to crank out 13 burpees.

One of the girls complimented me on my push-ups. "They looked great!" Thanks, heh, they didn't feel so great towards the end though.

One Year of CrossFit

I haven't done a before and after picture in a while, but I figured that today would be worthy of one.

6/26/2015: this is the day before my first CrossFit class at my gym.
6/28/2016: this was today after class. I can see a noticeable difference in my arms and in midsection, YAY YAY YAY!

It's kinda amazing what can happen in a year with a lot of sweat, teeth gritting and sometimes waking up before the sun comes up to get a workout in. Sure, the workouts are daunting sometimes, but the people at the gym (both members and coaches) are so supportive. No one judges anyone else for the weight they are lifting or what they look like. We are all a mess after the workout anyway. No makeup, no fancy clothes, completely sweaty, you get the picture. But there's a certain camaraderie that's built because we all know what that particular workout felt like and that we all survived it.

We worked on our back squats today…3 x 5 at 95 lbs. My 1 rep max a few months ago was 145 lbs. That seems so far away now, given my back injury that I suffered in March. Blah, slowly but surely, I'll get back there!

WOD:
800 m run
30 hanging knee raises
800 m run
30 sit-ups
Time: 12:50

My favorite cobb salad from Panera isn't on the menu anymore, so I got one that was similar. Ugh, no good. It's back to meal prepping tonight (chicken, sweet potatoes and cucumbers) because I don't want to be stuck eating food that doesn't really taste all that great, is a little expensive and made me feel gross afterwards. I need these instances every so often to remind myself that even though it takes some work, bringing lunch from home is always a better decision.

Brunch with Grad School Friends

Whoo hoo, thankfully, it’s rest day! After going to CrossFit 5x this past week, my legs were definitely feeling it this morning. And my shoulders. And my abs. You get the idea. I went to brunch with two of my friends from graduate school, Jessie and Jenny. I had the “walk of shame” breakfast burrito, and it was delicious!

Afterwards, I went to the nearby Target to wander around. I ended up with a new Captain America tank top, hee hee.

Garden Help and Baseball Hall of Fame Exhibit

Mom came over this morning after I came home from CrossFit to help me tackle the weeds and hedges outside my townhouse. I can barely keep up with the little garden that I have with two azalea bushes, I don't know how Mom manages to keep up with all the gardens she has in the front and back of the house. She has a green thumb, so I guess it's a matter of being interested in gardening makes a big difference. RJ supervised from the comfort of the air conditioning inside.

My parents and I went to a “friends and family” event that my sister invited us to. It was for the Baseball Hall of Fame traveling exhibit. They had a bunch of trailers set up with interactives and exhibits inside. She showed us the ones that she worked on, which was really cool. There was a trailer that had a giant interactive table that my sister worked on. The table had different stations so that multiple people could be at the table at once. There was a virtual reality trailer, so you could put the goggles on and spin around to see the baseball field, the players, etc.

New Cards, CrossFit and Spin

When the alarm went off this morning at 5:30 AM, my body was like NOPE! I looked at the WOD on my phone (lots of running and burpees). DOUBLE NOPE! And it was raining hard. NOPE NOPE NOPE. I will have a better attitude about it when it’s time to go to the 5:15 PM session. I owe my friend a text to confirm that I went. Hooray for accountability?

I enjoyed my day off and made some cards, something I hadn't done in a while. RJ was on bird patrol, and I was glowering at my battle bruises from Tuesday’s CrossFit session. I know it’s from the hang cleans this past Tuesday, but it’s weird that I don’t have a similar one on my left thigh.

When I was on my way to the 5:15 PM session, Maria texted me to see if I was ready to crush those burpees (see, accountability?). It’s the long workout day, eek. After some core work, the WOD was the following.

1 mile run
100 burpees
Max clean and jerks
Time cap: 20:00

I got through 60 burpees and time ran out. Whew! I there's only one person in each class that's been able to get to the clean and jerks. That's how I know it's a real challenge. I haven’t been to spin class in a week and I felt guilty about it, so after I caught my breath, I went to the 6:30 PM class. Go me! 

Pull-ups and New Birthday Card

6:30 AM CrossFit, check! Sigh. Not the best workout for me today. I didn’t sleep well last night because my brain just wouldn’t turn off. But at least I showed up this morning! We worked on our pull ups.

WOD: EMOM 5 hang power cleans. After the cleans, you had the rest of the minute to do box jumps.
Level A was to accumulate 100 box jumps. Level B was to accumulate 65 box jumps. I started out with 65 lbs, but had to go down to 55 lbs halfway through because of fatigue. I accumulated 59 box jumps (20 inches) (maybe it was 61? I couldn't read my own handwriting on the whiteboard I was using) in the 12:00 time cap. Grrr.

I figured ruminating over my performance during today and yesterday’s WODs wasn’t going to be a productive use of my time this evening. I had to snap out of the funk. I turned up some music, wrote a coach testimonial as requested by one of the co-owners of my CrossFit gym (I think it’s very important to give credit where credit is due!) and made a birthday card.

I'm definitely way too hard on myself. I think it's good to push myself, but I have to remember that if I go overboard, I will get injured and recovery totally sucks (as I found out when I hurt my back this past March). Having to scale workouts way back sucks. Pain sucks. There's always the next workout to do better.

CrossFit Charity Workout

9:30 AM Crossfit, check! I’m so proud of my cousin for joining us for the fun for this charity workout. He had to take a little break in the middle of the workout, and I was a little scared he was going to pass out on me. After he got some water and caught his breath, he did the mile with us. I hope I can convince him to make it to a real class sometime. That's my summer goal.

WOD: Complete all 12 stations and then run 1 mile as a group.
12 Stations, 1:00 at each per partner
1. Burpees
2. Pistols
3. Pull Ups
4. Sit Ups
5. Cleans
6. DB Push Press
7. Kettle Bell Swings
8. Jump Rope
9. Box Jumps
10. Push Ups
11. Sprints
12. Fireman carry (I could actually carry him, piggyback style!)

We took a celebratory trip with Maria to Dunkin Donuts afterwards. Whoo hoo, Boston Cream!

Finding Dory, New Lipstick and Banana Pudding Fans

6:30 AM CrossFit, check! Yay for perfect weekday attendance. We worked on our back squats…3 x 5 at 85 lbs. Julie slept in today, so it was me, Maria for the girls and Chip and Eric for the guys. Eric suggested some sort of heavy metal rock music, but it turned out to be too slow and not the right tempo. Maybe it can be girls' choice on Monday...Taylor Swift or Britney or 80s music, please!

WOD:
500 m row
800 m run
50 dumbbell snatches (20 lbs per hand)
Time: 10:07

I decided to take one of my comp days that I earned from my work trip and went to see Finding Dory. I'm used to going to the movies were there aren't too many people in the theater, but seeing as it's summer and school's out and it's the movie's opening day, I had to manage my expectations. It was a little difficult to not be disgruntled because there was half a row of chatty teenagers (?), or at least kids that were old enough to know that chatting during a movie is not appropriate behavior. Blah.  Anyway, the movie was great and I enjoyed it!  The octopus was my favorite new character from this movie.

I left the house with Sephora Lip Cream Stain in Always Red on. When I was out, I bought a Anastasia Beverley Hills liquid lipstick in Madison and of course, I had to try it on when I got home. Ulta is a dangerous place for my wallet. I did have some points to use though, so I don’t feel totally guilty.

I set aside some banana pudding from Thursday's office potluck for my banana pudding sous chef and her little brother. Their mom (my coworker) posted this picture on Facebook (I added the sunglasses for fun/privacy). Awww! I love happy customers!

This evening, I stopped by my uncle and aunt's house to drop off some flowers for my aunt's birthday. No one was home, which I thought was peculiar since my uncle has regularly scheduled dialysis treatments at home. As I was walking back to my car, they started to pull into the driveway. They had gone out for sushi for my aunt's birthday and to celebrate my uncle only having to do night dialysis treatments (as opposed to all day long). My aunt asked if I had eaten dinner (no...). She offered up her sushi dinner leftovers for me to eat (a few pieces of California rolls and some tempura). YUM! My timing was awesome. :D

Good to be Home!

I was still feeling congested from my work travel, so I decided to skip the workout today. I did, however, work from my parents' house. I didn't really have any food at my house and my parents' house had food, RJ and wireless internet, so all my essential needs were taken care of. I sent a bunch of emails out, but will have to wait for the replies to come in. Most of the folks that went to the meeting decided to take today off. I'm using my two comp days on next Friday and the Friday after that.

As you can see, RJ totally made himself at home. It seems like this was his favorite spot in the house: close to the large windows, ample room on the couch, and if the ceiling fan is on, he can catch a slight breeze. What a lucky guy!

Work Trip to Albuquerque

Oh, look. Nice hotel lighting.

I was in Albuquerque, New Mexico for my annual work conference from Sunday to today. Here are some of the highlights.

a. Wow, when people talk about dry heat, they are not kidding! It was nice to not deal with any of the humidity where I'm from. I could straighten my hair and wear it down without fear that it'll poof up when I go outside.

b. The trip foodwise was just meh. The best thing I ate at the actual conference center were the 2 breakfast sandwiches I snagged on Tuesday morning. I went to Zacatecas for dinner on Sunday with my coworkers. The chips and guacamole were yummy, but the enchiladas left me wanting more. On Monday, I hid in my room and went to bed at 9:30 PM. On Tuesday, I went out to Zinc Wine Bar and Bistro to celebrate one of my coworker's birthdays. They had a ravioli dish that was delicious. On Wednesday, I went out with my committee to St. Clair Winery and the pot roast and bread pudding that I ordered were excellent! Everyone seemed to have a wonderful time, so whew, what a weight off my shoulders!

c. I got a few sites interested in one of my projects, so I'm excited to follow-up with them when I'm back at the office next week. I also got a few compliments on my work ethic and even a handwritten thank you note from one of my committee members, so that was super nice. Oh, and another committee member mentioned that I had lost weight, so that was nice in another respect.

d. On the first flight home (ABQ to DFW), I sat next to a cute guy. However, I was way too tired to make conversation and I didn't want to be that kind of traveler. I fell asleep the whole way, and I think he did too. We sat towards the back of the plane, so it seemed to take forever to deplane. I decided to be brave and make conversation to pass the time. I asked him if he had a layover and where he was headed. He was heading to Boston. After some back and forth, I found out that he was at the conference that I was at...as a member (I went as staff). EEK. Ok, whew. Good thing I didn't say anything incredibly dumb. I texted my boss when I got off the plane because I thought she would find it amusing. She texted back "You can date members!"  NO! Nonono.  Ok, I know that you want to marry me off, but no. He would have been a good person to sit next to on the second leg of the trip. I ended up sitting next to an older woman and a woman my age from DFW to DCA, and they basically talked the whole time. I had a pounding headache and was feeing congested.

As always, it's good to be home!

Mmm, pot roast. RJ, up to no good, per usual.

Happy National Donut Day!

6:30 AM CrossFit, check! We’re still in the first week of the new strength cycle. Today was power snatch. I did mine from the hang position…5 x 2 at 30 lbs. Gotta get the mechanics down before increasing the weight.

WOD, AMRAP 10:00
5 pull ups (with green and red bands)
10 front squats (55 lbs)
15 burpees
I got through 3 complete rounds and tacked on 5 pull ups at the end.

Today’s National Donut Day, so of course, I marched my sweaty self to Dunkin Donuts for a Boston cream donut and an iced caramel latte. I must have been in quite a daze because I walked out of DD without my drink and got halfway to my car before I realized what had happened. Whew! I would have been really unhappy if I went all the way home without it!

It’s an extra happy Friday for me!