Memorial Half

The Memorial Marathon was yesterday. I love this run. Partly because it's here at home and secondly because it's easier to get people to participate. Sadly this year I ran it alone. I didn't like it so much. It marks the first time I ran with music and actually it helped a lot. I'm usually a talker but with no one to talk to I was left with me and my music. I also didn't train....like at all. I checked my runkeeper app and the last time I ran was April 6th I did 3 miles but it was in 48 minutes so I was mostly walking. I remember that day I wanted to run, it was the first nice day we'd had in a while. I helped out at Koda then went home ate, made the mistake of having a beer and then tried to go for a jog...as you can see I walked. A lot.
I started thinking about how I'd put off training for this or that reason. I had no training partner and seriously lacked the motivation to do such on my own. The Friday before the race I left at lunch to pick  up my packet totally void of excitement. I hated that I felt this way about the run. It was supposed to be a fun thing to support OKC and how strong we are. All I could think about was how much I dreaded getting up at 4am to be downtown by 5:30ish to run in the cold. Alone. For 13.1 miles. But I didn't want it to be a total waste. And besides I didn't train last year and still ran it. What's one more time to test how well crossfit has kept me in shape?
Saturday slightly hungover I went to sprouts and bought my pre and post race necessities. Lots and lots of coconut water. If was going to run the next day knowing how crappy I felt at the time I'd never make it. I'd end up walking a lot. After my shopping trip I went to Luby's (my favorite) for turkey chopped steak, mashed potatoes and fried okra. I ate it at home watching QVC. I've completely turned into an old lady and I just barely turned 30...And it's a wonder I have issues in the romance department. I'm old fashioned even before my time. I sometimes think I was born too late. The Wonder Years helped me to that conclusion.
Anyway, I take my Benedryl no later than 6pm and I'm in bed by 8. Wake up at 4 to make my egg and turkey bacon breakfast taco and have my coffee. I'm out the door by 4:45. On the road I have a little chocolate protein shake. I didn't want to have too many eggs before the run. Eggs make me gassy and I don't want to run 13.1 miles holding in a fart or dealing with some sort of gas bubble.
Arriving early had it's perks. I got a bomb parking spot! Once parked I took out my pvc pipe and rolled out right there. I later thought this was a smart idea because it made me get used to the cold. After rolling out for 30 minutes it was getting close to 6:10 and I needed to 1. take my pre-workout drink 2. find a bathroom 3. down one last water and 4. find the corral and make my way to the back because lord knows I'm gonna be running a strict 13 minute pace....I got all this done in time to find my spot in the back and remembered to not get stuck in the 5k corral.
As the event was beginning they play U2 which on the norm I'd change the station if that song came on but standing in the crowd amongst complete strangers it's empowering. So much so that I put my music on pause to fully embrace the moment. The buzzer goes off and the race begins. Of course since I'm in the back it takes a long while for the crowd to start moving towards the start line. As I pass the gate it's 6:49 and the race starts at 6:30 if that tells you anything anything. It's always hard to not run fast to pass people and get going. This year that inner fight was not that big. In my mind I was playing back all the turns I have to make all the blocks I have yet to pass. Knowing I'm running from Sheridan all the way to 50th with a bunch of what seems like zig zags really puts it into perspective and I keep my pace to a nice jog or as some would call it a fast walk but whatever.
I'm not going to go over every mile. Long story short I just tried to keep motivated to run. I surprisingly took only a few walk breaks mostly to stretch my calves and on the water breaks as to not splash Gatorade and water all over me. Oh and I stopped to put Vaseline on my lips since they were really chapped and hurt real bad. I kept my run keeper app on and as I ran the gal would tell me every 5 minutes my avg pace which was always in the 13's and how far I'd gone. To my surprise the 1st 6 miles went by really fast. I'll also need to mention I took a jello shot around mile 5 I think and a vodka shot around mile 6. I figured I'm running this for fun. I might as well make it fun. In the end I think the shots helped. As I found myself rounding the corner to Broadway I was happy to be done. Happy that I might finally run into some people I knew. When I got to 10th I took out an earbud. Hearing the crowd cheer is motivating. It's hard to try to sprint to the finish line. My problem is I start that sprint too soon and with less than 100 meters and I'm gassed. I end up looking silly slowing down just before crossing. So this time I didn't sprint. I just jogged kept my pace. As I crossed the finish line I pulled out the other earbud, stopped  my activity on the run keeper app and closed pandora. I was so glad it was over and I'd done it alone. I saw the time 3:02....dangit! Then I remembered I didn't cross the start line till way after. I followed the herd to get my medal, gabbed a banana and a water and sat on a curb.

Nasty gals and other stuff

At Koda the other day we did Nasty girls. It's a crossFit benchmark WOD.

3 rounds for time:
50 squats
7 muscle ups
10 hang power cleans

The sub for muscle ups was 14 pullups and 14 dips which I totally did not agree with. In who's world does 7 = 14??? Hang power cleans I did rx'd with #93.

My time: 15:22

I checked my book last time and my time was 11 something but I used #83 for HPC and we did just 7 pullups and 7 dips.

I also did my last session of our pullup cycle. I started the cycle doing 3 dead hang pullups before dropping from the bar grasping my hands together and complaining how much it hurts. This time I did 4! I tried squeezing out 5 but I could only get half way up there, donkey kicking and everything.

I like these cycles. We pick a movement and over the course of a certain number of weeks we try to build our strength on it. Then at the end we retest to see our progress.

Anyway, on to the other stuff. Since Biggest Loser started up again and given my obsession with Bob I dare not miss an episode. So Tyler and I well, really I decided we should make Monday nights our dinner with Bob and Biggest Loser night. Starting Sunday I start thinking about what we should make for dinner and go over it with Tyler to make sure it's something that he likes too. This week we made a vodka cream sauce with pasta. Lemme tell you....So good! Here's the link to the recipe. And yes I might've picked this solely based on the name.

 You won't be single for long vodka cream sauce

For dinner Tuesday I bought chicken to go with it and I think it was even better. I just had the last of it for lunch as I sit here and type this out to you and I'm wishing I had more of that dang sauce. I will be making that one again.

Dead sprint

This weekend was another installment of the OKC competitor series. F5 hosted the event and they had a really great turnout. Here's the WOD:

in 13 minutes you must complete:
400m run
50 box jumps
50 toes to bar
400m run

If you complete within the allotted time you proceed to the deadlift ladder.

This time we did not get to choose our heats so instead of getting and getting it over with I had to wait till the 4th heat. After watching the first two I came to the conclusion that I wouldn't make it to the deadlift ladder which I wasn't too hurt over. I didn't even think I would make it to the second run in the 13 minutes. As you'll find out I'm not the fastest at box jumps or running or toes to bar, blah blah blah, An easier comment would be that I'm fast at squats, mostly body weight squats and sometimes burpees. Everything else I'm super slow.

Back to my story on Sunday I somehow finished the toes to bar in time to make a mad dash out the door to complete the last 400m run. As I approached the 200m mark Whitney, a girl from Complete slowly passed me. I tried keeping up with her 10 meters before the turn around bucket I had to stop and walk. As Whitney started to pass me she told me to keep going that we we're almost there. I said OK as I always do and picked up my pace to a fast jog. As I turned the corner I could hear a faint yelling. Someone was yelling for Whitney to hurry. Then as I got closer I heard someone yell "Snook, hurrryyyy you have 40 seconds!!!" I picked up the pace. "Sprint Snooki, 20 seconds!!" Katie was so kind to yell at me that I could actually make this. Now with the door in sight there's no way I was gonna not make it. "Get in the door Snook, 10 seconds!" Kevin yelled.
I look up as I run past Katie telling me to hurry.
I step in the parking lot and Muse and Kevin are just outside the door. A little further and Mai is poking her head out the door yelling 5, 4, 3, 2.....1.....Just as I'm passing the door frame. I'd made it!! So happy then sad because now I have to battle the weight with my back in deadlifts.

As I make my way to the deadlift room I rip my headband and chucked it at Arobb. I bend over to catch my breath as Whitney is waiting for her first turn at the starting weight. Muse puts the weight belt around my waist as Tyler hands me my water bottle. For that few seconds I thought this is what it must feel like to be a professional athlete with assistants and a fan club. I gasp for air as Whitney drops the bar, she's out. I step up to the bar and wait for the signal.
I lift, wait for my judge to call a good lift and Muse and my judge yell at my head "DON'T DROP THE BAR" So i carefully set it down. that first lift was harder than I thought it'd be. On to the next. Lift. "DON'T DROP THE BAR". Set it down. Move on to the next. Lift. "DON'T DROP THE BAR". Set it down. Move on to the next. I get to the 4th bar, 243, 20lbs over my PR. I tell the judge, that's 20 lbs over my PR. As calm as she could be she says, just try it. I look at Muse....Okay then. I wait for the signal. I lift....and nothing. I let go of the bar and walk away. I was happy it was over. I was happy I had finished in the 13 minutes. I was happy I could relax.

clean nightmare

So in lieu of the New Year and what that all entails I'm going to list a few resolutions that I would like to conquer in 2013 and continue them forever.

• Finish things I start
  This mainly pertains to gym stuff. Us girls are always wanting to start an ab this or clean eating that. Which I stick with for a couple of weeks but then just decide to not keep it going.
  This also goes for my running training that I will need to start working on.
  And finish the vitamins and supplements I'm always buying.
  And teas. I'm the worst at never finishing those dang boxes. 
• Show the people I love how much they mean to me and how happy I am to have them in my life
• Use my fancy blender more
• Use my juicer more
• Use my food dehydrator to good use for once
• Read more. And maybe even actually read and not get the audio book version

I think I'll leave the list at that. There are the resolutions that I made last year that I will continue on to this year. 

• Learn more about myself
• Say yes to opportunities that will help me with getting to know to me

Said opportunities in the past were mainly gym related but they have ventured on to other aspects of my life and I have welcomed them with smile. 

With that all said you should see some difference in my postings. 

With a group at Koda starting their Whole30 challenge I decided I would jump in on that. I don't really like to post on FB or really do anything on there but I will be keeping a daily tally of my nutrition and my training on here. 

Yesterday

• Cheese grits (I know, not paleo in the slightest)
• Chicken salad and chipotle tomato soup and two cubes of cheese I sampled wondering the grocery store
• Another chicken salad

I have story on this chicken salad I had at lunch. I got from whole foods. In the salad bar section they have what they call mock chicken. I love this chicken and I get it every time I get a salad. Well, since they stopped having tuna in the bar. My thoughts are thrown by the title. Is it chicken? I'm brought back to the show I loved to watch so much, Newlyweds with Jessica Simpson and her famous episode about the chicken of the sea. "I know it it's tuna but the can says it's chicken.." I feel just like that when I read this mock chicken. Tyler told me last night when I was telling him this story that I should just ask someone there but I feel silly asking that. The next time I go in I'll try to read the ingredient list and see if it is indeed chicken or fake chicken. 

At Koda we did this clean ladder. 12 min AMRAP of 20 cleans at a set weight. Here is what I did:

• 20 reps # 63
• 20 reps # 73
• 20 reps # 83
• 6 reps # 103

Last meal of 2012

With all the craziness of New Years Eve. Where to eat, where to go out, what to wear, who to be with. The list could go on and on. This year I decided to do something different from what I've done before and stayed in and cooked our dinner. It turned out to be a pretty great idea. No fuss, no dressing up, and cheap drinks! Here are some shots of what was on the menu:

First up, barely buzzed cheese, which is super good and combines two of my favorite things into one, cheese and coffee. Next is goat cheese stuffed peppadew peppers with balsamic vinegar. I had these once at Macaroni Grill and had to figure out how to make these at home. Luckily our waiter was nice enough to help me out on what type of bread crumbs to use.

Second, tomato baked salmon with cheddar grits and prosciutto wrapped asparagus. It was supposed to be jalapeno cheddar grits but Tyler forgot to get them so we had to do without but they were still really good without the spice. I'd never cooked with prosciutto before and was a little nervous when we started cooking these that they weren't getting dark like they were in the picture I found online but they were really really really good. Dare I say maybe better than when I made bacon wrapped asparagus. The meat is so much thinner so it cooks faster allowing the asparagus to still have a bit of a crunch. 

Our third act, cheesecake. I had made this before for Thanksgiving and everyone loved it. So I decided to make it again but this time I cut the sugar in half. As you can see I made a full batch so after we had our two pieces we took the rest to the party at Koda for everyone else to enjoy. 

Bodyrock..er...ZWOW

So I woke up today too late to make it into Koda so I decided to do a zwow. This gal, I love this gal. Most of her workouts do not consist of much equipment which is good because I have none. She's always really positive and I like to hear her talk.

Fair warning if you click on this and get tempted to watch the video make sure the volume is down. Girl doing a wod - any music = sounds like a porn.

ZWOW #47 12 Minute Fat Burn Workout

My stupid computer decided it needed to buffer mid wod so I had to start my timer on my phone to complete the workout. All in all I did 7 rounds + 3 of the Ab splitter super girl push ups.

Peppermint brownie up!

Last night I went with a dear friend to the Thunder game against Dallas and what a game it was! Free food, free booze and later a dessert cart came by and I couldn't resist. Chocolate and peanut butter or chocolate and peppermint are equally my favorite chocolate combinations. Pictured below is a peppermint brownie a la mode and it was most delicious thing, I won't say ever because I know for a fact I have had much better deserts before. Just as the last quarter was about to end Dallas made a goal or made a basket, whatever and the game went into overtime. Luckily this meant I had more time to enjoy my desert and my beer. Not the best combo in the world but I wouldn't want to let either one go to waste. The whole game up until the 3rd quarter we were behind and then in overtime we barely got ahead in the last 2 minutes of the game. Lots and lots and lots of yelling and cheering and people dancing. I truly had a great time!