CrossFit – MentalMonday: When am I good enough for competition Mentalwod | mentaltraining for CrossFit

I have my first Crossfit competition this Saturday and to be honest, I am freaking out….There are so many things that I am not capable of doing or not capable of doing them fast enough that I feel totally crushed psychologically and moving backwards rather than forward….So, naturally, I started searching for a help in all mightly internet and stumbled upon Mentalwod website. There are many great articles and one phrase that helps me right now: ÈIt’s not who you are that holds you back, it’s who you think you’re not.

There is the great article about getting ready for competition that you can find below, using the link

Mental-Monday

via CrossFit – MentalMonday: When am I good enough for competition Mentalwod | mentaltraining for CrossFit.

 

Sugar detox Macaroons

This is best treat ever…Seriously…I think I could eat all batch by myself…So good it is….And I am on Sugar detox day 14. I won’t lie that it’s easy, because it’s not…

Now the recipe:

• 2 egg whites
• 1 green apple, peeled and shredded
• 1 cup coconut flakes (unsweetened)
• 3/4 cup shredded coconut (unsweetened)
• 1/4 tsp salt

1) Mix egg whites with salt. Add in coconuts and apple and stir in well. Place in fridge for 30mins. to soften coconut.

2) Using a small scoop (i.e. melon baller, cookie dough scoop, or small ice cream scoop), fill with batter, pack very firmly and release bites onto parchment paper lined baking sheet

3) Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes, then broil for 2 minutes if you want them more golden.

10.12.12

Yesterday I had my rest day, I thought about going to the gym, but I had my CV to be done and also make some job search and when I finished it was too late to go to the gym, before Nora’s first training session. However, the place where we have to go is 3,5km away from our home and walking through loads of fresh snow appeared to be quite a challenge. My legs were on fire after going there and coming back, it’s even harder than walking in a sand. Nora loves snow, she had so mych fun, the only down part: after a while it hurts her paws. I had her boots on, but they got soaked wet, so I removed them halfway to coming back and she was getting her paws freezing. But, we got home and she could enjoy her hot bath:)

What I learned this weekend…

ufff….I had such a bad experience…..I got alcohol poisoned and all day yesterday was spend sleeping, waking up, going to bathroom to puke, then go back to sleep again…

I had no idea that it would be that bad, seems like I start having alcohol tolerance zero. So, there was a birthday party fot my friend from french class and they are really not good cooks and decided to make pizza with some bought dough, so I offered to help them and to make proper dough. Anyways, thought it would be nice to teach others what I know, especially as I don’t eat pizza’s anymore, not regular ones…..Maybe I would have tried this one, but the sauce that they used was full of “red list” ingredients, so I just decided to skip. Anyways, those who tasted, said that pizza was good And Keven decided that he wants to have something nice to drink, so we came to agreement to buy some rum and make Pina Coladas, which were actually very nice:

• Captain Morgan Spiced Rum
• Pinapple juice
• Coconut milk
• Ice cubes

So, the recipe seems pretty much paleo, I just should not have drunk wine before and maybe maybe all would have turned out nice….But it did not….That was worst day of my life….Last time I felt so bad was after my hen party, but then I ate whatever and mixed all alcohol possible….and Friday…no shitty food, wine and Pina Colada…except I ate some apple crumble as birthday cake, just because it had much more apples than crumbles and decided to take a chance as I almost never, literally, never cheat, because I don’t feel like and I don’t need. The only times when I allow myself to cheat is when something is homemade and I feel that it might be tasty and I want to try it and pay courtesy to the person that made food, which happens maybe once in 3 months. Anyhow…..at 20h I started feeling a bit better, drank some hot water with honey, then ate some apple sauce, decided to make myself chicken soup that would soothen my upset stomach:

• 2 chicken drumstick (or whatever chicken you have)
• 2 carrots, cubed
• 2 celery sticks, chopped
• 1 onion, diced
• some persil (dried or fresh)
• salt and pepper to taste

Put all ingredients in pot with cold water, make it boil and simmer for ~1hour or until meat falls easily from the bones. Remove meat from bones, cut into small peaces and return to pot with vegetables. Check for salt and pepper to season and that’s it. Very simple and delicious. I would have wanted to make something more spicy, the one with roasted garlic, but decided that maybe not this time….

Soup and applesauce worked their magic and finally I could relax and not think about running to bathroom to hug toilet bowl. I think I slept in total from friday night till now like 24 hours. Today I am feeling better, though still a bit shaky, decided to go for a walk as obviously there will be no training for me today…Lesson learned: training, healthy living and alcohol does not go together…

But this poster helps to think positive and go through and experiences:

recap….

Oh….wow…it’s been long time since I have been blogging, two months….and it’s not that I haven’t been training or cooking or learning something….I have been doing all of it and even more and that might be the reason why I did not have that much time to blog or I just did not force myself enough…But I am back and I have what to share….

Training:

Since my September training, I did improve on my olympic lifts and lost it again )))

My snatch is still the same: 115#, but I got 145# on clean and jerk and 150# on clean. Now I totally lost my jerk and I am very unwilling to do it and I have hit so many times my chest while cleaning that sometimes I just back up, even though I know that I can actually hit big numbers. I am just scared and have to work work with it….

My Front Squat increased to 186# last time when I checked, my Back Squat is 230#, My 5RM OHS is 120# and max. 130#. Bench press:165#. I have to say that I feel much more comfortable working with strength exercises than barbell….Maybe because in strength you have less chances to be hurt ))

I still don’t have my muscle up, but it is very close….I am able to make few chest-to-bar, but I can’t connect them….I still work on my bar muscle-up and kipping toes to bar…

My endurance increased a lot, probably because I do Outlaw training minimum 4 times a week, usually 5 and then I do box workouts about 3 times a week, ideally after Outlaw workout. So, I work out 5-6 times a week, on average 2 hours a day

All in all, I am moving forward towards my goal but it is far from being accomplished. Even though usually I dominate in my box and almost always hit leader board, I am far from that when I check how others are doing in Outlaw. It’s like two different worlds that I live in…In one most of the time I feel like looser (except conditioning and sometimes strength part) in the other I am leader I need both of them….

French:

My course is going really well….I have improved my french a lot and now feel quite comfortable using it every day. I started talking with Keven in french as well, at least 50% of the time It also includes course on job search, so we are writing our CV, motivation letter and preparing for interviews in french and getting to know Quebec job market.

Cooking:

This obviously will require separate post, but I have been trying out some new recipes. Obviously desserts are a must, but I do have some food recipes up in my sleeve.

Nora:

My little Nora became already a bog dog and started her first heat. Now she is much more calmer and we gonna start doing some training courses with her. She already knows a lot of commands that I have taught her, but I want to have it perfect and maybe participate in competitions some day, so I want to make sure that I put all effort in training my dog, especially because she will be around us at least 10 years and will see our children growing Here is the picture of her getting ready for winter

My delivery arrived

Today I got the huge box

It is my almond and coconut four delivery. I decided to buy a lot, to have for a long time, especially having in mind that Christmas are not that far away actually. I mean, they will come and I don’t want to worry about what I am gonna do

I also ordered some stuff to try out, especially regarding my protein intake (the protein powder is so not for me and makes me feel bad and gain weight) and I am kind of bored with eggs and fish, so decided to try out some other stuff. So, I got spirulina powder and hemp protein powder and hemp seeds. I also ordered  maca powder and  chia seeds for all the goodies that they have inside

WOD of 28th July – 1st August

So, last month of August started and I have been working out hard, though feeling that not as good as I could do. I feel that I somehow do not reach my potential and it is kind of frustrating. As usually, I do go to CF 3 times a week and I also try to do workouts from “Give them cold steel” either at home or in the gym. I liked Saturday’s Workout, because it was of 3 parts and AMRAP of 8mins.

AMRAP1:

• 15 shoulders to overhead (75lbs)
• 30 push ups
• Result – 2+22rounds

AMRAP2:

• 5 deadlifts (205lbs)
• 60m broad jump (killer )
• Result – 3+5 rounds

AMRAP3

• 15 KB swing (53lbs)
• 30 V-sits
• Result – 4+6 rounds

I was glad that I don’t come to the first classes of the day, because then I can see what others have done and what I have to beat. And I am glad when there are results of some strong girls, because then my goal is to beat. So, I had one girl in mind making Saturdays WOD and then I took my Monday class at the same time when she had, because I wanted to know with whom I am competing and to have a “live” competition.

So, Monday we had again 3 AMRAP, just this time 10mins each.

AMRAP1:

• 5 box jumps (26″)
• 10 push jerks (75lbs) (I have to confess that this was the only AMRAP that I made lighter weight that my “competitor” I loaded 95lbs, but I don’t know why I was not even able to make a clean with this weight, probably had some fatique from weekend training, so had to go down on weights.
• Result: 6+30 rounds

AMRAP2:

• 15 knee squats
• 15 pull ups
• Result: 3+22 rounds (plus totally torn hands)

AMRAP3:

• 30 KB SDHP (53lbs) (kettlebell sumo deadlift high pull)
• 15 knees to bar
• Result: 3+7 rounds

So, I managed to make all AMRAPS faster than the girl I was competing with, but I was never far in front and it is amazing feeling to have someone all the time breathing in your neck.

Today I decided to go hard and make two workouts, basically one after the other. It was hard, not only physically, but also psychologically, because second part I was making all by myself and it is really much more harder to push yourself being alone than being in a group. Simply the sight of others also working hard helps a lot. I also regretted for my first part that I have had “Avocado Devilled Eggs” for breakfast, it was not smart idea, especially because it was loads of cardio and I was feeling really heavy.

However, todays training had two WODs, one classical benchmark WOD (yuppie) and the other time challenge.

WOD1 – Fight gone bad

Five exercises, performed for one minute each, with one-minute breaks given after all exercises have been completed. This grueling five-station rotation is then repeated three times per person. You count total of reps, except rowing, where calories are counted.

• Wallballs – 16lbs
• SDHP (Sumo-Deadlift-High-Pull) – 45 lbs
• box jump – 20″
• Push Press – 45 lbs
• row

Result: 330.  I have so much more to improve with this one. Hardest part was wall balls, because I really felt those eggs being a bit upset in my stomach

WOD2:

• 400m. run
• 40 release push ups
• 20 abdos
• 400m run
• 30 release push-ups
• 30 abdos
• 400m. run
• 20 release push ups
• 40 abdos

Result: 11:27min. 

Then I took little break of 10-15mins. and made this workout of 3 parts:

6 rounds;

• 2 Hang Power Cleans
• 2 Power Cleans
• 2 Cleans [squat]

rest 120secs between rounds

*no re-gripping on ground

Result: 95-95-105-105-110-115lbs. As Saturday I was not able to make clean to the shoulders to start doing press jerk I was a bit worried when started doing this WOD. But Saturday was Saturday and today is a new day. 95lbs were really light weight and I had no struggle at all with this weight. So, I kept adding little by little weights, so that I would be sure to lift them

B]

For time;

• 500m Row
• 50 Power Snatch@45lbs
• 40 Chin-ups
• 30 Push-ups, HOG
• 20 KBS@53lbs
• 1km Run

Result: 16:59mins. My hands got ripped off again and there is nothing to be done about it.

C]

• 200 Double Unders
• 25 Burpees

Result: no time, but lots of frustration. At around 75 double unders I was so exhausted and 200 seemed so far away that I almost started crying. I had to fight with myself to keep going, because I suck at double unders, because I was really tired, because I could not make more than 10 in a row without tripping. But little by little the number got bigger and I finished this WOD. It took me longer to make C part than to make B part, but I did finished it and then I could tap my shoulder for fighting until the end I think todays training  pushed a lot my endurance and I will feel results later.

Summertime

It’s do much more harder to be consistent in writing blog or anything else as a matter of fact in summer than spring or winter. I have so much more energy to spend that I barely sit down in front of computer. And if I do, it is all about business rather than reflection. What is more, I haven’t been close to computer last week at all as I spent it at my parents-in-law, so I used internet simply for checking emails and nothing more. I have introduced to them yucca and paleo pizza. Surprisingly they liked both of them. I was slightly worried that I might have difficulties with my nutrition before coming to visit them but everything went really well. We had our weekly pizza friday where Keven is usually responsible for making dough from aubergine and I am responsible for toppings. I even got a bit confused when I had to make dough, because I got so used that Keven is making it. After malog dough he usually maked bouillon from aubergine juice, scraps of veggies and bones that we collect during the week in our freezer. Especially because commercial stock is out of option. Have you ever checked the ingredients of dry stock cubes? It’s horrible how much sh..t is in it. I haven’t been making any new recipes recently, just using all the old ones, such as chilli, yucca fries, spicy chicken livers, pork tenderloin, tuna salad (with or without tuna), slaw salad, omelet with spinash or greens, pork ribs with the rub that I made some time ago and that will probably last for at least 6 months, chicken or chicken legs made in oven and organic pork sausages is pretty all that we eat recently. Occasionally I do make fudge with sunbutter, but mainly I have my dessert as frozen berries with coconut milk, 100% cacao, coconut flakes and “Enjoy life” chocolate chips. Best dessert ever so my culinary adventures seem to have stopped for a while, probably I will feel the urge to get something new on the table. However, I do make every week mayo, barbeque sauce, sunshine sauce from sunbutter and tahini sauce. I also made coriander sauce ( not a big fan, so did not post recipe) and pesto (still sits in the fridge as without pasta it is hard to use it:) ).
Going back to my visit to my parents in law: main goal for going there was to practise my french as they don’t speak english and to get them used to Nora, because they were petrified when we told them that we are getting pitbull. Soon they learned that little dogs are much more agressive than big ones and that they have to worry much more about the behavior of chihuaha that pitbull. I almost got into fight eith my sister in law, who owns chihuaha, because her dog was attacking mine and I said that she needs to get her dog socialised or she wilk have to worry for minimum next 10 years about our dogs being close to each other, because it is not my dog who is attacking. Anyhow, I had really nice week and brough back some weights that Keven had at his parents place, so now I can practise and work out much more often. I also started to follow Wods from “Give them steel” website for conditioning and strenght training, so I do train 6 times a week, plus bike and climbing. I also try at least couple times a week to have 2 sessions a day which is much more easy to do now. Luckily to me, my husband is still stronger that me, so we can challenge each other by making snatches, hang cleans and other weight training. I am lucky to have such a supportive partner

Monday mini training marathon

So, today I decided to push to the hardest and have two training of CF, one from my box and the other from internet, following typical 7km bike ride home and adding 400m swim at max effort. it was intense, but I really enjoyed it and I wasn’t that tired. I was checking my time in swimming a bit and have I had made 50m in front crawl style at ~50sec. and 50m. in breaststroke at ~60secs. I haven’t been swimming since winter, so I suppose my time is actually not good at all, but anyways…..

WOD1: AMRAP 11min.

• 12 Wall Balls (16 lbs)
• 6 box jump with WB (with ball in hands) (23″)

Result: 8+12 rounds.  

WOD2: AMRAP 11min.

• 6 double KB swing (35lbs each hand)
• 12 KB squat (same 35 lbs)

Result: 8+1 rounds.

That was WODs of my box. Then I took a short break and made the following WODs

WOD3:

• 3 sets 3 reps;
• Back Squat
• rest 90secs between sets.

Result: 140lbs. Started with 115 lbs for first set, then made 135 lbs next set and 140 lbs last set. I was nice to push myself to go really low and then go up.

WOD 4:

30-20-10 reps;

• Squat
• Power Clean@35 lbs DB’s

Result: 13:10min. It took me time to figure out the best arm positioning for this WOD as I have never done power cleans with DB and definitely never done that with 2 of them But once I got it, it went much faster.

I was swimming in my sweat after finishing last WOD, but it was an amazing feeling knowing that I have pushed myself really hard and I felt pleased hearing others calling me a machine )) I am not, but I would love to become really strong. Since I have moved to Quebec I don’t have that much pictures made with me, but I wanted to inspire my friends who want to workout, but don’t have enough will power or motivation. So, the other day, I took picture and posted it on my Facebook and the response was amazing. Everyone got crazy seeing how fit I became and wish they could do the same  :)

Ups…I haven’t written for so long…

It has been a long time since I wrote here, probably more than a week. No, i did not stop working out and I did not stop cooking, I just did not have time to sit and think through what I want to write about. I finished my job last week, so now I am officially for long hollidays and officially enjoying summer and working out.
I get much more involved in social life that after 2,5 years in Barcelona, working in hostel, irish pub and being a team leader for party night tour i wasn’t having that much energy and interest for:) but now I start going out more and meeting more people, plus my french improved a lot, so that I can actually have decent conversations with people and they do understand me all of this thanks to Nora, because since I got her, I get stopped every day in the street.
So, I went to couple Meetup meeting, one of which was strawberry picking on Saturday. I was really happy to find strawberries without pesticides, so I tried to pick as much ad I can. Actually I did return there on wednesday to get more strawberries as Ireally dkn’t want to pay later in winter high price for “dirty” ones. So, I made huge batch of frozen strawberries and some jars of strawberry jam with honey, agar agar and ginger. Of course, Keven was asking why do ee need jam if we don’t eat bread and don’t make pancakes or crepes. But, actually we do make paleo crepes and pancakes and plus, if one day I will want the sweetness of summer, I will have my jam

The other Meetup meeting was barbeque on Tuesday where I har so much fun practising my french and enjoying nice company. It is so funny that even though it is expat meeting, everyone speak french. It was kind weird to speak in french with girl from german part of Switzerland and I do speak German. But why not

Also, last wekend i had couchsurfers staying over. It was a couple that I stayed with when I went to Montreal for Toefl exam this winter. We went to some amazing shows that Quebec offers. All the summer there is a Cirque du Soleil show that is for free. It is an amazing oportunity to see all the performers doing incredible trick and dances. I was amazed and felt honored to have an oportunity to see it. As well as biggest screen in the world where they show abstract history of Quebec and it is sooo impresive. All the images are really well chosen, as well as music. That was definitely one of the most impressive things I have ever seen.

Not to forget to mention that there is Quebec summer festival happening, so for 11 days there are loads of concerts. I went to see Lionel Ritchie and got shouted by some old ladies that I stand in front of them and they were really agressive. Probably Lionel Ritchie is their idol. Anyhow, I was bored after second song, so I left and went to vheck to the other scene and was really pleasantly suprised and enjoyed listening to quebecois band “City and Colors”. Really good discovery.

Yesterday I went for Aerosmith, I though that I would be impressed but I wasn’t, I was much more impressed by the amount of people that came to ser them. I think it was a least 100 000. It took lkng time to find a spot and long time to leave. For me the concerts fel so surreal if you are not close to the stage. When you are far away and only see some vague figure on the scene moving and close up image on the screen, you start wondering whether anything is real. It is such a weird feeling. Like being there and not being at th same time, so for me there is no point going to the concert if I am not really close to the scene and if I can’t feel the energy of the artist. And tonight is Beirut concert that I am psyched to see. This is one of my favourite bands and I plan to go few hours before to make sure to be as close as possible to the scene.

I was also working out on estimating my overall fitness, so I have been workin on some challenges, like plan for 4mins, L-Sit for 30secs, run 3 miles (made it in 28:22min), 50 pistol challenge, hanstand for more than 1 min, row 3km and making handstand pushups (managed 8 in a row). I also was focusing this week on weight lifting techique and heavier weights rather than faster performance.

And last but not least I learned how to repair my bike. Watched some video and decided to make it myself which incuded changing tube of back rear tire and installing bycicle computer. Bike is riding, computer is working

And of course, training my doggie to be a perfect dog