Grace is my favorite benchmark

You may have heard this story before but it means a lot to me and I like to share it. The first time I did the Girl Wod named "Grace" (30 Power Clean & Jerks for time with 95# for time) was in a competition. It was the first competition that I entered in the RX category.  At the time I signed up, I couldn't even clean 95# and I somehow decided that I should enter a competition where I was going to be required to clean and jerk 95# for a total of 30 times!  What was I thinking?!?!
I practiced and practiced and practiced some more. Every. single. rep. required patience, concentration and 100% effort. I finished last in the comp with a time of 6:55.
Since then I am reminded of how amazing I felt that day,  whenever I hear the word Grace. I have even blogged about it before.  Feeling confident about handling that weight I eagerly repeated the workout about 6 months later. I was 40 seconds faster with a time of  6:15.  Then again, 6 months later with a time of 5:26. Now with a time that I was super proud of, I kind of put Grace on a shelf for a bit. I was almost scared to try it again. Seriously, how could I get any faster... I'm just a regular person, not a competitve athlete.  But over time, Grace started creeping back in my mind. I wanted to revisit this test. It was not quite 2 years later,  I was finally doing CrossFit on an almost daily basis and getting better, stronger and most of all more experienced with managing myself in fitness tests.
On April 27, 2017 I performed Grace for the 4th time and sored 3:53. I thought to myself on that day there's no way I will ever beat this time. Dear Grace, I loved you for your challenge but now I don't think I can do any better than this day. Next time I hope that I will even be close to this time. It's funny how the expectations we put on ourselves sometimes feels like a weight vest, hard to breathe and every move is harder than reality.
Since then I have continued to work on efficiency with the barbell. I have become stronger and smarter.  I'm still a regular person, working on myself daily to be the best, healthy, happy person I can be. And now I do enjoy the competition with myself.
On Jan 9, 2019 Grace was coming. The night before I woke up three times thingking about my strategy. I was excited and nervous. I kept thinking to myself...how will I ever be faster that 3:53.
I wanted to video myself ( I do this from time to time to critique myself ). I set up the tablet and said to myself outloud. "You know what to do - it's ok if you don't beat your time- just do the best you can do today- and you don't have to leave the gym crying" 
3, 2, 1, GO ....
I beat my time with a score of 3:16. I am so grateful that I did take the video because there are glaring opportunities for me to improve. I will  happily repeat Grace sometime in the future.

If you'd like to watch the video here's a youtube link;

https://youtu.be/4H7Ly0YJ5AE

YES You Can CrossFit!

I hear it all the time "I can't do those things" "I am not strong" "I have weak arms" "I have a bad knee" Well, NONE of those things matter. The longer you tell yourself you can't, the harder it will be to just start. Start where you are. Just show up as often as possible. Make a commitment to yourself. No half way in sort of commitment. Dedicate a minimum of 6 months with an open mind. I promise you we be better. I so many more ways than you can even imagine.

You Can Do Hard Things

You can do hard things. It's a simple thought that can be taken so much further. Sometimes I workout alone and I need to keep my head in the game. There's no one to pace me and no coach to encourage me. I love it and I hate it. It's a moment in time where I can only think to myself. I talk to myself and even count out load. I don't care because in that moment I get to remind myself ...  I can do hard things.  There's a mantra in there too.  I can do hard things. The mantra is often followed by laser focus. The mantra varies from time to time based on how I feel and what I'm doing. It's start with having a role model. I happen to look up to Sara Sigmundsdotir. I often say to myself "Sara wouldn't complain" OR "Sara wouldn't slow down" OR Sara wouldn't give up" or whatever in that moment is my hurdle. So let's look at yesterday. 10 rounds for time and it looked so manageable. 10 rounds of self discipline to finish the task as fast as possible. As fast as possible and with good form and proper range of motion. 10 rounds was challenging for everyone. This was not just a mental game ... it required humility to struggle through. It was fun to watch the anguish be overcome! Awesome job #warriors.

CrossFit is NOT a 6 week challenge!

I'm sure you have seen tons of "6 week challenges" for weight loss, body fat loss, get tone and fit,  blah blah, etc. etc.... They are everywhere and appear to have your best interest in mind. It goes something like, pay a big pile of cash for an accountability coach, a meal plan and work out 3+ times/week. Great! Sign me up! Fix me in 6 weeks. These are simply lies. Sorry not sorry.

Ok, ok...  some of these challenges are legit and someone has their bank account and your well being and best interest in mind.  AND...  It's ok to START there, it truly is! As a matter of fact that's a great place to start. You put some skin in the game with the pile of cash (you may or may not get it back) and now you've sparked a fire under your butt. You feel more motivated than ever (you've got cash on the line) and engaged because someone is helping you stay accountable.  But what happens when the challege ends. So let's say you feel and look better. Well, now what? 

Here's the most important part. Are you ready?  Simple! IT CAN'T END there. So if you are motivated by a 6 week challnege and think its going to be life altering, GO FOR IT! Just be sure to realize and be honest with yourself that you can not un-do years of things like being sedentary and eating poorly in just 6 weeks. It takes hard work, long term consistent commitment, learning and being open minded, experimenting, trying and failing and trying again. It takes dedication, sacrifice, determination, drive and more. 

So when you are ready to make a permanent shift in your lifestyle, don't worry... (It's not all or nothing)  here are a few things to consider. You will need to become your own accountability coach and plan your schedule to keep the workouts up. Eat well, sleep and hydrate even though no one is watching (well except Santa, of course).

And so now I begin to tell you that when you are ready to take a step, come and take the Warrior's Path.  At Warrior's Path CrossFit we are ordinary people performing extraordinary things and we welcome you.  We welcome you to not only feel and look better, have more energy, strengthen your bones, decrease your chance for chronic disease, make new friends, test yourself, learn about yourself, become better at life, better in your relationships, feel confident and so much more. It's magic and it's here for you. Take the first step and give it a shot. 

The CLEAN Plate Club

Exercise is not a transaction for eating. You can not eat what ever you want because of exercise. You are what you eat. This means if you are usually eating garbage then your thinking and performance will usually be garbage.

If you don't understand what I just wrote then it's ok but just give it a try.  Give yourself 2 weeks on a high nutrient content meal plan, eat zero (or as few as possible) packaged and processed foods, consume half your body weight in ounces of water and eat as many veggies as possible. Try it and see, there's nothing to lose.

After 2 weeks, things will happen like your taste buds will begin to change. Junk food won't taste as good and you might appreciate the sweetness in apple. If you still have trouble, even if it's with creating a nutritious meal plan - I CAN HELP YOU! I have created a meal planning service called The Clean Plate Club.

"The CLEAN plate club" is a meal plan based on your specific like and dislikes, your activity level, your lifestyle.

My Yoga Nidra (R) Meditation experience!

I attended a guided meditation called "Yoga Nidra Divine Sleep Meditation".

Please allow me to share my experience with you. It started out with a slide show explaining the process and it was very intriguing. Wendy, the instructor did a great job telling us what to expect and how it might feel. We then created and intention individually and wrote it down. Then Wendy talked about the different layers of ourselves and which "self" will be in tune with each section of the meditation. We all then went on our backs, under the snuggly blankets, and Wendy came around and put lavendar on our temples. She rang the singing bowl several times as she guided us through the process. It was so interesting! I felt hyper aware of my body and feeling and breathing but I totally lost concept of time. I was not sleeping but was not really awake.

Our journey consisted of feeling all the parts of our body separately, which I was able to do. Starting with each individual finger and working through the entire right side of the body and then the left.  It felt kind of tingly and warm. Then we imagined a staircase and with each step and each breath we counted backwards from 10 . I remember Wendy was telling us something but I was still counting steps. I listed to her voice but kept counting.  Then we were told to feel heavy and light opposites. I was able to feel so heavy that I could just melt into the yoga mat.  When asked to feel light on the other hand, that was not as easy. I felt lighter than heavy (is that weird?) but I was never able to experience the feeling of floating.  Then came hot and cold...  I really liked the hot. The room was warm, but just warm enough, so hot was realaxing and cold was slightly uncomfortable.  We ended the practice with visualization. She would state things like a bald eagle and a shamrock and we had to visualize that thing with our third eye.  It was  truly an amazing experience that I would certainly try again.

Then I had the  most amazing night of sleep. I am a good sleeper. I sleep 7 or more hours everynight but sometimes wake up once or twice. This particulat night I did not wake up or even toss and turn. I was truly such a blissful nights rest.

If you ever have the opportunity to experience such an amazing pleasure, don't haste! Do it with wonder!

 

CrossFit Is For Everyone

CrossFit is for everyone!! We all start at different places, take different paths, which lead to individual journeys. You don't have to lift heavy barbells, walk on your hands or run several miles. You just need to show up with an open mind and give it a chance. When you are ready there's a community of people just waiting to lift you up, and to cheer you on!

Let me tell you about my mom. She does CrossFit. She is 71 years old. She is aweome. My mom started CrossFit at the age of 70. Yes, she started with reservation and talked about it with her Doctor. He was onboard and just reminded her that she should be doing things that are age appropriate. Of course, I would not have it any other way.  Her history is even more important and proves that it is true, CrossFit can be for anyone. Rewind now to my moms teenage years. She fell off of a horse and broke her back. She was hospitalized for several months and recovered. She grew into an active and healthy adult. I have memories of bike rides and tennis games, swimming and skiing. Then she got knocked (and thrown) by a chair lift on a weekend skiing adventure... there were many fun weekend adventures. What are the chances of hitting the same vertabrae. In an alternate universe she would have hit the pick 6 that day on the slopes. Yes, broken in the same place. Still because of her active lifestyle, she recovered and continued on with life. Sometimes a bit more cautious - rightfully so. Fast forward to current decade...  somehow (unknown exactly how) re-broke same vertabrea! In severe pain for a long time. Sidelined from all the things that she loved.... kayaking, hiking, biking, swimming, walking her dogs. Now skiing on the other hand, now here's a different story. She was determind to ski! She convinced her Doctor to allow her to ski. She had to wear a back brace and ski with caution. Only attempting early morning before the slopes were packed with people. Only skiing under the best conditions on the mountain to avoid slipping on the ice. Those ski days were few and far between but every chance she found the perfect storm of conditions, she went to the mountain.

The past 12 months my brave and amazing mom started her CrossFit journey. At Warrior's Path CrossFit, she is a perfect example of tried and true. Taking the path has been a series of fantastic events for her. She has not only improved in strength and stamina but also mobility and stability. She has improved balance and felxibility too (which is so important as we age). She can ski from the top of the mountain to the bottom (no brace) without stopping! She has become stronger and is a dedicated 2x per week CrossFit and 1x per week yoga and on the weekend she enjoys biking, hiking, kayaking and walking her dogs.

If you ask her she will tell you that CrossFit made her back stronger than before.