Wednesday, September 28, 2011

for laughs...

Here's the most hilarious, ill-informed article you will ever read about CrossFit.  It's a shame that reporters and writers are so willing to criticize what they don't understand.  If you could have a five minute chat with Penny Love Hoff, what would you say to her?  Penny, try a box out for a month, and then tell me what you think...

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Modifications and a new PR

I know there are lots of other women out there who wonder how they can still do CrossFit (or exercise) while pregnant, especially as they progress into the second and third trimesters.  Halfway through my second trimester, I'm lucky that my modifications have been minimal so far.  Basically, I've started to lower my weights for barbell work (yesterday I dropped a WOD of cleans and push presses from 80 pounds to 65 pounds), switched from burpees to burps (burps are burpees without flopping yourself on the ground), and am trying to move away from exercises on my back, just to start to get used to the transition.  (This means that planks can show up a lot!)  I've also regressed on my pull up and need to use a stronger resistance band, and sometimes I sub inverted rows on the rings.
But I still have moments of strength, and had a great one today.  Today was "Nate," one of the hero WODs.  It's an AMRAP 20 of 2 muscle ups, 4 handstand push ups, and 8 kettlebell swings (2 pood for men, 1.5 pood, or 53 pounds, for women).  My muscle ups are non-existant, my HSPUs don't come anywhere near the floor, but I love kettlebell swings.  A lot.  They are perhaps one of my favorite CF exercises.  Normally, women use 1 pood, or a 35 pound kettlebell.  I've never even picked up a heavier kettlebell.  But once I knew 1.5 pood was the prescribed weight for women, I had to try it.

Long story short, after warming up to the heavier weight, and with the blessing of my coach, I was pumped to use it for my WOD -- and was successful!  It was a little challenging to balance a heavier weight at first, but the more swings I did, the more I got used to it, and ended up with 88 KBS in all.

So, the take home for me is that there are good days and there are more difficult days at the box.  Regardless, I can still be (safely) adventurous with my workouts, even at five and a half months into my pregnancy.  The human body is strong and capable, and I felt so accomplished when I left my box today.  I did what I've always aimed to do -- I listened to my body, and today was awesome.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

At the half way mark

Now that I'm in the full swing of my twentieth week of pregnancy (where did that time go?), I have to say, the past two weeks have been very exciting. Here's a quick recap:
- I managed four days of CrossFit WODs in a row, and felt great.
- I survived Karen and finished it under 14 minutes!  While I added six minutes to my previous Karen time, my wall balls are so much better than they were in February (the last time we did Karen).  It's a trade-off, and hopefully in a few months post-baby12qw, I'll have a killer Karen time.
- I'm starting to show.  It's a small bump, but it's there.  While I think people who didn't know me would have no idea that I'm pregnant, those around me now claim that they can tell that I am!  How does my bump look at 20 weeks?

- I'm definitely feeling the baby move!  The movements aren't frequent, but they are obvious.  It first felt like a "popping" sensation, but now it feels like a push or a mini-kick.  My baby is definitely saying hello!  And randomly, I usually feel it while driving.
- At Charles River CrossFit, we have a PR chalkboard.  For nearly two months, my "195 3RM Back Squat" was a prominent feature on the board, and it made me immensely proud -- a huge PR at ten weeks pregnant!  But earlier this month, I walked in to CrossFit and noticed that the board had been erased to make room for PRs for the months of September and October.  I was heartbroken, because I figured I had no shot at another PR until well after the baby comes, so it hit hard.  But then, I had a breakthrough:

While I've been doing double unders in WODs for months, I've never managed to string more than four together.  (I always do a "double, single" pattern to make it through).  I finally had a breakthrough this week while practicing double unders before a WOD and managed to string 11 in a row!  My DUs definitely still need work, but they're there!  

And perhaps the best part of the past couple weeks was going for my 18 week ultrasound.  We saw a beautiful, healthy baby, and everything looks great.  And to our great excitement, we learned we're having a girl!

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Check it out!

Check out my guest blog over at Journal Menu!



Back in January, when I first started working out at Charles River CrossFit, my goal was to be able to walk into another CrossFit by January 2012 and be able to do the WOD Rx. While I certainly gained significant stamina and strength in the time I’ve been a CrossFitter, pregnancy has thrown quite a wrench in that goal. Still, at 19 weeks pregnant, I’ve managed my fair share of Rx WODs, and I’m glad that I’m still able to CrossFit about four times a week. But, I’m surprised at how much harder CrossFit has become. I assumed that I wouldn’t have to modify my WODs until I was very visibly showing, and I figured that would be to merely accommodate for my large belly. Even though I’m five months along, I’m not really showing. So, it’s come as a bit of a shock when I’ve had to drop down weights or had to slow down on a metcon. I’ve dropped my deadlift by about 40 pounds and my back squat nearly 50. There have been metcons where I’ve barely finished in the allotted time, and one metcon of kettlebell swings, double unders, and rowing where I was cut off with one round to go. Those moments have been hard. While I know that I need to listen to my body and I’m aware that I have more physical constraints now, I’ve been mentally and physically trained to push myself to the brink, and it’s hard to feel limitations now. And double unders are just brutal these days!
With that said, I am beginning to fall in love with oly lifts. I always preferred chipper WODs or low skill, high intensity metcons to bar work, but with the barbell, I’ve been able to maintain a lot more of my strength. I can still easily clean 95 pounds, and I have a lot more confidence in my lifts. Pregnancy has been a great time for me to become a more well-rounded CrossFitter.
My philosophy is to try and do a WOD Rx if I can, and if that means five less double unders or cutting a run short by 100 meters, I’d rather do that then switch to single unders or drop my weight. I’ve gone from being one of the fastest in a class to one of the slowest. But hopefully, come February, I’ll be able to bounce back quickly and regain my stamina. And there are days when I feel invincible at the box, and others where I can barely do the warm up. Each day, I just try and do the best I can.
While there are some people in my life who are supportive of my CrossFit ways, others have been quite critical of my desire to keep up intense exercise while pregnant. Perhaps the most jarring comment I received was that if I continued my level of exercise, my baby would be born with birth defects. When moments like that happen, I just remind myself what my midwife told me: “your great-grandmother farmed, washed clothes by hand, and prepared meals from scratch. Women always had to be physically active and had healthy babies. It’s just in modern day that we’ve become far too sedentary, and it’s not something to be proud of. Good for you for exercising.”

Sunday, September 11, 2011

A quickie post...

... since I've been so negligent lately.  I realize I haven't really updated much on our garden.  While it didn't yield as much as we had hoped (the garlic and squash were a bust), we just realized that our collard greens are beautiful!  I made a soup with them tonight, which consisted of the greens, garlic, olive oil, salt, potatoes, and water.  I'll post the recipe if there's interest!  It's not paleo, but it's great for fall.

I finally bit the bullet and started my maternity clothes collection.  I'm still on the small side for a belly, but I just can't handle the Belly Band, and I need comfort!  I discovered a consignment store near my house where I got a shirt and two pairs of pants for cheap, and I did some damage at Gap Maternity.  Here's the picture I've been meaning to post:


There's a tiny bump!  Woo hoo!  In the picture, I'm 18 weeks, five days.  It's a little dark, but you get the gist.