Get It, Girl

I am so pumped about Diana Nyad completing her swim from Cuba to Florida. What a bad ass and an inspiration for everyone, young, old, male, female. I mean, whatever your excuse is for not actively working towards your goal, you should really check yourself and think if a 64 year old woman swam with sharks, jellyfish and god knows what other sea creatures around her and she reached one of her life long goals, what's stopping you from getting off the couch and achieving yours?

On the beach, Nyad told reporters this (which has become my new mantra, btw): "I have three messages. One is, we should never, ever give up. Two is, you're never too old to chase your dream. Three is, it looks like a solitary sport, but it is a team."

The first and third messages really resonate with me right now, especially after this week hearing that there's a possibility I might have to have a third surgery on my right shoulder, a ligament reconstruction (sounds pretty shitty to me). For the next six weeks I cannot do any sort of exercise that involves me raising my right arm above my head - no hanging from the rig, no wall balls, no clean and jerks, nothing. At first I was pissed to hear the doctor say this, but as I was driving from the doctor's office to the gym, I thought, wow, maybe instead of feeling sorry for myself for the next six weeks and giving up, I should use this time as an opportunity to work on my lower body weakness. So that's my focus for the next month and a half. Work on squats, double unders, low back strength and my clean form. I am still a little bummed because there are two local competitions coming up that I wanted to compete in and now cannot, but there will be more competitions and right now I need to focus on getting better because surgery would totally suck and rehabbing it for four months would suck even more.

The third message, as a life-long swimmer, kind of makes me emotional. Technically yes, swimming is a solitary sport and I've spent way too much time starting at the bottom of a pool alone with my thoughts, but if it wasn't for the amazing teammates, coaches and other support I've had over the years, I absolutely wouldn't be the person or athlete I am today and I also wouldn't have the awesome friends and memories I have from swimming...like happy crying for the first time when we won the Tennessee high school state championship my junior year or being allowed to get my belly button pierced with my three teammates because our relay made the Illinois high school state meet. Actually, thinking back, all of the girls, except one (Fluffs), who I would call my closest or best friends in life, I swam with growing up or in college. So I guess to get all sentimental on you, what I'm trying to say is, tonight while I'm all excited about Diana Nyad, but I'm also thinking about and so thankful for all the kick ass, strong girls that have come into my life because of swimming.

Match Dot Come On Guys, What's a Girl Got to Do to Find a SomeoneDecent?

Some of you might know that for the last few months I've been on match.com looking for someone to be potentially my first ex-husband (I'm joking, mom) and it's kind of been a disaster. While I know many people who have had luck finding someone online, for some reason, that has not been my case, so in an effort to find a silver lining in almost everything, hopefully you'll be entertained by my experience.

I want to first say, I do not have ridiculously high standards so it's not like I'm looking for something that doesn't exist. I honestly just am looking for someone who likes to be active and is passionate about living a healthy lifestyle. They don't have to look like David Beckham (but that would be a huge plus if they did) and they don't have to make a ton of money (it's been proven that I am not a gold digger), they just can't look at me funny when I voluntarily wake up early on the weekends to go to the gym or do a race. They also can't look at me funny when I order a burger minus the bun or refuse to eat processed food and then start ranting about how factory farms and Monsanto are ruining us all. 

That being said, I still have three weeks left on Match before my subscription runs out and if you want to get my attention, here are a few tips:

• Don't have bad facial hair. I'm not talking about the chops you grew out for Movember, I'm talking about that disgusting soul patch or chin growth you have going on. Hi the 90s called, they want their facial hair back
• A lot is two words and please use the correct form of your, you're, their, there and they're. I get we all make mistakes, but if your entire profile or Match email is full of spelling or grammar errors, clearly you need to retake eighth grade language arts
• On the topic of language arts, please do not use phrases such as "how r u doing?" or "ur" - if you can't even make an effort to type a few extra letters, that tells me you probably can't make the effort to put dishes in the dishwasher or put the seat down
• Any kind of smoking is a deal breaker. Sorry. Unless you've been living under a rock for fifty years, you know it's bad for you and no, you don't look cool doing it. Also, don't try to pull the "I only smoke when I drink" line on me because I am going to think you're even stupider 
• Please do not send me an impersonal email that you copy and paste to every other girl you email on Match. I work in PR and I know how that works (mail merge pitching anyone?)
• Do not send me a message at 10:30 at night asking me what I'm up to. I wasn't born yesterday and I'm sorry, but I am not going to go to some random dude's house that I just met on the internet. If you're looking for that, try Craigslist casual encounters 
• Under my "faith" I have listed agnostic. That's super cool that you are into church and down with the G.O.D. but to me, religion is a personal choice and I honestly don't care who or what you worship or pray to, just don't be a jerk and please don't try to convert me. I also realize that I live in the south and I am definitely in the minority, so I am open to dating someone who doesn't have the same beliefs as me. That being said, when you have it in your "About Me & Who I'm Looking For" section that you're looking for a girl who can go to church with or grow with in your relationship with God, I'm probably not the girl you're looking for. But if you're looking for someone who will meet you after church for Sunday brunch and you don't mind that I just came straight from the gym dressed in Lululemon, let's talk
• If I don't respond to your message, it's because I'm not interested, so continuing to message me and then getting angry with me for not responding isn't going to help your cause. It kind of tells me you have anger issues
• Lastly, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not send me a message that starts off by saying I bet I can kick your ass in the pool, in running, on the bike, in CrossFit, etc...because there's a 90% chance that I have a higher pain tolerance than you and could run your ass ragged. Plus, that  screams you have low self esteem if you're bragging about how fast/strong/good you are to a complete stranger

Thankfully the Match dates I have been on haven't been a disaster. I met this one guy who does Ironmans and he was super nice, but that spark just wasn't there. I also went out on two dates with a guy who I thought was pretty attractive and I thought we were hitting it off until the subject of tattoos came up. Not sure how it came up, but he was the one who brought it up so I thought I'd just be honest and throw it out there that I have three tattoos, not a big deal - all in which you cannot see when I'm wearing pants or a maxi dress, so it's not like I have a huge face or neck tat or even a sleeve! Well I might as well have said I had chlamydia and I don't believe in taking antibiotics so I'm going to let my immune do its thing and try to fight it off because he couldn't have ended the date any quicker once I put it out there that I have some ink. Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't it 2013 and isn't it something like over 50% of our generation has some sort of tattoo or piercing? I am sure he's also the type of guy who got super upset when DOMA got overturned last month.   

Anyways, I'll be sure to keep you all posted on my last few weeks and let you know if I find any good prospects. In the meantime, don't feel too sorry for me, at least I have this handsome man to keep me warm at night.

I Don't Want To Go Sleep, I Wanna Stay Up All Night...

Yeah that's right, I just quoted a Ke$ha song.

So I am the worst "live" blogger ever. I stopped blogging from Ragnar Chicago right after I finished my first run around the time my stomach started hardcore hating me and stupid me thought it would be a good idea to try to help settle it by eating chicken and bacon from McDonald's. What an idiot.

Team Hello Jillian/Banditos 2.0/Run to Cure Rabies at the finish

Let's rewind a bit, if you don't know how a Ragnar works, here's a quick lesson. Ragnar is an overnight running relay that makes testing your limits a team sport (I stole that right off their website). Teams of either 6 or 12 make their way from point A to point B, which is usually 200 miles a part, in two vans with each team member running three legs made up of varying distances. This particular Ragnar was from Madison, Wisconsin to Chicago and I was the twelfth leg, so I was the last runner. If anyone ever asks you to be a part of a Ragnar team, DO IT. It will be some of the most fun you'll ever have in your life, especially if you're lucky enough to do it with people you've considered family for almost ten years.

The cool thing about being the last runner is is that you hand off the wristband (essentially the baton in Ragnar) to the first runner in the other van, so when you finish your run, not only is everyone from your van at the exchange cheering you on, everyone from the other van is too, which I thought was pretty awesome.

One not so cool thing about Ragnar is is that everyone runs one of their legs in the middle of the night. Here's the deal. I think I'm a pretty tough girl. I'm not really scared of much, I don't scream like a baby when I see a spider/bee/bug/rat, I am okay at speaking in front of a lot of people and heights don't really get to me, but running by myself in the dark scares the shit out of me. I went to college in Chicago and then lived there for three years after I graduated, so it was constantly pounded into my head to not to walk or run alone at night. To make matters worse, my first leg was 6.75 miles and all on a pitch dark tree-lined trail in the middle of nowhere, so it was really f-ing dark. I had a headlamp, which gave me a massive headache and a blinking LED light on my back, that's it. Holy shit was I scared out of my mind. I am not sure what I was most scared of, a bear jumping out at me (thanks Sarah for putting that thought into my head. I promise I will never ever ever tease you about getting eaten by a shark or an aligator again) or that someone was going to jump out at me, drag me into the woods, have their way with me and I'd never been seen again. There where times when I really wanted to stop and call my teammates in my van to come get me, I was that scared. Besides my anxiety being through the roof, my senses were on overload trying to be completely aware of my surroundings in case I had to be ready to react. By the time I finished, my body was in full on fight or flight mode. My teammates said I looked super freaked out when I came through the exchange and thankfully they all greeted me with a hug helping me to calm down. At that point in the race, I thought if this is what Ragnar is, I f-ing hate it and will never do this shit again!

Van Duces minus Luke (From left to right: Casey, Kristen, me, U-Turn Pat and Heather)

So after attempting to make a meal from McDonald's paleo at midnight and trying to fall asleep in a hallway of a shitty school in suburban Milwaukee (various places along the route open up and let runners use their facilities for sleeping and showering) thankfully things started looking up. Because I was the last runner, my second leg started around 7am when the sun was fully up. I ran 4.7 miles from a park in Racine, WI to the downtown Racine YMCA right on Lake Michigan.

One more thing about Ragnar, there are these things called "kills" where when you pass another Ragnarian you count that as a "kill" so on a lot of the team vans they have a running tally on how many kills the van has gotten. On my first leg, I was too busy trying not to get mauled by a bear or attacked by a creepster to count how many times I got killed. I think it was like 7 or 8 and I sure as hell didn't kill anyone because it seemed like everyone was Usain Bolt's cousin running that leg. So on my second run, I was excited that I got one kill.

After everyone in my van showered, we found this amazing breakfast place a few blocks from the Y called Cliff's Boathouse. We found it via Yelp and when we pulled up to the place, it looked like a dump. Being the Chicago/Evanston/Nashville snobs we are, everyone in the van except Casey and Pat were like, "uh, hell no," but Casey peaked inside and said it looked okay. We were all starving for real food so we got out and ate there. Now I don't know if it was because we were so damn hungry, sleep deprived and delirious that any sort of edible substance would have tasted good at that point or if the food at Cliff's Boathouse was that good, but I'm telling you, the blueberry pancakes and bacon I had for breakfast was the bomb. So if you're ever in beautiful Racine, Wisconsin (they have a 70.3 there), make sure to stop by for their breakfast. It's also dirt cheap.

After stuffing our faces, we got in the van and made our way to the lovely town of North Chicago (you know I'm being sarcastic if you're from Chicago) to start the last leg of our journey. Due to some unforeseen circumstances that were not our team's fault, our runners in van 1 had to all run at the same time to make up lost time, so poor Kristen, runner 7, had to run on a pretty full stomach, but since she's the toughest lady I know, she did just fine and even had some Navy boys from the Great Lakes Naval Station hit on her along the way :)

I just realized it totally looks like I am staring at my lack of boobs in this picture

At this point in the race, I was actually kind of nervous about my last leg which was 8.2 miles. Here's the thing, I haven't been running at all outside of whatever running gets mixed into my WODs. Coupled with a new bitch of a back injury, just feeling like garbage from not getting a lot of sleep and running 11+ miles just a few hours before, I was being a giant baby and thinking I would have to walk a good portion of my last leg. Thankfully, Kristen, Casey and Heather all volunteered to run the leg with me. Kristen ran the entire thing with me, so in total she ran over 27 miles during the race, again she's the toughest lady I know, then Casey and Heather met Kristen and I for the last two miles along the lakefront path in Chicago to bring it on home for the team. I absolutely know if it wasn't for my amazing teammates, I would have probably taken the 151 bus to Montrose and walked the rest of it in, so in case I didn't thank you guys on Saturday, THANK YOU for dragging my ass in and putting up with me!

Ragnar Chicago finishes at Montrose Beach which is somewhere that I spent a lot of time at while living in Chicago training for the Chicago Marathon and I would also take my airedale puppy Chloe to the dog beach there, so besides being super happy to be finishing a 30 hour race, I got a little emotional because Montrose Beach is where I think half of Chloe's soul is resting (the other half is in Farley because I swear he is Chloe reincarnated).

Kristen and I at the finish

A few hundred feet from the finish with everyone from my team watching and a lot of other teams cheering on their last runner, this girl comes up behind Kristen and I to pass us. Kristen says to me, "go get her" and I literally go all H.A.M. and sprint to the finish line almost taking this girl out. I have no idea what overcame me, maybe it was because I got slaughtered on my first leg and killed like 8 times so I wanted some sort of redemption or that the girl looked like she did CrossFit and I wanted to beat her to be like yeah, that's right, CrossFit Cool Springs Girls can bring it, even after running 20+ miles. Whatever it was, apparently it was pretty awesome to watch and that girl was pissed.

Kill or be killed bitches.

That girl in the green thought she'd go in for the kill...not so much my friend

And the Rabid Ragnarians Are Off!

Good morning! It's 7am and I'm coming to you live from the beautiful Des Plaines Oasis over I-90! I've got my Diet Coke in hand and I'm waiting for my van 2 teammates to come pick me up. I no joke look like I'm homeless right now...trash bags, sleeping bag, jug of water in all (except homeless people don't carry a Louis Vuitton).

The goal is to blog during the entire duration of the race, so check back periodically during the next 30 hours for updates on how we are doing and all of the crazy shit that Casey says.

VAN DUCES HAS MADE IT TO MADISON!

Despite a few set backs like going to the wrong Oasis and forgetting a safety vest, we are here and ready to kill! 

Casey with his headlamp on

So this far, Ragnar has been super easy for Van Duces. We've eaten, hung out in a park and played UNO and now we are waiting for Bill to come in and for Kristen, from our van to officially kick off the relay for Van Duces. 

Kristen is back in the van and Pat is off! Due to construction, Kristen's leg had an extra 4 miles tacked on, so like a champ, Pat volunteered to run 2 extra miles to give Kristen a break! 

Casey is up next in about twenty minutes! 

Something I learned today: I can get car sick. 

Moving on...Casey, Heather and Luke killed it! Everyone felt great on their run!

Something else I learned today: I am scared of the dark. No joke, my 6.75 mile run was probably one of the scariest things I've ever done. First off, thank you Sarah for putting it in my head that a bear is going to eat me and I'm going to die a slow miserable death by mauling. Second, thank you Sue Wag for making me paranoid that some scary man is lurking behind me and wants to abduct me everywhere I go.

This is what I really freaked out person looks like after spending an hour in the Wisconsin woods by themselves in the pitch black.

And I wonder why I don't have a boyfriend. Maybe I should make this my match.com profile picture (yes, I'm on match. I'll tell you all about that hot mess in a future post). 

Right now we are driving around looking for a place to eat. For the record, I am one pothole in the road away from puking up my protein shake.

Throw Your Scales Away - The Before & After Shots

So I didn't quite hit my goal of 15% body fat by 6/1 but I came pretty damn close at 16% and I'm also down four pounds, which is nice even though I'm not concerned about the number on the scale. Ladies, especially those on the Jamie Free Max Muscle plan, throw your scales out, that number means shit and does crazy things to our heads. I still have a long way to go, I'd like to put on muscle so I can crush my PRs and guess what, when I put on muscle, that number on the scale is going to go up, so again, my CFCS girls, throw your scales away!

Now here's the before and after picture. The before picture was taken on March 14, the first day I started the nutriton plan. The after picture was taken on Saturday right before I hit up the awesome pool in my neighborhood (which, btw, you can totally use me for my pool. I'm always down for a having someone to go to the pool with).

22% body fat on the left and 16% body fat on the right

So along with being down 6% body fat, I feel amazing. Besides not having near as many stomach issues as I had when I was a vegetarian or when I had no structure to my eating, I don't take or need naps to get me through the weekend, I think the first time I had napped since March was on Monday after doing Murph. I also feel like I recover quicker from my hard workouts and don't feel as sore as I have in the past. Jamie recommended today that I start adding a glutamine supplement to my post-workout protein to help speed recovery even more (I wish I would have done that after I finished Murph because maybe the area where my boobs are supposed to be wouldn't still be on fire three days later). Regardless, I cannot say enough positive things about how much my body has changed for the better since starting my nutrition plan and doing CrossFit and I am so grateful to be surrounded by such a supportive community and coaches who really care about their athletes.

I will continue to keep posting about how my body changes, especially since I have started going to the gym six days a week and the calories in my nutrition plan have been increased - I can eat good fats at breakfast, lunch and dinner now on workout days, JEAH!

Next week is Ragnar Chicago and I am going to attempt to blog live from the van, attempt being the operative word, as most of you know, I love my sleep, so spending 30 hours in a van on very little sleep should produce either some highly entertaining content or shit that makes absolutely no sense. Regardless, stay tuned as the team Hello Jillian/Banditos 2.0/Run to Cure Rabies makes its way from Madison to Chicago starting next Friday.

Memorial Day Murph

Yesterday was Memorial Day and like many CrossFit communities around the country, the community at CrossFit Cool Springs honored our fallen heroes by doing Murph. Murph is a Hero WOD named after Navy Lieutenant Michael Murphy who was killed in Afghanistan on June 28, 2005. To learn more about the story of how Murph gave his life to try to save the other members of his team, click here. 

For most of us, yesterday was our first time doing Murph, which is a 1 mile run followed by 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, 300 squats and ending with another 1 mile run. We had a great turn out and everyone finished despite bloody ripped hands and semi-functioning legs for the second mile! This was the fourth time that I've done a Hero WOD and I can honestly say as horribly hard as they are, there is something about trying to push yourself to the limit to honor those who have given the ultimate sacrifice. The hardest part of Murph, at least for me, wasn't the running, it was ripping my hands at pull-up number 90 and the push-ups. I actually enjoyed the last mile and channeled those awful first few miles of the Ironman run where you can't feel your crotch and hamstrings because you just sat on a bike for 112 miles. I finished with a time of 45:41 despite my left shoe being untied the entire last mile. Next year I'd like to do Murph with a weighted vest like how Michael Murphy used to do the workout. 

Results of the 9AM group

Results of the 11AM group

The 9AM group and in true CFCS fashion, after the 11AM group was over, we had a cookout where we all stuffed our faces with burgers, beer and guacamole with bacon in it

The ladies of the 9AM group

Sarah and I right after finishing! One of the strongest girls I know!

The 9AM ladies showing off their ripped hands

Besides kicking off the week with Murph, I'm going to do my final weigh-in and pinch at the end of the week to see if I've met my goal of being 15% body fat by 6/1. I know I originally said I wanted to get to 16%, but since I've had such success with the food plan that Jamie from Max Muscle in Cool Springs I've raised the bar a little higher for myself, so I'll keep you posted on what my results are on Thursday! I also set some new goals for myself at the gym, including being able to do 20 unbroken pull-ups and a bar muscle-up with a band by 7/1. I can do 10 unbroken pull-ups now, so as soon as my hands heal from Murph, I'll start chipping away at that goal, along with trying to figure out how to land on top of the bar with my arms extended, not chicken winged for a muscle-up.

Listen to Reach Your Goals

I must confess, it's taken me years to hone in my listening skills and I still don't always listen, especially when I have my mind made up or if I think the person speaking has no clue what they're talking about. That being said, I think one of the keys to being a good athlete is listening to your coaches and those people trying to make you better. Case in point, I listen to what James tells me to do to get better at CrossFit and I start accomplishing things that I couldn't do before, like pull ups. I also listen to Jamie from Max Muscle in Cool Springs and follow the food plan he wrote for me and I drop 5% body fat in less than two months.

I am by no means saying that I am perfect in my eating or working out...there are days where I want to eat my weight in pizza and ice cream and sleep in and skip the gym, but I usually find some sort of way to get my ass out of bed and try to stay on track with my eating. I found if I'm still hungry after I eat my pre-determined meal, I'll grab a spoonful of peanut butter, make an extra slice of bacon or eat a pack of Sharkies (organic sport fruit chews), but I refused to keep crap in my house because I literally have very little self control when amazing-but-bad-for-you foods are within arms reach. I also help curb those daily cravings by cheating once or twice a week. This past week was my brother's birthday so I had myself a giant slice of ice cream cake on Wednesday and then I had a bowl of ice cream last night, but I immediately get back on track because that's what Jamie and James told me to do.

Only fill your shopping cart up with the good stuff like bacon, peanut butter, avocado, fish and grass fed beef!

I also want to confess that I was a skeptic about this whole CrossFit thing when I first started. I come from a world where quantity is king and you stare at the bottom of the pool for hours, sit on your bike until you can't feel your ass and run until you're borderline delusional to see results, so when I started changing things up and working out for less than an hour a day, I was like, uh nope, no way am I going to see results by doing just a workout that can last for less than thirty minutes. WRONG. Besides dropping 5% body weight and being able to bust out a bunch of pull ups on command, I have also added 25 pounds to my back squat PR, 10 pounds to my strict press PR and just overall become more fit.

I still have a long way to go in terms of my strength and my short term goal is to get to 15-16% body fat by June 1 and then see where I can safely go from there. I am very thankful for my coaches and their wealth of knowledge that they share with me everyday, as well as their encouragement. A lot of times, they're the reason why I get my ass out of bed, especially when they send text messages asking where you are, and 9 times out of 10, it's easier to just go workout then come up with an excuse on why you were lazy.

Let's also for 2.5 seconds talk about the CrossFit makes women "bulky" rumor that most people buy into, which is crap. Yes, there are some super muscular girls that compete in the CrossFit Games, and a lot of them are short and have gymnastics backgrounds, so pack a bunch of muscle onto their short frame and they look jacked, but 99% of people women who do CrossFit aren't going to make it to the games and aren't going to look "bulky" by doing a WOD 3-4 times week. I mean what woman in their right mind wouldn't want to look like Camille LeBlanc? I'd take abs/arms for days and strong legs over the skinny/fat look please.

In my dreams I'll look like this when I workout

Trying to Wrap My Head Around Today

I'm writing this while watching the horrific coverage of the Boston Marathon explosions. Part of me wants to throw up, part of me wants to cry and part of me wants to go into a rage against whoever is responsible for this senseless act against members of my beloved running community.

As a runner, this is one of those events that I'll never forget where I was when I first heard the news. For the past three days I have been reading and seeing the tweets, Facebook posts and Instagram photos from my friends and brands I follow on social media, so when I looked up at the TV in the shop I was in and saw the headline that two explosions at the Boston Marathon had taken place, my heart dropped. I immediately started texting my friends and former colleagues that I knew where there to see if they were okay. Thankfully everyone from Fleet Feet Nashville were okay and 30 minutes later I received a text from my friend Kyle, who works for Runner's World and had Facebooked a few hours before the race that he was going on a 15 mile run along the course before the it started, letting me know that he had left the finish line area just FIVE MINUTES before the explosions took place. I get chills just thinking about it.

In 2007 I wrote a paper in college describing what it's like to run the Chicago Marathon. I said it's the one day out of the year in the city where people of all walks of life unite to cheer on the 40,000 people that take to the street to run 26.2 miles. My first marathon was legit magical. After I crossed that finish line I felt like I could do anything. I remember crossing the finish line and crying because I was so happy that all my hard work had paid off. That single event gave me more self-esteem than I could have ever imagined and no one, absolutely no one, could ever take that feeling away from me. Anyone who has ever crossed that marathon finish line knows exactly what I am talking about and to think that so many people were deprived of this amazing feeling makes me sick. Running a marathon is a life changing event and while you're running, before this day, to even fathom that someone could instill such terror during the event is unimaginable. The marathon is supposed to be a safe and happy event. Bad things are allowed to happen any other day, just not on marathon day.

Me and my dear friends Kristin, Casey and Kristen while running the 2007 Chicago Marathon. This picture makes me smile every time I see it

All that being said, I cannot even begin to wrap my head around what has happened today. I feel like my friends and family have been attacked. I would run into a burning building for my running friends. There is an unexplainable bond that happens between people when they spend every Saturday morning together doing their long runs for marathon training. Watching the footage of the first explosion happen and seeing people run immediately towards the destruction to help their fellow runners makes me hate humanity a little less and reminds me why I run. I don't run for the medals, I don't run so I can brag about how many marathons I've completed and I don't run so I can eat whatever I want. I run because I love being a part of the running community.

My thoughts are with everyone in Boston and there is a special place in hell for those who attacked members of my running community today.

My 2012 Fleet Feet Nashville group celebrating our Country Music Marathon finish

I would run through a burning building for every single one of these people 

Crushing Goals

It's been three weeks since I have started my food plan that Jamie from Max Muscle in Cool Springs wrote me and I am THRILLED to announce that I have lost three percent body fat! My starting numbers were 137lbs and 22% body fat and as of today, I am 134lbs and 19% body fat - so I am finally in the "athlete" percentage category. 

You know how I apologized in advance in my last post for being hangry (hungry + angry)? Well there's no need for me to apologize, because I can honestly say that I have not had a single low blood sugar meltdown because I am always satiated. Now I would be lying if I didn't say that I sometimes crave eating a giant double-decker grilled cheese and my weight in french fries for dinner, but Jamie has me eating foods every two to three hours that I already eat like bison, brussel sprouts, avocado, turkey bacon and peanut butter. Sometimes I even have to force myself to eat once my three hours is up and that rarely happens with me, usually I can't wait until I my next meal. I am also a big fan of the chocolate Max Muscle Triple Whey Protein I have to drink three times a day and I look forward to drinking it after my CrossFit workouts. 

Me and my weave a mess after 13.3. I have no desire to knock out 150 wall balls in a row ever again. The day after I felt like I do after I run a marathon, including the going down stairs part. Ouch.

Besides being well on my way to my goal of 16% body fat, last Thursday I crushed my goal of being able to do a pull-up during the 13.5 workout (4 minute AMRAP of 15 65lb thrusters and 15 chest to bar). At first, I was upset that I didn't get any chest to bar reps, but me being pissed off quickly went away when James informed me that I got my chin well above the bar at least 10 times in my attempts to get my chest to the bar. Which btw, I think I could have gotten my chest to the bar if I had big boobs...just sayin'. So now that my pull-up goal has been reached and I still need to "master" the snatch and after yesterday's WOD that involved rope climbs, I think also need to set the goal of being able to climb that stupid thing (que elementary school gym class flashbacks).

On a completely unrelated note, I also finally moved into my condo two weeks ago and it's finally started to feel like my home. It's a total girl place and there's no brown or variation of brown allowed. It's gray, white, black, purple and pink, with splashes of zebra, Missoni and ZGallerie Montecito print. Not that I have anything against the color brown (even though I rarely even wear the color), I was just in brown and tan hell for almost three years, so this is me finally getting to decorate like I want :) I am pretty sure my favorite room is my bedroom and bathroom and it's a tie between my mounted TV with no cords showing (I hate hate hate cords. The day everything is wireless will be a day when I'll be a little less anal) and my Kohler Moxie shower head (that thing rocks) for my favorite thing in my condo. 

Pretty much everything I bought for my place is from Gilt, ZGallerie, Target and Homegoods, including the zebra runner and the "Keep Glam and Rock On" framed poster. Trendy without breaking the bank!

My seven month old Airedale puppy Farley is also a big fan of the place. We are a two minute walk from the dog park and there are lots of dogs in the neighborhood that he can play with. He also loves the purple couch. 

It's Not You, It's Me: Getting Lean

I feel like I'm going to raise a few eyebrows and get a few texts after people read what I'm about to write, so I'm going to preface this all with, my main goal isn't to lose weight, it's to lose body fat, get lean and decrease the amount of dimply-looking stuff on my legs.

I've never been the skinniest girl in the room (except during a brief period in 2006 and 2011, but I won't bore you with the white girl problems that brought those two instances on) and I am not striving to be the skinniest girl in the room, but with how active I am, I have always wondered why instead of trying to keep weight on, I've always had to try to keep weight off  - even when I was training for the Ironman, which btw, I actually lost a lot of weight after the Ironman, which I thought was bizarre...but I did stop eating $20 worth of mac and cheese from Whole Foods on Sundays because I wasn't riding 100+ miles then following it up with a 20 mile run, so maybe that had something to do with it? Regardless of a few past semi-unhealthy habits, I've always eaten pretty decent and always burned a ton of calories per week from training for whatever race. People have even made comments about it to me. Some of those comments have even made me self-conscious, for example an old friend, who I no longer consider a friend for many reasons including for comments like the one I'm about to share, said to me "with all the biking and running you do, I don't get why your legs still look the way they do," she was referring to the cellulite on them. Another person once said to me "I can't picture you having a lot of muscle, you've always been soft since I've known you," and this particular thing was said to me when I was training for my first 70.3 Ironman. I don't care how self-confident you are, when someone else points out a flaw in your body that you're already very well aware of, it hurts. Now granted the two people who said those hurtful things didn't have much influence in my life and weren't even in the position to judge because they only went to the gym in college to get food from The Bean, not actually workout, but still, those comments obviously have stuck with me over the years.

Enough about bitching about the past, because god knows I could go on for days about my flaws in terms of how I look, I am writing this post because after getting my body fat measured and talking with Jamie, one of my CrossFit coaches and the owner of Max Muscle in Cool Springs last week, someone has finally written out a food plan for me that will help me achieve my goal of leaning out. 

Last week I came in a 137lbs and 22% body fat, which isn't terrible because I am 5' 6" but not exactly where I want to be. On one positive note, I was actually surprised with my weight because apparently I have lost eight pounds since November. A few days later getting pinched and weighed, I ran into the owner of Franklin Strength, someone who I used to see on a regular basis until James got his own CrossFit space in January, and he commented on how it looked like I had lost some weight and toned up a little (which really felt good because he's not the type of throw out complements left and right). Also, according to the American Council on Exercise, coming in at 22% body fat means I'm "fit" but I don't want to just be fit, I want to kick some ass. 

I am officially starting the program tomorrow. Funny thing is, all of the stuff on my program, is stuff I already eat like eggs, turkey bacon, brussel sprouts, avocado and peanut butter, the only thing that really stands out to me is the timing of my meals - Jamie has got me eating eight times on the days I do CrossFit and seven times on the days I do cardio like Barry's Bootcamp or rest. So tomorrow morning before I get up to go to CrossFit Cool Springs, I am going to weigh myself so I can have a starting point and gauge my progress. Ideally I'd like to get between 15% and 16% body fat, but we'll see how these first couple weeks go. I'll keep you posted on my progress and if I feel hangry (hungry + angry) all the time...and if that's the case, I apologize in advance for whatever bitchy comment comes out of my mouth. It's not you, it's me. 

13.1 Hot Mess

Lately I've felt like if the phrase "hot mess" was in the dictionary, there would be a picture of me underneath the definition with no make up on in my gym clothes, weave all a mess under my Lululemon bang buster headband and grown out black shellac nails. This working from home thing is awesome, but it's also making me incredibly lazy when it comes to my personal apparence. I was in Seattle for seven days last week and I had to shower, wash my hair, put on make up and real clothes every day I was there because I was working and it was exhausting. Sometimes I wonder why guys don't ask me out more often and then I remember what I look like most days. I should probably work on that. 

Two big things going on in my life right now, well really one thing, I officially move into my condo on March 29 and the other big-ish thing (not really big, but something I'm looking forward to) is the CrossFit Games open workouts that take place over the span of five weeks.

The 13.1 workout. Whoever invented burpees must have been a real asshole

I did the first open workout on Saturday, 13.1 and I feel like they were taunting all the long distance runners turned wannabe CrossFitters with that name because 13.1 miles usually doesn't phase someone who puts in the miles, but before this 13.1 workout, I felt like I was going to puke. I legit felt like I did right before I swam the 200 fly back in the day. You know it's gonna hurt, you know it's gonna be ugly and you know your arms are going to feel like garbage when your done...but with this particular event, you can't dolphin kick 2/3's of the way each lap in an effort to try to save yourself. Former swimmer nerds, you know exactly what I'm talking about. Not to mention I barely knew how to snatch before I attempted the workout, so I stopped myself at 100 because I was so terrified I'd throw the 75lb bar over my head and miss catching it and end up back in the ER with another set of CrossFit induced stitches. Looking back, I'm pissed I didn't try at least one 75lb rep, but I guess there's always next year? My girlfriend hunting friend Sean came with me and killed it at the workout, he got to 150. Majorly impressed by his effort. Ladies, if you're looking for a stud athlete boyfriend, Sean is your man. And then we went to Barry's Bootcamp the next morning and regretted that decision the minute we got on the treadmill. Thankfully Josh the instructor didn't include burpees in the workout or else I feel like Sean and I would have been flopping around on the floor like a couple of dead fish. Here's the funny thing though, I think Sean and I are going to try to keep our little routine of doing the open workout Saturday and Barry's on Sunday up, so we shock our bodies into getting ready for beach season. Or at least that's how we're justifying our insanity.

As for my condo, like I said, I close and start moving in on the 29th. To me, my 1,200 square foot place is a mansion compared to the places I lived in while in Chicago, especially the last place I lived in, a 400 sq ft studio. I've got a 2+ car garage for my Mini Cooper and two bikes (anybody know anyone who needs to store a boat?!) and two bedrooms and two bathrooms. Both bedrooms have walk in closets, the shower in the master is huge and the guest bath is a good size as well, way bigger than any bathroom I had in Chicago. I bought an awesome purple sectional from Z Gallerie for the living room that I'm dying to see how it turned out. Yes, that's right a big purple couch. I am moving into Barbie's dream house.

The purple streak in my weave pretty much matches the color of my couch

I also bought myself a Kohler Moxie shower head for the master bath. I hope the sound proofing between units is good because if not, I at least hope my neighbors enjoy a little JT, Britney or the Skrillex Pandora station in the morning.

The housewarming party will be in May. Expect lots of bubbly and some Jello shots as a throw back to my dear friend Kelsey and I's days at DePaul. Should be a great time.

Kelsey and Jillian dance party circa 2008

Aha Moment(s)

This past week I've had a few "aha moments." One being last week when I finally figured out that a lot of flour + dairy = feel like shit. That moment again made me super thankful that I started eating meat again as a result of going Paleo. Last week I came to the conclusion that I was weak sauce and felt kinda bad about myself, but over the past seven days instead of pouting about it, I've used that emotion to push myself through WODs that hurt like hell and my usual Sunday morning Barry's Bootcamp ass kicking. Tonight it paid off, I was able to do three reps of my max push press and my first fully RX WOD and it felt damn good.

The theme of the past four workouts I've done have been "get that Beyonce booty" - which reminds me, was anyone else a little underwhelmed by her HBO documentary?

As for my superficial/vain aha moment of the week, after posting the picture below of me and my weave sister Hana and several people asking me if I've gone brunette, it's time for me to ditch the ombre  look and go back all blonde...I'm thinking super blonde with a couple very light pink or purple strands thrown in. We'll see, I've got three weeks until my color appointment so I might change my mind by then.

For the record, I love Hana and she is not a poop face. That sign is a result of too much vodka and my inner eight year old. Doesn't my hair look brown though? I also need a tan.

Lastly, I swear I did not plan either of these twin moments, they just happened on their own! Also the Ken doll-looking guy in the photo on the left is single. Sean, you're welcome.

Weak Sauce

Holy cow there's a lot that's gone down in the past week. Besides my usual boring routine, I've been trying to get in the groove of a new job, balance the new travel schedule that comes with the new job, get to the gym,  attempt to race (which was an epic failure, btw. I woke up Saturday morning and felt like garbage, so I bailed on the half I was supposed to run out in Lebanon. Weak sauce, I know), balance a semi-normal 27 year-old single girl social life and I'm six weeks out from closing on my condo that's being built, so I what I'm trying to say is things are a bit ridic right now, but I guess ridic in a good way.

So last night's WOD was the CrossFit total and I left after really down on myself. The CrossFit total is one round of your max back squat, strict press and deadlift. Now I know I have been super open about how weak I am and last night pretty much solidified those thoughts. While yes, all the numbers I threw up there were technically PRs, they were only PRs because it's the first time I've ever tried to max out...which is a very weird concept for me because all my life I've been an endurance athlete and trained to do the same things over and over again while pacing yourself, so this whole lift something heavy as shit once and you're good concept is bizarre to me. Anyways, I have this terrible habit of comparing myself to others and being competitive (no way, me?), so last night was an eye opener and a nice little humbling reminder that even though I can kill it at the endurance WODs, you suck at the strength ones, so stop thinking you're super awesome and start focusing on your weakness (literally) to get better. 

All that being said, amidst of all the changes and ridiculousness going on in my life right now, I am really going to try my hardest to use last night as motivation to stick to my 4-5 days a week of CrossFit and Sunday Barry's routine so hopefully next time around my CrossFit total score won't make me look as weak sauce as the first. I guess those numbers can only go up from here, right?

2013: The Year of the Relay

In years past for me it's been all about the Ironman, or running two marathons in two weeks, or some other ridiculous task that usually has me in the porta potty the morning of the event because I'm so nervous and limping for days after. This year though, it's all about the relay! Last night I received an email from one of my beloved Banditos (that's what my running group in Chicago calls themselves) about putting together a team for Ragnar Chicago. I don't know about you, but I can't think of anything more fun than spending two days in a van with my best running buds running from Madison, WI to Chicago and listening to Casey's stories like about panning for gold in Mexico back in the day. Best part about training for Ragnar is, apparently it's just like training for a half, which means I can still focus on getting stronger and not give that up because I have to run everyday of the week. 

Banditos running Northerly Island

Most of the Banditos on a freezing cold morning last February

Two months after Ragnar, I'll go back up north to relay the swim portion of Ironman Steelhead 70.3 in Benton Harbor, MI with my Nashville partner in crime, Stephanie, who will rock the bike and her friend Page who will bring it home for us on the run. I've done Steelhead twice before, once in 2007 and again in 2010, and that race is notorious for canceling the swim because of large waves, so I will be pissed if I go all the way up to Michigan my leg of the relay gets cancelled. I think I'm going to use the race as an excuse to buy a new wetsuit. I have been rocking the same entry-level Zoot wetsuit since I started doing triathlons and I had the opportunity to try out the blueseventy Helix in December down in Austin at The Running Event and it blew me away how I amazing it felt in the water while wearing it. I'm also excited to try to beat my existing 1.2 mile swim time of 30 minutes. I honestly don't get in the pool that much, but last year I did a PR in the swim at the Nash Vegas Half and I think it was all because of my strength training, so hopefully with six more months of CrossFit, I'll blow that PR out of the water.

Stephanie is probably going to not be happy that I posted this picture of us acting like idiots from the Swiftwick White Out Party/the birthday party I threw for myself last year

Speaking of CrossFit, this morning's WOD at CrossFit Cool Springs about killed me. My power cleans look like garbage 90% of the time, so I definitely need to work on those and combined with being sore from the tag team Barry's Bootcamp workout yesterday, that minute rest in between cycles was much needed.

My Awesome Friday Night

Sorry I've been MIA this week, I was in beautiful snowy (and ridiculously cold) Wisconsin for the past five days for work with not a lot of down time.

I'm writing this blog as I am stuffing my face with a post-CrossFit workout salad and Kombucha. I kind of ate like crap this week (when I say like crap, I mean not paleo), especially yesterday when I had a bagel with cream cheese, a Zone Bar and some Muscle Milk and of course my body started to rebel when I was mid-air on a packed flight from Detroit to Nashville on one of those tiny commuter airplanes. At one point when I put my head in my hands and made some groaning noise, I scared the dude sitting next to me because he asked me if I was going to puke. My response to his question was "god, I would feel so much better if I did." So today I felt inclined to make up for my crappy eating this week by going to Whole Foods and making myself a $20 salad for dinner.

My mom calls Kombucha expensive dirty foot water. Why do I drink it? Because Chrissie Wellington one day tweeted a picture of her fridge full of the stuff. If Chrissie said she ate dog poop after a workout to recover, I probably would give it a go just so I could brag that we have the same post-workout regimen

I also didn't workout while I was up in Wisconsin. I stayed at this sick Five Diamond resort that used to house the immigrant workers who worked in the town factory back in the day but they didn't have an attached gym (only I would bitch about that). I had to walk four blocks in the snow and in the -5 degree wind chill to get there, so I initially was just going to modify the workouts that James gave me for the week but after getting 5 burpees in, I realized that the person staying in the room directly below me probably thought I was demolitioning my room, so I gave up and grabbed a Diet Coke from the mini bar and sat and watched the first 30 minutes of the Today Show.

So feeling super guilty about being a fat ass all week, I am spending my Friday night at CrossFit Cool Springs, eating my Whole Foods salad, blogging and probably catching up on the amazing TV I missed this week...by amazing, I mean shows like Scandal, Shahs of Sunset and the SAG Awards Fashion Police special. I am so cool sometimes, I can hardly stand it.

Here's the WOD from tonight:

I'm a huge fan of the twenty seconds on, ten seconds off thing and rounds for time WODs. I might not be the strongest person there, but I have a lot of gas in my tank from my swimming, running and triathlon training, so usually I can bite my lip and fight through the pain.

CrossFit is like that abusive boyfriend you can't quit. You know every time you see him, you leave sore, with bruises and some times ending up in the ER, but you end up going back because you just can't get enough. That being said, I'm pumped for the Saturday AM WOD. Should be a great time. I also signed up for Barry's Bootcamp on Sunday afternoon for a special tag team class, so by Monday, I should be wrecked. Awesome.