Ecstatic

Just home from our first rugby practice of the season. After a dynamic warm up we basically spent over an hour and a half sprinting, interspersed with core exercises in payment for dropped balls and short lectures about the drills. My hip flexors HATE me right now, but I am absolutely ecstatic to be playing rugby again. We all are. You could absolutely feel it, especially after practice as we all dispersed. Tonight promised to be cold and wet, but turned out to be just cool enough with nice soft ground. Rare conditions for Texas.

And it's crazy, but I can tell my fitness has improved since November. Or maybe it's my motivation and core strength that are better. And maybe the dieting is helping, or maybe it's just got me eating better. Who knows, but I'm totally excited for the 2009 season!

Sore

Yesterday's workout was tough.

AMRAP, 20 Minutes, 16 kg KB:

kettlebell clean and press 6 right/6 left
40 yard sprint x2
kettlebell snatch into an overhead squat 5R/5L
American swing with a lateral step 10R/10L

I finished four rounds in just over the 20 minutes. I felt like I'd really accomplished something after finishing, but it was definitely tough. And my body is telling me ALL about it today. My shoulders, my quads, my thighs... Chris, my coach, commented that he could tell the Zone dieting was making a difference, which was cool to hear especially since my attempt fails as much as it succeeds.

food and fitness

The Zone has its ups and downs. Weekends are when I'm the worst at sticking to it. And most days I only manage to get three or four meals Zoned. But I keep telling myself that it's a start. Better than nothing. Today for a very late breakfast I had eggs scrambled with feta, spinach, and avacado. Quite tasty. And I've found that roast beef and provolone with fruit and almonds is my favorite lunch. Greek yogurt is too expensive, but it's sooo good.

Rugby practices start a week from Monday. My activity levels will go way up as our coach has been reported to be gleefully thinking of inventive fitness torture. And I'll be thanking Crossfit.

40/30/30

Just under a year ago when I started the kettlebell class at CrossFit Central Jeremy, who was my coach at the time, tried to convince me to start Zone dieting. No way was I ready to be that serious about things. I was just there to get in better shape for rugby, not to win a triathlon or even lose weight, as I told him vehemently. (I tend to push back when people try to push me into things.) Over the summer I started to consider zoning, even more once rugby season began and I could physically tell my nutrition wasn't up to par with what I was putting my body through.

Still, even that feeling wasn't enough to get me over the hump of actually bothering to measure my food and worry about conforming to the zone-prescribed macro-nutrient proportions. Tonight I'm still not sure about it. Food shouldn't require a calculator. Nor should it take over half an hour to make a salad. But, I decided if I'm going to do this I Am Crossfit thing I'm going to do it right. And, like any lab procedure or fitness movement, though, I assume one gets better with experience.


3 Block Dinner:

• Salad (2.65 oz spinach, 0.5 cucumber, 2 slices ham, 1.5 oz feta cheese, 2 T (1 ounce) avacado)
• 2 Triscuits
• 3 cashews
• 1 cup milk

What I learned:

• It takes a heck of a lot of spinach to get to 5.333 ounces (1.333 cups) worth.
• Food shouldn't require a calculator.
• The right amount of spinach is way more filling than the zone equivalent of Triscuits.
• This is going to take some will-power and time and mindfulness.
• That left over pumpkin bread is looking really tasty, even after a delicious salad.

I am Crossfit part I

Crossfit Central is doing the "I Am Crossfit" program to kick off 2009 - intense workouts outside of class in addition to the usual and zone dieting, keeping a food journal, before and after measurements, the whole bit.

Benchmark workout is 3 rounds of:
400m run
15 pullups
7 hanging cleans

I chose the 65 lb weight and attempted pull ups with a band and today I didn't finish in the given 12 minutes. Disappointing, but there's nowhere to go but up. And, not doing olympic lifts very often or being able to do even a single real pull up I knew I was really challenging myself. So, here's to 2009. Fitter, faster, and more of a bad ass on the rugby pitch.

Seven Things

Tim tagged me a few weeks ago on this "Seven Things" meme, but I'm a bad blogger and just now getting around to fulfilling his tagging me. Generally speaking I'm an open book. There is little about me that my friends don't know. For instance I thought about writing that I've paid for a car with a credit card. The offered rate for the life of the balance was better than any car loan anyone could have gotten for such a low amount on a used car. But I'm so damn proud of that that I tell just about anyone who will listen. And you all definitely know about my baking. So, here's my attempt to do this without admitting anything that might doom my social life or embaress someone else.

1. I have a thing for sunglasses. Most of the time I've got about five pairs lying around and they rotate as I lose one pair and buy more. Usually I buy pretty cheap ones because of my ability to lose them, but as I get older my tastes definitely get more expensive.

2. Coffee has become my comfort food, but that probably has more to do with the cream and sugar I put in the coffee than the actual caffeine. I spent grad school actively attempting to avoid a caffeine dependency and still try to not drink coffee on a daily basis, but sometimes I just absolutely need that jolt combined with the creamy goodness of half and half and sugar. Also, I can now taste the difference between cheap gas station coffee and Starbucks and even asked for a french press for Christmas (which I didn't get).

3. I've lost track of all the pets I had as a kid. I know my first pet was a goat named Emily. And of course I remember the dogs and the memorable show steers, but the procession of cats and hamsters and fish and the like all completely blurs together.

4. My current sheets are flannel in a very uncharacteristic floral pattern that completely does not go with my new duvet cover. But they're super warm and comfy.

And because I'm an open book that's all I can think of. Yes, I am so terribly exciting...

fitness

Reading all these Crossfit Central blogs while wasting time on the last day before the Christmas holiday is making me feel like a lump. Maybe I can get in a run tonight. Or at least play with the kettlebell a bit when I get bored with the packing and cleaning. Definitely have to find something to do while I'm at the parent's house or I'll go nuts.

A brief look back at 2008

2008 has been very good to me. Finally I feel as if I'm getting back to being the person I am meant to be - I've come a long way from December 2007. So, as inspired by Jeremy and Lance, and in honor of my one year anniversary of holding a real job, a brief look back on 2008.

I am thankful for:

-My job, which has provided me with the security to truly get myself back on my feet.

-Crossfit Central and all the coaches who have motivated to push myself farther and harder than I ever thought I could and into better shape than I thought possible and playing better rugby than ever.

-The move from front row to 8 man and playing as B-side captain for the fall season. It has been an amazing experience and I pray that we have enough players to fill two full sides again in the spring. A year ago I'd have done almost anything for the opportunity to play B side rugby. Rugby for fun, rugby for the joy of 80 minutes of absolute freedom, win or lose, rugby because I am young and strong and I love it and I can.

-Learning better who I really am and where my boundaries in so many areas of my life lie.

-That my best friend moved to Austin this year.

-For my friends and teammates who have become my family here in Austin over the past four and a half years I've been in this city.

Thanksgiving

So I'm in Austin for Thanksgiving for the first time in a while. It's much too warm to be the end of November to my still mid-Atlantic sensibilities. Right now I'm sprawled on my bed thinking that there really ought to be something I could be up to or somewhere I could be going tonight. It sounds fantastically decadent. Next year I'm making something up instead of settling for a quiet night in with my oven and Kitchenaide mixer.

Politics

I early voted on Friday afternoon. Now I'm just ready for the election to be over. Let me know what happens so I can get on with life.

Interesting fact I learned today: Since FDR was in office the Washington Redskins have predicted the outcome of the every national election. If the 'Skins win the home game before the election the incumbent party stays in the White House. If they lose, the president from the other party is elected. And they lost (big time) last night to the Steelers. Here's hoping!