The challenges I’m hitting lately…

I can’t believe it’s Thursday. I thought it was Wednesday and the week is just flying by. I’m feeling stronger than ever at CrossFit and I’m not being a wussy when it comes to the WODs. I’m givn’er and lifting heavier! Guess that month off was successful for my muscle building and now I’m just getting better.

50daypushI’m going to end up starting the push up challenge again shortly. I don’t know what’s stopping me from even starting but I’m planning on it in the foreseeable future. Ha! How’s that for a vague answer. I ended up doing the 50 day push up challenge on my knees last time, and next I want to start doing them off my toes. Elbows in. The “tough” way! I saw a vast improvement on my performance at CrossFit when I did them, so I want to keep that level up.

Lately I’ve been like a starving horse. Feeling very hungry at work, and I figure that I really need to start bringing much more snacks in with me, to work so I’m not going to a vending machine or eating my emergency candy. Yes, I have a secret stash at work. Shh. The Boyf doesn’t know, but I’m sure it doesn’t surprise him. It’s dwindling. The candy stash, not our relationship lol….uh.

boyf and iHere’s a random photo of us in the elevator.  Just because this post is lacking some visuals ;) Totally broke that BlackBerry case awhile ago. On case # 3 now. Oops. Hey, at least I’m not on BlackBerry #3 right?

Want to see something cool that SportChek shared with me the other day via e-mail? Check out this video

Think that’s going to be the way retailers shop, in the future? Pretty wild right?  In fact, if you’re in the Toronto area, this store is actually opened as of last week and it’s located at 2529 Younge Street. I google mapped the location and it’s 7km north of the Eaton Centre to put it in perspective. Hop on a subway and you’re there in minutes.

Neat features of the Retail Lab:

  • Tile, Tablet, Touch and NFC Screens:  With 140 digital screens installed throughout the store, it features Samsung displays with ultra-thin borders, touch technology and near-field-communication (NFC) capabilities allowing for personalized content and greater customer interaction with merchandise.
  • Shoe Wall Innovation: adidas has installed its first permanent digital shoe wall in Canada; Nike has installed its first Nike Shoe VJ Experience in the world; and Reebok has installed a customized, ‘build your own Reebook’ kiosk.  
  • Medical Motion Dynamic Gait Analysis: Customers walk or run on a gait analysis treadmill, while being monitored by trained Sport Chek associates who can then recommend the perfect shoe.

What has everyone been doing to strive for YOUR better? What challenges are you hitting? Tell me in the comments. I’m sure it’s difficult getting into a routine again after the nice Christmas holiday break. Sure was for me – you guys know I took a month off for no real reason. I just did. I suppose my body secretly needed it, and I listened to it. Now I’m feeling a ton better, especially now that I’m taking vitamins and exercising more.

Oh oh! Don’t forget to submit your Triple F Friday posts to me by tonight’s end! Just shoot me an e-mail to spiffykerms@gmail.com. Just include any of the following:
  • Your name
  • Your URL, if you have a blog
  • Description of you being Fun, Fit or Fashionable
  • A photo, which is optional of course

See ya tomorrow for the last post of the week! :)

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My CrossFit Journal (Year 1, week 40)

Before I emerge myself in writing this blog post. I want to give all of my love, and thoughts to everyone involved in the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting on Friday. There just are no words to express, so I just want to mention that I’m thinking of them all.

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I filled out a December workout calendar and stuck it on our fridge at home. It keeps me accountable, and also lets me know what the Boyf is up to during the week, since I always seem to forget his schedule – even though it hasn’t changed in three years… oops.

december schedule

(Mine is the one on top)

Sunday through Thursday is when I workout, and I get Friday and Saturday’s off. I’m pretty proud of myself keeping it up! Boyf’s schedule isn’t really set in stone and has “gaps” because he usually cycles 4x/week, not twice like its listed on the schedule.

The short:

M – CrossFit (+ 40 pushups)
T – CrossFit (+ 41 pushups)
W – Soccer (+ 42 pushups)
Th – CrossFit (+ 43 pushups)
F – Rest Day (+ 44 pushups)
S – Rest Day (+ 45 pushups)
S –
Run 5.5km (+46 pushups)

50daypushToday marks day 47 of the 50 day pushup challenge. So close yet soo far away, haha! I think I’ll write a blog post once it’s all finished. Who knows. I’m getting pretty sick of talking about it. But at the same time, I don’t want to stop. We’ll see how it goes.

year 1, week 40, day one

 SWOD
Deadlift
5-5-5-5-5

For the deadlifts I ended up getting up to 145lbs, but only did one because we were running out of time and I didn’t want to hurt myself. I feel so strong! Arr! haha

WOD
For Time:
5 Rounds
20 KB Swings 24/16kg
30 Squats
7 HSPU

There was a time limit on this one, 18 minutes. I actually tried to do the handstand push-ups for this one, and I set up 2 ab mats, plus a 10lb plate to rise it up. I did them all for three full rounds and on my fourth round I decided to do dive-bombers instead. I was starting my fifth and final round and completed 12 KB swings, and the timer went off.

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year 1, week 40, day two

I have no recollection of this CrossFit WOD. I forgot to e-mail myself details of it, and had to scroll back through my local CrossFit’s website to get the WOD to write my blog post.

3 Rounds

10 RS KB Clean & Press;24/16kg
5 Strict Chin ups
50 D/U (or 150 skips)
10 LS KB Clean & Press;24/16kg
5 Strict Chin ups
50 D/U (or 150 skips)

I do remember having bruised forearms from doing the clean and presses with the kettle bells. Don’t remember if I finished in the time allotted or not.

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year 1, week 40, day three

Had a ten o’clock soccer game this Wednesday evening. I’m getting back into the swing of things with soccer. Not so afraid to go after the ball any more, and I’m getting a bit more aggressive. Still not loving it as much though. The end.

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year 1, week 40, day four

4 Rope Climbs
30 Box Jumps [30/24]
3 Rope Climbs
25 Box Jumps
2 Rope Climbs
20 Box Jumps
1 Rope Climb
15 Box Jumps

Remember to bring long socks or pants for the rope climbs!

Instead of the rope climbs the scaled version of the WOD was this:

*30*25*20*15*

*15 supines
*15 pushup
Box jumps 24″

That may look confusing to those that don’t know what it means. It went something like this:

  • 15 supines, 15 pushups then 30 box jumps on a 24″ box
  • 15 supines, 15 pushups then 25 box jumps on a 24″ box
  • 15 supines, 15 pushups then 20 box jumps on a 24″ box
  • 15 supines, 15 pushups then 15 box jumps on a 24″ box

I finished the twenty minute time limit WOD in 18:53.

Oh I just love those type of cardio speed work WODs. I ended up being the FIRST one finished. But that’s not really saying anything because 90% of the class were new CrossFitters. Either way I felt pretty good during it!

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year 1, week 40, day five

5.5km run incorporating two hills with my coach on Sunday mid-morning in the misty/sometimes pouring rain, and surprisingly I didn’t mind it. Who have I turned into!? He sneakily incorporated two hills to see what I was capable of. I’ve been enjoying my runs lately and haven’t had the need to stop and rest/walk. Instead, I slow down to get my breathing back down and even then it doesn’t seem like i need to do it that often any more. Keep on truckin!

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My CrossFit Journal (1 Year, Week 39)

As soon as I hit day 30 on November 30, I thought all went downhill. I wasn’t doing my push-ups when I first woke up any more, and dreading them all day long. December 3rd came around and I had 33 to do. I don’t know what happened but I managed to get 21 done in a row at once, took a break and did the rest. Guess I’m getting my second wind. But then I spoke too soon. Each morning before I do them my arms just ache thinking of getting them done. It’s SO hard. I just completed day 40, this morning. Rough stuff.

This was an AMAZING workout week. So much accomplished, and I felt so strong (except in spin… but you’ll read why shortly…)

The short:

M – Spin class(+ 33 pushups)
T – CrossFit (+ 34 pushups)
W – Soccer (+ 35 pushups)
Th – CrossFit (+ 36 pushups)
F – Rest Day (+ 37 pushups)
S – 6.02km run (+ 38 pushups)
S –
Rest Day (+39 pushups)

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year 1, week 39, day 1.

I had a plan to go with my co-worker to her local gym to incorporate more yoga into my routine. I’ve missed it, and wanted to do it a few times per month. Instead of shelling out the money for another gym membership it I decided to be her guest at her gym just go get my “fix”. That was, until she made a change of plans and decided we’d do spin class instead.

I remember why I never got into spin. It hurts so bad. Do you gals have callused ‘ginas?! Honest go my God, it was brutal.  The backs of my hands and arms (not palms) were drenched. That and the fact that my breathing was getting a little out of control. Keeping up with the class was impossible, since it was my first spin class in a few years. I had to tame the resistance down, often. That is one sport I will never get into. I have absolutely zero interest in spin class, or biking hard at all for that matter. Let me tell ya. It wasn’t enjoyable, haha. I nearly left my supper at the gym. It was hard.

I don’t understand how people can put themselves through that kinda pain. Is that normal? I mean, my co-worker felt like she was in pain too. You must end up getting numb somehow, or calloused like I said, hahahahaha.

I quote my co-worker when I told her about the ‘gina pain I was having.

Her response: I’m actually tearing I’m laughing so hard!! V’jay was in pain! Not normal! I thought I was bleeding at one point. Just sweat. Like a hot wedding in Toronto. I was planning my run to either the sink in that room, or the bathroom! Just when I thoguht I was good with my cardio, a spin bike came along and slapped me in the crotch.

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year 1, week 39, day 2

In January I started waking up really early in order to incorporate morning workouts. That failed miserably. I’m not a morning person.

I had every intention to start going to CrossFit before work. I just would never get dressed and drive there. I went in the morning once. I noticed that I was weaker, and more clumsier than usual, and just feel much more energetic after work. I would always set my alarm for 6am, eat, get ready for work and just hang out on the couch with Alfie for a few before heading into work for 9:30.

I don’t know what changed. But on Monday morning I had an appointment at the mechanic’s to get my winter tires put on. I woke up at 6:36am (precisely…) and got all ready for work and arrived at the mechanics for 8am with my Starbucks in hand. Only after the fact that I conditioned my hair, and shampooed the ends. It was Monday alright.

The reason I decided to go in the morning this week was because I knew I’d be busy on Monday with my co-worker at her gym, and the Boyf and I had planned on seeing SkyFall on Tuesday night. I didn’t want to be exhausted during the movie, plus I missed an entire week last week due to me taking a break.

So Tuesday (being day 2 of my workout schedule) I woke up at 6:00am and headed in for a 7am WOD at my CrossFit box.

The prescribed WOD:

5 rounds
50 Double-unders
10 Push jerk; 185/135lbs
Rest 1 minute

Since I can’t do many double-unders in a row I stuck to burpees. My WOD looked like this:

5 rounds
15 burpees
10 Push jerk; 65lbs
Rest 1 minute

I think we had 20 minutes, or 10 minutes (should’ve written this the day of..) for the WOD and I know I was on the 4th round when the buzzer went off.

My wrists were feeling sore during the WOD so one of the coaches noticed, and half way through he taped up my wrist for me, and it felt a million times better!

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year 1, week 39, day 3

Wednesday night was soccer. I think we won. Clearly I’m not involved mentally in soccer this year. I don’t want to say “I can’t wait til it’s over” because I do enjoy it while I’m there. Just not when I think about it. Know what I mean? No one really passes it to me, and when they do it’s been so long since I’ve had the ball that I fumble and mess up the play. Not the most fun time.  When soccer stops, I’ll be moving my CrossFit to Wednesdays and incorporating more climbing.

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year 1, week 39, day 4

One of the warmups was pretty speedy. 45 seconds for each, with no breaks in between. Or maybe there was a few seconds. I don’t remember. Either way, it was breathless and speedy. My FAVORITE!

45 seconds of as many burpees as you can
45 seconds of alternating supermans
45 seconds of overhead squats with the PVC bar

How’d I do?

13 burpees 45 supermans and 20 overhead squats. Not too shabby… I felt so fast doing the burpees lol.

Then was the second part of the warmup:

Pendlay Row
3-3-3-3-3
Bench Press
5-5-3-3-2-2

I ended up doing 75lbs for both.  I’m telling you. The Pushup Challenge is making me so strong!

This is my “I’m happy I bench pressed 75lbs twice in a row” and I could’ve kept adding weight but we ran out of time in the warm up and had to do the WOD.

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year 1, week 39, day 5


I had to do a solo run this weekend sans coach. So I loaded up my iPod with some songs and off I went.

I ended up running an out and back route which was 6.02km with a minor bit of elevation. I only stopped once at the turnaround point and that was because I wanted to catch my breath due to the spring I did from one light pole til the next. It was a fantastic run. I hid my watch underneath my sleeves so I wouldn’t worry about my time. I wanted to stop a few times, so instead I remembered what my coach told me to do – just slow down instead. I felt like I was doing a shuffle, but at least I wasn’t walking. Towards the end (since it’s more of a downhill towards there) I felt really good, I was even smiling at random strangers on the run.

I honestly thought it was going to be a slow run, in the higher 40 minute mark. I started getting anxious when I saw my apartment building. Whenever I see finish lines my heart races and I want to sprint fast. So I slowed it down again and when I was about 200m away from “the finish line” I sprinted hard and fast (uphill) to my apartment. I looked down at my watch and saw I did the 6k in 36:05. I took ANOTHER 20 seconds off my time from last week!

I text messaged my coach, while I was still breathless when I got up to the apartment and told him what I had done. He actually called me, to hear my excitement. It was such an amazing feeling. I did this run back in the summer, a few minutes slower – and to know that I’m taking 20 seconds off my time from last week, and a whole minute off my pace from 2 weeks ago (if I’m getting this right) … it just makes me not want to ever stop running again. I’m really starting to enjoy it now that I can control my breathing with the asthma inhaler, a coach, and some breathing techniques.

Bring on the distance running!

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