29/30

To conclude the thirty day White Mountain Crossfit Challenge, I participated in the Barbells for Boobs fundraiser by completing the workout Amazing Grace. This consists of 30 clean and jerks for time. I'll fully admit that I lifted a very light weight as I am still working on getting the movement down and would rather not injure my back as it finally seems to be healed up from the issue I had in August. With that said, I finished Amazing Grace @ 40lbs in 3:48. My hope is that next year I'll be lifting more weight, but for now, I am just happy I finished and seemed to have decent control over the movement this morning.

All in all, the thirty day challenge was a good reset for me post-wedding. I needed to follow rigid guidelines and workouts in order to get back on track pre-holidays. I had 29 of 30 perfect days. What happened on one of the days? Well, it is kind of lame actually. I had a fancy dinner for the NH Humanities Council and was doing well through most of the evening. No drinks, no dressing on the salad, etc. Then, as I was halfway through my squash (seriously!) and I realized it was full of butter and sugar. At that point, I knew that my fasted cardio for the next AM was not going to happen so I also indulged in a glass of red wine and some tiramasu for dinner. The next morning, I went to Starbucks for a few treats but by 9am, I was back on track. I could have just given up at this point because it was day 22 of the challenge, but I did not go that route. I cleaned up for the remaining 8 days to finish strong. I lost 6 inches and almost 6lbs during this reset and that puts me at a comfortable range for the difficult holiday season. My goal for the next few months is to focus on building strength and eating clean during the week. If I slip a bit on the weekends or holiday days, oh well. 2013 is right around the corner to make new resolutions ;) My daily pushups are something I will continue to do. Burpees...I think I'll save those for the gym. I hated doing those every day for the last 30 days! Throughout the month, I completed 1200 burpees--gross! Nonetheless, it helped get the heart pumping every day.

Moving forward, I purchased a fun paleo cookbook called Practical Paleo and I have some meals planned for next week. I'll continue to drink a gallon of water every day--it is probably one of the best things I do for my body on a regular basis. I'm starting to think about snowshoe racing, yoga, and even some possible triathlon races for next summer. We'll see what direction my training takes next, but in the meantime, I'll keep doing the fasted morning cardio, lunch boot camp, and crossfit workouts through the week. There is certainly no reason to go back when things are working so well. This is my one year anniversary of starting the crossfit lifestyle--so glad I walked into WMCF last year!

Challenge Check In

On Day #17 of the WMCF 30 for 30 challenge I completed my first Adventure 5K. Basically, it is a 5K in the woods with some obstacles. The uphill climb in the woods was definitely the most physically demanding part of the course. I enjoyed jumping over walls and did not have major difficulties crawling under things as I am so short. However, the water obstacles left me drenched because I am vertically challenged. Not to worry though, I had a great race! It was a 12th place age group finish for me and I was 109 overall. I am still trying to find out how many people did the race as well as how many were in my age group, but it was a solid race overall. So, what was the worst part? Since it was held at a water park that has a haunted house during the Halloween season, they had some of that up and running during race. The two zombies that jumped out and screamed at me were by far my least favorite part of the race! Give me hill climbs, rope walls, dunk tanks--anything but creepy zombies scaring me! A quick note about the image at the beginning of this blog post...I may not beat the boys at my crossfit gym, but I definitely left some men in the dust at the Adventure 5K--ah my competitive Type A personality enjoyed that :)

The Adventure 5K was a good focus point to see where I am in terms of the 30 day challenge. I certainly feel stronger and leaner than when I started at the end of September. I'm not to my peak fitness level, but I've definitely made some recovery since the time following our wedding. Also, I went shopping yesterday because I needed some pants and sweaters for the winter as everything from last year is too big--woo hoo! Nonetheless, I still have some more work to do in the next few weeks. I'd like to try to cut back on portions of healthy fats. I still rely a bit too heavily on macademias, cashews, and coconut products. It has also been a plateau in terms of weight loss. I shed a few lbs to start and then have just been hovering for awhile and I'm not thrilled about that because it is a bit over where I was pre-wedding. It is difficult the find the right balance between fueling my body and leaning out. I've amped up my workouts so I need energy, but I also think I can use that as an excuse to consume extra calories.

Additionally, the fall is not an easy time for the 30 for 30 challenge. I've had to pass up a lot happy hours and yummy baked goods at work, but I know my body thanks me for that!

I was excited to see my good friend Sara, over at House Bella, has started her own Whole 30 challenge this month. Check out her blog for some great recipes and insightful commentary about this lifestyle challenge.

Stats:

14 days of 125+ pushups each day
17 days of 2 sets of 20 Burpees = 680 Burpees so far
17 days of a gallon+ water per day
17 days of no dairy, legumes, bad carbs, extra sugar
17 days of most carbs (except post workout) cut by 2PM
17 days of mobility/stretching (yoga, lacrosse ball, foam roller, yoga strap)
17 days of more rest (going to bed earlier)
14 days of fasted am cardio (walking, elliptical, or swimming)
7 sessions of crossfit