The Book - Part Deux

Fri (cont.):


After getting my hair did, i spent some time at my parents house playing with Noah.

and that snazzy blue ensemble that he is wearing was something that i wore when i was his age (my mom's reason for saving EVERYTHING)

get back to Motown and start prepping the two outfits im going to wear to the wedding. Its a outdoor ceremony on the hottest day of the year. I start sweating peeling an orange (thanks Kevin James) so bringing a backup shirt was a prudent decision. however, there were plenty of other reasons beside the 100+ degree heat index that would cause my sweat glands to go into overdrive: im 99% certain this wedding was the cause of the Downhill and Sudden Stop phone call, my ex who was the indirect cause of me turning to CrossFit back in 2009 was going to be there, and one of my very good friends was going to give his own vows and he cries a lot. long story short - ceremony was hot but beautiful (he cried), reception was awesome (check out the dj station)

and got back to motown at 632am - which beat my previous best of 607am


Check back tomorrow for the epic conclusion to this trilogy...

The Book - Part One

Ive been trying to post for the past few days but ive been a bit preoccupied - with what exactly (see title) i don't know...


Wednesday:


Did the following endu wod in the ridiculous heat wave at noon (thanks ffl):


3x 7min
3min rest


1400m, 1350m, 1375m. that's all i want to say about that because it was hot. 


Then Pat, Rebeca, and Noah arrived in the states later in the evening! while only here for a bit (Pat left the next day for Bangladesh and Rebeca and Noah are going with my family to Europe) it was so great to see everyone together again!

KDPI figured out what my cryptic message was (servers did not crash however)...


Thurs:


Did a morning wod with my ffl:


14min AMRAP


7 push jerks, 115#
4 jumping lunges
3 clapping pushups
1 shuttle sprint


I think we both got 8 full rounds in but since we were not sure, i'll say officially it was only 7 rounds. the push jerks got heavy faster than i wanted them too. spent the evening re-writing my lease that i was going to hand in the next day. had a nice dinner at Molly Maguire's and came home to finally find my sport video camera that i was scouring the earth for about 1month for - suhweet!


Fri:


the big day - work was pointless as i was itching to meet my new landlord and get the keys to the place. my plan was to meet him at 1130a in Summit but of course i didnt leave work until 1140a. I get there and he had also re-written the lease (there goes 2.5 hours that i spent thursday night down the drain). we compromised on a few things... and i finally got handed my keys at 1240p!

Kurt's Kitchens is.... MINE (cue the maniacal laughter)! Now off to salvage what was left of my hair cut appointment at 1230p.


Ana - the one who has been dealing with my cowlicks since 2001 - asked if i was excited about signing my lease and i honestly said no. my practical side was regulating my emotional side (what else is new) and kept reminding me that i basically signed up for an extra mortgage payment for two years :/ but i was relieved that my search was finally over.


its getting late so ill post the wedding details in part two tomorrow...

Resting

Went back to bed after i posted and didnt get to work until sometime after 9am. So much for wodding at 630am. work was work, i was dead tired all day, and it was extremely hot. Coached Nate at the 600p CFV class, went to food shopping and and came home with some Trader Joes Carne Asada - which i immediately cooked and was pleasantly surprised at how delicious (and nutritious - only herbs and spices added) it was for a supermarket brand. 


i would say it was an unremarkable day but i just remembered i did something that i never thought i would do. (im being cryptic on purpose because i want to see who the real PIs are out there) if you do figure it out, keep it on the DL - i wouldnt want any servers to crash due to the rush of traffic.

Good Morning

Not only am I apparently temperature sensitive, but I am light sensitive as well. In my defense, they could use the digital display on the air conditioner in my room as a search light atop a lighthouse. Nevertheless, here we are, in the 4am hour again. Got a request from an anonymous reader to update my blog so she has something to read during business meetings - so I figure might as well be productive while not being able to sleep.


Tues 7/12


Good class at Briant Park and had a great (hanger steak) dinner after - need to have more of those more often!


Wed 7/13


Lunchtime wod with the ffl.


4x800m
3min rest in between


This is ffl's shtick - she excels at running anyway - but especially at anything over 400m. I was dreading this for various reasons including knowing that I would be running 800m instead of 800 yards. I finished my first one in 3:27. I turn to ffl, knowing she averaged a consistent 2:51-2:52 when we did these last week at the park, and go to reaffirm her in case her time dropped and say:


"Keep in mind we ended up running more than last week - what was your time?"


"2:48"


In as calm a voice as I can because I'm trying to catch my own breath:


"OK (but I'm screaming 'Say what?!?!?' on the inside) - nice job keep it up!"


"What can I say, I have a lot of frustration and I'm taking it out on the track."


Did I mention she excels at running?


I wait my 3min and leave for my next 800m. I feel comfortable leaving my stopwatch on the track this time and already hurting after the first lap look down to see 1:49 on the watch - doesn't look too good for matching 3:27. End up with a 3:40. Discouraging but more motivating as I finish my last two rounds at 3:33 and 3:34. Ffl's worst round was 2:54 - outstanding!


Guest coaching at CF Motown went well - however I'm doing this to help them out by giving my time so other people can have actual days off but every single coach ended up showing up anyway. Albeit it was for a "coaches photo shoot" but still - it's a bit frustrating as I thought "why am I here?" I go home to remember its one week after rock bottom. Awesome. Decide to run some shopping errands and on the way home found out Tiffany's has late night happy hour with half price appetizers. Watched a movie to end the night.


Thurs 7/14


Woke up and paid the piper for the late night appetizers. Then met ffl for our reg wod:


24-18-12-6

KB Swings, 1.5/1.0pd
Dips
K2E


Only did 1.0pd as I am tepid about doing 1.5pd (I need to get over it at some point) and my rings had not come in yet so the dips were done on a bench that wasn't very comfortable. Finished in 9:17. I'm definitely programming more K2E as I feel they are much harder than T2B - if you actually get the knees to the elbows or above. I ended up doing 30 K2E my first round as I couldn't in good conscience count some of my reps.


Work was extremely frustrating as architects have no clue how changing the building footprint affects civil engineering design. (BTW - it does - and a lot too!)


Rings came in for the evening CFV class so that was cool. Afterward, visited my parents (and got to see Cecilia!) and stop at Chipotle's on the way back to Motown - only to cook more chicken once I get home. Something felt off (not my stomach again) though ...


Fri 7/15


Felt really rushed in the morning and email conversations once at work pretty much confirmed the prior night's uneasiness. Get through work, head over to put a deposit on CFV's new space and have to return to work (see above comment concerning architects) until 6pm. I was late for my 5mile time trial on a trail with ffl. Run was tough and I felt it in my knees a bit once we came in after about 59min - so next longer run, I really need to focus on proper running mechanics. An Arthur's burger after and Wii domination followed. Go to bed knowing a bad conversation was coming the next day...


Sat 7/16


3 Rounds:

15 Wallballs, 20, 14#
10 Burpees
5 HSPU


Had little motivation to do this wod but trudged through it finishing in 10:03. Lost a lot of time on the HSPU. Awful conversation on the curb afterward. Even more awful conversation on the phone.


I was supposed to meet a group of friends for a guy's beach day / jersey shore night but couldn't really find the motivation for that either. So I just go to Bean's house early (who by the way will be coming to his first CF class tonight!) to help  install the stove and dishwasher. Just his luck though, his brandy new dishwasher leaks (and no, not from installer error). It's literally the never ending project. Sushi for dinner. Take some melatonin after the meal and its lights out within 30min - much needed rest.


Sun 7/17


Start the day with a great homily from a priest on loan to the church that I go to in Toms River when I visit Bean. Go to the beach for a few hours after church - my tan is (finally) getting solid. Spent a few hours talking to good friend of mine that I haven't been in contact with for over a year - so that was nice. Printed out some materials for CFV (see below) and happily had a quasi-back to normal Sunday evening.


Mon 7/18


Work was monotonous and the highlight of the day was getting to hang these up

:)


Then a endu wod with my ffl.


4x400m
3min rest in between


I was mentally shooting for sub 1:35 per 400m but we blazed through the first one at 1:17. Rounded up the remaining rounds 1:22, 1:23, 1:23. I was happy with my efforts. Gary the Bartender was entertaining at Scotty's for the post-wod meal - overall good day!

This is the (Circadian) Rhythm of the Night

my chronobiology must be off - its 4:20a (no jokes please) and ive been wide awake for over two hours. (been doing some online CFV shopping and now its 500a.) since i last posted i got a call back from one of the places i saw on friday and set up an appointment to check it out around 730p and thats all i thought about at work. coached my reg 600p CFV class and then did the endu wod with my ffl.


10x200m - 90sec rest


we (I) had to remeasure our distance from last time as i was using a feet to yard conversion instead of a feet to meter conversion :/ first 200 was 41 sec - down from 36 sec last week - ugh. picked up the pace on the second round to 40 sec.  even though we were running a longer distance - still not good enough. by the third round we got down to 38 sec and then managed 37 secs (with one 36 sec round in there if im not mistaken) for the remainder of the wod. I was pleased. then i went immediately to go check out this place.


I was going to post a video of the inside and the view (location, location, location - so good!) but i dont want to count my chickens before they hatch so i'll wait until i have something in writing from the landlord. needs some demo work but it looks very promising and im very excited! (also possibly why i couldnt really sleep tonight). next update tomorrow - hopefully after a full nights rest - and a contract in hand!

Treading

Paleo was going well but i forgot to mention in my last blog that i had some questionable items at roy's going away dinner - by 'questionable' i mean not paleo at all and by 'items' i mean the mashed potatoes on my plate, this delicious garbanzo bean puree thingy from two other people's plates, and namely an apple berry cobbler (with vanilla ice cream on top) for dessert.

friday was crazier than i would have preferred. my plan: leave work at the typical half day friday time, go to 1210 mass, construct some more plyo boxes, go to my haircut appointment at 230p, help my brother-in-law with some pre-party set up, leave my parent's area by 400p and drive home looking for a location for CFV, then relax the rest of the evening. actual events:  got to church only to be called back in the office until 220p. accordingly i did not leave my parent's house until close to 600p. no plyo boxes done. kind of stressful rest of the evening.

saturday did the wod with the regulars at CFV:

4 Rounds:

1min Box Jumps
1min KB Swings, 1pd
1min Abmat Situps
1min DU
1min Rest

Score is total number of reps after 4 rounds

i lost score after the first round but i remember getting around 20 step ups (ground was wet so no jumping), kb swings, situps, per round and 40 du per round. spent the rest of the day at the pool and then went to another going away dinner at night. party enchiladas = not paleo day two.

Sunday ran a 5k with my ffl. my dad and my two youngest sisters show up and my sisters immediately say that this is a very hilly, tough 5k. i dismiss their comments only to find out they were not exaggerating. clock time said 27min. I felt my chip time was quicker than that but compuscore has not updated it yet so im stuck with the 8:40 avg mile for now.

go home to help my dad get a new cell phone only to have him kidnap me to look at potential moving sites for the Muñoz fam. He is stuck on finding vacant land and building on it and it being move in ready in 3 months. having dealt with property development the last 7 years, i try to tell him that getting final approval from the township may take at least 3 months and he would still have to take into account the time from initial offer to closing PLUS the design/build time frame. its frustrating that he still wants to deal with that hassle (and i wonder where i get my stubbornness from).

go to tony's 30th bday party in his backyard. it's hot so im am extremely anti-social and basically spend half the time inside. my sister orders Lechon - which would have been paleo if it hadn't been pre-prepared within rice. add that to some birthday cake and its day 3 of no bueno paleo.

this morning my ffl came over and did a forthcoming CFV wod with me. i bust her chops a bit about having to spend all this time with her due to our 50miler training - but she is such a blessing to have as a friend - especially while im treading water with everything right now. i guess i really dont mind seeing her at 630a full knowing that ill have to see her again at 630p tonight for the endu wod :)


8-6-4-2-4-6-8
one arm kb power snatch into overhead lunge, 1pd/0.5pd





we both finished at 9:17 - probably both should have gone heavier


spent this morning at the office writing this up and looking up all the info on the possible locations i found for CFV on Friday - uber productive!

Guten Tag, Eh!

So blogger has a new interface that give us bloggers cool stats - and apparently ive got a few more people reading my blog than i thought and there is a fair amount of traffic from outside the US - who knew.


Doing better today. I had some visitors from south Florida come specifically to check out CFV last night - pretty cool in and of itself - and then I overheard a compliment from Steve telling one of my regulars that I was a good coach and that he has visited a lot of CFs and is therefore qualified to make that statement. Immediate pick me up.


After class, went to Roy's going away dinner/get-together in Bville - good times with a great guy and I wish him and his family nothing but the best as they begin a 3-yr stint in London. The UK will now have one of the most ardent recruiters for CF that I've ever met.


geek out moment - while i missed my beloved veedub reaching the 222,222 mileage mark, i did manage to get this gem of number.

simple pleasures

Sudden Stop

Woke up at 530a wed morning and since i couldnt go back to sleep i did an 18min amrap of:


3 strict pullups
6 deadlifts, 145#
9 medball cleans, 20#
200m run


was about 150m short of 7rounds - i was happy considering i had to go in and out of my front door in between rounds to get to the pullup bar. did some much needed stretching after the wod, got to work, and it was a fairly productive day at the office. after work, started my month long stint of guest coaching at cf motown on wednesday nights to help out my ffl's husband so that he gets to actually go home instead of basically living there. It was nice to be back. got home, watched part of the dark knight on bluray and finally got that pet peeve inducing delayed response - more on that later though.


another inconsistent night of "sleep" but managed to get out of bed in time to meet my ffl for an endu wod at 630a this morning:


4x800m
3min rest in between


3:13, 3:20ish, 3:30, 3:35


the best i could do was only 'meh' today - i didnt really stretch / warmup, i was just going through the motions (combo of waking up that early and lack of overall motivation), my mechanics were off, and to top things off, im not really sure what my time for my second round was. let me explain.


i come back from my second 800m run and see/hear this guy about 150 yards down the path beyond our starting/stopping point flailing his arms and whistling. i figure he's just trying to get my ffls attention - she's done before me every round (avg 2:52 per 800m) and she's extremely good looking in those lulu shorts (and any other article of clothing), so i initially thought nothing of it... until i cant find my timer.


so i jog over (during my rest mind you - and no need to meet my halfway or anything dude) and see this elderly gentleman swinging my stopwatch by its cord. apparently, he decided to pick it up ("no one leaves things in the path" - uh, sorry sir, but it was in the grass on the side of the path) because it never occurred to him that someone may actually be using it. i dont know, maybe the fact that there is nothing but runners / joggers / walkers using the path at that time in the morning, we sprinted past you, and that it was showing less than 2mins of elapsed time should have given him a clue that there was a slight possibility that someone else may have been in the process of using a timer on the side of circular path to, i dont know, TIME THEMSELVES - but maybe im just grasping at straws.


anyway, back to last night. so i finally hit the bottom of the hill that i started tumbling down on Thursday - per that return phone call. dont get me wrong - part of me is glad that i dont have to guess anymore - but the convo knocked the wind out of my sails. im trying to put a positive spin on it by focusing on the fact that i was honest and true to myself and the situation but it just stinks big time. i feel plain deflated. the night is always darkest before the dawn (yes, im that movie dork), but the serenity prayer is in perpetual repeat for the time being.

Downhill

Blogging to you live from my bed - I'm too pooped to go to the next room and turn on my computer. That and my ac feels nice.

Did an 8x200m with 90sec rest in between each round with my ffl. Averaged 36sec. ok considering I find myself unable to focus recently. been saying the serenity prayer a lot as ive got a lot of crud going on :/ (Side pet peeve note - don't ever not respond to someone - send something!!!) I'm a thinker and I tend to let my imagination run wild with various possibilities - no bueno - I'm not at 100% and been really going downhill since thurs.

Went to my friend bean's house in toms river this weekend to help out install his new kitchen cabinets (see picture below). Fairly productive overall. (Ill share the story of diarrhea (sp?) of the mouth another time). Fam came over for a bbq and saw some cool fireworks yesterday. Work was eh today. Tomorrow is another day.

LM - sent from my Droid