Big Things?

Ugh.  I just...ugh.

I'm having a little bit of food fatigue, I think.  Since starting Operation: Get Strong Without Getting Fat, I've been cramming in the protein, aiming for 120-150g per day.  There have been a couple of days where I just wasn't focused and barely got in 100 or 110, but generally it's been doable.

And then yesterday.  It's peak week, and I'm geeked out about, well, peaking.  Back squats on Monday went really well - I've hit my June 30 goal over a month ahead of schedule.  I even PR'd my strict press by 2 little pounds (well, technically by a kilogram - so 2.2ish pounds - but whatever).  And I cannot WAIT to deadlift on Friday.  BUT.

That meant that yesterday, I had to set a reminder in my outlook calendar to tell me to eat at 4:30 pm.  Last Friday's 1.5-hours-from-eggs-to-Fran semi-disaster has made it clear that I need at least two solid hours between a meal and training.  And my lunch was a little light on the protein, since I had a practice group meeting and the best I could get was a salad with MAYBE four measly ounces of chicken (tasty, but so little!).  So...CHRIST.  There I was, at my desk, shoveling down eight ounces of tuna and trying to get it all in before 4:30 so I could train at 6:30.

So, it's not super glamorous.  But it's working.  And I do like eating a couple squares of chocolate before hitting the gym - that's kind of fun.  And I'm pleasantly surprised that adding in a bit more sugar, in the form of fruit a few days a week, plus all this protein and pre-training chocolate, has actually left me the tiniest bit leaner in addition to super-strong.  (Have you ever had berries with flaked coconut and a little bit of heavy cream?  And maybe some 85 or 90% dark chocolate shaved over it with a microplane zester?  CHRIST ON A CRACKER that's delicious.)

But I kind of wish I was this cat just for a minute.

I've also started logging my training at the CrossFit mainsite boards, here: Chrissey's CFCC Log

Saturday May 26: 4x750m row with 3:00 recovery.  Score is slowest interval.  3:07, 3:11, 3:13, 3:14.  A little inconsistent, but more annoyed that my last interval was also my slowest - I started out too fast (at a 1:50/500m pace) and just died somewhere in the middle.  I am getting substantially better at rowing but am still so far from being good at it.  Went rock climbing later in the day with some gym friends - and WOW.  I would be much better at that if my forearm strength was JUST a little bit better. 

Sunday May 27: Memorial Day Murph. 1 mile run, 100 pull ups, 200 push ups, 300 air squats, 1 mile run.  In theory, I wanted to do the entire thing - but I wanted to PR my back squat on Monday, so I did half Murph...sort of.  Amber and I both ran the first mile and then split the pull ups, push ups and squats.  Mile run was about 8 minutes - 7:17 on the gym timer, but it was a little behind.  I did 11 full rounds of Cindy (5 pull ups, 10 push ups, 15 squats) plus half of the pushups and squats for a twelfth round.  We finished everything in 28:45 - I got a little caught up in stuff and almost went out for the second mile, but reminded myself that I needed to squat heavy the next day.

Monday May 28: ...and I'm glad I reined it in with Murph.  Back squat, peak of 1.  115x3 -145x3 - 170x2 - 185x1 - 200x1 - 210x1 (PR) - 215x1 (PR, but not counting it - I JUST got to parallel).  Next goal a legit 215 and then 225?

Tuesday May 29: strict press, peak of 1.  55x3 - 65x2 - 75x1 - 80x1 - 87x1 (PR).  87 got stuck around my forehead but I forced myself to get my head through and what do you know - that shit went RIGHT up.  Maybe I have 90 in me, maybe I don't.  This is one of my weaker spots.  Metcon: 60yd shuttle run, score is fastest attempt. Rounded to the nearest second, I did 16-16-15-16-16-16.  Hard to say how consistent I am because we can't measure any more accurately than a second, which is kind of a large increment for such a short run, but I'm happy with it.  Turning around is SO AWKWARD.

Wednesday May 30: some kipping pull up practice followed by strict pronated chest-to-bar pullups for a peak of 1.  I tried out the new pullup bar - it's a little more painful on your hands, but MAN is it easier to grip.  I was easily stringing together sets of 4 or 5 kipping pullups before losing my rhythm - which is real progress for me.  Did maybe 5 or 6 sets, then onto strength.  Light + mini band - light band - light + 5lbs - light + 10lbs - mini band only - mini band + 5lbs.  I think I have a bodyweight chest-to-bar in me.

Metcon was a mini-chipper.  For time, 50 double unders, 40 american kettlebell swings (1.5/1pood), 30 burpees, 20 pull ups, 10 handstand pushups.  11:56, as RXed - WOOF.  I wasted a LOT of time on the DUs, taking my first 25 or so in really small sets and tripping over the rope a bunch, before hitting a better rhythm for the last 25.  Kettlebell swings and burpees unbroken (can you "break up" burpees?  I didn't go fast, but didn't rest at all).  Pull ups finished in 5 sets.  And then I hit the HSPUs at about 8 minutes in - my first 5 or so were REALLY tough.  It was my first time using full ROM in a metcon (one abmat with plates on either side), and I didn't realize how much harder these would be when I was fatigued.  Once I worked out my hand placement, the last 5 felt much stronger, but still - those suckers took me four minutes.  Um and also:

OH HAY PALM RIP.

Lazy Chicken and Some Goals

First, the lazy chicken.

This is really, really lazy. Everything you need:

Chicken thighs (that's 4.5 pounds or so - about 15 thighs)

Herbs de Provence

Yellow onion (this would be really good with a Vidalia, too, but this is what I had around)

Package of dried mushrooms - I like shiitake for the smoky, bacon-ish flavor, but you could use whatever

Couple cloves of garlic

Unpictured kosher salt

...that's it.

Liberally coat your chicken thighs with herbs de provence and kosher salt. Use lots of seasoning and a decent amount of salt, and use your hands to really get in there and make sure the chicken is coated thoroughly and evenly.

Smash a few cloves of garlic and peel off the skin - I used four or five.

Slice onion into rings and arrange in a single layer on bottom of crockpot. Dump mushrooms over onions and toss in garlic cloves. Pour in chicken. Cook on low for 4.5 hours (yes, that's all).

And that's it. No liquid - the chicken generates more than enough juice by itself. If I had skin-on, bone-in thighs, I'd probably have browned the skin first, but I didn't...so it was a season-and-crockpot meal. This would be a great candidate for something to make in the morning before work, IF you have a crockpot that will shut off after 4.5 hours - it's really easy to overcook chicken and dry it out.

When there were about 15 minutes left on the chicken, I tore up some collard greens and cooked them with a slice of bacon, kosher salt and pepper.

Lazy chicken, completed:

Easy, lazy, and very tasty with collards on the side.

And with nothing on the side. I picked at that chicken for an entire week, between lunches at work and extra-lazy dinners (sensing a theme here?).

So, this past Monday started another CFCC BCCC. This time around, my goals are to be stricter with my eating to really lean out, and then to (probably through trial and error) figure out what I need to eat in order to maintain that level of body composition.

Ideally, I would lose enough fat to drop at least one more size and about an inch and a half more off of my waist. At that point, I think I'd be satisfied, and it would be something I could sustain without being incredibly restrictive all the time.

Performance-wise, my goals for this 30 days are to continue to improve my deadhang pull ups, to master kipping pull ups, and work on bodyweight skills (pistols, push ups, handstand push ups). Leaning out is definitely going to help with this. Longer term goals are still a 300lb deadlift (or 2x bodyweight, which may come first if I keep dropping weight).

Tuesday night I had my first meeting with Erin to review my food log and discuss my goals. She warned me - and I in turn warned my husband - that I was in for a cranky 30 days. This week's dietary changes: no nuts (not a big deal at all), no chocolate (gasp! not even on weekends!), no cream in my coffee (except on Saturday and Sunday mornings...SUPER GASP!), and experiment with making bone broth and substituting that for my usual afternoon snack of buffalo jerky (iiiiinteresting). I'm also under strict orders to be IN BED by 10pm, which is going to be a challenge, since at least three nights a week I'm at CFCC until 8:45 or so - right now I'm usually home by 9, walk the dogs, make a quick dinner, play with my pups and then in the shower by 10, asleep by 10:30. We'll see how this goes.

After our meeting, I stuck around for the 7:30 class. Foolishly. On the plus side...I climbed a rope (not all the way to the top, but a good 10 feet or more). That was an achievement. And then we did a hero WOD that I'd never heard of before - "Dae Han." 3 rounds for time of 800 meter run with a plate (45/25), three 15' rope climbs, 12 thrusters (135/95) - with a 25 minute cap. I scaled the rope climbs to 15 strict pull ups with a light band and used 65 pounds for the thrusters - in retrospect, they didn't feel too tough and I probably should have done 75 or 85.

So how did it go? Well, let me tell you something about running with a bumper plate. There's no good way to hold it. As soon as we started the run - within 15 seconds - we were all like "AW CRAP." I started with it behind my head, over my upper back, but it kept hitting me in the back of the head. I yelled "THIS IS STUPID" before switching it to over my chest...and then tucked under my arm...and then back to my back...repeat ad nauseum. Or for the six minutes or whatever it took me to run 800 meters. The pull ups were slow, but legit, and the thrusters were pretty easy - I was able to do 4 or 5 at a time without any issue. But that run. OH, that run. 2 rounds in 21:57. I could have gotten another 400m run in but I just did NOT want to.

My back is killing me tonight from those runs (or awkward shuffles, whatever). Time for a little more foam rolling, shower and then my 10pm bedtime.

It's Christmastime Bitches

I LOVE decorating for Christmas.

And every year, I insist on doing it the weekend after Thanksgiving. It puts me in a good mood. Most years, I also insist that we watch "Love Actually" while we're decorating, but this year I was feeling the Muppets.



Our tree is nothing special - a prelit special from Target a few years ago - but it's easy.



This year, I added lights in the kitchen, on my new(ish) shelves.



I'm pretty sure at least half of our ornaments are dog-themed.



Even though the dogs are really not impressed by the tribute.





...at all.



(She spent half the evening wigging out about the tree, the lights, the boxes of ornaments, etc., and then, when she had exhausted herself, laid on the floor looking depressed.)

Later in the week, I crockpotted a London broil from my cow share. Since London broil is a fairly lean cut of beef, I figured it would do well with a low-and-slow cooking time, but I was having a tough time trying to come up with just what to braise it in. After my initial google search turned up a disturbing number of "recipes" including ingredients like canned cream-of-something soup and packets of ranch dressing mix (or italian dressing mix or brown gravy mix), I just decided to wing it. I chose not to brown the meat first, covered it with salt, pepper and granulated garlic, and put it on top of a layer of sliced onions in the crockpot. I added a couple cups of beef broth, topped it with mushrooms, and called it good.



Hours later, it looked promising. My house smelled amazing and the meat fell apart to the touch. I paired it with some kale sauteed with a slice of bacon and eagerly dug in.

Meh. The flavors were delicious, but because the meat is so lean, it was kind of dry and stringy despite all the broth and juices. I think it either needs to be browned first OR to be cooked in something a little fattier. Or just not crockpotted at all. Le sigh.

Like I said last week, work has been insane. I went two solid weeks without my usual evening crossfit sessions, and it's been taking its toll on my sanity. Even though my foot is STILL not 100%, I'm getting back into it this week, slowly but surely:

- Tuesday: strict muscle up skill work. Practicing false grip hang; did about a billion false grip ring pull ups, starting with a light band and working up to two mini bands. Tried one mini band and just hung there like a fish, so there's that. Metcon: AMRAP, 3 rounds of 1 minute ring rows, 1 minute push ups, 1 minute double-unders. It's freaking hard to do double unders after two minutes of ring rows and push ups. 120 reps total (tried for the last 15 seconds to get JUST ONE MORE double under and couldn't).

- Thursday: hero WOD. "Nutts."



Things I cannot do with my bum foot: box jumps and weighted running (non-weighted running, too, for that matter). While I probably COULD have done the required wall balls and double-unders, my wise and logical coach advised me not to tempt fate with more jumping. As scaled for my foot: 10 push ups, 15 deadlifts at 165lbs, 25 russian kettlebell swings at 1.5 pood (24kg/52lbs), 50 pull ups (light+mini bands), 100 goblet squats with a 1pood (16kg/35lbs) kettlebell, row 1k. Fuck rowing. By the official 25 minute cap, I had rowed something like 450 meters, maybe less. To complete, 27:32. Worst part mentally was the goblet squats. Getting to 80 reps of something only to realize you still have 20 more? GAAAAAAH.

Tonight we're front squatting and I can't wait. This strength cycle has been really fun (lots of pulling and lots of fun squatting variations - front squats, overhead squats) and I'm so unhappy that I've had to miss so much of it. On the other hand, DTE tells me on I'm on track to bill over 2200 hours this year, so, you know, there's that.

(I read recently that trying to make partner at a law firm is like winning a pie eating contest where the prize is more pie.)

Happy Friday!