I just had to share this.... it is awesome on so many levels...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9RJbcbHkQo
For some reason I can't imbed it.
World Dwarf Games - YES
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Giddy!!!
Wow - two updates in two days!
Before I tell you what has made me so damn happy this morning, let me give you a bit more background on myself.
At the beginning of my blog, in the intro, I basically stated that I have never stuck with one form of exercise regularly in my life - I have never been athletic. Let me elaborate a bit on that. Most little girls (in families with sufficient funds) do gymnastics, or ballet, or martial arts, or some other sort of physical activity starting from a VERY young age. Me? I never got into it. I think I was a bit intimidated/timid. (I used to be very shy - who would've thunk?) Doing a simple somersault was scary for me - so forget about doing cart-wheels or hand-stands! Don't get me wrong, I wasn't completely sedentary as a child - I did take swimming class for quite a bit, and did horseback riding long enough to do some small, local competitions. However, when I said I was never athletic of very physically active, I was not exaggerating!
So - when Jerry and Andrea introduced handstands to us as part of the Crossfit program, I was more intimidated than I had ever been of running or pull-ups or overhead squats. I believe they were introduced around 6 months ago - but I'm not sure - anyone remember? I would always dread the days we worked on handstands because even though I knew I had the strength to do it, something about it just wasn't clicking for me!
Can you see where this is going? Today something clicked for me and I GOT MY FIRST HANDSTAND EVER!!!!! At the VERY end of class, and I only held it for a few seconds - but damnit - I GOT IT! I couldn't stop smiling. I'm still grinning! And then, I did it again - with only one failed attempt inbetween.
I don't know WHAT it was that clicked for me - but I think being upside down trying out "skin the cat" helped me lose a bit of fear of being in that position. Speaking of which - I love skin the cat, I hope we do it more often - I'd like to get really good at it. I only fell on my ass once... I swear....
Here's to getting over a fear and accomplishing something you never thought you'd actually do!!!! (Especially after having a very emotionally taxing week!)
Crossfit for life, yo.
(I know, I know - I'm way to white for that last statement)
Cara's Handstand - 26 years in the making!
Before I tell you what has made me so damn happy this morning, let me give you a bit more background on myself.
At the beginning of my blog, in the intro, I basically stated that I have never stuck with one form of exercise regularly in my life - I have never been athletic. Let me elaborate a bit on that. Most little girls (in families with sufficient funds) do gymnastics, or ballet, or martial arts, or some other sort of physical activity starting from a VERY young age. Me? I never got into it. I think I was a bit intimidated/timid. (I used to be very shy - who would've thunk?) Doing a simple somersault was scary for me - so forget about doing cart-wheels or hand-stands! Don't get me wrong, I wasn't completely sedentary as a child - I did take swimming class for quite a bit, and did horseback riding long enough to do some small, local competitions. However, when I said I was never athletic of very physically active, I was not exaggerating!
So - when Jerry and Andrea introduced handstands to us as part of the Crossfit program, I was more intimidated than I had ever been of running or pull-ups or overhead squats. I believe they were introduced around 6 months ago - but I'm not sure - anyone remember? I would always dread the days we worked on handstands because even though I knew I had the strength to do it, something about it just wasn't clicking for me!
Can you see where this is going? Today something clicked for me and I GOT MY FIRST HANDSTAND EVER!!!!! At the VERY end of class, and I only held it for a few seconds - but damnit - I GOT IT! I couldn't stop smiling. I'm still grinning! And then, I did it again - with only one failed attempt inbetween.
I don't know WHAT it was that clicked for me - but I think being upside down trying out "skin the cat" helped me lose a bit of fear of being in that position. Speaking of which - I love skin the cat, I hope we do it more often - I'd like to get really good at it. I only fell on my ass once... I swear....
Here's to getting over a fear and accomplishing something you never thought you'd actually do!!!! (Especially after having a very emotionally taxing week!)
Crossfit for life, yo.
(I know, I know - I'm way to white for that last statement)
Cara's Handstand - 26 years in the making!
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Ask and Ye Shall Receive....
As per Jerry's request, it's time to update my blog! However, this will probably jump around a bit... you are forewarned.
This past Friday, August 15th, was my 26th birthday. I requested from Jerry that we hit Elizabeth (21-15-9 Hang Squat Cleans/Ring Dips), as I had enjoyed it so much the first time I hit it. Last time, I did 75lbs and was on the pink band for ring dips. This time I did the Rx 85lbs, and was on the floss for the ring dips. My time was 13:57, which was a few minutes slower than the previous time - but lifting 10 extra pounds will do that to a person! Hopefully, next time I hit Elizabeth, I'll be able to go Rx - I'm getting closer to having the strength to do full ring dips!
As a side note, apparently I'm still losing weight. My goal was 150 - and to maintain after I hit that (which I have been doing for a few weeks). Yesterday, I weighed in at 147.5lb. So - I'm wondering what my ideal weight/size really is! I'm going to keep trying to zone and hitting up the Blue Room 4ish times a week, we'll just see where I go!
Two weeks ago I had both a major disappointment and a great surprise as I tried to hit my Week 4 goal: 205lb Deadlift. Although I locked out 195lbs, and had done 200lbs not too long before, I just could not get 205 off the ground. I don't think I can adequately describe how disappointed in myself I was. As Jerry says, I lost core stability/strength. I think I have to find a better balance between warming up and not burning out.
The circuit that followed involved chins, and Jerry encouraged me to try to set a new PR. My previous PR was 13chins. The chins felt great - and I hit 17 before I let go of the bar! This ALMOST made up for missing 205. I think I could've gotten to 18 - not sure why I let go... my grip was starting to give, but I could've gutted it out. Next time. 20 chins, here I come!
This past Friday, August 15th, was my 26th birthday. I requested from Jerry that we hit Elizabeth (21-15-9 Hang Squat Cleans/Ring Dips), as I had enjoyed it so much the first time I hit it. Last time, I did 75lbs and was on the pink band for ring dips. This time I did the Rx 85lbs, and was on the floss for the ring dips. My time was 13:57, which was a few minutes slower than the previous time - but lifting 10 extra pounds will do that to a person! Hopefully, next time I hit Elizabeth, I'll be able to go Rx - I'm getting closer to having the strength to do full ring dips!
As a side note, apparently I'm still losing weight. My goal was 150 - and to maintain after I hit that (which I have been doing for a few weeks). Yesterday, I weighed in at 147.5lb. So - I'm wondering what my ideal weight/size really is! I'm going to keep trying to zone and hitting up the Blue Room 4ish times a week, we'll just see where I go!
Two weeks ago I had both a major disappointment and a great surprise as I tried to hit my Week 4 goal: 205lb Deadlift. Although I locked out 195lbs, and had done 200lbs not too long before, I just could not get 205 off the ground. I don't think I can adequately describe how disappointed in myself I was. As Jerry says, I lost core stability/strength. I think I have to find a better balance between warming up and not burning out.
The circuit that followed involved chins, and Jerry encouraged me to try to set a new PR. My previous PR was 13chins. The chins felt great - and I hit 17 before I let go of the bar! This ALMOST made up for missing 205. I think I could've gotten to 18 - not sure why I let go... my grip was starting to give, but I could've gutted it out. Next time. 20 chins, here I come!
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Karen
Today I could just NOT get out of bed in time for CFOT. I tried, I really did - but I ended up collapsing for another hour.
I was quite excited when I checked the mainsite and saw that the WOD was Karen, one of the benchmarks that I've been meaning to hit but keep missing opportunities to! Adrienne kindly provided me with Jerry's WOD - Painstorm (I'm sad I missed it!), but I couldn't resist hitting Karen (and didn't have the time to do both!).
I wanted to use a 12lb medicine ball, but had to settle for a 10lb ball - and finished in 10:09. Was feeling pretty sluggish, and was only doing sets of 10 at a time. I managed to avoid hitting myself in the face (these med balls barely have any give!), so all in all I consider it to be a success!
I remember back in the Fall or Winter, Jerry had a "choose your own adventure" sort of work out going for us. We were given a list of 5-6 different workouts, and we had 10-15min to hit each one. I did the Wall Ball with Adrienne - and I remember getting in around 120ish reps. I wish I could remember if it was 10 or 15min though - because that makes a big difference in how much I've improved!
I was quite excited when I checked the mainsite and saw that the WOD was Karen, one of the benchmarks that I've been meaning to hit but keep missing opportunities to! Adrienne kindly provided me with Jerry's WOD - Painstorm (I'm sad I missed it!), but I couldn't resist hitting Karen (and didn't have the time to do both!).
I wanted to use a 12lb medicine ball, but had to settle for a 10lb ball - and finished in 10:09. Was feeling pretty sluggish, and was only doing sets of 10 at a time. I managed to avoid hitting myself in the face (these med balls barely have any give!), so all in all I consider it to be a success!
I remember back in the Fall or Winter, Jerry had a "choose your own adventure" sort of work out going for us. We were given a list of 5-6 different workouts, and we had 10-15min to hit each one. I did the Wall Ball with Adrienne - and I remember getting in around 120ish reps. I wish I could remember if it was 10 or 15min though - because that makes a big difference in how much I've improved!
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