3 reps 7 rounds (or 3-3-3-3-3-3-3) Squat Cleans
65#
70#
75#
80#
85#
90#
90#
I didn't go up in weight the last round because my form was getting sloppy. It was getting tough, that's why. I decided it was probably smarter to work on getting 90# done right than going to 95#.
Kelsalynn
The day dragged on...like a typical Monday.
I spent some time at work researching things to do this weekend and I'm excited that we decided to go to Irvine, CA where Michael's sister and her beau lives. We're going to leave Friday night after work and get there at like 2 AM. But it will be worth it because then we'll have all day Saturday & Sunday then drive back on Monday. They live about 15 miles from various beaches and the temps are in the low 70's (compared to 110 here!)
Right after work I headed to the gym and did the following workout-
5 rounds
135# deadlifts, 5 reps
handstand push-ups (modified, feet on wall), 5 reps
I didn't have a watch so I just looked at the clock which was pretty far away. I'm going to say I did the workout in under 7 minutes but over 6 minutes and that's as accurate as I can be.
Then I did a tabata workout on the treadmill at 12% incline- 8 rounds 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off. It was hella tough and I almost couldn't finish. I did the first 20 second round at 6.1mph but ended up dropping it every round b/c it was kicking my ass. I ended at around 5.4 for the last round.
I warmed up and cooled down with my hip exercises and stretches, which really helped.
All in all, it was a phenomenal trip to the gym.
Until tomorrow,
Kelsalynn
I'm kind of into weekly goals right now. As I said before, some days lately I feel like I'm falling apart and just a big tangled mess of stress. The weekly goals help keep me on track and give me some sort of control yet flexibility from day to day.
So, here are my goals for this week:
1. Finish reading, What Color is Your Parachute 2010: A practical manual for job-hungers and career-changers.
2. Workout Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday (I'm seeing Eclipse on Tuesday night and we're hopefully leaving to go camping on Friday night til Sunday)
3. Eat out only once (I have an employee's review so I'll likely take him out for lunch that day)
4. Practice the piano twice (a girl can dream right?)
5. Not work past 6:00PM AT ALL (another dream)
6. Spend some time on the house- sweeping, mopping, dusting and organizing (putting clutter away)
What do you want to accomplish this week?
***UPDATE- It's only Sunday night and I've already got a huge chunk of #6 done above. I've swept, cleaned and organized the kitchen and dining table (where most of our clutter seems to gather), and I'm working on laundry. JAM!
Kelsalynn
The title of this post is probably misleading, it should say "car browsing experience" since we walked away from buying a car today. I just have to blog about it though b/c it was pretty unbelievable. It BLOWS MY MIND how car salesmen act. Let me preface this by saying my dad was a car salesman. I mean no disrespect but the guys we had today were very stereotypical.
The scoop-
We have $15,200 to spend. As said before, we'd like to not spend all of it and we're absolutely not willing to spend more. No ifs, ands, or buts about that last part. Since I'm good at crunching numbers, I knew just how much the car needed to cost so that once you add taxes, license, registration, and fees, our total at the end is $15,200. In other words, the car we buy needs to be priced at $13,400.
The experience-
We've been checking out Kia Fortes and found some online at a dealership near our house for $13,987. We decided to head over there to test drive the car (they had 6 or 7 of them). After driving it around and asking some questions (we did all of our research beforehand though), we decided to make them an offer.
We originally offered $13,000. Remember, the asking price was $13,987. "Don" said he had to check with his manager. He came back and said no but proceeded to ask us a bunch of questions. We wouldn't tell them whether we were paying cash or financing until we settled on a price. We wouldn't tell them anything actually, until we settled on a price.
The guy ended up bringing his manager over and they seriously threw every tactic at us possible to get us to break our budget. Initially, they were "only" willing to come down to $13,720. We said no. After going 'round and 'round w/ them, we finally told them our max was $13,400 (which is the truth) and that's final. The manager said he'd take $13,600. We said no. $13,400. And that's when he pulled out his big guns. He said all of the following at one point or another-
Remember that goal I had to practice the piano X number of times this week? yeah, I didn't practice even once. But, I went to my piano lesson today with my head held high and said, "Sanar [my teacher], I have not practiced. I'm probably your worst student..." She actually calmed my hesitation and said it's okay with her, as long as I'm still enjoying it, she'll continue practicing with me each week. I *heart* Sanar! She's the best match for what I want out of learning to play the piano. If I don't feel like practicing, then I don't have to, and she's totally okay with that.
And I figured out why I haven't felt like playing exactly. The past couple of months, I feel like I get beat up at work. Everything I do is wrong, even if it was right before. I have 3 bosses so when one of my employees does something dumb or I do something incorrect, I hear about it from 3 different people. So when I get home from work, I have no patience left. When I sit in front of the piano and I struggle to play a song, it's the worst feeling ever. Well that's another thing I can't seem to get right these days. That's what I think. Is it valid? Not really...I do a lot of things right. But it's the way I feel so practicing the piano has been pretty far down on my list of things I want to do. Plain and simple.
My point is that I don't need to justify why to Sanar. She's okay with it. She only wants me to play when I want to play. There's no pressure and I just love that.
So if you couldn't tell by now, my piano lesson was awesome. We laughed a lot and joked a lot and just played. It was wonderful. Then her and my hubby went to workout and I laid out at her pool, which is amazing. I laid in the sun for a little while but it's hot in AZ these days so I kept taking short dips in the pool to cool off. I had my book so I just sat there and relaxed.
We came home and had a quick lunch then headed to the gym once our stomach settles.
So, in case I haven't told you before, I have man-shoulders. Yes, man-shoulders. For a chick, my upper body strength is actually pretty good. It's my legs that I'd like to get stronger so I decided that anytime the CrossFit Workout of the Day calls for an upper body workout, I'm going to "cash out" with a lower body one.
Here's the WOD I did:
7 rounds:
1 strict pull-up
3 kipping pull-ups
hang as long as I can (usually only 2-3 seconds to be honest)
I dropped at the end of each round and completed it in 5:48. Next time this workout comes around, I want to work on not dropping after each round.
Since it was all upper body, I did a back squat pyramid afterwards.
10 reps, 65#
8 reps, 85#
6 reps, 105#
8 reps, 85#
10 reps, 65#
I will definitely be feeling both workouts for days to come!
Tonight we're heading to a friend's house to have a game night, order pizza, drink beer, etc. Sounds like a good ending to a good day huh? I can't wait... but, they probably want me to shower first.
Until tomorrow,
KelsaLynn
What an awesome workout I had tonight! It may have only been 7 minutes and 3 seconds long, but it was just what I needed. Here's what it looked like-
3 ROUNDS:
15 dumbbell thrusters (20# each hand)
30 sit-ups
The thrusters were killer. I could only do 5 at a time but I was able to fly through the sit-ups.
I LOVE how a good workout makes me feel!
I also did 1 set of all my hip exercises- so that's twice this week! YIPPY! I haven't practiced the piano at all so I desperately need to do that tomorrow evening. It's been almost 3 weeks since I've practiced which is not good!
Until tomorrow,
Kelsalynn
Wow! Thanks for all the comments on my post from yesterday! I really needed to hear (read) what you guys said (wrote). I really needed a pep talk to get the ball rolling and your comments plus the emails from my friends Lexi and Amy really helped!
My hubby went to the gym tonight but I stayed home. I'm not sure why, I just wasn't really feeling it. I left work at 6:15 (boo) but it was right after going off on 2 employees who trust me, totally deserved it. I guess I was still all geared up from that...
In other words, my husband is much more disciplined than I am.
But I must tell you... guess what I did tonight people????
I started updating my resume! Notice I said "started", but that's a huge step forward for me! When I tried before, I couldn't even type one word. Not even my name because I couldn't decide if I wanted to center it or have it left-justified, etc...whatever the reason, I just could not get it going before.
I feel like I just jumped a tall hurdle. It's still a long way from done, but I feel better already.
Now I'm going to relax, read my book, and try to go to bed before 10 tonight.
Until tomorrow,
Kelsalynn
I'm glad I'm writing this now and not before I went to the gym. Not that I know anymore now than I did a few hours ago, but I'm not nearly as emotional, so that's good.
I didn't even workout at the gym, but just going helped so much. I ended up doing all of my hip and knee exercises because let me tell you, after yesterday's short run on the thrill mill, I'm definitely feeling it today. My right hip was hurting with every step I took today. I must say, since I've done my exercises, it feels a lot better, just don't tell my husband. ; )
So, what was bothering me earlier you ask?
Work. Suprised? Don't be... it's the trend these days.
And I'm not sure what to do about it. sigh
Here's what I know-I know I'm not happy. But that's the extent of my awareness these days.
I'm not sure what would make me happy. I feel like I'm having a quarter-life crisis. I'm considering working with a recruiter because I've tried twice to update my resume but just can't do it. I pull up various job posting websites and literally NOTHING looks appealing. I keep asking myself, What do I want to be when I grow up?
Any suggestions on ways to get to the bottom of this question? Books? Exercises? etc?
I don't mean to always complain about work...it's as new for me as it is for you, trust me. 6 months ago, if you would have told me I'd be feeling this way, I would have laughed at you (with you, of course).
I have been trying to hold off until November, which is when I have my 6-year ann\iversary. On that date, I'll be fully vested which is appealing, but is it worth the stress and unhappiness? And how many nights of coming home in tears is it worth? I think I've already spent too many. Now I just need to figure out how to fix it which is turning out to be easier said than done.
By the way, remember that goal I set yesterday to not work past 6pm? Already broken...
Kelsalynn
It's been a wonderful weekend, which was very much needed after one hellofa long week.
It's Michael's birthday today (and Father's Day!) but I gave him a few of his gifts on Friday, a few yesterday, and then another today. After being on such a tight budget the past year or two, it was great to spend some coin on him! Plus, I know he wasn't expecting it... I got him the first season of Sopranos, a $25 ITunes gift card, 2 books, an annual subscription to the CrossFit Journal, a tent, and two camping chairs. We also went to the AZ Roller Derby and the movies (we saw A-Team which is good if you like action movies) and to dinner. Overall, it was an awesome weekend!
This morning we headed to the gym and I had the.best.workout.I've.had.in.a.long.time.
Seriously, it fricken rocked and I left the gym on such a high. Isn't it amazing how a great workout can leave you feeling wonderful?
The WOD called for 7 reps of 1 overhead squats. Here's how I did-
55
60
65
70
75
80
85
I'm totally stoked about getting 85! I thought my max would be 80 but I felt so strong the whole time!
From there I did a treadmill workout- 9 sprints of 1:00 each. I did the first 3 at 7.5mph and then the last 6 at 8.0mph. It wasn't easy but it wasn't uber tough either. My goal was to get through it without too much pain in my hips or knees, which unfortunately, didn't exactly happen "pain free" but somewhat close. The pain was bearable anyway. Afterward, I rolled it out with the foam roller then did some stretches. It's getting more sore as the night goes on so I will need to focus on doing my exercises this week.
Here are some weekly goals I have:
1. Not work past 6:00. It's dumb to even have this goal b/c I know it won't happen. I worked until 7pm every night last week AND brought work home with me twice. But, I have to at least TRY this week.
2. Do my hip/knee exercises 4 times
3. Practice the piano 4 times
4. Workout 4 times
5. Eat out only once (will be on the road one day so I don't have a choice that day)
Is it obvious to anyone else how badly I'm trying to achieve a work-life balance?
Until tomorrow,
Kelsalynn
Who wants to workout without drinking any water???? I do! I do!
(apparently)
Yet another stupid moment for yours truly for not having even one drop of water all day today. WTF? My goal is tomorrow and Friday to drink 2 bottles of water before I leave the office. My water bottle is 33 fl oz and normally I have no problem tipping back two of them while working. But this weekend, I don't know, I just haven't been thirsty. I'm not drinking soda or coffee (except initial cups) I'm just not drinking anything at all. How weird is that?
Regardless of my lack of common sense, I made it to the gym tonight. I'm actually surprised I even went because I worked until 7 pm. Last night I brought work home with me and sat at my dining room table working past 11 pm. I *knew* I needed to get to the gym tonight. I *knew* that even though I really felt like just coming home and crashing, a workout would make me feel better.
And it definitely did.
Here's what I did-
40 burpees (w/ pushups but only 17 w/ a hop- calf issues)
35 sit-ups
30 kettlebell swings (25#- these were incredibly easy)
25 pull-ups (did all unassisted in 5 sets of 5 so I'm stoked about that)
20 handstand pushups (modified, feet on bench)
Time = 12:24
It was short, tough, and awesome.
Until tomorrow,
Kelsalynn
I go an entire week without a blog post and then today, I post twice... what's my deal?
I just got back from the gym and it was a doozy. For starters, I think I had 3 cups of coffee this morning and no water so that was pretty dumb. For seconds, it was my first workout in a week. And finally, I did squat cleans which I did not do last time.
Regardless, "Elizabeth" totally owned me this time around. Fricken hoochie. I almost puked because of her...
Here's what I did-
21-15-9 reps of
65# squat cleans
ring dips (modified)
Time = 13:00 flat.
I did this workout way back in October (8 months ago) and had a time of 9:52...but again, I got all the way into the squat today and I didn't do that before.
Either way, it felt good getting back to the gym.
Did you guys see Blogger has new design templates available? I'll probably be playing around with them so my blog looks a little funky, that's probably why!
Until tomorrow,
Kelsalynn
I transferred another $1,583.13 to our new car fund today!
Hey everyone! We're officially back from our vacation and it was wonderful! We both needed the time off and loved seeing family.
We got in late last night but have today off as well. I actually have Friday off but Michael is going back to work.
I'm sad to report that we did not workout even one time over our vacation. We took our exercise clothes and even downloaded a cool app to our phones for working out when you don't have a gym nearby. Yeah, so much for that plan... oh well.
I am happy to report that we ended up breaking even with our travel budget. It started off really bad! I completely forgot to budget for baggage fees, which ended up costing $100. We ended up paying for long-term parking too, which was not planned. We expected to park our car miles away from the airport and take the lightrail into the airport. But when we pulled up, all of the parking for the lightrail is day parking only- no overnight parking. Huge bummer!
Luckily, we picked a fuel efficient car so barely had to spend anything on gas at all. We only ate out when we were in the car so we came in under budget for food as well. The end result was an overall budget that worked out.
So today's workout was the first in a week. It looks easy, but it was tough.
"Randy"-
50 Power Snatches for time 45#
My time was 6:14.
I couldn't even grip the steering wheel on the drive home- it really killed my forearms, wrists, and hands, but not in a bad way.
Finally, we're sending $1,534 to our new car fund today! We will likely be buying a car over the 4th of July weekend. Yippy!
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