Total & Whiteout Grace

I had been looking forward to Monday January 31st since Bill announced about a month ago we would be completing CrossFit Total. CF Total is a combination of SRM for press, back squat, and deadlift. I knew this total was going to be a reflection of growth thanks to our “games programming” I was expecting to see big PRs! Hannah and I teamed up and started out the press together. Both of our old SRMs were 40k. We chose to start with 40k and both put it up easily. I decided to make a pretty big jump up to 45k. My left arm rose that bar over my head but my right arm was not so aggressive. I almost killed myself to get my head through. Jennie finally shouted at me to rack the bar. I felt defeated, but knew I had one more attempt. I knew my last attempt needed to be chosen strategically if I wanted to make the record board for CF Total. After talking numbers with Bill I decided to try 42k. Unfortunately I had the same result…stupid right arm. So I was stuck with 40k for the press which was not a PR, in fact I had just put up 41.5k for 3 reps just a week earlier! Oh well, on to the back squat…my SUPER old SRM for BS was 77k. Hannah and I started warming up and chose to open at 80k which I squatted with no hesitation. I upped the bar to 85k and had a short pause at the bottom of the squat but quickly stood it right back up. I knew I needed to go ahead and make my last attempt 90k. My third and final attempt was successful! I PRd by 13k and made the record board for BS! : ) Finally, Hannah and I moved on to deadlifting. My theoretical single rep max was 120k so I knew I wanted my first attempt to be pretty close to that weight. I decided to start at 115k. I pulled that bar off the ground easily and Jennie proposed that I try 120k. This attempt wasn’t as smooth but I stood it up. My last attempt was 122k; this would be a 17k PR for me. It was slow and shaky but I got that bar off the floor! : ) This DL put me 3rd on the record board for the ladies! My CrossFit Total score ended up being 252k. This total was enough to take the 3rd spot up on the record board! My old total which I completed just a little over a year ago was 188k. That is a 64k gain! I was very happy to see that growth in strength! Our “games programming” really paid off…thanks so much Bill & Jennie for your hard work and dedication to your athletes! 

Tuesday concluded “Gluten Free January” and I am proud to say Zach and I completed this challenge with ease! I am down 8 pounds and haven’t felt this good or performed this well in…well, ever! : ) We plan to keep it up and are also trying to consume little to no sugar as well. We are hoping to look SEXY in our swim suits come Spring Break! : D

All after school activities were cancelled yesterday due to the inclement weather – the teachers were even allowed to leave early to beat the approaching snow storm. As I was about to shut down my computer I received an e-mail from our superintendent letting us know he was going to cancel school on Wednesday due to the approaching blizzard. I was so excited to hear this news!  Zach and I had plans to attend the 5pm class at the fort and go out to dinner with some friends after to celebrate Zach’s birthday! : ) As I was waiting around at home before heading to the fort I realized the weather was getting worse and worse. I decided to leave my house 15 minutes early so I had plenty of time for the snowy commute to CFF. I arrive at the fort safe and sound and greeted my birthday boy! The strength for the day was box high box jumps. Zach and I started warming our way up to our old single rep maxes. I failed at 37 7/8” (which was my old PR). So I decided to drop down in height to sooth my ego. Unfortunately that stack of plates was playing mind games with me, my left leg managed to make it on top of the plates but my right shin slammed right into the stack. I was a little bruised and sore immediately. However, I was determined to at least jump my old max before we moved on to the METCON. Finally, without even thinking I just hopped on top of the 37 7/8” stack! Yay! Next was the WOD, “Grace”. She is 30 clean and jerks for time at 40k (for women). I had never done this WOD rxd so I was excited to get started. My cleans felt good throughout but the jerks started to feel heavy the last few reps. I ended up finishing in 3:12, which put me on the record board for the ladies! Back in July I did this WOD at 30k in 2:48 – I am happy with my improvement in 6 months! 

Zach and I are off to enjoy the snow – he actually got the day off today too (well, who didn’t?!) I also just got word that D47 schools will be closed tomorrow as well – yay for TWO snow days!! : ) I hope everyone has a fun and safe snow day!