too many apples?

WOD: 7 min to find 1 rm clean
           1 min rest
           21-15-9
           Back Squats, Med ball sit ups, KB snatch

I love to eat apples. They tend to be a quick grab off the counter snack when I'm rushing around all summer. By fall, I'm ready for something different. Honeycrisp apples are my favorite but when the entire family likes apples, they get expensive. Here are a few ideas when you have apples that need to be eaten or you'd like a change:

 

Apples (with skin) in the crock pot for 4-6 hours. 

Sprinkle cinnamon on top.

Smells delish!

 

Sliced apples sprinkled with cinnamon.

Bake 400 degrees

60  minutes

WOD: 20 min AMRAP
            4 ring dips + 4 pull ups
            4 HSPU
            8 53# KB swing


There have been a ton of articles (76,100 to be exact) all related to the great debate: can Crossfit training prepare you for a half marathon. I have always been intrigued with these articles. So, I'll share my story and my two cents.

I ran races (both 13.1 and 26.2) before Crossfit. My best race times all happened during this time period. This could be related to age, commitment level, diet, who really knows.

Once I started Crossfit, I gained weight. It wasn't bad weight. It was muscle. I was okay with that. That's not the point. I continued to run. I would do my WOD and then sprint out the door for a very difficult pace run. When I was training for my long race (40.1), I remember running a 5k, jumping in the car to go to a WOD and then running after the workout again. My thought process? I needed to mentally train my brain to run when tired. I still followed my running plan and maintained all of my pace runs, long runs, etc... Run was successful. Recovery was successful. All good.

Then there was the race where I woke up in the morning and decided to trade my half bib for a full. A tad crazy. But, I had been training. I had been running distance. I had built up to 17 miles. I knew what to expect being on my feet for 4+ hours. All good.

Then we come to last weekend...the kids all had sports events and 2 of the 3 had been cancelled. I made the decision I was going to run the half. Was I ready? Absolutely not. I hadn't run over 4 miles in at least a month. Heck, the week prior I logged ZERO miles. But, I knew what to expect with the course.{I must also mention, I wore Nick's shoes because mine were brand new and never been worn!} I knew I was under no pressure for myself to bust out some new PR. I was just doing it because I had the time AND because I had been running so much over the summer it seemed like a perfect bookend to the summer.

RESULTS: My time was 8 minutes slower than my previous races at the same location. No big deal. I was proud of that. I kept a consistent pace for the first 10 miles. I was prepared to begin walking at every mile after 3. My body hurt. My body still hurts. I have hurts in places I have never hurt before.

I currently have the cleanest diet I have ever had in my life. I didn't carb load. I didn't get the right amount of sleep. Heck, I didn't even own a sports bra to keep me together for 13.1 miles!

Did Crossfit prepare me? I guess that would depend on my expected results. Yes, Crossfit prepared me to work through mental pain, muscle fatigue, and keeping the goal in site. But nothing, I repeat N-O-T-H-I-N-G prepares you to be on your feet for that amount of time constantly pounding the pavement, never stopping, fast pace. Crossfit didn't make my recovery any quicker. I might be a stronger runner, but stronger didn't help my speed. Stronger didn't help me catch my breath. A half marathon wasn't "just another workout" for me.

Will I do it again? Absolutely.
.

Friday! Friday! FRYYYYYYYYYYYYY-DAY!

I woke up this morning to let the dogs outside to eat and it felt good. The air was crisp and I could smell the fall leaves. Getting ready in the morning, I decided to update my Facebook status to ask anyone if they had a race bib for the Air Force half marathon this weekend. By 12:30pm I will in the car heading over the the Nutter Center to pick up a race bib! Tomorrow at this time I will be resting on my couch after running 13.1 miles!

I can't wait. I'm excited. Not really nervous. Running gives me such a sense of freedom. I almost feel closer to God. For that brief moment in time, he is with me, only me, and it's all about me. It's wonderful. And having not trained AT ALL for this, I'm sure I will be doing a lot of praying and praising God along the path.

I'm on day 7 of the Whole30. In the past, I would have been carb loading but instead I have decided to stick to my plan. I'm anxious to see how my body will handle this with all of the running I did over the summer. Look forward to my next entry!

I am going to go home and lay out all of my clothes and get all prepared!!!

WOD: 50 squats
            25 T2B
            50 DUs
            3 Rounds for time


I need to work on my presentation of food. You get the point. It's real, it's happening at a quick pace between practices, and I have the help of a 6 year old. Delicious!

breaded mahi mahi & sweet potato casserole

sweet potato casserole (two large sweet potatoes, with skin, almond milk, walnuts, unsweetened coconut flakes)

        

"The food you eat 

either 

makes you more healthy or less healthy. 

Those are your options."

 

whole30 bonding experience on day 4

WOD:  10 strict press
             200 m sprint
             15 push press
             200 m sprint
             20 push jerks
             200 m sprint
            EOM: 5 strict pull ups/ 10 push ups


I am excited to hear others share their success with the Whole 30 challenge! All of the ideas, suggestions, tips are wonderful. I am trying everything and soaking it all in. It's fun to learn more about something new!

This morning was a bit of a challenge. In every effort to find the positive, I will share what happened. Josalyn had a doctor's appointment at 9:15am. Without hesitation, I accepted the request to help with this appointment. I have no problem with that. I blocked off my calendar until 10:30, giving my plenty of time to get her back to school and myself to work (26 miles away) and still have a productive day.

10:15 rolls around...we are still sitting there. Finally, we go back to the room. The nurse is annoyed by the doctor's tardiness and felt obligated to share her frustration with us. This only my my mood even worse. Then, the doctor came in and was all perky. No apology. No acknowledgement that she had wasted our time. NOTHING.

[Side note: When Connor was maybe 4 weeks old, I had a breakdown at his doctor's office. Like, real breakdown. I was tired of waiting, I was sleep deprived, I was stressed, I was doing everything wrong, etc.  After I screamed and went nuts, I vowed I was never going back there again. Eight years later, Connor is now friends with the doctor's son. Fail. Hopefully she doesn't remember. I wasn't going to do this to Josalyn. At 13 years old, it might make somewhat of an impression. So, I decided to be patient, remain calm and keep my comments to myself. I didn't say a single curse word (out loud).]

But, the sweetest thing occurred during those 80 minutes. A friend loaned me a copy of her book, "It Starts with Food" that I downloaded on my kindle while waiting. Josalyn and I hoovered over my iPhone and began reading the book. We read to Chapter 3. The beginning was a bit dry but it had a lot of good points and laid the groundwork for the scientific research about the Whole 30. Josalyn was asking a bunch of questions and was more excited to jump on board. We talked about the food that she eats, how it is prepared, what better choices would be, etc. All of which, she has very little control over. I mean, what 13 year old asks if her food is prepared with vegetable oil or olive oil? We talked about the foods that the boys eat and what she eats at our house. At their ages and as active as they are, it's okay to have some of the things that I my chose to limit. I don't want to ban "bad" food because I want to help them learn how to make healthy choices.

In the introduction, the book claims that after we are finished reading we will "know in no uncertain terms which foods are improving the quality of your life and which are distracting your health." So, I pointed that out. And Josalyn said, "Jenn, you eat perfect all the time. You always have a Paelo-perfect meal." I explained to her that the Whole 30 isn't exactly what she needs to follow but she could read the book and take away some key points and try different things for awhile such as cutting out dairy. It's more about being aware. Even if you don't take action right away, the more you know the better choices you will make without even realizing it. She told me I was perfect. I had the perfect body and it was awesome that I did the things I do (I'm assuming she's talking about Crossfit here).

It was kind. It was the nicest, most innocent compliment I have ever received. The truth is, I don't eat perfect meals, I don't have a perfect body, I do do awesome things :) but I always see the gap which I refer to as my "improvement zone"- but to a 13 year old girl, who shows nothing but unconditional love, I am perfect. I hope she looks up to me. I hope that I can continue to be a female figure in her life that she admires and respects. I hope that I can be a positive role model.

On the drive to work, I stopped for a moment to thank God for giving me those 80 minutes with Josalyn. 

whole 30

WOD: 15 Burpees
            15 DB Thursters
             5 rounds


If you know me well, you know I'm always up to trying something new. I have a lot of "trying something new"s lately. I got my hair cut. That could be considered new, but it's always the length that is the old me. I am going to commit to getting a manicure every two weeks. Why? Because it feels good and I really like it. I also bought about 8 new dresses for the fall. I dislike wearing pants. they are so uncomfortable. There's nothing like trying to find a pair of slacks that fits your waist, thighs, caves and long legs. I'm either wearing pants the the seam is going to bust at my butt crack or they are baggy and look like bell bottoms.

I had a lot of success on the Advocare 24 day challenge. I love the supplements and have really narrowed down what seems to work well with my body while running/lifting.

There were a few gals in the gym that had tried the Whole 30. I have had a few meals that were whole 30 and decided to continue to make those for my family. They were easy and tasty. So, I decided to go for it. Take the leap. It's only 30 days. I don't consider myself one to jump on the latest trend. Often times I jump on years after the trend started. I'm also up for a new challenge and anything that will help me learn more about food, myself, portions, nutrition and wellness.  I am a perfectionist.

Day 1: I woke up and ate more than I normally do. Whole 30 doesn't count calories (I still do to an extent because it's a habit). Breakfast: 3 eggs and 2 slices of bacon. Lunch: lettuce, ground turkey, sweet potato with coconut oil and cinnamon. Dinner: 2 eggs, bacon, ground turkey. HOLY HEADACHE! I thought I was getting sick. Like flu sick. I have to live without Spark for 30 days. At 9pm, I ran through the Tim Horton's drive thru and grabbed a coffee. It took the splitting pain away until I fell asleep. Success! I survived the first day!

Day 2: Nick was away at drill and he claims that he is going to do this challenge with me. So, I thought it would be helpful to get a 2 day start so I knew what I was in for before I had him asking me a bunch of questions. What did I learn today? No snacking! Three meals. Breakfast: 3 eggs, 2 bacon. Tim Horton's coffee that I drank all day. No way was that headache going to come back. Did a little grocery shopping. Bought a bunch of new meats that I generally don't buy but know I will get sick of ground turkey eventually. Lunch: avocado, pork loin steak, sweet potato, coconut oil, cinnamon. The sweet potato really takes the edge off. Snack: before I learned that you shouldn't snack, diced banana, unsweetened coconut flakes, almonds. Dinner: lettuce, ground beef, avocado.
For a total of 1600 calories.

623 calories (57% fat, 25% carbs, 18% protein)

Monkey Salad (bananas, unsweetened coconut flakes, almonds)

I must admit, I was a little tired the first two days. I'm not sure if it was because of the food or just because it was the weekend, I was running around like a mad woman or that Nick was gone and I was doing a lot of my own. I feel good. I feel full. Also, there is a rule that you aren't supposed to weigh yourself for 30 days. I broke that rule more than once. God, what is my problem. I suck at the scale part. I hate the scale!

*disclaimer: I'm not expert at the Whole 30 Challenge. I don't even own the book. I just google everything. I will probably make some mistakes along the way. Please feel to chime in and correct me if I'm eating something that I shouldn't have.

food is stressing me out

WOD: 50 DUs
            25 Box Jumps
            50 Sit Ups
            25 Burpees
            50 Squats
            25 DB Slams
            50 Wall Balls

 My youngest crossfitter baby has caused me a lot of grief over the last several months. He is a tiny little guy. I can count every rib on his body just looking at him and I don't think he has gained a pound in over a year. He eats NON STOP. This kid will ask about dessert while shoveling in dinner. I started to notice that he wasn't eating his sandwich in his lunch box. There would be mornings that he wouldn't eat breakfast. I'm not a scheduled "eater" and I do believe you eat when you are hungry, but there is always a healthy dinner option available at our house. And you eat when you are ready. Finish when you are done. Snack when you are hungry and have eaten your dinner.

He hides food. I find wrappers in his bedroom, pockets and basement couch. Last night he dumped half of his dinner in his brother's bowl and announced he was ready for dessert.

The snack options available at our house include string cheese, yogurt or pretzels. I know there needs to be a balance. I don't want him to horde food or overeat because he doesn't think there will be anything after. I just need to figure it out.

I was able to go outside a pick a few strawberries. That kept him quiet for several minutes. He's a little stinker, that's for sure!

Are you there blog? It's me, Jenn!

July 1 was my last post. Two months have passed (and probably weeks before that post) where you haven't heard a peep from me.

What have I been up to, you ask?

Well, the month of July I ran 147 miles. That was only running. No walks, no runs during a WOD, only dedicated runs.

And August? That month was in the 100s. It was no 147, but it was low 100s. And then there was my Crossfit totals.....those went way low. Partially because I'm not a fan of high temp days and sweating it out in a box and partially because I was taking advantage of the early morning time I had to myself when I'd rather be running.

My favorite part of my time away from my blog was the Crossfit competition that I did with my team. I had the best time ever! We laughed and laughed and laughed. We hit a PR and even surprised ourselves with one WOD!

Expect more fun posts! I'm back and ready for action!