New Camera

A little over a week ago my mom sent me a link to The Pioneer Woman's blog. Her blog is quite pleasant to read and she's quite funny when she writes. Mom thought I would like reading her writing, but I believe what drew mom's interest to this blog was that PW (Pioneer Woman) is a photographer. As is my mom.

This got me thinking....I want a camera! I used to help mom out on her photo shoots, especially weddings, and I really enjoyed it.

I did a lot of research, and finally settled on a Nikon D80. Mostly because it is the brand mom uses and the exact camera my brother uses.

I anxiously awaited the arrival of my camera since I ordered it Friday night, and today it came in. Once I got home from work, of course, I immediately started taking pictures. I got this one of the princess that I quite like.

I <3 CrossFit

I adore CrossFit. I've had the most amazing fitness gains since I started it back in January.

Some highlights of last week:

1. Ran a 5k on Saturday. Last time I attempted the 5k back on Feb. 1st, and my time was something completely ridiculous, like 48 minutes. Saturday time was 33:44. I was totally amazed by the improvement in such a short time, especially since I've only been doing CrossFit and not any running regimen, except for what is included in my workouts and warm-ups, and those are barely ever more than 400m at a time. Also, when I started Crossfit, I could hardly run 400m without walking. In the 5k, I got to about 3k before I walked at all.

2. Deadlift - achieving new Personal Records (PRs). My max for the last round of 1-rep deadlifts I did was 165 lbs. I tried to lift 175 lbs that day, and couldn't get the weight to budge. Last Thursday the workout came up again, and my max was 180 lbs, an increase of 15 lbs in just a couple of weeks.

3. Double-Unders - I'm finally coordinated enough to do them! When I started CrossFit, I couldn't even do the basic bounce well, and now I can knock those out like a champ and am moving on to developing sets of double-unders.

4. Air Squats and Situps - most of the time when these are in the workout, in any quantity (4 rounds of 50 for example), I'm not really even sore the next day.

CrossFit works. It's fun, it's functional, it changes your whole outlook on fitness. Yeah...I drank the Kool-Aid!

Crossfit Tracking

I thought I would start posting my Crossfit times here so I can keep track of them somewhat.

Today was Fran which is:

21 Thrusters
21 Pullups
15 Thrusters
15 Pullups
9 Thrusters
9 Pullups

The intention of Fran is to use weights such that your time is somewhere between 3 and 5 minutes, ideally.

I completed the workout in 5:58, using 2x15 lbs dumbbells for the thrusters, and 90 lbs of assistance on the pullups. It was difficult, but I feel pretty good about it. I'm going to try to get my time down close to 3:30 before I increase the weight on these.

I also went to the gym today at lunch and took my Yoga class. This Yoga class is something I started doing a couple of weeks ago and I absolutely love it. I'm really bad about stretching after a workout, and Yoga is helping me with that.

Sniff Sniff Sneeze Sneeze

I had to travel to Rhode Island this week for work, and some combination of a cold going around work and cold wind in RI made me sick. Its no fun to fly when you're congested. I have a doctor's appointment today, so hopefully she'll get me some meds and the cold won't settle in for a long stay.

I did manage a crossfit workout before I left Monday morning, but I missed the Tuesday workout, which was okay because Olympic lifts are a little intimidating to me. Overall eating was pretty good while I was away, as good as can be expected for eating in restaurants and airports for three days.

The trip itself was great, I got to travel with 3 co-workers, which is always better than traveling alone. I was so busy that before I knew it I was on a plane home. One of the guys we were traveling with got the car and we all rode together once we flew in. I had told them before leaving that the roads were really bad up there, but I guess it still surprised them.

He said he thought of a new slogan for the state -- Rhode Island: Sucky Roads, Sucky Island.

And I'm Back!

It's been quite a while since my last post, and I guess I should acknowledge that fact, so....wow, I can't believe it has been so long since I posted!

I didn't drop off the face of the earth, I just had some things going on. I'd like to say that I accomplished in 2007 working out consistantly all year long, even through 2 injuries (1 knee, 1 shoulder) that I had to go to physical therapy for, and buying a new house.

Starting in mid-December, I had been doing a round of Afterburn, but K decided he wanted to try CrossFit and he wanted me to do it with him. So I finished out the 4 weeks of Afterburn I was doing, and I started up CrossFit with him. I have to say, I love it. I like the flexibility of being able to work it around other things I want to do, like Yoga and Kickboxing classes at the gym. I also like that no matter what physical condition you're in, CrossFit is haaard. HAAAARD!!!

I'd like to be able to work up to doing some of the things that are simply impossible for me right now, like pullups and handstand pushups. It's a loosly defined goal to be sure, but I would like to work up to those things.

Haircut!

I got my hair cut short a couple of weeks ago. Pictures!






I love it and I'm really glad I got it cut short. It looks so much better. K said it "balanced out my head." When I told one of our friends that he asked where his girlfriend could get a haircut like that because her head needed balancing out too. LOL.

In other big news, nous allons à Paris pour notre anniversaire cette année! (We are going to Paris for our anniversary this year!) Gotta brush up on the French.

Je parle un peu de Francais, mais Je ne parle pas Francais tres bien! Parlez-vous Anglais?

So exciting! Anyway we're looking at staying at the Hotel Splendid Etoile, which is RIGHT down the street from the Arc. I can't wait to go to the Louvre, Versailles, Tour Effiel, Notre Dame, the Seine, Caffe on the balcony, sidewalk cafes, street crepes, bistros, boulangeries, patisseries...yum!

Where did June go?!

Wow, June went by so fast! I kept thinking, you know, I really should update my blog. But alas, I never got around to it. I'll try to summarize the major highlights of June.

We replaced the appliances in the Kitchen, I have before and after pictures that I'll try to post today. It was very much a "If you give a mouse a cookie" sort of exercise. The fridge went out so we ended up getting a new fridge, stove, range hood, dishwasher, and front porch light.

I went to the orthopedic specialist about my knee, apparently I am genetically predisposed to having an issue where my kneecaps slip laterally. When they do that repetitively, the kneecap rubs on the cartilage in a painful way. I'm in physical therapy for it, and it is getting better. I'm hating that I can't run or lift with my lower body.

I am actually maintaining weight although I'm very limited on activity right now. I found out that I'm really sensitive to starchy carbs and that I wasn't eating enough veggies. I love Precision Nutrition!

Work is going really really well. I am working on a new "project" and I really like the people I'm working with and the work I'm doing. Good stuff.

We're still trying to sell the house, K is putting an ad in the local newspaper today. Hopefully someone will find it is just right for them.