Category Archives: CrossFit

Phoenix Recap & 13.4

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I wish I was waking up again in Phoenix this morning! Greg and I flew out late on Thursday night and spent the weekend doing nothing. It was the most boring trip ever, in a really good way. If you ever just need to recharge, I suggest going to a resort in the middle of no where and not renting a car. We were in bed every night by ten and slept for ten or eleven hours, we sat at the pool and read books, and we went out to dinner. We also watched a lot of HGTV as we are known to do since we’re deprived of it during real life.

That’s my whole recap because it really was the most boring trip ever.

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Last night was the 13.4 workout. Since I abandoned my blog for a while I haven’t written about the CrossFit Games. Last year I signed up but only did the first two workouts. So this year my goal is to do all five. I’ve survived the first four, I think I’ll make it.

Last night’s WOD was two parts – a clean & jerk (getting a barbell from the ground to your shoulders then over your head) followed by toes to bar (while hanging from a bar, touching your toes to the bar). I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to get any reps because the clean & jerk was 95 pounds, 25 more than I’ve ever done. But I did the first three! There is photographic evidence, but I don’t have it yet.

Then it was time for 3 T2B. I hung around on the bar trying my best to get my toes to touch. I think I looked a lot like a fish on a hook squirming around. I didn’t succeed but came very close a few times. It was closer then I’ve ever come so I’m going to just be happy with that and take my 3 reps. I’m pretty sure I’ll lose my coveted second to last place in our gym and fall to last after this workout.

When I got home it was still light out (!) so Alfred and I played in the backyard for a bit. He wasn’t in the mood for a photo shoot and instead wanted to eat the grass we have coming up and one of his many sticks he’s collected on walks.

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September?!?! And box jumps.

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While I find it crazy that it’s already September and we’re now into the final third of the year, I am so happy August is behind me. It was a long, tough month. But, I am nearly settled into Seattle and have a fun road trip to look forward to starting on Saturday.

I’m probably never going to get back around to posting daily food because it’s time consuming and I don’t have a personal computer at the moment. Well, I do, but it’s wrapped up in styrofoam and stored under the television. Which means I can upload pictures only from my iPhone, which is super time consuming. And posts listing out food without pictures are even more boring than posts about what someone ate for the day. If that’s possible.

Who knows what I’ll write about. Maybe I need to step into the uncomfortable world of no rules for a bit and just see what happens. Easier said then done for us Type A peeps.

This morning I had the second of two one-on-one sessions at my new box, Northwest Crossfit. I am loving it so far and will be joining the regular classes next week.

I had a big breakthrough this morning and conquered a 16″ box jump!

Prior to this morning, I had a huge mental block and could not face more than a 12″ box. I would get in position, get ready to jump, and just freak out. I have no idea what I was so scared of. I don’t mind getting bruised with the bar or tearing up my hands trying pull-ups, but the box jump felt too threatening. 16″ is still not the regular women’s height (20″), but it’s four inches I’m proud of. I doubt I’ll ever get up to the skill level of the guy in the photo, but how awesome is that!

photo credit: http://www.sledgecrossfit.com/

The Murph

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My alarm went off at 5:30 this morning and I rolled out of bed for my first WOD (Workout of the Day) at San Francisco CrosSFit. I finished my two-week Basics class right before 4th of July and was super nervous to be at an actual class. I have to say, everyone was so nice. Within a few minutes several people had introduced themselves to me. Things were looking good and I was ready to go.

Then our coach wrote the workout on the board. There are only a few WODs I’m really familiar with and that’s because people tend to write blog posts about how hard they are. The two that come to mind are Fran and Murph. Much to my shock, he wrote “Partner Murph”. Everyone grumbled. It’s Friday after all.

The Murph was a favorite workout of a fallen soldier. Here is the description I see written on many box’s websites to describe the WOD. A lot of boxes even hold a special event annually for members to try out the Murph.

In memory of Navy Lieutenant Michael Murphy, 29, of Patchogue, N.Y. who was killed in Afghanistan June 28th, 2005.

This workout was one of Mike’s favorites and he’d named it ‘Body Armor’. From here on it will be referred to as “Murph” in honor of the focused warrior and great American who wanted nothing more in life than to serve this great country and the beautiful people who make it what it is.


So why was I so intimidated? Most people train for Murph Challenges. They don’t just show up for their first WOD ever and pull out a Murph. Luckily I didn’t have to do that either since we were splitting the workout, but still. The workout is the following:

  • 1 Mile Run
  • 100 Pull-ups
  • 200 Push-ups
  • 300 Air Squats
  • 1 Mile Run

We each did the 1 mile run at the beginning and end, but could split the pull-ups, push-ups and air squats evenly with our partner. I completed all 50 pull-ups (using both a green and a red band and some assistance from my partner). I made it through 35 push ups (chest and nose to the ground!) before time was called on push-ups. Before heading out on the final mile, I got in 65 air squats. I didn’t get my time because the 7am class had already started before I made it back from my last miler. So now my goal for next time is to simply get a time. 🙂 And I can’t wait to go back on Wednesday!