New Year, Same Old (bad?) Resolutions

With the New Year approaching, people start making all kinds of promises and resolutions to themselves to ensure that the next year is better than the last. I'm all for reflection, progress, and self-improvement, but I feel about New Year's the same way I kind of feel about Christmas - a lot of the purpose, focus, and special-ness gets lost in the hype and this idea that we have to follow/keep up with what other people are doing.

Holiday WOD, Part I

While in Austin, I'm partaking of Crossfit Central's free holiday workouts until their classes resume January 4th. Tonight was my first time back in the gym since I left in August for Minneapolis, and it was great to see some familiar faces!

Baby it's cold outside!

Vacationing in Austin does not mean a vacation from Crossfit, even if it is a little chilly for Austin! Since Crossfit Central is closed for the holidays until January 4, we headed to the middle school track and field across the street to do our own WOD, handcrafted by Ryon.

Climb Ev'ry Ladder

Awwww, my last Crossfit MPLS WOD of the year. If all goes well and the winter storm doesn't mess up the visibility too bad at the airport, I'll be Austin-bound tomorrow! Since I have to proctor a final exam tonight, I went to the noon class to break up the monotony of my last minute errands.

Burpees Noooooooo!!!!

At the gym, we always say "Yeahhhhhhhhh Burpees!!!!" Well, I'm not so enthusiastic about the movement. Especially when they're part of the WOD and not just the warm-up.

Ain't no box jump high enough...

After a pretty gluttonous weekend of carbing out - my roommate made pumpkin cranberry bread AND her mom came to visit, which meant Mexican food - I was in need of a good workout. Luckily, we had an AMRAP in store, which is when I really tend to tire myself out!

Finally Friday!

So things have been pretty hectic at school lately, and I actually can't make this too long of a post since I have a major hardcore statistics final tomorrow, but I'm trying to be more routine and regular in the postings. Here it goes!

Horrible Hundred?

Well, it wasn't actually so "horrible," but I had to come up with some alliterative title to mimic the name of the Filthy Fifty we did a few days ago. I say it wasn't horrible because I felt like I completely OWNED it today. Almost like a spaghetti squash...

Shoulders of Giants

No, this blog post is not going to be about the massive development of my shoulder muscles, especially due to the handstand push-ups we did tonight. Instead, it is going to be more motivational and inspirational in style, reflecting on some of the more psychological benefits and lessons learned from Crossfit. But first, the workout...

"Pwning" a Spaghetti Squash

In preparation for the busy week ahead, I decided to make a big batch of paleo spaghetti and meatballs that I could just reheat and eat all week. The paleo part meant that I had to buy a spaghetti squash, which has got to be one of the most difficult things in the world to cut open.

That dirty "Filthy 50"

I love benchmark WODs, and today's was no exception. But I had forgotten how utterly TOUGH and terrible the "Filthy 50" is...

Strength Day

Rough day today at Crossfit, not necessarily because of the WOD, but because of these gosh darn calloused over blisters on my hands that just won't pop!

Ring dips (and smiling) are my favorites!

Great WOD today, mainly because they included a movement we don't really do too often, but that really "kill" when you do 'em: ring dips. Woof.

Winter Transitions

Today was first real snow day in Minneapolis. Great. It actually stuck to the ground this time, too, which meant that getting home on the bus took twice as long. As such, I was kind of late to the gym today and that really set the tone for the WOD.

The Power of Positive Thinking...and Functional Movements

No Crossfit today, as I had a late meeting on campus today with my lab group to discuss Revolutionary Road (the book AND the movie). Anyhoo, instead of talking about a WOD, I thought I'd share an incident today that made me realize how Crossfit has changed the way I think about things.

New Saturday Morning Traditions

Today marked a new Saturday morning "tradition" for Crossfit Minneapolis. For starters, we moved the class time up from 11:30 AM to 9:30 AM. We also added a free introductory workout for interested people - no hard sells or gimmicks, just a good weekend workout.

No "I" in TEAM

Today we did a team WOD that I was totally not prepared for - at least not in the physical "keep warm" sense of being prepared.

Early Morning Kale Adventure - AND FIRST KIPPING PULLUP!

Last night I was too tired after a 12-hour day and TA-ing that I just came home and slept. I had been meaning to cook some kale that I got at the grocery store earlier this week because I've been wanting to try new and different foods. Plus, I feel like I'm not getting enough green veggies in my diet. Here's how it turned out.

Kick Ass Day

A great WOD today at Crossfit Minneapolis that I totally knocked out:

For time: 2000m row followed by...
3-3-3-3-3 Back Squat

Today's lessons were in: 1) determination and 2) why posting or keeping a log is so important.