Brie Fit

I don’t know what’s gotten into me today—I am exhausted and it’s only 7:30!  I even fell asleep on the couch after work, something I haven’t done since I was pregnant. 

It was a cold, rainy morning at CFN.

The WOD was thus:

(Hi Dustin!)

Since that’s kind of messy, it was a three parter:

Part One

• Spend ten minutes finding your deadlift one rep max.  Mine was 165#, which I was excited about until I saw the guys lifting 300+.  Balls to them.

Part Dos

• 55 sit-ups
• 5 pull-ups
• 45 sit-ups
• 10 pull-ups
• 35 sit-ups
• 15 pull-ups
• 25 sit-ups
• 20 pull-ups
• 15 sit-ups
• 25 pull-ups

I finished this one in 12:30.  It was kind of a pain because my back hurt (in a good way) from the deadlifting.

Part Three

Work with a partner; AMRAP shoulder to overhead for 5 minutes.  (Shoulder to overhead just means that you can do a shoulder press, a push press, or any other means necessary to move the bar that way.)  Rx for women was 25#, which we did.  My awesome partner Shannon and I cranked out 166 reps, 96 of which I did.

There were a record-setting five ladies in the morning class today.  Me likey.  Usually it’s a big old sausage fest.

It was a long and boring day at work.  There’s very little going on this week.

After work I napped and had another paper-plate dinner:

Two eggs with some cheese, Canadian bacon, a slice and a half of wheat toast and some homemade cranberry applesauce.

Tomorrow will hopefully be a short day!  The last two years, we’ve been sent home early, and I’m seriously hoping the same happens again this year.

Do you work tomorrow?  What about on Friday?

The whirlwind continues.

I made it home to Kansas City at about midnight on Friday, totally exhausted.

BUT, I managed to make it to CrossFit at 11 the next morning. 

5 rounds of:

• 5 kettlebell swings (35 lbs)
• 7 thrusters (2 rounds at 65 lbs, 3 rounds at 55 lbs)
• 9 box jumps
• 12 sit-ups

(I finished in 10:04.) 

Then we rested about 3 minutes, and did 5 rounds of:

• 5 burpees (I. Hate. Burpees.)
• 7 push presses (45 lbs)
• 9 box jumps
• 12 sit-ups

(The goal was to beat your previous time, and I did!  9:58.)

It feels good to be sore again.

Today we house-hunted.  We didn’t see anything revolutionary, but we’re seriously thinking about putting an offer in on our front-runner from last week!

Tomorrow I have the misfortune of being on a 6 am flight…and a flight that arrives back at home at midnight.  It’s going to be a loooong day.

Two weeks of travel left—I promise to be back to more normal blogging soon!

In some places, in Utah?  There is no caffeine. 

(That’s caffeine free pop in that machine, right there.)

In the last two days I’ve eaten lots of nondescript sandwiches.  Subway, work-event-standard-issue deli bar sandwiches, bagel sandwiches at the airport, etc.

(I did eat one really good sandwich, at Bison Witches in Tempe, with my buddies Temerity Jane and Brooke.  Which was awesome, and I want to move them to Kansas City to entertain me.)

Utah is really pretty.

Arizona is really hot, and there are cactuses and palm trees, and very little grass.

I haven’t worked out.  I tried, today, but the hotel treadmill was abhorrent, and the rest of the gym consisted of a rusty old stationary bike.   I ran a quarter of a mile until I could not take the BANG BANG BANG BANG my feet made, did some push-ups and sit-ups until I realized just how nasty the hotel gym carpet was, and quit.  (Which is odd, because the rest of the hotel is quite nice.)

I miss CrossFit almost as much as I miss my husband, and dog, and cats, and bed, and shower.  The late flights, and long drives, and early mornings have been killing me.

Anyway, I’ll be home tomorrow super late.  It’s been one heck of a long week and I cannot wait.  (Plus?  Lots of online shopping packages waiting for me.  It will be like Christmas!)

Pop or soda? 

Today was probably the most calm day I’ll have all week.  I get to stay in the same hotel two nights in a row! 

Breakfast was culled from the Starbucks downstairs.  If you can call it that.

Work provided lunch, and it was unfortunately pretty carby and heavy.  My eyes were bigger than my stomach!  I took some Caesar salad, marinara pasta, chicken lasagna, and a breadstick.  The marinara pasta was cold, so I just had the lasagna, salad, and bread.

I had kind of a rough afternoon.  My sinuses are driving me crazy—they are draining so much I feel like I’m choking—but I eventually made it to the hotel gym.   Nothing intense, just a half hour on the elliptical, and I attempted to do my CrossFit box’s WOD I saw online but kind of failed due to lack of kettlebells.  But whatever.  It was a noble effort. 

Since lunch was heavy, I opted for a lighter dinner, and walked there and back—it was about a 15 minute walk each way, so maybe a mile? But with views like this, how can you complain?

Utah is really astonishingly gorgeous, and the people are SO nice.

I had a cup of chicken noodle soup and a spinach salad with various fruits and goat cheese.

And maaaybe a cookie for later.  Maaaybe.

In other news, this is how Tim and I interact when I’m on the road.  God bless Gchat.

Anyway, tomorrow will be another loong day.  I work from 8-2, then head straight to the airport to fly to Arizona that night.  Is it Friday yet?

Where, in your opinion, have you encountered the nicest people ever?  It’s a toss-up between Utah and Iowa for me.

SO!  It’s a fun travel week for me.  And by fun, I mean not really fun, and also grueling. 

On Sunday night, I flew to Denver and drove to Boulder.  I got to my hotel around 11 pm and promptly fell asleep.  I had trouble sleeping, so I got up a little early and squeezed in a teeny tiny bit of exercise.  I used this tabata timer to do 3 4-minute tabatas: sit-ups, squats, and push-ups.  (And I did NOT do push-ups on my knees.  I did the real big girl kind.  With awful form, I’m sure, and slowly, but we have to start somewhere, right?)

Anyway.  Hotel breakfast.  Except I didn’t eat the banana or the muffin, just the raisin bran and milk.

I worked all morning, and for my lunch I got the largest sandwich ever.  I didn’t realize it was so big, and only ended up eating half of it.  But it was good!  It was a ham, Brie, granny smith apple and spinach panini. 

Once I finished with work, it was straight back to the Denver airport.  See?  I did see a few mountains, from the window of my rental car.

(Sidenote: I really really like Colorado and would totally move there if I had a reason to.)

At the airport, I snacked on a fruit and yogurt parfait and a big bottle of water.

Then, I flew from Denver to Salt Lake City, and grabbed an egg sandwich and some fruit on my way to baggage claim.

It got cold on the drive to my hotel because the cab smelled too bad to eat in.  Yuck.  I already miss a sit-down meal that isn’t quite as carb-heavy as today’s eats!

I need some definite R&R tonight—I don’t fly tomorrow, so I’m hoping to get in a for real workout in the afternoon.

For now: there is a king sized bed, a remote control, and a square of extra dark chocolate calling my name.

Where would you move if you could?

So I’ve been driving a shoebox all day.

I don’t know what I did to piss off the rental car guy at work, but this teeny Fiat will not even fit two small bags in the trunk.  I had to put one in the “backseat.”

Anyway.  Morning WOD before I hit the road was probably a top three hardest WOD ever.  I felt like puking at the end, for real.

Four rounds of:

• 22 kettlebell swings (@ 35 lbs)
• 22 box jumps
• Run 400m
• 22 burpees
• 22 sit-ups

I finished in 32:10.  It was hellacious.   By the end of the first round I was dripping sweat onto the mat during my burpees. 

BUT, I am very proud that my sit-ups are improving.  I haven’t done a half-assed crunch in over a week.  I am slow, but I get the full range of motion and that’s important.

So, I’m nowhere interesting.  Had Subway for lunch, Chipotle for dinner.  Week one of six of intense travel begins.

I did stock up on breakfast provisions at the grocery store, though.

Not perfect, but I’m working without a fridge and/or any utensils beyond a plastic knife and fork I purloined from Chipotle.  And it’s better than breakfast at the 43290543 fast food places around my hotel.

What’s your dream car?

I am so tired.

I’m in the thick of busy work season, so major major apologies if my blogging is erratic and/or sucky the next few weeks.  I’ve been driving all over tarnation for the last few days, eating while driving most of the time.  It’s been real fun.

(Next week should be pretty calm, though.  Yay.)

Anyway.  Today’s WOD looked deceptively easy, but was…not.

Seven rounds of:

• 7 pull-ups (assisted with a band, and some jumping)
• 14 burpees
• 21 air squats 

I think I finished in 22:30?  I don’t remember.  It was early. 

After we did that, we did two tabatas (20 seconds hard work, 10 seconds rest, repeat).  The first one was sit-ups for 4 minutes.  The second was push-ups for 3 minutes.  By the end, I was wiped.

I have to say—I finally noticed today that my form is improving on many of the exercises.  My first pull-ups were more like giant leaps off the box, followed by an uncontrolled downward…crashing.  While I’m still jumping for them a little bit, and using a resistance band, they are much more controlled.  I’ve also noticed that my burpees are less awkward and jerky, and I was VERY proud today that I completed the entire sit-up tabata with a full range of motion—no crunches.  Sure, I didn’t do a TON of sit-ups, but slowing down a bit and doing them with perfect form is even better, in my opinion!

NOW!  Here’s a random update for you.  Remember Bubbles, the stray kitty we took in and vetted and lived with us for a month but then found a good home?

Well, his new mom and dad sent an update and some pictures.  Thought I’d share!

His dad says:

Here are some pictures of the little guy! He’s sleeping on the recliner as I type! Loving life!
Thanks again for introducing us to him! He’s got such a great personality!

Happy endings for all.  These pictures make my heart happy.

What have you improved at recently?

…and with that, Travel Season 2011 is underway.

From right about now through November 18th, I’ll be on the road quite a bit.  September isn’t too bad, but in October, I will hardly see my office (or my house, for that matter) at all!

So.  I had a 6 am flight.  I don’t know why I do this to myself.  It SOUNDS appealing when I book it—early, can sleep on the plane, no travel back-ups to deal with—but when my alarm went off at 4:15 today I was cursing my decision.

Anyway, I slept on my flight from Kansas City to Detroit, and then had breakfast during my two hour layover—egg and cheese on an everything bagel and coffee.

Then I flew from Detroit to Toronto.  I was mad because they didn’t give us cookies.  I LOVE Delta cookies.  Boo.

Anyway, fun fact: this is my first overnight international trip.  We went to Cozumel for a day on our honeymoon, but since we were on a cruise and out on the water, I don’t count it.

So.  Canada charmed me instantly with all the French phrases everywhere.  How quaint!  I took a taxi to my hotel, checked in, and went to a nearby Tim Horton’s for a light lunch.  I’d never been to one, and all my Canadian friends seem to think they’re pretty fantastic. 

I had some mushroom soup , a roll, and yogurt.

(Look!  French!)

I was not blown away, but it was perfectly adequate for a quickie lunch.  Allegedly their bagels and pastries and coffee are the way to go, so I might go back for breakfast tomorrow.

(Also awesome: cost of living in Toronto is crazy high, so I get an awesome per diem.  Woo!)

After lunch, I decided to explore the city a bit on foot.  I walked about a mile to Queen Street and spent the afternoon browsing the shops.

I am pretty sure I’ve found what Tim’s personal heaven looks like:

Toronto is a really pretty city.  It reminds me a lot of Chicago, actually—it’s fairly clean, and the people seem friendly, and there’s a decent amount of greenery about.

Anyway, you know lululemon is my catnip, but I made it out with just one pair of socks (which I legit needed because I forgot my running socks at home):

I had quite a good time wandering the streets of Toronto.  The only thing I disliked is that there are no public bathrooms here!  I wound up having to get a special escort into some drugstore’s bathroom after three other places claimed to not have them.  Yeesh.

Anyway, I got back to the hotel but was super tired from the early morning and walking all afternoon.  But I wanted to get a little more exercise in, so I made up a hotel room workout while watching Say Yes to the Dress.

• 1 minute jump ropes
• 1 minute lunges
• 1 minute squats
• 1 minute sit-ups
• 1 minute push-ups
• Repeat X 4

Total: 20 minutes of a surprisingly good sweat session.  I felt pretty queasy afterwards for some unknown reason.  Yuck.

I then took a much-needed shower and decided to go to dinner solo and sans makeup.

You all know I love my makeup, but I felt great without it tonight so I skipped it.  Just a little lotion and I was ready to go!  It’s been awhile.  I should do this more often.

I had grand plans to explore some great Toronto restaurants, but since I wasn’t feeling great and was tired I just headed to a nearby bar/restaurant combo for an unremarkable dinner.

I had a side salad with oil and balsamic to start:

…and then I enjoyed half of this personal pizza (basil, assorted mushrooms, pepperoni, mozzarella) while reading A Clash of Kings.  (I’m about 90% done—spoil me and die.)

And now, it’s 7:41 local time and I’m in my hotel room planning to doze off to TLC within the next hour or two.  Three days in a row of getting up before 5 am means early bedtime!

Tomorrow morning: long run.  6-7 miles.  Internet, hold me accountable.

Makeup or no makeup?  Why or why not?

1.  I got a (small) raise today!  My first since I started at my job in October 2009.  It’s nice to be monetarily appreciated.

Lunch (soup, salad, fruit, tiny cheese):

2.  We got pre-approved for a mortgage today!  We’re going to probably sit on it for awhile, but we wanted to make sure everything was clear.  Our goal is to meet with a realtor sometime mid-September and start looking in person in October-ish. 

Dinner 1, pre CrossFit (egg, bacon, goat cheese on a whole grain English muff, small glass of orange pineapple juice):

Tim came to CrossFit with me today!  (Perhaps he will share his impressions in the comments for you.  Tim?)

The WOD was:

• Run (one lap around parking lot w/ 10 pound weight), 21 box jumps, 9 thrusters (45 lbs for me)
• Run (ditto), 15 box jumps, 15 thrusters (went down to 30 lb bar)
• Run (tritto), 9 box jumps, 21 thrusters (30 lb bar)
• Run (again)

Then we did a sit-ups tabata—20 seconds of sit-ups, 10 seconds of rest, rinse and repeat for four minutes.  It was hard!  The most sit-ups I did in a 20 second period was 13, I think, and the fewest was 8 on my last set. 

I hate core work, FYI.  But I love CrossFit.

Dinner 2, post-CrossFit—yogurt, strawberries, granola:

Off to relax a bit!

What is your favorite kind of juice?

For the second time in two weeks, our air conditioner is broken.  Sigh.  Needless to say, it was a long, hot, nearly-sleepless night.   Not exactly the best start to the week, but I’m still kind of walking on air lately so…meh.

Anyway, after five days away from the office, my inbox was quite full! 

For lunch:

For snack:

It was a fairly fun day, though…my travel schedule got all shifted around and I booked probably 10 flights today!  I will officially be visiting the following places in October and November:

• Toronto, Ontario
• Iowa City and Des Moines, Iowa
• Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska
• Boise, Idaho
• Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona
• San Francisco, California
• Las Vegas, Nevada
• Boulder, Colorado
• Norman, Oklahoma
• Salt Lake City, Utah
• Atlanta, Georgia

Phew!  I’m actually not going to have a ton of time to enjoy the destinations, but I’m looking forward to visiting three new states I’ve never been to before (Utah, Arizona, and Oklahoma).

After work, I ran four miles.  It was painful.  The blisters I’m getting on the balls of my feet are just a nightmare and get super sensitive by my second mile.  Bleh.   It’s always something, right?

Dinner was a mish-mash that wound up being surprisingly good.

We had leftover roasted chicken with barbecue sauce, black beans cooked in cumin, lime juice, and garlic, and a few cantaloupe chunks. 

Tim starts his new job after labor day, so he is a man of leisure this week.  Last night, in the middle of the night, he urgently turned to me and said, “So what do you think about the ad?” to which I responded, “Um, what?” and he kept persisting, “You know.  The ad.”

Turns out, he was talking in his sleep after watching an episode of Mad Men.  It was pretty funny.

Do you talk in your sleep?