More Bountiful Baskets and Feats of Strength

Look at all that yummy food for $30!

This week we tried the bread and Mexican pack through our veggie co-op. The bread is really yummy and a great price--$10 for five loaves of 9-grain bread. The loaves are a little smallish but still a great deal. We won’t eat all five loaves quickly so I stuck three loaves in the freezer. We’ll see if they taste okay defrosted.

The Mexican pack was delish, too. We got a bunch of tomatillos, really fresh cilantro, green onions, jalapenos, limes, avocados, and garlic. I have never bought tomatillos before so that was a fun little adventure learning to cook with them. I found a couple of really yummy recipes for salsa verde and chicken tomatillo stew. 

As for feats of strength, once again, I’m surprising myself and my body is doing things that my brain does not think I can do. Today our “cash-out,” or the final part of our workout, was 20 handstand push-ups. Ho, ho, ho, ya right. My arms felt too tired to even do a plain, old handstand. But then a girl who does about the same amount of weight/resistance/times as me kicked up her heals and started doing handstand push ups. I looked on amazed. “You can do it,” she told my stunned looking face. “Really.”

So I got three ab pads, which made a little stack about 8 inches high, and put them against the wall.  That’s how most of the women scaled back the push-ups so that they were not having to let their heads all the way down to the floor. I thought they would protect my head when I crumbled in a heap.  I took a running start and flung my feet over my head. My heels hit the wall and for a second, I was surprised just to be doing a handstand. Then I flexed my arms a little and let myself down. My head hit the pad, and I pushed myself back up. I did about seven of those, but I started laughing because I had stacked up so many pads that I was barely able to move down the wall, ee, ee, ee, ee, (that’s a tiny squeeking sound). So I got back on my feet and took off one of the ab pads. I got back into a handstand and did few more reps, rested, and did a few more. Before I knew it and to my astonishment, I had done 20 handstand push-ups.

Filthy Fifty Workout

exhaustion

When I looked at the workout board on Friday morning, I thought, “That is not humanly possible, but I’ll give it my best shot. I might be here all day.” To my surprise, I did it in 18 min. 22 sec. 

If you’re bored and looking for a way to make your whole body scream for the next couple of days, please give it a try. This is called the Filthy Fifty and it is a benchmark crossfit workout. Do it now and record your times and weights, then try it again in a few weeks (months, years), and see how you do.

The Filthy Fifty

For time:


50 Box jumps, 24 inch box
(I did 12 inch)

50 Jumping pull-ups

50 Kettlebell swings, 1 pood (I can’t remember how much a pood is—it’s Russian)

Walking Lunge, 50 steps


50 Knees to elbows
(I can’t quite touch my elbows)

50 Push press, 45 pounds
(I did 35)

50 Back extensions


50 Wall ball shots, 20 pound ball
(I did 8 pound ball to 9 feet)

50 Burpees


50 Double unders (I did singles)

Box Jump

Begin in a flat-footed standing position. Jump with legs together onto the top of a box (24" tall). Return to the starting position. This is one rep.

Jumping Pull-up

Begin with feet on the ground or other solid platform, with hands gripping a bar in pull-up position. Perform a pull-up, assisting with the legs in an initial jump to start the motion.

Kettlebell Swings

Begin by holding a kettlebell with both hands in a starting dead lift position. Thrust the kettlebell forward and upward starting by using the hips and then moving into using arms and shoulders.

Lunges - Dumbbell

Hold a dumbbell in each hand and pull your shoulders back. Lift your chest up and look straight ahead. Position your right leg forward in a long stride. Your right knee should kiss the floor. Left leg next.

Knees to Elbows

While hanging from a pull-up bar, bring your knees up to touch your elbows. Then, return to a dead hang position.

Push Press

Begin with a barbell in clean position (at neckline). Bend the knees slightly and explode upward to perform a shoulder press.

Back Extensions

Lie face down on a hyperextension bench, tucking your ankles securely under the footpads. Adjust the upper pad if possible so your upper thighs lie flat across the wide pad. Bend forward 90 degrees. Then return to starting position.

Wall Ball

Start in a squat position in close proximity to a wall and holding a medicine ball with both hands. Explode upward. At the top of the squat, throw the medicine ball upward, bouncing it off the wall. Catch the ball. Return to squat position.

Burpee

Start in a squat position with both hands on the ground in front of you. Keeping your hands on the ground, jump your feet backwards so your body is in a push-up position. Perform a push-up (or just collapse onto the ground!) pull your legs back into a squat position while still keeping your hands on the ground. Jump from the squatting position and clap your hands above your head. Return to the start position. This motion is one rep.

Double Unders

Jump rope. Pass the rope under your feet twice before touching the ground. If unable to do double unders, perform tuck jumps instead.

Fit for Skiing

Crossfit is keeping me fit for skiing too. Granted we were shredding the bunny slopes today, but holding that “pizza” wedge for an entire day is like doing a five-hour squat. As Ali said, “It gets your butt cheek tired.”

We all had a great day, even Sophie who loved the wind in her hair from her backpack perch. It was fun to be together, be outside, and be active. The only un-crossfit thing was the food at the lodge. Should have packed a lunch. 

Fit for Mountain Bike Racing

On Saturday I went in my first mountain bike race ever. I have been mountain biking since I was in high school, but I have never had the guts to enter a race. I think my sister’s going in the race with me gave me the extra push I needed to give it a try. Plus, we were in the women’s 35+ category, and I didn’t think the expectations were going to be too high for a bunch of old ladies. We went in the Cholla Challenge in Hurricane, southern Utah.

My sister is tough. She came in second. I came in seventh. Ten people in our category. I had a small wipe out. Someone stopped on a hill in front of me and I couldn’t get my feet out of my pedals fast enough and fell over. No big crash, but someone passed me, and it slowed me down a little. Also, I have had a cold all week, and my lungs were definitely not 100%. If not for that, I could have been in the women’s sport category…or not.

As far as Crossfit goes, it’s keeping me in pretty good shape, especially for anaerobic stuff like hammering up a hill. But I could tell that sport specific training would help me with my mountain biking. If I want to improve my riding, I’m going to have to figure out a way to fit some riding time in along with my four Crossfit workouts every week (and being a mom). I might have to get the bike trainer out and ride at night. That was working well when we could watch movies and spin downstairs but now the downstairs tv is broken. There’s always something.

In the food department, we tried the chicken soup, lime chili pork tenderloin, and the quiche from the dialed-in nutrition site and we liked them all.

What to Eat

I’ve been making recipes from a paleo blog called Dialed-In Nutrition at

http://www.marianutrition.blogspot.com/

Some of it has been really yummy and some of it has been okay. I was really excited to try the paleo ice cream from March 1, which the blogger said even her kids liked, but then it wasn’t too tasty. It used coconut milk, berries, banana, vanilla, and nuts. Here are two disclaimers though. 1) The quality of coconut milk could have made a difference. We used Sun Luck. 2) Doug made it while I was out and you just never know what could happen there. For instance, did the baby throw in some salt while he wasn’t looking? Did he use balsamic vinegar instead of vanilla? I’m sure he didn’t put nuts in because he’s not always a nut fan. Also, if you let it freeze the whole way it just becomes a big rock that you can’t eat unless you have a pick ax or let it melt for a while.

Doug liked the chili from February 18. I liked it but didn’t love it, too many sweet spices for me: cocoa, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon. Shepherd’s Pie from February 25 was good. I liked it, and Ali liked it. The boys didn’t like it a ton. Doug doesn’t like cauliflower, and it did have a bit of cauliflower taste. I think it might not be as strong a taste if you steam the cauliflower before baking the whole thing.

I am going to try the lime chili pork tenderloin from March 11, the chicken soup from March 7, and the quiche from January 29.

First Mountain Bike Ride of the Season

First mountain bike ride of the season on Saturday. We rode the Rockville Bench Trail and it was incredible—beautiful and fun. The trails down here are amazing and the scenery is world class. We rode the big loop, taking a couple of hours, but I felt pretty good overall (well except my bum). There are some pretty technical parts on the trail and even with my new lovely, lovely, fun, fun bike, I bumped my bum a bit.

I did feel like I have improved my leg strength. When I had to pound up something steep, I was surprised at what I could do. Just another plug for the high-intensity, strength workouts.

I’ve been trying some new recipes that are pretty good. I’ll put those up next.

Cake is good.

I went a little crazy with the treats this weekend. We had family in town celebrating birthdays, and I bought one of those huge, yummy Costco birthday cakes (I am keeping that place in business.). So I ate cake and ice cream, had some guacamole with chips, a few Cadbury chocolate eggs, and popcorn. But did I die? No. Did I ruin everything? No. Did I gain 10 pounds? No. But if I keep that up I will! So that was just my indulgence weekend, and I shall be a good girl for a while now. You can indulge every once in a while. It’s not going to undo all the good. But I am facing the truth of what Coach Robin says, “You can’t outtrain a bad diet.” That was how I approached life before. “It doesn’t matter if I eat this entire pizza and wash it down with a little Sprite followed by some ice cream and chocolate sauce. Tomorrow I’m going to run 10 miles.” The hard, cold truth is that I never got as strong doing that as I am already, after a couple of months of Crossfit and good eating.

Food in our society is really baffling. I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately. Even though most of us have seen or read things like, Fast Food Nation, Supersize Me, and The Omnivore’s Dilemma, our eating habits don’t drastically change. Our culture is set up to make terrible eating habits easier than good ones. Ninety percent of the food in a grocery store is junk. Half of the things that we think of as healthy are not really healthy at all. Bread, cheese, pasta, rice. It’s processed beyond recognition. And I don’t even know how to prepare the most nutrient dense foods like kale or swiss chard. I eat what is convenient or sweet rather than what is good for my body.

Apparently, most people’s diets consist of about 20 main foods. The funny thing is that those 20 main foods are usually not the 20 BEST foods. For me, I was definitely eating more cold cereal and bread than spinach and carrots. And I thought that was pretty good. At least it wasn’t French fries and Coke. But now changing my own diet for 24 days has really made the whole food awareness thing personal for me. I felt better, less bloated, and less stuffy in my sinuses. I had more energy, slept better, and got stronger. I’ve had a little food epiphany. Eat food that makes my body feel good! Make eating a response to physical stimuli rather than psychological stimuli. We are a culture of psychological eating. Does not compute.

With that said. I still admit that cake is good. I’m going to keep eating it. Maybe just once in a while instead of after every meal!