And It Has Begun.......

Today I started my 24 Day Challenge.  I have to admit, I have had no - yes- NO coffee today and I'm feeling pretty good.  Whew!

I did learn that when I take an Advocare Spark and add a Slam to it - holy shit do I get stuff done!  I was like Beavis as The Great Cornholio.  Pretty funny stuff!

Anyway- so far so good and we are on hour 10 of my day.  I honestly have been terrified about this whole no dairy thing as that took away my beloved coffee with heavy whipping cream, but I am pleasantly surprised!
I will post my before and after stats once the challenge is over. Possibly pictures.  That's a big maybe.

OK - our community pool opened over the Memorial day weekend so naturally the kids wanted to be there from open to close all three days.

Swim suits.  General public.  Oh My!

All I have to say is that CrossFit is great!  I am by no means perfect, but I do not get freaked out by summer and swim suits like I used to.  Bring on the beach!  But, then again I spent both of my pregnancies in a bikini by the pool!

What a cool thing for a woman!  I am proud of the muscles I work so very hard for.  I love being able to throw my kids around in the water.  Being strong is some pretty cool stuff!

Other news on being strong.  Costco!  Watching other people struggle to get things into their basket honestly makes me feel sad for them.  I know where they can go to find their strong-  CrossFit Champions of course!  Another cool thing - a guy asking me if I need help to get my stuff in my truck and being able to say "no- I got it, but thanks for the offer".  I do not like needing help.  Wanting help is a whole other story.  But I do not at all want to NEED help.

Friday I am going to take the kids to watch the shuttle replica be ferried across Clear Lake.  (I still really miss living there.  It is simply my home.)  How cool is it going to be to watch a life size shuttle cruise across the lake on a barge?  Pretty stankin' cool!  It is coming via the ICW from Florida.  This means it will have to cross the bay and go under the Kemah Bridge.  Captain James is going to use his connections to get us a pretty close idea of what time it will arrive.  I am excited about this - and I really don't give a flip about the whole space thing in spite of growing up with NASA in my backyard!

OK one more picture and then I am signing off for today!

Have a great week!

Structure!

Oh my, do I need structure in my life!  When left to my own devices I stay in jammies until I have to leave the house or until right before my husband comes home from work!  Today is one of those days.

Hubby is out of town and the kids and I were wiped out from a full day of fun at Greek Fest yesterday so we skipped Church.  So, staying in jammies I got to work on laundry, dishes, refereeing kids arguments, the typical make a house run kind of stuff.

Then I read the schedule/structure of the 24 Day Challenge I am about to embark upon along with my fellow athletes at CFC.  Hello, Structure!  Actually, this is a good thing.  There will be no questions as to what I need to do when.  It is all planned out. I can follow a plan!

Along the whole following a plan thing - I am taking the time today to plan our meals for the week, checking to see what I need to add to the grocery list, what meat I need to take out of the freezer.  Makes things so much easier when the dreaded "what am I making for dinner" question arises.  I already know!  Woo Hoo!

Another thing I am getting excited about - the shirts for my M/W/F CFC class will be in by Friday!  This group is called the Cereal Killers!  Very cool artwork was created for our team shirt.  I cannot wait to represent my athletes - they are all incredibly hard workers.  I do not take lightly the fact that they are trusting me to get them further down their path to health and fitness.  Together, we are an unstoppable force!

Now, for a little bacon!

One of those days......and if you read my post from yesterday this is not surprising.

Today at CFC our WOD was 5 rounds of 10 dead lifts, 20 ab mat sit ups and a 400m run.  I knew I was going to have a hard time on this one.  Well, the runs anyway as I love dead lifts and sit ups.

Before the WOD began I announced that I would cry.  Sure enough, I did.  When you have all these emotions hiding just under the surface, nothing makes them all come out like a tough WOD.   When you push yourself physically, there is no energy left to keep things in.  So, out they come.  Normal enough for me to cry at CFC.  Like I have said before, I don't get embarrassed or uptight about it.

I feel so much better after a good workout and a good cry.  Who doesn't??

Now - a picture!

Well, Mother's Day has come to a close.  I have a very difficult time truly enjoying this day.  I am so eternally grateful for my two happy healthy children, but I have a hole in my soul that cannot be filled.

Motherless Daughters.  This is a shitty club to be in.  After 18 years of Mother's Days without my mom, you would think I would get used to it. But, I don't.  In fact, it simply @!*%ing sucks.  There are years where it is less painful.  This was not one of them.

I tried very hard to put on a happy face for my sweet kids who made me such cute cards.  I think I fooled them.  They are still too young for me to try to explain why I have such a hard time with this day.  I'm sure there are friends who think that by now I should be over this part of grief.  But, how can you ever be ok with this?

My mom and I were becoming very good friends.  We were moving to a new stage in our relationship.  I was past the high school know it all teenager crap.  Then, boom.  No warning.  She's gone.

I know there are too many young people, small kids, infants who lose a parent.  I know I should be happy that I had her for 20 years.  These are hard things to convince myself of, though.  I wanted to have her there when I graduated from college.  Wanted her to meet the man I married.  Wanted her to meet my children.  I want all this for my brother, too.

I know I should be happy that I did not have to see her suffer, or be in pain, or fight some horrible disease.  But that does not/did not make it any better.  Just different.

That is how I describe it.  It never gets better - just different.  The pain is still there, the tears still flow, the questions are still there.  Most days, so are the happy memories, the funny stories, sometimes I run across something that has her handwriting on it, having a relative or old family friend tell me how much I remind them of her.  Those things bring smiles.

So, here's to hoping next year is a happier one with more true smiles from my heart.

Hey, Bacon Lovers!  The past few weeks have not been the best.  Kiddos have been dealing with allergies, I have been dealing with allergies.  This translates into me missing 2 of my 3 WOD's last week.  Not good!  So far, so good this week!  Woo Hoo!!

This morning I worked out 3.5 hours earlier than normal.  Wow, that's a change!  I'm used to being up at 5 but not working out at 5 - BIG DIFFERENCE!  Anyway, we did "Grace" today, I went too light on my weight.  I'll do better next time.

OK - on to what I actually wanted to post about.  Read several Coach Glassman quotes today and one really stuck out like it was written for CFC - "The magic is in the movement, the art is in the programming, the science is in the explanation, and the fun is in the community."

So much of what keeps me going back is the people I work with and train with.  I love seeing one of my athletes try a higher box for the first time and make the jump.  I love cheering my WOD partner on to a PR on her front squat.  I love when I am whining about not being stronger and somebody tells me to shut up.  :-)  Our community rocks!  This weekend we are hosting our free Saturday WOD followed by an open house/BBQ.  I can't wait to meet some new people who are interested in seeing what we do here.  Lives are changing - and it's cool to watch!  You can hear someone talk on and on and CrossFit but until you are part of an affiliate community, you will never get the full picture.

OK, gotta get started on dinner.  Oh yes, bacon will be involved!

So, we are in week 4 of our new closed class system at CrossFit Champions.  I am getting to know my athletes better and figuring out what each one needs from WOD to WOD.

This morning my 11 athlete class was discussing the big age range in our Monday, Wednesday Friday class- 17 up to 67 in one class. (can I type class one more time?)  Each one does their absolute best and should be very happy with their work.  As their coach, I am happy!

I think that although it is said all the time that CrossFit is for everyone, it does not always come across that way.  If people only check out the main page online, they may not see the 67 year olds, the pushing 40's, the hard working stay at home moms.  We are all there.  All trying to be better than we were yesterday.

CrossFit Champions is the only CF affiliate I have ever been to.  I know they are popping up all over the world, but I have no reason to venture out.  We have a family environment where it is OK to fall on your butt, get up and then try again.  Tears are part of CrossFit, well, for me they are!  When I have pushed myself to my breaking point, the tears flow.  Surprisingly, I am not embarrassed to cry at my gym.  I would have been mortified had this ever happened at my old globo gym.    But, at CFC I am in a comfortable environment where it is safe to get out of your comfort zone.  Does that make any sense to you?  It's a good place to do shit that scares you.  How's that?!?

I have completely forgotten my point of this post.  No big surprise.  I think what I am trying to say is that I love my job, I love my affiliate, I love the athletes we have.  Never in a million years did I ever think that I - the girl who sat out in P.E. as much as humanly possible- would find herself at CrossFit and then as a CF coach!  CrossFit changed me for the better.  There is an athlete inside all of us.  Find yours!

Just a little bacon for today (a little hard to read but certainly something to think about):

Hope everyone had a blessed Easter weekend!