{A little rough patch}

As I said in my post yesterday, I've been going through a bit of a rough patch recently. Between the less than stellar weather and dealing with a few minor healing issues associated with my surgery, my motivation has been lacking. Yes, I have been exercising and being careful about what I eat - but, I haven't really been feeling it. 

Over the weekend, I realized just how much I have missed running with my girlfriends. Since my surgery, I have tried to get out and run with them a few times, but the weather hasn't been helping. The (relatively) intense cold early in the morning "hurts" my incisions and waiting to run until mid-afternoon on the weekend just wasn't an option. I updated my half marathon plan and will be running the Midtown Race Series Half Marathon on June 1. I have exactly 8 weeks to get my sh*t in gear to do this race and I am gonna do it. Now, to convince my girlfriends to run with me....

Anyway...today ended up being just what I needed...  I got lots of motivation from different sources and that seems to be just the ticket to helping my mojo come back.

See what I mean?

1. A municipal official that I haven't seen since October came to the office today. When I went to the waiting area to get him, he didn't recognize me! Then he whispered in my ear how nice and happy I was looking.
2. I walked into CrossFit at lunch and a fellow athlete asked how much weight I had lost and said I was looking great. As always, I said "...Not really...I've actually gained weight..." Another athlete piped in and reminded me that I'm developing stronger muscles and "... (I) sure as hell look skinner!..."
3. We were working on our 3 RM on the back squat at Raleigh CrossFit today. I think Coach Bobby sensed my frustration with the weight on my bar. He asked my 1RM and and quickly discussed the current weight, etc. After our quick exchange, I was able to do a 110# 3RM. When I told him he said that I needed to remember the leaps and bounds I had come since starting in July and starting back after surgery.

Then, I got this from my friend, Mary:

Top 5 Ways to a Better Life according to Dave Grohl (An interpretation of his Keynote speech at SXSW in Austin,TX)

1. No one is you and that is your biggest power. “It’s YOUR VOICE. Cherish it. Respect it. Nurture it. Challenge it. Stretch it and scream until it’s f**king gone because everyone is blessed with at least that, and who knows how long it will last . . .”  

“Who’s to say what’s a good voice, and what’s not a good voice? The Voice? Imagine Bob Dylan sitting there singing ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’ in front of Christina Aguilera.”

2. Don’t be afraid of not fitting in. “I can truly say out loud that ‘Gangnam Style’ is one of my favorite f**king songs of the past decade. Is it any better or worse than the latest Atoms for Peace album? Hmmm… paging Pitchfork! Come in, come in, Pitchfork! We need you to help us determine the value of a song! Who f**king cares.” Don't be someone who designs their lives to impress others.

3. Give a damn about yourself.  It’s about taking care of yourself so you can be a better human being. A 2.0 version of you is way more equipped to help others in need. Take up yoga if you’re stressed. Ask for a big raise. Walk away from a relationship that is abusive or draining. Or just take a nap, for Christ’s sake.

4. Be humble.  No one wants to go to lunch with a supermodel who says things like, “My cheekbones, if you’ve noticed, have a similar incline to an escalator.” One thing I’ve noticed is that if you are good at something, people will acknowledge it. Appreciate the hell out of those people. Should you be blessed enough to have the fortitude to work so hard at something that people celebrate you, your first reaction should be gratitude. And know that there’s a ton of people out there from all races and socioeconomic backgrounds who can still teach you something. I don’t care if you’re Bill Clinton or Jay-Z – always be learning; always be improving.

5. Spark a revolution.  

Always have the highest bar for yourself. Wake up everyday and no matter how crappy you feel, want to change something for the better. Do something that makes someone happy. Create something that inspires someone. Be someone’s light when they are hopeless.

 

{Friend Makin' Monday - Ten Questions}

I've been remiss in posting. Not sure why, other than just not being in the mood. I enjoy maintaining my blog and sharing my thoughts/experiences with others so hopefully I'll be back on the blog-train soon!

If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Add your links there too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

 Ten Questions

1. Describe the kind of home you would live in if money were no object. I don't think I would change the fact that we live in a condo. I think I would change the size and configuration of our home and update our kitchen. That's about it. I love our condo!
2. Are you more conservative in your actions or more rebellious? I am definitely a rule-follower and more on the conservative side.
3. Would you go to Mars even if it meant you could never return to Earth?  While I think it would be interesting, no. I would miss my family and friends too much!
4. Name one song that makes you want to dance every time you hear it. No clue - not much of a dancer here 
5. Share one thing that you wish you could go back and do differently in your life.  I have a few people that I would apologize to... There have been times in my past that I have been very mean to people and/or said some very unkind things because of issues involving others. That wasn't fair or appropriate.
6. Share at least one accomplishment that people wouldn’t expect you to be proud of.  Does being able to put contacts in on the first try count? I am abnormally afraid of things being in/near my eyes.  I talked to my eye doctor because I wanted to try contacts again, after having not used them for 5+ years, last week. She gave me several sample sets. I was freaked out the first time I tried to put them in, but they went right in! YAY!
7. Describe one delicious thing that you’ve eaten lately.  Might seem a little silly, but a See's milk chocolate bar...  I only get them at Christmas and I try to savor them. I had a milk chocolate bar for dessert last night and it was so good!
8. If you had a theme song that would play every time you entered a room, which song would you choose?  The music questions are so hard for me! I can hear a song and know that I like it, but if you ask me the name of the song or the artist, I'm clueless - Hence, not being able to name songs :-)
9. Has technology enhanced your life, or has it over complicated your life?  I think that technology has enhanced my live in a kinda over-complicating way. What I mean is this - it's made it easier to have resources, contact with others, etc., but it has also made things that much more difficult. We can't go to a restaurant for a nice meal with family/friends without checking FourSquare/Twitter/Yelp/Facebook; we don't visit people in person the same way we used to, etc. Technology has it's plusses but we have to know where to draw the line.
10. If you could get paid to do any job, which job would you choose?  It might sound a little silly, but I would be a professional meal planner, organizer, etc. There's something about getting organized (and helping others do the same) that feels awesome.

{Friend Makin' Monday - Pondering Personal Thoughts}

If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Add your links there too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

 Pondering Personal Thoughts

1. How old would you feel if you didn’t know how old you are? I'd say late 20s. I don't feel like I am over thirty, but at the same time I am not quite as spunky as what I believe college kids may be.
2. Are you the kind of friend you’d want to have as a friend?  I'd like to think that I am. As an example - With my friends, I try to be understanding yet try to provide some kind of guidance in tough situations and that's what I'd like from them.
3. Look back at the last year.  When did you feel most excited about something in your life?  I was most excited about my surgery. I talked about it constantly from the time I made the decision (April) until the day of surgery, and still talk about its impact on my life a fair amount now.
4. Have you ever been with someone and not spoken a word, only to walk away thinking that was the best conversation ever?  Yep, awesome isn't it.
5. If you won 100 million dollars Monday, would you continue doing whatever you usually do on Tuesdays?  I would. I love what I do 95% of the time, even though I complain sometimes about the petty BS. I have to say that I would request some changes in the amount of time I work, but I would still work.
6. What would you do differently if you knew no one would judge you? That's a hard one... I don't know that there's anything I would do differently.
7. Share something you do differently than most people. I am a notorious counter and scenario-maker. When waiting for something, even something as simple as a response to a question I count how long it takes the other person. I also over analyze everything by creating possible scenarios/outcomes.
8. What’s one thing that you really want to do that you’ve never done? I'd love to parasail. I'd a big baby and probably never will, but I really want to!
9. If you had to move out of state right now, where would you move? I'd move to Florida - it would make the hubs extremely happy and my best friend lives there to boot!
10. What is the one thing that you’d like to change most about the world?  I would remove mean. I wish that everyone could just try to be nice to everyone else. Being mean does no good and ends up hurting more people than it is worth.

{CrossFit Open 13.1}

If you've ever been around someone that CrossFits, surely you have heard about the Games and/or the Open. Well, the Open is upon us. 

The 5 Open WODs determine if someone is able to go to Regionals, then on to the Games. Some people at my box are strong enough, mentally and physically, to get to the Regionals. I didn't sign up to participate in the Open, but I decided early on that I was going to do every WOD that I could.

Last Wednesday, 13.1 was announced. One of the athletes at Raleigh CrossFit commented on another's Facebook that the WOD seemed right up their alley. My comment wasn't nearly as encouraging - "Holy mother. Now I see why they make people sign up/pay before announcing..." So what did it look like?

Oh lookee there - snatches and burpees - lovely! Have you ever heard someone say they love burpees? If you answered yes, then that person was on drugs ;-)  

Just because I wasn't going to be submitting scores didn't mean I didn't want to do my best. I thought through my strategy for the WOD - quick on the burpees and do the best I could on the snatch. Thankfully, there was scaling on the snatches for those of us not going the open - 35#/45#/75#. 

As Chennelle reviewed the performance standards and gave us some encouragement, I got a terrible case of butterflies. Not sure where they came from but I knew I was gonna kick the WOD before it had an opportunity to knock me down.

I got through the first set part of burpees/snatches/burpees. Then I started on the set of 45# snatches, and I couldn't get the bar above my shoulders, no matter how much I propelled through my hips. I was on the verge of tears and quitting... I finally called out to Chennelle and said "I need help...I wanna do this, but I can't get the bar up..." She told me to just drop the weight and kick the WOD in high gear. So that's what I did. I finished the WOD with 165 reps.

I feel pretty dang proud of myself. I could have easily given in to my physical and mental limitations, but I didn't. I did the best I could do for this WOD and that's all that matters.

Bring on 13.2!

{Friend Makin' Monday - Food Questions}

If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Add your links there too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

Food Questions

1. What did you eat for dinner last night? Grilled chicken breast from the inside of a fast food sandwich 
2. If you could make one food calorie-free for the next year, What would you choose? My Granny's chocolate cake.
3. How often do you go to the grocery store? I do our "big" shop once a week. I will go 1-2 more times during the week if we need fruit/veggies or if something wasn't available when we did the weekly shopping
4. Do you make a list before buying groceries? Yes. I am one of those crazy planners. I am the type that if it's not on the list, it doesn't go in the cart.
5. List three things that can always be found in your kitchen. Apples, sweet potatoes, crushed red pepper flakes
6. How often do you clean out your fridge? When you say clean out, do you mean scrub or clean out old food? The food is checked constantly. The fridge is scrubbed once a month.
7. Do you ever use a slow cooker? If so, will you share a recipe? I love using the slow cooker. I still remember getting the one I have now and how excited I was that it went to "warm" when the time was up! Share a recipe? Hmmm... How about Filipino Pulled Pork. It's my friend Mary's recipe, but she recently shared it with Meghan and me.
8. How often do you try new recipes? We try to have at least one new recipe a week. It isn't always a main dish, but most of the time the newbie is.
9. What is the most delicious meal(s) you make? Without a doubt, I think that the Aimee's Quick Chicken from AllRecipes will always be at the top of my list. It's got a good combination of flavors and it brings back great memories because it was the first meal I cooked Jason when we were dating.
10. Share at least one thing that is currently in your kitchen even though you don’t like it.  Hmm...I can't think of anything. Maybe the RedBulls in the fridge that belong to the hubs?

{Friend Makin' Monday - Almost Spring}

If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your blog then add your link in the comments section at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Add your links there too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

 Almost Spring

1. What do you love most about Spring? The lovely weather - not to hot and not too cold.
2. If you’re lucky enough to have a Spring Break, what will you do to enjoy it?  We don't have Spring Break, but we are taking a vacation at the end of March. It'll be a nice "spring break" trip. We're going to Tampa/St. Petersburg, Florida to see the Tampa Bay Rays play one spring training game and 2 regular season games.
3. What is your favorite flower?  Gerber daisies! They are just happy flowers.
4. Do you have a garden?  If so, what do you grow? No, unfortunately. We live in a condo and it just isn't the best environment for gardening ;-)
5. Share one thing that you hope to accomplish during Spring.  I'd like to get back into running (for real) and improve my time. The spring weather is the perfect time.
6. Do you do Spring cleaning?  The hubs and I are generally pretty neat/clean people so a ton of spring cleaning isn't needed. I usually do take the time to declutter closets where stuff has been shoved in a hurry and been forgotten.
7. What is your weather *really* like right now? {Just b/c it’s almost Spring, doesn’t mean that it feels like it for some of you.}  It is cold today. I thought it was supposed to be nice this week and I was greeted with 32 degrees during my morning commute.
8. Share one photo that you’ve taken during the month of March.  Sadly, not a single picture yet!
9. What’s your favorite thing to do on a sunny afternoon?  I like to go sit outside at a bar/restaurant and relax with a nice beverage.
10. If you could spend the day doing anything in your city, what would you do?  I'd like to go have a nice picnic at the Art Museum and maybe see a special exhibit.