Reflection

I'm experiencing (what I believe) is probably the equivalent of post-pardom depression.

The past few months my thoughts were consumed by The Open and then Regionals and all that came with competition training. I anticipated/dreamed about/prayed for specific WOD's. Then did the same stressful workout twice a week for 5 weeks during the open. Then after qualifying, busted my booty 4x a week for 4 weeks with my team...PR'ing almost every time I lifted, doing things I thought I'd never do, and learning the importance of "active rest" days. For 10 days prior to leaving for West Palm Beach I replayed the WOD's I was participating in over and over and over again in my head. I stressed about what food went into my body - making sure I was fueling myself properly...being a Nazi about avoiding anything that was processed, dairy, sugar, etc. and had the eating pattern of a new born - eating every 2 hours.

1000m row, 25 pistols, 15 hang cleans at 135#, 130 pullups, 35 back squats at 95#, 35 front squats at 65#, 35 overhead squats at 45#, 35 shoulder to over head at 95/65/45#, and two failed attempts at 105# snatch - my work completed that weekend. Regionals came and went in a blur.

One of my biggest take away's from the weekend - I'm a LOT smaller than most elite athletes. I mean, literally, I could fit inside some of these beastly women. They were scary and intense.

Now I'm back home and trying to decide my next step.

Is my next step to continue to attend normal classes? Is my next step to do Outlaw (or something of it's kind) programing like all those "elite" games athletes? Is my next step to come up with a hybrid of the two? Or is my next step to be happy with how far I've come thus far in my crossfit career and if I ever make it to "elite" status then I'll tackle that training issue? I dunno? I feel kinda lost.

I started this blog the week I got back from Regionals...it's taken me a few weeks to write this entry. One because there hasn't been a ton of free-time due to all my weekend travels. Two because I didnt want to admit that I have no idea right now what my crossfit goals really are. And three, I have too many emotions to process. I teach athletes around me on a daily basis to strive for the "best versions of themselves"...and often times I feel like I've reached the pinnacle, then I surprise myself and do something new. So I'm not really sure how to tackle my training and goal setting at the present moment.

So...for now I've been listening to my body. If I'm sore, I rest. If I'm not, I attend normal class. I haven't done any additional strength training. I haven't been working to the extreme level we were before Regionals...and I definitely have not hit any significant PR's or accomplished any amazing feats. I think I'll come out of this funk soon. Until then...I guess I'll just sit back and enjoy the ride.

Prayers for guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Master Eaters!!

I preach Paleo eating to everyone I come in contact with. My family, my clients, my friends, random people I don't know. I think about healthy food and what I'm going to be consuming FAR too often. Ask Chaz - it's quite the topic of conversation when we are together. I'm constantly trying to find new recipes - check out paleomg.com. My new favorite blog - thanks Paige! I have a rule that EVERY meal has to have something green in it and you'd think I had children the way that I have random healthy snacks packed in my purse and car. I even requested a paleo birthday cake. Well, the past 6 weeks (since finding out about qualifying for Regionals), I've been even more of a Nazi about what I was eating. Sorry if I was annoying to anyone I came in contact with - I'm a black and white kind of person...I was ALL IN on the healthy eating until we got back from West Palm beach.

Last night the paleo walls came crumbling down. I've been talking and talking and talking about wanting to eat pizza. It finally happened last night. Chaz and I decided to go to Mellow Mushroom for my first official "eat like a fat kid" meal. We ordered the Mega-Veggie (minus a few things I hate...in particular, olives). ALL of this was on the pizza - mozzarella, sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, green peppers, mushrooms, onions, roma tomatoes, broccoli, feta, banana peppers, and artichoke hearts. THEN we added pepperoni AND sausage. When our waitress delivered our pizza she said she was jealous of our pizza concoction. We told her we planned to eat the whole thing and she laughed - could she not hear the inner fat woman screaming excitement within me??

We finished the ENTIRE pizza together. When the waitress brought us the check she laughed and said all the cooks in the back were calling us the "master eaters" because they couldn't believe those two small people just destroyed a pizza like that! IT WAS EPIC...and my stomach is STILL full 12 hours later.

Please notice - I even have on an ITF shirt...hahahahha. I promise I'm back on the paleo train today.