We did it! GoRuck Light, completed!

I’ve written about the crazy event my Crossfit friends and I were doing, called the GoRuck Light. Here’s the story of how it turned out:

As I got out of bed the morning of the race, I thought Why am I doing this? I’m no stranger to marathons, triathlons, and obstacle races, so I figured this would be another one to add to the list. But, in the days leading up to the event, I was becoming increasingly skeptical that I’d enjoy it. I’d originally signed up because a bunch of my friends from my local Crossfit gym were taking it on and it sounded fun. The GoRuck Light is touted as a shorter, less intense version of the GoRuck Challenge, which is a simulation of the team-based training found in Special Operations. A cadre, an experienced member of Special Operations, leads thirty participants through a series of challenges to test strength, determination, and teamwork. Technically, this isn’t a race, but a team event. This is the beginning of a review I wrote for Travlete.com, so to continue reading, please click here.

Conquering the Crossfit Open

When I joined Crossfit just about a year ago, it was just a few weeks before the Crossfit Open. The Open is the first section of a three-part competition to find the fittest athlete on earth. The Open consists of five workouts, one per week that test different aspects of fitness, including heavy lifting, speed, agility, etc. Any person can sign up for the Open and can either take the workout at a Crossfit affiliate or take a video of themselves doing the workout and post it on the Crossfit website to be verified. It’s all very official. The top athletes from those five workouts, make it on to the next round, and then the top athletes from that round move on to the Reebok Crossfit Games, which consists of the 100 incredible athletes competing against each other for the title of the fittest on Earth.

This time last year, I had a twice per week membership to my box (the Crossfit slang for “gym”) and I’d always check the website where the workouts were posted before heading out the door and going. I liked some workouts better than others and if I noticed the WOD (workout of the day) was mostly heavy lifting, I’d usually opt to go for a run in my neighborhood instead.

One Friday morning, I went to the box for my morning WOD noticed that there was an extra buzz of excitement at the box that day. Everyone (and by “everyone,” I mean the four other people that came to the 6 am class that day and our coach, Mike) was talking about this thing called the Crossfit Open and about the first WOD of five that would take place over the next five weeks. Since I was still relatively new, Mike filled me in on what it was while helping to set up everyone else’s workout stations and making sure they complied with the standards of the Open. For me, he set up a modified station. I don’t remember what the workout was but I think it included toes to the bar, which I modified by just lifting my knees, while I hung on the pull-up bar. And it also included box jumps, so Mike set up a pile of mats and let me jump on those instead.

Since it was an Open WOD it had just a bit more intensity than usual and Mike encouraged us to really push ourselves. After that I went to the rest of the Open WODS each Friday because they were such a diverse group of good workouts. Some of the WODs required women to lift a weight that was completely ridiculous for me. Since I wasn’t in the Open, I modified the weight to something I could actually lift, but I decided that next year, I’d sign up for the Open, which meant that I’d have to lift the minimum amount of weight required. I knew there was no chance I’d get very far, but all I wanted was to be  be able to do the workouts legitimately without a modification, which is required for the Open.

Well, here we are a year later and two weeks into the 2013 Open. In my next posts, I’ll let you know how my first two Open WODs went!

 

Pull-Up Update

I only have two and a half weeks until Christmas so my goal of getting a pull-up is in the home stretch. I haven’t been able to do an unassisted pull-up just yet, but I have moved from a thicker green band to a slimmer blue band. Progress!

The band that I’m using now is the final band before I can get to a pull-up on my own. My coach, Andy, says that when I can do 5 with this blue band without taking a break, I should be ready to do a pull up on my own.

As of right now, I can do three or four before I need to take a break. I’m going to soldier on and focus in these final two weeks before Christmas. Here’s hoping I can make it!

Benefits of a Buddy

By reading this blog, you may think I’m really into Crossfit – you’re right! I’m still learning a lot but I try to go a minimum of four times per week and when I can’t make that minimum I get a bit grumpy. Just ask my husband. Earlier this month, my back was hurting and I was debating about whether or not I should get out of bed for my morning workout. RJ rolled over, looked at me and said, “Stay home today, because if you injure yourself, you’ll have to take multiple days off and then you’ll be really grumpy.” Point taken! I’m happier when I make it to Crossfit in the mornings and even happier when I come home with something exciting to report, like finally getting a box jump.

A few months ago, I wasn’t exactly bouncing out of bed to get to Crossfit though. When my alarm would go off at 5 am, I was hitting snooze enough times that I was often missing the class and then when I did finally emerge from under the covers, I felt guilty all day. Then the next morning, I’d repeat the cycle. At that time, I was lucky if I made it to the box once per week.

Then, I had an idea. One of the reasons I struggled to get out of bed was because I dreaded the fifteen-minute walk to the gym. I knew my friend, Dee, drove to the box each day so I asked her if she’d mind giving me a ride in the morning. It was instant accountability for both of us – I was counting on her for a ride so she had to go to the workouts she said she would and since she was going out of her way to get me, I knew I needed to get up and get ready. We’ve been going to Crossfit together for the last few months and we’ve both been more consistent and seen results because of it.

Dee grabbing a coffee after one of our morning WODs.

When I first began Crossfit, I was worried about always coming in last or not being able to do certain movements. When I went to my free trial session before joining, Dee was actually in the class. As she was adjusting the height of the weight lifting rack, her finger somehow got caught in it and she ripped off a chunk of skin and started bleeding. The coach assured me that blood isn’t usually shed during a WOD and encouraged me to not let that mishap effect my decision to join. That incident didn’t deter me though. I left that trial class thinking that what Dee did is something I’d totally do. I realized that maybe Crossfit gyms weren’t only made up of hardcore muscle men but included people like me (and Dee) who were just learning. A guess the moral of the story is that you never know when you can inspire someone – one person’s embarrassing moment just may be a shining light to someone else.

If it wasn’t for her, I might not have discovered (and stuck with something) that I’m really enjoying. Thank you, Dee!

Getting to a Box Jump, One Step at a Time

I don’t know why something as simple as a wooden box can scare me so much, but it has. You see, at Crossfit a frequent part of a workout is to perform box jumps. It’s as simple as it sounds – jump on top of the box and then back down. Because I’m overly cautious and have an active imagination, I started thinking of all the things that could go wrong. I could attempt to jump, not make it all the way up, and cut my shins. I could make it onto the box, lose my balance and fall over the other side. Since my wedding was coming up, I kept using the excuse that I couldn’t injure myself, lose a tooth, or break my nose before the big day, so I avoided them altogether. I stepped up and down on the box instead of jumping. I knew that I wasn’t getting the same cardio and strength benefits, but at least a step-up was something.

How could something so simple, be so scary?!

But once I was on the other side of wedding planning, I decided it was time to tackle box jumps. Believe me, I still didn’t want to fall off a wooden box and break my nose, but I wanted to get over my fear.

I started small, by placing mats on top of each other on the ground and placing them next to a box (as shown below). If I stepped onto the mats before jumping, I’d only have to jump 12 inches instead of the standard 20. Surprisingly, it wasn’t that bad.

This simple trick turned a 20″ jump into a 12″ one.

A few weeks later when it was time for box jumps again, I made the mats even higher and just jumped on those. I was actually getting it! Placing the mats against the wall made me feel more comfortable. Something about the wide surface area of the mats made it less scary and being able to put my hands out against the wall after the jump assured that I wouldn’t fall over the other side.

Then, our coach, Andy, came over to me and placed a wooden box next to the mats. Believe it or not, but the mats I was jumping on were a smidge higher than the box. I could jump that high, after all! I attempted a proper box jump on the wood and I did it! Instead of thinking about what to do during a box jump, I realized that it’s best not to think. Being able to jump high onto the box seemed like instinct. I was just mentally psyching myself out each time.

See, the mats I was jumping on and the box were the same height after all.

That day I did ten in a row and needed to stop because my legs were shaking. Just yesterday, a workout required 50 box jumps and I was able to complete all 50.

Here I am actually doing one (or two). Warning: This is not the most professional video, but you get the point. And, you don’t have to lift your hands into the air after a jump – that’s just me being victorious!

My next box-jump-related goals are to 1) move the box away from the wall(I use the wall as a crutch, so I need to start jumping without relying on the wall to fall back on) 2) to slowly start adding inches. The next box height is 24″ and then after that, people start adding plates on top to add in inches. See the photo below.

Wow!

For now though, each time I do a box jump, I walk out of the gym with my held held high and a huge smile on my face. Reaching this small goal gives me the confidence to take on others.

Back to Burpees—and Blogging!

I started this blog to share my fitness and health pursuits but I also had hopes that a blog would keep me on a regular writing schedule. Well, between work and wedding planning (I got married a month ago, on Sept. 30, 2012), I haven’t been able to post regularly, but I’m promising two posts per week for the next few months. With my fitness goals (like attending Crossfit clases) I know that it’s better to keep myself on a regular schedule instead of just exercising when the whim strikes, so I’ll try to do the same with blogging.

Today, New Yorkers are trying to get back to many things. The reason I have time to write a bit today is because RJ and I have no Internet here and my office is without power and closed due to Hurricane Sandy. We have absolutely nothing to complain about compared to the difficulties most people are experiencing now.

In order to get myself back on a schedule after my hurricane hibernation (which included wearing sweatpants for three days and and eating lots of comforting carb-rich foods), I went back to my 6 am class at Crossfit Queens today. It was an intense workout that was just the kicked I needed.

Here’s the WOD:
20 Thrusters

20 SDHP

20 Push Press

20 OHS

20 Front Squat

EMOM do 4 Burpees

To put this in layman’s terms, we had 25 minutes to complete each of those weight lifting movements. The recommended weight was 65 lbs for women, but I only lifted 35 lbs, which I was fine with. Weight lifting isn’t my forte so I don’t mind lifting lower weights as long as my form is improving. I know I’ll get to those heavier weights eventually.

In those 25 minutes I only made it through the first three exercises (the thrusters, the sumo deadlift high pull, and push press) because of this catch: the “EMOM” at the end of the WOD above stands for “every minute on the minute.” So, every sixty seconds, our coach, Andy, would shout “BURPEES!” and we’d drop the weights and do four burpees right there. Towards the end of the workout, I was so tired that it was taking me about 30 to 40 seconds to do those 4 burpees, leaving me with 20 seconds to get in a rep of two. By the end of the workout, which was 100 burpees later, I was ready to get back into Crossfit—and blogging about it!

Determination Trumps Talent

When I tell people that I’ve done an Ironman, they often assume that I’m a natural athlete, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. If someone throws a baseball towards me, my first instinct is still to cover my face instead of actually catching it. I was recently trying to think back to when I started to become a bit more athletic and realized it could be attributed to my college days.

I went to college in D.C., at the Catholic University of America. I’m originally from Queens, NY, so when I arrived at campus, 4 hours from NYC, I decided that my new home would be a fresh start. And it was. Over the course of the four years there, I pushed myself pretty far out of my comfort zone. I took an acting class (amazing considering I used to be quite shy), asked a guy out on a date once or twice, and even threw my name into the ring for Homecoming Queen (and actually won the crown!). But the most important change that I made (and one I think the rest of those other changes could be attributed to) was that I started exercising and even joined a team. Within the first few weeks of freshman year, I saw a flyer recruiting members for the college’s rowing (or crew) team.


According to the flyer, the crew team was a club sport so anyone could join, you just needed to know how to swim. I signed up and the next weekend all of the new team members convened at the Potomac River with the coach, named Joe, and boarded a barge. The barge was more stable than a regular crew boat so all of the newbies had a chance to learn to row before hopping onto the lightweight boats that and could tip over easily.

As was typical for me when it came to physical activity, I was horrible. I held the oar the wrong way, kept doing some weird shoulder shrug with each pull of the blade through the water when I was apparently supposed to be relaxed, and did a whole host of other things wrong. When the coach would shout out corrections, my name came up every other time. By the end of the session, my cheeks were beet red – not because the workout was so intense, but because I was so embarrassed.

Me and Joe, freshman year.

After exiting the boat, Joe walked up to me. I assumed that he was going to tell me that I shouldn’t come back and I could feel the tears forming in my eyes already. He put his arm around my shoulder and told me that I should keep coming back. Joe said that it didn’t matter whether or not I was a natural athlete, but that I stuck with it and showed up every day to try again anyway. That became my new mantra – that’s it’s better to be determined than naturally talented – and I diligently showed up to all of the 5:30 am practices.


I never became a rowing superstar, but I improved enough to be confident and comfortable and I even got to be the “stroke” (that’s the first seat in the boat and the most prestigious position) for a few races. More importantly, I’ve used the lesson that Joe taught me in numerous areas of my life. Whether it’s trying a new sport, like Crossfit, applying for a job I don’t feel quite qualified for, or anytime I’m about to step out of my comfort zone.

What words of wisdom do you use as your mantra when you’re about to face a challenge?

Crazy for Crossfit

These days I’m a girly girl with callouses on my hands. I’ve gotten those rough bad boys from gripping the pull-up bar, weights, and kettlebells at my local Crossfit gym. It’s a strength and conditioning program used by police academies and military special operations units. I know— when I heard that description I was terrified, but I’ve heard so many good things about it that I just had to give it a try. I went to a free trial class in my neighborhood a few months ago and I’ve been hooked ever since!

Instead of the rows of treadmills and weight machines that you’d see at a typical gym, this workout takes place is a large garage (that Crossfit folks refer to as a “box”) and surprisingly uses minimal equipment. There are pull-up bars, gymnastic rings, ropes to climb, wooden boxes to jump over, kettle bells, a stack of weights and a few rowing machines.

Every morning, there’s a new Workout of the Day (also known as a WOD). Sometimes a WOD just includes lifting weights for a certain amount of sets, in which you try to increase the amount of weight you lift each time. In other instances it can involve doing moves that use your own body weight (like sit ups). Some WODs include cardio elements (like running around the block or using the rowing machine) and often, a WOD, will include all of these elements at once. The WODs are repeated every so often and your goal is to improve the amount of weight you lifted, number of reps you completed, or how quickly you finished the workout.

This is where I am at 6 a.m.!

Even though I have no upper body strength and admit that I don’t really enjoy lifting weights (I’m a cardio girl!), I’ve been getting out of bed a few mornings a week to head to Crossfit. There are a few reasons why I find this so fun:

The WODs are surprisingly short. In my experience, they have lasted anywhere from 5 minutes to 25 minutes. I keep telling myself that I can do anything for that short amount of time and I haven’t had to cut a WOD short yet. The rest of the hour-long class is spent on warming up, stretching, and learning skills that we may need for future WODs.

The moves can be modified for any skill level. There are just some moves that I can’t do yet, so the coaches help me modify them so that I can slowly improve. For example, I can’t do a pull-up on my own, so I use a huge rubber band to assist me. Like this:http://bit.ly/QqpBw

There’s variety. When I show up each morning there’s a new WOD. It’s good for my body because I’m always working different muscles and it’s good for my mind because I don’t have a chance to get bored.

I’m only competing against myself. That’s the same thing I love about training for marathons and triathlons. I avoided team sports for years because I’m not a natural athlete and was always afraid of letting my teammates down. At Crossfit, I keep a notebook where I list past workouts and how I preformed so I can use that to base future workouts off of. I recently moved from doing those pull-ups with a thick green band to a smaller blue band, which means I’m getting a bit stronger, and I had an extra boost of confidence for days after that little victory.

There’s still a “team” vibe. There are a few times when I’ve been the last person to finish the WOD and the rest of the athletes there have cheered for me and stayed until I finished. When I advanced from lifting the 15-lb bar to the 33-lb one, I got a bunch of high-fives that day.

I still don’t have rippling muscles and I struggle with some moves that seem easy (I’m looking at you, overhead squat!), but I can tell I’m improving. Coaches have commented that my form is getting better, I feel stronger, and I’ve caught glimpses of little muscles I never knew I had before. I still have a long way to go, but I’m looking forward to it.

Have you tried any workouts that used to intimidate you?

From Girly Girl to Ironman

Hi Readers!  I’m Jessica and this blog is about being a girly girl who likes to take on some seemingly crazy sports. Last year I did my first Ironman, which consists of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike, and 26.2-mile run. I started the race at 7 am and crossed the finish in the dark at 10:30 that night. During the ten months I trained for that event I worried about many things – I prayed every time I rode my bike through Manhattan streets, I hoped that my goggles wouldn’t get knocked off of my head during the swim, and I wondered if I could keep myself in good spirits throughout the long race day. But I also tried to find the best sunscreen to protect my skin during training rides (I found one with a hint of shimmer), I added pink accessories to my workout gear, and I decided that if I did finish the Ironman, I vowed to look damn good in that finishing photo.

In this blog, I plan to give my best tips for looking and feeling your best no matter what form of crazy exercise you do. I also plan to give a “real girl” perspective on training for intense sports. Last year I had a supportive network of teammates to help me navigate my way, but when I looked for other resources to help a “normal” person take on the Ironman I found that most books and blogs where about how to get faster, whereas I just wanted to survive.

I’m the Social Media Editor at Weight Watchers, but what I share here is my own. I’ve written about fitness, fashion, and beauty for Weight Watchers Magazine and I’m a WW Lifetime member, having maintained a 35-lb weight loss for the past 7 years. Some of my past jobs included copyediting at In Touch Weekly (someone had to make sure “canoodling” was spelled right), interviewing celebrities about their eating habits and conducting taste tastes for Every Day with Rachael Ray, and I was in the Page Program at The Late Show with David Letterman.

My newest sport-love is Crossfit, a strength and conditioning program used by police academies and military special operations units. I have a long way to improve (I can’t even do a pull-up on my own yet) but I love it. I’m getting married this fall and I met my fiancée when we were both training for a triathlon. I look forward to sharing my journey with you!