The End Of NaBloPoMo

It’s the last day of November, and that means it’s the last day of NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month). While I didn’t post every day, I definitely posted a lot more this month than any other month this year.   

With this post, I will have posted 24 times in November. I’d only posted 41 times from January to Octover combined, so 24 in one month is quite an improvement!  

I think one of the reasons I posted more often was that I started posting from my phone – my new iPhone 6s Plus. (I’m loving the phone, by the way!).  This meant I could post from anywhere (like now from the hockey rink as I wait for my son’s game to start) and for some reason I felt like I could write shorter posts. It just seems to make (almost) daily posting feel like less work. 

While NaBloPoMo month is over, I’m hoping I can keep up the regular posts…even if it is just cute pics of my cats. 😺. Here they are enjoying the box that my sweet new Roots boots came in.  They really seem to like it!

Now I’m going to hit publish and enjoy my son’s game.  

How often do you try to post?  

The Week Ahead

We are coming to the end of another weekend.  It was a good weekend, too!  Here are some of the highlights. 

Hubs and I went out for a great burger dinner Friday night. A new burger restaurant opened up a while ago, but this was our first time. It won’t be our last!  We both had their burger with smoked cheddar and jalapeños on a brioche bun. I had sweet potato fries as my side and hubs had a salad. The burger was amazing!  

 
Saturday morning I went to the gym for a killer WOD.

We had done it before back in April and I was quite happy to take almost 4 minutes off my time. Love it when that happens!  👍🏻

Saturday afternoon I went to my sister’s place for a 31 Gifts party.  I didn’t really know what that was but it’s a home party for bags, totes and organizer-type things. I got myself a gorgeous new bag for my work laptop. I can’t wait for it to arrive!  

  
This afternoon I menu planned and got groceries.  I’m trying two new recipes this week. Curry cauliflower quinoa stew and crock pot Thai chicken soup.  They sound really good. Hopefully they are!    

I also checked out the WODs for the week and scheduled my workouts. I’m going Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. I’m not really excited about Friday’s WOD and that thruster ladder, but I’m going anyway!  

Tomorrow I’ve got a massage after work. I can’t wait. The last few weeks at the gym have been tough and my body is feeling it.  Hopefully having two days rest in a row, plus the massage, will set me up for a good week of WODs. Fingers crossed!  
Here’s to a good week ahead!  

What’s on your plate for the week?

  

Black Friday In Pictures

I lost my mind and braved the mall this afternoon. It was worth it. 25% off these Roots boots I’ve had my eye on for a while (they finally had my size!).

The cat thinks the box is quite nice!

I did not do well with my macros today. But it was worth it!

  
It’s back on track with food, and back to the gym with a killer WOD tomorrow. 

  Last time we did it, it took me almost 43 minutes. I really hope it doesn’t take that long tomorrow!

Now I need to get to bed and rest up for that wicked WOD. 

Happy weekend!  

When I Grow Up…

When I grow up, I want to be just like this guy.

 Jacinto Bonilla, age 76

 http://www.prevention.com/fitness/jacinto-bonilla-crossfit-at-76
Absolutely amazing!  

Goal CRUSHED!

At the beginning of the year I set a goal to read 30 books in 2015. Well, late last night or very early this morning (depends how you define 1:30am!) I finished my 30th book of the year.  Wohoo!  

Here’s what I’ve read (so far 😀) this year and the date I finished each book:

1. Never Knowing, by Chevy Stevens (January 3)
2. Paper Towns, by John Green (January 7)
3. Landline, by Rainbow Rowell (January 9)
4. The Rosie Effect, by Graeme Simsion (January 16)
5. North of Normal, by Cea Sunrise Person (January 19)
6. Looking For Alaska, by John Green (January 23)
7. Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, by Cheryl Strayed (February 4)
8. The Little Old Lady Who Broke All The Rules, by Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg (February 10)
9. A Long Way Down, by Nick Hornby (February 15)
10. The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak (February 25)
11. The Big Miss: My Years Coaching Tiger Woods, by Hank Haney (March 6)
12. The Maze Runner, by James Dashner (March 15)
13. Funny Girl, by Nick Hornby (March 23)
14. Holy Cow, by David Duchovny (March 25)
15. The Girl On The Train, by Paula Hawkins (March 30)
16. The Scorch Trials, by James Dashner (May 23)
17. The Art of Racing in the Rain, by Garth Stein (July 16)
18. Brain On Fire, by Susannah Calahan (July 25)
19. Eat Move Sleep, by Tom Rath (August 24)
20. The Happiness Project, by Gretchen Rubin (August 30)
21. How To Be Good, by Nick Hornby (September 6)
22. Happier At Home, by Gretchen Rubin (September 11)
23. The Husband’s Secret, by Liane Moriarty (October 6)
24. Better Than Before, by Gretchen Rubin (October 10)
25. Big Little Lies, by Liane Moriarty (October 25)
26. This Is Happy, Camilla Gibb (October 26)
27. The Last Anniversary, by Liane Moriarty (November 5)
28. Carry On, by Rainbow Rowell (November 17)
29. Dear Life, You Suck, by Scott Blagden (November 19)
30. Leaving Time, by Jodi Picoult (November 24)

I enjoyed all of these books. Some more than others, for sure, but they were all pretty good.  That being said, a few of my favourites were The Book Thief, The Girl On The Train, Holy Cow, The Husband’s Secret, and Leaving Time. 

I started book 31 today – The Humans, by Matt Haig.  I either saw it on a “books to read list” or maybe on a bookstore’s “hot reads” display, and it looked interesting, so I borrowed it electronically from the library.  I’m only a few pages in, so don’t really have an opinion on it yet, but I’m looking forward to getting into the story. 

That being said, it’s time to head up to bed and read a few pages before I call it a night!

Have you read any of the books on my list?

Have any suggestions as to what book 32 should be? 

Too Busy Reading

I’m sorry I don’t have a real post today. I’m too busy reading!  

 
A little over 100 pages and I will be done.  This book is so good.  I should be going to bed, but instead I’m reading at least one more chapter!  

In going to be tired tomorrow! 😴

What are you reading these days?

What About Glenn?

So, I survived yesterday’s Thurster WOD at the gym. And I didn’t even cry!  As a reminder, here is the special hell that was Saturday’s WOD. 

 
I had decided before I got there, that my strategy was to pick a spot in the back corner and just cry my way through this WOD where no one would see me. That was my plan…but that’s not how it worked out. 

I picked my spot and did the strength part of the workout (5-5-3-3-2-2 thrusters) as planned. In the corner, not loving any of it, and trying to figure out what weights I would use for the WOD. I sort of had it all figured out and then Alli, one of the girls who is in class with me a couple of times a week, came over, told me I wasn’t staying here in the corner, picked up my bar and moved me over to the main area right beside her.  She knew I was dreading this workout and she said there was no way I was staying in the corner. 

I figured out the weights I was going to use for the 6 rounds:  60-55-50-45-35-25 and when it was 3-2-1…Go, I picked up the bar and just tried to keep moving. The first round was okay since it was only 5. The second wasn’t that fun but it wasn’t too bad.  The round of 15 at 50# was tough, but I broke it up into sets of 5. It felt good to take weight off each round and I think that’s the only reason I was able to get through it. Each time the number of thrusters went uo, the weight went down. Thank god!  

Throughout the WOD, every once in a while Alli would give me an encouraging word, telling me “you got this” or “keep moving”. It was just what I needed, and it worked. I wasn’t that fast and I hated every thruster, but I kept going. And every time I took weight off the bar my thrusters got better. It still sucked but once I got down to 45# I knew I could do it. 

As the WOD went on my bar ended up moving a bit when I dropped it and eventually I was facing away from Alli. So, for her last round she picked up her bar and brought it over in front of me so she could see me and I could see her. She finished ahead of me and sat there and counted me down for my last round of 30. 

I survived that hellish WOD and finished in 17:48 I think. Definitely not the fastest.  I may have actually been the last one in class to finish, but I don’t care!   I survived 105 thrusters!  

I thanked Alli for getting me through it, but I feel like I may owe her more than a thanks. She had more faith in me than I did. She is one of the best parts of CrossFit. The encouragement. The shared suffering. The community.  I only hope that one day I will get to repay her and be there when she needs a bit of encouragement in class. 

I’m feeling all those thrusters today, but I’m looking forward to getting back to it tomorrow.  There are some good WODs coming up. No thrusters and a few of them have double unders and I rock the double unders!  

Now I’m off to watch tonight’s Walking Dead on PVR.   I’m hoping we get to find out what happened to Glenn. Here’s hoping this pic I saw earlier on Instagram comes true. 

 

Fingers crossed!

Here’s to a good week ahead!  

Tomorrow Is Going To SUCK!

I hit the 4:30 CrossFit class today.  It was a good class. Power cleans for strength and then a nice MetCon of 12-9-7 Cals on the rower, power cleans (used 75#), and 24″ box jumps. Finished in 9:26.  Left the gym happy and feeling like I’d had a good workout. 

I’m back to the gym tomorrow morning for the 9:30 class and it is going to suck HUGE!  

  
SO MANY THRUSTERS!!!  I can’t even do a 110# thruster, let alone 5 of them, so this should be interesting. 

I spent a bit of time today trying to figure out how to scale this bitch of a WOD.  I need to pick a manageable starting weight and then work my way down to an empty bar of some sort. First I need to decide if I’m going 35# bar or the 15# training bar…I’m leaning towards the 15#. 

Thrusters have been know to make me cry in the past 😂, and I’ve also chipped a tooth twice doing this stupid movement, so I need to be realistic. My goal tomorrow is to finish in one piece, with all of my teeth still intact, and not break down weeping during the WOD. 

I am going to try to think positive thoughts between now and 9:30 tomorrow morning,  and then just hope for the best. 🙏🏻

  
Wish me luck!  

Happy weekend!!!

Too Tired

I’m too tired for a real post so this will be short and sweet.  Tonight’s WOD wore me out.

We went to the 7:30 class. The snatches were a good challenge and I rocked the double unders. I went unbroken in all but one round!  Double unders just might be my favourite CrossFit move!  Definitely way more fun than wall balls or thrusters!

After class I came home, showered up, and sat on the couch all night. I’m pooped!  Now I’m writing this quick post and then I’m off to bed. I had a good sleep last night and hoping to have another good one tonight. 😴

Sweet dreams!  

Reading Rainbow

At the beginning of the year I set a goal to read 30 books in 2015. Today I finished my 28th book – Carry On, by Rainbow Rowell.  

I have to say, I really enjoyed this book. I wasn’t sure I would when I first started reading it since it’s fantasy and deals with magic, but once I got into it, I loved it!  

The story deals with characters Rowell created in her fan fiction novel Fangirl.  I didn’t know that’s what she did and when I was reading the first chapter I felt like I recognized the characters – Simon and Baz.  I went back to Fangirl to see if that’s where they came from, and of course, they did. I thought that was brilliant!  

I’ve actually read all of Rainbow Rowell’s other books: 

• Attachments
• Eleanor & Park
• Fangirl
• Landline

I enjoyed them all.

If you’re looking for a fun, easy read, grab any one of them.  You won’t be disappointed. 

I’ve moved onto book #29 tonight – Dear Life, You Suck, by Scott Blagden. It got mixed reviews on Goodreads. I’m only 4 chapters in, but so far I’m liking it. It’s only 300 pages long on my iPad, so I don’t imagine it’s going to take me too long to read it. Then I will need to find something good for book 30. 

What are you reading these days?

Got any recommendations?