The 2009 CrossFit Games kicked off with 2 of my weakest events. I did everything possible to train my weakness and pushed hard on every step of the 7.1k run from Hell, but the back injury I developed during Regional Qualifiers was my Achilles' heel after the dead lift WOD. The months of intense training, body break downs, hardcore paleo, and emotional build up to the Games was something only the strong could survive. Top that off with a long run and heavy deadlifts, hind sight would suggest that being cut after the first 2 WODs was inevitable. Scott guided me like an angel through the mass of spectators after learning that I wouldn't be advancing into WOD three. It felt like a walk of shame, but the bright orange wrist band and large black numbers across my body indicated that I was a warrior. I choked back tears as I fell to the blanket surrounded by my supporters, my friends.
Moments after the sting wore off I smiled and said, "We're going to make sure I'm pregnant by next summer just so I don't have to go to the Games again." At the time I was not kidding. Even Tonya Wagner, 2009's Fittest Woman on the Planet told CFJ followers in an interview that she didn't want to do it again, post Games. I'm willing to bet she is hitting it hard and ready to take the title again this summer!
It took a few months to rest, recover and heal from the months of intense training after the Games, but when it happened I was in full swing again doing some pretty amazing things. Scott and I started to revisit the idea of me competing again in 2010. Three days after making the decision to go forward with Games training we were thrilled to find out that we were pregnant! This was in no way, shape or form a mistake. No accidents here! We called it in July of 2009 and God let it play out exactly to His plan.
So while all the CrossFitters across the world are training for Sectionals, Regionals and the 2010 Games, our little family is gearing up for Traeger's arrival. Scott is about to experience how little boys turn on the water hose as soon as you take their diaper off, Logan is about to learning that the miracle of life starts tiny and cries a lot more than he expected, and Ms. Mekenzie will one day realize that having a cop daddy and 2 brothers makes her one tough girl to date, but fills her with an overwhelming sense of love and security. As for me, looking back at my 8 years with Logan, I can only imagine what all I will learn from Traeger. We can't wait to meet him!
When I think of myself in terms of Crossfit the words big and slow describe me best at this point. This week I've been doing a lot of thinking about how and when I'm going to be hard and fast again. This August I plan to start back where I left off last October. For some reason I keep running the same goals through my head...
How long will it take me to build up to a point that these goals are even in my playing field again? Will I literally be starting from scratch? I've done my best to keep the muscle memory on the more technical lifts, but my workouts at this point are just to keep Traeger and I healthy through pregnancy, labor and delivery.
Its been months since my last PR. In the spring of 2009 I hit a point in my training that PR's came daily, "another day, another PR." And they weren't just personal records, publicly the numbers spoke volumes of my improvement and helped rank me with many other Games Competitors. In September of 2009 I hit a 333 Fight Gone Bad score, In October/November I took a CFCP record in Fran, DT, and Filthy Fifty. And today, I move backwards...Over and over and over again.
I day dream of popping off the belly, saying, "Hey Scott, hold this for me," and sprinting my heart out, flinging myself on the pull up bars and chunking around some really heavy weights. After that, I put the belly back on and continue enjoying Traeger's sweet kicks.
My all time favorite CrossFitter has always been Jolie Gentry. Watch this bad ass up against the men. This was one of the first CrossFit videos I ever saw. I had no idea who she was, but I thought what she was doing seemed impossible and way beyond anything I could ever do. Through out my games training I would jokingly encourage myself by saying, "what would Jolie do?" I just found out she too is pregnant and won't be competing in the 2010 CrossFit Games.
My Wods
Monday - In my living room with Mekenzie and Logan running around like crazy nut cases!
Advanced
3 rounds
20 push press #65 (Sub #25 Dumbbells)
20 squats
20 knees to elbows (Sub push ups)
(This felt like a warm up, but I felt a lot of pressure on my lower back)
Tuesday
Advanced
5 rounds
500m Row
Rest 3 minutes between rounds - While crunching the monthly CFCP numbers and attendance
Wednesday
Rest
Thursday
Advanced
21-15-9
Box jumps or step ups (Step ups!! Pelvic bone hurt the first round, but good after that)
Kettlebell deadlifts #70-100 (Sub #95 Barbell Deadlifts)
Pull ups (Mostly butterfly. First round sucked. Second round was in sets of 3 with one chest to bar!)
I have made it through the first 20 weeks of this pregnancy. I'm officially halfway. Hah, its like saying you are halfway through "MURPH". There isn't a stench of motivation when you are fatigued beyond comparison with 10 rounds of "CINDY" and another mile run still breathing down your sweaty neck. But still, the show must go on.
I had a highly emotional day on tuesday. The slightest thought, comment, or even commercial will turn on the water works and send me into a blubbering mess. This is usually followed by a sloppy display of laughter at myself for becoming so soft. One discussion in particular really got my wheels turning, and the tears flowing (yes, I cried over CrossFit, huff.) Scott and I began to weigh the pros and cons of attending Hell's Half Acre, Southwest Regional CrossFit Games Qualifiers in May. Like I said in an earlier post, I have a free ticket to compete in this event because I was a 2009 competitor. Obviously I can't compete this year and have to kiss my free pass goodbye along with all my PR's (personal records). So I'm torn. I feel that even if I'm not competing I should be as much a part of this event as possible. But then again, is it worth the travel cost and physical draining on my pregnant body to watch athletes I've beat in the past break through the barriers? And that's where I sit...
Monday was exhaustingly awesome! I coached my 5:30am class, my bootcamp a few hours later and then Scott, Carson and I headed to Camp Mabry to drop in on a class run by Deric (the guy that knocked me out of #1 Fran and Fight Gone Bad). Its really cool to be able to experience CrossFit classes in other locations. Deric started us off with a 10 minute kettlebell warm up. Some might consider it a WOD. He led us through several of the better known KB tricks, swings, sumo deadlift high pull, and clean & press, but threw in a few new ones and some turkish get ups. I've only done turkish get ups a few times so I was skeptical to do this move while pregnant (starting position in laying on your back and it involves a lot of core strength.) My KB was only 12kg so I attempted a few with no issues. After warm up we started the WOD.
Having not done a strength WOD in a few months I wasn't sure where my 3 rep max would fall. I've lost a load of muscle. I started with what I knew, 95 lbs from the floor to over head, standard jerk, with no issues. Feeling good I added 20 lbs. Three reps at 115 lbs and I could feel it in my lungs and shoulders. I had to use the Split Jerk to secure the 3rd lift in my set. I stayed at 115 through my remaining 4 sets. I tend to get Braxton Hicks contractions more often when I flex my abs or use my core.
Once I finished I heard grunts from across the gym. I smiled and thought, "That's my baby daddy!" Two of a kind we were heaving around the weights. Traeger's chances of being a firebreather are highly likely.
With just enough time to grab half my lunch I headed for a meeting with Dave. We met at a local high school to put a few of their athletic teams through a wod. Flying by the seat of my pants and on a half full stomach I demoed squats, push ups and then kipping and butterfly pull ups. We kicked their butts in a warm up and handed it to them in a body weight Fight Gone Bad style wod. It was amazing to work with such athletes. What an honor. I hope to see some of the girls this summer in the GirlFit classes.
Dave and I debriefed with one of the coaches and headed back to CFCP. I stopped to pick up Logan and have a 10 minute rest break on my mom's couch. What a day, and its not over yet. One more class to coach. Oh, and then there is the nightly mommy duty...homework, dinner, showers, reading and of course cuddle time.
My day started at 5:00am and didn't finish until 8:45pm. I've felt sick all day today. I took the day off and fit in a little nap. My pelvic bone feels like its going to split in half and its snowing...in Texas. I'm so over winter.
I just googled, "olympic lifting, pregnant" and have come to terms with monday's wod being my last heavy lifting day. Five months along, its time to slow down.
Olympic weightlifter unexpectedly gives birth to boy in gym while lifting heavy barbells
"A 22-year-old Chilean female Olympic weightlifter, Elizabeth Poblete, who competed for Chile in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, was in a Sao Paulo, Brazil gym training for a competition by lifting heavy-weight barbells last week. On December 8th, as she picked up the heavy dumbbells, out popped out a bouncing baby boy, alive and thriving, even at 2.54 pounds in weight." Read the full article.
I also found this article interesting for another point of view, but I'm not taking any chances.
"While I was on the US Bobsled team, I was squatting 360 pounds into my fourth month. I was part of a study with the United States Olympic Committee and the International Olympic Committees because there was almost no research on this kind of training. For the elite athlete, the medical advice has always been, go with what feels good. For the weekend warrior, we need to be more cautious." Read the full article.
Logan let me sleep in until 9am on Sunday. What a blessing! After making him breakfast I rushed off to HEB to beat the crowd. On the way home I opened my sun roof and soaked in the morning sun thinking, "If Heaven were a temperature it would be 75 degrees." All I wanted to do was wake Scott up (who had worked until 3am the night before) and drag him to the back porch to share the beautiful day with each other. But, I wanted him to sleep more.
After unloading groceries I needed a break. I sat on the couch and in less than 5 minutes Mr. Traeger, aka Bumper, was awake and kicking. BIG KICKS! I put my hand on my belly and felt the kick!! I jumped up and started running to wake Scott, but he was getting up and met me at the door. I took him to the couch and put his hand on the spot. Kick, Kick! Scott's faced lit up and I started crying. I'm only 20 weeks, so early to be able to feel him, but even before we were married we would joke that we will bore the Superchild!
We decided to blow off house and yard work and go for a walk. Logan rode his bike and we followed behind on foot. The pace was pretty fast for a walk...at first. I was winded. It was a perfect sunny sunday wod. About 1 mile into it I felt my the round ligaments supporting my uterus pull. Ouch... Scott is planning a 10k fun run in the near future, and I was excited to walk the the first 5k with him. By the end of our walk I questioned my ability to complete a full 5k. I haven't been able to run in months due to ligament pain. I can snatch and clean & jerk 'til the cows come, but I can't freakin' run, What gives?! I seriously have dreams about running. I'm always pregnant in them and I make an attempt and it feels great, then I just take off with no pain. Running fantasies, how sexy!
After our walk we had time to tackle some tree pruning and brush clean up in the yard. There I was, waddling around the wheelbarrow with my garden gloves on, and loving every minute of it. Even the tight back and pulling ligaments. I thought of growing old with Scott and doing yard work together when we are old and grey. Its who we are, how we were meant to be, made for each other.
After racking, repotting a plant and sweeping the front porch I walked into my dirty house and cringed. Throw me a vacuum, let's do this! I did about half the house before I ran out of gas. The loss of energy seemed to drop me to my knees. The thought of preparing dinner sent me into an anxious panic. Somebody help! Just then, a call from my mother-in-law inviting Logan and I to dinner (Scott was working.) Thank you Jesus! We showered and took off for dinner with the family followed by lights out. I'm not sure I even remember laying my head down on my pillow.
Knowing I had followed a week off from workouts with only two WODs last week, I felt like I should do something on saturday. Hmmm, maybe those 150 kettle bell swings I'd been planning? It may seem like I'm highly motivated and feeling energized, but I assure you all I want to do with my day is lay on the couch and eat junk food. It takes all I have to muster up the energy to start a workout. 150 kettle bell swings just doesn't sound fun at any time.
CFCP hosted an olympic lifting seminar for our Saturday Masters Class. We brought in a know-it-all on oly lifts and he spent 3+ hours going over Snatch with our athletes. I watched for the most part, comparing his style to Mike Burgener's. Very similar, yet completely different. I jumped in on a few lifts and suggested the class do "Randy" as their WOD post seminar.
"Randy"
75 Snatch - Men's #75, Women's #55 (I used #45)
My time: 9:25
What I've noticed since I've started showing is that nobody critiques my form and nobody pushes me to keep going (they obviously don't want to rush me). I looked back at the pictures from the work we did on saturday and my form sucked. Hello! I still get by with a little help from my friends. Just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean I want to let my form go to shit! Help a girl out. Yes, the belly and the ligaments throw off my form in the bottom of the snatch, but someone could have told me I was pulling my head too far into the top.
I guess this took it out of me because I was asleep on the couch by 8:30pm. Logan woke me up at 9:30 to let me know he was ready for bed. Not really feeling too Supermom these days!
On friday morning I put on one of my "cute" crossfit t-shirts. I've always loved the tight fit of it and because its long it makes my new belly look cute too. Well to my surprise my cute, fit shoulders were gone! In their place was a pasty lump of skin. It was 5:20am, I threw a hoodie in it and walked out the door for my morning class. Its just part of this process.
Later that day, with my shoulders lacking, I felt the need to do do some work on them. My WOD, 150 KB swings for fun. I figured this would be good for my core as well. My warm-up started with a 500m row and some push ups. Two rounds in, a member of CFCP sat on the rower next to me to start the WOD I'd written on the board.
Running Phat Cindy
AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) in 20 minutes
400m Run (500m Row as sub)
5 Pull Ups
10 Push Ups
15 Back Squats - #45 for the ladies (This is what makes Cindy Phat)
I quickly cleared my rower clock and started the wod with her. My pull ups were butterflies, but 10 lbs extra to my body weight you could call them weighted pull ups. My push ups were belly to deck and my squats were flawless. Four rounds later the 20 minutes was up. I felt so good I did a fifth round for fun. Maybe I'll do the KB swings next week.
On a horrifying note, my first pregnancy caused a massive varicose vein to run from my inner knee down to my ankle. After giving birth the vein went down, but never completely went away. Can you imagine being 20 years old and having sexy grandma legs?! Its a cosmetic surgery and I never saw a need to take care of it. Here I am 7 years later, pregnant again with this gnarled, enlarged vein. My doctor suggested I buy the ultra, fire resistant, uber, super compression hose. Ha, ya right. I wear sweat pants every day and jeans are pushing the comfort level as it is. I'm not walking around in hose. Hope I don't regret that decision! This picture was taken on a good day.
This is the story of a CrossFit Games competitor and her training for the unknown and unknowable event in July. No, not the 2010 Games, but Labor and Delivery.
