Tag: badass

dare to be different, fitness and nutrition

Competition

2chicksandapen

As of yesterday I was anti-competition as in I didn’t want to sign up for anything competitive in 2020 because so much disappointment had been in my rear view this year.

No 10k in November (postponed from July). No mud run in October. No Triathlon in July. No Wonder Woman run in May, had to do virtual instead. Just a bunch of blah in 2020 and I didn’t want to waste money on events that were not going to happen and and and.

The above picture was supposed to have a Nashville backdrop and a fun girls trip but instead we went virtual. We were distanced. No crowds cheering. No hydration stations. Just overall boring.

That’s why I was stomping my feet and pouting. I had told myself it just wasn’t worth it and I could revisit in 2021 my competition goals. Tick tock the clock won’t stop. It’s September and a comp is being hosted at a local CrossFit box. Still not doing it. I don’t like one of the movements so it’s easy to say nope not doing it.

It’s the Monday of the event. My body feels good. My mind feels good. What the heck let me find a partner. I can still make the end of the year one to remember. Let’s do this. Good thing I have crazy friends who won’t turn down a bad idea on short notice! 

Here we are cramming for the event Saturday. It’s all for fun but we are also competitive in nature, well that is for our age. We should be Masters but this comp doesn’t have a Masters division so we battle for reps with the kiddos. From teens to twenties to thirties and then there is us. The oldies but goodies. The Masters. The 45 years and beyond. The achy body group. The full time workers. How will we do? Only time will tell. Until Saturday, we will be grinding it out waiting for our chance to hit the podium or die trying!

Once an athlete always an athlete. Wish us luck!

dare to be different

If I Was a Shoe

2chicksandapen

I just bought the best pair of shoes. They are a hodge-podge mix-match-type shoe which is just perfect for me.

If I were a shoe, I wouldn’t be one dimensional. I would have personality and flair. These shoes sport a little camo for my country girl vibe. A blank canvas to show my creative side. A little cheetah print because it’s badass. Then top it off with some snakeskin for overall style points.

They are definitely functional. They blend with many outfits. They slip on which makes them quick and easy for a busy morning. The Blowfish brand got this design right in my mind. Of course my validation is in my description above, but they are a very comfy shoe as well. The picture below shows them paired with some basic pants for a casual day out. Just slip on and go.

If I were giving rating stars it would be 5 stars for appearance. 5 more for comfort. 3 for price. 5 for versatility. For clarity, I’m referring to a 1-5 scale with 5 being the highest. I don’t get paid to endorse this shoe or brand. I am just a fan of them overall and have been for years. In the past I stuck with the no-lace tennis shoe slip-ons but ventured into some zippered camo high tops when those came out. All good shoes in my mind and why I decide dto write about them.

Take a peek at their new fall line. I saw some cute mashups that even included buffalo plaids. Hope you get a pair to check them out. I’ll be hopping around in mine all fall.

https://blowfishshoes.com/styles/?style=sneakers

After writing this I had a conversation with a friend and she said of course this is a brilliant metaphor. Of course the fastest girl in town needs versatile shoes since she’s always on the move. I laughed at this commentary. Of course there’s no time for blisters with all the pivoting and shifting her life demands so don’t bother rubbing her the wrong way. Again I’m inserting a chuckle because this was a live interaction. And of course they’re eye catching and everyone will be talking about them just like her. Big sigh here. I guess this ties into the eyes on you post.

How my shoes became a conversation starter today. Again it’s all about the shoe. My shoe says flair. Let me tell you about my shoe. If I was a shoe, I’d be a damn good story. If I was just a shoe.

After I wrote this post I sort of ordered a new pair of CrossFit shoes. A flashy pair to add to my collection. See below to see if you can spot the new pair? I may have left a clue or two for you.

perspective

The Corona Coulda Shoulda Wouldas

2chicksandapen

So Corona has been here for a while now.  It has shaped our lives and routines.  I wonder, were you ready?

Ready?  What does that even mean?  Burning question: How do we prepare for the unforeseeable?  For something we have never experienced before?  A lot of people are playing the “coulda, woulda, shoulda” game these days, thinking of things they wish they had done to be more ready for this moment.

Well, in some ways it’s impossible.  But looking at my life now, there are some things I have done that set me up positively for this moment and other things I will do better with from now on. Yes, the lessons are already showing themselves. It’s up to me to keep my eye out and learn them. Here’s a couple I’ve thought about.

One thing I’ve done right: I am glad I took control of my health when I did.  I could not have known what was coming 5 years ago when I started working on my level of fitness, and then more specifically on my diet.  Now we know that severe obesity is one of the major risk factors in serious complications from this virus, and I am grateful I am not in that category any longer.  CrossFit and consistent exercise has also lowered my blood pressure, which some believe seems to make a difference in successfully battling this illness as well.  Still, I was morbidly obese for decades. I know I’ve taken a toll on my body. Hopefully I made the right changes in time and can continue choosing every day and being consistent.

One thing I need to work on: I could definitely spend money differently.  My house is choked with stuff I thought I liked or needed at any given time.  As I’ve noted in previous posts, many of those items are now coming out of hiding and finding a purpose.  Some have been given away to people who need them. But, there’s a lot of excess stuff. I’ll be selling or giving things away over the next few months in bulk and trying to spend more intentionally.

What I am so grateful for: I am SO GLAD I have a group of friends and loved ones to do crazy stuff with.  The “Bad Idea Club” and several others are always up for a goofy good time.  We dress in themes, we giggle from our guts.  We care less about what others may say. Judge away, we are too busy having fun.

Case in point: just before the corona wave broke, we had an epic birthday celebration for Chick 1. We dressed up in 70s regalia, took pictures, went out on the town, stayed out on the town at a funky little hotel, had s’mores late and night and a birthday breakfast at a local diner the next morning, and generally just embraced life.  It was a grand celebration.  And while it was such fun at the time, one short month later, in quarantine, when those photos came up in memories, I multiplied that happiness by 10, that we just went for it and did life and her celebration BIG.

I am sure there are many who roll their eyes (like my kids) or shake their heads at our antics.  But darnit, I really don’t want to get to the end of life and not have lived fully.  The stuff does not matter.  The memories and the people we make them with do.

So much for the coulda, shoulda, wouldas.  We need to take better care of ourselves now, and live now. What are the “I can, I do, I wills” for going forward?

I will to take more vacations, drive more scenic routes.  I will take more hikes and visit loved ones more often. I will stop waiting for the perfect time to drive the Blue Ridge Parkway to see the fall foliage change color.  I will add to my list of dreams and destinations and tick them off one by one by one.

I will keep taking care of myself and those who matter to me.  I will love and live big each day, and appreciate deeply the opportunity to do that! It has made me look at the magnet on my refrigerator (pictured below) with new eyes!

What lessons are you learning from this?  What coulda shoulda wouldas can you turn in to I can, I do, I wills…?

IMG_8448

 

inspire

Let’s Talk Music

2chicksandapen

Nobody But You just released by Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani is hot off the press and I am totally a fan!

First, I love Gwen Stefani. She is hot, sassy and full of badassery. Blake I am not a huge fan of, but paired with Gwen they seem to make a dynamic duo. Can’t wait to see if more collaborations appear.

Give the song a listen. It has a cool vibe and the lyrics pack a punch. I think anyone lucky enough to be living a love story for the first time or second or third time might find it hits an emotional chord.

Watching a video clip is inspiring as well. I see a little Hollaback Girl in the car scene with a dopey-eyed Blake looking on. Her flair attracts him. You can see it. Fun to watch the puppy love for both of them.

Just a random offbeat post for you. Music soothes the soul.

celebrations, fitness and nutrition

Festivus Games Was No Joke

2chicksandapen

Well, this comp was a little different about 5 minutes after I signed up! Then, when I got to the competition site the crazy level stepped up a bit….the competition was 90% outside. Holy smokes.

Looking back, I somehow stacked 1/2 marathon training, a 45 day bicep/tricep challenge, a physical residence move, a big trip to see family and life on top of comp training and my regular CrossFit and adult life.

What was I thinking? I probably wasn’t thinking until I hit the WODs hard the 2 weeks prior to the event. At that point my body was already sluggish from a physical move and my arms were burning on the daily from the other bicep/tricep challenge and then heck most days my legs were like we don’t need any additional miles today!

Of course there was outfit planning. Tanks and booty shorts. This may be the most fun part of competing because my crazy partner agreed to change outfits four times. Really she had no choice but it’s part of the experience and what sets us apart from others. We beat to our own drum or anthem in many ways. Class act I tell ya!

One week to go and I rip my hand bad. How did that impact the event? Came down with a cold as well a week before so breathing wasn’t 100%. Complaints or excuses? Time to press on and put in work. This is a self note that I am sharing.

The last seven days were focused on eating well, sleeping well and staying healthy. I wasn’t perfect but I made an attempt. Rest being most important since my body is aging.

Last practice session on our weakness was a good showing. Compared to day one it was tremendous growth. Now to wait and see how the big day goes.

Comp day. It starts with the dreadful alarm at 5am, food prep, and carpool ride at 6am. Oh and let me tell you about the ride:

One passenger snoring in the back who wouldn’t share the back seat. Yup, that’s my partner!

One driver kind enough to volunteer to drive knowing the drive home will suck bad. Thank you, CW.

And then me. The sleepy one mesmerized by the cool new truck I was in. Air flowing through the seats and a massaging seat. Yup, just what I needed and I gladly staked my claim for that seat on the way home!

Then the wait for heat one at 9:50am. The morning aches and stiffness were among the bunch as we waited, joked and stretched together. We all prepped differently yet we all did it together.

That’s a lot of idle time for nervous jitters that lead to multiple potty breaks. Fun times all around meeting neighbors in tent city and taking pics as we wait. A group of friends are competing so we will have a blast tailgating and cheering each other on. Of course we are still competing so it’s not all rainbows and lollipops for those in the same division.

Did I mention our team name this time around? 2 Tatted Bitches – ha! Offensive to some but perfect to us! Check out the cool shirts we got compliments of Chick 2’s designing skills. Oh, how the announcer fumbled purposely all day on that name. However, if we made the podium he said he would say the full name prominently. And he did just that!

WOD 1 – my favorite. The deadlift ladder. Easy peasy 205 pounds. We accumulated 75 bonus points with our extra efforts in less than a minute. Took 3rd in this WOD. Feeling good but the worst is yet to come. And the pic below shows one of the good faces. There were many more crazy faces to come.

WOD 2 a and b=death! Add extreme heat outdoors, direct sun and and and….WOD was outside, 90+ degrees and I don’t usually workout outside in direct sunlight. It gave me a new respect for other athletes who compete outside on a regular basis. Body weight movements AKA devil press (named appropriately), weighted box step overs, reverse lunges weighted and a partner row. Part A we scored 4th but Part B was 8th….my no reps for not locking my arms out cost us big time. I was not happy with my judge. Well, we could have given up but this is the time where we kicked it up a notch or attempted to.

WOD 3 – Outside again with a forecast raining wallballs and snatches. Get low, get low, get low…that’s all I would hear for what seemed like an hour. My legs were shot but somehow I was going to have to squat 45 times with a 14-pound wall ball going up down up down. I wanted to puke in the heat was a gross understatement. My practice rounds were timed and my partner was suppose to hold me accountable for a personal best despite the environmental conditions. She did but I wasted breath saying “stop yelling at me.” Big mistake but I made it through by the grace of God. Our time was not our best but we squeezed out 3rd solely with our heart and desire to make up for the WOD before.

WOD 4 – the synchro WOD that I had been dreading since sign up. Not really sure how to explain this other than heavy and weird object being tossed around like a ping pong ball over and over and over again. But it was not a ping pong ball. It was a heavy anchor that bumped and bruised your body and your ego with each movement. It was brutal. And I was focused on this part of the workout making me totally forget about the 100 buy in of knees-to-chest movements. Oh crap! Suck it up buttercup because we had to place high in this round to get on that podium. Thankfully my partner killed this movement and made up for my shortcoming and we were on fire with the synchro piece. Over 100 reps of pure grit and we pulled out 2nd in the event.

It was bittersweet. A podium finish of 3rd. Hard work pays off. Good partner chemistry paid off. Supportive gym mates were the icing on the cake. Not to mention our honorary tatted bitch who donned our shirt and branded herself with Katashi just for us. Was a great friend.

We’re walking away from this event with a medal but it’s not the medal that’s most memorable. It’s the journey. The journey of training that’s years in the making. The fellowship along the way. The learning process of developing skills. The coaching you receive along the way. The commitment required to grind another day when your mind tells you to quit. Mental toughness, tenacity, determination, are all words that come to mind.

I leave you with this message: anyone can commit to changing their environment, their attitude and their perspective. Many will talk about it but won’t follow through because the road along the way is full of big hills, speed bumps and life detours. It is not easy. Surround yourself with a tribe that will challenge you, push you, motivate you and ultimately make you see your own potential. It’s really all about you, just like this post is all about me.

I’m not one to gloat per se, but I am one to share my stories with the world to offer hope to others who have a hard time seeing it in themselves in the mirror.

Happy Sunday, y’all. I’m back to training for my 1/2 marathon in 3, 2, 1….