Crush Cancer 2014

Date: October 19, 2014

Author: astottler

Saturday morning, I participated in an amazing fundraiser, and my first Crossfit competition-Crush Cancer! This event was held at Crossfits throughout the world to benefit Stand Up to Cancer, an my home box was hosting. (For more info, check out this post.)

So, Saturday morning I ate breakfast and drove up there.

It was so great to see so many people out there to support a great cause!

I was in the first heat, which I was really happy about. I was a little nervous, and I didn’t want to have to wait around to go!

Of course, it wouldn’t be an event if my mom didn’t take an awkward picture of me stretching…

The workout was 3 five minute chunks, with a minute in between each. Each round consisted of:

1 minute power cleans (65#)

1 minute shoulder to overhead (65#)

1 minute double unders

1 minute kb swings (16kg)

1 minute burpees

(The pictures of me warming up are less blurry.)

Here’s the breakdown for me-the power cleans were super light. The shoulder to over head would be a bit heavier especially after cleans. I had no idea how double unders would go because they are super hit or miss for me. KB swings would sort of be a rest because 16 has felt pretty light lately and they were just Russian swings (not overhead). Burpees would be….burpees. Blech.

Here’s how it went:

I ended up muscle cleaning the power cleans because it was light, which means I didn’t really jump it up. The first round, I started WAYYY too fast-I think I got 20 reps in the first 30 seconds and then realized I needed to slow the heck down because it was starting to gas me. I did push press for shoulder to overhead, and it definitely wasn’t light after the cleans.

Then it was on to jumprope, which I was grateful for because my shoulders were shot. To my surprise, the jump roping went really well. My double udders were cooperating and it turned out to be a non issue. Note-jump roping with rubber arms is a weird experience.

The kettle bell swings were pretty uneventful.

And the burpees were surprisingly good. Because the kettle bell swings were fairly light and I muscle cleaned in the first minute, my legs were actually pretty fresh so these actually felt good. Weird…

Round 2 was definitely the hardest round for me. I slowed it back quite a bit in an effort to not die. Rounds 2 and 3 were when I started having the problem that my grip was failing on the barbell movements and kettle bell swings.

And as I write this, I’m realizing how sore my forearms are now….lots and lots of cleans will do that! Plus kettle bell swings-those can be hard on grip too!

I think the last round felt better than the second, maybe because I was almost done! Grip was definitely worse though! It was awesome to have so many people cheering me on through the last round.

But man, I was happy to be done!

^Pure relief.

That was HARD. Definitely the hardest workout I’ve done in a LONG time. Competition push and normal push in workouts are 2 different things! WHEW. I finished with 336 reps!

After watching another wave compete, I headed home for lunch, homework help, and kitties.

Lunch was pretty basic-taco salad with ground turkey and cheese.

Plus some fancy cheese and crackers on the side.

Then, I spent the entire afternoon working on CS homework. On the plus side, I’m really close I think!

I also did a little experimental baking-recipe to come soon!

I stayed for dinner before heading back to school-we ordered takeout from a fancy burger place. I got a wild salmon burger with sweet potato fries.

And I’ll leave you with some last cat pictures:

^He makes sure all my clothes come back to school furry.

And here I am! I stayed out too late coding (until I realized I couldn’t think straight and it was time for bed). I was planning on running this morning but brunch is about to open so that can wait!

What did you do this weekend?

Christmastime is Here

Date: November 30, 2013

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Hey guys! Since 12 Days Of Christmas is going on, I haven’t had much opportunity for a normal post! I wanted to catch you all up on some things and eats!

First, here’s a Turkey Trot photo! The biggest reason I chose to do a Turkey Trot 10k specifically was to increase my ability to eat. I think that may have been counterproductive-I am incapable of taking a race easy and pushed more than I was planning, which ended up kind of killing my appetite. Not that I still didn’t stuff myself! But I swear I must be getting old-I feel like it takes less and less each year to fill me up. Bye bye teenage metabolism…

I had a healthy dinner of cheesecake on Thanksgiving before being dragged out “Black Friday” shopping. I put that in quotes because it wasn’t even Friday so you really can’t even call it that. I of course went with the blessing of my parents-to be honest I didn’t want to buy anything but it was a chance to hang out with some friends form high school who I basically haven’t seen in 2 years. It was crazy-at the mall we ran into SO many people from high school! That was fun! But after being awake at 5:30 for the turkey trot, shopping at 1am was the last thing I wanted to do. And my feet were demolished-they’ve been bothering my lately in eh arches, and standing around a lot on the day of a race was not good.

Here’s Friday breakfast-ambrosia and an english muffin.

A lot of time yesterday was spent prepping things for 12 Days of Christmas, including tons of baking.

Then, it was time to get a tree! Whole Foods has a ton of beautiful, full, healthy trees, for a very good price. They were probably half of what we’d pay at a lot.

Here’s the winner!

We could tell how fresh it was quite easily-we’ve never had a tree anywhere near this heavy before (meaning it’s full of water). My dad can normally manage the tree on his own, but this time I had to help him carry it and load it onto the car-putting those Crossfit skills to work! Push press to the top of the car?

I also bought some dorm decorations-a mini tree that came with lights, plus this cute little poinsettia! We can’t have poinsettias at home since they’re poisonous to cats (and my cats like to eat flowers), but there are no cats in my dorm!

This means we’re going to have 3 plants in our tiny dorm room, so it’s basically going to be a forest.

In the evening, I had the pleasure of going to a class at my old Crossfit! It was great. So, so great. I miss that gym so much. I can’t even explain what is so different, but they are so much more my Crossfit family.

The strength portion was bench presses. I haven’t bench pressed in a good 2 years. And even then I’ve only done it like 2x. Needless to say my bench press was pretty weak. I’m not great at arm strength things in general-my legs much stronger than my arms.

The WOD was 400m run-12 deadlifts and box jumps-400m run-10 deadlifts and box jumps-400m run-5 deadlifts and box jumps. It was a good and fun one! There’s no question my box jumps have improved-this height seemed a bit scary for a WOD before I left but it was no big deal this time! Maybe what I don’t like about my school Crossfit is that not a lot of the WODs involve lifting really heavy. Who knows. I actually stayed a little late to help them build a giant structure to hang 15 foot ropes from-which was an interesting process to say the least!

Then, it was dinnertime!

My grandma is the best-she made a ton of butternut squash soup just for me! It is absoutely amazing topped with creme fresh and cranberry orange relish. So. Good.

Plus some other leftovers!

Then, one of my best friends came over to help me bake the Healthy Polka Dot cookies. We had a blast. I totally winged the recipe (I guess you guys probably don’t want me to tell you I had no idea what I was doing and said YOLO multiple times when adding ingredients), but it came out PERFECT. Exactly what I was hoping and more.

Selfie with a dirty blender.

Confession-we weren’t really sure what the texture would be like-we thought it might turn out more like cake, so here’s a shot from the outtake reel:

I mean, they did make perfectly fine mini cupcakes, but I preferred the cookie form!

Then, we went and saw Catching Fire! I’m not sure how I rallied myself for a 10:30pm movie, but the movie was really good!

I actually went to the midnight premier of the first Hunger Games! I read the books a while ago, and the 2nd and 3rd book kind of blurred together in my mind, so I wasn’t exactly expecting the ending, but I really liked it! Although cliffhangers? Not cool. (At least I considered this a cliffhanger.)

Well, now we’re all caught up! I have a track workout and weights planned for today-I’m not the Jingle Barbells workout-and then dinner with another friend later! Hope you all are doing well!

Best movie you’ve seen lately?

Weekend Recap

Date: April 30, 2013

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Whew, I’m kind of behind on posting. I didn’t post at first because nothing interesting in my life was happening, and then I got busy! So let’s just go through some pictures from the weekend and I’ll talk about my weekend there. Heehee, yogurt bowl. Nothing new here. I really want spin shoes!This is the point in my week where I ran out of yogurt, so my snack was egg beaters and pesto. Hey, you could do worse. Friday evening picnic because 3 of my friends had birthdays that week. Lots of good food and veggies! Including guac…can’t complain.Such a nice evening on the “lake.” 30 years ago there was an actual lake here, but they stopped filling it so it is only full in the winter. There’s still some water though!Saturday morning breakfast finished off my egg beaters, which was more or less the last food I had left in my dorm. Saturday morning also featured a hike with an upperclassman in my sorority. She is a Biology major as well, so we had a great time chatting away. I run this trail all the time (in theory…) but never think to take pics, so here it is! After the hike, I was more than ready for Mexican food Saturday brunch, featuring guacamole!A VERY typical snack for me 🙂The point in my weekend where I stopped caring that I ran out of yogurt and started stealing my roommate’s. It’s ok, I repaid her in chocolate hazelnut butter. Yogurt in a jar definitely rivals oats in a jar. And I’m taking credit for it. What is this? A meal on a non-paper plate? That’s right! I went home yesterday to work out at my gym there and enjoy delicious food. Mashed sage yams, brussels sprouts that are actually cooked, corn on the cob, and barbecue chicken. Plus real fruit!And this guy 🙂

And of course, baking. I’m still unsure about posting the recipe because it was highly experimental. I liked it, but not sure that others would. I majorly modified my favorite pumpkin bread recipe and ended up with what I will call Gluten Free Coconut Pumpkin Pudding Bread.

Last night I lifted weights (my gym at home is SO much nicer), and this morning I went to abs class and did a spin class on my own that I wrote up for myself. SO I guess you could say I did a spin workout, but since I want to be a spin teacher, I designed it in a class format.

Breakfast was a smoothie with milk, spinach, mango, cherries, and strawberries, plus some of my baking experiment from the night before. And lunch and dinner at school consisted of leftovers from home! YUM.Now, I realize this post was really long, so yay if you made it this far! And I promise to be a better blogger and actually post as it happens so it won’t be so bad!

What is your favorite home cooked meal?