My First Blogging Award - Q's & A's

Hola!

Can I start off by saying that this week has been uhhh, insane, exhausting, brain overflowing, nerve wracking, insert more overwhelming words here-ing...

Seriously though, exam week is kicking my butt. I feel great about all my midterms but still, I'm exhausted.

I'm still going to CrossFit everyday, but have had to limit it to about 2 hours. Studying first! Still, scraping up those bits of motivation... Isn't always easy. But it's something we gotta do right?
Hmmm.... future blog topic, perhaps?

Anyhow, I really just wanted to take a moment in the midst of this madness to say THANK YOU, to Ace over at Eat.Pray.Wod. for nominating me for my very first Liebster Award. (Check her out, she's way cool!) I'm honored.

The Liebster Award is given to up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers. What exactly is a Liebster?   Liebster is German and means favorite or beloved! How fun! The Liebster is a great way to share with the community and get to know other bloggers!

So, Ace had some questions for me, and it's my job to answer them!

1. Most embarrassing moment?
Oh gawd... That would probably be my freshmen year of high school when the boys varsity tennis team stole my poetry binder and posted my poems all over the boys locker room. Yes, that did happen... Or the time when I barfed all over the sidewalk in high school in front of EVERYONE.

2. Favorite recipe?
My grandmas peanut butter pie... it's a family secret (:
Or breakfast casserole!!! 

3. Item of clothing you feel most confident in and why?
Probably my blue lacey dress. EVERYTIME I've worn it I've gotten some kind of compliment from a guy. So what if what they say matters? :p

This is old... The dress almost swallows me now, but I still love it!

4. What do you do to relax?
Depending on what kind of relaxation I need, lifting... OR... I love me some beer and board games!

5. If you could choose anywhere in the world to spend a week, where would it be?
Hmmm... Probably Cape Town. Every quiz I take says I'm meant to live there. Hey, could it be a sign? 

6. Favorite beer?
Simple. Killians. Can't get enough of it! But on any given night I'd pick hard cider over beer!

7. Least favorite way to sweat?
LOL. Ace, how'd you even come up with this. Probably that nasty, smelly, kinda sweat I get when I go from cold to hot too quick!

8. Would you rather: Have to wear 80's style blazers with shoulder pads everyday for the rest of your life OR wear Lady Gaga's meat dress once a week for the rest of your life?
Hahaha. Seriously. Hardest. Question. Of. My. Life. Hmmm...
I need a visual image for this...

I'm gonna have to go with the shoulder pads... Simply because my 80 year old self will thank me and I don't wanna have to sell my dog every time meat day comes around...

9. Quote you live by?
"The man is the head but the woman is the neck and she can turn the head wherever she wants to."
That's right, I do what I want!

10. Favorite color and why?
Purple... I picked it once and said well, that's that!

11. Who would play you in the movie of your life?

Cameron Diaz. She's pretty and funny and all... But she's also the highest grossing female actress. If this movie is about me, I better be making some profit!

Generally the nominations go on from here... But I'm breaking the rules tonight! It's about back to studying time for me!!! But it's been real, it's been fun, it's been real fun... 

Goodnight!

Five on Friday: Let's Talk About The Open...

First of all, can I just say how thankful I am for the overwhelming response to yesterday's blog post?? I wasn't sure how it'd be received but I should have never doubted you awesome folks, because seriously, I feel loved. I'm also glad how many people reached out saying they were thankful that they weren't alone, and I just wanna say, I'm here for each and every one of you!

Anywho, It's Friday, and I try to jump in on the "Five on Friday" party every once in awhile! 

This month, I can't count how many times I heard things like...

"E, are you signed up for the open?"

"HEY! When ya gonna write about the open?"

and lately... 

"Lizbeth, JUST WRITE ABOUT THE OPEN ALREADY."

Ok... ok... I got the message.
I'll be honest with you... I've been avoiding this topic, because seriously, I wasn't sure what the "right" answers were.

I've never done the CrossFit Open. I've read articles about why "the hopeless" shouldn't sign up for the open, but mostly, the overwhelming majority believes: everyone should sign up for the open.

So I did, awhile ago. Even though I can't do muscle ups or pull ups, I'm doing it!
And here's why...

ONE.
This is probably the BIGGEST reason. I LOVE LOVE LOVE to compete. Even though my role model/in box beast, Amy, can beat me in almost every metcon, I'm still gunning for her every day. We all love the thrill of a competition. No matter what our goals are, there is nothing better than an "in it to win it" attitude. Even if it just means beating yourself. So first and foremost, you can't win at all, if you don't even sign up.

TWO.
Community. Y'all get tired of me talking about this... but theres no such thing as talking about the CrossFit community too much. It's the coolest thing in the world. I have my family but then I have my CrossFit family and I can spot them anywhere. Sometimes it's by there shoes, sometimes it's the lean muscles, or their perfectly ripped hands. Hundreds of thousands of our CrossFit family will be competing in the same WODs, during the same week. All around the world, we'll be moving weight as one. (Some faster than others, but all equally important). 

THREE.
You'll surprise yourself. The times I do crazy awesome CrossFit things, are when it's all on the line. Maybe it's doing twice as many snatches unbroken as you thought you could or taking less breaks, or pushing just a little more... You'll be proud of yourself! 

FOUR.
I'm excited to see some awesome programming. I love what our coaches do, but obviously, like anywhere, it's a little bias in certain areas. This is a time where we step back and let the WODs be designed for us. Geeze, I get excited enough waiting for Justin to post the WODs every night, I can't imagine how excited I'll be to find out what these are!!! 

FIVE.
It will give me something to compare my next years scores to. I can see my progress. Next year, when I'm 100lbs lighter, can deadlift 400lbs, and a box jumping machine, I'll be able to say... "Holy crap, I've come SOOOOOO far."

BONUS.
It's fun.

I'm not going to be one of those people that tries to convince EVERYONE to sign up because I understand that different people, have different goals, but these are some of the reasons that I'm doing it. On that note, happy Friday!!

Lifting The Weight

Writing... I've been writing this one blog post in my head for the last two weeks... and I'm stuck. One of my goals in life is to be an open book, for anyone to read. I want to relate to people and to inspire people. I want to be a resource for people to stumble upon. I realize there are "tough subjects" in life that we often keep to ourselves, but wouldn't it be easier if we all had each other? There are many things that have happened in my life where people tell me, "I'm not alone." I know this is true... but where are those other people?

Well here I am. Elizabeth. And I struggle with depression.

I'm not talking about when something sad happens and in turn, I'm sad. I'm talking about the aching feeling of sadness, even when everything is going right. When there's absolutely no reason. That kind of sadness.

People ask me... what does it feel like?

Someone told me an analogy once... about when crocodiles hunt for their prey. They lurk in the water and come up from behind, tearing them limb from limb.

That's what depression is to me. I can be swimming smoothly through the waters and then all of the sudden, there it is, lurking, and slowly tears away my life piece by piece.

It's the feeling you get when waking up in the morning and being sad that you made it through the night, that another long hard day is waiting for you. The feeling that no matter how many people tell you differently, you are unlovable.

Before last May, I found myself overcoming these terrible feelings primarily with food, alcohol, and sleep. My schoolwork was undone and eventually led me to dropping my classes. I was gaining more and more weight and didn't take care of myself.

But then something life changing happened...

First, I met Doc, who planted the idea of fitness, and it stuck with me. We started working out, and believe  me, it wasn't pretty. But it made me feel better.

Then, on May 28th, I found CrossFit. I started right away because I was tired of being sad. The first few weeks were hard, hard on my body. I was anxious about meeting new people, and worrying that they thought I was "too fat" or "too weird" or "too different."

I remember someone telling me this was the
first picture I looked truly happy in a long time

Things quickly got better, not perfect, but better. I began building friendships and learning about self-belief. I learned how to show myself love instead of poisoning it with temporary fixes.

CrossFit is the perfect kind of community. It holds spirit and friendships. It teaches you to reach for your limits and go beyond them. It gives you qualities that transfer over into other parts of your life.

Shortly after joining CrossFit I found a job and was offered two more. Last month, I went back to school and I'm loving it. I finally picked a major and am confident in it.

I honestly don't know where I'd be if I hadn't found this crazy lifestyle. Don't get me wrong, there are still days that I struggle. Like this week, it's been rough... But I know one things for sure, when I'm hitting rock bottom, I know I have a community that will lift me up. Instead of drinking, or skipping out on class, I find peace in lifting weights.

CrossFit is hard, but it's the best thing I've done for myself. I choose to be healthy. I choose to be stronger than this illness.

Strength is Earned, Not Given

As you all know, I competed in the premiere Michigan Barbell Classic last Saturday. What an amazing event it was! It was held at Motor City CrossFit in Sterling Heights, MI. Seriously, it was 2 stories of CrossFit heaven. The event was super organized and run like clock work, thanks to the mighty talents of the Lex Artis team. Thanks guys!

Motor City CrossFit was filled with 70+ athletes, hoping to come out on top. Along with their families, coaches, and friends. I walked in filled with nerves... and my dad. I looked around at all of the lean muscled, spandex clad, biceps bulging competitors, and thought, "What did I get myself into?!" These negative thoughts were soon replaced by words my coach has told me all along, reminding me that I am strong and I deserved to be there.

If you had asked me last August, only 3 months after joining CrossFit, I would have told you that I am naturally strong. This is true, but lately I've taken my strength to a whole new level. Strengh is earned, not given, & it certainly doesn't come in a can of spinach.

This is not only true for me but every athlete who competed on Saturday. Hard work isn't a foreign concept to anyone who wants to be successful. What distinguishes the strong from the strongest, is heart. Heart... That's not something you can get out of a can either. You have to want it and I mean really want it. You have to be dedicated to hours of training, strict nutrition, and crazy programming. I never even fathomed that I'd be in the gym 15-20 hours a week nor that I would develop this much heart for this physically demanding sport. 

For the first time, I feel like the hard work really paid off. Walking into the competition 40 pounds lighter than I was 5 months ago and stronger than I've ever been, was gratifying in itself. On top of that, I reached every goal that I set for the competition. I hit 3 PR's and had the overall highest combined total of lifts. (Too bad there's no reward for that, but in my book, it's pretty encouraging.)

Here were my 1 rep maxes:

Power snatch: 118lbs PR
Clean: 168lbs PR
Clean & Jerk: 163lbs PR
Back Squat: 275lbs
Bench Press: 140lbs
Deadlift: 353lbs PR

Some common questions about the competition I've gotten from readers:

What was my proudest lift?
DEFINITELY clean & jerk. I've worked so hard on it the past 2 months. Olympics lifts are my weakness, but 163lbs leaves me feeling accomplished and with room to improve.

What was my worst moment?
Back squat. Everyone expected me to hit 300lbs, but I dropped it on the way up. It was a total brain fart because I had it but I mentally got scared.

Most fun part?
Obviously lifting. But also taking group pictures with the amazing 734ers, hanging out with my coach, Dan, and trying mocha Progenex for the first time. Finding out later that Henry Cavill, Superman, was there!

With or without the celebrity guest, we thought the Barbell Classic was a major success. I've already heard rumor that there will be another one next year so I'd love to see some of you out there! Remember, strength is important, but heart and hard work are what distinguishes you. If you want something, put your mind to it! Lex Artis has some other great competitions coming up that will be released soon. I'll include a link when they do. To learn more about their company, programming, and awesome competitions, CLICK HERE. 

Until next time...

Train hard. Lift heavy. Eat right. Sleep tight. 

Redefine Winning

Photo Credit: Lex Artis

For those of you who don't know, I'll be competing in the 2014 Michigan Barbell Classic on Saturday. A month ago I was excited, very excited. Today, I'm nothing but nerves!

Initially I signed up for this competition because I love to lift. It's my passion and that's no news to you! After encouragement from my friend Ace over at Eat.Pray.WOD. & my former coach Sean, I knew it was something I wanted in on.

I'm a competitor. I know the quotes about "only worrying about beating your own time," but honestly I've never bought into that. I'm all about getting better, but I'm also about striving to become THE best. I fully understand that I probably will never get there, but I'll never stop trying. I'm losing weight rapidly and my goal is to maintain my strength. If I can do both, I'm confident that I can do great things.

This competition is a whole different situation. On paper, I'm strong, very strong. But it is literally impossible for me to win. Take all of my one rep maxes, they look great, but divide them by my weight (315), not so great. The scoring at this competition will be pound for pound.
ex. If I got a 350 pound deadlift, it would be divided by 315 and my score for that event would be 1.11

Don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with the scoring of the event. In fact, in the long run, it makes it fair. For me, I'm at a pretty big disadvantage because (in my opinion) all of my excess weight does not account for all of my strength.

What does this mean for me? 
It means that I have to redefine winning, at least for this weekend. It means that I have to decide what I want out of THIS competition.

I want to feel strong. To feel empowered. I want to do my best. I want to not be ashamed of my weight, even if people are wondering why I'm there. I want to show off all of my hard work from the last two months. I want to recognize my limits (so my knees don't fall apart). I want to make my coach proud. I want to PR on at least one thing. I want to have the highest lift on something.

I recognize that all of that may not happen, and I may be way out of my league, but winning can look like a lot of things. So I know, no matter what, this weekend, I'm going to win.

Plus, I'm super psyched to see my friends from CrossFit 734. It should be a great weekend!!!

The Box Is A Drama Free Zone

CrossFit is my safe haven.
It's the only place I feel my best.
The only place I feel I am my true self.

When I have a bad day, the barbell is there waiting.
Waiting there for me to lift. To let go of my anger or my sadness.

What's even better, is the family I have waiting.
When I walk through the door I could seriously say, "Honey, I'm home." & that would be the truth.

This is a feeling I want everyone to experience. The CrossFit Community.
The unity you have when completing a tough WOD.
The coaches that really do care about you.

CrossFit is a family and everyone is welcome.
That is what I believe.

But what baffles me is when I hear stories about people tarnishing the community that we have.
When drama becomes the focus, and fitness and family fall behind.

CrossFit is a family (have I said that enough?)
No one person deserves to be there more than another.
CrossFit is an open door to those who want to improve their fitness.

So please, cut the bullshit.
CrossFit is purely about fitness.
Love each other.
Encourage each other.
Invite everyone.