Workouts and My Newest Obsessions

Dead lifts (#185) during "Diane" -7/21

Workouts at Anvil, were just as challenging this week as ever. We did enough deadlifts and wall balls to last me at least a month! haha Last week, we did deadlifts as a part of our strength (like we will continue to do for the next couple of weeks) I was really excited that for 4x5 I was able to pull 205, this week I did 5x4 at 210! AHH, so excited, and I am no where near as sore as I was after last weeks! I am hoping to get 220 for this upcoming weeks lifts, fingers crossed I am feeling strong enough. I am hesitant just because we did A LOT of deadlifts this week. Monday (7/21) was Diane's birthday, so we did the "girl" Diane, I'm not sure it that is the best way to reference that, but I have deleted and retyped and nothing better is coming to mind haha.

HSPU- or more of my bun touched and I was good.. haha -7/21

(The Girls are a series of workouts that crossfit has created, and are named after women... ie: diane, grace, karen ect) Diane is originally 21-15-9 of Hand Stand Push Ups, and Deadlifts. At the gym we changed it up a little 15-12-9-6-3 of those exercises, except to be able to complete the workout, I did deadlifts at 185 lbs and  HSPU I did a rep scheme of 10-8-6-4-2.

Wednesday (7/23) we did a circuit style workout with wall balls, and basically what it comes down to is that I hate wall balls, I have gotten better at them, but I still hate them. After my workout I went up to Turlock to visit with my Grandma for a few hours. i love being able to spend time with her. I know I should do it more because I am only an hour and a half drive or train ride from her. 

7/23

7/23

I wasn't able to make it to CrossFit Valkommen, but an acquaintance through the gym/crossfit had a tragic event happen to her and her family. Her nephew, of only 5 months passed away from SIDS. Being that many don't prepare for funeral services at such a young age, the gym put on a free workout, where we could come together and raise funds for the family. If you would like, and are able to donate to the families funds, here is the link For Levi.

7/24

My double under were soooo good! 7/23

Thursday(7/24) we did more heavy deadlifts, thats when I hit 210 5x4! We also did a killer Ground to overhead workout. I tried to push through this workout, when I wanted to stop, I tried to keep moving, it was tough. I am glad I was able to the workout at the RX'd weight of 95#, especially after doing heavy DL.

Adriana & Diane finishing strong

This Weeks Training...

This week at Anvil was tough, like a sneaky tough! I mean it's not that the workouts look easy, I knew that with the combination of our strength and the METCON I was going to get a killer workout, but I didn't think I would be as sore or exhausted as I have been this week!

We started a new strength cycle, that is focusing on getting comfortable with our snatch positions, and getting under the bar. Garrett is in charge of putting the strength programs together, I swear I'm not being biased haha, but, I like what he has done, and how he has set them up. He has done such a good job. For those of that are consistently going to the gym, we have seen huge improvements with our over all strength and technique with all lifts (including gymnastic movements, that what the last 4 weeks were focused on).

I have been consistently going to the gym since the beginning of June, I definitely have my good and bad days, but it has been pretty awesome to see/notice them improvements that I have made. This week stringing 4 pull ups together was no problem, in a work out I have been able to string double unders for sets of 6 and that is a HUGE improvement for me haha, and on Thursday I was able to do 4 sets, of 5 Deadlifts @ 205lbs, when my last max was 225lbs. Since I signed up for the Central Valley Throwdown & Expo I have been trying to better all areas of my fitness. I know that I am strong, but there are a lot of gymnastic movements that I need to work on, like: double unders, push ups, and pull ups ( and maybe now, even, rope climbs!) I am getting better at them all, I just need to be at my best by the 23rd of August! What I noticed in workouts is that I know how to pace myself, I know when I can work, and when I need to rest. On the other hand, at times I sometimes feel like I don't have the mental drive to push through in the last few minutes, to go balls out, and get as many reps as I can. It's almost like I tell myself that I need to rest to keep going, that I wont be as efficient if I don't catch my breath, or I will have nothing left, but its at the end so I can rest after. I don't know, all I know is I need to work on it, that is one of my goals for this next week, to push harder, to drive and to string 5 pull ups in a row haha!

This week I started to keep track of my workouts, in an actual notebook. I love the idea of how handy our phones are, I have Evernote, my notepad, and a ton of other apps, but there is something about physically writing down what I did for the day, and being able to flip through the pages to see all of the improvements that I have made while filling the notebook.

I hope that this will be a tool that can help me see progress and to stay motivated, rather than putting myself down. There are more days then not, that I doubt myself, and really slam my progress and body image. I have a hard time being happy with all that I have done, who I am and how I look ( I know, getting deep haha) but this is a constant struggle. I feel like no matter how hard I work, my body wont cooperate, in all areas like, strength, size, ability. I think working at S2S has a alot to do with it. I feel like many of my co workers dont take me seriously because I dont look like the average marathoner, or because I dont really run in general. Ugh, if any of you reading have any tips or advice on how to deal with kind of stuff please, help a girl out! haha. This wears me down, and I know that I need to stop stressing like I do or I will never believe or see and improvement that I make.

Here are a few pics from this week!

7/19/14- Saturday Morning Workout-
I cant tell if I am smiling or am in pain in this picture haha.

Garrett got more pictures of me not working out that he did of me actually working out.

Gotta chalk up!

Clearly this workout killed us all!

7/17/14- American KB Swings and Box Jumps are killer!

Day Trip to NorCal

Yesterday, Garrett and I decided to make a day trip up North, to get a little R&R.
Currently our schedules don't mesh very well, when I have my days off garrett is working, and when he isn't working I have hours up at the store. I initially had plans for Sunday, but since they fell threw, and we both have been wanting to get out of town, we decided to take advantage of the day.

We headed out to Santa Cruz, it started out as a overcast and misty day, but after a wonderful breakfast at the Seabreeze Cafe, there was quite a wait (we waited 40 minutes!), but it was SO worth it, saying that my breakfast was delicious is an understatement!

my amazing Castro Valley Omlette

I got the Castro Valley omelet! Ahhh! I am a sucker for artichoke hearts! The omlete plates where priced at about $11.00, but clearly, based off of my photo they give you plenty of food, so it is totally worth it!
Served with potatoes and toast, this baby held me over ALL day! I am hoping to try some of their homemade muffins or cinnamon rolls the next time that we are in Santa Cruz!

After we ate, we made our way back towards the beach, with the sun finally making its appearance, we headed towards the water. The idea of just laying out on our towels and an occasional dip in the water is what we had been dreaming of!
There were quite a few people out on the boardwalk, and on the beach, so after a few hours we decided to make our way to a sweet get away, up the highway called Panther Beach.




 I don't think that Panther Beach is a secret, but is most definitely a hidden gem. To get there you pull off to a dirt parking area off of highway one, and make your way down a path that has been created to get to the beach. I was so disappointed walking up to the entrance, there was so much trash. I just do not understand the thought process of some people; if they want to continue to enjoy and love a place, they need to help maintain it. By simply picking up and disposing of their trash (in an actual trash can, not at the top of the hill) they are doing their part in not only maintaing the area, but making the world a cleaner place. Well there is my little rant for the day haha.

After climbing around on some rocks, clearly you can see with my hair,
the wind was EPIC.

 There weren't many people at Panther Beach, but there is enough space that even if there were I don't think you could really tell. I found the beach on Pinterest, and the link did say that it is a pretty sweet surf spot, and I totally believe it! The waves that were just crashing onto the shore were HUGE!
We did some hiking around on the rocks around the coast, then decided to put our things down to attempt to jump into the water.

Garrett jumping into the crazy waves hitting the shore

Long story short, IT WAS CRAZY! I don't think that we got more than waist deep, I was taken out (legitimately, knocked off my feet) multiple times. It was fun, but we definitely would have fought to get further out into the water before we could enjoy it. Garrett and I had a great time, the views, the salt, sand and sun on our skin was all we needed.

Hey, look! I can do that too!

So the picture to the left is of me doing a pistol squat. in 2012, I made an amazing group of friends! Tyler (Garrett's older bother), Hidi, Crystal, Garrett and I all worked for a weight loss company called Wellspring. We basically liked to talk about how we would change the world with our ideas on fitness and health. We called our group SmackWorkXF. We decided that anytime we went somewhere cool, we would take an awesome picture doing a pistol squat. It was pretty awesome because during the summer of 2012 Garrett and I drove across the country and well garrett got good shots, because I suck and couldn't, still can't really do them haha. But here we are 2 ish years later, we are still keeping our tradition alive. From CA, to PA, to NC, we are all doing our own thing, but I can never forget the friends that I have made, and the pistol squat pictures that keep us together :)

I was so excited for this

We spent a couple hours at PB then decided to head into the city (San Francisco) for dinner! I love the city, it is my favorite place to be.
My mom and I have raved to Garrett about a place called Grubstake, that serves real Portuguese food, and being that we like our Portuguese background, obviously this place is one of our favs! not to mention that the food is bomb(dot) com. So that is where we decided to head for dinner! We started with the linguica and french bread appetizer- seriously, like Garrett said, " I wish linguini were healthier for you." Because serially I would eat it ALLLLLL the time!

Pork Chop Dinner at Grustake

For our meals, I got the sautéed shrimp and garlic plate, and garrett got their famous pork chop dinner. Our plates where clean at the end of our meals, so safe to say we enjoyed them! You can not leave this place without trying their Piri Piri sauce, or their chili verde sauce, as it is now called. It is jam packed with flavor and a great punch! SO GOOD!








For dessert, we made our way to Ghiradelli Square to get a sunday and some hot chocolate, there isn't much to say, because our pictures say it all. we were excited for what was about to happen! haha

Clearly Garrett was excited

whatttttt up!

All in all, we had an AMAZING day! Nothing makes me happier, than some sun, sand, the ocean, and my man. 

Just an FYI- to help my skin and hair recover from all that fun I love to use:ENJOY Hair Mask, and LUSH Ro's Argan Body Conditioner. Both are life savers to help moisturize and replenish the skin and hair after a brutal day in the sun, and ocean. 

Thanks!

xoxo

Tori