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Me & Peanut

Hello Loves! Happy Saturday! I'm finally getting into the groove of school, training, studying, and life, so hopefully back to semi-regular scheduled blogging!! The weekend after Labor Day aka the awesome California trip for Dumbo Double Dare (which you can read about a short thoughts here) was BUSY! I had made plans to keep the Peanut all weekend + had a school BBQ and CrossFit BBQ Saturday and run club fun Sunday.  I took the Peanut with me to everything - she's good like that. She spent about 6 hours in the pool on Saturday and two hours on Sunday. I LOVE that little girl - she's such a joy to have around and take care of! The school BBQ was fun - at my work BFF Nicolella's house.  Her dogs are AWESOME - seriously, they dive into the pool and swim to the bottom to get the ball - how cool is that? Peanut and I thought it was super cool - wonder if Scarlet would jump in?!?

Got to the Aspire BBQ late, but my bestie Jilly was there! I got to see her and her hubs, Tommy.  I LOVE love LOVE them! Seriously, would be lost without them. As always, I had a good time with my Aspire crew.  Didn't really talk to a lot of people.  Peanut and I didn't get there till late, so most people were in conversation.  I got to talk with TLyn and Kelly a lot, so that was good! Relaxed by Sandy's fire pit.  I love her backyard/house - so relaxing and makes me feel like I'm home.  It was a LONG day for both Peanut and myself.

Sunday started with Aspire Run Club........

I love my Sunday runs with the crew.  Our turnouts have been growing steadily and I love it.  Jess has even started coming.  She is brand new to running, and we all know how much I love working with new runners.  Ev comes too now! Such a good group.  The boy I have been hanging out with is in the picture too...but no disclosure on that...yet ;) After Run Club I also stayed and did some clean work with Caitlyn.

Got a new Clean and Jerk PR at 130#!



Kelly, Me, Coach Alycia

September 11th brought about the 9/11 Hero WOD - that thing was something different.  I really had to push myself.  I've been having some issues on my right shoulder, so it was a lot on my shoulder, but I did it.  We, as CrossFitters, do this to pay our respect and show we remember and value the lives lost.  There was NO way I was giving up! Took about 42 minutes, but it was done.  I did 95# for the lifts and 24" for the box jumps!





Aspire's Teams & Coaches

Last weekend we had a fundraiser competition - Beat The Streets - for Steve's Club. Aspire had a good turn out, as always!


Me & JC

I LOVE the thought of Steve's Club and really want to get involved - such a good thing and...some of my students are even in it...



Jake & Nilda - teammates

TLyn, Me, Nilda

I had a great time, as always.  I love doing CrossFit stuff, especially with my CrossFit crew.  It was good to see JC - one of my students from last year, and glad he has found Steve's Club.  Was good to hear how hard he has to work to get to the box to train and to keep his grades up.  Will have to check in on him! Had fun with my girls...and cheering on the other teams, from our box and others.

Team Snatchtastic - Jamie & me

I was lucky enough to pair with Jamie.  She's the best.  This lady is seriously AMAZING! When everything went down with my ankle, she was there when it happened and held my hand, she helped me with the girls before I took them to TN, she took me to and from the gym. Not to mention she is a BEAST! She got 1st in her last competition because she completed like 21 deadlifts in a min - I wanna say at like 175 or something too - amazing!

We had fun! At least I did.  I was the second to last heat, so I got to watch everything go down.  Lots of handsome CrossFit guys to check out ;)

As always, this past Sunday started with Aspire Run Club. It's just becoming a normality at this point haha!

 

This week has been good - Back To School Night at school and we got treated to sweet new cups from  our administration! Love them! I am so blessed to have a job I love so much.  I've taken a lot of time off this week, but yesterday I went and played with my snatch to see how my shoulder was feeling.  I do have my FIRST EVER Olympic Lifting Competition coming up...and....

I hit my FIRST EVER TRIPLE DIGIT SNATCH!! 100#!! Can you tell be the end of the video how excited I was?!? Even with my broken ankle this year, I've made most of my goals already - and just keep updating them!! CrossFit has changed my life! Can't wait to get my L1 here soon and start changing other people's lives!

 

Train Smart - Lift Heavy - Eat Clean :)

 

~xx

M

DumboDoubleDare Racecation Part 3

Finally...last but not least...my last part of my DumboDoubleDare Racecation!! You can see Part 1 and Part 2 if you missed out. So obviously, my Saturday ended fabulous. Dinner with one of my favorite people in the world - My Tony! Always makes me wonder what would have been had we never moved apart from each other. I got home at a decent time and got to bed - half marathon mornings - especially runDisney ones - always have a early start! I was texting my girlfriend Ro all morning to see where she was so we could meet up.  We finally linked up at the corals.  She has not been training fully, and clearly with my broken ankle and not being able to run haha neither had I.  I only had a goal to finish the race and enjoy it.  That was her goal too!! In all my Disney races, I've never stopped at all the stops.  I'm always scared I'll be to slow and get held back.  This time, I did it anyways. I am a HUGE Disney fan so I can honestly say that all the stops made the day so much more fun!

Our first stop was Monsters Inc. I absolutely LOVE Monsters Inc.  Heck I went and saw Monsters U with no child - some people probably thought I was weird....eh' whatever haha :) While we were waiting for Monsters Inc. - because there is always a line for pics, but totally worth it - I was texting Shireen.  Her and Jamie were running the half too... she ended up meeting up with us right after our Aladin picture...which isn't up haha! I just picked a few to put up!

My FAVORITE stop was with the toy soliders from Toy Story.  There was three of them and three of us so....how stinkin cute are we? And totally side note - look how much more I'm leaning out? I've been stuck on the scale but people keep saying I look smaller.  I can't tell, but this picture def helped me see. Always a bonus!

We also stopped and had our picture taken with Darth Vadar. As we were leaving, a storm trooper was walking out.  We were kind of complaining out loud when he charged towards Ro and she got a cool pic.  Then he turned and bolted towards Shireen and I.  I LOVE this pic too!

Of course, we stopped and took pictures in front of the castle and it's super cute! And as a HUGE sports nerd, I thought it was totally cool we got to run (or by that point my ankle was sore so we were walking more so then running haha) Angel Stadium.

 

There was a car club on the back stretch - I love cars so that was really cool.  Some awesome classics and the people were very supporting.  By about mile 11 I was definitely getting tired from lack of running.  My ankle was sore (no more so then I knew it would be) but didn't hurt to bad.  By 12-12.5 my ankle was DONE.  I knew I would finish, but couldn't wait to be off of it. Mama was right at the 13 mile mark and complete changed how I felt.  Just knowing she was there for a race made ALL the difference. I never thought it could make that big of an impact, but it was awesome.  I hope she knows (or she will when she reads this haha) how much it meant. 

I know I've said it before, but CrossFit has changed my life.  There is NO way I would have completed those 19.3 miles Labor Day weekend without it.  For not really running and 6 months prior having broken my ankle, I am STOKED. 


My time stunk, but I had a BLAST, made new friends and finished!!  After the race, we headed back down to San Diego. We grilled out and relaxed for dinner.  I crashed HARD that night! Monday morning I woke up feeling good.  Ankle was sore, but not to bad.  We spent the day with my God Family. Cookout and kids and family - BEST time. I caught a redeye back to Jersey Monday night and went back to work Tuesday morning!  It was a great trip and just what I needed before school started back.  :)

~xx
M

PS there was a L1 seminar at my San Diego hotel that started the day I left...BOO!

DumboDoubleDare Racecation...Part 2

Hello loves! Finally getting around to updating all of y'all on my awesome Disney racecation.  You can find Part 1 here. After an awesome night out with my God-sisters, Friday morning was an early start.  We definetly had a head start since I was still on East Coast time.  Mama and I headed down to Chula Vista to pick up God-Mom then got on our way to Disneyland! They dropped me off at the expo...which if you haven't heard by now, it was a not so hot experience.  I'm not going to complain or whine on here...stuff needs to be changed by next year's event, and I know RunDisney is doing their best to get it done.

God-Mom & Mama

After the expo GodMom, Mama and I went over to the parks. We went to Disneyland. It was SUPER hot. We did some of the smaller rides. The ladies also got themselves those fans...you know that spray you too! Haha they were funny! We rode the train around and did a couple rides.  I made sure to go see the Iron Man exhibit.  Incase you don't know - IRON MAN GEEK! Seriously - total geek out moment there. I left early and headed back to rest. Mama and God-Mom stayed and did some other stuff.

Me, Shireen and Jamie

Saturday morning I woke up and got ready for race time! Ro wasn't going to make the 10K because she did not get her packet in time. I got ready in my sweet new Sparkle Athletic skirt and Raw Threads shirt. Obviously I was nervous about my ankle.  I did not have a goal time or some PR I wanted.  Goal was to finish out the weekend with a healthy ankle and races done.  Thank GOD for Shireen and Jamie.  I meet up with them around mile 2 and they saved me.  I totally held them up, but they were sweet enough to stay with me. By the end of the race, I had two new race friends (both from California, so totally have to get out there for a race haha). We had lots of fun talking and getting to know each other. I really enjoyed their company and help.  For not running more then two miles since before I broke my ankle and it having been six months, I was pumped. Now for the coolest part of my whole trip. I have been running for about five years now - everything from 5Ks to Full Marathons - and I've never had family at a race to cheer me on. I had actually just finished telling my new friends about how my Mama was there to support me.  As we came into the last half mile or so, we came around the corner and Mama was THERE! It honestly MADE MY WHOLE RACE!! I've had friends at races before, which is always awesome, but to actually have Mama there was awesome. We finished the race and I headed back to the hotel.  I grabbed a shower and then had some brunch with Mama & God-Mom at the hotel.  They went to the park and I watched the Buckeyes play and then a nap.

Once I woke up - I headed over to the park and hung out with the ladies. It was super hot again. We just did some shows and a ride or two.  Nothing major. (My recaps aren't uber fun huh? haha) It was a fun day, but I was scared to be on my ankle too much.  I really want to go back and have more time at the parks. After hanging out for a while, we headed back to the hotel.  One of my ex-boyfriends and favorite people in the WHOLE world lives out there so we decided to go to dinner. It was honestly amazing to see him, and that could be an understatment.  It was like time hadn't passed at all. 

Me & Tony

 Didn't skip a beat. Always interesting to be reminded of such an amazing time in your life! Him and I had such an amazing relationship. We ended up spliting due to distance, but I'm happy we can still catch up and be such good friends.  You never know what will happen ;)

It was a good dinner and relaxed night to have before the half marathon. I made plans to meet up with Ro and Shireen for the half marathon. Next up...the amazing half marathon :)

12 Week Update....Guess What I Did?

Hello Loves! Hope you're having a fabulous week!! After last weekend, I'm still having a great week! Monday night I went to the Phillies game with my girl Allie! We went late that way we could get our WOD on first. I'm glad we decided to WOD first...I needed it.

We started an OLY series we will be doing on Monday - snatch work. 2x2 at 60,65,70,75 & 80% of your 1RM.  I have no idea what mine is so I just worked in with my girl Nilda who was doing it based off 100# 1RM. Seemed to work well. I got all the lifts in and felt good. The video shoes the first two of 75# and the first two at 80#.

We also did some back squat work.  Coach worked in with me since she is recovering and so am I.  I actually got up to 155# for 3, which you can see in the video.  Knees came in and it was HEAVY, but ankle and hip felt pretty good.

I'm slowly getting these numbers back up.  After this our metcon of 5 rounds of 5 pull-ups, 10 front squats at 65 and 15 WB kicked my butt haha!

I think I was able to get all this done because I came to class from physical therapy. Either way, I'm happy with how I'm coming back.

Tuesday I ended up not working out.  Unplanned rest day, but I'm sure my body was ok with it. I technically did 4 on, 1 off, 3 on 1 off so I am ok with it.  I was too busy running around getting stuff done. I had to take the girls to the groomer, went and put money down for the deposit for my new apartment (which I can't WAIT to move into), got an adjustment at the chiro (bonus of seeing my old CrossFit gymnastic coach and friend Jordanna) and then had to pick the girls up.  I did not get home in time to go WOD, but it's ok.  Sometimes life happens and you just make do.

Katie drinking soup! ha

However I did get to go have dinner with T and Katie (who is the girl I'm working with this summer at the camp). It was fun to just catch up and talk with them.  I am enjoying getting to know Katie better.  She is a blast to work with and we seem to get along really well.  Her and her BF are buying a house so we have both been talking about having a girls night in our new places :)

Yesterday marked my 12 week date since I broke my ankle on the rope. Now little back story - I wasn't doing anything cool. I've never in my life been able to climb a rope nor did I ever think I would. I was standing on a box and holding onto the rope for as long as I could (maybe 5 seconds) and then would step back on to the box, rest and try again.  As I came off the box, I stepped on the tail and broke my ankle. Silly right? Bring on my 12 week date...

It started with a 6:30 am WOD of deadlift - PRed at 185 for three and then a metcon of 4 deadlifts at 120, 8 burpees and 12 wallballs - AMRAP in 12 minutes - I got 5 rounds and into the wallballs of the 6th.  Then I went to PT. After PT I ran some errands then went to the pool for work till 6.  After work I headed back to the box.  I wanted to try and climb the rope.  Guess what I did?!? I climbed the rope!! It was SO cool.  I got nervous half way up and came down, but it's a start and that's more then I've ever been able to do!!! You can see the video and how excited I was. For some folks I know this is a walk in the park, but for me it means more then a lot of people will get.  That is the EXACT rope that 12 weeks ago I couldn't even hold myself up for more then 5 seconds.  That is the EXACT rope I broke my ankle on.  That is the EXACT rope that was a blessing in disguise.  Breaking my ankle was a major blessing.  I got to grow a lot as an athlete and person.  I learned how to ask for help and know that it is ok sometimes to just ask people for help.  I also really got to focus on how weak my upper body and core were.  It has been an amazing journey.

 

Hope you're week has been good! Anything cool going on for you?

 

PS anyone working the CrossFit Games? If so, want a roomie? I've been offered a spot but don't have a roomie and can't afford a room solo...whomp whomp :(

 

~xoxo

M

Awesome Weekend + Fitness Recap

Hello my loves!! How are y'all? Doing fabulous here. Had my first four days in a row since my break at CrossFit last week, had two nights out this weekend with loves and my first run club back!! I started the weekend with Physical Therapy. Got some schedule planning done while there. Seems like I can't get on top of my summer schedule yet. Between camp, CrossFit, extra training and trying to get running back up and going.

Life is good. I'm lucky. I'm loving this summer job at Barclay Farms Swim Club. The kids are cute. Big change from middle school and Camden haha.
 

Fitness Recap
Monday - CrossFit - Lynn was brutal
Tuesday - CrossFit - power snatch work plus metcon of wallballs burpees and power snatch - my arms were dying from Monday and between that and today I was dead after haha
Wednesday - CrossFit + OLY class - hexbar deadlift - PR at 200#s!!! I was SO excited!! Now for a reg deadlift! Then skipped the metcon and went to OLY and did power snatch and power clean + push press.

Thursday - Fourth of July - CrossFit - Hero WOD - we did Lumberjack 20 in honor of the Fort Hood guys 



Me & Caden after Hope WOD

That WOD kicked my butt. It was my first four in a row since the break and it was brutal. After this WOD I laid on my living room floor and slept for 3 hours haha.


Friday - Rest Day

Saturday - CrossFit - went to 856 with AC and did CrossFit for Hope WOD! It was a good time.

Sunday - My first Run Club back! Was brutal and hard but ankle/hip felt good! First official training run for #DumboDoubleDare - Can't wait! Goal is just to finish!

It was a great week of WODing. Couple PRs and lots of really pushing through. Plus back to OLY class and run club!!

Went out Thursday (after I woke up from y Lumberjack 20 nap haha) to Ry & AC's to grill and hang. I love them. Plus Rachel and Chris were there. After us girls went to Dan & Andrew's and hung out for a little bit!! 

Friday I went out with JJ and her friends to North Shore Beach Club in Phily

Saturday - went to Sandy's house for some relax time then some of the box crew went to Philly for a birthday surprise for my box buddy Erik - his GF put everything together. UFC + Dave&Busters = awesome evening!

What a rare weekend for me -- all that going out! Much needed. Had a blast! I also think I found a place to live! Hopefully will find out more today!! I feel like a lot is going on and at the same time nothing haha.

How was your weekend? Anything fun?
~xoxo
Melissa 

11 Week Ankle Update

Hello loves!! Quick little vlog for you to see - sorry its not really quick haha- to update you on things. Key points - still having ankle issues, might have torn hip/groin, job is back, camp is great, CrossFit rocks and running is coming back! Mama Dukes was here this past weekend - was GREAT to have her here. Now that she is back in Tennessee, it seems like everyone is so far. Can't wait till August to go home! Fall equals a ton of trips home - Tank's birthday, Princess's birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas!! Also had a CrossFit Aspire party!! Love my box crew!!