Back in the groove

Gotta burn off all that sweet potato casserole somehow! :)

Run 1600 meters (4 laps)

20 push-ups

Run 1200 meters (3 laps)

20 reverse push-ups

Run 800 meters (2 laps)

100 bicycle crunches

Run 400 meters (1 lap)

Ab ladder (7 sets of 30 ab crunches at varying leg heights/positions)

12 pull-ups

800 meter cool down and stretch.

This was a fun workout and felt like it went by really quickly. It was so overcast and windy this morning, yet strangely warm-- the perfect setting for a mind-altering post-workout runner's high. I'm still basking in the after glow...ahhhsighofrelief.

In other news, my calves are still pretty tight from the Tofurkey Trot on Thursday because I rarely run barefoot over 1 mile on hard asphalt. You know what that means....bigger CALF MUSCLES!

Go ahead, I DARE you to question where I get my protein.

I get quite tired of being asked where I get my protein and frustrated with the unnecessary concern about if I'm getting enough. Truth is, sufficient and accurate knowledge about plant-based protein sources is uncommon within the general American public these days, even personal trainers and exercise scientists with degrees focusing on human anatomy and physiology, surprisingly...It is woeful how the meat industries in America have so influenced the populous to the point where common belief is that a meal is not a meal without a piece of meat. Beef, it's not the only thing that's for dinner. The Standard American Diet revolves around animal flesh to meet protein requirements for several traditional and political reasons, when plant-based sources are more beneficial and more than sufficient in countless ways.

Muscle-building vegans are not some myth; In fact they're likely more common than you think.

I read nearly every word of all of the following extremely informative and current resources and I encourage you to read them as well if looking to be a high-performance vegan athlete. Some of these articles and reports are more scholarly than others, but they're all very fascinating and enlightening.

http://www.criticalbench.com/build_muscle_vegetarian_diet.htm

http://www.veganbodybuilding.com/?page=menu_nutrition

http://www.nealhendrickson.com/PDF/PDFMc030900NL.pdf

http://connectiondev.lww.com/Products/dudek/documents/PDFs/2724-03_pp44-64.pdf

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/mahler53.htm

http://frontrangecrossfit.typepad.com/nutrition/files/the_zone_diet_for_crossfit.pdf

http://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/2010/04/vegan-protein-faqs-sources-of-weight.html

http://www.vegsource.com/news/2010/03/gladiators-were-vegan-video.html

http://engine2diet.com/

Tofurkey Trot

On Thanksgiving, my brother, dad and I ran the Turkey Trot 5k at Cary Crossroads. Dave and I ran in our vibram bikilas and got lots of fun attention from other runners. We each performed very well in the race and felt great afterwards!

I got 19th out of 348 runners, was the 2nd female to finish, and got 1st in my age group (20-24). My time was 21:25 and my pace was 6:56 min/mile. I'm so pleased with how strong I felt, and I really think I could've run faster and beat the girl that was running the 6:50 pace in front of me. I hadn't run in a race in over a year, and it was SO fun!! It was an incredible way to see how my crossfit training is really proving to be exceptional for keeping me in running shape, and great shape overall. I sort of expected to run a 24 min 5k, but I haven't run under a 22 min timed 5k since highschool cross country! What a wonderful way to celebrate Tofurkey day!!

Click here for the race results.

super quick session

On Wednesday I did a quick workout consisting of:

3 rounds:

10 burpees

10 L-sit toes to bar

10 shoulder pulls (machine thing where you pull the bar down), 120#

10 leg presses, 200#

ran 1.25 miles on the treadmill at 7-8mph

Custom werkout

WOD:

5 rounds of:

500 m row (each under 2:25 mins)

12 pull ups (30# assistance)

105# squat, 15 reps

12 dips (20# assistance)

+ ab ladder #pain

Collin meeee

(Call on meeeeeeee, call on me... :)
WOD:

Five rounds for a time of:

Carry 35# plate 400 m

65# push press, 12 reps

15 box jumps,

65# Sumo deadlift high-pull, 12 reps

+ abs on incline and recline (30 each)

And then everyone cheered...

WOD:

7 rounds of

400 m

10 burpees

10 pushups (lifting hands off ground at bottom)

10 chest to bar

+ ab ladder and oblique workout

I did this workout at the track because it was a beautiful, mild day and there was a home football game happening next to it. It's really exciting to run there while a game is going on because it feels like everyone is cheering me on, and occasionally a drunk frat boy will come do sit ups with me. Plus I can hear the announcer so its like watching a football game except I'm doing something and not getting bored just sitting in the stands. I did this last Saturday when Elon played Furman too. Elon has won both times! Maybe I'm their good luck charm...

This was an awesome workout because I felt really strong. It took almost exactly an hour, so it was a long and intense one. YEY.

"Harry"

WOD: Hang power clean 3-3-3-3-3-3-3 reps

This workout goes out to the big HP. You know who I'm talkin' about.

45-55-65-75-80-85-85 in 8:00 mins + 75 sit ups w/ 25lb plate resistance

Vegan potluck tonight is Harry Potter themed-- duh. Pumpkin pasties, butterbeer, and treakle tarts followed by the midnight premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows!

Full handstands OMG

Complete as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:
30 second Handstand hold
30 second Squat hold
30 second L-sit hold
30 second Chin over bar hold

= 5.5 rounds

+ 2000m row in 9:58 mins. That was challenging after all those squats and chin over bar holds!

I felt so powerful holding those handstands against the wall for several 30-second intervals. My favorite part of the workout was going from handstands and flipping over into squats and watching the sweat just DRIPPING off my face while holding the squat. I felt kickass. But who wouldn't?

So my old crossfit blog was on Tumblr...

...but no one could comment on it unless they were involved in tumblr too, so I've finally gotten this one up on Blogger.

I began doing Crossfit in March 2010 and kept the blog up for about 2 months until summer arrived. During the summer I was traveling and doing research [http://jlschnaak.wordpress.com/] on North Carolina's local food movement and relationships people have with it, so that kept me very busy until school started up again in the fall. I was still working out all summer and doing lots of cycling, but only the occasional Crossfit WOD. Since August I've been very into Crossfit and have been spreading my enthusiasm for it to lots of friends and gym buddies.

Each time I go to the gym, I bring with me a post-it with the WOD on it. Here are most of this fall's WODs that I have done:

Some highlights of my progress over the past few months include:

Benchpress PR: April 2010 - 85lbs... --> October 6, 2010 - 120lbs!

Push-ups: October 13 - 35 in 1 minute

Row: November - 500 m - 2:09 mins

HSPU: greater range of motion, but still doing progressions

Burpee Pull ups: could never do them before --> now I can do 10! so intense!

I'm vegan. I do crossfit. I wear vibrams.

Hello! I’m Jenny, and this is a fitness blog designed to add some organization, fun and improvement-tracking to my workout routine as I continue to thrive with CrossFit, cycling and yoga. This will be carried out while passionately continuing my very conscious and health-minded vegan lifestyle. CrossFit should add some excitement and suspense to my fitness regimen and help me build more muscle and gain power in my core, arms and most importantly, my pistons, the money-makers, my LEGZUHHH. Onward and upward Hoo-Rah!