cfaf Archives - Running on Peanut Butter

My One Year at CrossFit Ad Finem

September 9, 2014 by Allie 10 Comments

Last week happened to be my 1 year anniversary with CrossFit and at CrossFit Ad Finem. It has been the quickest year I can recall, and easily the best year yet. When I started CrossFit, I joined because I wanted to get in better shape, but what I have gotten out of it is so much more than just being stronger.

I had always been terrified of CrossFit and of joining. I was intimated by the sport, the athletes of the sport, and I also really just didn’t want to get bulky and jacked. Towards the end of last summer, my friend Sara, who I knew from our Blog & Tweet NH group, mentioned hosting an event at her box, CrossFit Ad Finem. She asked Mat, her coach and owner of the box, if he would be up for it, and he was on board. I was up for a CrossFit event solely because the class would be an intro with a group of female bloggers that had never done it before. I was immediately hooked and wanted more of it.

CFAF, as we call our box, was having a cookout after our blog event for their members, and Mat invited the bloggers to stay for that. I was the only one who stayed, and while I was a little shy, everyone I met was just so welcoming, and they quickly became great friends.

I immediately went through the Elements course, which was 2 days a week, for 2 weeks, where I learned the basics of CrossFit. Sadly, no one from my Elements class stuck with it, but I had Sara there to get me through the beginning of my CrossFit journey. I immediately joined Sara in the 6:30 am class, where I met 2 amazing ladies, Marge and Kara.

After about a month, we had 3 new members join our morning class. Brian, Katie & Tucker. They had just completed their Elements course, and our small morning class quickly grew.

The great thing about going to the same class time, is that you form such a great bond with your teammates and coach. My favorite thing about the morning crew is that most of the time we are just so tired that the things that come out of our mouths just don’t make any sense, which leads to uncontrollable laughter.

I got stronger. My shirts stopped fitting, but I was stronger. I could lift more than I ever have in my life. Mat turned me into a real athlete. He coached me through proper form, and taught me the importance of mobility, and how it greatly affects your performance and your body.

Girl’s night occurred, and we had fun eating Paleo treats, having girl talk, and getting a little workout in.

I even convinced my brother to join me for a mid-day workout. We did part of a female workout, and he was smoked. It was a lot of fun getting him to experience part of what I get to enjoy almost every day.

This guy right here landed a wonderful spot in my life, and has easily become one of my favorite guys in the world. In March, every Thursday a workout was announced for the CrossFit Open, and every Saturday we would all pile into the box and do the workout in heats. Each Saturday Alan had fun and dressed up.

When Shape Magazine bashed the cancer survivor who ran races in tutus, Sara brought tutus in, and the guys proudly wore them.

I joined every Saturday for the CrossFit Open, and while I didn’t register for it, I completed the workouts to a scaleable level that worked for me. I hated every second of the workouts, but loved the feeling of accomplishment after each workout, and loved spending quality time with our group.

In April, I competed in my first competition with a group from our box. I wanted to poop my pants, but I did it. After the competition, I toyed with the idea of really wanting to compete in more, and while it’s not on my mind to compete anytime soon in a big event, it is something I would do if the right one came along.

Mat and his lovely wife Lauren got pregnant, and we threw Lauren a baby shower.

And we had our first CrossFit baby. Little Owen. Rocking his CF Ad Finem onesie.<3

More importantly, I found a place that I call my home. A place where I can go to get stronger, be better, and release stress. It’s a place that pushes me and encourages me to make goals and to hit those goals. I’m a part of a community that is bigger than I knew possible. My coach and my teammates hold me accountable. I hold myself accountable. It’s my happy place. It’s my favorite place.

Blog & Tweet NH: CrossFit Ad Finem

September 24, 2013 by Allie 4 Comments

For the past 2 years, my cousin Jenn has been begging me to try CrossFit, and I’ve always sternly said no, so when Sara mentioned having a Blog & Tweet NH event at her CrossFit box, I jumped at the idea. I figured trying CrossFit out with a group of girls who had never done it before was a great way to try it out. Mat, the owner and coach at CrossFit Ad Finem was on board.

Over the next month leading up to our event, I found myself tweeting with Sara and Mat about CrossFit. I instantly became more and more excited to try CrossFit, and as you all know, he got me into his box way before the event, and got me hooked.

Needless to say, I was extremely excited for our Blog & Tweet girls to come meet Mat and try CrossFit out. Side note: I posted this picture on Facebook, and all the ladies were loving him. I believe he was called Justin Timberlake, sexual, and Mr. Delicious. I am pretty positive that this picture was enough promotion for him, and our event wasn’t even necessary.

We had a smaller turnout than originally planned, which was definitely frustrating, but I think that worked out great, workout wise. Silver linings in everything.

Sara, myself, Mat, Emily & Kristen.

Mat used to be the Head Trainer at Gold’s Gym. He loved sports and fitness, but got bored fast, as he felt he wasn’t able to do enough. Mat has been a certified coach for 2 years, but has been involved in CrossFit since 2008, when he started trying crazier workouts. He got that competitive urge back, and once he got his Level 1 Certification, he was hooked, and “drank all the kool-aid.” It was him against the clock, and it just clicked for him.

At Ad Finem, Mat firmly believes in a few things, 2 of which being the community and mobility. Mat starts every class 5 minutes late, as he loves everyone to chit chat before sweating their asses off. At Ad Finem, and every other box, it’s all about the community, and that’s what makes people stay. When I first started at CFAF, I immediately felt welcomed and comfortable from day 1. The people at Ad Finem are basically amazing, and that’s all you need to know.

We started off our workout with mobility, which is strongly emphasized by Mat, as he focuses on mobility exercises that correlate with what you will be doing in your WOD.

After that, Mat ran us through our WOD, and always takes the time to run us through each movement before we start.

Shawty got low & taught us the proper squat technique. Mat knows squat.

Then it was time to run through Wall Balls. Lesson learned: never do wall balls with a hat on. You can’t see it coming down.

And then it was on to the banded pull-ups because we all have shrimp muscles and can’t do a pull-up… yet.

And then our WOD began.

3 RFT (Rounds for Time)

400 M run
15 Wall Balls
10 Banded Pull-Ups
5 Burpees… my favorite part!

The workout was a freakin’ killer, and my legs were hating the running.

I actually enjoy burpees (read: most of the time), and it was actually my favorite part of the WOD. I would’ve preferred 15 burpees over 15 wall balls any day of the week.

Emily and Kristen both said they loved the event and wish they had a box closer to them. CrossFit is truly the only way to get in the best shape of your life, and you have to do things you don’t love, to be better.

At CrossFit Ad Finem, every workout can be scaled based on any injuries, age, and physical strength. Mat has members ranging in age from 21 to 82. Pretty impressive & motivating!

Mat’s parting words were, “this is for everybody. All you need to know is CrossFit. Why? Just do it.”

If you’re living in the Manchester/Bedford area, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Mat, Sara, or myself. Mat welcomes anyone to come watch a class and to try one out for free. You’ll never know if you’ll love CrossFit if you don’t try it! Oh! And his next beginners course “Elements,” starts up Monday, September 30th, so if you’re interested, do it!

Plus, Boone is the perfect mascot. 🙂

Thanks for an awesome event, Mat! 🙂

Old School Hurt + I Landed A Date

September 20, 2013 by Allie 3 Comments

Hola, and happy Friday to my love bugs! Make sure you enter my I Heart Keenwah giveaway if you haven’t yet! I’ll close the giveaway Sunday evening and announce the winner Monday morning.

This week has flown by, just like all the other weeks, and I’m looking forward to this weekend. For starters, I have my first date in a long time tonight, and either it will go really well, or I’ll have some really good blog content if it’s sour. 😉 I love a good horror date story, but I’m ready for some good dates. I need that good karma to come my way, so if you’re already in love, stop hogging it already, geesh!

I have to admit that this week I have really stuck hard to my macros and haven’t gone over. Previously, I had been indulging a little more at night, but for some reason, this week I finally had an epiphany, and have been feeling so much better because of the healthier food choices I have been making. I haven’t gotten wicked hungry between meals, I’m staying away from a lot of processed foods, and I’m loving how my body is looking with more veggies and Crossfit workouts.

I took Wednesday off from Crossfit because I was sore, and Thursday when I woke up, I was honestly craving a nice, morning run. I have been skimping on my runs lately, and I knew a run would make me feel better. I got in a nice 3 mile run, on a crisp Thursday morning, but after that, my day went downhill. I barely had an appetite, and by 2 pm, the only things I had been able to consume were a protein shake (made with water), and ground turkey with sugar snap peas and sweet potatoes.

I had this nagging pain in my lower abdomen, like period cramps, even though it wasn’t that. I contemplated going to Crossfit after work, but because of late nights all week, I decided an evening spent vegging out and getting to bed earlier was more practical. And then I had this boost of energy, and I went to Crossfit. Funny how that happens, eh? The workout was awesome, and I was so happy I went!

We had 2 WODs.

Old School Hurt -AMRAP 10 — 3 rounds + lunges + 3 pull-ups

100 ft walking lunges
10 X banded pull-ups – I used the blue band which gave me more assistance

Speed Demon – AMRAP 5 — 2 rounds + 30 m run

100 m run
5 X hindu push-ups
10 X knee-ups

On the first round of knee-ups, I opened a cut on my finger nail/cutical area, and felt a sticky substance on my finger. When I looked at my hand, I realized what it was. When I asked Mat for a band-aid, he looked at me like I was crazy and told me I could finish my workout and wipe the blood off of whatever I got it on after I was done. So that’s what I did, and I didn’t clean my hand until it was dried on my finger, shirt and pants.

And then I treated myself the rest of the night and lounged around and worked on finishing S5 of Castle. Heavenly Thursday.

When you debate working out, what gets your butt out the door and to the gym/box/track?

Will I Turn Into a Fish from an Omega-3 Overload?

September 19, 2013 by Allie 3 Comments

Are you a quinoa lover? If so, please don’t forget to enter my I Heart Quinoa giveaway! It is delicious and I might rig the giveaway so that I win. 🙂

This is what intermediate torture looks like. That’s me with the blonde bun 2nd from the left.

After our workout, Mat goes to let Boone out.

And I took advantage to do this. This is what pure joy looks like after completing a WOD. I’m actually not swinging. I have to use so much effort into jumping to grab the bar (hi, I’m an uncertified midge), that the force swings me around.

And this is why I’m so happy to be swinging from bars.

Warm-up:

.60 mile warm-up run by myself before class in 39 degree temps. (Gross).
10-12 minutes of practicing handstand kick-ups, or actual hand-stands if you’re awesome like Sara.

WOD: “Diane” 21-15-9

Deadlifts – 75 lbs
Hindu Push-ups – holy crap these are so stupidly hard!

After-Party: 3 rounds

30 second ring hold (10 second break)
1 minute plank hold (2 minute break) – best 4 minutes ever

On my lunch, I really needed to get a run in. I’ve been too obsessed with Crossfit this week that I’ve been putting my morning runs on hold. I went for a 2.4 mile lunch time run, and scarfed this bad boy down immediately after. I do not breathe when I eat. Do you know how to breathe between bites? Please tell me how.

After work, I picked up several essentials. I am addicted to asparagus and my coach and I email back and forth about the heavenly veggie. Yes, we are weird. Every day she gives me a new asparagus fact. Yesterday it was that it helps get rid of water weight and aids in digestion. Double whammy double fact! Put those tidbits in your back left pocket.This is also the salmon that I was raving about yesterday. Please try this. $5.99 for 2 filets at Hannaford (if you’re from around here). (If you don’t know where here is, it’s NH. No I do not live in the woods).

After grabbing the food, I grabbed the 3 kiddos and hung out with them from 5:15 until 11:15. Well, they ditched me for bed around 8:30, but you get the idea. After putting them to bed, I dug into this bad boy around 9 for a late dinner.

If I have this 3 days in a row, will I turn into a fish from too much omega-3?

A Great Way to Start the Week

September 17, 2013 by Allie 2 Comments

This week is off to a fabulous start, and as my Mom said, “it’s going to be a great week!”

Monday I got to sleep in until 5:45, as I had a 6:30 am Crossfit workout scheduled. My Elements course ended Saturday, and I knew this was the direction I wanted my workouts to move in, so I immediately bought a membership.

The workout felt great, and royally kicked my butt. When I arrived, I ran a 300ish M warm-up run around the building, before it was time to start class.

We started with a warm-up of 3 sets of:

7 kettlebell swings
7 pull-up swings
7 lunges

Next up was our skill/strength part of the class, which was back squats:

5 sets of 5 reps

I started with just the bar, which weighed 45 lbs, for the first 2 sets, and then added on 20 lbs for the next 3 sets, bringing it to 65 lbs.

And then the WOD, which made me want to be done with after the 3rd round.

5 sets for time:

200 m run
15 wall balls – #14MB (medicine ball)
40 single unders (aka normal jump roping 🙂 )

Mat said his goal was to work our legs, and holy crap, mission accomplished. I didn’t think I’d be able to run the last 2 sets of 200 m. I envisioned my legs giving out and face smacking the pavement. I finished the WOD in 14:47, and then I was surprised with an “after-party.” Really not sure if this is the type of after-party I like.

3 sets of:

15 sit-ups
15 good mornings

That was definitely a good morning, and I was bright-eyed and bushy tailed by 7:30 am.

The day got even better when I heard from my IT guy, Ryan, over at WP Site Care. When I went self-hosted, I chose to partner with Web Hosting Hub. Biggest mistake ever. I had been working with Ryan for 10 days to fix blog issues. 10 days. And Ryan thought he could have it resolved in less than an hour. Turns out that Web Hosting Hub lied about my storage space, and they also refused to admit there was an issue on their end in regards to linking with other blogs, etc, even after Ryan proved it. They wouldn’t own up, and in the end, Ryan helped me switch hosting sites, and migrated everything over for me.

Ryan kept me informed every day; morning, afternoon, and night. His responses to my emails were always prompt, and his hard work truly impressed me. Better yet, the invoice he sent me was about 10x lower than I was even expecting! I more than highly recommend Ryan’s team for any WordPress issues you might have. And I triple highly recommend you not do business with Web Hosting Hub.

The rest of my day flew by, and after work, I finished up my run, and snuck in 2.2 miles before doing some blog work, opening 2 sweet packages for the blog (one’s a giveaway popping up here tomorrow – so you better show up), and relaxing.

Did you have a case of the Mondays, or did you actually have a good start to the week?