Workout Update

Workouts. I used to write a lot about them around here, but then I got out of the habit a bit and I just realized I hadn’t mentioned them in ages! I am still doing a mix of CrossFit, short runs/ HIIT workouts and the Physique 57 DVDs. 

This cycle at CrossFit, (see here for more on training cycles) I have really been focusing on my squat. I am trying to squat twice a week – which is a lot, but I really need to try and focus my form if I hope to make any progress. Rarely is it a hindrance to be super flexible, but squatting is one of those areas. Put some weight on my back and I tend to drop so low that I then struggle to get back up without breaking form. This has (in the previous cycle) led to a small but very painful tear in my left quad muscle, so I am holding off on increasing the weight too much until I gain better control over the lift.

We have also been working on strict pressing, bench pressing, power cleans, and deadlifts. Power cleans used to baffle me, but I have been working on them consistently this cycle. Icing my collarbones has become a part of Thursday morning routine as I am still working on the control aspect of the lift, but I am finally hitting a better jump position. 

*image

As for those (in)famous CrossFit WODs, here are some recent favorites:

15-12-9-6-3 Reps For Time Of:

Dumbbell Burpee Hang Power Clean Burpees* (I cant even begin to describe how awful these were) 

20 AbMat Sit-Ups

For Time:

20 Thrusters 115/75

20 KB Swings 53/35

20 Burpees

20 Calories Rowed

270m Run

For Time:

Row 800m* (I ran instead of rowed)

40 Burpees

20 Toe to Bars or 50 Sit-Ups

With a partner, alternate rounds for 15 minutes of the following triplet:

5 Chest to Bar Pull-Ups* (scaled to jumping pull-ups)

10 Hand Release Push-Ups

15 Squats or Pistols

What is your workout of choice? 

Reach any fitness milestones recently? Have any big goals? Share! 

Weekend Snaps

A Saturday morning run along the Brooklyn waterfront followed by brunch at Siggys. 

Braving the rainy afternoon to check out Googa Mooga. 

 

Mine...

and his! 

Lazy Sunday morning with plenty of coffee. 

Indulging in a (belated) birthday massage. 

Perfect peonies at the store. 

A very green dinner to round out the weekend. 

What did you get up to this weekend?

Recent Favorites

Where to go to customize your perfect pair of Ferragamo flats. Yes, please!
M ordered this cookbook for me as a surprise after I fell in love during a Saturday trip to our local bookshop. I can't wait to make everything in it.
This is one very stylish lady.
Want to do some serious procrastination/time wasting? Search your Twitter handle and be prepared to laugh at your 'modified' tweets.
I'm not normally a huge fan of noodles, but this dish pairs them with a trifecta of awesome ingredients: kale, avocado and miso. Yum!

Happy Saturday!

Emerald Maxi Dress

Ever since I saw the movie Atonement, I have been obsessed with the green evening dress that Keira Knightly's character wears in one of the pivotal scenes. I recently saw this fantastic emerald green dress with a similar, yet modern silhouette. While I don't normally choose maxi dresses, this one comes in two lengths, which is helpful for us who are on the shorter side. I think this might just have to be added to my closet!

Mother's Day Weekend

It has been an incredibly busy two weeks, hence the lack of blogging! There have been some really good times: a trip to DC for Lindsay's bachlorette, a long weekend in NYC with my mom and celebrating my birthday and Mother's day (the same day!), as well as some not-so-good: seemingly never-ending work stress, a horrible stomach virus and some difficult news about a loved one. However, I have been trying to focus on the positive and the things that are really important and not let the things I can't control overtake everything else. 

My mom was here this past weekend and we had a great time showing her Brooklyn, eating delicious food, and indulging in some retail therapy together. 

The end of the Cherry Blossoms for this year. 

Birthday/Mother's Day dinner at Market Table. The cauliflower is a must! 

A stroll along the Brooklyn Promenade. 

24 Hours in Amsterdam

A visit to the Rijksmuseum, less than a week after reopening after ten years of renovation.  I visited in 2000 shortly before it closed, however, my appreciation for art wasn't quite so keen then back then. The new space is amazing, and definitely worth a visit. 

Tip: buy tickets online to avoid the massive lines inside, and study the floor plan to avoid exiting before you are finished! 

Museumplein

Sun, glorious sun! 

Drinks at Freddy's Bar at the Hotel De L'Europe.  

Clearly I was either in danger of being hit by a tram, car, bicyclist, or pedestrian, or I was just very hungry for dinner! 

Dinner: Rakang, Thai. 

Highly recommended, photos questionable! 

Sunday run through Vondelpark and the canals. 

Who wants to go back with me? 

Tulip Fields

Visiting the famous tulip fields in the Netherlands was easily the most 'wing-it' portion of our trip. We loosely based this portion of our vacation on the article from The New York Times, 36 Hours: Europeon Haarlem, which is the nearest large town to most of the growing region.  

We rented bicycles from a shop near the train station that was recommended in the book, and despite the chilly temps and grey skies (but only 10% chance of rain), set out following the instructions of the shop owner to ride south along the train line for 40 minutes before starting to see the fields. 

Well, he was definitely spot on! He was also very correct in advising us that due to the cold spring, we wouldn't see as much color as normal for this time of year. Many of the fields were quite sparse, and some were covered such as the one above. 

After he informed us of this, he mentioned that we should try to make it to the Keukenhof Gardens to see some additional tulips. We hadn't planned on visiting the gardens, but at his urging we purchased tickets and decided to make that our destination. Hint, hint, this turned out to be a very good decision.  

Right about now it started to sprinkle...

Yes, I was distracted by the pretty flowers too, but take another look at the sky...

It eventually started to pour on us, and it was about 45 degrees, so this was a fairly miserable experience at this point. Thanks to the genius that is the iPhone/GPS we were able to determine that we were only about 12km from Keukenhof, so we rode like crazy to get there, thinking we could take refuge, eat our picnic and see more flowers. 

While I wish I had photographic evidence of this portion of our adventure, sadly I do not, so you will just have to use your imagination. We finally see signs to the garden parking lots (hooray!), we are both completely soaked through by this point. M crosses the road to the parking lot, but due to the two way traffic, I wait for another break in the cars then walk my bike across, and once in the lot hop back on to ride back up to the bike racks. Well, I don't get far. I'd never had a flat tire on a bike, or a car before, but I knew exactly what it was as soon as I tried to ride. 

The rental shop had given us a repair kit, but we were about 25km from Haarlem at this point and soaked and freezing cold. So we decided to eat the picnic we packed and explore the gardens and deal with the bike issue later. 

Most of the tulips growing outside were in the same state as the ones in the fields we had already seen, but the ones in the hothouses were amazing!

Yes, that tulip is like 3ft tall!

With a much brighter outlook (and finally dry) we went to deal with the bike situation. M patched the tire as best he could using the repair kit with ever-so-helpful Dutch instructions, and the bike shop at the gardens was kind enough to lend us their larger pump to fill it up. They were also able to advise us that the nearest train station was about 10km away so we could try and make it there and take the train the rest of the way to Haarlem. 

Considering the morning we had, our afternoon was surprisingly catastrophe free. The tire patch decided to hold and the sun came out a bit so we took a very meandering route back to Hillegom where we got on the train with our bikes, and managed to see several more beautiful fields in the process.  

All in all, I would call this an adventure. While you certainly can't control the weather when doing things like this, I am very glad we managed to make the best of it, as this is truly an amazing experience.