it's not just hair!

Before we go into grave detail about how I conquered that bitch "Karen," I wanted to point your attention to a few interesting tidbits. First off, the above photo was sent to me by my dear friend Jahleezah. Attached to this photo was this description:

"Recent photo of a little boy visiting the White House. He wanted to feel Obama's hair because he wanted to know if the President's hair felt just like his. Obama obliged. Priceless."

Personally, I was totally amused by this photo because as someone who does research on beauty, I totally understand the cultural/political meaning of hair - especially as it pertains to the Black community. I'd go on and on about how great this photo is, how touching this boy's simple curiousity is, and the like, but I won't. I'm just going to revel in its awesomeness.

Another thing I wanted to share was this silly article about ways to buy happiness. Interesting. If you read it, let me know what you think about these "happy" investments. (One of the investments mentioned was a gym membership and accessories. Wa-hoo!) Finally, in other Obama news, (actually, it's more like Joanne's projection of her singlehood. Heh!) my friend Raf sent me this article about educated women of color, dating, and what we single gals can learn from our first lady. Again, if you read it, let me know what you think. Sadly, this stuff really hits home and reminds me that yes, I can be shallow too.

Warm-up
some crazy running drill that I missed most of because I missed my bart train back to Union City from Berkeley
25 wall squats
prep for the WOD
random dirty comments about rockin' the WOD with Freddy's balls (you had to be there to understand this hi-larity)

CrossFit One World WOD: "Karen"

150 wallballs for time W:14#; hitting the over 8' target (so not quite rx'd)

Joanne's Final Time - 13:18

And then...
Walk 1.1 miles

GHD Luv!
30 GHD sit-ups
30 GHD back extensions

Cheering on Settie and Lori for the back squat challenge.

Notes (to myself) about this workout: The last time I did "Karen" was about a year ago. I used a 4# ball and my final time was 13:54. I remember it being pure misery. I just got back into the country and I was desperately trying to find my groove. I was also dehydrated and failed miserably at the WOD before it.

Today "Karen" still sucked balls. Seriously. She totally does. My "balls to the wall" strategy was to use the 14# ball and just grin and bare it. I was hoping to hit around 15-16 minutes on this. I was at almost 14 minutes the last time and today I was lifting 10# more. I did it in sets of ten and was able to hold true to that til the end. My issue with wall balls is that I tend to squat pretty low and that's what slows me down. For me, this is an okay problem to have because at least the squat is still good.

I was really happy today because though it was a much heavier weight, I still beat my last time. Wa-hoo. I've come a long way in a year;)