up, up, and away!

The new movie UP has been all the latest rage these days. I'm totally excited because I'm set to watch it next Friday. Wa-hoo! I must thank Miss Lady Di for posting this on her facebook page. Fellow Runbutan Ricky Nierva was the production designer on the project. Here is a NY Times article where he talks about how some of the characters came to be. I hope you Pixar/animation fans enjoy it! *wink*

Above is a photo that was taken in 2005 when we helped Ricky's wife Angie (who was eight months pregnant at the time) cross the finish line at the Nike Women's Half Marathon. Left to right we are: (a friend of Ricky and Angie, whose name complete escapes me right now), me, Angie, Ricky. To this day, I swear that they rank as one of my top "totally awesome couples" (they're up there with John W. and Alex C. ha ha!). Sigh. Ricky and Angie have an amazing love story. I would kill to have a love story like theirs!

Warm-up
Row for body weight wattage
Stretching

CrossFit One World WOD
Back Squat
5/3/2/2/1/1/1
125/145/155/165/170/175/180 (new PR!)


Notes (to myself) about this workout: Before I begin, I'd like to note that I did two 180# attempts. I failed the first one, but nailed the second one. 

Oh the back squat. This is definitely one of my favorite lifts. Yea Jason K. for doing this! (See?! Every Jason K. class will always have some Jason K. kudos!) I've decided that I like the back squat because it's a totally sexy lift.

Really.
It is.

What makes it so sexy? It's not having to get under the bar while racked. It's not having to make sure my ass is properly sticking out in order to support the weight. It's not sticking out my chest to no end. It's not even finding the sweet spot in my back to carry the bar. It's the spotter. It's all about the spotter. Big thanks to John W. for spotting me today. ha ha! fathlete confession: I understand that it may seem that I have a crush-love-affair of sorts with John W. Please know that this is not true. For as much as I adore John W., I would never EVER interfere with the bromance between him and Alex C.  (ha ha!) Besides, there are way too many other women who are dying for the job and I'm having way too much fun watching those women duke it out. Having clarified that, it is important to note that I will continue to reserve the right indulge in various single-legged hugs with him and use him as my spotter/motivator during the WODs. Thank you. (insert tongue-in-cheek sarcasm here)

Moving on... the one thing I'm trying to figure in with the heavy lifting is patience. It's bad enough that I feel like I'm one of the slower people in the class. Lifting is a total mental thing and I guess it just takes me a little longer than most to get my head in the game. I notice that when my head is in the game and I take the time to focus on the heavy lifting, I can really push my limit. When I get impatient or feel like someone is waiting for me me to finish, and I rush the lift, I almost always fail. 

Finally, I need to work on pushing my knees out during this move. I didn't realize that I was moving them in. It's best to push out in order to protect the knees.

I have to start getting a move on the squat challenge. Right now I'm still at 75#. Tomorrow I'll do the 80# challenge.