such the nerd

These photos were taken in February 2007. I was invited to UC Santa Barbara's MultiCultural Center to launch Is Lighter Better? The people you see with me are my mentor/co-author Paul Spickard and the team of his former students who helped put the project together. Dang! This feels like it was taken a lifetime ago. I remember this being a tough time. First off, I was injured (hence the big bandage on my knee). The more overarching issue in my life at that time was that I had just broken up with my then partner. In retrospect, it wasn't a long or significant relationship. But at the time, it hurt. I realize that I'm not good at the relationship thing because I'm not sure what a healthy relationship actually feels like. More often than not, my faith runs thin. I do know that a relationship takes some effort and patience, things that I'm more than willing to give, but elements that I have yet to reap the benefits of. I will say that a bad relationship (romantic or otherwise) can take a negative toll on my body. Hence why I'm having a hard time recognizing the person in these photos.

I'm not sure why I'm feeling nostalgic these days. Right now I'm re-tooling one of the book chapters and man, this current version is day and night different from what's in the book. Then again, I'm a day and night different person now than when I wrote the book, so I'm hoping this is a good thing. Oooh! I'm also proud to announce that I've just been invited to present my current research at a conference in April. The panel is loosely based on this anthology. The story of how I got invited to this shin-dig is not that long, but totally nerdy. If you agree to spring for coffee, I'm more than happy to share it.

In non-nostalgic news, did you know that there is such a thing as a "putpocket?" Check out this story. How great would it be to feel my luck changing. I'd love to encounter a putpocket. I could always use some extra surprise cash! Maybe then I won't need that sugar daddy for those oly lifting shoes. ha ha!

Warm-up
Run 800 meters
Running side to side
Knee/leg stretches
Even MORE stretching

Two rounds of:
10 shoulder rolls
5 d-ball slams 8#

Prep for WOD

CrossFit One World WOD
Complete 30 reps for time of:
Squat clean and jerk 73#

Joanne's Final Time - 11:35

Notes (to myself) about this workout: This is the first time I've taken a class with Cheryl T. aka Girl Crush. I like that her warm-ups are well thought out and the class was timed well. Not that other coaches don't do that. It's that Girl Crush seemed very deliberate in how her warm-up was structured.

I was hoping I could push the weight to 83#, but I settled on 73# because it just felt the best. I could go heavier, but on a WOD like this it's important to just just maintain form. I love the weightlifting, but finding that balance between heavy and sticking form is tough. I always choose form over heavy weight.

I think I started out okay, but my last 10 reps were tough. I could do the clean well, but I would forget to squat, so I'd have to clean, front squat, and then push press. This happened about 2-4 times. In retrospect, the weight I did was fine. My strategy was to do this in sets of 5. The other time I've ever done this WOD I did 63# and it took me over 15 minutes to finish. (I totally remember this WOD and it was painful. This was because I did a weight that I wasn't ready for.) This means I've gotten stronger and faster. It's hard to remember this when I'm too busy paying attention to other people's times.

I need to learn patience. I need to learn that someone else's weight or workout is not my own. I just need to focus on my WOD and no one else's. Having said that, I've decided that I will not look at the board from here on out.