Oh my goodness, where has the time gone? I’ve been anxious knowing that I haven’t written in about two weeks. There’s been a lot going on!
Rob surprised me with some new Crossfit Shoes! I have been wanting a pair of cross training shoes as well as Oly Lifters. I’ve been banging around in the same cheap and ugly highlighter yellow nikes since I started back in June, but I’m pretty frugal when it comes to myself, and could never pull the trigger on a new pair. Last Friday, I came home from a work trip and he surprised me with my new Inov8 F Lite 185s. They are awesome so far! This picture makes them look turquoise and pink, but if you look at the picture below this, where I’m writhing in pain, you can clearly see they are blue and purple. Weird!
Rob and I closed the books on the 2014 Crossfit Open. It’s crazy how much we accomplished in these 5 weeks- tackling things we never thought we could. This was me the moment I finished 14.5. Please notice the pain and suffering everywhere.
Officially, I placed 35,089th world wide in the female category. Rob placed 67,660th world wide men. Anyone know how to figure out the total participants for each gender? Surely that is somewhere on the internet, I am just too lazy to really search. In our regions, I was 3,003rd and Rob was 5,683rd. In our gyms, I finished 25th in female. Rob finished 45th male. I get bragging rights this year for taking home “most fittest Latham”. I imagine this will be the only year I can toot that horn- Rob will likely surpass me this year in training, but it will be a fun journey together toward the 2015 Open regardless. While it was filled with many firsts for me, my proudest moment by far was watching Rob re-do 14.5 after a failed first attempt due to a pulled neck muscle, and finishing like the hero I knew he was.
See the hero socks? 🙂
I was lucky enough to be his judge and coach through the entire thing, and when he finished his final rep, and collapsed on the floor, i knelt down beside him with tears in my eyes and a huge smile on my face. “YOU DID IT!” I screamed, shaking his sweaty arm and watching him suck lungfuls of air into his body. “I really did it”, he breathed. I wish I could have gotten a picture of that moment, but I was too busy living in it with my mate. What a journey through the thick swamp of mental barriers he plowed through. What a ride! Thank you, Crossfit Community. And thank you Rob- for always shining.
I think spring is NEARLY upon us. We keep getting small doses of it here and there a few days at a time. And I saw a wasp today, so that counts for something I think. Today is Opening Day, and that means the Braves in the Latham house for the next 8 months! Hopefully we will be able to head to Atlanta a few times this season for some games- those are always the most fun weekends! But, only when you can sit in the shade. Otherwise, I’m a whiner.
To celebrate spring and summer, Rob bought me a mortar and pestle! For guacamole of course.
This is Rob seasoning it for use. What a guy! (FYI that is rock salt he is crushing around in there). When you use it, it makes you feel ancient and cool. And then tired (because it’s actually hard work).
Once this glorious rest day is over, I’ve bumped up to 4 days a week at CFHSV. This way, I can WOD my 3 times as usual, but also start participating in the Olympic Lifting Club that our head Coach teaches on Saturdays and Sundays. I’m REALLY excited to be starting BBOLC because I have some really concrete goals I’m wanting to achieve in the next 6 months- a year of training, and I believe BBOLC is my ticket to getting there. Also, Rob and I are going to begin construction on a pull up bar for the back yard…as soon as we have some decent weather that holds for more than 2 days at a time, we will get to work on that. I will post about it for sure!
Last week I decided to order from Enjoy Life Foods This company makes Gluten/Dairy/Nut free treats!!
I ordered a box of the Chocolate Chip Cookies, Sugar Crisp Cookies, and then two bags of chocolate chips so I can continue my paleo baking. These of course contain natural sugars, but none of the other CRAP in traditional goodies like gluten, dairy, hydrogenated oils, etc. I’ve developed a hankering for two things lately: a crunchy cookie to go with a cup of coffee on the weekend mornings, and then goat cheese on Sunday nights. What is becoming of me?
So, tonight, I decided to make more paleo protein cookies using my official paleo chocolate chips. I changed things up and created a brand new recipe (mainly because I wanted a reason to open my new bag of tapioca flour). I lead an exciting life. Oh man though, these cookies will change your world.
Dry Ingredients (combine in a bowl)
1/4 cup almond flour
2 tablespoons of tapioca flour
1/4 teaspoon of baking soda and salt
1 heaping scoop of vanilla protein powder
Wet Ingredients (combine in a bowl)
1/2 cup of unsweetened almond butter
1/2 cup of full fat coconut milk
2 tablespoons of honey
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 egg
Combine the contents of both bowls and whip together. Add 1/2 cup of your Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips (I used the MEGA chunks 🙂 ). Refrigerate the batter for about 10 minutes before spooning clumps onto a greased cookie sheet/parchment paper. Bake at 350 for about 12 minutes. Consume IMMEDIATELY! (careful, someone is ALWAYS watching; waiting).
These were like pillowy soft cake cookies. I couldn’t believe it! Can tapioca flour REALLY make that much of a difference?! I can’t wait to make more. This recipe will make a dozen, so next time I will be doubling it, naturally.
Oh, also, I got a new Olive Oil dispenser today for 2 dollars. Take that Williams and Sonoma! Just kidding, I love Williams and Sonoma, but they don’t allow people like me inside that place.
Hope you all are having a wonderful start to your week. If not, make these cookies, things will turn up for sure.
The Wayfaring Friend 