CrossFit, Photos

Types of shoes to wear to CrossFit

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Reebok-Nanos

Gotta say you guys, I’m eyein the Reebok nano’s.

pink nike freesMy hot pink nike free’s I purchased on eBay for my birthday the other year are not quite fit for the garbage, but eventually they will be. Which disappoints me since I love wearing them. They’ve been my go-to CrossFit shoe for almost two years.zootsI have a pair of Zoots that I also like to wear but recently I’ve been eyeing the Reebok Nano’s, designed for CrossFitters like myself. I’m hitting the two year mark at CrossFit at the end of the month (February 2011 I first joined!), and I’m thinking of giving the pink, or yellow one’s a try.

Have to say though, the look of the Reebok CrossFit shoes are just appealing to my eyes and I want them. Pink immediately stuck out to me, then the yellow. You’re not limited to the pink or yellow either. On the Reebok site there is a rainbow of colors to choose from. One of my CrossFit coaches has these in purple.

Did you know that there is proper footwear to wear to CrossFit?

  • Too much cushioning in a regular running shoe isn’t the most favourable for getting your lifting technique down pat. 
  • You’ll lose balance on cushioned shoes thus being unstable on the ground when you lift heavier weights. Meaning if you wear minimalistic shoes you’ll get better technique since you know where your heels are when you do certain movements. Having the knowledge and and pressure of where your feet are you can improve your form and technique.
  • Not only lose balance, but strength too since you’re pushing into the soles of your shoes, and not into your heels to the ground.

Sure I’m serious about going to CrossFit, but I don’t consider myself a hardcore CrossFit athlete. I get excited when I can RX a wod. So I’m not looking for the perfect weight lifting minimalistic shoe. Just looking for a comfortable one that I can wear outside running (less than 6km) and also to CrossFit but not too minimal to the point where I can feel pebbles under my feet.

Now if only I was sponsored by Reebok Canada. That’d be sweet, ha!

I posted this image on Facebook a while ago, and the consensus was that I should go for the yellow nano’s. What do you guys think?

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50 day pushup challenge, CrossFit, Fitness, Health, Photos, Workout Schedule

My CrossFit Journal (1 Year, Week 37)

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I am on Day 26 of the 50 day pushup challenge. Finally hit the halfway mark yesterday. I still do the pushups in the morning when I first remember because I don’t want it leaning over my all day to do them, and get lazy after work/working out and push them aside. Ha ha. Get it…

Anyway, they’re pretty tough now, I won’t lie. Some days are better than others where I can pump out 13 in a row and then rest for a few seconds and do the rest. But yesterday for instance I was only doing three at a time and needed a break! Funny how that works.

What I did this week, the short version:

M – CrossFit (+ 19 pushups) T – Rest Day (+ 20 pushups) W – Soccer (+ 21 pushups) Th – CrossFit (+ 22 pushups) F – Rest Day (+ 23 pushups) S – Rest Day (+ 24 pushups) S – 6.6km run (+25 pushups)

lol Looks like a lot of rest days. I swear it felt as though I worked out more than that…maybe I won’t continue the short version of my workouts ;)

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year 1, week 37, day 1.

AMRAP 20

1 Clean & Jerk; 155/115lbs 5 Pull Ups 10 Push Ups 5 Back Squats; 155/115lbsics

I used 65lbs for this WOD. I completed 4 full rounds and I did 5 pushups for the 5th round. Either that or it was 5 rounds, and I was on my 6th. I should really write this down again…

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year 1, week 37, day 2  Soccer Game!

 Yay soccer! Can’t really say much about this. We won? 1-0.

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year 1, week 37, day 3

6 Rounds of Ring Dips

30 seconds of Ring Dips 30 seconds of rest

REST 3 minutes

AMRAP 7 Burpees (6″ jump)

I completed 52 ring dips (like I was sitting in a chair. The easiest way to do them. I really suck at tricep strength). Then it was time for the burpees. I did much better than I was expecting. I didn’t rest too much, and completed 56 burpees. I’m not entirely sure the coach believed me, because he said “Oh cool” when he asked my number. :(

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year 1, week 37, day 4

Running yesterday morning in -1°c. Snowy, windy and chilly! But it was great!

I dressed in layers, and borrowed a wind breaker, mittens and wind-breaker mittens. I really need to go shopping for some winter apparel for running. I do have this great pair of wind-breaker pants I bought from Lululemon a few years ago, and they kept me warm throughout the run.

I didn’t have anything to eat before I went, and I could definitely tell I wasn’t in as great of shape as I was last week. So, note to self — must eat something before each run.

One thing I do have to say about running is that I’m on a completely different level than my Ironman Triathlete of a boyfriend. I mentioned that we ran 6.6km and told him that at one point we were running 5:45 minute/kilometers but the rest were 7 minutes. Sure, it’s slower than what I’m used to — but I used to exert myself much more. This time, I’m in control of my breathing and I’m running a further distance because of it. The boyfriend mentioned that it was slow, which was like taking a dig at me, But of course he didn’t mean it that way. I dwelled on it a bit, then told him to never tell me that I’m slow again — it bothered me. Because I know I can run fast. It just takes time. I really haven’t been running since 2010. Sure, I did 2 or so runs a week this summer, but I wasn’t being trained on HOW to run. I just went for long (5-6km), flat runs.

Running with Jenn and Steve is different. I take two puffs of my asthma inhaler, and off I go. It’s difficult at times, but Steve tells me to slow down and the breathing returns to normal again. It’s an anxious thing I have with running, but I’m figuring out how to get it back to a normal rate … with practice.

Look at the state of my bright pink shoes!  They are starting to wear out I think :( I’ve been on the eBay hunt for them now for a few weeks, since they’re a year and a hald olf.

As Steve said, There are only two kinds of runs. Good runs, and great runs. Yesterdays was just … good ;)

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CrossFit, Daily, Fashion, Fitness, Photos

Adventures at Sport Chek

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While I was in Newfoundland, my best bud Trev and Sandra, my sister-in-law went to one of the two malls in St. John’s to do a bit of shopping. I didn’t realize Sport Chek had completely took over one entire section of the bottom level!

The place was massive.

Since I had a gift card to spend and we had about an hour to burn before picking my nephews up at school, we had a ton of fun taking photos of one another playing dress up.

Winter hats anyone? Trevor ended up buying the orange version of the hat he was wearing in this picture!

I love just being silly like this with Sandra and Trevor. We were laughing constantly! So very much needed. I loved being home.

Sandra and I both loved this one coat, but it was a little out of our budget. But soo toasty warm.  I couldn’t justify buying a white coat, I’m so clumsy and I’d probably get it so dirty. Dirty white coats aren’t the prettiest. lol

This grey one was my absolute favorite and it’s by FireFly no less. I kept going back to it, even when I tried it on again in Ontario!See? I just love it. Plus it’s super long, so that the wind doesn’t drift up your back on those cold winter days. B-double-uh-rrr… Brrr.

One thing that impressed me, and completely took me by surprise, was that Sport Chek now sells climbing gear. When did that happen?!

Gri Gri’s, harnesses, and rope bags!

Plus, these cute little s-biners for your chalk bag or to use on a key chain. Aren’t they adorable?

You may recall that Sport Chek sent me an inspirational kit, including a new set of Zoot sneakers. Which unfortunately ended up being a smidge too small. I think they’re a small make to be honest! I’m always an 8.5 but my toes were squished up at the front. When the Boyf and I got back from Newfoundland we made the trip to the only place in our area that sold Zoot sneakers at Sport Check: Toronto. Luckily, we had more things to do in Toronto that day than just return the sneakers and drive back all the way home.

Look how fancy the Sport Chek was in this area of Toronto!!

Trying on a variety of different sizes to see which ones I should exchange for.

I’m going to do a comparison post about these Zoot’s and the Nike Free’s, coming up this week. Stay tuned for that if you’re interested.

I didn’t spend my gift card at the first two Sport Cheks (St. John’s/Toronto locations) and it was burning a hole in my pocket! So this weekend the Boyf and I went to our local Sport Chek and again… had more fun trying on stuff. I’m easily amused, I’m tellin ya’.

My boyfriend tried on this massive winter coat from the men’s section, then thought it’d be funny if he took a photo of me wearing it. I look so tiny! Betcha I’d stay warm in that, all winter long. Haha!

I felt like the pilsbury dough boy in this down-filled one — hence the face I’m making.But now that I look at the photo, it kind of fits well…

I ended up buying some of my favorite sports bras. Nike makes a few different kinds of bras, but the dri-fit one’s are my main ones that I wear to CrossFit. They’re tight fitting, but don’t budge, if ya know what I mean. When the boyfriend was taking this shot of me, a sales associate came up right behind him saying to us both “Doing a little photo shoot?” I immediately turned a shade of purple and mumbled something. I should’ve told her about my blog, but I was so caught off guard that I got embarrassed.

Your Better Starts Here.

I am part of the Sport Chek campaign called #MyBetterMVP / #MyBetter. Selected Canadian bloggers were sent an inspiration kit to help us reach our personal bests. Sport Chek has reached out to a lot of athletes in all sorts of areas of fitness. Everyone has all sorts of goals when it comes to being healthy and fit. I’m here to help people stay inspired and motivated.

Thanks Sport Chek!

How do you stay motivated?

Are you buying a new winter coat this year?

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