The Whiteboard

32 weeks today! Wow, time flies, well not really but everyone else thinks it does when you are pregnant. I have been lucky and felt pretty good throughout this pregnancy but I am ready to have this baby! I was tempted to skip working out a few times this past week just because my energy level has not been great and she has been sitting in an uncomfortable position putting pressure on my lungs but each day I thought about how I would feel if I went home and laid on the couch compared to if I would go workout and exercise won every day.

One of the most difficult things to adjust to with crossfit and being pregnant is adjusting my view of the whiteboard. For those that are not crossfitters the whiteboard is our daily scoreboard that measures how you do in each workout. Being the competitive person I am, prior to pregnancy my goal was always to RX workouts and be as close to the top of the whiteboard as I could every day. I have really had to change my mentality of it these days because I can no longer perform workouts as prescribed (RX), not because I don't have the strength to do so, but either my body is limiting me or it is not safe to do so. It was really hard at first when I had to start modifying things because a lot of the reason I love crossfit is for the competition and now that I am not competitive what do I have to look forward to?

Well, besides staying in shape to make my pregnancy better and feeling better after I workout, I have taken this time to really embrace improving my movements and focusing on maintaining as much strength as I can and in some areas even getting stronger. For example, knowing that I won't be able to RX a workout with push ups has moved my focus from finishing the workout as fast as I can to making sure I perform the pushups with the best possible form I can. Form should always take precedence to time but in the past this was difficult for me to commit to at times. In my pregnancy push ups, my hands are elevated but the movement is the same as if they are on the ground. Keep my core tight, not sagging, and not tenting, keep the elbows in, feet close together, and don't worm as I push up (By the way, push ups are really hard now, even with my hands on a low box!). This is the one part of pregnancy that has been really good for me in terms of the type of athlete I am and will be. It is really easy to get caught up in times both in comparison to other athletes and when you are trying to beat your own previous times, but after you have been doing crossfit for a while and PR's don't come as often you learn that it is more important to improve your quality of movement first and then your times will get better. I am lucky that pregnancy has helped me realize this earlier rather than later in my crossfit career.

Here are some highs and lows for this past week:

The Good

-In addition to the snatches I tried at the beginning of the week, I also did some cleans this week. I didn't go too heavy but they felt good. Cleans come easier for me partly because I learned and worked on them in college (as opposed to snatches that are a real work in progress, which is halted right now). I did 115 lbs for 5 unbroken hang cleans (some power and some squat) and it felt pretty good. The next day my traps were on fire because of the shrugging motion that I haven't done in a while.
- Overhead squats have felt pretty good as well. I did 100 lbs with a 3 second pause at the bottom with no problem for multiple reps.
- Jarod and I have committed to doing more mobility at home. Every night we have been rolling out with the lacrosse balls and doing some partner stretching. (I subscribed to mobilitywod.com and love it!!) In the past I always knew I should do mobility but when you are young you can get by without it but post 30 it is more important than ever before.  I definitely struggle with overhead pressing movements because I have limited shoulder mobility so I am working hard at changing that. It always helps to have your husband do it with you, we hold each other accountable.

The Bad (or should I say Challenging)
- My metcon is really bad and the heat makes it worse. Even a highly modified workout of rowing, pike presses, leg raises while hanging on the bar (I can't call them toe to bar attempts anymore b/c my legs don't get too far past parallel) and wall balls was slow and I felt so out of shape. I am nervous about how long it will take to get this back after our little girl comes!

The Ugly
-It took me about 5 minutes to buckle my shoes one morning this week when I decided that I had to wear a pair of wedges that required buckling rather than slipping on.
-I ate some ice cream this weekend and felt guilty after. (at least it tasted really good)