Jul 29, 2011
Something happened today that I never thought I would experience. I read the WOD on the whiteboard and spontaneously thought, Yay, cleans!
It’s particularly sweet because when I started at CrossFit Austin about a year ago, I was mightily afraid of cleans. But Tristy, as she always does, gave me excellent cues, taught me to slow down on the slow parts and speed up on the fast parts, and – most...
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Friday Clean Up
Jul 28, 2011
I’m not quite ready to unveil all the cookbook details yet – and I can’t wait to tell you the title, ’cause I think you’re gonna love it! For now, I’m super-excited to share a sneak peek of a sample recipe layout. The fabulous Kathleen Shannon is our design genius. She sprinkles Kathleen Fairy Dust™ on everything she does to make it extra special.
This is Kathleen:
And...
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Pssst…. Sneak Peek
Jul 27, 2011
Although I know better, if the WOD doesn’t look crazytown – say, lots of reps or murderous running+barbell rounds – I sometimes think, deep inside, where the monsters sit in easy chairs, smoking cigars and eating pepperoni pizza, that the workout won’t be hard enough.
THAT kind of thinking is what’s crazytown.
This morning and Monday, Coach Wes prescribed skills work, and you know...
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Mad Skillz
Jul 26, 2011
Today is “Birthday Day” at our office, which means cupcakes (with sprinkles on top!) to celebrate all the people with birthdays this month. I, of course, declined. Again. [sigh]
I’m in a conference room RIGHT NOW with people eating cupcakes and the aroma of the frosting is pretty hard to endure. I ADORE frosting, and I LOVE the smell. This is pretty much torture, and I’m feeling a...
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Cupcakes Are Evil
Jul 25, 2011
I should love cherry tomatoes: they’re tiny, they’re bursting with juiciness, and they represent the deep heart of summer. But between us friends, I hate the way they squirt when I bite ‘em and the somewhat citrus-y tone of their sweetness doesn’t sit well on my tongue.
Emboldened by my success with the grilled okra, I tossed my my CSA haul of cherry tomatoes with some fat and...
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Grilled Cherry Tomatoes
Jul 22, 2011
I’ve been blogging here since 2008, and – if I do say so myself – there’s some good stuff in my archive that you might have missed. On Fridays, I’m going to take you on a Friday Flashback and point you to some good stuff from the checkered past of The Clothes Make The Girl.
Vegas, Baby
Originally posted on May 28, 2009, this post highlights a motivating statement from CrossFit Las...
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Friday Flashback: Vegas, Baby
Jul 22, 2011
Sometimes, when I’m hanging with the corporate overlords, Dave emails me photos of what Smudge is doing.
This just in: Smudge (and Dave) would like to remind you that rest is as important to your training success as your...
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Smupdate! July 22, 2011
Jul 22, 2011
Here’s the thing: I’ve mostly made peace with being solidly in the middle of the pack. There was a time, when I started CrossFit bootcamp almost four years ago, when I finished dead last every day.
Every. Day.
It was those early experiences that inspired the mantra Never Cheat. Never Quit. because there was a girl in my bootcamp who was routinely neck-and-neck with me, then would miraculously...
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Fifteen 200s. Must Be Friday.
Jul 21, 2011
Reason #347 that I love CFA: It makes time elastic.
Forty seconds of work can last a lifetime; 20 seconds of rest flash by in a blink. This was our CrossFit Austin workout this morning.
Skills
double-under progressions
rowing practice
WOD
7 rounds:
:40 row for meters @ 90-95% effort (record average)
:20 rest
:40 double-unders
:20 rest
:40 hollow holds
:20 rest
My average row: 181m
This WOD tricked me with...
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40 Seconds To Glory
Jul 20, 2011
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve become less content with the idea of thinking “that’s just how I am” and more curious about why I do and think and feel the things I do. In particular, trying to understand the many hormonal changes I go through during each month (a.k.a., hormone poisoning ) is endlessly fascinating.
A few years ago, I read a book called 28 Days: What Your Cycle...
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Estrogen And Performance
Jul 16, 2011
Sometimes, especially when I’m stressed or enduring monthly hormone poisoning, my desire for the good ol’ days of takeout is almost unbearable. In my romanticized memories, ordering Chinese takeout was a carefree experience: we just picked up the phone, ordered a pile of food, and 45 minutes later, we were inhaling spare ribs, cold sesame noodles, and fried rice. In reality, I did all kinds of...
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Cold Sesame (Cucumber) Noodles
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Melissa "Melicious" Joulwan • melissa@theclothesmakethegirl.com
Reading right now...
The Redbreast: A Harry Hole Novel
The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million
The Redbreast: A Harry Hole Novel
I'm about two-thirds of the way through this detective thriller, and I'm hooked. It's set in modern Norway with flashbacks to WWII (catnip for me!) and features a somewhat grim hero that engenders empathy. I can't help pulling for the guy as I watch him struggle with his case and his life. The cast of characters is a realistic but motley crew, and it reminds me of other favorites set in cold, snowy climes: the Millenium Trilogy and Smila's Sense of Snow.
Recently finished...
The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million
I picked up this book after reading an interview with Lee Child (author of the Jack Reacher thrillers). He referred to The Lost as "the book of the century" and since I devour as much as I can about the Holocaust to try to make sense of it all, I decided I needed to read it immediately. Part memoir, part detective tale, this book was thoroughly engrossing. It's intelligent, annoying, moving, frustrating, and ultimately, rewarding and beautifully written. It challenged me in ways I didn't expect, and I was sad when it was finished.
