Hola! I’ve been in costa rica now for almost two weeks, working at a butterfly conservatory. To put it shortly, I’m not very happy with the owner of the place and dont feel comfortable working for him anymore so the other volunteers and I are off to the beach to find what we were all looking for- fulfillment through a connection with mother earth. The tico’s (costa ricans) are awesome in this small town but you gotta do what ya gotta do I guess.
I haven’t had much time to write, and don’t have my computer with me, or wifi available so it’s tough to get posts out, but I’ve been staying as primal as possible (with the exception of potatoes, as they’re cheap and served with everything), the only thing that’s suffered are my workouts because ive been working too much (we’ve only had 1day off since I’ve been here). I’ve run, and even done some hspu’s and squats, but not too many. Hoping the caribbean coast will prove more leisurely (meaning- more time for exercise!)
Hoping to write more in the three weeks I have left!
The photo is a view of arenal volcano today, as one of the most active volcanos in the world, we’ve seen lava shows at night, pretty amazing! Costa Rica really is a paradise!
Hey all! I know I’ve been absent lately… okay for the past few months. Truth is, this blog became more of a burden than it was a good thing so I stopped writing.
Over the past few months I’ve done quite a bit, taken a few summer classes, contemplated my future, continued with paleo/primal eating (although I’ve cheated more than usual), and went back ‘home’ to Alaska for a few weeks. It was wonderful connecting with old friends, hiking around the North and introducing my boyfriend to the place I grew up. I even got to do a great 33 mile (4 day) hike from Skagway, AK over country lines to the Yukon Territory (pics below). And NOW I get to do something pretty cool, I’ve been accepted to work for a rainforest regeneration project in El Castillo, Costa Rica for the next month in exchange for room and food. How cool is that?
I don’t know how much internet access I will have but I will blog about my efforts- and if anyone is interested in how I’m doing it, just ask and I’ll be happy to tell all. I leave Wednesday and have a ton of things to do until then, but I’ll make sure to tell about my make-shift workouts on the beach (hopefully I won’t be too tired from the 6 hours 6 days a week of manual labor) and how successfully I’m eating primal with limited resources in Costa Rica.
Handstands in Happy Camp (the first camp over the summit. Chilkoot Trail, Yukon Territory, Canada)
The end of the trail (overlooking Lake Bennett, Bennett City, Yukon Territory, Canada)
Mendenhall Glacier, Juneau, AK (my hometown)
So- yesterday’s super brutal workout brought a very exciting first! I can now officially do handstand push ups- granted, I’m using two ab mats under my head, so I’m not getting my head totally to the ground, but I can do them.
The workout;
“Twins”
Two rounds, of each couplet, for time of:
750 meter Row - I subbed 600m run
20 Handstand Push-ups - RX!
115 pound Thruster, 20 reps - I used 65#
20 L-Pull-ups - I subbed knees to elbows
Time: 26:20
The run was brutal, as summer has definitely hit and so has my asthma, but it was good for me. The handstand push-ups are a b***h! And so are the thrusters after doing the HSPU’s. 65# is normally pretty light for the thrusters, but after the push ups they felt extremely heavy. Not only that, but form goes to shit after the first few and I start lifting with my back, which means my back is feeling it today. I’ve gone hard the past few days so today I’m taking a CF rest day and doing yoga at home.
Camping this weekend!
So, upkeep on this thing has been lacking. I’m still crossfitting, I’m still eating paleo, I’m just not chained to my computer. The past few weekends we’ve gone out of town, either to New Jersey or upstate and it’s been wonderful. We went hiking/camping last weekend and I have to say, there’s nothing like getting back to nature to reset your body to be more calm.
The funny thing is, I found our campsite in our New York Trails book, googled the location and we took off- but I went to the wrong trailhead. So instead of a leisurely 2 mile hike into a campsite, we (my boyfriend and I) ended up hiking straight up a mountain (with very heavy packs) to a gorgeous lookout, in rattlesnake country. Like my sister says, “I can’t not be brutal.” I tried for a little hike… really.
Luckily for us it was too cold for the snakes, and it turned out to be worth the rigorous hike to see what we saw.
Also- that say’s “Get Primal” on the back of my shirt- Mark (from Mark’s Daily Apple) sent me a shirt (that says “Grok On! on the front) a while back, and I kept trying to find a perfect place to photograph me in it. We camped just off this cliff, I literally stepped out in the morning to this view.
We also got to check out the charming town of Woodstock, which is where the trail head was. It was a cute, quaint little town that is very reminiscent of the 1969 concert… meaning when I tried to take an awesome photo of the ‘Hippies always Welcome’ sign in the window front of the store, I got the accompaniment of the guy sitting in the window to pose (or at least his hand did) without me even asking. Hilarious!
You can see me in my CrossFit Brooklyn shirt in the window. Getting out of town definitely gives you a new found respect for where you live (don’t you always miss home) and what you’ve got there that they don’t necessarily have wherever you’re traveling (like home-cooked primal food). I recommend putting your feet right in the dirt, it helps to feel connected to the earth instead of the feeling of solitude that a big city brings.
So I was lucky enough to get to New Hope, Pennsylvania this weekend and have one of the most delicious appetizers on the menu, almond stuffed bacon wrapped dates. Heres what theirs looks like.
after eating these I HAD to duplicate. So tonight, I did.
Ingredients
Dates - we used 12 whole
12 strips of bacon
Blanched Almonds
Bleu Cheese
Garlic (Pesto)
Basil (Pesto)
Olive Oil (Pesto)
So my main man made the pesto- equal parts garlic, basil and olive oil and whipped it up in the blender, then heated it up in the double boiler.
I took the dates and pitted them, then stuffed them with almonds.
then wrapped them in bacon. Mmmmmmm
put em on a cookie sheet, heat the oven at 400-420F and cook for about 15-20 min. Take them out, let them cool and drizzle the pesto and bleu cheese all over them. They look like this;
and taste like heaven!
After a very inspiring episode of Emeril Live (more on my errrr… lack of TV later) and of course, my addiction to bacon, I wanted to cook some brussels sprouts and bacon. Found this recipe via Rachel Ray;
3 slices bacon chopped (I used 4 just to one-up her)
1 tbsp EVOO
1 onion
1 1/2 lb brussels sprouts
salt and pepper
1c chicken broth
Brown the bacon and remove. Add EVOO to a pan, add onion and cook 1-2 min. Add sprouts, coat in oil and season with salt & pepper. Cook 2-3 minutes to soften, add the broth. Bring to a bubble, cover and reduce heat. Cook 10-15 min. Transfer to a serving dish and top with chopped bacon.
Looks like this!
It was a great WOD today at the box.
“Elizabeth”
21-15-9 reps of:
Clean 135 pounds - I did 65#
Ring dips
Time: 7:50
I actually did this really quickly and felt really good- I went to the doc yesterday for my back and he basically confirmed what I already knew. That it was really knotted up, that my flexibility was good but I should “decrease weight and focus on form- especially when working the lower extremities.” Yeah, okay doc. Got it. He also said massage therapy would help. I’m going to jump on that one.
So today when I put up 65# I was okay with not going any heavier. There’s something about the inital jerk of cleans (especially when they’re from a hanging position and not from the floor) that tweaks my back more than most other lifts. I’m not sure what it is, but the explosive power hits it in a way it doesn’t like.
Because you’re doing so many cleans in this workout it forces them to be done well- for the first time I felt like I was doing cleans right, and it felt good. Not only that, but tuning my diet in lately has really helped I think. 7:50 was a pretty damn good time, even though my ring dips are still with a band, and they still kinda suck 
We cooled down with a sit-up/back extension workout (for every 1 sit-up do double the back extensions and count up from 1-10, i.e. 1 sit-up/2 back ext, 2su/4b, 3su/6b etc.) and flutter kicks. Overall felt strong- and finished first.
Going in for the second part of my root canal tomorrow- which is awesome because today was the first day I could eat on that side of my mouth. Not looking forward to it!
I use Urban Organic to deliver a box of freshly picked, right off the farm style veggies every week. Lately they’ve been even more awesome than usual and we recently got a great batch with broccoli, kale and garlic in our box. I then went out to dinner last night and was inspired by a recipe with bacon sauteed with kale recently and wanted to duplicate it, so I did. And it was so good.
Quick side note - I may be addicted to bacon. Is this possible? Recently I’ve been craving it for every meal. I have decided this is better than my past addiction to simple carbs- primarily bread. I am okay with this.
BEE’s Coconut Bacon-Chicken Stir Fry
Ingredients
Chicken
Bacon
Broccoli
Kale
Garlic
Butter
Coconut Milk
First- start chicken and bacon (I was cooking for one, so I used one cutlet and 2 strips).
In another pan add broccoli (approx 1c) to 1tbsp butter and sautee until the color starts to come out. Add kale (1 and 1/4c), freshly minced garlic and about 1/4c coconut milk. When chicken and bacon are done add them in too. Cook until awesome. And it was!
It might be a little too many veggies for those who are watching that sort of thing, so double the bacon and the chicken. Or just add bacon. Or scrap everything and just eat bacon. MMmmmmm bacon…
Today has been an awesome day. I got up, made a deliciously primal breakfast (see the ‘daily eats’ tab for my daily menu) and then lounged outside on our deck (aka the tar soaked roof above the first floor awning) while reading until it was time to go to CrossFit.
I have decided to go on an information diet. It’s something Tim Ferriss talks about in the Four Hour Workweek (an AMAZING book for those who have not read it). Now that I have virtually no agenda I have been either on the computer or watching useless television WAY too much. I hit rock bottom on Sunday when I found myself watching Daisy of Love- the spin-off of the already mind melting Rock of Love with Brett Michaels. It’s not that I don’t have things to do, I just don’t have anything pressing to do. So I do nothing. This must stop.
Bomb it!
Reading one of my favorite books today in the sun was amazing, and I found myself challenged with ideas, thinking of different directions and dealing with not only mind chatter, but really mindful thinking as opposed to mindful drowning. I’ve found myself recently watching too many CrossFit videos (instead of getting out and doing the workouts myself) and reading too many blogs on Zone-ing and paleo/primal eating. So I’m cutting it out! No more TV for me. My boyfriend and I usually watch a movie a night, which is one of my favorite things to do with him before bed. And I’m not going to cut that out because it makes me happy. But I am, for one week (and maybe more);
1. No TV
2. No blogs (sorry other bloggers- but I’m cutting myself off while at home. This means it’s OK to check my reader- like a magazine - on the train, just not gluing my fingers to the keyboard and wasting hours at home surfing the net).
3. The No blogs does not count Crossfit. I will still check the Crossfit WOD before bed, but that’s it (and takes about .2 seconds).
4. No email that isn’t a real person. i.e. I will no longer click on J.Crew’s sale emails and then windowshop for an hour even though I KNOW I wasn’t going to buy anything in the first place.
5. I will still update this blog.
It’s just a week- I think it’s really going to save some time. It’s amazing how quickly 4 hours can go by when you’re watching TV or playing games on the iphone (by the way- this is the coolest thing I’ve seen in a long time. It’s Grok’s iphone).
Hopefully that’ll get my thinking cap on and my head out of the boob tube.
Warm-up
Inchworms, Walking Lunges, Push-Ups, Squats
Workout
Five rounds for time of:
95 pound Sumo-deadlift high-pull, 21 reps
21 Ring dips
Time: 21:54
Did the first round of SDHP’s with 88# (did NOT mean to) and was miserable through them. Dropped the weight to 78# and was much MUCH better for the last 4 rounds. I have to say, I LOVED this WOD. It kicked my ass, I sweated my ass off, but I felt strong. I’m down to the smallest band on the ring dips and my asthma didn’t flare ONCE. I’ve been taking my allergy med’s everyday, and it REALLY helps. After the workout, drenched in sweat, feeling wonderful I thought This is why I exercise. My endorphins riding high, good company, callused hands, it was great.
Of course, my diet’s been tighter for the past week especially (as I’m doing Crossfit virtuosity’s 100 day six-pack challenge) and so maybe I have to attribute it partially to that. I know my recovery has improved ten-fold over the beginning, even though the WOD’s keep getting harder, that’s the one thing that keeps getting better.
Cooldown-
400m walk with 15# dumbbell held overhead. Switching arms as much as necessary. 15# WAY too light. Am underestimated at the gym. Better than overestimated.
10 negative pull-up holds (workin’ on my deadhangs!)
I didn’t post about Friday’s workout, which was;
Three rounds for time of:
Run 800 meters
50 Back Extensions
50 Sit-ups
I had dinner plans, so I didn’t have the leisure time of my 2hour commute to Crossfit- so I did this one at home. I was pretty sore from the Filthy Fifty the day before, so I mapped out my 800m starting from my house (using Map My Run) and put my yoga mat down on my living room floor.
This was pretty rough- not only was I not too smart on the timing and at many times had to wait for traffic in the middle of my runs (gotta love running through the street- and two different intersections just to get 800m), but I locked myself out and had to wait for my boyfriend to open the door. Also, I used the foam roller to simulate back extensions- I can usually bang these out really easily on the GHD or the ab mat, but without one I couldn’t get the positioning and had to keep readjusting as to not cut off all circulation in my legs. Overall it was more technically difficult than it was physically difficult. I finished in something like 31 minutes.
But that’s not the exciting news of the weekend. Yes, yesterday I slept almost all day because I came down with some 24 hour bug (not pretty, and very energy draining) but we went to my man’s hometown in New Jersey on Saturday and ended up going to a park and hanging out for a while.
It was a beautiful day, and it’s been a long time since I’ve played on swings, gone down slides and hung out on monkey bars. It made my weekend. The air was clean, the place was clean and there wasn’t another soul to be found. We kept making jokes that if we were back in NYC the place would be littered with people and garbage, and the picnic tables would have to be bolted down as to not get stolen. It reminded me of my hometown birthday parties as a kid, we had a park next to my house that we’d all go to and play. How long has it been since you just played?
Overall I’m loving my FUNemployment. I thought it was going to be hard to re-learn how to do nothing again, turns out it’s easier than I thought.
Picture taken from the park next to my hometown house. Juneau, AK
