The Rachel Beer Open WOD Challenge Series

I walked into the gym this morning, and exclaimed (before doing the workout) "if anyone beats my time today, I'll buy them a beer." I was feeling pretty cocky. And if there is anything you should know (if you don't already know) about CrossFit WODs - they always look easier on the board. But the real reason behind my statement was - I wanted to push myself and put myself more in a competition mode to see how I would do. Plus it also meant I would have to buy beers for people who beat me, so that was a push too because I couldn't take back what I said.

Today's work out was: 50 Burpees, 100 Double Unders and 1 mile run - For time. I also knew that most people at the gym could do this workout as prescribed - so people would definitely be able to beat my time. Simply put, I went all out. There are two benefits to this method:
1) I push myself
2) I really don't want to buy beers that I don't get to consume
2a) But I really DO want to buy beers because - well, drinking?! Why not.

I finished today's workout in 15:44 as prescribed. It was actually really difficult, a lot harder than expected. I would have to admit my tempo run training did come to be helpful for the last 200m of the mile. Looking back I should have ran my tempo pace for the last lap - but, I always have these thoughts after the WOD. Based on the time I left gym for the 1 mile, I did just a little over a 9 minute mile which translates into 5:35 pace for km.

And then from this was birthed the "Rachel Beer Open WOD Challenge". So I like to consider this an inclusive event, but I'm directly excluding men from my challenge - because just like any other sport - men and women majority of the time do not compete against each other. Sorry boys.

Foundational Rules for the Challenge Series

 - Any female CrossFit Vortex member is eligible to participate

- The WOD selected will offer skills that most participants can do (i.e. Muscle Ups will not make an appearance as it is an advanced move). The WODs will be varied, and weights for lifting movements will be very much the same as the Games Open WOD. 

- Rachel, as the time setter will only be allowed to attempt the WOD once. 

- Participants have a maximum number of 2 attempts at the assigned WOD.

- The attempts can only be done on the day of the official Rachel Beer Open WOD or on that week Friday Open Gym

- I trust that everyone will count their reps/rounds truthfully

- Your time/score needs to be recorded on the whiteboard, you can e-mail me a pic of the time or Kristi/Adam can verify your time

- 1 beer per athlete! Good try. 

I will be keeping track of the athletes who have beaten my time so I know who I owe beers to! And I don't know, perhaps I'll have some sort of fun prize for the athlete with the most wins or something like that.

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Strawberry & Blueberry Smoothie

I'm on a smoothie kick - I just realized my last post was a smoothie too. I find that making fruit smoothies are a fun way for me to feel like I'm eating a treat that I shouldn't be (or at least not as often).

Speaking of sweet treats, I'm pretty excited to go to Dutch Dreams to experience their magical, magical, ice cream later on this week. IIFYM all the way. I'm a firm believer in food enjoyment. In addition to exercise of course.

This smoothie makes enough for 4 people, or two people with seconds and almost thirds. So you can slim it down as necessary. In choosing not to kill my husband, I used real milk - substitute for other milk if you'd like.

Stawberry & Blueberry Smoothie

Ingredients
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup fresh strawberries
- 1 cup fresh blueberries
- 4 ice cubes
- 1 1/2 Tblsp 100% peanut butter
- Flax seeds


Directions
1. Add everything to blender
2. Blend
3. Consume

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Banana Mango Smoothie

My doctor has told me that I don't eat enough fruits and vegetables daily. This doesn't really come to a surprise to me to be quite honest. I bet that a lot of people hear the same thing. So I've resulted to blending fruits and veggies into smoothies to help me get a little more than I usually do.

So here's my Banana Mango Smoothie!

Ingredients:
- 2 bananas
- 1 cup mango
- 2 cups spinach
- 2 cups water
- 2-3 ice cubes

Directions:
- Throw in blender. Blend. Drink.

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Chicken Stir Fry

Stir Fry - not normally things people need a recipe for, because I feel like it's synonymous with "whatever I have in the fridge is going in!"  But you've also heard my shpiel too, work, school, husband, crossfit, running, yoga.

Pro tip here, I usually will cook and cut up more chicken than I need, mainly because it freezes so well and in an emergency dinner situation, you know you don't have to resort to take out!

Seriously - you don't need a recipe. It's literally, cut chicken, cook fully, remove from pan. Add all of your veggies, cook that down, add back chicken to the pan, sauce, spice. Boom. Done.

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20 Minute Hamburgers

Or less.

If I'm looking to put a meal quickly together and if I have some beef in the fridge, hamburgers are one of those really quick and easy dinners. And it's one of those things I make that every time it's slightly different. The recipe below is going just to be a base of what I do, and you can always throw additional things into the mix! Whether that be vegetables, or different sauces/spices (like dijon mustard, or a bit of Worcester sauce!)

Also I have my super secret way of getting a pretty round burger too...

Basic Hamburger

Ingredients:
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup rice "breadcrumbs" (gluten-free)
- Seasonings of your choice (I usually put in onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, italian seasonings)
- a splash of liquid smoke if you want that smokey flavour

Directions:
1. Find a circular ziplock lid. I'm not kidding. Here's an example.

2. In a large bowl, mix together the beef, egg, rice breadcrumbs, and seasonings. And by mix, I mean mix with hand. It's gross but that's how it's done.

3. Line ziplock lid with plastic wrap. Take a ball of your meat mixture, and flatten it out in the ziplock lid. That's how it gets it's shape.

4. Heat up your frying pan to about medium/high heat. Fry on both sides, roughly 3-4 minutes each side depending on how fat your hamburger is!

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Two Bite Brownies

My diet (or as I shall call it, my eating lifestyle) has been on my mind quite frequently in the past month. Enough to make some new changes moving forward about what my relationship to food should be, based on my exercise activities.

While I do not necessarily find the Paleo diet conducive to long distance running (I find that I really require the right amount of carbs that have a high enough glycemic index), I have certainly found it beneficial in other ways. The diet really helps me from eating junk food. It's changed how I order my coffee, to what kind of choices I make when I'm craving sugary goods. (Ok, well let's excuse that smidge of ice cream in my freezer right now).  But hey, some gains are better than none. I make much better choices, I make my own smoothies with real fruit that give me that sweetness I'm looking for, I make a point to incorporate fruit and veggies more often too.

So what I'm saying here, is when I'm running long distances - I eat carbs the night before. I will eat something with carbs after a run. I eat energy gels and chews mid run. You have to find the right fit for you so you don't bonk in the middle of a run - at the end of the day, that's the most important thing to do - Paleo or not paleo.

I'm changing the scope of my blog to incorporate other food groups that some would say that are "bad" for you. I'm no nutritionist, or doctor, and I'm not here to tell you what to eat, how to eat it or to define what is "good" and what is "bad".  I'm just here to provide recipes to things that I make that taste good.  I'll try to do this more often too.

Anyway, enough with the shenanigans on with the delicious part of this all. BROWNIES. That's right. They actually taste good, it's pretty awesome.

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