a tree grows

“There’s a tree that grows in Brooklyn. Some people call it the Tree of Heaven. No matter where its seed falls, it makes a tree which struggles to reach the sky. It grows in boarded-up lots and out of neglected rubbish heaps. It grows up out of cellar gratings. It is the only tree that grows out of cement. It grows lushly . . . survives without sun, water, and seemingly without earth.” ― Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

WOD:

I. “Bear Complex“

5 Sets for Max Weight:

7 Reps (1 cycle of the following progression = 1 Rep)

Power Clean

Front Squat

Shoulder to Overhead

Back Squat

Shoulder to Overhead 

Completed: Round 1 @ 55lbs. Round 2 @ 60lbs. Then 65, 70, and finally, Round 5 @ 75lbs. If it wasn’t for my awesome partner, Laura, I would not have pushed to, and completed the Bear at a new 75lbs. PR weight. She is one of those people that pushes me when we have a chance to WOD together, and I’m grateful for the nudge. I would have hung out at 55lbs. all day. But, thankfully, not today.

I should rename this Blog, Grateful. Because that is how I’ve been feeling a whole bunch lately. Just freaking grateful. Below is a list of reasons why:

1. First, was able to meet some amazing people on Friday while volunteering to help set up for a Wounded Warrior weekend. While I couldn’t stay and volunteer the entire three days, just spending that one day with the initial group was eye opening. Literally changed my perspective on individuals with disabilities in a matter of minutes. If anything, my previous ideas of what a person with disabilities can do, whether limited physically or from brain injury, were ignorant at best. I simply had no idea. The strength, the stamina, the desire, the will, the hope. We are all the same.
2. Level 1 CF Certification in Brooklyn. Getting to train with the fittest on earth. Maybe even the cutest, errrr… I mean, nicest. Getting to meet other folks from other gyms around the country. Getting to put to the test everything I’ve learned to date from ACF and coming to know with true confidence that my home gym is one of the best. It is doing its members right. I felt confident in representing, knowing I was well prepared, my bag of increased work capacity across broad time and modal domains, well packed. Plus, my nail polish matched my purple Inovs. Bases were being covered.
3. MoM. Somehow I was named Member of the Month at ACF. I dunno, you tell me. I hugged and thanked Caleb tonight, pre-WOD. Feeling the love. In a beastly Crossfit kind of way of course. What I really felt was, well, grateful. The second I walked into the triple wide I was greeted with hugs and knuckle bumps and kudos and smiles and happiness and daisies and unicorns. I’m telling you, there’s some crazy kind of pixy dust being sprinkled in that place. Or maybe it’s just the people. But the sincere happiness in my accomplishments being expressed by my fellow CF’ers is what inspires me. These are good people.
4. Trader Joe’s opening in Albany. Finally made it there tonight for some grocery shopping. Didn’t even have to wait in line. I’m grateful they have $4.99 Almond Butter, and Coconut Oil. I’m not so grateful that there is now about 3 different groceries stores in a 5 mile radius that will require grocery shopping. Because each one has only a few of the items on my weekly list, at the best price. No one store has everything at the best price. So grocery shopping now moves into the strategic category, as I will have to plan trips based on need and item and my current location and time schedule and which store has what. And this will drastically cut into my FB time. My paramour will not be happy. Have you ever noticed there is no term for a male mistress?  Here’s wikipedia’s 2 cents on the topic: “There is no specific word in English for a “male mistress”, a man in the same relationship to a woman as a mistress is to a man. Linguist Julia Penelope located 220 English words meaning “promiscuous woman,” but found only 20 for “promiscuous man.”^[17] For male mistress, the more general term “lover” can be used, but does not carry the same implications. “Paramour” is sometimes used, but this term can apply to either partner in an illicit relationship, so it is not exclusively male.”
5. Signing up to compete. I think I just threw up in my mouth a little. First, Strongman in Perth, and then the Garage Games over Labor Day. I’m feeling committed to push more. The diet has gone clean again. Could not have picked a worse month, it being August, the toe headed child of Summer, with all its BBQ’s and final celebratory finales, and the track season in Saratoga. But, I’m a week in and already pushed to a new PR with the Bear. And I just feel good. Am sleeping epic-ly well. If you have not already, take a look at It Starts with Food. This speaks to me the most at the moment. It’s strict. But strict is good. No room for rationalization. Just tell me what to do, wind me up, and point me in the direction. I can karate chop my way through the rest.
6. When you are on the right path the universe rises up to meet you. Oprah said it, not me. And it just feels as if my true path is both before and behind me. Because I’m standing right smack dab in the middle of it. I’ve embarked upon it. That, my friends, is the true definition for happiness. And for this, I am truly, most Grateful. Indeed.