The end of the Lurong paleo challenge

The Lurong paleo challenge closed out on November 19th but final results weren't announced until November 28th

THE OBSTACLES

This paleo challenge was really hard for me in so many ways. Moving was incredibly hard on the first day of the challenge! then all the unpacking.. I still have stuff to unpack! I  now have a longer driving distance to work and a longer drive to pick up my kids from school which is draining. The lack of sleep in the beginning was very hard and i am still having trouble sleeping straight thru..i wake 4 hrs into my sleep then fall asleep for an hour wake up again.  It is just very hard to work the night shift!  With the increase of driving times, It was also tough to eat on the run ...being a busy mom. It meant i had to preplan meals, which didn't always go well. Then there was the hurricane which derailed alot of athletes in our region. Some because of destruction to their homes, box(gym) or both..some just because of lost electricity! I was very lucky on both counts and even pre-made food so that i would not have any excuse not to eat paleo during the hurricane. I also ended up getting my period twice in November and that's just Kryptonite for me..i am  much slower,  extremetly exhausted, and i can barely pick up a 15lb bar...yuk yuk yuk...the problems of a female athlete.

FUN
My favorite part of the challenge is the  bonds of the crossfit community. Every Sunday night all of us in the challenge would wait for the WOD of the week to be posted. Each new WOD posed new challenges.  At my box we would contact each other on facebook or see each other in class and discuss ..do we try and RX (advanced movements and weight requirements) the WOD?  or keep it scaled?, would we die or would we survive? we discussed diet challenges ? As the member with the most paleo challenges under her belt i would get alot of questions about why the scale didn't move, i would hear updates on Pr's, successes during wods..I also am an RN so i would get asked alot of health questions, I  also have asthma and would get questions about keeping it safe with asthma during WODS  (there alot of us crossfit athletes who WOD with asthma). Every day when i arrived at the box i would hear  how awesome i looked..how my body was changing! During workouts for the challenge i would hear tons of shouts and cheers of support and congrats on Personal Record (PR's) for weight movements. You just cant beat the Crossfit Community there is truly nothing like it! There is no drama, we compete against each other but truly support each other's efforts!

THE RESULTS

I had the privilege to be Jen's judge on her test out benchmark WODS for the challenge..during the initial testing Jen started wheezing during the 5 rounds of 20 kettlebell swings 20 burpees for time so it took her along time to finish the workout.  Jen dropped 15lbs in the 9 weeks and was able to drop 7 minutes off her initial time during the initial WOD with no wheezing!  Stacy and i are the same age..she initially didn't want to do the challenge. I somehow convinced her it would be fun ...lolololol! Well Stacy placed number one in our box..out of 7183 athletes across the USA she place 881..in women's master's divisions (women 45+) she placed 120 out of 628. I think what is so amazing is Stacy met each challenge WOD head on, she even surprised herself by RX a couple of WODS! I am so proud of her! The perk is she lost 15lbs in the 9 weeks and achieved her goal of wearing a size 8..she looks amazing!! AWESOME JOB STACY!! Jeremy is the top male challenge winner in our box. I remember when Jeremy first started and he would huff and puff on the warm up runs, now he blasts right past me with the other men the front of the pack! He has worked hard, shown up consistently, and his weights and crossfit skills have steadily increased! He also dropped 15lbs during the challenge but the best part is to see how confident and strong he has become! AWESOME JOB JEREMY!! Meg, placed 3rd in our box for the Lurong Challenge. Meg is the only female to Rx! Meg we call the "BEAST". My son describes Meg..."mom, she looks like a normal pretty girl on the outside, tiny in height and weight, but then she picks up a bar and she becomes "SHE- HULK". Ma you know she could probably toss a couple of guys across the gym she is that strong!" Meg works very hard and consistently at her weights, and crossfit skills and her hard work pays off!
Meg and became friends as we prepared to compete in festivus being the only two women to compete. She is someone i admire! YOU GO "SHE-HULK"...YOU DID AN AWESOME JOB! 

MY RESULTS
 I came in 4th in the box..i finished 1990 out of 7183 athletes and 241 out of 628 women's master's athletes. I didn't loose any weight (still 156lbs) but my body did change. I wore a size 8 pants when i started and now wear a size 4 pants.  I also for the first time EVER in my life i can wear SMALL scrub pants....yes yes i am doing the happy dance!! So here i go laying it all on the line for all of you....hugs!

VALIDATED	VALIDATED
Waist	32 1/8 "	32 1/8 "
Hips	42 3/8 "	41 1/4 "
Chest	31 1/8 "	33 "
Thigh	24 3/8 "	23 1/4 "
Arm	12 3/4 "	13 1/8 "
Total	142 3/4 "	142 3/4 "

Here are the side by side photos...the changes are small in my opinion but they are there...sooo 

IT'S A CONSPIRACY, I TELL YOU!!

THE CONSPIRACY STARTS

Last year in January i was driving home on the northern state parkway after dropping my daughter  off for her travel softball team practice. All of a sudden out of the corner of my eye i see something moving onto the parkway, its a very large raccoon. I am traveling 65 miles per hour, there is a car to the right of me and plenty of cars behind me..so i can't move out of the way or stop short with out causing a major pileup. I sadly i realize i have no choice but to continue on a collision course with this raccoon. 

When I run over the raccoon  i seriously thought i was going to throw up. It took me two days to even look at my car because i was afraid i might see this raccoon plastered all over my car grill. I was shocked by the damage which cost me $2500.00 to fix and 5 days in the auto body shop. The shop owner told me i was 1 of 10 cars in the last year that had accidents with raccoons. I was the only one who could actually drive my car,  so i counted my blessings and thanked God that i was safe and my car was fixable! After that when i would go to work at night i would seen many raccoons crossing road in front of me everywhere. All i could think is "they know, they know i killed their buddy, now they're after me for revenge"...lmao i have a great imagination!

MY NEW PLACE

My new apt is in a heavily wooded area.  Yup you guessed it,  raccoons everywhere, the little bandits raid my garbage pails. What they don't know is, i am a farm girl and i know how to out smart them or so i thought. I bought a garbage pail that locks even if its knocked over...hahahaha! On garbage day {I have an indoor cat} i threw the  used cat liter in an open garbage pail. Raccoons are territorial animals.  They sprayed their scent around that garbage pail. I picked up the garbage pail to bring it in from the curb...wait for it, Yes i now unknowingly had the raccoons scent all over me. 

RUNNING ERRANDS

 I had errands to run and hopped in my car determined to get everything done before crossfit class.  I am at my first errand on my list, standing in a store and all of a sudden i am smelling this funky gamey smell. "wow that smells is strong", i am thinking, "gee who is that and i turn around..gee it smells just like when i was a kid and lived in the park {my dad was a park ranger and we lived on the park property}, gee it smells like a fox, OMG A RACCOON!" THOSE B*****DS!!! I look behind me and there is a line and the people are standing very far away from me...OMG! i get outside the store and like a dog i start sniffing myself.... holy buckets, its me! The garbage pail, i realize! i get in my car and start sniffing the the car. The stench is allover the car, me, my clothes...ugh. I run home and scrub myself down, start a load of laundry, wipe down the inside of my car and pray when i start sweating in crossfit class i don't smell like roadkill.

THE SCENT
It is very hard to explain what a raccoon scent smells like. Have you ever been driving on the road and all of a sudden you smell dead road kill seeping into your car? Yeah that's what i smelled like.

THE RISE OF THE RACCOON'S

I was driving to work last night and i am still picking up a slight smell. The stench of raccoon is all over my beloved suede coat. I now have to get my coat cleaned , I can't wear it til i do, and baby its cold outside! I need to get my car washed.   I am going to try really heard not to smell like dead raccoon when i go out on a date this week. I could get lucky maybe this guy will be a hunter and i will smell "naturally" good to him. I told you the raccoons were out to get me! 

P.S. your wondering how this relates to crossfit? maybe this can be filed under " in crossfit we expect the unexpected?" or under the crossfit philosophy "sometimes you have to embrace the suck"...smelling like roadkill SUCKS!lolololol 

"Sandra Dee" has her groove back

THE SHOCK OF MY LIFE

The other day at the Crossfit box i was partnered up with one of the guys as we were doing an Olympic lift. By the last 2 reps of third set overhead i was struggling, at that moment i felt the guy come up behind me and place his hands on my elbows to help me lockout the bar overhead. In the instant he touched my elbows i blacked out...i no longer heard my coach calling out the tempo in which we were supposed to lift and descend the bar. I suddenly started to think "wow, a guy hasn't touched me in a long time"...the other side of my brain is thinking "um WTF..you have a bar over your head can you concentrate before you drop it?"  

SEX NOW??!!
I could not believe i am in the middle of class having sexual fantasies with a heavy bar over my head and i am trying not to turn 50 shades of red!  I retell the story of what happened to my friends. One said thru her hysterical laughter..."you need a boyfriend". My reply "I know! I wasn't even attracted to this guy". More fits of hysterical laughter, "Elisa, all he did was touch your elbows". I replied"I KNOW !!" My other friend says to me "you need a t-shirt "don't touch me" more hysterical laughter , another friend chimes in "did you read "Fifty shades of Grey"?" i said "what are you kidding, that could prove to be dangerous, a guy could touch me and i might have an orgasm in class and drop the bar" more fits of hysterical laughter . After we wipe our tears from laughing so hard, they both conclude its my age. Ok but WHY?

MRS ROBINSON
 I am such a science geek that i had to know why this phenomena of women reaching their sexual peak in their 40's occurs....here is what i found out..... 1.  more confidence= most women in their 40's have less insecurities about who they are, what they want, and their bodies. Most have an established career which gives them an  identity outside of the role of mom and wife.
 2. higher testosterone levels=as women near menopause the body realizes that this is its last chance to get pregnant increases testosterone production there by increasing sex drive
 3. mommy stage is over=most women in their 40's aren't nursing infants, they have their pre-pregnant figures back, and are having sex for the first time for pleasure not baby making

SEX and EXERCISE
So if being in my forties isn't enough,  now i am Crossfitting and exercise creates sexual benefits too. 

1. several different scientific studies showed that people who exercise become more aroused and more intensely than people who don't

2. exercise improves stamina and flexibility which translates into the bedroom

3. those who exercise have more sex than people don't exercise

4. exercise improves body image and people who exercise feel that they perform better in bed

5. exercise raises testosterone levels which increase sex drive, reduces depression, and increases sexual arousal 

exercise also releases endorphins which aid in supporting the release of sex hormones, creates a feeling a well being known as "runner's high"and helps to reduces stress which is a sexual inhibitor

For now i will continue throwing all my sexual energy into becoming fitter, faster and stronger at Crossfit....and try not to daydream in crossfit class again...hahahahahaha