Keep Calm and CrossFit On

Finally! I have an appointment to look at other flats tomorrow. It's nearby, which is convenient. Almost two weeks have now gone by and I am getting a little more acclimated to the area and accustomed to where things are.

Tomorrow will be my first experience driving in the UK. I rented a car so I can get myself around. Everyone drives manual transmission cars here, and I am not so great at that. Basically, every person who has ever tried to teach me ended up giving up because I tend to stall a LOT. I just took the $$ punch and rented an automatic. Count on me signing up for driving lessons next week because I really want to finally learn how to drive stick shift... and on the other side of the road.

It has been quite a while since I got in a nice workout. I did Crossfit in New York for about 3 months before coming out here, which kept me
fairly active and fit. Crossfit is definitely another love-hate relationship of mine. The feeling before and during the workout is pure dreadful hell. I get the same feeling I get before a huge presentation, exam or scary ride. It is a mish-mosh of chemical reactions that happen in my brain--part fear and part adrenaline. However, at the end of every workout, on top of feeling extremely sore I feel accomplished and refreshed. Crossfit is really challenging for me because I am not naturally built for strength. My body is lean and long, and my metabolism is pretty much the speed of light so it's hard to maintain any muscle memory and mass. But anyway, for the sake of challenging myself and building what strength I can I decided to try to keep on with it during my stint in the UK. I checked out a free trial class at Crossfit Leicester. No surprise the people and coach there were superbly nice. The WOD was Elizabeth, which is 21-15-9 reps of squat cleans and ring dips. After 3 weeks of being out of commission, the workout was mad killer. I was only doing maybe 40 pounds for squat cleans and struggling so I ended up decreasing it a little. Unfortunately, I don't know exactly what weight I did because they only use kilo's here. I'll get these unit conversions one of these days...

I am highly considering joining. It's not too bad in terms of cost, and actually a little bit cheaper than in the US. I think overall fitness and strength training is never bad... especially if some nut tries to mess with me. I'll have some muscles to sludge him in his face or sensitive bits and actually do some damage.

Here's my sad frozen dinner tonight. It was getting dark after Crossfit so I didn't want to eat out anywhere. Surprisingly, it wasn't so bad-- Roasted turkey with potatoes, carrots and broccoli. What I really wanted was a protein drink or bar, but couldn't find it anywhere in the grocery store. I suppose this will do for today.

Almost Friday! Cheers!