The Holly Jolly Challenge for 2009 at Crossfit Cedar Park came to an incredibly fun conclusion yesterday! Thirty days of strict paleo eating, food logging, and many many workouts (maybe a few too many) are now behind us and I have to say that, other than the feeling of being overworked (I think that this is also due to all of the holiday prep activity on top of the probably too many workouts), I feel really good. A few days of rest and relaxation are definitely in order and hopefully, I will come back stronger and ready to go.
We had a really great team (Me, V, Paula, and Jody)! We all did really well with eating with really minimal cheats. I think that we all learned quite a bit about paleo eating over the last month as well. Personally, I would say that I have about doubled my knowledge in this area from reading and listening to Robb Wolf’s podcasts (sorry, I know I don’t shut up about them). If you haven’t listened to them, you should… they are amazingly informative.
I would say that Paula and Jody carried the team in the “extra points for workouts” area. In the end, I think they probably did 20-30 more mini workouts that V and I did. Way to go, ladies!
The coaches at CFCP wouldn’t really tell us what the workout for the final day was going to be. Nikki hinted at it earlier in the week by saying “bring your running shoes” and “no pull ups, no sit ups, just one small piece of equipment”. Needless to say, Victoria and I were both nervous on Friday night. We had no idea of what was in store for us.
The workout wasn’t really all THAT terrible. We had to run 2.6 miles as a team carrying a 25lb plate between the 4 of us. They didn’t care how the plate made it back to the gym, who carried it, or for how long, etc. At the last 100m, the whole team must finish at the same time, but only 2 sets of feet can be on the ground at once. If you fail to do this, you have to repeat the last 100m until you get it right.
The time it took our team to do this was 30:31 and I thought we did a really awesome job. Jody, who I am naming the MVP of the WOD Quad, I think carried the plate the longest. The worst thing about it was just that plate is awkward in shape and size. 25 pounds doesn’t seem like a lot when you pick it up, but man, try running with a plate that’s a little over a foot in diameter. It bounces, it does’ stupid things to your balance, and other annoying crap.
The nice thing about worrying about what to do with the plate was that it made the run go by really quickly. From constantly jacking with the plate and trying to figure things out, by the time we knew it, we were turning around the last corner and on the home stretch. When we got to the door of the gym, he had to then figure out how to cross the finish as a team with only 2 sets of feet on the ground at any given time. Although we pondered the idea of wheel-barrowing, we decided on piggy back. Jody got Paula and I got Victoria. We broke the garland finish line all together as a team. We then hung around and cheered on the last team to come in.
Unfortunately, the winner was not known yesterday due to the amount of work that needed to be done to figure it out. Hopefully we will know soon. I think we are in the running for one of the top three places, but I am not sure where we will place.
Overall it was a fun challenge and I think, very beneficial to all that participated and tried to actually eat paleo (as opposed to cheat at every meal, then do 6 WODs to make up the points). My only regret is that I didn’t record and “before” data like pictures, my weight, measurements, etc. For the next challenge I certainly will. There will be a next one, right? Can’t wait…
