Steamboat Springs Colorado (Birthday Trip)

Let me just start by saying, if you have never been to Colorado you NEED to go.  Yes,  I went a little later in the year for the snowboarding/skiing aspect but was still able snowboard.

There was no problem with my flights on the way out except for the fact that from CLT to DEN feels like 5 hours instead of the 3-3.5 that it's suppose to take.  I might have been over it about an hour into the flight.
Note to self:  bring something to entertain yourself with!  When landing in Denver there was a nice place to eat inside called Modern Market that gives you a macro (protein, carbs, fat) count for each menu item and you are also able to get a half size, which was very nice because the macros counts on a regular were double what I needed.  I did all the calculations in my head and then got the closest thing to it, half Fiesta Salad.  And the receipt had a list of the half size macro counts on it as well (posted this picture on my instagram)

The flight from DEN to Hayden/Steamboat Spring was only 25min., so that was wonderful. It was nice that Colorado was 2 hours behind.  It made it somewhat easy to keep up with the time difference but I did forget on occasion when checking facebook at 430am on my return flight and wondering why people were posting about working out so freaking early...o yeah, NC is two hours ahead! But who am I to talk about working out early.  I get up at 330 and hit the gym by 5.
A fellow neighbor of mine moved out to Colorado 5 years ago and actually lives in the area of Steamboat so she was nice enough to pick me up from the airport.  But how was I going to get around the rest of the trip?  Steamboat's bus system is free!  So that was wonderful.  And the bus route was a straight line from the top of the mountain to the end of town.

-=CrossFit Steamboat=-

CrossFit Steamboat is the only CrossFit gym in Steamboat Springs.  I had contacted them a couple months ahead of time just to get a heads up and see what needed to be done about me dropping in.  I didn't need to do anything prior to dropping in except show up a few minutes earlier to film out forms on Wodify.  I went in for open gym both days, 930am and 4pm, as I have my own programming. 
Note to self:  67/64 degrees in CO feels like the 70s in NC, wear shorts!

The first day at CF Steamboat everyone was really friendly. (Which they were nice both days.)  It was funny, when I first got there a lady  asked me if I was a regionals athlete.  Very flattering of her but I honestly laughed in my head at that question.  I told her I was an oly lifter and some asked me if I was going on join in on their class workout.  So just got all stretched out while they did their workout. After I had just gotten started, two other guys came in during open gym to do some oly work and a small workout.  The lady who had asked me if I was a regionals athlete came over and told them I was a real oly lifter, haha.  I tried to help them out some when I was on breaks between my reps and then when they finished they asked what tips would I give to someone who was just getting started oly lifting, a true beginner.  I gave them a few tips that I learned from my USAW course, and some things I have learned from my coach just from my form.  Funny how you learn new things.

I do have to be a little understanding when it comes to dropping in at gyms and realizing that unless I'm in Europe or drop in at an oly gym all the weights are going to be in pounds and not kilos.   It's just not CrossFit's thing in the USA.  It is quite annoying to have to "calculate", thanks Siri, from kilos to pounds but if it calculated to 101lb from kilos I would just make it 105lb.  I'm not a person for going under in weight when transferring from one to another.  I definitely enjoy dropping in there.  Plenty of space, and weights to use.  It was a well equipped gym and didn't have trouble finding anything I needed or making myself at home.

Snowboarding

Back Story:
So last time I attempted anything related to snowboarding was when I was maybe at the end of elementary school/beginning middle school and my brother was in boy scouts.  I was "taught" how to ski.  And the only reason I have quotations around taught is because it didn't last very long.  I couldn't stay in the cold long when I was younger because my circulation is terrible. Ha granted it still is. I get asked all the time what is wrong with my hands because they are constantly red and turn purple when I get cold, and it doesn't take long for me to get cold (20min when I was younger in the snow). 
So we went to Winter Place, I believe, for the boy scout ski trip.  We got our skis and poles and of course we are playing around because we've never been on them.  So then we are divided into groups for a ski lesson.  I don't remember how long it was, but the first thing the instructor does is take our poles away and have us start moving in a circle.  Welp, about 10min later I'm telling him I need to go inside because my hands are freezing.  His response, "Keep moving around, they will warm up eventually."  I can't tell you how many times I've had people tell me this in my life.  And when I was younger I had no filter for my mouth like I do now that I'm older. So I think I moved around for about two more minutes before I took my skis off and went and got my mom with tears running down my face because I was so cold.

Fast Forward:
So, because it was a beautiful day in Colorado, 67 degrees, I was able to wear light layers.  I mean I wore a tank top with a light lulu jacket over top of it.  On a semi snow covered mountain.  That's not heard of in NC!  I was very lucky, my neighbor had extra gear...boots, pants, butt pads (cause it was my first time and I would be falling a lot), wrist guards, gloves, helmet, goggles, and she even had an extra lift ticket for me :) 
We only went down the mountain once.  Cause learning to snowboard is harder than it looks but it's easy to get good at.  And yes, we started up the hill...no bunny slopes for me.  She said it was easier to learn that way and I honestly believe it was.  I did fall on my ass several times though and got a little frustrated but I wasn't going to let that stop me from getting down the mountain as best as I could.  Plus who was going to come get me all the way at the top of the mountain anyway?  I learned how to lean and turn, stop, stand up, and do falling leaf. 

This is from the very top of the mountain...my
first time snowboarding!

Falling leaf was honestly my favorite. Probably because I felt like I was in control of what I was doing instead of going full speed down the mountain.  I figured you'd put most of your weight in the back, but nope, you put it in the front leg.   I went half way down part of the mountain doing that, without busting my tail.  I was proud of myself on that one.  I did face plant once and did a little tumble another time, which I figured would happen and I laughed it off.  Just glad my tumbling and face place didn't send me a long way down the mountain.  My fingers did start to get a little cold toward the end but that's cause I had to keep putting them in the snow to stand back up from all my falling down.
Getting on and off lifts is a completely different story (I'm sure it's easier with skis ha).  Stephanie, my neighbor from when I was younger, had them slow the lift down so she could try and help tell me how to get off...I ended up on my stomach face first in the snow.  And then ducked for cover cause I was still close to the lift and didn't want to get hit in the head.  Think duck and cover.  That's what I looked like.

I wanted to go again the next day but don't know the mountain that well so I was afraid to go by myself.  But it would be awesome to be able to do that one a regular basis.

🍓Strawberry Park Hot Springs🍓

So my mom has always told me about hot springs and how her and her boyfriend go all the time.  So Colorado has plenty and there was some about 20min from my resort.  And added bonus, you can get a free shuttle to take you up there, but I went with Stephanie, her boyfriend (Adam), and her boyfriend's dad (Don) after happy hour after I finished up at the gym.  I was super excited to go. Nice relaxing way to end a vacation,  and to be able to soak in some warm water.  You take a long dirt road almost to the top of the mountain.  It was a little scary cause you could feel the back end of the truck moving around going over the dirt and gravel.  Guess it was a little bit of a rough drive.  We changed clothes once we got to the top. 

In front of the snow cold river..in the hot spring.

There are several different pools at the hot springs, each different in temperature depending on what pool you were in.  The higher the pool, the hotter the water.  But the pool I got in was right by the river.  And the river was colder than normal I was told because of the snow run off.  The hot springs water feels like you are getting in a hot tub and what's nice is you can leave your stuff sitting around and not worry about anyone taking it.  Completely different from NC.  We were only at the hot springs for about 30-45min and I was only half-way in for most of the time.  My body for some odd reason doesn't do well just sitting around in hot water.  I could never just hangout in a hot tub when I lived at home (we did have a hot tub).  I think I only lasted about 15-20min in the hot tub at home.
When you looked around everyone was being entertained by the people jumping into the river because it was so cold.  And seeing some people's reactions were quite funny.  I figured it was cold if people were jumping in and then people weren't even making it to the other side.  So I'm not going to lie...I had to try it for the heck of it.  And like I mentioned earlier, me and cold don't mix very well. 
So I tried to ease my way into the snow cold water.  Not a good idea.  You're just suppose to go for it like in a cold swimming pool, just dive right it.  And funny thing is, is at an actual pool, I would.  But anyway.  So I decided I would ease my way in.  I could handle it about up to my thighs and then you just step off into the river.  And in the process there were some words coming out of my mouth, nothing terrible though.  But as soon as I stepped off and a little ways away from the steps I 100% turned my ass back around for those steps.  But the funniest part of that is when Don decided to come with me to get in.  He was on his way in as I was on my way out.  And Don did it the right way, just dove right in making me even more wet and water hitting my face.  My legs started to get splotchy red from the temperature change of the water hitting my skin when I switched back to the hot springs.  We only stayed for about 20 more minutes after that.




Steamboat → Charlotte
My first flight was at 810 in the morning and that meant leaving for the airport at 6am...but why?! I want to say I got up at 430 that way I could make sure everything I needed was packed, took any extra food I had left over to my neighbor, and we headed off to the airport.  We got there around 7 and had to wait about 20-30min after getting there for the check-in kiosks to open.  We waited for around 45min-1hr and before we took off I had to call a friend.  You remember the guy for 16.4 last year in DC?  Well he's back!  So we talked for a bit before I got on my flight and then headed out for Denver.  Don was also on my early flight but he was taking the next plane from Denver to Missouri.  Flying into Denver and seeing the snow capped mountains is really beautiful.  And when we first took off I was looking for my neighbor Stephanie's house, no luck.  We landed in Denver and I had to find a board to find where my gate to Charlotte was going to be.  I found it, of course on the opposite side the airport I was already on, and then went and got some food.  I was starving.  I couldn't decide between the Modern Market or TCBY for a fruit smoothie with some whey added to it.  I went with the smoothie.
After I got to my terminal they were asking for volunteers to be bumped from the flight, they had overbooked.  Good job United.  Yes, I was flying with United.  Now cut me some slack I had booked my tickets back in February before this whole debacle had happened with the passenger who refused to get off when asked and got his face smashed in.  I was a little worried about not getting to workout on Saturday, since my programming is Mon.-Sat. but coach said take the day to relax so it wasn't going to hurt me to have to miss my currently booked flight.  I went up to the kiosk and asked when the next flight for Charlotte was (1.5hr after my current one), and was there any compensation for volunteering to be bumped....$400 flying voucher and a food voucher.  So I volunteered.  I'll take $400 toward another plane ticket please!  Means I get to go travel more than I had already planned, so I'm perfectly okay with that.  Now if they didn't need me to get off the flight I wouldn't get any of that but lucky for me they did and they booked me on the next flight to Charlotte....American Airlines on another end of the airport.  I had to take the subway to get to the other side of the airport.  
My luggage stayed on the United flight though and I just had to go to the United baggage claim when I got to Charlotte to pick it up.  I took my food voucher and got a salad while on the plane so I could have dinner besides all the pretzels and biscotti they were handing out.  I finally landed in Charlotte around 530 and then didn't head home until Sunday.  There was no way I was going to drive back home after traveling all day!

It was an amazing trip, just wish I would have stayed longer....next time.  And I'm going to snowboard more next time too. 

Day in the Life of Anxiety

You're mind goes from one thought to another, bouncing around in your head like one of those balls in a pinball machine.  Never completely focusing on one thing, but a thousand different things in a matter seconds or minutes.  Your heart is constantly racing, and you feel like you're about to explode at any moment.  Anything going on around you just adds to the triggers in your head, people talking to you with racing thoughts that never slow down, you can't fully process and seems as if even one extra thought thrown at you is about a million.
Not many people know this but I do deal with anxiety.  Unfortunately my anxiety can sometimes result in depression and every so often I'd rather deal with that than the actual anxiety.  So I figured I'd let you in my head and let you know what it's like and what I think when these things happen.

I've got a meet in about 2 weeks and my clean & jerks are feeling good, minus the fact that I just realized I'm starting to straighten my back leg again on my jerks and I've worked hard to fix that.  Jeez, one more thing to fix, but lately my snatches have been giving me trouble.  Some days I can figure out the issue myself and well some days I just bug my coach.  Glad I've got him.  I know I bug him and I'm glad he puts up with it, but I do feel bad about it.  But instead of taking it as one bad day at 80% I think about how yesterday's 80% was a struggle  and how the past 2 weeks haven't been that great and all of a sudden my head zooms straight to my meet and how I'm worried that I'll do shitty on them there too.  I really want to do well and always have good meets.  And then I start thinking about the long term goal of making it to the American Open this year, and how bad I want to be there.  and what if I don't make it.  Yes, there's

always the next year but I want it this year.  Should motivate me to work extra hard right?  And trust me I would do any extra work that I would need to do to get there, even if it meant two-a-days.  I finally got so pissed this morning over missing my 80% that I finally hit them.  Guess what a little bit of aggression can do.

I didn't work at the school today and was told yesterday that they didn't have any work for me since I'm just a sub, but I always swing by and double check after my workouts just in case.  Still had nothing, but when the VP walking into the office as this is being said my head goes straight to, "am I in trouble?"  I said something the day before about a teacher I was covering in front of the secretary about not like that room/teacher because they're messy.  Did I just get myself in trouble.  And I by no means and not appreciative of the days I work.  I love my job every day.  Some days may be a little
more stressful for me than others but I don't love it any less. I don't like that days that I'm not at work.  That school is apart of me and so are the kids.  The kids become almost a little family of your own.  Like they're your own kids.  And I'm always worried that I'm not good at the one thing that I love doing, which is working with special education kids.  They just touch your heart.

And then there's the paycheck that literally just got drained in 2 days from paying bills when I'm trying to save money.  I've been bad about that this past year, bit I start to see hope when the other paycheck roll ins.  That's always a constant worry.  And then being told I end up having to spend a little more money now just adds on top of that stress.  Yay.  It's a never ending battle.



Lately, since the beginning of the year, I've been content being single.   Happy to focus on my and my lifting.  Not to have any distractions and just focus on me.  No desire to start dating.  And I have a guy friend that's the same way.  So great to hang out with except I freak out when he tells me he's ready to date.  One, why the hell is that bothering me?  I'm not ready to date.  And second,  could this mean that I'm catching the feels?  This is so not happening and nope.  I don't want to date, no desire to, want to focus on my lifting and me this year that's all I want to do.  And then my head gets rattled trying to figure out why it's bothering me.  Awesome!

I also have to worry now about my heart condition until I go to the cardiologist on the 22nd.  I was never told by my cardiologist 7 years ago that I needed to have it checked every two years.  Just told that mine was very mild because of all the working out I do.  A lot has changed in 7 years that could affect it, like my exercise routine.  I use to do a lot of cardio...now, none at all.  I'm nervous to go see them and find out the results of the ultrasound that I will get  and how that might possibly effect my programming.  And worried about the cost of doctors fees and the fee of an ultrasound.  Glad I have tips from my second job.



For those of you who may not know.  I'm a consultant for Rodan+Fields skincare.  Their products are absolutely amazing.  They've helped get rid of my acne that I've struggled with for years.  Proactive only worked temporarily and this stuff is just amazing.  And they make facial products for people who want to battle aging lines (anti-aging), dark spots, acne, and sensitive skin (eczema, psoriasis, etc).  But I finally went to make some of my mini-facial to give out as samples since I started the business back in June of 2016.  I'm a little behind.  Money has been an issue, but you have to put the money into the business to really get back out of it.  But it's scary to spend that money.  So I finally was able to get some mini-facial put together and I went to print out the sheets that go in the bags for instructions and place a new ink cartridge in and my printer doesn't recognize it.  I contact HP, and they walk me through some steps and it still doesn't work.  The send me new cartridges and I'm going to try those later today, but what if those don't work.  Then I have to replace my printer which has less than 50 days left on the warranty, which puts me even more behind on getting mini-facials out and building the business.  Let me tell you building a network marketing business is scary stuff.  A lot of people don't want to spend money on products that are proven to help them with skincare concerns.


And I realized that I booked to dog sit on Easter so I won't get to spend Easter with my family this year.  A first in the 4 years that I moved.  I didn't realize this when I booked my trip to Steamboat, CO for my birthday and then decided to head back on Sunday for dog sitting for the week.  And there's no refund on tickets so I'm not going to just throw away the money I spent on a treat to myself.  I'll be by myself and really don't want to be.  I'm sure it won't be that big of a deal being by myself for a holiday as many people around here have done it but just something that bothers me.

Sometimes dealing with it is easy and then others it's an all day thing.  I don't tell a lot of people this because I feel like people will view me differently, treat me differently, and it's scary to tell people.  I don't want it to effect what I love doing, like my sport and job.  But it's good for people to know, but it's also a scary thing.  I just want people to understand if I'm acting differently the is why.  Other people might see it as stress but it's much more than that.  It's everything running through your head at one time and not knowing how to stop it.

More Pound for Pound, Exciting Announcements + RF Unblemish

Even after a one bad day on Sunday, and having a mental meltdown my mind has been running a thousand mph with how excited I am about some of the things I have coming up for me.

Pound for Pound Results

I was nervous and a little excited about my meet this past Saturday in Charlotte at South Charlotte CrossFit.  My first official CrossFit gym I was ever apart of for a long time.   I started out at CrossFit Charlotte but was unable to do a membership there.

So I showed up hoping to hit some new PR's in both of my lifts.  I'm so close in both and I will admit I was nervous to work with Matt.  I've only seen him on Facebook and Instagram lifting and just randomly started flowing him.  Never actually met him in person prior, and had talked to him about programming before.  Cause that doesn't sound weird at all now that I'm having someone coach me at my 2nd over Olympic lifting competition that I've never actually met.  But the guy has some mad skills when it comes to lifting.  Now when you do a weightlifting competition you have to arrive 2 hours early to weigh in.  Everything is done based off of your weight class and by your age.  Me being 28 years old, I'm considered a senior.  If that doesn't make you feel old I don't know what will, haha.  So after I weighed in I ate some breakfast, you don't eat before weigh-ins.  And started to stretch out.  Yeah I started stretching early.  I get anxiety at competitions so I just have to keep moving around.  I stretched out my shoulders, hamstrings, hips, making sure everything was mobile. 

So when I finally met up with Matt, he got my opening number for my snatch and started doing his, what I can only guess his is calculating, for warming up.  He told me to go hang out, so I did for a little bit and as I was start to put the singlet on I had and put my wrist wraps and knee sleeve on my mom and neighbor showed up.  After that I grabbed a barbell so I could start warming up.  

Matt fixed only two things with my snatch which still feel a little weird.  He wanted me to jump and bring my knees up and then since I extend backward he wanted me to focus on extending up with my shoulders and not back.   I can.  I got so focused on trying to make sure I did that that I became completely unaware of just about all the other stuff I normally can feel.   But that's okay, it's only because it's different from my normal.  He started putting weights on the bar for warming up while people were lifting and would tell me when to lift a weight he had set.  And in between he would make me sit.  That was probably the only thing I didn't like!  I'm not a sitter, I get anxious.  I'm a person that stands and walks around to get the nervous out.  I eventually told him I couldn't sit and he understood it and let me stand and walk around.  But I stayed close.  

Snatch

So it was time for my first attempt at my snatch,  53kg.  I hit all my weights warming up, first attempt, not problem.  Attempt #1 (fail):

I got on the platform and I didn't take enough time to set up for my lift.  I felt my ass rise first, when you're suppose to lead with your chest and missed my lift.  I had two minutes before I needed to try and complete the lift again.  No one else was lifting at the weight I was which is why I got two minutes.

He had me sit again (and this is before he found out I'm not a sitter).

Attempt #2 (fail):  

This time the bar was too far out in front of me.  I tried to save it, but it just wasn't happening.  I'm not sure why in the world I was having an off lift since it's normally a number I can hit no problem  And we talked about it after and it could have been many factors....I'm use to training my myself, I haven't competed in over a year.  But even at my first meet I only missed one of my snatches.  So this was baffling me.

We talked about my 3rd attempt and whether or not I wanted to go up in weight or stay where I was.  Sometimes going up in weight for me helps so I chose to go with 55kg.  A weight I can typically hit as well.

Attempt #3 (fail):  

This time everything was good, I guess I had some extra power or was unable to stop the movement of the bar.  Matt said it was because I wasn't used to the bar being that close, and I'll take his word on it, but nothing about the lift felt as if I was going to miss it.  It fell behind me.  So at least I had enough power to get it overhead and almost have it.  Now just to fix that part in the coming months.

I was in complete shock that I just missed all of my snatches!  What in the world?!  I mean yes, I have some of these days when I do my training but I just keep lifting it until I make it and then move to the next weight.  But the only thought that was running through my head was, "Great, Matt thinks I can't lift the weights I had declared and that I'm bad at this!"  He could tell I was upset and then told me about how he had bombed out on his first 10 meets.  Not going to lie, that made me feel a little better.  It was normal for things like that to happen. We all have off days.  I sat and watched some of the other competitors that we lifting after me since I had finished my 3 attempts and it wasn't just me that was having a bad day so that made me feel al little better also.  

Snatches were official over and it was time to move on to C&J.  There is a 10min break between the snatch and C&J to allow competitors to warm up

C&J (Clean & Jerks)

I warmed-up little with just the bar and then he told me we would have to move a little faster warming up through C&J than we did snatches.  I was lifting a little earlier in this one.

Attempt #1:

I made this one just fine, but it did feel heavy and felt like my back started to round on the way up.  It did make me a little worried for my other lifts about how they were going to feel.

Matt told me we were going to go 58kg/62kg and then from there depending on how 62kg felt we'd go either 65kg or 66kg, either one would be a new PR for me! I was nervous about that but excited.

Attempt #2:  

I was only worried that this would feel heavy because it was getting close to my max.  The only other worry I had was getting underneath on my jerk fast enough so that my lift would count.  You can press out, you can't have any re-bend in the elbows after you catch the jerk overhead or the lift wouldn't could.  Clean was easy, felt great getting up out of the squat, now time for the jerk.  Solid, felt light and quick getting under.  Awesome!  It felt better than it ever had.

Attempt #3:  

Matt decided for me what weight I was going to be going for...he chose 66kg.  I'm glad I had him there to make the decision of what weights I should lift.  I told him my last lift left good and that's what he went off of.  I got a little nervous when he told me that's what I was going to be lifting but that's okay.  My turn was up and I step onto the platform.  I set my feet like I always do first, it used to be there other way around.  Place my hands first and then my feet.  As soon as my feet were set I grabbed the bar raised my chest and started to pull.  Got under the bar easy into my squat and started to stand.  It as nice to hear him in the background giving me cues throughout and encouraging.  On the way out of the squat, I didn't feel myself struggle at all.  The bar did have a little adjustment in my right hand on the way up and it's only when I fully stood up and fixed it that I realized what weight I really had on my shoulders and all of a sudden it felt heavy.  Then I thought "O shit!"  I took a deep breath, dip, drive and tried to catch it and sink underneath it as best I could.  Caught that sucker rock solid!  I was so happy.  I might not do any happy dances but I'm still reeling inside from it.  My snafu on snatches were and still are an afterthought!

The Pulse Side of Having a Coach

1) They figure out your warm-up weights of you based off of your openers.

2)  They figure out the progression of your lifts for you and if you can hit PRs based on how you feel. 

3)  They keep track of who is up on the platform, and where you are at in the line up so you know when you will be making your attempt.

4)  They always critique you to help with the next lift.

5)  You don't have to try and figure out your own weights!

6)  Encouragement.  It's nice hearing someone in the background yelling quick encouraging stuff while you're lifting. (I still can't stop watching my PR C&J video)!

R+F Unblemish

For some of us it's inevitable that we have acne as teenagers.   And we use that neutrogena, Proactive, or other brands to help try and clear up our skin.  Now your an adult and that teenage acne is suppose to not be there.  But you became one of those o so lucky individuals that gets adult acne.  Trust me I know how you feel.  I'm one of those lucky few.

I used Proactive which was a product by Rodan+Fields when I was in high school and still used it up until a couple of months ago.  I then decided to try a different product now called Fat Co. but was Fat Face Skin before.  It did tell you that you would probably break out when first using the product because your face was getting rid of all the chemicals in your skin from the previous product you were using.  My face did break out but it was expected so I didn't worry too much about it.  Until it never stopped.  Now don't get my wrong, this is just my results for Fat Face.  Other people have had success with it.  It just wasn't working for me.  So I finally decided to try R+F Unblemish.  It was created by the people who made Proactiv so I was hoping it would work.

My order finally came in and I started using it like the brochure said.  But I get all hot and sweaty from workouts so following the schedule toward twice a day wasn't going to work for me, so I just started using it twice a day.

Results vary for everyone, but I started seeing results in my skin after only a week and a half!

This are my personal results: (I still haven't completed the 60 days - Aug. 10th)

Before Umblemish.  You can actually skill see some
of the blemishes under my skin!

1.5 week results

Now what are some of the facts?

R+F Unblemish is clinical proven to reduce the appearance of bumps under the skin, help reduced clogged pores, blackheads, small white blemishes, and red inflamed skin.  And I found it amazing that 30%-50% of adults struggle with acne.  It's a more common issue than you think.  Another great thing about unblemish is you can't start using it from age 8 all the way through 88 years old!

The regimen is a 4 step process starting with the Sulfur Wash which sulfur is an active ingredient to help reduce the appearance of redness and also contain aloe vera and chamomile to help calm you skin.  

The Clarifying Toner is an liquid exfoliator, its alcohol free, refines pores and reduce redness and irritation.  Use a gaze pad to apply it and it doesn't take much.  You can get the gaze pads from R+F Essentials line for only 7.20 as a preferred customer (PC) or just $8 retail price.  Next is the Dual Intensive Acne Treatment.  It's two gels separated in a bottle, with 2 different pumps because you mix the gels together in your hand before you put them on.  I only use 1 pump for each gel.  The OTC Benzoyl Peroxide to reduce bacteria and breakouts and the Penetration Enhancing Gel basically acts as a slip and slide (think of like the turtle wax brand you use to help your windshield when it rains so you can see better and it just beads right up and flows away).  This is basically how the Penetration Enhancing Gel works, allowing OTC ingredients to just slide right off your skin that cause the issues.  The last is a 20SPF Broad Spectrum Sunscreen with oil control.  Our skin always needs to be protected from the sun.  And this last little bit helps that.

The Results show a 60% decrease in acne with Unblemish!  It's important to use the entire regimen for best results, but starting somewhere can always help!

https://tblack.myrandf.com/Shop/Unblemish

Things I'm Excited About
So after this past meet I decided to sign up for one I had looked at prior it, but didn't sign up because I thought it was completely full and registration was closed.  I decided to check again after my meet this past Saturday and sure enough the event was still available!  So I signed up!

The meet is set for Sept 10th at Sugar Creek Brewing in Charlotte, NC.  

I can't wait to do this one!  

Along with training for this meet. I am going to start programming from Matt, who was my coach at this last meet. I have been wanting to get programming from him for several months now, really ever since I realized he was doing programming, but it just didn't seem to be in the budget at that point.  And honestly it really isn't now, but it was great finally having a coach and I'm going to be able to meet with him once a month for some coaching, which will be awesome.  I haven't had a coach in over a year and I honestly miss it.  It makes me upset sometimes because I know that I probably would progress more in my lifts if I had a coach.

I'm also excited to buy my own singlet next month for my meet.  I'm grabbing the Virus Elevate V2 Singlet, unfortunately right now they are sold out, but that's okay because I'm not buying it until next month anyway. 

Braves v Nationals

So I've been wanting to see a Braves game for YEARS and lately I've been wanting to see the Nationals play since DC is one of my favorite places to visit.  I actually looked at going to a game on my last trip but I don't think they were playing a game in town when I would be there.  So a friend of mine told me to pick out a baseball game and he would take care of the rest.  So DC it is for a Braves v Nationals game.  O and my friend has never been to DC, so why not kill two birds with one stone!

So those are just some of the things I'm excited about!  I can't wait!

~God Bless

"Training strength and endurance mentally, physically, and spiritually."

DC or Bust (more bust) + Lip Renewing Serum & Micro-dermabrasion Paste

It's Friday and I'm leaving later today for Charlotte for my Oly meet tomorrow.  I have to take a rest day today so my body can be ready but all I really want to do is do some light work with a barbell.  And I won't lie I'd probably work up to something heavy just to make sure I can hit weights for tomorrow cause I'm super nervous right now.  Resting on a day you typically workout on is really hard!

Pretty much how I feel right now.
And I wish this was a Dory picture, it's so much funnier
that way.

DC or Bust

I left Thursday to head to DC/Maryland area and made great time.  I was able to get a workout in before leaving town and made it to my friend's parent's place by about 145pm.  My friend was on the phone when I got there so it gave me a chance to unpack all my stuff, then we headed off into town to get some food for the night.  We went to get some fresh fish from a fish market and then we headed to a Dutch market.  Yes, actual Amish people work there.  We originally went in for Amish chicken which she was raving about, but they were out.  We picked up some fresh made pretzels sticks instead, a couple with just cinnamon and others just salted.  We got all kinds of fish from the fish market...salmon, tuna, rainbow trout, calamari, crab cake.  All with a side of salad and roasted potatoes and onions (I skipped the potatoes and onions though).

The next day we were headed to Annapolis, Baltimore on the next trip!  So I headed out to workout at Blue Crab CrossFit. At first I was going to wake up and go to the 6am class, setting another alarm.  Then I thought, "What the hell am I doing?"  I'm on vacation, let your body get rest and turn off those stupid alarms!  So sleep in it was and I went to the 8am class.  I enjoyed the class, but it felt like I didn't do much since I'm normally in the for more than an hour.  I just did't feel as if my workout was complete.  And understand it had nothing to do with the gym, it's just from my own personal training plan I usually do.

Our workout for Friday was:

A) 5 Rounds

5 clusters 115/80

10 pull ups

B) Back squats  (7x3 @ 80-85%)

*stick with the same percentage for all 7 sets

Annapolis

I headed back to the house for a snack after that and then grabbed a shower, and waited on Kasenia to finish up her phone calls that she needed to make.  On the way to Annapolis, she took a different route so that we wouldn't get stuck in traffic since we got a late start to our day.  So that meant to Chesapeake Bay Bridge this time around.  I can't remember how long she said the bridge was.It's a very rare occasion when you see what they call "plebs", what they call freshman.  And it was a new enrollment, so they had just started, so them being out and about would be really rare!  But we got lucky enough to see some on the athletic field when we were walking into the facility. We walked around the United States Naval Academy and then around downtown Annapolis, which is basically has your small hometown feel to it with the history included.  

In front of the US Naval Academy

There were so many restaurants that I saw that I would have loved to have tried.  I want to go back again and get a Naval Academy t-shirt and then eat at one of the places in downtown.  And for a snack we stopped in a place called Kilwin's, freshman fudge and hand scooped ice cream.  We walked around Annapolis a little more trying to not let our ice cream melt and run down our hands.  I went to look for a shirt while Kasenia went and got the car because our meter was about to expire.  So I waited while she brought the car back around and we went to a place called Mike's Crab House and Bar for some Maryland's best crab.  Every said you haven't had crab until you've been to Mike's.  I wanted to get crab legs which I thought that they would have.  Boy was I wrong! Maryland serves soft shell crab instead of crab legs so which I didn't realize what that was because I'm used to southern stuffed soft shell crab.  O the naive uncultured part of me haha.  But I went with a dish called crab imperial instead.  It was good, but there was nothing special to it. And the crab tasted like crab to me

John Paul Do

DC and Bust

So I decided to go workout on Saturday and would also get a chance to meet a fellow LiveSore ambassador, which is how I found out about Blue Crab CrossFit.  The workout didn't start until 10am so that made me a little anxious because I didn't want to miss a lot of the Christian conference which was the whole reason I had traveled to the DC/Maryland area.  So to the gym I went and their Saturday's are a partner workout which was nice because I push myself a little more with those.  I got partnered with the gym owner, Josh.  And we did a badass job

25min cap

100cal row

60 abmat sit ups

60 hasp

60 cleans 115/80

60 burpee over plate

40 OHS 115/30

AMRAP muscle ups/strict pull ups with remaining time

40 muscle ups

*teams of 2, split work however needed

Saturday crew post WOD at Blue Crab CrossFit

DC Bust
After that I completed my front squat since I'm trying to increase my strength in those so I can up my C&J numbers.  My goal is 155# by the end of the year and next year probably 170/175#!  (the # after the number refers to pounds).  After that I headed back to the house to take a shower and then Kasenia took me to the metro. I calmed my anxiety about being at the gym because the Together 2016 tour was going to start at 9am and last until 9pm.  So a 12 hour even, that I would get to see plenty of!

Jesus resets us!

After taking the metro into DC and walking for about 30min to the entrance of the conference an announcement was made on the Together 2016 facebook page that they were shutting down the event due to the heat index being so made.  I arrived to the conference at 315 and was out of it my 330.  I was completely bummed that I had just missed something I new was going to be completely amazing.  So I met up with my friend Krystal and her guy friend Chris and we headed back to their hotel to hang out for a bit.  It started raining, after we got through the door of their place.  I hung out for about an hour and a half and then headed back toward the metro to head home.  I felt awkward, third wheel-ish, since they were cuddling up on the bed.  So I was back in Maryland and having dinner by the time it was 830pm. 
I had other things planned besides going to the conference that day.  I had packed a change of clothes because I was going to treat myself to a nice dinner at a restaurant called, The Lincoln.  Then I was going to head over to Georgetown Cupcakes, which was featured on the tv channel TLC.  I didn't get to Georgetown either.  I was really looking forward to going there and getting some cupcakes, not only for myself but also for the family I was staying with as a hostess gift.  Now all I've got is a thank you card to send them.  But something is better than nothing.
I headed out Sunday morning around 730 to head back home and get some things done around the house...like my laundry.

R+F
Lip Renewing Serum
So some of use have that issue where our lips are constantly dry and nothing seems to help, we start getting wrinkles as we get older, and our lips just start to lose their moisture.  All causing those smooth soft lips to look and feel bad.  The Lip Renewing Serum had peptides and antioxidants, including Vitamin E.  All these help to regain our lips natural moisture, smooth out the lines in our lips and reduce wrinkles.  And the best part is not only does it contain 60 capsules but you can use 1 capsule twice so the product lasts longer than they supply given!  It's recommended to use the serum at night after completing whichever R+F face regimen you use and not wash it off.  But if you need a little pick-me-up during the day that's okay too.  Some of us have drier lips than others.
I just ordered mine yesterday and I can't wait to get them and share some with my friends that I know would love them!

Micro-dermabrasion Paste
This paste works miracles on so many things.  You can use it with any of the regimens and use it with bits and pieces of regimens as well!
1) Soothe #2 + Micro-dermabrasion = No More Razor Bumps

2) Unblemish Sulfur Wash + Micro-dermabrasion = Bye Bye Blackheads

3) Essentials Daily Body Moisturizer + Micro-Dermabrasion = Soft Skin & Heals Cracked Feet
Because let's face it our heals suffer like crazy during the summer with all the walking around barefoot!

4) Lip Renewing Serum + Micro-dermabrasion = 1-2 Punch for Smooth, Soft Lips

Pound for Pound & R+F Reverse

I have been itching to write lately.  Maybe because I have some exciting things coming up.  

I actually touched base on this earlier this year in my blog about the Freedom 2016 conference in Washington DC.  It's a completely free concert on the National Mall with tons of speakers and musicians.  I've wanted to go to something like this for some time now and it's free and in one of my favorite cities on the east coast.  I only say east coast cause that's basically all I've traveled so I can't rule out the cities I haven't been to yet (east and west coast).

So I head out of town tomorrow and I'm staying with a  fellow teacher who is in the DC area this summer.  I'm looking forward to going back to DC and my mission to site see Mt. Vernon the time is happening.  I've been wanting to go there my past two trips.  Friday I'll be spending the day in Maryland and looking forward to seeing Annapolis and the Baltimore area.  The conference is ALL day on Saturday (9am-9pm).  I most likely won't stay for the whole thing.  That's just a long time to be outside!

But with a lot of other things coming up I've got to make sure I still get my workouts in...

Pound for Pound + Training

So I admit, my mind goes crazy on me and I get excited to sign up for something and then I second guess myself and wait to long so that registration either closes or I miss out on a spot in my weight class.  My original plan was to compete in the Barbells and Brews competition in September but I procrastinated too long and registration closed by the time I decided to actually do it.

I have wanted to do one so bad but had lost my confidence because my clean & jerk hasn't improved except for the fact that I can now squat clean 64k and not power clean.  Before I wasn't strong enough to squat clean 64kg, but I can now.  But my snatches have been improving.  I might not have made a huge improvement since last year but it is improving.  And it's hard when you don't have a coach to help make those corrections when you know you're doing something wrong but just can't figure it out.

So I with Barbells and Brews sold out I decided to go for the other one I had heard about...Pound for Pound at South Charlotte CrossFit, my first official home gym.  And the only reason I signed up is because my friend Amy gave me that confidence just by saying how good she thought I was at lifting and that she thought I should sign up.  Granted I've had other people tell me I should sing up for a meet and told me I should repeatedly because they knew I was ready but i just didn't feel as if I was.  You have to be mentally ready for them also.

So with my all registered the last thing I needed was a singlet and a coach for that day.

I contacted my friend Betsey, who I met at my USAW Sports Performance Coach certification course because she helped me with my first meet.  But she is unable to help out with this one so she started asking around for me.  Unfortunately, no luck so I asked her what she thought about one guy I had thought about asking, Matt Bergeron.  I've wanted to grab some programming from him for awhile but I can't swing the cost right now, but definitely in the future.  So I took a leap of faith and asked and he said he would be happy too.  

So coach for the meet booked.  Last thing to worry about was a singlet.  I contacted my friend Bobbie, who I knew had one from competing in an Oly meet before.  So I asked her if I could borrow hers.  If not, I was going to have to order one.  Luckily she found hers and I now have everything I need for next Saturday.  Now all I'm hoping for is a couple PRs (personal records).

Now with this whole training thing.  So I've known I've need a workout partner for awhile now.  Because it's hard for me to push myself during  conditioning part of a workout without a little bit of competition.  I don't have a clock to look at so the clock can't push me to beat a certain time, and without someone else to try and keep up with.  I need that outside motivator to push that little extra.  So I knew my condition had probably gotten a little worse.  I did't realize how bad until Guild's 4th of July community workout.  We did the workout in team of 5 and I was sore from that workout.  A workout that I shouldn't have been sore from!  So there in starts the fact that I need to start going there more to get some conditioning in.  So I decided to join them on Monday and skipped my conditioning which was suppose to be "Jackie" to go do "Cindy."

"Jackie"                                                              "Cindy"

For time                                                               20min AMRAP

1000m row                                                           5 pull ups

50 thrusters 45/35                                               10 push ups

30 pull ups                                                          15 squats

My old score for "Cindy" the very first time I did it was 18 Round + 28 reps...this past time 15 Rounds + 14 reps.  In my book that is absolutely horrible.  I did way worse than I expect of myself and again I'm sore!  But people remind me that I've been focusing a lot on my oly lifting, but I think I still do my conditioning, so it shouldn't be that bad! Yeah well I've got to be careful just for the fact that I have my oly meet next weekend but after that something is going to change.

R+F  Reverse
So I told you that once a week I would write about one of my R+F regimens.  I wanted to start with the Reverse regimen because I feel like it can be one of the least popular once.
So what exactly is the purpose behind using the Reverse regimen.  You no those extra freckles you get during the summer or that blotchy tan (some spots darker than other), dull skin, fine lines and wrinkles, dark marks, and sun damage.  Well it can all be reversed and evened out.  

Dullness and brown spots on our skin can be caused by past sun damage such as sunburns, tanning beds, not using sunscreen correctly, and even just the accumulation and daily sun exposure.  But it has also be influenced by our hormones as well: pregnancy, the birth control pill/path and hormone replacement therapy.  All these things can cause our skin to change.  And one of the great things is that R+F makes a Essentials Broad Spectrum Sunscreen to help protect your skin as well.  
When R+F created the Reverse regimen they made it so that it reflects natural light instead of our skin absorbing it and causing all the skin damage that it does.  By doing this our skin keeps that youthful, radiant, healthy look.  Unfortunately, we only see what is on the surface and not what happens to the many layers of skin we can't see, and these dark marks can make us look older and no one wants to look older than they are
The Reverse Regimen comes with 5 different therapies:

1) Deep Exfoliating Wash (Exfoliates) - cleanses and refines sun damage, blotchy complexion
It helps to loosen dead skin cells, which we all have, and contains exfoliating beads to help get rid of the dead skin cells

2) Intensive Brightening Toner (Fades Discoloration) - helps to brighten skin and fade discoloration, exfoliate and refines, and reduce free-radical damage using different acids approved for  your skin and antioxidants

3) Dual Active Brightening Complex (Brightens and Smoothes Lines) - it uses a combination of Vitamin C and Retinol
The Retinol helps with those fine lines and wrinkles and the Vitamin C helps brighten the appearance of skin.  You want to place a pea sized amount, dab and then blend on that face that we are transforming!

Our last step:
4) Broad Spectrum SPF 50+ Sunscreen 
The sunscreen is designed to absorb UV rays increasing your protection.  The high SPF 50+ formula and Vitamin E and green tea help fight free radicals that damage our skin.