My very first garden....

    So last year I attempted to grow some peppers and tomatoes in pots on my deck.  I reported their progress daily to Angela as I spent a lot of time in her office last summer getting my hip fixed. 

     Each day I would tell her how my little tomato plants and pepper plants were faring.  To my dismay I only managed to successfully grow jalapeno peppers....and plenty of them I must say.  She coached me along and encouraged me as my tomato and pepper plants were ruthlessly eaten by a tomato grub.  Why couldn't that silly grub go after my jalapeno peppers?  No, in one day that fat little worm managed to eat 10 tomatoes and 5 peppers.  I think in total out of 1 cucumber plant, 2 jalapeno plants, 3 pepper plants and 2 tomato plants I was able to get 3 actual peppers, 0 cucumberes and a few tomatoes...and like I said jalapeno's out the ying yang.

     So here I am 1 year later and I have totally expanded and to say I am nervous and a bit apprehensive is an understatement.  Brandon and Brooke attended Angela's organic gardening seminar this past April and between many texts to Angela and Chris we have successfully planted our first garden.  I'm not gonna lie, Jim and I did a high five and a kiss when that first tomato plant (which I now know is NOT a tomato plant, it's a banana pepper plant) was planted.

     We started collecting compost as soon as the kids went to the organic gardening seminar.  We saved our egg shells, banana and orange peels, strawberry tops and anything that would grow back into the ground.

     Our first day Jim went out and dug up all of the weeds, plants, and whatever else was growing in our "new garden area!"  We lined out where we wanted to grow and Brandon and Jim dug out the grass.  We tilled the garden area and then I actually went to Lowe's and paid money for cow poop.  Between spreading cow poop and our many piles of compost I thought the kids were surely going to die of embarrassment.

     Brandon and Brooke both stated that the entire yard smelled like "poo" and that they were a bit annoyed that you could see "trash" in our yard.  I told them I didn't really care what the neighbors thought and that when we had fresh veggies on our kitchen table, they wouldn't care either.  Gage came home later that weekend and at dinner on Sunday night, he said "Carole, why is their trash all over our yard?"  I had to explain to him that this was compost and it would soon bear some beautiful veggies for all of us to eat.

     I think the most fun Jim and I had was our day shopping for our plants at the South Bend Farmer's Market.  Who would of thought that picking out and planning your garden could be so exciting?  We bought tomatoes, red and orange peppers, banana peppers, jalapeno peppers, spaghetti squash, yellow and green zuchini, cucumbers, and some herbs....basil, cilantro, sage, parsley and oregano.  We also bought two salad bowls, 1 was baby spinach and the other was mixed greens. 

     The last thing we did is bought some organic soil and some worm casing's for fertilizer (at the South Bend Farmer's Market).  It was now time to take all of this stuff home and get it in the ground.  We were like kids in a candy store....we had a truck full of items and we were ready to go.

   It only took about 1 hour to get all of our plants planted.  We planted all of the main plants in the garden, we planted the herbs in planters on the porch and left the salad bowls just like she had them.

     Since the big planting on May 9th we have already been threatened with a freeze.  Don't get me wrong, but I completely panicked.  I mean really all of that hard work and now the "big freeze" was coming and all of my plants were going to die.  We survived the freeze (although I think it only got down to 34) I brought the herbs and the salad bowls in the house, and covered the garden with sheets.

     We have already "trimmed" our salad bowls and enjoyed the first of our harvest.  Yesterday I needed basil for my spaghetti squash and meatballs so I simply went to my back yard and picked a few leaves.  There is nothing more exciting to me than eating veggies out of my own back yard and picking fresh spices to use in my recipes. 


     I also noticed yesterday that our banana pepper had it's first flower.  I can just taste those sweet veggies now. 

     I'm still more nervous than I was taking care of my first child - this seems so out of the norm for me and I can't believe I am even attempting it some days.   I constantly question if I should water, if I shouldn't if I watered too much, or not enough.  I still have a little room left to plant and Brooke is getting us some broccoli and cauliflower from her agriculture teacher.  We'll just wait and see what happens. 

     I check on my plants at least 5 times a day.  Watching and waiting for something to happen.  I am so afraid of waking up one day and finding all of them keeled over. 

     But, I am committed to taking on this new adventure.  And when those veggies start pouring in, I'll take pictures and share my harvest with all of you. 

Quick and easy chicken salad....

I don't have much time to blog today but I wanted to share my chicken salad.  It's so easy like literally it took my 5 minutes to make for lunch and I have enough for leftovers as well.

Ingredients:

2 cans chicken breast
(I normally use leftover chicken but with my 22 year old son leftovers are scarce - I usually mix leftovers with canned to make a larger quantity but today it was just canned)
1 1/2 avocados
1/4 cup lemonaisse
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup slivered almonds
1 cup small grapes (washed and drained)

My ingredients change depending on what is in my cupboard or refrigerator.  I have also used sliced apples, sliced peppers, and celery.  I have tried it with sunflower seeds and pecans as well.  Change it up and make it your own.

Drain water for chicken breast.  (or peel off bones:0)
Slice avocado.
Pour in raisins, almonds, and grapes.
Add lemonaisse.
Stir.
Add salt and pepper to taste.

That's all folks!!

Time to get GLOC off my mind.....

So, here I sit 9 days after GLOC and I'm still not over it.  You would think I could just get over it and move on...so today I am determined to get it off my mind and move forward.  I am SO not a person that looks back...EVER...But for some reason, I have lost focus on this one....so once my thoughts come out then I will forget about it and move forward.

As many of you know, I am so disappointed in my GLOC results.  I was feeling so good, my workouts were back on track, I was fresh off a 13th place masters finish in the open, I didn't even care that I was competing against all ages - I felt great and I was ready to go.

Wod #3 Nerves

The WOD's were announced and I felt good about all of them but 1.  I practiced the first WOD and wasn't able to finish in the time allotted but felt like I put up a good performance.  The second WOD was going to be a breeze for me and then the 4th WOD was easy weight and I'm glad I didn't practice this one and was able to just give my all during the competition.  Some of those you just don't need to feel twice if you know what I mean.

And then there was this daunting run.  I'd rather had double unders - and you all know how I feel about double unders:0)

I would like to go back, before I go forward because in the past 9 days I have gone over this 1 million and 1 times.  I will never ever ever make excuses for a WOD- never.  Either you have it or you don't.  So, I was trying to figure out where in the world I went wrong in the 4k without giving myself an "excuse" persay for the results.  I don't even know if that makes any sense but in my head it does.  I need to fix what is wrong so I can not go wrong again.  Still with me?

Totally complaining about run!

So, I have to go way back to January of 2012.  I injured my left hip.  I competed in Indy in January anyway and then also competed in GLOC in April.  Both with my hip taped.  In May, I went to see Angela and started treatment on my hip.  Angela had me off lower body lifting, jumping, running etc from May to October.  Where I was released to lift but not jump.  So, I then competed in the Masters Comp in Ohio in October...where I placed 4th.  We were then full force into winter when I was released to jump...I NEVER EVER ran...all winter.  Went straight into Open training and then Open competition....still no running.  I looked back at my logs and I have not run since Spring of 2012.







With that pretense let's look at my GLOC competition.





First of all, I want to say that this is one of the most fun competitions I have ever been too.  I will be there again next year hopefully with some of my posse in drag.  I mean who wants to go to a competition alone?

So, it was decided that I would travel with Brandon to the competition.  Brandon and I have this strange dynamic as mother and son as many of you in the gym have seen.  We both have this strong desire to be in the lead...of everything...and we tend to argue.  A LOT!!!  I am not going to lie, I was so excited to just go on a road trip with my son.  I can not tell you the last time we spent an entire day together....I used to spend endless weekends at swim meets watching and cheering him on.  We had a role reversal here and we were about to embark on a journey not too many would dare to take.  I mean, honestly I want you to dig deep here and tell me how many 22 year old boys would travel to a competition to watch their mom compete in weight lifting.  It's almost like a story out of a magazine or something.  We should write a book.

It was also decided that we couldn't afford a hotel room, so we would leave at the butt crack of dawn and return home late that evening.  My alarm sounded at 4 am that day...not early for me but for my dear son it was 3.5 hours LESS sleep....and it was Saturday morning.  LOL  Let the fun begin.

We loaded the car with food, blankets, bags of clothes, and we were off on our journey together.  We hit the road at 4:50 am hoping to arrive in Carmel for check in at 7:30 -8:30 am.  Our only planned stop was Starbucks in Kokomo - mama's not smiling unless she has her bucks.

The drive out went wonderful, I drove until we got to Kokomo and then Brandon took over...well, he took over driving.  I guess I took over nagging.  "Mom, please don't tell me how to drive!"  "Mom, look I didn't tell you how to drive!"  "Mom, just give me the dang GPS, you don't know how to read it and you're messing me up!" as he's grabbing my phone and swerving off the road.  I had no time to be nervous about the competition I was afraid I was going to die!!!

We get there and check in and get to hang out and set up our "camp" for the day.  It's going to be a gorgeous day.  I am in heat 2 all day long, which at first I was a little upset about having to go early but in hindsite, I really liked getting it over with instead of watching all the other heats.  I was able to just give it my all and not worry about changing my strategy by watching someone else WOD.  That usually screws me up anyway.

Wod;#1 - My son has turned into my coach, my trainer, my photographer, and my confidant  - while still looking like and playing the role of the boy I gave life to 22 years ago....I kept thinking to myself "this is SO backwards!"  I'm still baffled.

I'm lined up and ready to "walk on" for my heat and I'm standing there thinking I should have warmed up better.  Playing little head games with myself and this lady walks up next to me and says, "Are you Carole Turnbo?"  I turned to my right and saw someone I didn't know asking me this.  I was a little apprehensive when I answered, "yes!"  She said, "well, you don't know me, but I know you!"  I was a little nervous.  Like why did she know me and I didn't know her.  Should I know her?  Sometimes, I am bad with names.  So, I was like, "oh really, Why?"  She said, "My name is Laura Moore and I have been trying throughout the entire Open to beat you, I would wait every week for your score to post and you were always like 1 or 2 places ahead of me!"  LOL I giggled.  I was like, "Oh my gosh, are you serious?"  Come to find out Laura finished 14th, 1 place behind me in the masters category of the open.

This is why I love CrossFit.  This is one of the many many reasons.  We laughed and went out to do the WOD.

Practicing.

I was fully physically and mentally prepared to not finish this WOD.  I practiced at home and it was a no- go so I thought just get out there and get as many reps as you can.  I realized in the row of the 3rd round I had the opportunity to finish.  I really had to turn on the box up and overs if I was going to make it.  I finished in 11:54.  I have two favorite parts of this workout in hindsite.

1.  The ENTIRE time I could only hear 1 voice.  It was my gorgeous son, screaming while taking pictures of course!  "GO MOM, COME ON MOM, Don't Stop MOM, Pick up the bar MOM!"

2.  Laura Moore and I finished at the EXACT SAME TIME.  I'm seriously not kidding.  We both finished this WOD in 11:54 so going into the second workout we ended up in 30th place.




Well, in round 1 of this WOD I felt my IT band on my left leg "frazzle!"  That's the only word I can think of.  It was like this ripping sensation.  I was able to gut out the rest of WOD 1 but made a b-line for the chiro table as soon as it was over.  I had the chiro look at my leg, which I had taped for support in the run but obviously needed it in the row, deadlift AND box on and overs.  He said my IT and my gluteus maximal were a MESS.  He helped me stretch them and got me walking "normal" again.  He retaped me with some new kineseo tape straight down the IT band this time in hopes that would help my run.

Wod#2:  This WOD was exciting to say the least.  You waited in a long line as each girl rotated through the bench press 55, 65, 75, 85, ....you had 20 seconds to get the lift and 10 seconds to rotate....95, 105, 115 I kept seeing girls falling off, and trust me I was watching.  As soon as you fell off the ladder you had to take off for you run. My spotter had asked me how far I thought I could go and if I had ever bench pressed.  I wanted to find my hubby right then and there and give him a big fat hug for making us bench press just about every Saturday for as long as I can remember.  125, 135....there I was the first girl to make it this far.  I went to lift the 135# and failed on my first attempt.  I had plenty of time to get in another attempt and this time I was going to make sure it happened.  I just rushed the first one, I set up and got the lift successfully.  The crowd was SCREAMING!!  I can't tell you how exciting this was.  I was like oh my gosh, here I am at the last lift.  We were told if we made it to the last lift, to get as many reps as possible.  My goal was 2, I knew I could get the 145# at least once.  I set up for the lift and the crowd was quiet, I lifted successfully and I could hear the screams, I could hear Brandon, "GO MOM GO!!!"  I went down for another lift and literally got it 3/4 of the way up and it stopped.....I tried so hard, it was a no go.  1 rep at 145# - I was the first girl to successfully lift it and 1 of only 8 girls in the entire competition to get that weight.  So exciting, I finished this WOD with a 5th place tie.

So, here I was coming off this wonderful high from my bench press....you got to wait 1 minute and then start your run.  Off I went, the first thing I felt was my booty and my low back from the earlier deadlift WOD, that didn't last long and I settled into my run.  I have no idea how far I had gone when I started feeling it coming.  My hip lost sensation, my chins were for sure getting chin splints, I felt my arch in my foot dropping (yes, i was taped) and I just kept trodding on.  There is something to be said about my mental state here.  I went from a very high moment to a very low moment.  It was very hard to push myself through this.  Every single solitary part of my mind said, "STOP RIGHT NOW!"  But, my body just kept pressing on.  We ran a little over a mile, maybe like 1 1/4 miles and got a stick and turned around to run back.  I was being passed left and right by people behind me and I did manage to pass a girl or two that started ahead of me, so I was feeling OK about myself.

 
As soon as I crossed the finish line, I collapsed.  To the point of having to be carried.  I could not stand let alone walk.  Brandon and some stranger I will probably never see again took me on each side and walked me to the progenex table.  They then walked me back to my camp but something was seriously wrong.  I had tennis ball cramps in both of my calves and my chins felt like they had been ripped from the bone.  It was so painful.  All I wanted to do was cry.  But I didn't want anyone to see me cry.  I asked Bran to take me to the chiro.  He walked me to the chiro and I said, "I am in serious trouble!"

He worked on my calves and my chins for a very long time.  I have never been in so much pain.  I wanted to cry...he got me to the point where I could stand on my own.  He told me that he was going to leave my hip and IT band alone as they had been traumatized enough.  He told me to rest up for WOD #4. 

A lot of the ladies that I had begun to talk to and make friends with were asking me if I thought I'd make it to the finals.  I did think that, but after that run I was very nervous that it wasn't going to happen.  And I still had 1 WOD to go.

Wod4:  I loved this WOD, but I honestly never ever ever want to see it again.  It was clean and jerks at 95# (really ground to OH, I did clean and jerks) and bar facing burpees.  Every single solitary muscle in my lower body hurt at this point.  I was dying....this was so hard to do and I was sore.  But, what's 6 minutes?  You can literally do anything for 6 minutes.  So, I did what I could for 6 minutes.  After looking at the scoring I came in 20th in this WOD.


As I waited for them to announce the finals, I went over and over how bad the run would effect my final placement.  I figured I couldn't have done THAT bad.  I figured I had to be like in the 50th percentile for my run.  When my name wasn't announced for the finals, the only thing I wanted to see was the score sheet.





I came in 26th overall.
Wod 1:  30th
Wod 2:  5th
Wod 3:  90th
Wod 4:  20th

So, you can see the run and what it did for my overall score.

So, there you have it.  GLOC 2013 is in the books.

Starting today, it is out of my head and I will continue to train.  Today I will be attempting my first run since that dreaded 9 days ago.  My body feels better, I had a massage last Friday and she worked on my legs for about 40 minutes.

I like to take the positive out of everything I do...it's just the way I live.

I will always and forever remember spending this day with my son.  He took on the role of taking care of me and we had so much fun.  I will never ever forget our ride home....we ate steak and shake and he joked because I ate my bun.  I would have eaten dirt at that point but oh well.  We stopped for candy at some off the road place where he was sure he saw a crack head.  We laughed until we cried and our motto for life is now, "1 trip a year!"  I love the man that my little boy has become and I am thankful that God gave me that day with just him and I, against the world.