Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Lindsay vs. Bobby Weight Gain Challenge

 
From the B. Noyce archives

Pre-pregnancy ... yes, that's Hef
Lindsay
Starting/pre-pregnancy weight: 125 lbs.
Current weight: 130 lbs.
Target weight gain: 25-35 lbs.
Ideal rate of gain: 1 lb per week 
Goal weight: 150-160 lbs.

Bobby
Starting weight: 175 lbs.
Current weight: 182 lbs.
Target weight gain: 20 lbs.
Ideal rate of gain: 1-2 lbs per 2 weeks
Goal weight: 195 lbs.

Weight Gain Composition:
Here's an average breakdown of where the weight is going if I gain 30 pounds while pregnant:
  • Baby: 7.5 pounds

  • Placenta: 1.5 pounds

  • Amniotic fluid: 2 pounds

  • Uterine enlargement: 2 pounds

  • Maternal breast tissue: 2 pounds

  • Maternal blood volume: 4 pounds

  • Fluids in maternal tissue: 4 pounds

  • Maternal fat stores: 7 pounds


  • What kind of weight does Bobby want to gain?  100% muscle. Why? "My sister doesn't beat me at anything, and she never will.  However, I also want to win the CrossFit Games and in order to do so I'm gonna need to be able to move around more weight.  Therefore, I need to get stronger, gain more muscle, get heavier."  -Bobby Noyce.

    I gained about 4-5 pounds in the first trimester.  A lot of women lose weight in the first trimester because of morning sickness, but I haven't had much nausea or morning sickness unless I go more than a few hours without eating ... so I don't go more than a few hours without eating.  I've read that I'm supposed to consume 300 more calories each day, but I have no idea how many calories I was eating each day before I got pregnant or how many calories I eat now.  I just eat when I'm hungry (before I get hungry, actually), eat healthy / mostly paleo food, and don't stuff myself (that also makes me feel sick).  By doing those things and continuing to crossfit during my pregnancy, I figure a healthy weight gain will take care of itself ... and I don't think there is any way Bobby is going to gain as much weight as I am no matter what I do.  Pretty much a sure win for me, but good luck, bro.

    What's Bobby doing to accomplish his weight gain goals?  "Umm, I plan to keep picking up heavy $#it and eating more." 

    Terms of the challenge?  We are open to suggestions.

    
    14 weeks
    

    

     Who's your money on?















    179 days to go

    Tuesday, November 22, 2011

    Hello, 2nd Trimester

    I officially hit the second trimester mark!  I haven't been quite as tired, and I'm hoping it's smooth sailing for a few months now.  Some of my friends have already been asking for belly photos, so even though there's not much to show off at this point, I've started taking weekly pics.  (Sorry Mom, I know you hate the bare pregnant belly pics.)  I'm excited to actually start looking pregnant and not just look like I had a big meal!  Maybe I should take my next photo after Thanksgiving dinner -- I'm sure I'll look pregnant then :)   
     
    13 weeks
    I've still been doing workouts rx'd and haven't been scaling weights or movements, although I have opted against doing GHD sit-ups and I skipped Michael over the weekend because I thought all the back extensions and sit-ups would be too much on my lower back (and because it was cold and windy and I didn't want to run outside.)  My times are a lot slower, especially on longer workouts (which there have been a ton of lately!) and anything with running.  WOD recap of the last couple weeks:

    11/8/11 - White rx'd 24:22 (felt pretty good and was happy with this one)
    11/9/11 - 110# snatch (PR by 5#) :)
                    Isabel rx'd 6:15 (PR 5:31 on 8/19/11)
    11/11/11 - The Couplet rx'd (3 rounds, 30 wallballs 14#, 30 squat snatches 45#)
                     17:44 (PR 13:48 on 7/22/11)
    11/15/11 - Max Thruster 120# (tied PR)
    11/16/11 - 3 rds, 800m run, rest 2 min -13:28 (previous 12:40 on 7/27/11)
    11/21/11 - Nutts rx'd - 29:06 (PR 25:59 on 1/10/11)
    11/22/11 - Fat Fran (15-12-9 thrusters 95#, weighted pull ups 30# vest) - 11:01 -- this was a nice preview of how hard pull ups will be 30 pounds from now!

    11/17/11 - Beyond the Whiteboard 2 min challenge shoulders to overhead 75# - 45 reps

    I'm trying to not get frustrated with feeling like I'm doing worse on workouts, and I struggle with knowing how hard I can push myself right now.  I hate finishing a workout and feeling like I could have pushed a little harder or gone a little faster.  I know now is not the time to push my limits, but I also sometimes worry that I'm going to get so used to backing off and forget what it's like to push myself through the pain.  Of course my biggest priority is making sure I'm doing everything I can to have a healthy baby, but I'm also trying to do what I can over the next 6 months to set myself up to be faster and stronger post-pregnancy than I was pre-pregnancy.  And if 5 months from now, all my workouts feel like pull ups did today with a 30# vest, I think I will definitely have the "stronger" part covered! 

    Happy Thanksgiving! 

    186 days left 

    Wednesday, November 16, 2011

    Paleo Pregnancy ... kinda

    Like a good little crossfitter, my diet for the last year or so has primarily been zone and/or paleo.  I followed the zone diet very strictly for a couple months, but I found that things like weighing my lunch meat, counting almonds, and mathematically planning every meal seemed a little too obsessive for me.  So I shifted my focus to paleo but would still try and get all three macronutrients (carbs, protein, fat) in each meal, without worrying much about the proportions.  With paleo, I saw a ton of improvement in my workouts and overall energy levels.  What I've found about the paleo diet is that by cutting grains and processed foods out of my diet, I hardly ever crave those foods ... until this whole pregnancy thing.

    
    YUM!
    I'm still mostly eating a paleo diet (thanks in large part to my wonderful mother who makes her spoiled children and my husband dinner many nights of the week).  And I haven't had too many weird cravings or food aversions, although sometimes the thought of eating meat, especially bacon, makes me want to gag - and I LOVE bacon! - and garlic bread has sounded amazing for about the last month!  (I haven't had any...yet.)  Being pregnant hasn't changed my will power to eat healthy, but I'm not used to having to tap into that will power ALL the time.  So I have given in and used pregnancy as an excuse to eat like crap a couple times.  When we returned from the Heart of America competition, I forced my family to order pizza and cheese bread ... it was almost like garlic bread :)  And when my sister and her boyfriend invited us to a food and wine expo last weekend, I got my $20 worth of chips and dip, bread, and popcorn while everyone else got to partake in the fun stuff. 

    I've been pretty lucky with the pregnancy symptoms and haven't experienced much morning sickness at all (I'm 12 1/2 weeks, so hopefully almost in the clear on that one!)  But if I get too hungry, I start to feel queasy so throughout the day I don't go more than a few hours without eating something.  Pregnancy also hasn't changed the fact that I feel SO much better when I eat paleo, even though my brain is often telling me I want something else.

    I think it's unfortunate that many women use pregnancy as an excuse to indulge and eat whatever they want.  I recently read Jenny McCarthy's book Belly Laughs (a gift from a friend - I didn't buy it), and got pretty upset about her advice on the subject ... basically, this is the only time in your life you get to not care what you look like and gain weight, so go all out.  I understand the urge, maybe even the need, to have some cheat meals during pregnancy.  But sorry, Jenny, eating for two should mean putting the baby's nutritional needs above your own desire to stuff your face with fast food and brownies every night because you're going to get "fat" anyway.  As I see it, this is the time I need to be more concerned than ever about eating a healthy diet and getting all of the nutrients that I, and especially the baby, need.  (Remind me this when Thanksgiving rolls around next week ...)

    192 days left :) 

    Monday, November 7, 2011

    Heart of America 3 recap (11 weeks pregnant)

    This past weekend, I competed with team CrossFit 515 at HOA3 in Springfield, Missouri.  The event was huge (28 rx teams and 30 scaled teams), and I was extrememly impressed with how the competition was run.  The competition consisted of 8 wods - 2 on Friday, 5 on Saturday, and 1 on Sunday.  We finished in 4th place overall in the rx division.  Everyone on the team did outstanding and should be happy with and proud of their performances ... of course, we were all going into the weekend with a goal of 1st place, so there was some disappointment as well.    
    CrossFit 515
    Lindsay, Bobby, Ross, Lance, Jaime, Tara

    The weekend started off with 2 events within a 13 minute time cap: wod 1 was a 1600m run (score = average time of the 6 team members), followed immediately by wod 2, a max snatch completed within the 13 minute cap (score = combined weight of the 6 snatches).  Running seems to be getting harder and harder, and I was not happy with my 6:27 mile time. (But with an average mile time of 5:55, we easily won that event (average time of the 2nd place team in wod 1 was 6:13), so I couldn't get too upset ... Besides, I think the 6 hour car ride is more to blame than Baby.)  By the time I entered the building from the run and joined my team, I had about 6 minutes remaining to get a max snatch.  I snatched 105#, tying my PR, and nearly hit 110#.  I think a pregnant snatch PR is in order very soon!  We ended the day in 3rd place overall.
    Thanks to VibrantEyePhoto for
    taking these awesome pictures
    of the event!!
    

    Saturday, the wods / portions of wods I participated in were:

    WOD 3
    Max pistol squats (one-legged squats) in 2 minutes 
    Score - 54

    WOD 4 (with Ross)
    8 minute amrap
    8 thrusters (115/75)
    10 kettlebell sumo deadlift highpull (100/70)
    12 box jumps (24"/20")
    - one partner working at a time. Ross and I alternated movements the entire time.
    Score - 8 rounds + 12 reps

    WOD 7 (with Bobby, Ross, Tara)
    6 minute amrap
    Burpee pull up ladder (round 1 each athlete does 1 rep, round 2 each athlete does 2 reps, round 3 each athlete does 3 reps .....)
    Score - 133 reps (more than half way through round 8)

    I kept my water bottle close by during all the wods, but these workouts were all short enough to be well within my current comfort zone. I found that team workouts like wod 4 and wod 7, with the forced rest time while my team members are working, are actually pretty perfect for me right now.  I focused on going hard and fast when it was my turn to work, but I wasn't worried about pushing it too hard because I never had to perform more than 12 (super fast!) reps without a break.


    There was just one final wod on Sunday:
    3 Women Perform 2 Rounds, then 3 Men Perform 2 Round of:
    30 Bar-Facing Burpees
    300m Row
    30 Ballslams, (35#/50#)
    30 OHS, (90#/125#)
    30 CTB Pull Ups
    300m Sandbag Run, one 60lb/90lb SB- all 3 athletes must run 300m  

    Both rounds, I did some of the burpees, ballslams, overhead squats, and chest to bar pull ups.  For a 3 person wod with only 1 athlete working at a time, this was brutal!  But other than losing balance and dropping the OHS bar after only 4 reps when I was supposed to complete 10 (thankfully Jaime picked up my slack and finish the remaining 16 squats unbroken!), this workout went about as well as it could have gone. I think the most difficult part of the workout for me was (again) the running ... I did not feel good about myself while I was struggling to keep up with Tara who was carrying our 60# sandbag!  The girls finished our two rounds in right around 16 minutes then handed it off to the boys.  We were one of the few teams to complete the entire workout in the 32 minute time cap, taking 3rd in that event and 4th in the competition overall.   

    It was a great competition, and I think CrossFit 515 will definitely be back in Springfield next year for HOA4!  Thanks for a great weekend, Team! 

    201 days to go ...

    Thursday, November 3, 2011

    Competing (with an Extra Teammate)

    I'll admit, I'm more than a little sad that I won't be able to compete at regionals in 2012.  In 2011, I competed in the team competition for CrossFit 515. We placed 7th, and it was an amazing weekend. With a due date of May 27, 2012, I'm just hoping the North Central regional is on the earlier end of the April 27-May 27 regionals time frame announced on the Games site so I can at least attend and watch Bobby Noyce, Jaime Noyce (my brother and sister) and team 515 dominate! Besides, with a near conflict in 2011 (Justin and my June 4th wedding), I learned that my major life events are not going to prevent my siblings from making a run at the Games.  (Yes, there was some serious discussion about changing our wedding date if regionals were that weekend!)  
    While I can still do most things rx'd, I'm taking advantage and getting my competition fix ...

    Lincoln Soldier Challenge
    Sept. 18, 2011 (4 weeks)

    I found out I was pregnant the day after this competition.  I definitely noticed I had less gas in the tank than I expected during "the Gladiator" (equipment carry, 25 thrusters at 95#, 40 bar facing burpees, 50 overhead walking lunges with 25# plate, equipment return), but I don't think I can blame pregnancy - it was just an overall brutal workout! 


    Team CrossFit 515 - 1st Place
    Bart, Lindsay (me), Bobby, Jaime
       
    



    







     
    Life as Rx Chicago Competition at CrossFit Freedom
    October 1, 2011 (6 weeks)  
    
    1st Place Team - CrossFit 515 (Ross, Lance, Justin, Lauren)
    Ross, Bobby (5th place), Lance, Jaime (2nd place), Justin
    Lauren, Lindsay (7th place)
    
    My first individual CrossFit competition!
    I hadn't been feeling great during my workouts leading up to this, but I actually felt really good during the competition. Although, 4 workouts in one day with lots of sitting and standing around was exhausting! 

    After 3 wods, the top 10 males and females and top 5 teams competed in the last event, which was:
    Prowler push down and back
    5 snatches 95#
    10 bar facing burpees
    5 power cleans 95#
    10 bar facing burpees
    5 thrusters 95#
    10 bar facing burpees
    Prowler push down and back

    I was so tired I didn't even really want to compete in the last event, but I had managed to be in the top 5 females leading into the final wod so I sucked it up.  My first time ever pushing a prowler started off smoothly, then quickly got very hard!  I made it through eveything else ok, then back to slow motion with the prowler. But it was fun competitng with (and getting my ass handed to me by) the women in the final heat. I finished in 12:03 and took 7th place overall. Not bad for a pregnant lady :)  

    This weekend, I'm headed with team CrossFit 515 to Springfield, Missouri to compete in the Heart of America team competition.  Hopefully the extra team member doesn't slow me down too much.  Let's go CrossFit 515!!!








      

    
    

    Tuesday, November 1, 2011

    Stronger and Faster

    One thing I love about CrossFit and keeps me coming back is I'm constantly improving and setting PRs.  The week I found out I was pregnant, I had a very frustrating workout week (especially because I hadn't told anyone (except my husband) that I was pregnant):

    9/20/11... Nancy- 12:31 (PR 11:32, 6/16/11)
    9/22/11... 5k Run- 22:11 (PR 21:36, same course 8/17/11)
    9/23/11... Fran- 3:34 (1 second PR from 7/23/11) 
    9/24/11... Nicole- 120 reps (first time doing Nicole, but only got 30 pull ups on my first round and max pull ups PR was 40 reps 4/16/11)

    If workouts were already this hard at less than 5 weeks, I couldn't imagine what it would be like 25 pounds from now!   

    
    Lincoln Soldier Challenge (4 weeks pregnant)
    It hasn't all been scaling back and frustration - I've also had some exciting PRs.  My brother, Bobby Noyce, made up the "Ultimate Athlete Challenge," which we did at CrossFit515 on Oct. 14.  You run a mile, then you have the amount of time it took you to run a mile to find a 1 rep max deadlift.  Score = mile time - deadlift weight.  A long time goal of mine had been to run a sub-6 minute mile, and I finally accomplished that goal with a 5:54 mile ... while 8 weeks pregnant :)  I also PRed with a 305# deadlift (previous max was 300# on 9/26/11 - 5 wks).  554 - 305 = 249.

    On Oct. 22 (9 weeks), I did Grace in 2:41.  Previous times were 3:27 on 6/12/11 and 5:20 on 11/6/10.

    Getting PRs on workouts is obviously not my focus right now, but I still like having my scores and times to compare.  I've felt much better on the shorter workouts.  We've done tons of 15-20+ minute wods lately (we follow mainsite at CrossFit 515), and I think my rest time during these longer workouts is surpassing my work time.

    207 days left!