EDITOR’S NOTE: Welcome to the athlete journal of CrossFit Games veteran Valerie Voboril! Valerie has competed in every CrossFit Games since 2009, with the exception of 2011 due to the birth of her daughter. She placed 3rd in 2010 and 5th in 2012. Read her journals each Tuesday to hear how she’s preparing for the 2013 Games.
Athlete Journal Entry 1: 3/5/2013
Friday March 1, 2013
Wanting to be the best drives me in most areas of my life. I want to be the best mom, the best wife, the best teacher, and the best athlete. But how can you be the best at everything with only 24 hours in a day? I am still trying to figure it out. In the meantime I am always trying to maximize my time. I work through my lunch breaks grading, emailing parents, and lesson planning. I limit my workouts to an hour or an hour and a half a day, including warm up and cool down. I wish I had Star Trek’s Scotty on stand by to beam me wherever I need to go (no more LA traffic!).
So, in an effort to spend more time with my daughter and less time on the road, I have invested in a home gym that my husband is installing in our backyard this weekend. He set up a Rogue rig with rings, rope, and a dip bar. I could get away with just my barbell, weights, kettlebell, jump rope, and the near by park, like I have in the past, but this expense was worth it since the whole family can use it for fitness and fun! I am hoping this new and more complete set-up will allow me to get in my hour or an hour and a workouts, so that I can pick up my daughter, Vin, and spend the rest of the afternoon and evening enjoying her funny antics. Because right now I rush from work to daycare, pick up Vin, drive for 30-45 minutes, work out, drive 45 minutes home, and then only have an hour with Vin before I have to put her to bed. Having an extra hour and a half of quality time with her is so important to me.
Monday March 4, 2013
Today was my first day using my new home gym set-up! Today’s workout began with a warm up of getting all the equipment out of the garage, Vin swinging her WOD Toys kettlebell while I swung mine. This was followed by some Olympic lifting. She swings on the rings while I lift. At 20 months she is active, curious, busy, and a momma’s girl. So, as I paint this picture of us working out side by side, there were all the “Mommy, HOLD me,” and “SIT, Mommy” commands that are my “rest periods.” I hit a PR on my snatch today, did some pistol skill work mixed with power snatches, then finished with a thruster and hand-release-burpee ladder of fun! For post WOD recovery I walked Vin around the block in her tricycle while she gleefully called out “Windy!” as her handle bar streamers danced in the wind and she shook her head like the ladies in the Pantene commercials (except she hardly has any hair!).
Besides the home gym, another way I try to be efficient with my time is food prep. My husband and I spend one day a week preparing all our breakfasts and lunches for the week, as well as making a dinner menu. Breakfast is a veggie, egg, and sausage scramble. Lunches are turkey or chicken salads. Our dinner menu is a meat with vegetables that we prepare fresh each night (sometimes I prep the veggies the night before). We enjoy brown rice with our dinners on occasion, and love our weekend eggs and waffles breakfast! Dessert ranges from chocolate, banana and cashews, to a bowl of cereal.
Photo courtesy of MichaelBrianPhoto.com.