BINGO!

The 1st 5 minutes of the hour are yours at CrossFit Palo Alto so that you can iron out any kinks in the body, do more specific warm ups or work on things you suck at.  So how will you use them this month?  Here are some ideas.  I invite you to play "Bingo" with us!  

0:00-0:05 - BINGO! - Goals of this game...

1. Acquaint you with a multitude of productive ways to use your free five minutes of warm-up at the beginning of class
2. Give you resources so that you can attack the things you need to practice.
3. Row by row, letter by letter or randomly, “Blackout” the BINGO card!

	B	I	N	G	O
1	250m row time: ___ 30sec rest 250m row time: ___ 30sec rest 250m row time: ___                     Initial _____	500m row time: ________ Initial _____	10 sets of 10 KB Swings (Russian swings/chest high they should be short, sharp, powerful) Initial _____	400m run time ________ Initial _____	240m farmers walk (KB) 240m farmers walk (KB) can be unilateral w/switch or bilateral                       Initial _____
2	100 Double Unders (attempts ok) Initial _____	Bear Complex (PVC or 35#Barbell) 10-20 reps 1 rep= Power Clean Front Squat Push Press Back Squat Push Press (Behind Neck) Initial _____	Burgener Warm-up (PVC)* burgener-warm-up.wmv Initial _____	Shoulder Prep Mini* KB Halos both directions Turkish Get Ups Swings Snatches Initial _____	Squat hold (mobility wod #1) face-the-wall-squats wallballs box jumps/rebounding Initial _____
3	Rack a KB*, go for a walk, do both sides Practice downswing from rack then re-clean it to rack.* KB Press*                        Initial _____	Pullup practice Dead hangs or negatives hollow-rock* practice kip                        Initial _____	Self-Myofascial Release Hips Hamstrings Quads Calves Peroneals IT Inner thigh Back shoulders feet                       Initial _____	Running mechanics drills 100 running rope pulls* running in place running backwards (carefully!)                       Initial _____	Old-School CFPA W-Up    2 rounds 20 DU (attempts OK) 10 swings 10 pushups 10 pullups 10 PVC dislocates 10 PVC OHS 5/5 PVC OH Lunges                       Initial _____
4	Fish Game Points __________ Meters __________ Initial _____	Handstands Shoulder Taps/Handwalking HSPU Initial _____	Kettlebell  Clean & Press Initial _____	Muscle up Transitions Initial _____	Gymnastics Skills -L-Sit -Skin the Cat -Rope Climbs -Pass throughs Initial _____
5	AMRAP 5 minutes Jumping Jacks :) Initial _____	Ring Dip Practice Initial _____	1000m row  Initial _____	800m run Initial _____	5 sets of 10 wallballs.  Initial _____

Silver Linings

Last week I had to go to meet with my parents and an attorney to sign some legal documents.  Especially when a parent has Alzheimer's, you need to make sure things are setup before you need to call upon them.  If something happened to my mom, the chain of action needs to be well established so that we can take good care of my dad and honor the wishes of both of my parents. This means Advanced Health Care Directives and Power of Attorney for both of them.

Weird.

I really didn't envision this part of my life.  Who would?  My dad was going to continue to work until he was dead, and after that, probably some more.  He was going to interrogate my future husband and teach my kids about differential equations, 2nd Amendment Rights, and Chevy small blocks.  That was pretty much the loose plan.  He certainly wasn't going to develop early-onset Alzheimer's.  But the game doesn't always get played according to Hoyle, and the sooner you can accept it and learn how to deal with the pain of it, the better things get and the more you can roll with the punches.

First, the attorney had to establish that he was competent to sign the trust and directives and so he had to ask him some questions to ascertain that 1) he knew that he has assets, 2) that he understood that he has kids to make trustees, and 3) that he understood what the documents are.  Tricky stuff.  It took quite a bit of questioning to get acceptable answers.  But the attorney was very patient and respectful while still doing his job.  Dad needed a little coaching to get passable answers.  He wasn't sure how many kids he has and he could only name one us, and that, with very little confidence.  It's in times like these that the heaviness of the disease and this situation falls upon me.

But it helps me to remember that we've had it good all this time.  That there are still going to be fun moments mixed into the crappy ones and that the good times aren't over.  They're just different.  It helps me to remember fun stuff from the past.  It helps me when I think about the fact that he did his job raising us the way he wanted and that he taught us the skills he valued.  It helps me to laugh at the memory of how uncomfortable he used to be when he wanted to tell us that he loved us, and that it would usually come out instead as "I'm real proud of you" in a very deep, quiet, and raspy voice, or the more common simple nod of the head with a quick "You done good."

It helps to see my mom grow stronger and more confident in her decision making after all this time.  It helps me to see my mom deal with the fact that her husband of 47 years (their anniversary is tomorrow!) changes a little more every day, but that she stands by him and respects him still.  It helps me to see her gain perspective and patience through the course of this challenge.  And it helps me to see my relationship with her grow as a blessing through these times.  She's got a lot of wisdom.

Of course, I'm not about to put Alzheimer's on my nightly Gratitude List.  But I am writing on that list that there is a silver lining to all things.  I'm grateful that something good can come of something bad.  And I never would have appreciated how good things can be or have been, were it not for the times that feel bad.  I guess tonight I'm just feeling grateful that I'm starting to see that side of things.  And yeah, I'm grateful that "Patricia" was the name he remembered.

Sleep!!!!!!!

My sleep data via www.mylark.com

I had an email the other day from someone who's having trouble sleeping.  I sent her a few suggestions but got to thinking that others could benefit from this as well, so here goes.  And because I get a little shit from a few folks about how wordy I am, I'm keeping this list short and sweet (relatively).  If you're so inclined, click here for a more complete Trish-like post.

First off, the only reason I'm a expert of sorts on the issue is because I have major problems with sleep, so I've tried pretty much every trick in the book to fix them.  But take my words at face value, because I still have issues.  I just know what has given me a little benefit or none at all.  These are the things that help.

My bedroom at night.

1. Don't eat crap.  Eat real food. 
2. Go to bed at the same time every day.  Yes, even if it's Friday night.
3. Wake up at the same time every day.  Yes, even if it's your day off.
4. Sleep in a cave.  This is what my bedroom looks like at night -->
5. Make sure your blood is healthy.  Check Vitamin D.  Check indications of Zinc deficiency.  Check hormones.  Check all.
6. Kill the TV, computer, phone etc. a few hours before you hit the sack.
7. Sedate your animals (I'm only kidding here.  Just wear ear plugs and keep them OUT of your bedroom, not just because they're gross, but because they're noisy troublemakers)
8. Create a bedtime routine that includes reflection/meditation/prayer or reading.
9. Get lots of sunshine and exercise.  Seriously.  I think it's completely retarded that people can live in California and not get these two fundamentally important pieces of the health puzzle that relate 100% directly to #5 above.  You pay a pretty penny in sunshine taxes to live here, so take advantage!  It is inexcusable to be Vitamin D deficient if you live in this area. (Soapbox over.)
10. Experiment.
11. Every once in a while, throw out the rules, relax and just be.  No guilt or punishing behaviors.  Just go to sleep, late, early, whatever.  Just relax.

There are lots of other things I've tried and will continue to try, short of smoking crack.  If you'd like more history, examples of trial and error, or other tips from someone who's tried just about everything, click on the links above for detail or send me a message.  The single most important thing for me aside from clean eating is consistency in bed/wake time.  My sleep improved "dramastically" when I did a month-long challenge where every minute I missed my bedtime/wake time earned me a burpee penalty.

So much for short and sweet.  If you're having trouble sleeping and are ready to try things out, please keep me posted.  Drop a comment below and let me know about your progress.

The Whole Sleep Story

The whole story...  Because you clicked on the link.

I started sleeping with a Lark last August to try to figure out why I was always so tired even though I would be in bed for 8 hours a night.  I felt like I spent a lot of time tossing and turning and would wake up frustrated and exhausted.  The Lark wrist band uses some technology that people smarter than me designed to track sleep/wake patterns.  It allows me to quantify my sleep statistics into 

• number of wake-ups each night (and length of wake ups)
• time it takes to fall alseep
• total time asleep each night

And it vibrates to wake me up softly and gives me a more pleasant overall morning experience (I'm never shocked or surprised to wake up).  AND the Lark was created by someone at the gym.  So in the last year I learned a lot about my sleep habits and the many issues that I have with this part of my life.  In trying to fix the problem, I've learned an awful lot about sleep. 

If your sleep is not that great, there are a bunch of things that you can do for yourself to try to improve it.  If you're tempted to take anything that you think or hope would help you sleep (melatonin, sleep aids...) please please please start with these things instead.  And just in case you thought about going there, alcohol is not an acceptable option either.  If you think you might have some sort of sleep apnea, go see a specialist.  

1.  Eat real food.  Don't eat crap.  (Eat: Meat, vegetables, fruit, fat.  Avoid like the plague: grains, sugar.  Avoid: legumes, dairy, alcohol.)

My Bedroom at Night

2.  Go to bed at the same time every day.  Yes, even if it's Friday night.  (Period)

3.  Wake up at the same time every day.  Yes, even if it's your day off.  (Period)

4.  Sleep in a cave.  This is what my bedroom looks like at night -->   

your bedroom should be cool, dark and quiet.  Unplug stuff that glows. A little noise may be helpful for some people (if you have tinnitus, talk to me:  I'm still Patricia Mc Crumb, M.S., CCC-A CA2383)

5.  Make sure your blood is healthy.  Check Vitamin D.  Check indications of Zinc deficiency.  Check hormones.  Check all.  I recently had bloodwork done through WellnessFX.  It only took about a week to get it back, and it turns out that mine is pretty clean, but even their basic plan has potential to show up a number of biomarkers that could really help to explain possible underlying issues including thyroid, Vitamin D and other stuff.  This is how I found out that I have a zinc related deficiency, and plus it's kind of cool to be able to show "non-believers" in Paleo diets my ridiculously great triglyceride, LDL and HDL levels among other things.  (I'm not a zealot!  Not me!)

6.  Kill the TV, computer, phone etc. a few hours before you hit the sack. We know that the light spectrum of these things can interfere with the body's internal clock and hormone production.  As psycho as it may sound, any light in the bedroom at all can interfere with your body's ability to know when, what and how to produce the appropriate hormones for sleep and wake cycles.  Unplug alarm clocks and any lights in your room.  At least a few hours before bed, TV and computers are ill-advised.  See, with all the artificial light around us all day, it's kind of hard for your circadian rhythm to stay in tune with nature.  Hook it up and help yourself out.  You're body is all kinds of confused.  If you have any sleep issues at all, this is an important step for you.  

7.  Sedate your animals (I'm only kidding here.  Just wear ear plugs and keep them OUT of your bedroom, not just because they're gross, but because they're noisy troublemakers) I've had a dog or cats for the last 11 years.  I love my animals but they can be really really really really really really really really really really disruptive and just plain bad for your sleep.  The better trained, the better exercised and the better fed they are (and the better your earplugs are) the better off YOU are.  If you're thinking about getting a pet, you may borrow mine for a while and then decide.  You're welcome.

8.  Create a bedtime routine that includes reflection/meditation/prayer or reading and winding down.

• we call this sleep hygiene, which can include physical hygiene too.
• journal
• write a gratitude list
• pray, read a Proverb or something
• create something all your own.  
• Don't fall victim to texting late at night or answer emails from athletes who contact you at midnight to ask if they can come to a 6am class.  (I love you guys...)

9.  Get lots of sunshine and exercise.  Seriously.  I think it's completely retarded that people can live in California and not get these two fundamentally important pieces of the health puzzle that relate 100% directly to #5 above.  You pay a pretty penny in sunshine taxes to live here, so take advantage!  It is inexcusable to be Vitamin D deficient if you live in this area. (Soapbox over.)  I've talked to many people who turn out to be Vit D deficient and that seems to be pretty related to sleep.  Sometimes sleep problems are nothing a good long day at the beach or barbells and running can't fix.  Sometimes sleep problems have nothing to do with any of it and you're SOL.

10.  Experiment.  As far as diet and supplementation is concerned, I've played around with pretty much every suggestion in Lights Out including the pretty restrictive carbohydrate consumption guidelines.  I did not find much of it to make any difference.  Here's what I've done:

• Ketosis (no significant difference in sleep)
• Increased carbohydrates - starchy vegetables, fruits (no significant difference in sleep, but possible performance improvement)
• Timing of meals before bed (no significant difference)
• C-PAP - don't ask me how I got to try it, but with family history of sleep apnea, 30 wake ups a night and access to a machine, I thought I'd give it a whirl.  But no.
• Humidifier - not sure if sleep is any better, but I like it.
• Airway - Netty Pot, Breathright  and Vicks Vapo-Rub - a MUST if there's any congestion.  This makes a difference.
• Food before bed (affected dreaming, but not quality of sleep or number of awakenings)
• Chinese medicine (herbs and acupuncture)- no change in sleep, but significant benefit in menstrual cycle/cramping.
• Hippy stuff - Valerian root, St. John's Wort, teas, incense - jury is still out on this one but valarian root smells like ass, so it might night be worth it either way.
• Supplementing - iron, zinc as I'm deficient in both.  Turns out that sleep and zinc are very closely related.  Jury is still out but so far it seems like it may be promising.  Also I supplement with magnesium, usually in drink form, and since I started doing that, I have not woken up with leg cramps like I used to.  I recently switched all my supplementing to bedtime so that I don't have to worry about food/coffee interference with absorption.
• 100% Caffeine free - unfortunately or fortunately this made no difference, but I found that after going cold turkey for a few weeks, I generally consume less in general now and I think I'm better off for it, whether or not it helps sleep. I have a hard cut off time for coffee now and generally keep it to 1 or 2 cups a day (and by "cups" I no longer mean "pots").
• The thing I haven't done yet is try several of these things together.  Like a 2 week trial run with "zoning" my food along with staying caffeine free and honoring bedtime.  (The bedtime thing is easier when daylight savings is over.) 
• Consider a new mattress if yours is crappy or simply not a good choice for you.  
• See a sleep specialist if you can't get it dialed in or sooner if you think you have a medical issue. 

11.  Every once in a while, throw out the rules, relax and just be.  No guilt or punishing behaviors.  Just go to sleep, late, early, whatever.  Just relax.  I've found that every once in a while, watching a movie before bed, eating a little chocolate, staying up a little later to do something fun or spend time with friends... actually is pretty conducive to getting a good nights sleep.  It doesn't mean that it can happen all the time, or that I give myself permission to go overboard, but it does mean that I relax.  For the "rule-following" personality, this can be really helpful.

As I said, I'll continue to try new things short of smoking crack and I'll post any updates if it helps.  The single most important thing for me aside from clean eating is consistency in bed/wake time.  My sleep improved "dramastically" when I did a month-long challenge where every minute I missed my bedtime/wake time earned me a burpee penalty.  

If you're having trouble sleeping and you adopt any of these or other changes, I really would like to know.  Drop a comment below and let me know about your progress.  Good luck and sweet dreams!

Mother Knows

Feeling a little underwhelmed the other day, I picked up the phone for some Mom Time.  I felt like my accomplishments were small, my contribution to the world lacking, my brains and use of them unexciting, blah blah blah... and I wanted someone to slap me around and help me pick myself up and dust me off and make me get back to work, so I called my mom.

"Trish" she told me, "when you were a little girl I was having a day where I didn't seem to get much done.  I hadn't done everything that I wanted to do for the day and was feeling kind of low with how I hadn't done this and that, and you looked up and me and said, 'Why don't you think about the things you have done?' I'll never forget that; you were such a little thing encouraging me to look at the positive.  I think right now you need to take some advice from yourself."

Sometimes it's nice to have someone help pick you up.  But we often have tools from our past that we need to make that change.  Even if you have to dig back a couple decades to find them.  And moms somehow seem to know where to help you look.

Painting the Sky

Yesterday I was working on cleans at the firehouse, trying to fix some problems I’d been having with the lift, and I started getting in my own head about it.  I was thinking and saying things about how it was a weight that I generally don’t struggle with, and how I should’ve been better, blah blah blah.  And, like a good training partner and coach, Tim called me out on it.  Stop the talk, just own it and do it.  How right he was!

I have a tendency deep within myself, and know many others who possess the same, to expect perfection in self and to settle for no less.  To not be happy until the task is completed with the highest honors, till every last item is crossed off the to-do list, to withhold praise until the final and ultimate goal is reached...  How much we miss out on when we do such things!  (Funny enough, I don’t do this with other people.  I really love to celebrate every victory along the way with others and see them grow, and it holds true for many people, that each is his own worst critic.)

I don’t know why it is so easy for some people to reward their shortcomings by giving them voice, rather than embrace their virtues.  We can see this a lot with food choices.  For example, in one of my favorite movies, “Fried Green Tomatoes,” Kathy Bates’ character, overweight and depressed Evelyn Couch cries, while eating a candy bar, “I wish I had the courage to get it over with and get really fat!” at which point her friend takes the candy bar out of her hand for her.  This attitude turns into, “I’m a failure, so might as well be as big a failure as possible,” instead of looking at what was done well and allowing the positive associations of success propel you forward. 

I know a fellow who has had a million histories of success in life, but shrinks these accomplishments down to infinitesimal levels by focusing only on what he has not yet achieved and this, in turn, leads to depression and self-defeating behaviors that just perpetuate this stupid cycle.  This guy is also a list-maker who feels good only when he completes his list.  I don’t think that is very healthy.  But to compound the problem, he puts things on the list that are practically impossible, so this way he never gets the list done and can beat himself up for “failing” and consequently embarks on the journey toward more cyclical depression.  He has practically been writing “☐Paint the sky” on his to-do list and beating himself up for not doing it.  Why?

Some people battle an inside voice that constantly tells them they’re not good enough and they feed this belief, engulfed in self-pity or negative thoughts instead of looking at what has been accomplished and developing their character instead of seeing accomplishments or progress.  Enough.  Enough, enough enough!  It’s ok to acknowledge your progress.  It was PROGRESS for heaven’s sake! Don’t cheapen it by qualifying it. 

I like to surround myself with others who can celebrate accomplishments, enjoy the moment, create a future and keep a positive outlook in all things.  I’m glad to have such people in my life that remind me of this, and it’s part of my hope that I can be a voice to remind people of the same message.  It all goes into the same category of enjoying the journey and living in the moment instead of for a specific point in the future.  Life’s a whole lot more fun lived this way.  And speaking of living, I’m looking forward to a weekend away with my sister, getting gussied up for “The Phantom of the Opera,” painting fingernails, reading Fifty Shades,  A People’s History of the United States... sipping iced water poolside in the 105 degree heat of the desert.  There will be no Painting of the Sky there.  Or at least if there is, I won’t tell anyone about it.  After all, what happens in Vegas...

The 3 Rules of Caregiving

I recently attended an educational series on middle stage Alzheimer’s with my mom.  To be there with her, I had to set aside my emotional response to my father’s disease in order to be there as her support.  It’s tough to sit in on lectures that discuss and confirm the issues you’ve been observing, making the progression all the more real.  But it is extremely important to know what things to look for or expect and how to prepare for them.  The thing is that sometime in the last six months or so, maybe after having lived with my parents for a while and thanks to the words of wisdom from people like @lawyerhands and attending caregiver groups, I started to gain a different perspective on having a father with Alzheimer's.

See, I realized that I had been pretty selfish in how I dealt with it, looking at it only from the perspective of what I was loosing, rather than imagining how it was for my dad.  I'm sure it's not like this for everyone, but without much recollection of the past, he truly lives in the moment.  The past doesn’t always exist for him.  He never takes on the worries of tomorrow.  And isn’t that exactly one of the things that people spend fortunes on and countless hours in therapy (not to mention the abuse of alcohol and drugs) to be able to learn to do?  So why should I dwell on that, when he is happy in the moment, and there’s not a damn thing I can do about it anyway?  At this stage in the disease, all I need to do is provide quality moments for him, and he’ll be infinitely happy.  That’s the easy part.  It’s the selfish side that’s hard.  The part of me that wants to be able to seek counsel from him, to ask for his advice, to have him try to explain to me how things work or show me how to build something.  Or tell really lame dad jokes.  But after all those years of him trying to teach me lessons, and me rolling my eyes and not listening, don’t I owe it to him to enjoy the moments together?  Instead of wishing things were different, and allowing that negative energy to affect the air around us?  Yeah.  I owe him that. 

One of the big things I took away from the educational series put on by the Alzheimer’s Association was something that Heather, the facilitator/presenter talked about the very first day.  She said that there are 3 Rules of Caregiving, and they operate in this order:

1. Outlive the person you’re caring for.
2. Make sure the person doesn’t catch on fire.
3. Enjoy every moment you have together.

I LOVE these rules!

Number One is about taking care of yourself.  Physically, emotionally, intellectually, spiritually.  However you need to.  Asking for help, taking care of yourself, taking time to prepare yourself for the day, eat well, sleep, exercise, spend time with friends, laugh, play and continue to grow as a person.  This is the hardest one for many people, and having a supportive network of family and friends is vital for this.  Often, giving yourself permission to do this can be hard, but it is the Number One rule because it's that important.

Built into #2 is the lighter side.  It helps put everything in perspective.  It just matters that he's safe.  It’s really not the end of the world if he puts his pants on backwards or if he even forgets his pants at all.  It’s not the end of the world if he puts shaving cream on his toothbrush or milk in the cupboard.  It’s not tragic if he tries to eat soup with a fork.  It’s just the part of the sucky disease.  The thing is that your emotional response to these things has more bearing on his response/attitude than the action itself.  And you’re reaction is very much under your own control.

The third rule is a about a mind-set.  You can’t enjoy yourself if you’re angry at the disease.  You can’t enjoy time together if you’re stressed out about what is going to happen tomorrow.  You deal with things as they come, making sure you have a back up plan ready before it is needed.  This rule is hard for some people.  There are many people with this disease who are combative and present with challenging behavior.  We’re fortunate that my dad is easy going and he’s a joy to be around.  Always has been.  But the more preparation there is for the future, the less there is to worry about today, leaving room to enjoy the moments as they come. 

When I visited Dad last week we talked about fishing.  His vice for tying flies is still set up and he was trying to show me how it's done.  But he couldn’t figure out which end of a hook went where, or which tools to use, and it seemed a lot more likely that I’d be able to teach him myself.  A huge part of me wanted to take the hook from his fumbling hands and do it for him, but he kept at it and my inaction allowed him to still feel like he was teaching me a thing or two, and he was happy to be able to share his “expertise” with me.  My reaction to the whole thing a year ago would’ve been to feel sad that this man who used to make art of fishing could no longer figure it out, and my emotions would’ve affected his mood.  Nowadays, I sort of go along with it so he still feels like the expert.  When he isn’t robbed of that sense of accomplishment, he’s as happy as any human being has a right to be.  Recognizing that, why would I handle it any differently? 

Sure, you’re allowed to have feelings about it.  Hate the disease if you want.  Cry a little if you need to.  Take it out with a sledgehammer on an old tractor tire, whatever.  But not where your action would be allowed to break The Rules of Caregiving.  And you can’t enjoy the moments together if your moments together are clouded with these thoughts.  There is no room for them there.  They have no business coming out in the presence of the person you care for and must be felt or dealt with privately in a way that does not consume you. 

Living in the moment is a big key to enjoying life.  After all these years of my dad trying to teach me things, I finally understand this lesson that he continues to teach me.  Even through the present day.  Even through this crappy disease.  Even when he doesn’t always know my name or how to tie a fly, or even that he's teaching me this lesson.  I have immense respect for him; he’s still my Dad, still teaching me life lessons and modeling the way to live:  happily in the moment without borrowing troubles from tomorrow.  Thanks Pop.  I’m starting to understand.