Strength #2: Cheering Loud and Proud

Goodness! This past week has been jammed packed for me. I made it home on Friday and was greeted by my adorable puppy, Holly (see video on the right). I got the chance to hang out with my family for a little bit which is always nice!  Although my mom did drag me to a soccer game on Friday night in the freezing cold and rain. My high school is known for their soccer and they were playing a team ranked 4th in the nation on Friday night. It was a very good game to watch but I have to admit the kids in front of me made the game. There were two little boys probably about 4 and 6 and their mom also had a little boy wrapped up in her coat about 6 months old. My mom and I both agreed she was crazy but the boys were adorable.  They got excited about every thing that happened during the game and when they got hot chocolate one of them exclaimed, "It tastes more like hot than chocolate." I about died of laughter.

Saturday I got the opportunity to watch my teammates compete in the competition I was supposed to be at because it was only about 45 minutes from home. I cheered my heart out and my throat was killing me on Sunday! I forgot to use my cheerleading diaphragm voice because I was going crazy for them. Upsetting, all those years of cheerleading didn't pay off, haha. This was my first time watching an individual competition besides regionals, but I am not really sure that counts. Just watching it taught me a lot about competing as an individual and I think it has prepared me a little bit more for when I do my first CrossFit competition as an individual.

It is an interesting experience because you have no one else to rely on. It is you and that barbell, rig, rower, ect in front of you. You have to be gutsy and lay it all on the line, no one is there to hide your weaknesses. My teammates did an incredible job at the competition! They gave it everything they had and I was so proud of them! I attempted to take some picture but my phone wasn't agreeing with the lighting in there really. Although it was fun cheering, next time I am going to be along side them competing with them!

This week of training has been interesting to say the least... I am trying so hard to behave myself and to give my knee a break so it can recover. Everything is becoming less and less painful but it still isn't 100% and that's frustrating. I am not very good at being injured but I am proud of myself for not competing last weekend and for staying off my knee this week. I am hoping next week I can start to load it a little bit more and start performing the workouts the prescribed way again. Time will tell but fingers crossed I will be good to go again soon, otherwise the air dyne and I are going to become even better friends. YUCK!

For your entertainment, proof I was a cheerleader at one point. 

I have been lucky enough to go to two St. Louis Cardinals games this week! I am batting about .500 right now seeing as they won one and lost the other. I get very engrossed in these games and cheer like a crazy lady here sometimes as well... I figure I am entertainment for all of those around me. I am hoping they can pull off another post-season stint! Right now we are 2.5 games ahead of the Pirates and our magic number is 10 games. So close!  While visiting the grocery store this week, I made the observation about how much my cart has changed in the past 3 months. It is crazy to think it has only been that short of a time period and really thinking about it, my new diet really doesn't bother me that much. Changes for the better!