1/31 Whole Life Wednesday

Noah and Duane front squat. Today's workout is from CrossFit HQ. Enjoy! 
This week's Whole Life Challenge weekly well-being practice is to establish a regular morning routine. 
The instructions are simple

1. Choose a 10-minute personal practice to be a part of your morning routine.
2. Complete the practice in the morning, before you leave for or begin work.
3. Some examples: reading a book, meditation, prayer, mobilization, exercise, journaling.
4. If you already have something like this as a part of your morning routine, continuing it will count for this week’s Well-Being Practice.
5. Practices like mobilization and exercise will also count for that particular Habit for the day.
6. There is no credit for watching TV or news, checking social media, checking email, texting, or for completing the practice after you’ve started work.

Before I opened True Spirit CrossFit and started teaching the 6am classes, I used to work a "regular" 9AM-5PM job with the USGS. I used to rush around in the morning frantically getting ready for work. I would have nothing ready, I would drink my coffee in the car on the way to work, and I would start my day totally stressed out. Back then, the only thing that kept me off meds was my afterwork CrossFit habit. 
After I opened the gym I carried over this totally discombobulated morning routine. Now my work day started at 6, rather than 9am, and I was a total mess. For the first 2 years of the gym I would "sleep in" until 5:20AM only to rush around to leave by 5:35 to make it to the gym by 5:50. I would take naps everyday to try to revive. I was convinced I needed to sleep until the last possible moment because everyday started out stressful. 
It was a Whole Life Challenge and a few Ben Bergeron blog posts that convinced me to try something different. I VERY reluctantly decided I would wake up at 5:00AM, make my coffee, and drink it by the fire in the winter and in the garden in the summer. What a difference those 20 mins made! I was not longer stressed out, I was ready for the 6am class and I was HAPPIER! 
Even if you're not doing the Whole Life Challenge with us right now, you're happiness and relationships with your family might improve if you give yourself an extra 10 minutes in the morning to set your mind for the rest of your day. Slow down, take some deep breaths, drink your coffee and tea slowly and prepare yourself for your day. 
Tell me in the comments what kind of morning routine you have. I'd like to hear. Maybe something you do will inspire me and others! 

"No Buts" Run details for Wednesday, Jan 31st: REI is sponsoring a no ifs or buts run. So instead of doing our usual endurance awesomeness, we are going to run outside tomorrow. Like the post-office, come rain or sleet, ice or snow, we will be there! (Do they still say that?) ANYWAY - Endurance class starts at 5:30 p.m. We will meet at the south side (towards Peet's Hill or behind the GVLT building) of the Public Library at 5:30 p.m. to warm-up.
We will leave the parking lot at 5:50p.m. at the latest to start our run. We will try and post a notice at the gym so if people arrive there, they have time to come find us. Bring your gear to run outside. Temps are supposed to drop tonight - dress accordingly. Exertion rate will be moderate on average - so that should help you dress.
Bring your yak tracks, ice spikes or anything like that but we will be sticking to the sidewalks. Feel free to wear your LED tutus and anything else that will light you up and make you visible.
Feel free to bring your dogs - on leash, please.
This will be an easy pace, no drop run of less than 2 miles. We will be doing all sorts of fun things, at various skill levels, so if you want to kill it, you can. But do not be intimidated, sprinters to shufflers all welcome.
There will be plenty of scaling options, including for distance. Please email Coach Jennisse to confirm for class, she will know to expect you.
This should be a fun departure from our class routine. We hope to see everyone! (Maybe bring cash - there will likely be opportunity for a beer at the end.) Oh - and please go and sign up for the event by clicking on the image above. 

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Click Here for The WOD

We need THREE more people to greenlight our Olympic Weightlifting clinic this Sunday from 9-noon.
​Will you join us?