Monday Workout: Backsquat and Olivia’s Letter

Olivia just sent us a letter to share with everyone. Here it is:

To all of my crossfit friends,

First, I want to start off with how much I miss each of you and the gym. I am keeping up as much as possible with WoDs and everyone’s progress, but it’s a little difficult when I only have internet once a week.

The life of a cowgirl, however, is amazing. Colorado is beautiful, the horses are phenomenal, I am riding for hours everyday, and the guests, for the most part are awesome. As far as crossfit goes there are some positives and some negatives. As Logan said, the job kind of lends itself to crossfit. I have found this to be true over and over again. Functional movements including cleaning 70 pound hay bails and jerking them onto a truck bed, lifting forty, thirty pound saddles every morning, shoveling and dumping horse poop every day, and lifting newly born foals into truck beds to bring them to the corral. Many times when the “manly” jobs are being assigned, the head wrangler puts me and one other really strong girl with the boys. I consider this a complement. Thus, my crossfit movements are paying off!

However, by the end of my ten hour day I am exhausted and typically don’t have the energy to workout. We have nightly activities including a hayride and a square dance once a week. This not only leaves little energy to work out, but also little time. On Thursday afternoon I did sprints and 67 pound snatches, and I am one hurting cowgirl…pun intended! While I am disappointed about not being able to workout I am constantly reminding myself that this summer is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and that I am constantly using the movements that crossfit has prepared me for in my daily routine.

The last hard non-crossfit part of my life is the food. It is a guest ranch and it is 45 minutes away from civilization so every week we eat what the guests eat. Which is 100% vacation food and therefore 100% non-paleo. This has actually been one of the hardest things so far. My body is constantly craving vitamins and protein it is not receiving, and whenever I get to town I never want to eat out…and when I do I typically order vegetables of some sort. Meals always include meat and starch and rarely ever include green veggies. God I miss cooking!

Overall, my experience here has been amazing. I love the work, the people, and the horses. I am staying as fit as possible and enjoying my time with nature, and I am enjoying this once in a lifetime opportunity. I hope you are all staying healthy and making new PRs in the gym. I miss paleo dinners and non-paleo dinners, I miss the sweaty smell of the gym, but most of all I miss hearing stories from each of you from work to significant others. I cannot wait to be back at Crossfit Charlottesville. Have an amazing rest of the summer. Stay cool and enjoy the games online. Martha, congratulations you are amazing!

Cannot wait to see you all.

All of my love,

Olivia

Strength

Backsquat 1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1 (on the minute)

Power Clean & Push Jerk 3-3-3-3-3

Optional Uncoached WOD

Row 500 Meters for Time