PA WEEKEND

Happy Monday! It was quite the chilly weekend in Pennsylvania. Fourteen degrees when we woke up Sunday morning, to be exact. So ready for springtime weather to stay.

This past weekend I got to combine three of my favorite things: friends, travel and CrossFit. To keep the CrossFit open fun and interesting, I will be traveling for two weekends with my friend, Regina, and one week she will be coming to CrossFit Harrisonburg. I just met Regina at the beginning of January but I feel like I have known her forever. We hit it off the first time we met; we support each other's goals, gains and success while encouraging, supporting and helping each other become better athletes and humans .... and all with LOTS of laughs!

Regina and her husband, Jeff, were coming right past Harrisonburg on the way to PA, so they kindly picked me up at the gym with a Starbucks in hand for me. When we loaded up the car with all our bags, you would have thought we were going away for a week (traveling and CrossFitting is hard to pack light!) Regina and Jeff came totally prepared when it came to food, as well. There was a HUGE cooler in the back full of pounds and pounds of chicken and ground turkey, bags of broccoli, sweet potatoes, tons of rice, rice cakes, peanut butter, honey and all the bananas and apples. Let me not forget the measuring cups, a casserole dish (to make the broccoli) and a food scale. Yes, we are a little bit into what we eat every day! They were ready to take on this PA weekend.

We arrived in PA around 3:30 p.m. (a little later than planned due to a few bathroom breaks which were all Jeff's fault ... just kidding), checked in to the hotel and started to prepare for our night ahead at CrossFit Rage where we would tackle 17.2 for the first time (because we all know a redo will happen on the following Monday). Regina and Jeff used to live near and be members at CrossFit Rage, so this is why our travels led us to PA. When we walked in, the atmosphere was great. Everyone was very friendly and welcoming — just what everyone hopes for when they walk into a new place. Thanks Jordan and Nina for your great hospitality while at Rage!

Regina and I were lined up to go around 7:00 p.m. and it just so happened Maria and Brendan were in PA, as well, so they were able to come watch us tackle the workout. Ironically, CrossFit Rage is near CrossFit Royalty, so Nina and Zach were able to come over and visit, too. Nina and I competed at a CrossFit competition in Miami together in 2015, teamed up in the elite division in 2016 and qualified elite team division this year with Maria but were unable to partake due to a teammate injury. It was so nice to see so many familiar faces while out of town, and I was so grateful that they all drove over to CrossFit Rage to visit.

Following that gnarly workout, we headed to dinner and then back to the hotel for a good night's rest before, you guessed it, more CrossFit on Saturday.

We got to sleep in on Saturday, yay! Breakfast started our day, around 7:30 a.m. and then it was time to prep food for a day at Rage. Like I said, Regina and Jeff came well prepared for the weekend so Regina prepared all our meals for Saturday's day out.

The CrossFit Open workout 17.2 involves bar muscle ups, and with the atmosphere and energy, many people get their FIRST one. At Rage we got to watch, I believe, three people accomplish just that and what an awesome feeling. They ran heats until about 11:30 a.m. and then it was time for go time for some Saturday training.

I got to partner up with Regina on this awesome workout after some strength:

3 rounds of

30 double dutch burpees

30 push jerks (125#)

30 DBall over shoulder (100#)

100 calorie airdyne

Upon completion of that 30+ minute workout, it was shower/grub time and then my FIRST WEGMAN'S experience. It was nothing short of amazing! Delicious food, sushi and cookies.... (oops, they may not have gone into my tracking for the day!) I left with some awesome new protein bars to try and a pint of Halo Top, which did not last long!

We spent the evening with some of the Rage community and I have never felt so welcomed. Thank you to Regina and Jeff for taking me in this weekend and introducing me to your PA crew. I had an absolute blast, and I am already ready to head down your way next weekend!

I sure hope everyone else had as much fun this weekend as we did!

Start this week off with a smile and some laughs!

Have a great day!

#ohhappyday, T