Thursday, November 19th
On November 21st 2015 I’ll be at Elm City CrossFit (ECC) participating in their Barbells for Boobs Fundraiser WOD Grace (30 Clean & Jerks for time).
It’s not only a way to support breast cancer screening and the survivors we know, it's a way to make a statement about strengthening our health, about using our wonderful CrossFit communities to showcase the strength in being proactively healthy.
I participate as a breast cancer survivor.
On Halloween of 2011, I was told I had breast cancer; stage 1, invasive ductile carcinoma or IDC. Caught early, it could be little more than a surgical procedure with a short recovery. Yet, as more lumps were identified, and surgery options multiplied, then surgery dates were set - I harbored deep fears I wouldn’t be able to come back after a double mastectomy. As my first surgery date neared, I clung to my box life, my WODs, my friends and the support of ECC. The surgeries, chemotherapy and recovery took up the better part of a year. During this time, not able to keep away, my ECC friends got used to me hanging around taking pictures of them at CrossFit competitions, Tough Mudders, Warrior Dashes or just hanging out, watching them wodding at the gym.
In November 2012, just newly returned to more than moderate exercise, I participated in my first Barbell’s for Boobs Grace competition at New Haven CrossFit with tremendous support from ECC. I competed in the scaled division in the survivors WOD and it was very emotional, a flood of tears all around.
In the November 2013 Barbells for Boobs event, I was back to competing at Rx level and got a personal best for Grace - 4:36. The 2014 Barbells for Boobs at New Haven CrossFit was a two-person team WOD, ‘Isabelle meets Grace’, and ECC had seven teams entered and to generated a very big statement. I have been blessedly free of cancer and all its treatments since the fall of 2013. My box was with me and behind me all the way through and today I am in a much stronger place than where I started.
ECC is my family and I am proud to see them hosting this very important event. They are my friends with a similar healthy addiction to fitness and strength, beauty and force of will, a passion to test our limits and to always seek to be better tomorrow than we were yesterday.
This thing that we come together to do - it has its own healing power all its own. Hope you can join us this Saturday – for power, for beauty, for Grace.
Team Thursday
Warmup: 3 Rounds
12 Reverse Hypers
50 meter bear crawl
Run around the building
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Buy-in: 40 KBS for time 70/55#
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Strength: 3x Max Rep - Unbroken Power Cleans 135/95# ~ 2 minutes rest between rounds
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WOD - Teams of 2
2 Rounds for Time:
100 Double Unders
80 KBS 55/35#
60 Box Jumps 24/20"
30 Lunges with KB 55/35#
20 Partner situps with wall ball exchange 20#
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Endurance: meet at ECC @ 6 am
10x 200 meter row + 400 meter run ~ self regulated rest