I would be interested in the morning strength cycle, too - I'm not 100% sure it would work for me, but I would definitely give it a try. We moved to NYC after 6 years in Boston because I basically put my foot down - I never liked Boston all that much (aside from some good friends we made there, of course) - and made us choose between southern CA (my homeland) or NYC. We quit our jobs, traveled for a few months, and then showed up here and crossed our fingers. We'd been here three months, unemployed, when Greg looked at me and said "We should have done this a long time ago." (Luckily, we both found great jobs not long after that.) I've always loved NYC, and after two years here, I can't imagine ever leaving. Hell, I can't imagine moving out of a 10-block radius of CFSBK.

Yay Jess! You are a great coach! I also found that Jess' encouragement was definitely pivotal to me making it through the WOD yesterday! Even with light weight, it was a slog, but I actually really loved that combinations of movements - even though my arms felt like jelly afterwards!

Hmmm... my clean PR was 90#... and I don't remember writing it on the board. Other Erica? Great photo - I'm envious!

Don't forget tonight's rest day dinner! Meet at the end of open gym to head into Chinatown for Sichuan hot pot! Email me for more info: erica.nofi at gmail

Awesome stuff, Palimpsest! Totally true about the dry cleaner - I love him!

RETURN OF THE REST DAY DINNER! A few of us decided that we enjoyed the paleo challenge friday night dinners so much that we should plan some more... Friday, April 8th, come eat Sichuan hot pot with Justin, Michele, Greg, me, and other CSFBKers (paleo or not!) Justin will provide the details on the restaurant, but it is in Chinatown, and I think we'll probably meet there around 8:30. More details to follow!

I was totally frustrated with the rope climb yesterday - even though I knew what to do, I couldn't convince my body to DO it - but I gave it another try after lifting this evening, and OMG, I actually managed to get myself a couple feet off the floor. As a perpetual middle school gym flunker, this is a serious victory!!

Robin, thank you! That looks perfect. I just emailed them - I'll let you know if I have any luck.

First class out of strength left me with two observations: 1. Back squat =! front squat 2. Running sucks I had a cookie last night and the only problem I experienced was that cookies are way less delicious than I remembered. Loved the Nightline segment - I laughed so hard at the shot of Shane mixing up NorCals that I almost shot my oh-so-paleo pork chop and asparagus dinner out my nose.

Tonight I'm going for a cookie from the batch an incredible baker friend of mine sent over the holidays - they've been in the freezer - mainly to test for a response. This weekend I'm planning my real challenge-end treat - a trip to Dylan's Candy Bar to buy one of each of my favorite candies. I intend to eat them until my tummy hurts (at this point I'm guessing 5 skittles would do the trick...), and then put the leftovers in the freezer and go back to strict paleo.

Thanks so much to everyone who came to watch and cheer (and celebrate after!). My fellow cyclers, you did awesome last night and I've enjoyed spending most of my free time with y'all the past two months. Jeremy, you rock the house. And all the coaches and friends who have offered support, you're amazing! Seriously, full of gratitude for everyone today! I made 527.5 for my total, a 75 lb gain on the total I did in December (and 155 lbs on the August total...) Squat: 215 (50 lb PR) Press: 72.5 DL: 240 (25 lb PR) And yes, CF/Strength Cycle has totally upped my snowboarding game as well. ALSO: Today's the last day to RSVP for this week's rest day dinner (tomorrow, 8:30, Takashi)

I want to see a video of the actual dance in that photo! The pre-crossfit me fulfilled all of my college PE requirements with archery, belly dance and "relaxation yoga" (aka nap-time).

Challenge check-in Food: I've been 100% on grains, legumes, sugar. I've had 4-5 accidental nightshade exposures, but to be honest, that doesn't seem to be making any difference at all, and I'll probably test reintroducing them next week. I've had one major flub: having more to drink than I intended this past weekend - including some wine, which was NOT in my plan - I felt gross after. I'll be liquor-only from here on out, and will be picking the days I plan to drink in advance. I was hoping to see some fat loss, but I've been pretty disappointed in that department, so I've been slowly getting stricter with carbs. I started out with some sweet potatoes, plantains, occasional raw dairy, and 1-3 servings of fruit a week, but those are all pretty much gone. Now I think I'll be adding in some IF, too. Exercise: I'm really happy with how I'm doing in the strength class, and with my non-CF sports. I haven't hit my 5x/week mobility WODs - more like 3x/week - but I've started doing some exercises Deb gave me daily instead, and they seem to be having a really positive influence on my form. Sleep: I'm also doing the bedtime alarm and it is working really well - probably moved my bedtime up about an hour, and decreased the avg time it takes me to fall asleep by 30 mins. Aside from unavoidable disturbances from weekend travel, I am sleeping incredibly well. Overall, I feel fantastic - no cravings, good energy. Not seeing any measurements change is driving me nuts, of course, but I'm looking forward to seeing if IF will help.

Challenge check in: I've been super happy with my compliance so far, and reasonably happy with the results. I've been very low-carb, and the first couple weeks definitely left me dragging in the gym a little. This week it picked back up, and I've been feeling fantastic. High hopes for the next few weeks!

I've been meaning to comment more on the blog... but how can I start now that the bar is set so high?