It has been a week since my last post, and there is so much to talk about! A quick update on my homemade pickles. I tasted them a few days ago. They were good…if you like the taste of cucumbers with a hint of pickle. I am not a big fan of cucumbers, but I think the cucumbers would taste more like pickles if they were sliced really thin. My cucumber slices were thick, so they didn’t absorb enough of the pickle taste for my liking. The next time I make them, I am going for thin slices.

Over the weekend, I traveled to San Antonio with George Cuellar for his CrossFit certification. He is now a Level I certified CrossFit coach. Congratulations, George! During our time in San Antonio, we searched for primal eateries and decided on Chipotle and Red Robin. At Chipotle, I ordered a salad with 1/2 chicken, 1/2 carnitas (pork), pico de gallo, and guacamole. This is one of my favorite restaurant meals because it’s not only delicious (especially the guacamole), but also the carnitas and chicken are from naturally raised pigs and chickens. So…what do they mean by naturally raised? Pulled straight from their website:

Naturally raised pork involves “no antibiotics ever, letting pigs exhibit their natural behaviors in open pasture or deeply-bedded pens, [and using] vegetarian feed with no animal by-products.” Naturally raised chicken “must never be given antibiotics, have more room to move about than in conventional chicken operations, be vegetarian fed, [and] never given animal by-products.”

How often do you find that at restaurants? If you haven’t visited a Chipotle yet, do so!! You won’t be disappointed.

At Red Robin, we basically created meals of our own. I got the guacamole bacon burger which usually consists of two buns and a hamburger patty topped with guacamole, bacon, melted swiss cheese, onions, lettuce, and mayonnaise. I asked for this burger without cheese, onions, and mayonnaise and was able to get it wrapped in lettuce. Instead of fries, I got a side order of steamed broccoli, which was not listed as a side order on the menu. Fortunately, George asked the waitress if there were any veggie options as a side, and she revealed that broccoli was a possibility! Thank you, George! Lesson: Don’t think that your only options at a restaurant must be from what is listed on the menu. Always ask the waiter/waitress about substitutions or any other non-menu options. My Red Robin non-menu burger creation was tasty!

Moving onto G7 news…

Yesterday, I successfully completed an extremely brutal workout: 3 rounds of 30 wall-ball shots (14 lbs./10 ft. target) and 30 hang squat snatches. When my brother, Mike, andDutch revealed to me that it was the fifth workout of the 2009 CrossFit Games, I immediately felt defeated. My thoughts were…if elite athletes at the CrossFit Games had a tough time with that workout, I would definitely not complete it.  In the end, I made it out alive; however, my 24:48 time was not within the 20 minute cut-off time used at the CrossFit Games. Instead of looking at my completion time as a failure, I decided to stay positive and proud about it. I think it’s good to notice all the little things that have been accomplished through training rather than dwell on what hasn’t been accomplished yet. Yes, I missed the cut-off time; however, it was my first time using the 10 ft. target. For those of you that don’t know much about CrossFit, the 10 ft. target is usually the men’s target, whereas the 8 ft. target is designated for women. That’s a 2 ft. gain for me! Thank you, Dutch for pushing me to go beyond that 8 ft. target. It was definitely tough, but I did it!!

Congratulations to G7 athletes Brenda, Daisy, Kenia, and Karina for accomplishing regular burpees this week. Although they insisted regular burpees were too hard and not possible within a workout for them, I knew they could do it. Check out the video below. Too hard? More like…too easy!! Great job!!

Daisy, Brenda, and Kenia doing burpees from Becky Garza on Vimeo.

One last congratulations to my brother, Mike, who PR’d (beat his personal record) on the infamous CrossFit workout, Fran. It consists of 21-15-9 thrusters and pull-ups. His previous record was 3:24, and he completed it in 2:30 this time around. Check it out here. Amazing!! You make me proud.