Friday, May 6, 2011

What to do today?

Tomorrow is the half marathon.  I wanted to rest the legs, but I also want to get something in.

Breakfast:  2 Eggs, 1 Avocado, Bag of Tomatos, 1 Americano w/ splash o cream
Lunch:  Chicken & Vegetable Pho
Dinner: Salad, Meatballs w/ meatsauce

Workout:
Bonnie's Bday WOD
41 Box Jumps
41 Hang Power Cleans 65#
41 Push Ups
41 Sit Ups
41 KB Swings 35#
8:45

Happy Birthday Murdock!!

Interestingly enough, I feel much lighter since I started back on the program Monday morning.  The margarita Wednesday night was not part of the plan, but no guilt necessary since I won't be having my usual Friday free night.

I was totally bummed to miss Mark's Birthday WOD.  :(  My workout was light today as I was resting up for the half marathon and in a hurry to get home for the Moose's Family Birthday Celebration.

Breakfast:  2 Eggs, 1 Avocado, 1 Americano w/ splash o cream
Lunch:  Steak, brussel sprouts, onions, mushrooms, yams
Dinner:  Hamburger patty, onions, avocado, carrots, broccoli
Happy Birthday Murdock!!!
NO BIRTHDAY CAKE FOR ME.

Workout
1/2 mile run
BackSquat 10 @ 45#, 5 @ 65#, 5 @ 85#, 5 @ 95#, 3 @ 115#, 3 @ 135#, 1 @ 145#, 1 @ 150#
1/2 mile run

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Fasting ruins my meal plans...

Tonight I had a health screening, so you'll notice that my meals are messed up today.  I had to fast 6 hours prior to a 6pm Blood Draw.

Breakfast:  2 eggs, 1 avocado, 1 Americano w/ splash o cream
Snack:  Mixed Nuts, 1 Americano w/ splash o cream
Dinner:  Walt's Special with guac, 1 Margarita

WOD:
Gwen 15-12-9 Post Load
90# for 9 reps, 85# for 6 reps
85# for 12 reps
85# for 9 reps

Had to get home so did not have time to redo the first set of 15.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

New Shoes?

Whoops...I may have been training in the wrong shoes, or these thighs were not made for running.

Over the past couple years minimalistic running has been a hot topic in the Running World.   With the lighter weight shoes (and a lot of Crossfit training) times for my sprints and short distances have improved, but once the distances increased during the half marathon training, my legs have been acting wonky.   Aches and pains have surfaced in my hips and knees which haven't been there since I was much heavier.  After talking with a couple PT's and a few runners, the realization hit me that I may need more support for my overly pronated FLAT feet for long distances.  Here's my new Mizunos that will be broken in over the next two months between the 1/2 and full marathon.  At the end I'll report back on the status of my legs.  Was it the shoes or the thighs?


Food


Breakfast:  2 eggs, grape tomatoes, 1 avocado, Americano w/ a splash o cream
Lunch:  Chicken breast, broccoli, cukes, mushrooms, beets, olive oil & balsamic
Dinner:  Chicken breast, broccoli, zucchini
Snack:  1 glass red wine, nuts

11:30am WOD
3 rounds:  500M row, 21 burpees, 400M run
18:13

5pm Workout
Run 1/2 mile 6.5 - 7.0 mph
Bench Press 45# (15 reps) 65# (10 reps) 95# (5 reps) 105# (3 reps) 115# (1 rep) 120# (1 rep)
Deadlift 135# (10 reps) 155# (5 reps) 185# (5 reps) 205# (3 reps) 225# (1 rep)
Run 1/2 mile 6.5 - 8.0 mph

Monday, May 2, 2011

Back in the Saddle Again...

This week I'm gearing up for the half marathon and getting back to training fun.  Consistent nutrition, mobility work, & skill work are the main focus.

Meals

Breakfast:  2 eggs, 2 pieces of bacon, 1 tomato, Americano with a bit o cream
Lunch:  1 chicken breast, raw vegetables (Broccoli, tomato, cukes, mushrooms) with olive oil & balsamic
Snack:  1 apple
Dinner:  1 pork chop, asparagus, green beans
Snack:  mixed nuts

WOD
Shoulder mobility work with a lacrosse ball
Adductor mobility work, walking side to side with a blue band
Double Under Work
Roy - 5 rounds for time of
15 Deadlifts (155#)
20 Box Jumps (20" Box)
25 Pull Ups
22:56 This is a 9 minute PR.  Rebounding box jumps and improved pull ups really helped my time.

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Time to Reflect and Learn in order to Move Forward

CONGRATULATIONS TO PAT AND MARK!!!  Both Pat and Mark are competing as individuals this year.  I'm proud to workout with such amazing athletes who inspire me every day.

It's been a long time since my last post.  In the past few months (I can't believe it's May already) I've trained for a 1/2 marathon, competed in the Crossfit Sectionals, and somewhat maintained my hectic schedule.  What have I learned?

Enter the Crossfit Sectionals.  Some background... last year the Sectionals was a one weekend arena event.  A group of us went in excited, thrilled and not knowing what to expect.  We worked hard that weekend, poured our hearts out, learned a lot, and celebrated Sunday night.  This year Sectionals was a 6 turned into 7 week event that had athletes competing via affiliates or video submissions.  The 7 weeks took me by surprise and left me feeling like roadkill.
After WOD #3
 WOD #1:  10 minute AMRAP: 30 Double Unders, 15 Snatches (55#)
This WOD was the one that I dreaded the most.  My double unders are not stellar, and I knew that would slow me down.  My focus was to keep the Snatches (or ground to overheads) unbroken so that I could make up reps.   I was not crushed by the results, but I wasn't elated.  The result was that I reattempted the WOD and achieved fewer reps due to a lot of snagging.  I was crushed and lifted my spirits with a 5 mile run.  That afternoon I brewed beer with some friends and decompressed with a few too many.

 WOD #2:  15 minute AMRAP 9 Deadlifts (100#), 12 Hand Release Pushups, 15 Box Jumps (Delayed a week due to some bugs with the Games Site)
I was excited when WOD #2 was posted, partially because it came out a week late and also because I was confident in the movements.  The day I did WOD 11.2 my divorce was finalized and it was easy to throw my gut and emotions at it.  I was happy with my performance, and a group of us celebrated with Margaritas and good food at Ana's.

WOD #3:  5 minute AMRAP 1 Squat Clean (110#), 1 Push Jerk (110#)
Looking at this WOD I felt confident that I could do well.  I love the heavy stuff and although I'm lacking in the Squat, my clean and jerk are solid.  My first mistake was running 11 miles the Sunday prior to the WOD.  Thursday of this week I left on vacation for Hawaii, so my only opportunity was to kill it Wednesday night.  Monday my quads were tight, and I wasn't worried figuring that it would loosen up by Wednesday.  Wednesday afternoon I knew I was screwed.  My performance was a lot worse than I was prepared for.  I put my score in jeopardy and therefore my team's score in jeopardy. I was depressed and felt guilty.  Going home I cried in my wine.

WOD #4:  10 minute AMRAP 60 bar burpees, 30 O/H Squats (90#), 10 Muscle Ups
I LOVE overhead squats.  Heavy overhead squats are even better.  Happily I went after this WOD hoping to attempt 1 muscle up after the completion of my squats.  I never made it through the overhead squats as I was surprised by how heavy the darn things felt by the time I finished the burpees.  The good news is that I didn't let it whack me mentally.  After Week 3 I vowed to not let these WOD's destroy me.  However I didn't celebrate or cry in my beer.  Just went home and hung out with my little guys, thing 1 and 2.

WOD #5:  20 minute AMRAP 5 Power Cleans (100#), 10 T2B, 15 Wall Ball
My love of Wall Ball is non existent, but at this point I wasn't getting too elated or deflated with the announcement of the WOD's.  I will admit that my attitude was more of a there's only two more left.  Thank God.  However I was pleasantly surprised at my performance and once again went to Anna's that night for a Coach's meeting and celebration with Margaritas and Good Food!!

WOD #6:  7 minute Fran Rap 3 Thrusters (65#), 3 CTB Pullups add 3 every round
Hell.  Do I really need to say more?  It sucked.  I was gassed after the first round.  The thrusters felt like lead and during the set of 12 I put the bar down.  Not a grand performance.  I have to admit that I was definitely down after this WOD.  In the end I was down about my performance during the entire 7 weeks.  And yes last night I celebrated the end of seven weeks with a margarita and some wine and dark chocolate.

Sorry guys if this sounds like Eeyore, but there's a few lessons here.
1.  Keep your head in the game for the WHOLE game.  That means if it's a seven week competition, guess what..don't celebrate or cry until the seven weeks are over.  There's no crying, celebrating, drinking margaritas, or eating chocolate until the whole caboodle is complete.  Small successes are worth feeling good about, but don't let it go to your head.

2.  Competing in your own box without the 2 day Arena environment week after week for seven weeks requires a particular mental toughness that I wasn't prepared for.  Looking back there were a few WOD's when I put the bar down and lost reps.  5, 7, 10, 12, 15, 20 minutes.  For any of those AMRAP's the goal is to keep moving.  Pace is going to be slower for a 20 minute AMRAP vs a 5 minute AMRAP, but moderate weight Wallballs and Thrusters should be unbroken.  Setting down a Wallball was mental fatigue for me, not physical.

3.  Mistakes are inevitable.  This isn't life or death.  Get over it and move on.  Enough said.

4.  Without the support of friends and family none of what I do is possible.  My son sat there and cheered me on for 5 of the WOD's.  That means more than I can put into words.  SnoRidge contains the best quality Crossfitters.  I work out with some of the best people on this planet.  The support and the friendship of my fellow Squatchers is priceless.

5.  I'm better this year than last, and next year I'll be better than this year.  At the end of the day I gave everything that I had to give.  I'm happy that I was able to compete and do all of the WOD's.  Next year I'll be stronger, faster, and meaner.  :)

What's next?  
Refocus on my nutrition and workout goals to complete the following:
May 7th, Cinco De Mayo Half Marathon
June 25th, Rock n Roll Marathon
this fall, Rainier's Strongest Man & Woman Competition
next year, Crossfit Games

What are your goals?

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Jen's Salsa Recipe

Many of you have asked and here it is... Jen's Salsa recipe.  She fills a large container each week, and I use it on my eggs every day.  It's great stuff, happy salsa making!!

My daily breakfast...Eggs Over Medium, Jen's Salsa, & Avocado



Salsa recipe
1 large can of Hunts tomato sauce
4 medium roma tomatoes
5 -6 cloves of garlic
1/4  of a red onion
1/4 of a sweet onion
2-3 Serrano peppers
chopped cilantro
juice from 1/4 of a lime
Throw everything in a food processor except for the cilantro, lime juice, tomatoes and the tomato sauce. Chop until desired consistency. Chop tomatoes separately. Mix all chopped veggies with tomato sauce, cilantro and lime juice. Store in refrigerator in air tight container and chill for at least 2-3 hours.