Easter Running + Other Tidbits

Easter...Easter, Easter, Easter...

I have to be honest, I don't like holiday's much.
My holiday is my work time, my work outs.
When I don't get to go to work, I feel lazy and become easily bored...
I also indulged in too much sugar and too many carbs, which also makes me feel miserable...
To add to all of this nonsense, the YMCA I train at is now closed on Sunday's until October! That was the last straw in adding misery to my weekend...

Fortuantly, the weather was lovely late in the afternoon and so I headed out on a 5 mile run Saturday. As I began, I did so in rememberence of Caballo Blanco.


It was amazing how motivating remembering him was. I ran with ease. The sky seemed to become a lighter blue and the grass was a lively green beneath my feet. The wind lightly touched my face. And the sun beamed down on me lightly, just warming me to a comfortable degree. It was an enlightening experience to say the least and I enjoyed every moment of it. It's amazing how much stronger I have gotten as well... Although I'm sure my pace was slow, when I'm by myself I go at what I feel is comfortable. If that means 10 minutes per mile, that is fine by me. Whatever I can do to get myself to run for a longer period of time. However, I have never ran very far. At this point in time, I have never gone beyond 6 miles in a time frame. Thus feeling that 5 miles felt easy was a great confidence booster in preping me for my 1/2 marathon in June. Likewise, I have to make sure a longer run feels good. If running doesn't feel good, even for one day, it takes a whole lot of effort and usually time-in days-to get myself back outside or in any form of "running mode".


Even though I got in a longer run, my dietary intake that take left consequences going into Sunday.


Eating more carbs and sugar usually makes me get jittery, emotional, leaves me feeling unsatisfied and I've come to find causes me to want to work out really, really hard-even on rest days.


Sunday looked absolutely miserable in the morning. Windy, cloudy and cold. This was a huge downer for me. I was not going to run in the wind, not when it was windy enough to knock down tree branches. My Easter day began miserably...


I took my gloomy self to a friend's house and helped her cook for her family. She then introduced me to the sport of Lacrosse. Well the jist of it, basically throwing the ball back and forth using the sticks in the game. It was a joyful way to release some of the stress from the weekend. Finally the weather had cleared up and I took advantage of it, going for another run. This time a shorter trip, around 3 miles I'd say.



I went along the canal bank near my house. It is the most gorgeous, secluded area and I absolutely loved running it. However, I started with an added loop toward a different canal bank and figured I'd cut through and end my run early, I instead stuck it out to go on the canal bank that no one ever touches. It was well worth the extra mileage. :)

That evening ended in an Easter feast of deviled eggs, salad, fruit and twiced baked potatoes. As amazing as the food was, I had already eaten so terribly that it made me feel miserable afterward. I did enjoy the opportunity that was provided by my old coach to go into the gym and play gymnastics, it was a nice relief and another stress reliever.

I began today differently. Eating almost strictly paleo. My breakfast included an apple, 2 eggs, chicken, mushrooms, onions, avocado and salsa.

Taught a spin class. Thank God for exercise and sweating, I felt much better afterward.

Lunch included 2 more eggs, side pork, green beans, avocado, onion, mushrooms & salsa. So similar meal.

Another reason I absolutely love eating paleo is side pork, bacon and chicken! After being vegetarian for almost 2 years, going back to meat has been a wonderful treat.

Onto spin class #2 and crossfit.

I'm gonna leave you with some running tips from Scott Jurek.

...Caballo Blanco...Let us not forget...

Caballo Blanco will never be forgotten...
Footage taken in Olympia, Washington by weiistone. No copyright infringement intended.

It's incredible to think that I sat in the back of this room only a couple of years ago and listened to this great human being talk about his lifestyle and the lifestyle of the tribe he lived amongst.

On March 31st, 2012 the infamous Caballo Blanco from Christopher Mcdougall's award winning novel, Born to Run was found dead on the terrain of New Mexico.

I think what's so startling about the discovery of 58 year old Micah True's dead body is that he is depicted as a sort of super hero in Born to Run. He's portrayed as a mysterious, ghostly figure who has managed to live amongst a hidden, fairly unknown tribe. He had overcome the way Americans have come to live by and instead found a deeper, solitary and ancestral type life that the Tarahumara live. This tribe of people had come to respect, not only, this man's uncanny ability to live among them but also his ability remain an elusive ghost to the public eye. That is until recently...

Christopher Mcdougall writes about his adventures of traveling down to the Copper Canyon's of Mexico, seeking out this man called Caballo Blanco. Upon finding him, Christopher's whole life changed, for the better. Micah True set an example as to how human being's are meant to live and showed that we can live like the Tarahumara tribe in their simplicity and their down-to-earth ways.

As you step outside for you're next run, take a moment to breath in the fresh air, feel the earth beneath your feet and just for a moment, remember Caballo Blanco's spirit.

For more information check out:
http://www.caballoblanco.com/

Barefoot Ted's Facebook Page

Or an interview taken with Scott Jurek:
http://www.runnersworld.com/cda/microsite/article/0,8029,s6-238-511--14280-0,00.html

Over Training...

I am one to admit that I am prone to overtraining. I believe it has to do with the fact that I was restricted in my gymnastics training by a particular coach who didn't care to be in the gym enough to help me reach my potential. Now that I can go to the gym whenever I want, I tend to spend numerous hours in my own training as well as training others-which usually includes me joining in on the work outs.

Lately I've been having trouble getting to sleep. I seem to feel anxious, restless yet simultaneously exhausted. Likewise, I also noticed yesterday that my heartrate seemed to be going too fast while sitting in my car. This bothered me and also caused more anxiety, making me feel sick and tired.

It was my third super hard day in the gym as well as my third day of eating super natural. However, I let myself go a little easy on eating which made me feel guilty and caused me to go through the anxiety issue-again.

Crossfit wears me out more than any other exercise program I do and after the squats and running, my legs felt pretty shot going into my spin class. Even so, I pumped myself up and gave everyone an intense workout. Luckily, in teaching crossfit, I don't have to perform the work out, yet constantly yelling encouragement seems to have a slightly similar effect. At any rate, raising my heartrate to an unnatural state. I didn't have coffee but I had some spark, but I don't think it was the caffeine. I left the gym at about 7:30pm, skipping my last 2 miles of running I had planned to get in. I was severely hungry and scarfed down my paleo meal of veggies, hummus, tuna and an egg. I felt increasingly unsatisfied and went to bed feeling deprived, anxious, tired and was unable to get to sleep.

I awoke this morning completely exhausted as I had been when I went to bed and likewise I found that I had some pain in my calf. Fortuantly, I had skipped out on my extra running miles yesterday. However, I knew I had still pushed myself a little harder than I should've. Thus I have decided to make today a rather easy day.

12:20-1pm Abs with Kayla-led by Danni (It's gonna hurt...Lol)
Extra: work out with Kayla
Body Mapping at 2:15pm - Recovery
Hang with Dani (Never got around to it earlier in the week)
Work on fitness plan program with Brooke
6:45pm-Teach Crossfit

Friday is going to be a hard day so trying to cut back as much as possible today.
Over Training According to Wikipedia:

Overtraining may be accompanied by one or more concomitant symptoms:
Persistent muscle soreness
Persistent fatigue
Elevated resting heart rate
Reduced heart rate variability
Increased susceptibility to infections
Increased incidence of injuries
Irritability
Depression
Mental breakdown

Loving Life

Eating Paleo is HARD.

Day 3, I gave into some homemade enchiladas.
However, I've noticed a difference within just the last couple of days. I have been upping my work outs, working out harder than I usually can do in a 3 day period, sleeping less and yet feeling better overall.--Interestingly enough...

Speaking of food and eating, more and more food videos keep coming up. Today, one on the crossfit site came up that totally hits the bottom line. Nutrition is everything.


Already did one work out today.
Crossfit:
50 Back Squats (55lbs)
2 mile run
50 Back Squats

21. 52min.

Pretty good considering I am not a fan of running. Even so, I need to keep working on running. Thus the goal of my first half marathon in 11 weeks.

2 more miles today. Plus 45 min. spin class. Plus teaching crossfit.
Long day but I love it! This is how I want to live my life forever. :)

3/27/2012

Here's what my day looks like Tues. March 27th, 2012.

Gotta love the awesome white(green)board I just went and bought too! Bought a couple, one for my own personal use and one to use for the new fitness program I will be starting.

Seeing that I am going to start teaching a new fitness program in a week, I am rushing to come up with routines, music, equiptment and skills I am going to be using in this program.

Fortuanantly, the internet has lots of useful information to help me get started. :)
www.myomytv.com/start-here-best-beginners-home-workout-routines-ten-minutes-a-day/

As always my struggle for food has been what is the downfall in my maximum fitness potential...
Needless to say, I gave into my coffee addiction this morning. :( One day at a time though, I will get stronger, better and I am still working on eating as paleo as possible. Food is my ultimate drug. In fact, I would go as far as to say that it's my coffee drink. I can go everyday eating almost exclusively paleo except for the coffee. Without it, I get agitated.

Yesterday was a really insanely hard work out day. Despite the amount of working out I did, I am not at all sore. The only thing I really noticed was I was unable to sleep very well. Dreams of my past as a gymnast haunted me and I awoke late, at 10am. Even now, a few minutes from 1pm, I am still exhausted.

Even so, I g2g get my work outs in.
First one will be taking my just recently prego sister for a run/walk. First time exercising much for her so I am excited to get her out of the house.
Then got to get my own run in, to prepare myself for the 1/2 marathon I'm training for in June. It's going to be happening 2 days after my 21st birthday...So we'll see how that goes, needless to say, I plan to have a mostly sober birthday and intend to run the 1/2 marathon as a sort of gift to myself. :)
Going to try to go to crossfit at 4pm. We'll see if that happens.
Lastly, gonna do tabata tonight.
=)

Blame it on my A.D.D.

Jenny Labaw. I love this video compilation! And the music!

This past weekend I was on the other side of the mountains watching the state gymnastics meet. Watching didn't affect me so much, it was later taking advantage of open gym time at another training facility. As I began to do some skills, I came to the surprising realization that I am better than when I was when I left the sport over a year ago. This actually almost bothered me.

It seemed unfair that I spent so many years trying to get into the best shape of my life, to be the best gymnast I could be and yet now that I am no longer in that atmosphere, I have since dropped 10lbs while simultaneously building muscle. It seems so unfair and totally ironic. So much infact that I have made the decision to return...

I know, I know...This is the 4th comeback. It's usually said that 3rd times the charm. Coaches have tried to keep me out. It's almost embarrassing making a fourth comeback, but I've figured, if I can do it and be better than I ever was, then why not? I am going to begin training in summer of 2012. I have some goals. Skills I never achieved but was so close. And there is still that desire to return to Western Nationals that has been in my mind for the past 6 years. It wont go away until I finish what I started.

This is what made the change in my heart and soul.

I am training with such a purpose and passion in the crossfit gym.

Not only do I want to return to the sport of gymnastics, but I likewise, want so badly to make it to the crossfit games. I have my heart and mind set on 2014.

What would it take to make it there? Even more lofty, what would it take to become the fittest world on the planet? To compete with the likes of Kristin Clever and Annie Thorisdottir?

Likewise, my goal is to lose a bit more weight and likewise, gain some more muscle. I know I am doing everything physically possible to do this except the eating portion of my life.

Today began the first more stringent paleo diet day. I did allow the protein drinks I had been supplementing for my recovery after crossfit work outs. Likewise, there was cottage cheese included, as well as a small amount of dressing on my salads, but other than that I think I did alright as far as eating clean and paleo today.

My Day looked like this:BKFST: 1/2 orange before crossfit

10:30am-11:30am-First Crossfit Training Session

NON PALEO-1/2 protein drink + Spark

12-1pm- My Spin Class (Taught by me)

LUNCH:2 Egg Omelet- (Non-paleo included: parmesean cheese, pesto and salsa) + carbs included onions and mushrooms + fat=avocado and cottage cheese...

Snack-Fruit Smoothie +non paleo included protein powder + 1 tbls of apple juice

Salad with tons of veggies, cottage cheese, 1/2 egg, avocado, almonds, dressing

5:30-6:15pm-Second Spin Class (Feeling rather fatigued)

6:30-7:30pm-Round 2 of crossfit-Dear god, what was I thinking?!

Dinner- Salad (same as above + pickles)

8 oz fruit smoothie (same as above)

On a different note, Brooke and I went down to the mall today and got me this sweet pair of tennis shoes! First pair in like over a year. My other shoes actually have a hole in the top so I really needed these. Plus they were on sale for $50. Made my day!

Crossfit WOD 3/26/12-Monday:

2 rounds:

Max Pull ups

15 DB burpee thrusters (15lbs)

Max push ups

10 WB shots (2 in 1) (10lbs)

Max shoulder presses (55lbs) (45lbs)

500 m row

Part 1:

First round- 30, 50, 3 (55lbs-sp)

Second round-21, 51, 6 " "

Time: 23:44min

Part 2:

First Round- 32, 40, 10 (45lbs-sp)

Second Round-18, 53, 8 " "

Time: 21.09

Bring on tomorrow baby!

Crossfit Acronyms and Abbreviations

CrossFit Acronyms and Abbreviations:
AMRAP: As Many Reps (sometimes Rounds)as Possible
ATG: Ass to Grass
BP: Bench press
BS: Back squat
BW (or BWT): Body weight
CFT:CrossFit Total - consisting of max squat, press, and deadlift.
CFSB: CrossFit Strength Bias. A program developed by Jeff Martin and Darrell White, explained here. You'll need a CFJ subscription.
CFWU:CrossFit Warm-upCLN:
CleanC&J: Clean and jerk
C2: Concept II rowing machine
DL: Deadlift
FS: Front squat
GHR(D): Glute ham raise (developer). Posterior chain exercise, like a back extension. Also, the device that allows for the proper performance of a GHR.
GHR(D) Situp: Situp done on the GHR(D) bench.
GPP: General physical preparedness, aka "fitness."
GTG: Grease the Groove, a protocol of doing many sub-maximal sets of an exercise throughtout the day
H2H: Hand to hand; refers to Jeff Martone's kettlebell "juggling" techniques (or to combat).
HSPU: Hand stand push up. Kick up into a handstand (use wall for balance, if needed) bend arms until nose touches floor and push back up.
HSQ: Hang squat (clean or snatch). Start with bar "at the hang," about knee height. Initiate pull. As the bar rises drop into a full squat and catch the bar in the racked position. From there, rise to a standing position
IF: Intermittent Fasting
KB: Kettlebell
MEBBMaximum Effort Black box, term coined by Mike Rutherford. Search the forum for it. Originally laid out in one of the early Performance Menu issues.
KTE: Knees to elbows. Similar to TTBs described below.
MetCon: Metabolic Conditioning workout
MP: Military press
MU: Muscle ups. Hanging from rings you do a combination pull-up and dip so you end in an upright support.
OHS: Overhead squat. Full-depth squat performed while arms are locked out in a wide grip press position above (and usually behind) the head.
PC: Power clean
Pd: Pood, weight measure for kettlebells
PR: Personal record
PP: Push press
PSN: Power snatch
PU: Pull-ups, possibly push ups depending on the contextRep: Repetition. One performance of an exercise.
Rx'd; as Rx'd: As prescribed; as written. WOD done without any adjustments.
RM: Repetition maximum. Your 1RM is your max lift for one rep. Your 10 RM is the most you can lift 10 times.
SDHP: Sumo deadlift high pull (see exercise section)Set: A number of repetitions. e.g., 3 sets of 10 reps, often seen as 3x10, means do 10 reps, rest, repeat, rest, repeat.
SPP: Specific physical preparednesss, aka skill training.
SN: Snatch
SQ: Squat
SS: Starting Strength; Mark Rippetoe's great book on strength training basics. Available right here.
Subbed: Substituted. The CORRECT use of "subbed," as in "substituted," is, "I subbed an exercise I can do for one I can't," For example,if you can't do HSPU, you subbed regular pushups. Sadly, many illiterate posters get this bass-ackward, and claim that since they can't do HSPU, they subbed HSPU for pushups. D'oh!
TGU: Turkish get-up (See exercise section)
TTB: Toes to bar. Hang from bar. Bending only at waist raise your toes to touch the bar, slowly lower them and repeat.
WO, sometimes W/O: Workout
WOD: Workout of the day
YBF: You'll Be Fine (liberally applied in spray form).

http://www.crossfit.com/cf-info/faq.html