Fit Whit tries Crossfit

Today I tried something a little different. The coach has me doing two sessions of strength training this week and Evan suggested I give Crossfit a go. He's been going for a few months and seems to be enjoying it even though he comes home and complains about being sore from head to toe... For some reason even with that knowledge, I decided it was still a good idea and once I got the OK from the coach, I was in.

I convinced Evan we should go to the earliest class available - at 5:30AM. That meant we should have gotten up around 4:15-4:30 to make it but in reality we both woke up at 3AM and were pretty much awake until it was go time.

The WOD: "Space Jam"

Warm Up:

Shoulder Progression
Lateral Drills
Barbell Warm up/Breakdown

Strength:
4×8 push press/barbell row

WOD: “Space Jam”
20 Rounds for reps of :30on/:30off
5 Burpee to Target
5 Box Jump
5 Wallball Shots

Mobility:
Back FR
Quad Lax
Lat Band

First off, everyone was SO NICE. The instructors and other gym members all came up and introduced themselves at some point during the workout. They were pretty patient with me and very helpful which was nice because I had no idea what I was doing.

Warm Up:

Prior to the warm up that was listed they had us do 5 minutes of light cardio. This was good because I was freezing so we spun it out on the stationary bikes. After that it was a nice, easy warm up that loosened up the shoulders and got the blood flowing.

Strength:

Since I had never done a push press before I decided to play it safe and start with a really low weight of 25 lbs. Evan and the instructors gave me lots of advice on my form. I got through a set and it was far too easy so I went back for the 10 lbs plates bringing it up to 35 lbs. I got through another set and decided to try upping it a little more with two 2.5 plates but that proved to be a little too much for the push press. I made it to 7 and just couldn't get my arms to go all the way up on the 8th. I was keeping the weight the same for the barbell rows and that was ridiculously easy.

WOD:

These three exercises seem innocent enough but man, when you are trying to beat the clock they can really take a toll on you. I used a very short box (basically a step stool) and a light ball and I was still dying.

One set in I felt fine. Cut to four sets in and I was shaking and slowing. I could barely get five burpees done in thirty seconds and then I would knock out the box jumps and wallballs in the next thirty seconds. I probably managed nine sets by the end. 

Post WOD:

My arms are dead, I had trouble lifting them to wash my hair.

My knees are bruised from the burpees. My lack of upper body strength causes my descent to be rather uncontrolled...more like a fall really and after a few sets I didn't have the energy to pop back up so my knees took a beating.

My brain is tired. Seriously it feels fuzzy with lack of sleep. Fuzzy brain.

Even with all that, I am looking forward to going back next week!

...and because I have no pictures from the workout, here is a picture of Isis and Zo. :)

Love this Creature

Weekly Training Ramblings

Route 13 on my long Saturday ride

In an attempt to post regularly to my blog I've decided to start a weekly training post. The content will be training stuff, duh.

The big news in this post is that this is week one of training with a legit, certified triathlon coach from 207multisport. When I made the decision to train for an IRONMAN I realized that that was a far bigger commitment to take on by myself. I'd need some help!

I can see training with a coach having at least two huge benefits:

1. Feedback - They will review my workouts and tweak future ones, as well as give me advice on how to improve.

2. Accountability - I'm pretty good at solo training...but I occasionally skip workouts and that can easily snowball. Having a coach really motivates you to get all your workouts in every week.

My coaches are helping me train for the Louisiana Marathon in mid-January while building up a solid base of swimming and cycling. Once I finish Louisiana, I will kick over into full triathlon training and start preparing for my crazy year of two half Iron distance races and IMMD!

Week 1 Training:

Swim is in blue, bike in purple, and run in green

This week was a lot of fun. I swam in the mornings before work, tackling my runs and rides at night. All this week at the pool there was an older gentleman who decided he wanted to help me and he gave me advice on my front crawl form. The few things he taught me that made a huge difference were:

1. Don't push off the wall hard with your toes, it can give you crippling foot cramps - this happened to me a LOT on Monday (which is how we started talking). On Wednesday and Friday I focused on not pushing off as hard and trying to push more with my heels and I haven't had any cramps since!

2. Bend your arms in as they go underneath your body and angle your hands down. My arms were going straight down and that... isn't optimal.

3. Keep your head down. When you put your head under water make sure your line of sight is straight down to the bottom of the pool. This brings your legs up so they aren't dragging behind you as much and allows water to pass over your head more easily. This one is hard to remember every time but it is very noticeable when you get it right.

4. Timing and entry of your hands/arms into the water. I can't explain this one really... but you just KNOW when you've got it right. You just flow.

At first I was slightly bothered by the thought that this guy was watching me under water but he gave me really good advice so I am going to let it go. By Friday he said that I made huge improvements in just one week and he had nothing more to teach me! I'm just that good. :P

The runs and rides went mostly as they were supposed to with a few exceptions. I invited the Husband on my Saturday long ride and stupidly let him pick the route. We ended up riding up Mont Vernon around mile three - and I told my husband I hated him. I don't really but dude, seriously? The majority of the ride was on scenic route 13 and we had a nice time. It was a beautiful day, perfect weather for a bike ride and the fall foliage is really popping here.

My long run was this morning in the rain. I kept thinking about putting it off or running on the treadmill but the forecast wasn't going to improve throughout the day and Evan is doing woodworking in the basement so I didn't really want to breathe that all in while running ten miles... not to mention ten miles on the treadmill would suuuuck. So outside I went and it turns out I love running in the rain, I was able to stick to the heart rate zones and felt really strong by the end of the run.

Overall I am really happy with this week of training and I am looking forward to what next week brings! Now I am going to eat everything I can find and cuddle with my pups while watching the rain.

Aerobars and Horse Pucky

Yes, my favorite picture of them was taken in my nasty garage

Friday I took the next step in pretending I am a triathlete. I got aerobars! I decided to go with the RedShift Clip-on system mostly because the DCRM review of them was pretty great and because I could easily (get my husband to) remove them.

Tiny bit crooked!

I took them out on the Nashua River Rail Trail figuring that would be a nice flat, relatively safe place to practice. I was wrong. I went around 10:30 and the Rail Trail was VERY busy. I spent most of the time dodging runners, casual cyclists, and the dreaded roller skaters... I got down into aero as much as possible but I was constantly jumping back up to swerve around people. At least it was good practice switching positions!

Oh, about the horse pucky... I was riding along on the rail trail and I saw some horseback riders. I slowed down, moved over and jokingly said "I'll trade with ya!", they laughed and said "no way!". Totally understandable. Passed another pair and said hello. So far I was enjoying seeing the horses out there. Then I get to the next pair and moved over, slowed down, greeted them and got yelled at. One of the riders was like "MOVE OVER AND SLOW DOWN WHEN PASSING HORSES!". I didn't respond. I was angry! I DID move over and I DID slow down. I got even angrier when there were about 5 riders and horses completely blocking the path and then I practically rode through horse pucky! I am now determined to find the barn responsible and lodge a complaint. If you have to pick up after your pets on the trail you damn well have to pick up after your HORSES.

Anyway less venting, more aero-experimenting! Aero position is not easy. I had more than a few "oh, shit!" moments. I don't really have a solid enough core so every time I went to switch I was fairly unstable. I guess that means more plank time for me!

I've got my first Olympic Triathlon this weekend at the Pitch Pine Challenge! Bring it on!

Why Does Everything Hurt?

Oh yea, because I ran 20 miles yesterday.

Duh.

My training plan had the goal pace at 10:15. I decided to just go out slow and run at a pace that was comfortable for me since I wanted to make sure I didn't have to take any walk breaks. I ended up doing it at an average pace of 10:49. Even though this was 30 seconds off my target pace I am extremely happy with the run. I didn't have to walk at all (not even up hills!) and I felt really good (mostly) for the entire run.

Here's a look at the elevation/pace. The few little blips in my speed were to get rocks out from between the lugs in my Newtons and to check directions at one point so I didn't get lost. Otherwise I kept up a pretty constant pace, I even (barely) managed negative splits! Out of all those hills the one I was most worried about was that tiny one right at the end. Don't let it fool you. It may look like a tiny little thing but it is a steep, cruel, soul crushing hill. Coming up at the end of my runs I always dread it and usually end up walking it. BUT NOT THIS TIME! I pretty much just repeated NO NO NO NO NO the entire way up it.

This run I just focused on not walking and taking in water and fuel every mile. Gotta get used to eating on the run. I am finding that Shot Bloks are my fuel of choice. For this run I brought a pack of Bloks and some Sports Beans. At mile 4 and every mile after I took one Shot Blok. Once I ran out of those I switched to Beans.

I am still really concerned about the Newtons. I don't think they are going to work out. I get about 4 miles into a run and I get a pretty bad pain in my left foot that I can't ignore. Running another 16 miles with that pain is not fun. By the end of it I was tempted to take my shoes off to finish the last mile.

Overall this run made me feel quite confident that I can run my goal time of 4:30 in the New Jersey Marathon!

Training

My training at a glance for last week was:

Monday: Off! I don't do ANYTHING on Mondays after work!
Tuesday: 4x1200's at an 8 minute pace
Wednesday: 45 minutes on the bike with some tempo work thrown in there
Thursday: Off (laaazy)
Friday: 10 mile run at marathon pace (9:45)
Saturday: Off
Sunday: 12 mile run

My biggest issue right now is that I keep skipping out on my swimming and rowing. I don't really like rowing so I am fine with dropping that but I like swimming I just hate going to the gym. It really only makes sense for me to go in the morning before work (otherwise it's far too crowded) but I don't like getting up before 5AM. The pool schedule is also pretty bad because they have the swim team in there Monday's and Wednesday's first thing so that doesn't leave many days for me.

The 10 mile run was HARD. I pushed myself though and ran up some rough hills.

My shoes are still hurting my feet on long runs and now I have a noticeable bit of pain in my left shin, close to my ankle. Starting to get concerned that the Newtons are not the shoes for me...

Training Thoughts

I have been using the Run Less, Run Faster method to train for the NJ Marathon. I am 5 weeks in and I am dying.

I did it to myself. They have you use a recent 5k time to pick target paces and race times. I decided to use my time from the Hollis Fast 5k. I don't know why. That was just plain dumb. The Hollis Fast 5k is a downhill race and I pulled off a 24:30. I have been able to do the workouts at the paces that correspond with that finishing time, but I feel destroyed afterwards. I have been DREADING my runs. I even skipped all of my runs last week making lame excuses that all the snow clearing I've been doing counted...

That isn't how I want running to be. I want to feel happy and psyched for my run. I used to be so excited to get out of work and go for my run that I couldn't shut up about it.

Well, I have smartened up! I am taking my second fastest time which is 26:10. Yes, the gap is that big. I am really looking forward to the slightly slower pace. It's actually not a huge difference in terms of the training paces, but it will be enough I believe.