Saturday, January 22, 2011

Pre

"To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift." -Steve Prefontaine

For anyone who is familiar with Steve Prefontaine, you know that he was half wild and whole heart. In his short life, he showed the world what it was to go as hard as you can for as long as you can. He wasn't interested in playing games and not giving every ounce he had. This has to be my philosophy if this training is going to work. I have a feeling that Steve would have loved Crossfit Endurance. So as I move forward this week, the quote at the top is what I am going to remember. God gave us all gifts, so what are we waiting for?

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. -1 Corinthians 15:58

Nutrition:
Going well, still a few minor mishaps, although overall much better decisions are being made. I think that the homemade almond protein bars are my saving grace along with carrot sticks and homemade hummus. Also had a great salad for lunch yesterday... a drizzle of olive oil and lemon juice with a touch of coarse sea salt and fresh ground pepper is better than any bottled salad dressing. Oh yeah, if if you are bored with your quinoa, try a quinoa porridge for breakfast with cinnamon and nutmeg. Delicious!

Workouts:
Monday - Double WOD (AM/PM) (already blogged)

Tuesday - AM CF WOD (already blogged)

Wednesday- AM Crossfit
Strength - Press 1 rep max - 80# (used to be 65#)
WOD - 5 RFT (20 SDLHP 65#, 15 pull-ups) Time: 21:46 Rx

PM Crossfit
WOD - 3 RFT (15 hang cleans 65#, 30 GHDSU, 15 thrusters 65#, 15 burpees) Time: 16:45

Thursday - REST (the first one in more days that I can count)

Friday - AM Crossfit
Strength - Deadlift 1 rep max - 235# (never maxed out before, but done 170 during WOD)
WOD - 3 RFT (10 ground to overhead 85# (95# Rx), 15 burpees, 20 KB swings 1 pood)
Time: 13:34

"I am going to work so that it is a pure guts race. In the end, if it is, I am the only one who can win it." -Steve Prefontaine

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Oops.

How do you mess up on day one?

Planning. It really goes farther than we think. Today I started well. Basically it broke down into working out, protein shake, great breakfast, snack, lunch, then the wheels fell off. Why? I didn't plan well enough. I could blame the fact that I had to spend 4+ hours after school taking tickets on for basketball games for my sugar, coffee, and pizza indulgence. I could say that I really didn't have a choice because I was out of the house, confined to a chair for 4 hours, and just had no other options. Really? Who am I kidding? It is my fault. After an almost perfect day, I made the conscious decision to call Clay and tell him that "We needed a cheese pizza" because we were both so late coming home (8PM). It is now roughly 20 min post pizza indulgence and about 2 hours past my 5:45 PM coffee and dessert (it was gluten-free...), and I already feel awful. It is like my body is rebelling instantly. I had such high hopes for today. I was ready to conquer the world on my new paleo and Crossfit/Crossfit Endurance plan, except I didn't plan well enough. There are so many better options, I just didn't take them, and now I feel like garbage. Thank goodness this isn't a double WOD day or I might be puking. Well, tomorrow is a new day. It's going to start off well and END WELL. Busy lives are easy to make excuses for lazy, unhealthy habits. I am actually thankful that I feel so bad. Good reminder. Food is fuel. Crappy food = crappy fuel. Fix it.

Nutrition
5:15 AM - 5 Sports Beans (preworkout) and H2O
6:45 - coffee w/coconut milk and honey, 2 eggs scrambled with fresh tomato, 13 Mary's Gone Crackers, 1 homemade almond protein bar (Thanks Dr. P!)
9:55 AM - banana and very small apple
12:45 - green leaf lettuce, English cucumber, baked salmon, and fresh blueberries, H20, and a plain baked sweet potato
5:45 a few bites of dessert, 1/2 muffin, and a cup of coffee (Starbucks drip-brew with half and half and honey)
8:00 4 pieces of Fox's cheese pizza and 1/2 glass of white wine

P.S. How do I fix that issue of not getting home early enough? I bring some Lara bars just in case and drink more water! Some sugar, but a much better option when I am stuck. Then eat a light salad at home loaded with raw veggies.

Workout
5:30 AM
3 Rounds for Time:
25 Wall Ball (14#, 10 ft target)
25 Knees to Elbows
25 Push-Ups
25 Double Unders
25 Box Jumps (20")

Time - 20:20

Exhausted at finish (laying on floor), but think I can go harder. Need to take fewer breaks and push to fatigue ALL the time. Upper body and abs are very sore from yesterday's double WOD and this morning. Very tired today during 5th period and after lunch. Felt good food wise until now. Actually am developing a headache as well. I know better. Need to do better.

P.S. I am actually a little relieved that I am not supposed to run till next week. It feels good to just go all out at Crossfit and know that I don't need to slog through another running workout later. This is going to be an adventure.

Monday, January 17, 2011

I am ready.

Part 1

I love to run. I don't know why. But I love it. I don't love that despite training longer and pouring over literature on how to run, I never get any faster at the marathon distance. Last summer and fall, I PR'd at all the distances from 5K to half-marathon, but my goal of qualifying for Boston has still eluded me. In fact, after my first real attempt, I came within 4 seconds. Since then, I have run 4 more and gotten slower. In my heart, I know that God has something great for me planned. I've always hoped that it would be something that has to do with athletics. Since volleyball, softball, and basketball don't have much promise for a 31 year old female, I turned to running. But now, I am sick of the traditional training plans and all the hours I spend away from my husband and son.

Part 2

I love Crossfit. I have been doing it consistently since June, and absolutely think it rocks. And I don't completely stink at it. In fact, I can actually do some things well, mostly when they don't have to do with a barbell. For some time now, I have been trying to do both a traditional training program for marathons and full-time Crossfit. Yes, I am tired. But I am also fed up. Despite doing workouts completely tired and not even close to recovered, I have tried to slog though, without improvement (running). This has been going on right up until I decided to sign up for my first Crossfit Competition, The Garage Games, last Sunday. They are in just a few short weeks, and I know that I may not be as strong as the women there, but I am going to rock every WOD as hard as I can. So this all got me thinking...

Part 3

Unscared. That is the name of Brian McKenzie's blog, who is the founder of Crossfit Endurance. I had heard of CFE before, but didn't really pay a whole lot of attention. I got on the website while my son was napping on Saturday afternoon, and ended up spending 3 hours that day researching the concept. His theory goes against everything that I have ever heard or read. He claims that short-high intensity workouts will translate to aerobic capacity in all distance racing (even 100-mile ultras and Iron distance races). He claims that his methods will train you for an Ironman on less than 10 hours per week. As my first thought was... "You are out of your mind". But I kept reading. I even posted a few questions on the forum. And I got a response. I asked how to convert to this style of training and if there was time to do prior to the Nashville Country Music Marathon. The answer was yes. And it gave a plan. Was I really considering this? We are talking about just 4-5 regular Crossfit WOD (mostly 20 min or less in duration), and 2-3 CFE running WOD's per week. Really?

Part 4

I am ready. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Bottom line. I am selling out. I am in. Bring on the protein powder and paleo. I am about to follow this to the letter.

P.S. Check out this month's issue (Feb. 2011) of Triathlete Magazine. Find the Crossfit article.