CFA WOD 7/14/11

This WOD is posted here.

Level One:
Skill Practice:
Frank Squats @32×3
Deadlift Progressions

WOD
A1. Lift off x5×3  rest 1:00  (35 lb, 65 lb)
A2. Unweighted Step-ups x5/leg x3  rest 1:00
B1. Front Squats x3×3 @32×3  rest 1:00  (35 lb)
B2. Chin-ups x1-3×3  rest 1:00
C1. Back Squats x5×3  rest 1:00 (40 lb)
C2. Chin-ups x1-3×3  rest 1:00

Cash-out: Side Plank test

The Good:

• Finally had a training partner.  Ty was a good training partner.  He was literally a great support on the buddy chin-ups.  He also had good energy.  He seemed really chill.
• Enjoyed today's strength workout.  I like working on the mechanics of lifts.  Also liked that we added some weights to the bar
• Nick was there so he was able to check out my shoulder again.  The day before I met with Nick for an Airosti PT session

The Awesome:

• Passed the side plank test on my right side by holding for 90 sec.   Also, held left side to 1:05 (that was the previous day's right side time)
• Walker told me about a blog called The Clothes Make the Girl and it is awesome.

Homework:

• Need to work on my push-up form:  I have no idea why that first inch is so hard.  I think next time I practice, I will visualize the first push as a giant leap from the floor caused by my hands.
• Practice side planks.  I'm so close to 90 sec both sides.  

I want to look this serene during my side plank tests.

 picture source

Why do Crossfit?

There's a really great series of videos on the Crossfit games website called All Over the Map.  They;re all interviews of athletes going to the games. 

Blaire Morrison's response to Why do you do Crossfit? really struck a chord with me.  His response was so distinct, earnest, and beautiful that I transcribed it:


I remember extremely vividly the day I got off the train in Leiden with all my bags and I was like I don't speak Dutch, this is weird, like where am I going.  And like that memory sticks out like a thousand other memories that I have from that experience because .. not because it was a perfect memory but because it was so different from anything else I'd ever done or have done since, you know? and I want a long life of those kinds of memories, things that are distinct and unique and you know those types of things, they create growth.  You know if everything is the same or similar they blend together and it's all becomes one big cloudy past, you know.  And that's not what I want.

Blaire Morrison ponders his response.

CFA WOD 7/12/11

This Level 1 workout is posted here.

Level One:
Skill Practice
5 Rounds
Ring Static Hold :30 (Bottom, Top, Leaning)
3 Wall Balls

WOD
4 Rounds
3:00 on/ 1:00 off
10 Wall Balls
10 Tic Tacs
200 M Run
*Completed Rounds recorded

Completed Rounds: 1 2/3 rounds per round.  6 2/3 rounds total.  During each round, I was able to do 20 Wall Balls, 20 Tic Tacs, and one 200 M Run.

Plusses:

• Consistent Reps in the WOD:  I was able to complete the same amount of work during each round of the WOD.  Whoo-hoo! No drop-off in reps.  I kept telling myself: I PAY FOR THIS.  This made my effort fell less like torture and more like an investment
• Shoulders starting to feel stronger:  Despite my sore left shoulder, I feel like my shoulders are getting stronger and broader.  Neat.
• Tic Tacs: I like these.  Great exercise for the obliques.  When I needed to, I was able to do these superfast in order to help my rep count.

Deltas:

• Forgot my wrist band: This made me feel uncomfortable because I had nothing to wipe the sweat out of my eyes.
• Wall Balls: Need to work on bring ball down to chest and using legs to explode up and drive the ball up to the line.  Accuracy was OK but can get better.
• Ring Static Hold:  These felt alright.  This will get much better when I get better at maintaining a tight front follow position.  These also felt more stable when I used my upper back to help push and hold rings close to the body.

Aha's:

• Finally wrote down the warmup workout in my log because it's such a great plyo workout.  Later I'd like to memorize it so I have a good warmup routine for playing Ultimate on Thursdays.

CFA WOD 7/11/11

A relevant tangent, first.  Yesterday's USA vs Brazil World Cup soccer Quarterfinal match was epic!  The refs made 3 critical miscalls.  They unfairly penalized Hope Solo (US goal keeper) for moving during a free kick and they failed to call off-sides on a Brazilian player that kicked an assist that lead to Brazil's 2nd goal.  Finally, a US player was red-carded in the 2nd half so the US had to play out the rest of the half and overtime with one less player.  Despite that, the US prevailed thanks to a last minute header goal in overtime and a penalty kick save by Hope Solo.

Last minute header goal by Abby Wambach

Hope Solo saves the tiebreaking penalty kick.

Team celebrates Hope's save.

This team never gave up.  So inspiring!  Also, Hope Solo was HUGE even though she was playing with a sore shoulder.  After watching this, I signed up for 3 Crossfit workouts this week even though I have a sore left shoulder because I was inspired by Solo's example.  Plus, I know how to take care of myself by modifying my movements and communicating with my coaches so I decided to go for it.  This Wednesday I have an appointment with an Airosti Sports Medicine doctor to work on my shoulder.  I also wore all black today to match the US team because I'm a dork like that.

The Level 1 Workout is posted here.

Skill Practice

1.  3 rounds un-timed:

• 5 push-ups: 2 rounds regular, 1 rounds on knees
• 8 Frank/air squats @ 32x3:  2 rounds Frank squats, 1 round air squats
• 10 sec chin-up hold
•  8 Waiters bends

2.  Rowing Progressions

WOD 3 Rounds:

• 350 M Row
• 12 Walking Lunges

Time: 9:07 min (other Level 1 times: Pat & Aaron 13:10, The Ladies 18:34, The Gents 16:18)  This means I'm faster than the slowest members in each of these teams since I completed the workout solo.  I feel less bad about my time when I see the other times.  I was disappointed in my rowing because I was not rowing at sprint space even though the distance was only 350 m.  My stroke rating was around 30 strokes/min and my splits were between 2:10 and 2:20 min/500 m.  I wasn't able to push myself up to sprint pace which amounts to a stroke rating of 40 strokes/min and splits between 1:55 and 2:05 min/500 m.

Body Notes:  First couple lunges were really tough in each round.  My forearms were burned out by the end of this WOD.

A-HA's

• Two new effective butt stretches: (1) Lying on back, pull knee to chest and then use glutes to lift hips.  (2) Sit into an exaggerated squat position.  Rest weight on heels.  Grip under toes and lift but while keeping chest big and up. 
• Aerobic Friday's:  Wes Kimball programs the Friday open workouts to build aerobic capacity.  Explains why last Friday's workout was so long and intense.
• I'm stronger than I think:  I felt so weak last Thursday because I couldn't hold a 90 sec side plank on each side.  I can do around a minute each side and Walker told me that was pretty strong for someone just starting Crossfit.
• Rowing tip:  Walker corrected my slide to make it smoother.  I was holding on to too much momentum at the catch and she got me to push more of that momentum into the slide up.

Plusses:

• Pushups are improving:  I was able to do some regular push-ups.  When I described my progress here, I accidentally said something dirty: "I'm OK with the ride down.  It's just those first two inches up that give me trouble".
• Chin-ups hold improvement:  It helped to keep the hands shoulder width apart and then squeeze my shoulder blades to hold myself up there.
• Rowing 1st set:  Killed the first round of the 350 m row.  I think my average 500 m split was 2:07.  Progress.

Deltas:

• More positive self-talk:  Need to stop negating my skills and abilities by focusing on areas where I fall short compared to other athletes.  I can improve my self-talk by staying present and focusing on pushing my body within the moment and appreciating whatever effort comes out.  I'm already in better shape now than I thought I'd be - YIPPEE!! - so it's OK to just have FUN, rip it out, and see what happens.
• Need to build strength and speed to bring 350 m rows up to sprint pace.  See comments by the time.

Coming Out of Retirement

Last night, I signed up for the Austin Ultimate Summer League.  My first game is this Thursday from 7 pm - 10 pm.  It's been over 4 years since I last played.  I'm not even sure if my cleats are still good.  I need to find them and test them out on grass before Thursday night.

I was awfully tempted when Tina W. put up the last chance announcement on Facebook.  I miss playing and I'm starting to feel athletic again now that I've been doing Crossfit for about 4 weeks.

Two things tipped me over from temptation to sign up:

1.  Tina telling me to SIGN UP!!! on my wall.

2.  Really cool swag (see below)

Sweat jersey!!

Neat disc design

CFA WOD 7/8/11

Skill Practice (This WOD is posted here.)
Double Under Progression

Aerobic Training  “The Double Russian”

5 Rounds
20 Russian KB Swings (24K, 16K) - I used a 12K kettle bell.
20 Double Unders (or singles x2) - I did singles.
20 Russian Step-ups (total)
20 Double Unders - I did singles.

Time: 15:45? 15:54?  It's all a haze.  Hopefully they'll post it on the blog because I don't fully remember the time.  I just know it was between 15 and 16 minutes.  Next time I'll write my time down.

The Good (good things + things I'm good at)

• Comraderie: First class with other people!  Yay!  It was nice to feed off other athletes' energy and movements.  Also, Jenny was very encouraging and helpful.  One day I will tell her that the work ethic she displayed in the gym while I was doing the On Ramp course is one reason why I was drawn to CFA. 
• Double under drills: neat and simple and they gave me some ideas on what I can practice to eventually develop this skill
• Jump rope singles: Yay! I still remember how to jump rope.  These felt great during the workout.  It was nice to do at least one thing during the workout that put me in touch with my current fitness strengths (rhythm and aerobic capacity).
• Russian Step-Up: Like hiza geri with a bench! Genius!  I motivated my body to generate power on this movement by imagining that I was beheading zombies with my knees. 

The Bad (things I'm bad at "for now" + helpful next steps)

• Double unders: I don't know how to do these yet.  From what I observed, it looks like a combination of wrist strength & floppiness + rhythm.  Practicing these will help me to regain the wrist strength I had when I was playing Ultimate Frisbee with Melee.  I bought myself a speed jump rope so I can practice at home.  This may be one of the first advanced skills I develop because I like rhythm movements and I have some wrist strength from doing uraken punches in karate.
  
• Kettle Bells: Wow, the 16K kettle bell was so heavy that I nearly head butted the rack while I attempted to pick it up.  Good thing, Jenny pointed out the 12K kettle bells.  Eventually, I will become stronger and the 16K kettle bell won't be such a little beast.  

The Ugly

• Dangerous peeking: This morning was the first time I read the work-out on the CFA website before heading to my session.  I got pre-workout jitters and had to fight back the urge to cancel my session.  I think I will continue to check the workouts just to make sure there is nothing on there that I can't do because of my left shoulder.  Once my left shoulder is healed, I will stop looking because ignorance is bliss.

• Russian KB Swings form:  I know that my hips are supposed to generate the power for this move and that my upper body is just along for the ride.  When I got tired during the workout, I think I got my shoulders, neck, and back overly involved in the motion.  As a result, my lower back and shoulders feel really sore from this morning.  I can improve this by practicing with my kettle bells. These are light enough that I can practice with these after I give my body a day or two to recover.

I treated myself to this jump rope because I provided free TAKS tutoring today.

Travel WOD 2 and Organization Puzzle

Just finished Travel Wod 2 during my morning workout without pre-workout breakfast.  This is encouraging.  I'm trying to develop habits I can carry through the school year.  Now, if I can eliminate my pre-workout stewing and procrastinating, I think I can limit my am workout time to about 45 minutes which is manageable during the school year.

I've decided to do the Travel WOD's listed here in order so I don't have to think too hard about my home workouts.  If I can't do one as listed, I'll just modify the workout.  So handstand push-ups will be replaced with regular push-ups, etc.  I feel like this workout routine warrants a reorganization of my fitness spreadsheets.  I'm still mulling this over.  I want to figure this out soon so I have both a simple and functional way to record the workouts.

In the meantime, here's the data:

Workout: 10 push-ups, 10 sit-ups, 10 air squats x 10
Completion time: 21 min 21.82 sec
Modifications: push-ups on knees to get full range of motion

This workout was a little more manageable than the previous one because I don't feel like I was super-setting any one muscle group during the routine.  Unlike the previous one where I got to from a run to air-squats (nasty!).

Travel WOD Jitters

I'm about to do one of the travel WODs listed here in my garage:

Run 1/2 mile 50 air squats – 3 rounds for time.

I'm anxious about doing this workout because I know it's going to be painful.  I'm interpreting this anxiety as a sign that I picked the right workout.  My goal for the workout is just to FINISH (no quitting permitted) and to do all my air squats with good form.  I want to use this workout to build my anaerobic and aerobic capacity - but mainly focus on the former.  I'm racing Summer this Monday if I make it through this workout.  I want to convince my mind that my body is ready to take on Summer in a couple days.

I'm scare enough of this workout that since I made the decision an hour ago to do it, I've been procrastinating.  Here are two things I've found while procrastinating:

1.  G7 Story - Veronica Garza  : really inspiring video about how a woman overcame Lupus by changing her diet and working out at a Crossfit box in Laredo, TX.  Made me cry.

Video screenshot of Veronica doing a weighted chin-up.  Amazing!

2.  Strong is the New Skinny Shirt : Cute T-shirt.  I want to buy myself this shirt when I am strong enough to do chin-ups and pull-ups without support.

WAAAANT!

 OK, now I'm getting hungry.  I need to do this work-out now or eat and delay the workout another 2 - 3 hours.

Interesting smoothie

Blended together spinach, almond milk, and frozen blueberries.  Ended up with concoction that tastes like a light version of pistachio ice cream and looks like poo.  Great treat! Just don't stare at it.

Crossfit On Ramp Skills

I'm starting to lose track of all the tips for the exercises I've learned during the On Ramp course, so I'm going to record them here before I forget:


Day 1 Skills

• Air squats: Toes angled out, send but back until but level is below the knee creases, then push up with lower body.  Keep upper body posture straight up, arms out with hands together to maintain balance.  Body weight rests on heels throughout.
• Pushups:  Look 2 feet in front to make room for chin to hit the floor.  Full range of motion means chest touches the floor during each rep.  Maintain plank position during transitions by keeping core tight.  On the way up, imagine abs pushing up through the lower back.  Arms should be about shoulder-width apart. 
• Split squats:  Step one foot forward.  Legs are nearly in one line and toes are slightly in.  Lower torso keeping posture vertical entire time.  
• Ring dips: Grab rings with palms facing each other.  Heels touch the ground.  Tighten core.  Lift and lower body using upper back and shoulder blades.  Squeeze shoulder blades together on the way up.  

Day 2 Skills

• Frankenstein postion with weight bar: Reach arms out like Frankenstein.  Rest weight bar against throat and on top of shoulders.  If posture is right (big chest, tight core), the bar will balance easily on front shoulder shelf.
• Front Squat:  Start in Frankenstein position with the weight bar.  Then rest hands on bar with palms facing body.  The hands do very little if the posture is upright.  Do a perfect squat.  See air squat.  If posture and square are right, weight bar will go up and down on one vertical line.
• Back Squat:  Rest weight bar on the backs of shoulders.  If posture is right, it will balance easily on back shoulder shelf.  Grab bars, palms facing forward.  Hands will do little if bar is balanced on shelf.  Do a perfect squat.  See air squat.  If posture and square are right, weight bar will go up and down on one vertical line.
• Dead Lift:  Get into bottom part of air squat position.  Grab weight bar on the floor. Lift bar by moving up you're standing up mid air squat.  Keep weight bar very close to shins - may even scrape the shins.  Bring bar to level right about knees.  Stand up.  Go in reverse to lower bar.  Remember to keep core tight.  Send the butt back and keep weight over heels and to keep chest big.
• Chin Up: Arms shoulder width apart, palms facing away.  Can't say more about the mechanics of these because I can't do them yet.

Day 3 Skills

• Front Hollow Position:  Arms and legs together, straight, and stretched out; knees and elbows are locked.  Stretch out body and tighten core and make a tight parentheses shape with the body.
• Handstand: Step forward with one leg into position that's like a splint squat.  Plant both hands on ground and use momentum to go into an upside down front hollow position.  Don't forget to lock elbows.
• Kipping:  Swing on pull-up bar.  Make body flips between front hollow position and its opposite (like two sides of a parentheses).  Use the transition between these 2 positions to generate momentum.
• Kipping chin-up:  Kip until you have a rhythm then chin up using momentum from the back swing.  Push away from bar after the chin up in order to send falling energy into forward swing.
• Abmat sit-up:  Rest fat part of abmat against your lower back.  Sit almost Indian-style- don't cross legs, let bottoms of feet touch.  Straight arms, palms together.  Lean forward and touch fingers to floor in front of toes.  Lean back until shoulder blades touch the ground.  Extend arms and touch fingers to ground.  Repeat.  Keep core tight throughout.

Day 4 Skills:

• Box jump:  Look at box.  Jump and land so that both feet are planted on the box.  Stand straight up.  Jump backwards off the box. Repeat.
• Burbees:  Drop into plank position.  Drop body in plank position until chest hits the floor.  Power back up directly into an air squat position.  Jump into the clapping part of a jumping jack.  Repeat.
• POSE running:  Land on balls of feet.  Send knee up so that feet end up right below butt when they are in upward position.  Maintain a slight forward lean position throughout. 

Day 5 Skills:

• Overhead Squat:  Lower body, just an air squat.  Upper body: shoulders active and up, arms straight and stretched out like you're pulling the bar apart.
• Snatch: Middle section (right after bringing bar to about waist height), shrug shoulders up and drag bar up the body, bend elbows and continue upward motion, then flip bar up to overhead squat position (upper body) while lower body falls from a neutral, hip width stance into an air squat
• Clean: (right after bringing bar to about waist height), shrug shoulders up and drag bar up the body, bend elbows and continue upward motion.  When the bar can not be moved upward anymore, rotate elbows around in a backwards J motion until palms transition from facing the body to away from the body and under the bar.  Then power up to overhead squat position while lower body falls from a neutral, hip width stance into an air squat.

Egg Cupcakes Togo :)

This is a recipe sent to me by Tristy Stephens, one of the trainers at Crossfit Austin.  I'm copying it here to preserve it just in case I lose track of the email with the recipe.  Just bakes a batched tonight and tasted one.  So tasty!

"Egg Cupcakes Togo" 
(they are easy to make at the beginning of the week and pop in the microwave in the mornings-if time is an issue, this is a good solution!) (feel free to substitute veggies you prefer)
10-12 eggs
6-8 slices of cooked bacon, crumbled
2 zucchinni/squash, grated
1 red onion, grated
1/4 cup sun dried tomato, diced
Salt and pepper, garlic salt
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease your muffin cups (the silicone type works best for me).  Using a box grater, grate the zuchinni and red onion (both of which came out of my CSA box this week!).  Whisk your eggs till blended and then add the grated veggies, bacon, and sun dried tomato. Season to your liking.  Using a measuring cup, scoop about 1/4 cup of the egg mixture into each prepared muffin cup.  Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until egg is set in middle. This batch made 18 Egg Cupcakes.  You can vary the ingredients to match what you have on hand...diced ham, ground beef, chicken sausage.

Crossfit Beginnings and the Graham WOD

I'm starting to get REALLY into Crossfit.  However, I don't want to drive my friends crazy by talking about it or writing about it all the time, so I'm going to record my thoughts here.   Only the Younger J reads this and she is an extreme athlete in her own right.   I'm not worried about scaring her or making her crazy because her fitness regimen is already pretty nuts (which suggests that she's already pretty nuts about fitness; there's no saving her).

I'm into Crossfit because it gets great results and because it's fun.  Looking at how their athletes evolve gives me the hope that one day I will be able to do things I've never thought possible.  I would like to be MUCH stronger and fitter by the time it's time for my to take my black belt test.  Seeing Max prep for this black belt test is exciting and scary.  Last week, he fought all the black and brown belts at sparring class in 30 sec rounds with no breaks between the grounds.  Every fighter came in fresh with kicks and punches a blazing and he had to keep fighting even though he was much less fresh than everyone he fought.  Since they went in order of low to highest rank, the gaps between Max and his sparring partners became more and more exaggerated.  When it's my turn to do this, I want to be very ready so that no one gets hurt.  Kicking and punching with accuracy and control is so hard when you're tired.  My base level of fitness needs to get higher to pull off the sparring rounds that Max is now running through. 

I've been going back and forth in my head as to how many classes I should sign up for a week.  I'm tempted to do 3 classes because I'm very interested in it.  However, it's not really cost effective considering that during the school year it will be very difficult to make time to attend 3 classes per week and still excel at my job and attend karate classes.  To reduce the temptation of signing up for a membership that does not work with my schedule, I have decided to create WOD's (Workouts of the Day) that I can do at home in my garage that blend Crossfit and karate.  Here's the first of several.


The Graham Workout

Sempai Graham has two black belts: one in Seido Karate and one in Tang Soo Do.  He has excellent speed, accuracy, and control in his kicks.  He is a very fluid when he spars.  He evades strikes very quickly and he attacks and counterattacks with flurries of combos.

To capture Graham's speed and accuracy, I designed a workout that involve quick combinations and lower body and core strengthening exercises.


Warm-up/Skills:

• 1 min high knees with quick turn around speed and quick punches
• Seido Warmup routine
• 10 mae kaege each leg
• 10 yoko kaege each leg
• 5 mawashi geri on the 3 count each leg, focus on high chamber and pivoting the supporting leg

Graham WOD, Complete 5 sets for time:

• 10 air squats
• 10 striker combos in kiba dachi on the bag.  Combo: Left/right each: chudan zuki, shita zuki, uraken, tate zuki, haito)
• 10 sit-ups
• 10 Sparring Combo #4 on the bag, alternate kicking leg.  Sparring Combo #4: jab, reverse punch, roundhouse kick off the front leg.  Move around the bag to simulate sparring.  

Although this workout was intense, it didn't feel difficult.  On my first try, I finished in 13 min 13 sec.  Maybe to make it more challenging, I can hold 1 lb weights when I do the karate parts of the workout.   I will try this the next time I try this WOD.

Totally New to Me

ATHLINKS.COM - just search for your name, and they post most/all of your races!

http://www.athlinks.com/searchbeta.aspx?search=Athlete&term=janelle%20trinidad

Food Journal

I created a spreadsheet to track my calories and my grams of carbs, protein, and fat.  I've set it up so I can compare my foods to specific goals.  So far, I've learned that eating healthy involves eating a lot more food than I expected and that a lot of clean foods are really delicious. 

Essential2Life 5K

The 5K to me is my most difficult race since you have to practically sprint the entire way.

But this year, I got 1st in my age group! woot!

Younger J's First Marathon

I first apologize for the video being sideways.. I couldn't fix that.

In the video, I'm smiling - hiding the fact that my legs won't move properly.

If you notice, Ate Janice, mom chases me to the finish at the end. ahahhahahah!

oh yea..and all the screaming and whooping in the background? yep, that's mom too.. HAHAH

More pictures and blogging to come!

Race Checklists

Things to do weeks before your race:

• Plan your training & follow your plan. Make sure plan includes:
• a balance of running, cross training, strength workouts AND rest days
• a regular stretching routine
• Start building habits you can can employ on race day.  These include:
• proper hydration pre-, during, and post- workouts
• eating appropriate meals a couple hours before long running workouts
• wearing proper footwear and gear
• proper footcare - in my case this involves a combo of lube, A & D ointment and blister band-aids (for preventive care)
• getting proper amounts of sleep
• getting up early enough to allow time to eat & go to the bathroom before long workouts
• breathing and running patterns you can employ on race day

Things to do during week before race day:

• Do workouts that target & dismantle race fears  
• Pick your gear - select from gear you have worn comfortably in several workouts already, select gear that is warm enough to handle predicted race day temperatures + another 20 degrees.  I Fahrenheit. If I know I will be the driver, I pick gear with zipped or buttoned pockets.
• Hydrate
• Identify positive patterns & habits you have that you want to employ on race day. Examples of things I do during training that I also do prior to and during races:
• for early morning workouts, I go to bed in my running gear so that within moments of waking up, my body is primed for my morning workout
• during workouts, I vary my intensity between my dream splits and comfortable yet quick splits in order to sustain a higher average split than my comfie safe split; on race days, I do something similar 
• I also train myself to drink water around the spots where water stations will likely appear in my upcoming races.  I don't like to carry my own water.  I haven't found a way to do it that doesn't feel awkward.
• Get proper amounts of sleep
• Taper workouts
• Eat right

Things to do 1 or 2 days before race:

• Shop for race day items that you don't have.  These include:
• some chafing remedy: runner's lube, gel, etc.
  
• baby wipes in travel size packets: WARNING: race porta-potties rarely have toilet paper when you absolutely need it
• small snacks for long races: gels, bars, etc.
• do NOT buy new gear - by now you should already know what you are going to wear and you should have already trialed that gear in several workouts
• Toe nail care: At the minimum, cut them.  It also can't hurt to polish them to strengthen them. 
• Wash your race gear.
• Pick up your race packet
• Get good directions to the parking areas near your race; find out if you need to bring cash to park there
• Brainstorm post-race brunch stops that are delicious and safe from race crowds

Things to do pre-race on race day

• Wake up early enough to eat a couple hours before the race start and to go to the bathroom before you commute to the course
• Check your race pack: should include your pinny, safety pins, your chip timer, your baby wipes, some water, snacks (if needed), some first aid supplies (couple band-aids & blister remedies), sweat proof sun block (if needed)
• Check your gear: make sure it's comfortable and not likely to cause chafing
• Proper footcare
• Anti-chafing care (if needed)
• Allow plenty of time to get to the course early
• Leave for your race EARLY - allow for enough time to navigate around closed roads near the course and to find parking
• Hydrate
• Go to the bathroom near the course (don't forget your baby wipes)
• Be nice to fellow racers - Example: Give away extra baby wipes to racers in need.  This may ease or prevent porta-pottie trauma.   

 Things to do during race:

• Have fun
• Listen to your body
• Run your race; Go through your sets; Do not mimic other people's forms and paces UNLESS their style is compatible with your own or UNLESS they are race pacers that are running splits you trained to run
• Be aware of the people and things in your surroundings.  I have seen several racers trip and run into people and random stuff because they weren't looking at obstacles immediately in front of them. 
• Hydrate

Things to do post-race:

• Stretch
• Eat & hydrate
• Celebrate with brunch!
• Sign-up for your next race and then start over

Older J's Progress Notes #1

Signs of Progress towards Short-Term Goals

Goal 1: Follow a program to safely transition to minimalist running in time for Paramount 5K:

• Bought Vibram Bikilas
• Completed Week 2 of Level 2 5K Program in new shoes with manageable discomfort
• Incorporated a stretching routine into running workouts
• Figured out how to prep feet to prevent chafing and blisters in new shoes (see below)

Goal 2: Complete Paramount 5K in under 30 min 

• Completed 2.5 mile timed run in 24:30 min (9:48 min-mile pace) 

New Lessons & Tips

• 1 min check-ins [Building body awareness & endurance] :  Set watch timer to 1-minute alarm on repeat.  After each minute ask yourself if you can run one more minute at the current pace.  If you know you can run one more minute at the current pace without getting hurt, do it.  If you think running at the current pace for one more minute will put yourself at risk for injury, slow down.  Repeat until workout is finished.
• A & D Treatment [Preventing blisters & chafing]: Use A & D ointment instead of runner's lube for toes.  It's easier to apply and it's good for treating chapped skin.
  

NJ Trail Series Race 2: 5 miles

SO I went into this race thinking that I would smash my previous time. Boy, was I in for a shocker. The race organizer described this race as "mostly trails, nice flat pathways, and I expect fast times." What the race details failed to include was the fact that THEY DON'T CLEAR THE SNOW ON THE TRAILS!! Here I am, jumping up and down like a school boy waiting for GameStop to open, not having a care in the world aside from the frigid cold (it was 7 degrees), and then the race begins.

It starts off on a flat path that was ankle to knee deep in snow. At first I thought that this was the worst of it. WHO WAS I KIDDING?!

The entire race was mostly UPHILL, ON THE SIDE OF CLIFFS, IN BARELY TRODDEN SNOW! The only trail you have to follow are the footsteps in front of you, guided by orange fluorescent spray paint artfully displayed on trees and snow. The pathways were a little over a foot and half wide, meandering, and slippery (with loose rocks, logs, sticks, etc hidden.. nice little things to scare you into a sprained ankle).

MY SNEAKERS BARELY HAD TRACTION. I was thanking my mom for putting me in ballet classes as a child, because balance was the only way I didn't fall down the cliff. I had to use the trees for support. I even tried to pick up a makeshift hiking staff, but was always fooled with way too many tree roots. I soon gave up that idea, and focused on NOT FALLING throughout the entire race.

I finished in 1 hour, and I am damned proud of it.

Our Musings on 24-Hour Races

I first heard of 24-hr racing while browsing the USATF website and reading the bios of the ultra-runners on their site.  I immediately called my sister to laugh about this idea and together we laughed even more.

Here are Janelle's Ideas for training:

Idea 1:

• Run on the treadmill at home. 
• Give mom prior warning before starting long workouts so that she doesn't freak out and cut the workout short by doing something crazy (unplugging the machine, tackling you, etc.)

This plan utterly fails because either the treadmill or our mom will break down long before the planned workout ends.

Idea 2:

• Get a 24-hr gym membership. 
• Assemble a support team of dedicated friends or paid volunteers.
• Pack several pairs of shoes.
• Run/walk 3 hr on one treadmill.
• Get support team to prep the next treadmill.  Hop unto the next treadmill.  
• Repeat above.  After 6 hrs, change shoes.  
• Support team periodically hands over snacks and waters. In the wee hours,  support team sprays face of runner to wake up runner.
 

Idea 3:

• On top of idea 2, learn how to run along with a support runner pulling you forward on a tether.

All of these ideas are crazy, we know.  But it's an interesting thought exercise.  I started doing some research into the training.  The more I read, the more drawn I feel to the sport.

Here are some pro's to 24 hr racing:

• No DNF's or DNQ's if you don't run fast enough.
• Smaller loops mean you get more access to elite runners.
• Smaller loops means more opportunities to build rapport with fellow racers
• You get to pack snacks.
• You get to take naps.
• Since running/walking is encouraged, you don't have to push past glycogen-exhaust wall if you run smart.
• Mental strategy is huge part of the race.  Along with physical fitness.
• Some novice runners, go for smaller goals - run 100K, 50 mi, marathon distance, inside the time limit and then quit.
 

When I did more research on the training, I skimmed through some interesting articles on how to train for a shorter length ultra-race - the 50 miler.  I read about a "novice plan" to train for a 50 mile race.  I didn't study it too carefully because it said not to attempt the plan until your running base was built up enough that you could comfortably run 13 or 14 miles.  I am still slowly and methodically building my base so that I can comfortably run a speedy 5K wearing minimalistic shoes.

The more I read, the more intrigued I get.  I now have a pie-in-the-sky dream of running a 50 mile race when I turn 50.  Whether or not it is my FIRST 50 mile race depends on how long it takes me to build my running base to that distance.  If I do run a 50 mile race, I think at some point in my training for that race I would run a 12 hr race so I can attempt to run 50 miles with a lot of breaks with snacks and naps.  Running a 50 mile race at a 12 minute mile pace would take 10 hrs; 8 hr 20 min at a 10 minute pace.  Spacing out the 50 miles over 12 hr might be a nice way to mentally overcome the size of that distance.

I have a tentative plan for building my base.  First build my base to run 5K's comfortably.  Then build my base to run 10K's comfortably and safely.  Then build to the half marathon distance.  Then build to 20 mile or marathon distance.  Then run a couple marathons.  Then start doing a novice 50 mile training program.  The idea of slowly and methodically building my base between the different distances has a lot of appeal to me.  I tend to stay more motivated if my goals grow with me.

Running Mathematics

Thanks to winter snow storms and poorly plowed roads, I am stuck running inside. I love running, but running on a treadmill gets really boring. Torturous. So, to battle insanity, I practice calculating exactly how many (or fraction of) 400m laps I am running at a certain speed on the treadmill at any given time. I have found that I'm becoming quite adept at calculating ugly-looking numbers, by picturing a 400M lap as a clock.

The screen reads 7.5mph. I have 1 min and 40 seconds left. I have run 4.5 miles. Will I make it to 4.75 miles? I think - 8:00 min mile! 2 min lap! 1 min will be 200 meters. Oh no! How can I make up 200 meters in 40 seconds?!

Then I think - 10mph is the fastest speed on my treadmill. 10mph is also a 6 minute mile split. 6 minute mile? 360 seconds? 90 seconds per 400 meters? 45 seconds for 200meters?

Failed: I won't be able to run that fast.

Maybe I have cabin fever already ..