Work It Out Wednesday: CrossFit Update

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So you may be wondering where am I at with CrossFit?

I'm officially finished On Ramp and this Friday I will be doing my first "REAL" class!

There's still a small amount of terror when I enter the gym unsure of what lies ahead but I'm slowly beginning to feel more confident. I still don't know all the terms and I'm not sure I'll ever remember them all.
I know that I've successfully done: cleans, wall balls, snatches, push presses, squats, assisted pull ups and many many more... and I'm not going to lie I'm pretty sore the next day but I'm already seeing results 4 sessions in...

...even if I can't get my clothes on/off the next day LOL haha.

So why do I keep going back? Because it's probably the most challenging thing I've done besides running a half marathon (soon to be a marathon...), and I think because you can always go one step further it will always be that challenging. I can see why people get addicted to it. It's also helping me deal with the guilt of not running EVERY day, I shouldn't feel guilty about it but I do sometimes. CrossFit is a nice alternative for me, and when a rest day comes I feel very ready.

Tomorrow I will be posting my review of DietBet v2.0!

Are you a CrossFitter? Got any advice for my first "real" class?

Work It Out Wednesday

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4 days till BMO and here's where I'm at:

I hate the taper... I'm at the point where 4 or 5 kilometers just doesn't feel like enough and I KNOW that's ridiculous. I know the short runs are what I need right now but I think because I've done so many races back to back I crave those long runs. It's been only one month since my last race and I  think I'm having racing withdrawals.

RUN
I ran 7km last night and 6km tonight, both runs were beautiful - I love where we live.

Look I even got to wear shorts!

TRAINING APPOINTMENT
Tonight I had my last workout at Equilibria, I will defintiely miss it there. It's hard to believe I only started cross-training 3 months ago, I've come a long way over that time both with strength as well as weight loss.

 
I'm starting CrossFit tomorrow morning with my best buddy, Nikki and though I'm looking forward to it I'm also a little bit nervous. I've been working out a lot but this is still going to be quite different than what I've been doing or at least I think it will be. Don't know what CrossFit is, have you heard of WOD? Stay tuned for tomorrow's post.

Later in the week I'll be having a review/giveaway to coincide with the BMO Vancouver International Half Marathon. 

 

Work It Out Wednesday Recap

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Obviously it's not Wednesday but I was exhausted last night and opted to go to bed instead of blog...

I am about 10 days out from my next half marathon which means it's time to taper. And you'd think after 49km in 4 days I'd be ready for that but it's harder than you think. You get used to running long, far, and often. I'm still learning about tapering but here are a few things that I've learned:

-Start cutting mileage two weeks prior, I haven't always done this especially this year with so many back-to-back races however I have seen the benefits of tapering, and it can make for a really big PR. I mostly cut mileage for the LSD's (Long Slow Distance runs) which are my weekend runs. My weekday distances don't change very much, I imagine that will change slightly for full marathon training.

-Don't try anything new, now is not the time to start messing with all the work you've already put in.

-If you were going to get new shoes, wait till after the race, unless you're like me and you get the exact same shoes every time but even then I'd still run in them a few times before a race.

-On rest days, don't cross-train just REST, this has been probably the most difficult concept for me.

-No hill training or extreme speed training during this time. I still do some short tempo runs but avoid pushing myself past exhaustion.

There are lots of different theories regarding tapering, obviously these are just my own personal opinions of how to handle the last two weeks of training before a race.

So now that I'm tapering, I woke up early yesterday for a beautiful 7km:

Later in the evening I headed over for my second to last session at Equilibria. I'm very sad to be leaving, I do love it there and I've seen major progress however our schedules just don't mesh anymore and I really need something where childcare is an option.

I'm excited to start cross-fit next week but also very nervous, expect a post about that in a couple of days.

My Mom Monday Giveaway is running till Sunday night, if you haven't entered yet be sure to check it out!

What did you do for Work It Out Wednesday? Do you have any different advice regarding taper time?

Work It Out Wednesday

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I've debated about this for the last two days; whether to write about what happened in Boston or not. There has been so much TV coverage surrounding the bombing and it's all over social media and blogs too. I've found myself having to turn off the TV and avoid Twitter/FaceBook because it's too hard to constantly see/hear. However as a runner I just can't ignore what happened, I have to write something.

Firstly, I have to address some of the things I've seen on FaceBook and Twitter in regards to the significance of Monday. I know that tragedies occur everyday all over the world and that many people die all the time from horrible things but we don't walk around thinking about that every second of every day, if we did we probably couldn't live our lives. That doesn't make those tragedies any less significant than what happened on Monday, it just affected me differently I guess.

This felt a lot closer to home for me as a runner, someone tried to take something away from me and my fellow runners, something I love, something I believe in. When I was running in NYC (a month agp today) and I knew my sister was waiting for me at the finish line, I wasn't concerned for her or my safety, I didn't think much about it honestly. I've been to so many races and I've always felt safe surrounded by other runners and their families/friends on the sidelines. The finish line is such a celebratory place, a place where I've cried tears of joy and hugged people I don't even know. I can't even imagine how it felt for those who were there on Monday and my heart is with them.

Tonight my run was for Boston, 4.09 miles (or as close to as I could get) for the time on the clock when the bombs went off. It wasn't a fast one, I spent some time out there on those hills reflecting and thinking about how we will move forward: we will run, we will not stop, we are runners.

After my somber but strong run I went for my training at Equilibria. Good workout, legs, arms, core. We did a lot of planks, so I decided it's a good time to start #plankaday. I just wish I had a Bosu at home because those are the hardest:

Here are my planks for tonight:
Bosu Plank: 2:00 & 1:30
Side Plank: 0:30 x 2/each side

I finished off my workout with a spinach salad and none other than a glass of chocolate milk! I didn't even miss my usual turkey sandwich, wheat free is definitely working for me again. I'm not sure why I quit not eating it... maybe my tune will change in a couple weeks, we will see.

Work It Out Wednesday

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Hill Repeats/Run:
It didn't happen. I had an unsuccessful 5k run yesterday because I'm still having ankle pain from Sunday's race, nothing serious but I'm afraid... The fear of injury is very real for me right now, I have too many half marathons this year to take time off due to an injury. So for now it's best to err on the side of caution. So if I'm feeling good I'll attempt a run tomorrow and postpone my 9 hill repeats till next week! 

Training Session:
This was great as usual, I always feel pretty awesome after. My arms are going to be sore since we mainly focused on shoulders, arms, and some abs to avoid causing any further problems for my ankle. Unfortunately though I've gotten a lot out of the gym I'm currently at and my trainer, I have to look for something else, mainly because I want something where there's an option of child-minding. Then I can work out during the day and save my evenings for time with the family or a run. I would also be less dependent on the hubby being home from work! I'm thinking about trying Cross-Fit... thoughts?

Other Fun Things:
The blog got a makeover! Wanna find out more check out my earlier post. There's also a new BuluBox giveaway that you can enter here!

Think you'll never win? NONSENSE. I just won a giveaway from Slow is the New Fast for the first time today!

There's a new feature coming to the blog! Mom Monday's will start next Monday and to celebrate, YES there will be another giveaway and I'm so excited about this one because it has made a huge difference in my life as a Mom.

Diet Bet v2.0 starts on Sunday. Eek I'm a little nervous... (Didn't hear about v1.0, check it out here.) Wanna jump on the DietBet bandwagon, join me, Read.Write.Run.Mom, & Beast Mode on the Run in this DietBet. Read more on Friday!

Think I've gone giveaway crazy? Well maybe a little, but I'm overwhelmed by all the amazing companies out there willing to support my blog and I can't wait to share the love!

Work It Out Wednesday

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Great night but I'm SO tired. I did 8 hills, that's the most I've ever done... ever. That means I've done 66 hill repeats on Marathon Hill, next week I will do 9 more, what's after that? I don't know, possibly 10 but no promises till I get through 9. My 8 hill repeats brought me to about 9km at which point I headed over to Equilibria for the rest of my training.

Training went well, an hour full body workout, my legs were a little tired but I managed. I even pulled the sled with 70lbs on it... yea no big deal.

Gotta get some rest, half marathon #13 is only 3 days away now. I AM READY.

The Raw Threads giveaway ends on Friday, don't miss out, these shirts are totally awesome!

Also I created a FaceBook page for the blog in anticipation of the makeover the blog will be getting next week so please head on over and like my page! (HINT: if you like the Read Bake RUN Repeat FaceBook page you're a step ahead entering the giveaway)

Work It Out Wednesday

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It's back, after two weeks #workitoutwednesday has returned! What a night! I started off with hill training with a goal of 7 hill repeats on Marathon Hill. I went early because if I went with the Running Room group there's no way I'd be done in time to get over to Equilibria for my workout. I always am hesitant to go early because usually that means I'm running hill repeats by myself which feels impossible. Thankfully there were a few other runners doing the same thing and I was able to keep it together. I brought some sparkle to Marathon Hill tonight with my Sparkly Soul headband:

It was great to see the hill in daylight, I don't think I've seen it like that since September, Spring is finally here!

But the view was definitely better from the top of the hill!









By the time I reached the end of my 5th hill the rest of the Running Room crew showed up, the next two hills were great, it's always easier and more fun to run with the pack. So 7 hill repeats tonight, that means I have 8 more next week and 9 the week after, I've never made it all the way to 9, will I do it this time? I guess you'll have to stay tuned to find out. Here's my garmin data from tonight, as you can see I'm much slower on the hills:

Following hill training I headed over to Equilibria for my first training session in over two weeks. It was great, we did a circuit of sorts and I feel like we worked on everything. Best of all my balance has improved and I was able to do a 2:00 plank balancing my elbows on the Bosu, that's a record for me. Things are improving slowly but surely. I'm hoping all this will lead to a PR in the future, perhaps the April Fools Run?!

Work it Out Wednesday

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Well today was a new milestone -- I did more hills than planned. I've never done that or wanted to do that. Honestly, I didn't really want to but I had extra time and I new I could do it so at this point, why not right? We go to this hill called "Marathon Hill" to do our hill training, it's long, winding, and brutal. I could probably think of a million excuses not to do hill training but I know it works so I go and I'm not happy till it's over. It's hard and I'm not sure it ever gets easier.

I took this picture at the bottom of the hill (keep in mind it turns twice after this), I'd say it's a 1/2km up, maybe some of my RR buddies know the actual distance?
 














I took this picture at the top looking down. It's always satisfying to reach the top, mostly when it's the last repeat.


I'm glad I did the hills tonight, hopefully it pays off during Mile 3 of the NYC Half, the area know as "Harlem Hills". During this weekend's race (Golden Ears Half) I will also encounter a long SLOW incline going over a local bridge. Hills are just part of a runner's regime, I have a love/hate relationship with them but I will keep at it.

This was somewhere between hill 3 and 6

Following hill training I headed off to Equilibria for my training session. It was a good one and I feel like I will be sore tomorrow. I had a little bit of a fall when I was doing the "running man" on two bosu balls... not my decision mind you. I rolled my ankle but I think it will be okay, I decided to ice it just to be safe:

I finished off my evening with a dinner of a turkey sandwich and of course a small glass of chocolate milk! Unfortunately with all the running, training, and baking something had to slide, this week it was the laundry so I will get after that tomorrow... I hope. Also coming up later this week is a post about my upcoming trip to New York City with my sister!

Work It Out Wednesday: I think I'm going to puke...

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So today I started out with my very first trip to the chiropractor. I was nervous as I've never been to a chiropractor before but this particular doctor had been to the Running Room and just about every runner I know has visited his clinic in the past. I wanted to go because I've experienced a lot of lower back pain recently, well even since being pregnant and constantly lifting Griffin up. I also want to prevent my knee from becoming further injured since I have so many races coming up. It turned out really well actually. He says that my back isn't too bad and that in about 5 treatments I should be feeling a lot better. This particular chiropractor uses the Active Release Technique so there is no "cracking" of the joints, sometimes you're not even sure they're doing anything. I was very comfortable and I don't feel very sore. He did some investigating with my left knee, where I have Runner's Knee, he thinks I may have also torn my Meniscus at some point. Of course I came straight home and looked up what that meant, nothing too serious but it was interesting to get a more definitive of answer of what might have happened to my knee.

I came home and did some spinning and then this evening I headed to hill training. I felt/feel disgusting, I was so ready to puke after the first 30 seconds up the hill but I did it. I'm not sure if it's the lingering flu or just the hill training itself but I still don't feel 100%. After hill training I headed over to Equilibria for my workout, it was a great workout despite how I was feeling post-hills. We did lots of legwork so I think I might be a little sore tomorrow. I feel my strength and endurance improving and I'm still losing weight. Of course I finished off my evening with some chocolate milk and now I'm more than ready to turn in for the night and get a good sleep!

GOOD NIGHT.

Work It Out Wednesday

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Wow that was quite the double workout! I started off by meeting Nikki to go do some hill training, we went for a short warmup before and also were hoping to run into the rest of the crew from the running room. From there we headed over to the hill, which I'm going to be honest, I have completely been hiding from since September. When we got there all the memories of that hill flooded back. We call this particular hill "marathon hill", typically the first week of hill training is 3 hills and the last week is 9... 3 was okay, 3 was good, it was hard though especially after Sunday. The total run was about 6.5km.
Next up -- I headed over to Equilibria for my session with Felipe. I have to say I felt a little down after last week, when we did the agility ladder it required so much coordination that I was much slower than I'd like to be (it all worked out though because I really didn't want to be sore for Sunday's race). Tonight, I feel awesome, I know I worked hard and I feel strong. Check out some really unattractive photos of me flipping the tire:

I still felt like there were lots of things I could improve on, specifically with the core and back exercises. We did a suspended plank with the TRX and holy moly was that hard. Perhaps I need to take up the plank-a-day challenge like my fellow blogger, Runner Leana. I also read about the Nike Training Club app on her blog, I just downloaded it yesterday and I already LOVE it, also it's FREE. With most of the exercises you need little to no equipment.

So that is all for this Wednesday because unfortunately I've fallen very far behind on my book club book, "Infidel" and now have 3/4 of the book left to read for Friday night. I'm also planning on baking something for book club, I was thinking almond croissants or coffee cake, any suggestions?

Where the Magic Happens...

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So I know it's already Friday however I never really recapped Work it Out Wednesday...

I started off with run club at the running room and we ran roughly 5km with a nice little hill mixed in. I've really been trying to push myself when I go on the group runs, using the people at the front of the pack as motivation and I think I've been doing well but I'm not sure how much more I've got in me.

Following the run, I headed over to Equilibria for my training session. We did a lot of work on the agility ladder, something I've never done before. It was definitely one of those exercises that looks a lot easier than it is. Throughout the session we did several different drills which required my feet to have a lot more coordination than I do at this point. Felipe (the trainer) promises that it will get better with time, I'm not so sure. Between each drill we did some resistance exercises. Throughout the session we talked about what my plan is for getting faster while running -- long story short, I need to get uncomfortable. Basically with all the running I've been doing I think I've found a pace where I can be comfortable for longer periods of time, well as comfortable as you can be running a half marathon. For so long I wasn't sure how far I could push myself, my goal had always been just to reach the finish line still upright. Now, 9 half marathons later, I need something more, I need to be faster. The only way to achieve that goal is to get out of my comfort zone and start pushing myself every time I run to be faster. As Felipe put it - that's where the magic happens... He was referring to this drawing:

The thing is after last Sunday I felt done, I felt like I had given it my all, some days are better than others but I look at people who are running sub 2:00 half times and I really don't know how they do it. I've been researching some speed training techniques but I'll save those for a later post. I finally got a chance to take a picture of my goals up on the wall at Equilibria:

I really love this idea, it's really motivating to see everyone's goals as you walk in the gym. For a wider shot, check out this post from my first visit to Equilibria.

I was pretty wiped after the run and the training session so I headed home to power up with some chocolate milk that I got in my Powered by Chocolate Milk prize package:

 

I think it was a successful day, I'm just starting to feel overwhelmed with everything ahead of me. On a brighter note my sister and I are headed to NYC in less than a month now, that will definitely be the trip and the race of a lifetime! I really can't wait.

I went for a run today in preparation for the Fort Langley Historic Half on Sunday. Now that it's closer I'm starting to get nervous about the hills, the route is basically outside my front door and though I've run those hills many times and whined about them many times more, I'm just not excited about this race. My CWX 3/4 compression tights arrived today and I'm thinking about wearing them to the race, all the online reviews refer to them as magic pants... maybe some of that magic will help me recover from those hills? The weather was great for my 8k run today and I finally got to run during the day when the sun was out!

It also looks nice for Sunday too, hopefully this weather sticks around.

 

I've been Powered Up for Work it Out Wednesday!

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So last week my good friend, Nikki from Slow is the New Fast nominated be to get powered up in the Powered Up By Chocolate Milk contest! I'm so honored she nominated me and SO excited that I was chosen as one of the winners!

I'm so impressed with this contest and what a great way to pay it forward to those who've helped me in reaching my running goals. I nominated 3 more people and guess what? They were all powered up too!

Today I received my powered up package just in time for Work it Out Wednesday!

In the package: water bottle, a mini cooler to transport my milk to races, a tshirt, a $50 gift card to the running room, and best of all two cartons of chocolate milk, mmm!

I love chocolate milk post-run, I always feel great after, you could say I've been powered up! I'm going to have some tonight after run club and training at Equilibria and I'll save the other one for after the Fort Langley Historic Half on Sunday! 

Chocolate milk and running are two of my favorite things so I'll definitely be keeping track of Powered by Chocolate Milk in the future. Who knows maybe they're looking for a new ambassador?!? Could chocolate milk get me through 16 marathons in one year (thought it was 13in2013, read this post)? I guess you'll have to wait and see!

Work It Out Wednesday

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So we are only a few days away from the Vancouver 'First Half' Half Marathon and I know I'm ready but I still have those pre-race nerves I get every time. This will be half marathon #9 for me, it's hard for me to believe that many races are behind me.

I had running club tonight followed by training at Equilibria. Last week I was pretty sore from the fit test, I'm hoping that's not the case this week as I'd really like to attempt a PR on Sunday. I think I'm in good shape for it, Disney was a PR and I was stopped for almost 10 minutes total.

I've been feeling pretty off this week like I'm fighting a cold or something, pretty tired but that's understandable with all the changes to my eating habits and exercise schedule. It just isn't making for any great motivated runs which is what I would like moving towards a race weekend. Anyways nothing exciting this week for Work It Out Wednesday, just eagerly preparing for the upcoming race.

Stay tuned later this week for my race outfit choices, I always have such a hard time deciding what to wear. Partly because back in November when I got to one of my races I realized my pants had a huge hole in the crotch and ever since then I've been terrified and have to bring backups of all my clothing to every race... Don't worry I made it through that race just fine, safety pins are an amazing thing!

WORK IT OUT Wednesday

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So today I'm initiating "WORK IT OUT Wednesday". From now on Wednesday's I'll be doing the usual run club at the Running Room and I'm also doing training at Equilibria. I decided I needed to add some cross training to lose some weight and maybe work on improving my running speed. Tonight was just my first session so we did goal setting and a fit test. At Equilibria they have this great wall where they post all the clients goals so when you walk in the gym it's the first thing you see, I love it and I should have taken a picture, I stole this one from the Equilibria FB page, I'll get a picture of my own paper next week.

The following are my goals:

1. Lose 20-30 lbs by June 1, 2013
By far the most daunting of all the goals but doable, definitely doable. I figure with all the running I might as well just throw that in there too... I know it's going to get more challenging as the weeks go on but I've already lost 5lbs with the DietBet!

2. Run 3-4 times per week
I can do that, I do that already but it feels good to have it written down somewhere. It's not an option anymore, well it can't be, not with 16 half marathons in 2013... Yes you read that right, 16, I'm not sure what happened to 13in2013 but I'm addicted to races, anyone ever heard of "Runner's Anonymous"? (I'll save that for tomorrow's post).

3. Eat 5 small meals at least 4 times per week (They said to start slow instead of saying that I will do that every day start with 4 days per week)
Eat... that sounds easy right, I love to eat. However, with Griffin I think I tend to put off eating for too long and then I'm starving so I eat too much and not often enough. So I'm going to work on eating smaller healthier meals more often.

There you have it. My goals, now everyone knows and there's nothing to hide.

The fit test went OK... Things have changed a lot since I last entered a gym. I had a baby, it's an excuse I know it is but it was hard on my body, the pregnancy, the c-section and everything that followed. Running has been a great way to build strength but this reminded me how much more work I have to do to be where I want to be.

122 days till June 1st.