70.3 or Bust!

This weekend I'm heading to Miami for the Miami 70.3 Half Ironman race - I signed up the day BEFORE the Pocono Mountains 70.3 race after learning that the swim was cancelled.  I set 70.3 as my goal this year and 69.1 is not the same thing, maybe I'm too goal oriented but you can't say I'm not driven.

The race is now 100% full - when we signed up it was at 99% and was one of two races left in the US for the 2011 race season - so if I wanted to get my Ironman 70.3 in 2011 it was either Miami or Austin Texas.  Austin was a possibility but turned out to be a bit more expensive to get to - and I have an aunt that is graciously letting us stay with her that lives less than an hour from Miami, so Miami seemed like the right place to go.  It was staying pretty warm on the east coast through the beginning of October, we even had a weekend where we hit 80 and instead of doing training in the morning, we waited until 1pm to go so that we could train at the hottest part of the day here.  Now it's a bit colder than Miami so I'm a little worried about adjusting to the heat since I'll be getting to Miami the day before the race, which doesn't leave much time for acclimating to the hotter weather.  For training I kept up what I was doing for the Pocono Mountains 70.3 and have been doing Crossfit WODs two times a week, a longer run, an interval or tempo workout, and one long bike or brick workout per week.  I've been trying to add some yoga in, with the goal of once per week and that has been helping too.  That leaves me with 5 or 6 days "on" if you count doing yoga as a workout day and one rest day.  I have to admit that I'm starting to get a little burned out.  I haven't done much swimming, so my swim time will be interesting.  I got in the pool last week and did 2400 meters and am confident in my ability to do and finish the swim, but I have no idea how fast I'll be!

This race is different from the others I've done, where Tim (my husband is also doing the race) will be starting between 45 minutes and 1 hour AFTER me.  Usually I'm the one that starts that late behind him, so my goal in this race will be to get the 70.3 and for him NOT to pass me!  In our last race our times were about 30 mins apart but he had a SNAFU on the bike with 2 flats, and I'm just slow on the bike.  If you're interested in following us you can through ironman live.  Looks like I'll be starting 40 minutes after the official race start, in Wave 9 with a Sliver cap - I hope it's metallic and sparkly!  Tim will be all the way at the end in one of the Age Group - Male 30 - 34 waves 22, 23, or 24.

The Swim course will start and end at the same place which means turns!  There are 3 turns in this course which shouldn't be too bad.  This looks a lot like the swim in the Brigantine Triathlon, except instead of being 400 meters long it 1.2 miles - just a little bit longer :)  I'm not sure about wetsuits, the water temperature is right there at the line where we may get to wear them or maybe not.  I'll have mine regardless but am not worried about doing the swim without a wetsuit - I did both Olympic Tri's without a wetsuit and this is only an additional 300 meters of swimming compared to the .9 miles in those races.  The Bike and Run have a much larger jump in distance from an Olympic Distance Race to a Half Ironman distance.

I haven't heard much about the course for the bike or the run, but know that Florida is a LOT flatter than the Poconos so hopefully that will help me a little since I'm not an exceptional climber and am afraid to go too fast down hills.  There isn't as much activity via twitter and facebook as we had for the Poconos race, and what we have found has been in Spanish - Miami is definitely a bilingual area.  The run will be along the coast so hopefully we'll be getting a nice coastal breeze!  Both courses are out and back which means we also only have 1 transition which is great because the two transition and then finish being a mile away from transition where all of your things were was not the best situation - especially when the post race food is usually far from Paleo friendly and leaves me with not much to eat!

So watch out Miami, here I come and I'm determined to race all 70.3 miles that you have ready for me!

Taper Week

This is the last week before the Poconos 70.3 Half Ironman, which is now only 5 short days away!  Last Saturday, after getting my bike fit done at High Road Cycles, I embarked on my first 50 mile bike ride.  This was something I mentally needed to do, because I had a lot of pain on my 40 mile ride and going for another 16 miles like that might not have been possible. 

At my bike fit, Isaac helped me and he really shortened my reach, adjusted my seat height and position, and tweaked my handle bars.  Let me tell you on my 50 mile ride I felt like I was on a new bike, I felt great.  I looked down and was like, wow we've gone 10 miles already - usually I'm like oh geez how have we gone only 3 miles, it feels like 10.  I had no pain in my back, numbness in my feet, and didn't get any shooting pain in my ankles like I did on my 40 mile ride.  Something that Issac said during my bike fit really stuck with me, he said, "it shouldn't hurt to ride your bike" which really resonated with me.  I said I thought your back should feel sore after bike riding and that you would have some discomfort...and why because that's all I've known on my bike.  Ironically this is the same thing that I encounter with people when they tweak their diet and go Paleo, they realize that all these little things that used to plague them clear up - like headaches, stiffness in their joints, being tired after eating a big meal, stuffy nose in the morning, etc.  All this is "normal" so when you change to a Paleo based diet you get the same feeling that I experienced when I got my bike fit! 

You've Got Questions....I've Got Answers

Thank you all for the questions that you submitted, here is the first round of answers - please feel free to continue to post more and I'll pull them through into a future post.

Laura - Hey, I've got a question for ya! I have been doing a 21 day challenge of strict paleo and while it's been going really well, I have found that I am craving gum. I can't seem to shake this and have been giving in to it. I am chewing like 6 to 8 pieces of gum a day. I am assuming it's because I am craving sugar? Thoughts?? -- Melinda

Paleo is reaching its Tipping Point

The Paleo Diet is reaching its tipping point. You know that critical point that Malcom Gladwell talks about in his book? The movement started to gain momentum last year when I realized that a few of my co-workers were in a transformational program addressing workouts and nutrition - and guess what their nutrition plan was...yup basically Paleo. Next thing I knew 10 or more people I worked with were changing their diet to Paleo, Robb Wolf released his book The Paleo Solution and it made the New York Times Best Seller List, Art DeVaney and Robb Wolf were featured on Nightline, Paleo is listed on the US News report about diets, and this week Yahoo featured an article titled "Paleo Diet: Smart eating or latest fad?" "Paleo Diet: Smart eating or latest fad?"*

Image used in the Paleo article by Getty Images - Please note: baby corn = not Paleo and the sauce that is covering the ribs is probably not Paleo either

 

Why is Paleo on the tipping point? Simple answer: because it works and people are seeing results. They are feeling better, experiencing more energy, improving their body compesition, but most importantly they are noticing that they are getting clincially healthier too. Paleo practitioners are reducing inflammation in their body and noticing that they don't have headaches anymore. They are healing their gut which has been damaged by the constant onslaught of anti-nutrients that are found in grains, legumes, and dairy, and they are reducing their risk of lifestyle diseases (or syndrome X as it's also called) like obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.

The 2011 Crossfit Games

This weekend kicks off the 2011 Crossfit Games - starting this weekend on July 29th - 31st.  The Games are held in Carson, CA at the Home Depot Center - the same place that they were held in 2010 when I was in attendance along with 5 other members of the Crossfit King of Prussia team.  Going to the Games last year to COMPETE was an amazing experience, one that for me was probably once in a life-time, so it's bittersweet that this year that Games are coming into a new level of legitimacy and this year I'm not a part of it.

What has elevated Crossfit to the next level - in a word Sponsorship.  Forbes magazine featured an article on Crossfit, CrossFit’s Relationship with Reebok Enhances Its Financial and Commercial Credibility by Patrick Rishe.  Reebok's sponsorship has gotten the Crossfit name out there, and the Games are now not something that is only on a Crossfitter's radar since Reebok is sponsoring the Games and offering the winner $250K with a total prize purse of $1 Million...yes, you read that correctly.  Last year the winners took home $25K...Kristan Clever and Graham Holmberg were the top woman and man from last year who are probably hoping to repeat that experience since they are both competitors for the 2011 Games and this year would be able to win ten times more money for the same title.  To date there hasn't been a repeat winner of the Games, but it is the Crossfit Games, where you are supposed to prepare the the unknown and the unknowable you never know what will happen at the Games.

Summer Heat Wave

Much of the country is currently in the midst of a summer heatwave, when the mercury rises on the thermometer (do they even make thermometers with mercury in them anymore?) you need to make sure you are keeping yourself cool.  It's important to stay hydrated and really listen to your body in the heat to avoid injury and to avoid heat related illness - you don't want to sideline your performance or your weekend plans because you didn't take care of yourself in the heat.

Its especially important to take care of yourself if you've decided that you're going to continue working out in the heat - especially to all of the people that are running outside and doing Crossfit it's important that you know what heat related illnesses can feel like so if you start to feel any of the warning signs you can dial back your training or your workout.  Just because it's hot doesn't mean stop training, but it does mean train smarter and make sure you're prepared by hydrating throughout the day and staying in tune with your body.

What can you do to prevent the heat related illnesses?  Here are a few tips, this is by no means a comprehensive list, but simply a few things to think about over the next few heat filled days.

1. Stay hydrated - drink lots of water and if you're exercising make sure you replace electrolytes that you're losing.  You can do this without Gatorade (gasp) through Coconut Water - I recommend VitaCoco which you can get at Wegmans and Whole Foods, and through Electrolyte enhanced water available with that name at Trader Joe's or Smart Water in the grocery store.

2. Avoid things that dehydrate you - primarily watch out for caffeine and alcohol - if you are drinking either of these make sure that you're increasing your water consumption as well.

3. Avoid the direct sun and being outside during the hottest time of day (11am - 4pm) - if you're outside, seek out shade and if you can find a cool place to be during the hottest hours of the day.  Go to the movies, grocery store, or shopping mall if you don't have air conditioning at home.  If you are outside wet a towel or bandanna with cold water and drape it across the back of your neck - it will provide a nice cool feeling even if you're out in the heat.

To avoid heat exhaustion and heat stroke make sure you are dialing back when you see the following signs. Signs of heat exhaustion are a severe headache, nausea, vomiting, and a feeling of severe weakness - if you are feeling any of these symptoms make sure you take a break, get out of the heat, and rehydrate!

Heat stroke can be fatal, it occurs when the your body can no longer regulate its temperature relating in severely elevated body temperature causes an altered mental state, dizziness and ultimately can lead to a loss of consciousness and potentially kidney failure. 

What are you doing to stay cool?  And how are the increased temperatures impacting your training, planning, and performance?

Philly Olympic Tri

Last weekend on June 26th I participated in the Philadelphia Insurance Olympic Distance Triathlon here at home in Philadelphia PA.  It was my first tri of the season, which I would have preferred to be a sprint but since I'm gearing up for the Half Ironman this October, I signed up for the local Olympic Distance (.9m swim, 24.8m (40K) bike, 6.2m(10K) run). 

I was a little bit nervous for this tri since usually I'm doing something shorter to start and I hadn't gotten too much training in on the bike.  I had done one 17 mile ride, 1 20 mile ride, and then 2 brick training sessions at Valley Forge National Park: 15 mile bike followed by a 5 mile run, and the second a 10 mile bike followed by a 3 mile run.  The sprint tri was on Saturday and the Olympic on Sunday, for the Sprint they had great weather and the river was below 78 degrees so it was wetsuit legal for the swim. 

Crossfit Level 1 Certified

This past weekend I attended the Crossfit Level 1 Cert course, which was conveniently (for me) hosted by my local Crossfit Gym, Crossfit KoP.  It was 2 full days of learning technique, set-up, points of performance, common faults, how to fix faults, and lots of practice with PVC pipe.  It was a really great experience, and one that I needed to complete to move on to the next part of my health journey to be a Crossfit Coach.  In addition to learning a ton, doing a many reps with a PVC pipe it also reinforced all of the things I already know.  It was awesome when one of the trainers at the end told me "you move really well" after going over the break down of how to teach a push jerk: Jump, Jump with arms, Jump and punch the arms, pick up the stick/PVC and do it.



Aimee, Chloe, Mel, Spealler, and Me



The coaching staff was awesome and they schedule mixed lecture and then practice of technique which was good since as Crossfitters we didn't like to sit still too long.  It was a really great experience and it really made me appreciate the quality of the coaching staff at Crossfit KoP - those that attend, know that you have some really great a solid coaches guiding you!  The highlight of the weekend was two-fold, passing the test and getting my actual certification AND having the opportunity to load a bar with 145# and have 3 world class trainers disect my deadlift.  For those that don't work out with me I am notorious for rounding my back during deadlifts with anything over 130#s - which as was reinforced over and over again this weekend is the major thing that you need to have in line to complete that lift safely.  The combination of Andrea, Chiss, and Chris Spealler (yes the Chris Spealler) working with helped me really dial in my set-up and with some good coaching cues got me to complete the lift multiple times with no back round - success!  It was awesome and terrifying at the same time to have so many great Crossfit minds watching me and trying to make me better, and let me tell you I have not been doing this lift properly before because now 3 days later I'm still feeling it in my hamstrings and glutes!



Thanks Chris Spealler and Chriss and Andrea!



Personal Training from Spealler



 Now I've got a lot of deadlift cues to work on and the key to getting better is training the movement and practicing implementing the cues I learned.  So starting next week I'm going to add it as a weekly goal as another thing to work on at the gym, along with that other elusive movement I'm chasing, the muscle up.  Why am I not starting today...well that's because I've got the Philly Olympic Tri on Sunday and I need to be able to move through my swim, bike, and run.

Fitness minus the Sugar with Jennifer Fugo

Check out my interview with fellow health coach Jennifer Fugo about how to work out and train, without relying on sugar in her piece Fitness minus the Sugar. Jennifer lead a 10 day sugar cleanse and wanted to share with her group that it is possible to train without sugar. Thanks for the opportunity to share!

Memorial Day WOD

Breakfast this morning: red swiss chard, nitrate free bacon, 2 farm eggs, and some cherry tomatoes.  This was the perfect breakfast to fuel my memorial day hero WOD at Crossfit KoP.

Murph

1 mile run

100 pull ups

200 push ups

300 squats

1 mile run

*Women 10# weight vest, Men 20# weight vest

This was the first time attempting Murph, and I decided to try it Rx (as prescribed) above, which meant wearing the 10# weight vest.  Today was hot too, it was at least 80 degrees and sunny, great weather for sunbathing not so great for running in a weight vest.  This workout was mentally and physically tough, I took Coach Jason's recommendation and tackled the workout as the a mile run sandwiching 20 rounds of Cindy (5 pull ups, 10 push ups, 15 squats).  Next time I do this, I would keep the same rep scheme but I'm remembering to tape my hands.  I didn't realize how much harder the extra 10#s would be on my hands on the pull ups!  This was a tough workout for me and the first one I did with a weight vest.  I finished in 48 minutes and change, looks like next time I attempt this I have plenty of room for improvement.

I was honored to do this Hero WOD on Memorial Day weekend.  Thanks to all our heroes, celebrated and un-named, that keep us safe!

Running Season has offically started

This year I ran the Broad Street Run, this is the 3rd year in a row that I've ran it, and the 4th time overall.  Its the nations biggest 10miler it was capped once 30,000 people signed up and actually sold out in a few days.  Broad Street is one of those runs that sneaks up on your timing-wise since its always the first Sunday in May.  It's tricky when you're training because you think that you have more time than you do, and if you're a fair-weather runner like myself - with no access to a treadmill, you probably just started running outside at the end of March.  10 miles is something you need to train for, if you want to have a decent time that is :) and speaking of training mine was all over the place this year.  The problem was that the 7 weeks leading up to Broad Street (prime training time) also happened to be what the 6 weeks of Crossfit Sectionals which released 1 workout per week and at my gym we were competing to spots individually and the top 3 women and top 3 men would be selected to represent our gym at regionals on a team.  Crossfit decided to release one workout per week for a total of 6 workouts over 7 weeks.  The workouts were tough too, and we meant to pull the top athletes to the top.  Weights were heavy and movements were technical - the workouts for sectionals were intense and pretty much limited my running training to one day per week to do a long-ish run and then if I had enough time/energy I threw some speedwork in - 400m repeats or a short tempo run - during the week.  As race day approached, I knew I could do 10 miles, I just wasn't sure how fast I'd be able to do it.  Ideally my goal was to match my time in 2009 where I ran it in 1:15 and change, but with my sporadic training that was more focused on Crossfit workouts, I wasn't sure where my cards would fall.

Paleo in the Mainstream

Robb Wolf's Book

Slowly, like Crossfit, the concept of Paleo eating is becoming more mainstream and is getting more media attention.  Last night, March 1 2011, "Eating like a Caveman" was featured on Nightline ABC.  You can watch that piece and read the write up on the story which included interviews with both Robb Wolf and Art De Vany by following this link.  Both Robb and Art have recently released books on Paleo eating, I've read and recommend Robb's book The Paleo Solution and have Art's book The New Evolution Diet in my queue.

Art De Vany's Book

Although I'd really like to move the media image of Paleo nutrition away from what Robb describes as the "lunatic fringe" of images of actual cavemen and the idea of people wearing "bear skins" watching the video you see both Robb in his gym and some normal people at Crossfit South Brooklyn, doing some work and then hanging out with some Paleo food.  I thought it was awesome that they show Art De Vany, who is 73, pulling his Range Rover as exercise and the best part, the interviewer was stunned.  A few things to note is that you don't have to eat at a Brazilian steakhouse to have a Paleo meal (featured in the beginning) and while the nutritionist's comments don't knock the diet they are still forcing it into the confines of what Mark Sisson refers to as conventional wisdom, advised that a Paleo diet is fine - as long as you watch your fat intake. If you know about the principles of the Paleo diet you know that fat is a good thing, check out my previous post on what eating Paleo looks like here.

Strong is Beautiful

This past weekend we celebrated the conclusion of the Paleo Challenge - and a few other variations - at Crossfit King of Prussia.  I was struck at how vibrant everyone looked, and it was really cool to hear people share what they learned over the past 30 or so days.  Some experienced headaches clearing up, acid reflux / GERD eliminated, that their morning stuffiness had evaporated, and most of all that everyone felt great.  People were setting PR's, losing weight from 2 to 18 pounds, and noticing that their clothes fit differently - in a good way.  It's amazing to be a part of helping people to see how tweaking their food they can live life optimally instead of just getting by.

Another thing that I realized this weekend was that just as my thoughts on food have evolved, so have my thoughts on beauty.  I think strong is beautiful.  I realized I really admire the women I work out with - I love that we have killer muscles, and that we want to show them off.  Some even have rock solid 6 pack abs - I want them too!  Being strong is beautiful, and I find that I am envious of another athlete's muscle up, ring dips, perfect form heavy dead or effortless 100+ clean and wanting to be like that and then figuring out what I can work on to get better at those things.   It's empowering to know that you can squat more than your body weight or deadlift +200lbs.  What's best is that you know that there are so many things that you can do that other people wouldn't even try like climb a 15ft rope, or get over a 6' wall.  So ladies keep up the amazing work and keep getting stronger and more beautiful, and thank you for being a constant source of my inspiration.

Pre and Post Workout Foods

What am I supposed to eat after I work out, what about before I work out? I've gotten a few questions about recommendations on what to eat after you work out.  Figuring out what to eat after a workout is not as easy as "have a protein shake." It's actually a bit of a tricky question to answer, but inevitably it boils down to the "It depends on who you are, what your goals are, and what kind of workout you just did."  Frustrating I know.  The who you are part plays into what you're currently doing with your food. If you are a Paleo follower or eat a Standard American Diet (SAD), what you look to eat after working out may be a little different because you have a different selection of foods to choose from. You also need to work with something that you like and will actually consume after working out.  The recommendations that I have below are primarily Paleo, because I think that you should focus on eating real food as much as you can.  Feel free to read within the guidelines and make substitutes based on what you currently eat within your diet.

So before you can figure out what you eat before or after working out, you first need to figure out what your goals are, for this  post I'm going to cover the following 3 goals:

Goals

1. "Lean out" - Primary Goal is fat loss

2. "Get 70s Big" - Primary Goal is to gain a lot of muscle quickly

3. "Just to Recover" - Primary Goal is to heal your body you can workout again tomorrow

In addition to identifying what your goal is, you also need to consider what your workout will be.  How long is the workout?  Are you doing a Brick training session of bike and run for +2 hour as part of your triathlon training program? Completing a 2m leisurely jog?  6 sets of 400mrepeats with 3mins rest in between?  A relaxing yoga class? The type of workout you do also plays into what and how much pre and post workout food you need in order to fuel your body throughout that workout and then what you need to eat after you're finished.  Another factor to consider during longer workouts is if are planning to consume any fuel - dried fruit, salt, gu, etc. while completing the workout - you want to account for that in your fueling and refueling plan. 

Paleo Resources Support

Crossfit King of Prussia is using the natural motivation of starting a New Year to kick off a primal challenge, to see details of the challenge click here. To help support you on this journey we’ve gathered some of the best resources to help you better understand what you are doing and why you’re doing it. For those who selected to try to Paleo Perfectionist level the material below will be especially helpful. 



Some of my favorite and easy to understand resources on the web are: Whole 9 and Mark’s Daily Apple. I am also super geeked-out on Robb Wolf’s podcasts – although these are a bit science-y so they aren’t for everyone. Personally, I get excited every Tuesday when the new one is released.


Good luck, happy reading, and post to comments if there is something that you’re looking for that you don’t see any references to.


Help from Whole 9, how to explain what the heck you’re doing with this nutritional challenge:

The Paleo Pitch. Whole9 helps you explain how you eat to friends, family and co-workers.


Whole 9’s Perspective on Paleo via the Whole 30: Why to avoid gains, legumes, and dairy - found on the Whole 9 Resources Page:

The Grain Manifesto. Whole9′s simplified explanation of the trouble with grains.


Cereal Grains: Humanity’s Double-Edged Sword. Published by Dr. Loren Cordain


The Dairy Manifesto. Whole9′s simplified take on dairy products.


The Adverse Effects of Milk. An analysis from Dr. Loren Cordain and Pedro Bastos


The Peanut Manifesto. Whole9′s simplified take on peanuts.



Robb Wolf’s Perspective on Paleo and Getting Started:

Paleo Overview -What is the Paleo diet?


Basics of the Paleo diet - Answers about diabetes, cardio vascular disease, autoimmunity, calcium, acid/base balance, and more


Get Started - I want to give Paleo a shot. How do I do it?


Mark’s Daily Apple Resources:
The Definitive Guide to Grains – Why are grains not part of a primal lifestyle and Why Grains are Unhealthy


The Definitive Guide to Dairy – Why dairy is problematic and how to incorporate it (or not) into your primal lifestyle


The Definitive Guide to Sleep - Why sleep is important, and why you need to get more of it!


The Definitive Guide to Fats – a primal lifestyle goes against conventional wisdom of eating a low fat diet, if increasing your fat intake is concerning you, check out this post and see why fat is good for you!

Summary

Need a quick visual of what your food should look like, use the Balanced Bites food pyramid as your Paleo Food Guide.

Seasons and Periodization

As a Triathlete in mid-September I wrapped up my swim, bike, and run season.  As a Runner the end of November will mark the end of my outside running season - I don't train indoors on a treadmill anymore.  As a Crossfitter the colder months indicate my shift to indoor training and since I take a break with my other sports, its a great time to increase my Crossfit training.  I pick the winter months to ramp up strength training and really focus on Crossfit; however, Crossfit doesn't really have "seasons" since the majority of Crossfitters aren't training for sectionals, regionals, and the Games.  Crossfitters love their sport and with the lack of seasons and eagerness to get better tend to over-train.  Outside sports have weather and seasons to help athletes know when to ramp up and slow down their training, but Crossfit is constantly varied and is done all year round indoors and out, in the hot and in the cold.  One common criticism of Crossfitting is that there is no programmed rest and the concept of periodization doesn't really exist since most Crossfitters aren't training to peak at the Crossfit Games.

So what are you supposed to do as a Crossfitter?  When you are training for a run, like a Marathon, you follow a training plan that has built in taper weeks and increases your volume of training to help you peak on race day.  Crossfit doesn't have a 16, 12, or 8 week training plan to help you string together a combination of strength training and met-cons to help you peak for a certain event or around a certain time of the year.  You have to take responsibility for your training as a Crossfitter, and build in some downtime as well as review the mix of strength verse met-con that you do in order to reach your personal goals or training schedule.  Its important to not go 100% all year round, you need to give your body time to recover, you can't go 3 days on 1 day off 12 months in a row and every time you do strength go for a new 1, 3, 5 rep max.  It's important to remember that more (weight, reps,training sessions) isn't always better, and there is a lot of value in giving your body time to repair itself.  Over-training leads to injury and adrenal burnout, the best way to avoid this is to add periodization (e.g., training to reach peak performance and including some downtime) to your training.

In order to apply the concept of periodization, you need to define your personal goals and 'seasons' to help determine when you're going hard, when you're working to build strength, and when you're taking it easy.  I use my other sports as a guide to help me increase training in one area, decrease training in another, and make sure that I take some time off in between.  This year, I was training for Regionals and then the Games, and found that my Crossfit training and my running/triathlon training were conflicting with each other.  I was doing too many training sessions a week and trying to cram in runs, bikes, and swims as well.  It left me a little burned out, and a few weeks prior to the games I took a break because my training had stagnated and I was on my way to getting burned out - before my big event!  To help you plan your training, create a list of personal goals and work with a trainer to put a plan in place to realistically achieve them.  Track your workouts in a log book - I like to track mine on a monthly calendar so I can see what my training looks across a week, 2 weeks, and even the whole month.  I plan my workouts weekly, sometimes using a running or triathlon training plan and supplementing with Crossfit on the Interval or Open days.  One of the most important lessons I've learned through training for multiple sports and adding Crossfit in is the value of rest days.  Make sure they are included in your training plan as well - depending on your level and your goals the amount of rest days will vary.  But remember, rest days are not days that you don't do anything, they are days that you are letting your body repair and get stronger.

Now with some more information on periodization and its importance how will you apply periodization to your training?  Have you reached the point of burn out where you feel stagnated?  How are you going to change the way you plan your training going forward?

Getting Better Faster

As an athlete that is training for running a race, competing in a triathalon, competing at a Crossfit competion or just trying to be better at whatever other sports you do-you should consider incorporating High Intsity Training (HIT) and Intervals into your workouts because it helps you to get better faster.  Most athletes want to get better but don't always understand how.  Too many of us fall into a training rut and continue to do what is comfortable - always doing the same flat 5 mile loop, biking at a comfortable pace, not pushing yourself during a WOD in Crossfit.   So how do you break out of your trianing rut and actually get better and in most cases faster?  In Crossfit we talk about "getting comfortable with being uncomfortable" which allows you to train your body at a higher intesity and reap the benefits of a great workout that doesn't take that much time.  Let's take a practical example, in running if you want to get faster you can't just add more miles of long slow distance.  To run faster you need to practice actually running faster; pushing yourself at a higher intensity and achieving a faster speed - a novel concept right.  How many runners out there actually do this regularly?

So how do you actually do this practicing "fast" stuff?  Through high intensity training and doing sport specific interval workouts lilke 400m, 800m, and mile repeats where you run almost as fast as you can and your goal is to get faster each time, achieving negative splits, with a reasonable amount of rest/recovery in between.  Doing repeats and tempo runs (where you run for a set/goal pace for a set amount of time or miles within a run) are how you get faster when you're training for a race - running longer at a slower speed only gets you to a point where you can cover more distance in a single run - which has its time and place in trainign as well but you don't have to do it as often as you think if you throw in more high intestity workouts.  I have to admit, I find every reason not to do the repeat workout or tempo run that is scheduled into my training plan because they are tough to do - especially on your own.  One reason I like to have a running training plan when I'm training for a race is because it schedules speedwork into my week, so that it's harder to avoid doing it because I have to write on my plan that I missed or didn't complete that workout.  Once I started adding these "speed" workouts to my training regime, I  quickly noticed better results and faster times both in my regular training runs and most importantly in my races.  At first it was difficult for me to realize that I can get a better workout in 20 minutes when I'm working at a high intensity, verses working out for a full hour at a much lower intensity.  Like most people I come from a background where I thought longer was always better than faster; people ask you how far you biked, ran, or swam not how fast you do it.

So how does my Crossfit training fit into all of this?  Crossfit is fundamentally based around the concept of using high intensity training to make you better, especially in workouts like FRAN one of the Crossfit benchmark WODS.  21-15-9 reps of Thrusters (65# Ladies / 95# men) followed by Pull ups as fast as you can is meant to push you HARD.  

What is Crossfit?

At the beginning of this year I started to get more serious about Crossfit and make it my primary workout. So what is Crossfit? Crossfit is based on constantly varied functional movements, including running, rowing, Olympic lifting, body weight exercises (squats, push ups, pull-ups), and basic gymnastic movements. Crossfit has a Workout Of the Day, a WOD, and each day there is a prescribed workout that you do as a crossfit community (when you work out at a Crossfit gym or follow the workouts from the main page Crossfit.com).


Crossfit WODs can be as short as 2-3 minutes or as long as an hour, it depends on the WOD. They are primarily divided into 2 groups, metcons (metabolic conditioning) or strength, and the workouts are either done for time (as fast as possible) or for reps/rounds (AMRAP = as many rounds as possible). There are 'benchmark' WODs that are defined WODs with names like Fran (21-15-9 Thursters 65/95, and pullups), Cindy (AMRAP in 20 mins of 5 pullups, 10 pushups, 15 squats), and Angie (100 pullups, 100 pushups, 100 situps, 100 squats for time) that are used as a standard that Crossfitters can compare themselves to others to see how you measure up against other Crossfit athletes. Crossfit is universally scalable, so if you can't do the workouts as listed - referred to as prescribed or Rx - or you scale them to your level of ability - using less weight, doing less reps, using bands to assit with pullups, etc. As you continue to do crossfit, you will be able to get closer and closer to doing the WODs as prescribed as you get stronger.

Going Against the Grain

Over the past year I have discovered that "common knowledge" and "conventional wisdom" on food, nutrition, and fitness often steers us in the wrong direction and the things engraved into our brains about what we think is healthy is most often based on myth. Through my research into food and fitness I have developed a new perspective and outlook on life - one that I've found tends to be a bit controversial and different from others at times. . . or in this case Against the Grain.

My involvement in Crossfit lead to me learning about how to eat for performance, which soon developed into a new nutrition hobby. I've become really involved and dedicated to doing Crossfit - a type of workout focusing on constantly varied functional movements: lifting, gymnastics, running, rowing, and body weight exercises. I have been learning about how what I thought was healthy - running long distances, eating low fat foods, not eating red meat and butter - actually isn't and why. It’s been an eye opening experience to learn the science behind exercise and nutrition: learning how and why you should get stronger, how your body actually processes food at a macro nutrient level (fat, protein, carb), and how foods that I had traditionally avoided actually positively impact your overall health and well being.

Every chance I get, I have been trying to share my perspective and learning about food and fitness with my friends, family, and co-workers hoping they wouldn't tag me as being too crazy. I wanted to start this blog to share what I've been learning, why I do the things I do, and to help guide other people as they are trying to navigate through all of the information that they think is fact and why you shouldn't blindly follow what THEY say:the food pyramid, what you learned in high school health class, paid health claims on packaged foods, things you read in magazines...

I hope you find my blog interesting and helpful, and that it sparks your curiosity and has you considering why you should consider going 'Against the Grain' too.