New Shoes!

Asics discontinued my shoes again, so after doing some research I settled on these. The fit and feel like my GT 2170's with a slightly bigger cushion in the heal (and a bigger price tag). I've worn them on two runs already and they feel great. I know it shouldn't matter, but they are pretty too :) .

Race Results: 2013 Valentine's Day Dash

This is my third year now participating in Valentine's Day Dash. It all started by me craving a race to participate in after the winter off from race season. I figured a nice easy (and fun!) 5k around Seattle's Green Lake was a good way to kick off. February is also birthday month for one of my favorite running partner's and me. I was able to sucker her in by offering to pay her race fee as her birthday present. :)

This year my race partner bought us matching I love dawgs purple t-shirts to show our Valentine's Day and University of Washington pride. Our goal for the race was a 9:30 pace. I choose this based on the fact I run a 10:15 pace on my everyday runs. Our other goal was to not stop for a bathroom break during the race (unlike what happened last year). That was easily fixed though.

Here are our splits:

Mile 1  -  9:36
Mile 2  -  9:42
Mile 3  -  9:50
Race to the finish:  8:45

Final time 30:07, 9:43 pace. We didn't make my goal, but I had nothing left at the end. With that I know I ran my hardest.

Of course after the race with finished our annual tradition of eating a fruit omelet at one of my favorite greasy spoon breakfast places. This year I opted for a biscuit over my usual english muffin. It was a great choice.

10,000 push up challenge

February 1st marked the beginning of my participation in the 10,000 push up challenge. It's 100 push ups over 100 days. It can be broken up any way we want. All at once, or spread out through out the day. I am really hoping at the end of this I can do a real push up. That's right, I am still doing girly push ups on my knees.

One of my friends is a professional trainer. She invited me to the contest. I have already been trying to work on my push ups because after nine months of crossfit you'd think I could do a real push up, but it is just not happening. Plus if we do push ups in our daily work out, I can count them in my total for the day :) .

I'm already looking forward for the 100 days to be over and we're only three days in. Friday was the first day. My arms felt like they were going to fall off after doing 100 push ups and the snatch set we did in crossfit. Saturday, my arms were still tired from Friday. Today my arms were still tired from Saturday. I know I can make it though. This first couple weeks will be the toughest (I keep telling myself). Luckily my husband is doing it with me too, which always helps. I do get annoyed when he does extra, he wrote a little plus 30 on the check off sheet we have on the first day. Way to be an overachiever.

My strategy changes by what's going on during the day. If I work I break them up through out the day. Ten here, ten there. I don't want to have to bust out 100 push ups before bed. On my days off I have been cramming them in all at once. Mostly due to time constraints. My daughter doesn't help. She tries to climb underneath us as we are doing them, forcing us to hold a plank in the middle of a set. She's probably doing this on purpose knowing both my husband and I need to work on our ab strength.

So far so good. Only 97 more days to go.

Product Review: Nike Pro Hyperwarm Half Zip Top

My mom got me some Zella work out pants for Christmas. I tried them on and wasn't a fan of the shape and feel, so I exchanged it for a Nike 'Pro Hyperwarm' half zip top. I love my zip overs for crossfit this time of year since it is so freezing in the gym, but this treasure turned out to be great for winter running! It has a light fleece lining in the inside to help keep warm during those near/below freezing runs.

Now it is my got to 2nd layer for winter running, when it isn't raining. It fits perfectly over my Lululemon Racerback tanks. I wish I had a pair of the matching running tights to keep my legs warm. For now the top will have to do.

Switching Crossfit Gyms

In the beginning on November I switched CrossFit gyms. I was not unhappy with my current gym. I was however currently driving pretty close to 20 miles to get to it. Reason being there wasn't currently one close to my house and if I was going to go directly to work I needed a shower. I really think the gym I went to is the only CrossFit gym East of Seattle with a shower.

A new gym less than a mile from my house and they had a six am class, which meant I had enough time to go to class and get home to still get ready for work. I wanted to make sure I was making the right decision, so I tried a free class.

Their work outs were different from what I was used to. Everyone actually warmed up. They got there and got right to work. After warm up we some group stretching and then we did our daily WOD. In contrast my old gym not everyone warmed up. We also usually did a mini WOD and then our daily WOD.

I was a little worried after that work out. I knew traditional CrossFit had more stretching and mobility work, but I was nervous I wouldn't get as good as a work out. In the end the time savings in the day, savings in gas, and the ability to shower at home won me over.

Now I have been at my new gym for two months. The do a lot more ring work and the mobility work is helping make me stronger. I am more flexible now and less worried about getting injured. I do miss the amount of heavy lifting we did before. The other reason I am less worried about getting injured is all the trainers are really really good. They correct people's form constantly. They'll interrupt you in a WOD if you are doing something wrong. They are all at least crossfit level one certified, if not higher.

So here are some things to look for when switching:

• Make sure they offer a fundamentals/introductory class for newbies. If they don't I'd be worried about getting injured.
• Check out the trainers. What's their background? Are they CrossFit certified?
• Do they limit the number of participants in a class? If not, I would once again be worried about getting injured.
• Read their blog and check out their Facebook page. See what events they hold at the gym and programs they run. If they gym has a strong sense of community it will probably be a good place to be.

I am looking forward to see how my fitness develops with my new gym.

Bad smoothie luck

It being fall, I found a new smoothie recipe that was a healthy version of pumpkin pie. I was all excited for my fall breakfast post cross-fit class. I got the recipe from Our Family Eats. I was a little hesitant because it is so many ingredients for 5:30 in the morning. I knew I needed a couple practice runs. The first time I made it, the smoothie turned out perfect.

I tried to make it again two more times. Both were epic failures. The first morning, I measured the dry ingredients and left them in the blender overnight for a quick morning. I also didn't measure them. I eyeballed the portions. In the morning it somehow all congealed together, so it didn't blend. The next morning I planned to take things back to square one, so I measured everything out that morning. The only thing I did different was add extra ice. Due to that all the oat meal did not blend so my smoothie was a chunky mess. After the last attempt I gave up on my pumpkin smoothie. The first time it really did turn out well, so I do recommend the recipe. It's just too complicated for a poor cook like me.

After having my bad luck with my pumpkin smoothie I went back to just my normal yogurt, banana, frozen berry smoothie with almond milk. That morning instead of almond milk, I grabbed the vanilla creamer and pored 3/4 cup into my smoothie! I dumped as much as I could out into the sink, but my smoothie still tasted pretty gross. After this last experience I'm back to my poor breakfast of cereal (it also helps that I switched cross-fit gyms, more on that later). I think I will switch back to my usual green smoothie. That seemed to work out really well for me.

Rock Climbing

About a month ago now H and I visited Stone Gardens in Bellevue, WA to try out rock climbing. I have always been slightly leery of heights, but rock climbing was always something that interested me. When I was little I loved to climb around on rocks. After my trip to Colorado two years ago, I realized rock climbing is not always as scary as what you see on television. Since then, I've thought I would want to give it a try.

Fast forward to now, H and I plan monthly date nights. I knew trying out rock climbing would be a fun and different thing for us to do together. I booked an hour session with an instructor that included rental gear. The instructor held the rope and H and I took turns going up.

I thought we would start out on a lower height and with a slight incline. Not so. We walked straight over to the four story wall that is straight up and down. My heart started pounding and my hands sweating. Why did I sign up for this, I thought. I wanted to go home. H went up first of course. I watched him fly all the way up to the top. I also watched the nine year old girl on the wall next to us climb up with her dad holding her. Darn nine year olds, they always have to show me up :)

I got on the wall and tried my hardest not to look all the way down while placing my feet. I made it about three quarters the way up before my body just tensed up with nerves and I had the instructor lower us down.

The instructor said we were doing really well so we tried a more difficult holds. I made it all the way up this time and each time after it got easier. We went up a total of four times. As I got tired I tended to cheat and use different holds that were for different courses (well H calls it cheating, I call it using my resources). Both H and I really enjoyed it. I was nice to get a work out while not feeling like we were working out. The only problem is neither of us really have the time to take up a new hobby, nor want to spend the money on another gym membership. However we would love to do it again and maybe I can get H to take climbing 101 so we can learn to hold the rope. I am sorry I do not have pictures. It was an epic fail not to take any. I promise to take some next time.