The quinceañera

This past Sunday was the Asics LA Marathon. It was my eighth time running this race and fifteenth marathon overall. It was a whirlwind of a week, facilitating a college planning seminar, coordinating my SRLA team to visit the LA Marathon Expo, meet the marathon elites on Friday morning, and try to figure out where I was going to fit in 14.2 workout from the CrossFit Open. With insane weeks like the last one, I try to stop thinking about how much needs to be done and just do it.

I was relatively happy with the attendance at the college seminar considering not many parents attend evening events. The parents had tons of questions about planning for the future, and I love being a part of it. I love sharing information with them and helping parents navigate the complicated system of college planning. I don't really love spending the evening at work instead of at the gym, but I am willing to compromise for something as important as college planning. 

The whirlwind week kept me busy from thinking about the marathon and what was to come in the next workout for the Open. I made plans to complete the workout on Thursday, whatever was in store for the workout. The workouts are released on Thursday at 5pm and we have until Monday at 5pm to complete the workout. There was no way that I would have the energy to complete the WOD on Monday and I wasn't about to put any weight over my head on Saturday. My only shot was on Thursday. When I watched the announcement on my phone while I was at the last SRLA practice with my runners, I started to freak out. Overhead Squats at 65# and Chest to Bar pullups. Two movements that I have not yet conquered but have come close!

I haven't worked on OHS since December and I just recently started working on pull ups without a resistance band. I messaged my coach and he talked me down from my panic attack and made me feel confident in my abilities and reminded me that I was running a marathon on Sunday, and that should be my focus.

I ended up hitting 10 squats, more than I have ever done at that weight. Plus, I was so close at getting a chest to bar pull up for the first time, ever. With practice, I think I'll get it pretty soon. It is amazing what registering for the Open has done for me. I have hit more goals in the last two weeks than in the 8 months of training CrossFit.

Friday, my runners had the rare opportunity to meet the elite runners, running the LA Marathon. We were chosen last year for this event, too. I'm convinced that it's because I am active on social media and I would tweet and post about the event. I did. We cheered, they jogged and got autographs from their role models. The morning in the park was relaxing and it was a great way to spend the time with a few of my runners.





In the afternoon, the team boarded a school bus and traveled to the Expo to pick up our t-shirts, bibs and other goodies. I have tried to make it a point to give the high school runners the complete experience of training for a marathon. The expo is part of the experience. We even went to "carbo-load" together at Souplantation.



I ended the day with a a hot tub soak and good conversation with my friend Missy. I didn't have to think about the marathon because I was so busy on Friday. I didn't think about running 26.2 miles much, even though everything that I did on Friday revolved around the marathon.



Not so much on Saturday. I couldn't stop thinking about the race, strategizing about the course, thinking about my pace, wondering how I was going to keep cool since Saturday was already warm. I was a mess. By the afternoon, I started to drink some herbal tea to calm my nerves. Even though everyone kept telling me that I got this and that I'm a pro at this stuff, I still get nervous. I still can't sleep. I still worry about getting hurt. I am still a basket case. 

Everything on Sunday morning went well. All of our students arrived to the school on time and the bus departed the school with plenty of time. We got to the starting line at Dodger Stadium with plenty of time to hit the pre-race food before they ran out and to use the toilets before the lines started to form. Then we waited. Stretched. Started. The race felt great. I was in good spirits and thought that I could go faster than usual. So I did for 20 miles of the race. I met Missy near mile 20 and she sprayed me down with a water bottle she brought with her. I was really starting to feel the 80 degree heat at that time. I needed to keep my body temperature down.



More than the water, the spirit and support she gave really helped to push me even through the heat. Another spectator was giving out ice that I gratefully took and shoved in my cap to keep my head cool. I let some ice melt in my hand while I ran. I remembered to keep my extremities cool so that my body temperature would stay down; I had this race in the bag! 

I was so excited to finish the race way past my anticipated finish time...until unbearable pain struck my calf. Both calves actually. It felt like daggers to my legs! Talk about frustrating.  I hobbled into the finish line, found the medic, got ice and walked to meet the rest of SRLA at Santa Monica High School. It took me nearly 40 minutes to walk the mile back. I thought that I did something terrible to my legs. When I finally found the SRLA doctor, she asked me a ton of questions about the pain, she started to massage my calves and explained that it was only a cramp and nothing serious. If I wasn't crying in pain from her massage, I would have told her that it was serious enough for me to slow down during the run! Since I changed my birthday on Facebook to March 9th like I said that I would, I had several people wishing me well, which really boosted my spirits before my phone died. 

I didn't PR this race, but I didn't feel as bad as I did during the Long Beach race. It was a finish. That was all that I was happy with on Sunday. Now to get ready for this week's 14.3 workout and marathon #16 (sometime in the near future). 

Double Unders and Bison Balls

Last year, I accomplished my marathon goal of breaking five hours, three times.  I thought about adding more speed work training to the marathon work so that I could run a faster marathon, but I seem to be happy with where I am, training wise. I am going into my fifteenth marathon in exactly one week from today. I did change up some of my training by adding more weights and strength speed work on top of my regular running.  I am a wreck about it. I can't stop wondering whether I put in enough miles or if I trained hard enough. In the last few months, I drastically cut back in running and in making attempts to lift more weight at the CrossFit box. I suffered a hamstring strain and my masseuse told me that my muscles needed a rest, so I took some.



In the last month, I finally accomplished kipping pull ups without the aid of a resistance band. I am still slow at them, but after eight months of working, I did it. I even completed the benchmark girls workout "Fran" without assistance (or as we call it, RX). I finished in 12 minutes and 47 seconds and I couldn't have been more proud of myself.  That score will most certainly will not make it to the CrossFit Games like the woman in the video, but it will make into my PR notebook and for now, that's good enough.



For those of you that recall, one of the first benchmark workouts that I completed was Fran, with a 25 pound barbell and jumping pull ups. As scaled back as one could possibly be. At that time, it was humbling, considering that I had completed multiple marathons before stepping foot in a gym and "thought" I was pretty strong.



Completing Fran RX alongside another box mate that also "RX'ed" was a huge confidence booster....that is until the first workout was posted for the CrossFit Games: 14.1.



Our task: AMRAP (As Many Reps As Possible) 30 Double Unders and 15 Snatches.  My two nemesis because they are two very technical movements that I could get better with practicing the technique every day.  




I'd rather go for a run. 



There are plenty of movements that I have yet to grasp in CrossFit.  Double Unders seem to be the most challenging of the "easy" stuff. In 10 minutes, I completed 118 reps and had plenty of reminders on my arm to show me that I still don't know how to do a proper double under with the jump rope.  Those whiplashes are still sore, two days later.



I was both proud of and embarrassed with myself.

Other people on our team wanted to redo the workout to see if they could get a better score, or more reps completed. I thought about it, and despite the energy and positive encouragement from my box mates, chose otherwise.



I posted my score online and earned another heaping slice of humble pie and a reality check on where I am in the context of the CrossFit world with regards to double-unders and snatching:

...and that's not everyone reporting their scores yet.



Taking this as a metaphor, I see that there will be plenty of things in my life that I can do better by working on technique, and it will come with time and practice. This challenge of signing up for the Open will teach me about how to have patience with myself and my abilities. And maybe in future WOD's, kick ass, too.



Today, I made bison balls, thanks to my good friends at the Honest Bison.



I was having Carolyn come over for a quick visit and I had just thawed my ground bison and wondered what I could do with it without simply making burgers. Balls! In honor or one of my favorite movements in CrossFit: WALL BALLS!



Bison Balls (not paleo): 

1 lb ground bison (of course from the Honest Bison)

2 eggs, whipped

1 cup bread crumbs

2 cloves garlic minced

1/3 cup chives, finely chopped

1 tbsp oregano

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese



Mixed well (with your hands) until everything is well blended. Create small balls, roll them in your hand until they are nice and round. Make sure they are as tightly packed as possible



Heat a pan (Medium heat) of EVOO and place them in the pan, let them brown and rotate them to get all "sides" brown. Remove when all sides are brown.



I added a tzatziki sauce to them, thanks to a box mate that has found many paleo recipes:



3/4 cup coconut milk yogurt

1tbsp fresh lemon juice

1tbsp fresh dill

1tsp fresh mint (I added waaaay more than she did)

1 minced clove garlic (I added 2)

1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar

1/4 tsp salt



Mix it all in a food processor/blender/whatever you have to mix it all well.  The color may be a bit off since the recipe calls for coconut milk yogurt and it's a bit more transparent than traditional Greek yogurt, but it is freakin' tasty-paleo tasty!!



The mac and cheese is from a recipe previously posted.



I may not be great at mastering double unders quite yet, but I can still throw down in the kitchen.  Baby steps.

Jesus Year

I thought I would be excited when I finally looked into the mirror after 33 years to see a few wrinkles. I have been looking forward to the time where I sorta look older than the teenager that I have looked like my whole adult life.



But when I saw myself in the mirror today, I just looked exhausted. I don't have crows feet, but the furrow between my eyebrows is nice and chiseled, just like everyone said would hapen. My forehead has a nice fault line through it from too much raised eyebrows. Those "wrinkles" look more for someone either always angry or constantly thinking about...whatever.



So much for wishful thinking.

People keep telling me that I'm going to be happy when I get older that I look so young. I've been hearing that phrase since I turned 21 and even when I fake getting happy for getting carded and am very "flattered" when I get carded at bars (or to get into rated R movies), I still think it's super annoying and wish that I looked a little older. Still waiting for the time when I am thankful for looking younger! The grass is always greener on the other side, I guess.



Another thing that I noticed especially this week: I find myself "needing" my sunglasses so much more often, not because they are cool, but because everything seems so freaking bright now. Seriously, who turned up the light in the world? I have a difficult time staring at my computer screen for long periods of time. I used to be able to program classes all day and go home feeling slightly weird and needing a break from any kind of monitor. Now, I go an hour on my blue screen and then need a break.



My body requires much more prep work before heading in to hard core workouts or training sessions. I have this false assumption that I think I can sprint like I did in high school (or jump like I once did).



I learned that lesson the hard way as I winced away during a sprinting warm up two weeks ago with a strained hamstring. My knees used to hurt when I weighed more, but thanks to poor form on a lift earlier in the month, I had a week long of pain in my knee while running, or what many call "Runners Knee." Foam roller, ibuprofin, marathon stick, and stretching have become very important to me, much more important than I previously put attention on.

Don't get me wrong, I will never make excuses for where I am in my fitness. I think I am much more fit now than I ever have been in my life. I may have been fast in high school, but I was super lazy and burned out from 13 years of competition. Now, I at least love going to the box and lifting weights. I love going out to run with my kiddos on Sunday morning and I love waking up early to walk/jog with my dogs.

Three weeks ago, I was super excited to see what 2014 had in store for me, it is both the year of the horse (on the Chinese calendar) and my Jesus year. This means that I "should" be making unremitting efforts to improve myself this year and perform a "miracle" in some way. I was super motivated, and then I caught a snag in training with a strained hamstring, then caught a nasty flu that knocked me into bed for three straight days. Talk about putting everything on hold. So tomorrow, on my birthday, I'll be heading to my first wod in two weeks. I am looking forward to working out and making more gains in my fitness this year, eventually and progressively throughout the year.



Yes, I did mention that it is my birthday. I used to get super excited about celebrating another year of life. Now, celebrating at this time of year just feels wrong considering last week was the anniversary of my niece passing. I haven't wanted to celebrate or even care to acknowledge anything exciting this week, knowing that it's not a very happy time. Plus on a completely different argument, what is the excitement of living another year? I didn't break a record today nor did anything spectacular happen. I was just born today many moons ago. And I'm alive.

I am tempted to just tell people that my birthday is on the day of the LA Marathon and it would give them more of an incentive to go out and watch me run. This day will also give people a reason to actually cheer for me when I need it most during the year. Yea, maybe that's what I'll do.

I signed up for a pretty awesome delivery service from Nature Box. I initially thought that $20 for snacks was expensive and unnecessary. While it is pricey, especially for those on a limited income, this first box has some pretty tasty (and healthy) snacks. I love that there are few ingredients in each bag of snacks and there is a variety to choose from. On the website, I can check off if I have food preferences and limitations (which they would help modify what is delivered to me). I got $10 off the first box, thanks to a coupon I found online so the first order only cost me $10.

 The other thing I wanted to point out is that while we may be able to get snacks that are less expensive at the grocery store, we don't always know what goes into the process of making the snacks and I often cannot read the ingredients (because I'm not a chemist and I can't read some of these chemicals listed). I feel more comfortable knowing what I am putting into my body, even if it is a bit more expensive.

Well, here I go....into year 33....positive thoughts can commence!

The snatch

Since day 1, this movement has been my least favorite. I sometimes wanted to pretend having a rest day when I would find out the WOD included the snatch.  I even complained about it on this blog to the five of you readers. One day, I even left the box in tears because I couldn't get it. I sat in my car and cried out of frustration.

After being called on it a couple of times indirectly, I stopped. I needed to get better. It's been five months. With much coaching from the awesome people at LAX CrossFit, I finally look like I know what I'm doing. Looking at these photos makes me want to cry, this time because I'm proud of myself for not giving up. 

Today is also my late baby niece's birthday. She was a fighter at only 5 weeks old. I can at the very least do what I can with my own abilities.

two's, three's and PR's

I realize that it has been a few months since I have posted anything. What a slacker.  So much has happened in these months that I don't even know where to begin. I can start with adorable babies. Just looking at their faces makes the world much brighter.

My godson was born and is developing into a healthy boy. He laughs at everything, eats all the time and stares in awe at his momma. Watching a baby's eyes light up as they try to learn what you are teaching is so fascinating.

My goddaughter Maliya turned one year old and she is walking and waving "hi" and saying "bye" to everyone she meets. I must say that I am an incredibly proud nina.  I was excited to be able to push jerk Maliya up and over on to my shoulders with absolutely no problem. She was not impressed with my functional fitness.  She will be when I "fireman carry" her when she gets older (and I get stronger).

The school year began as did the Students Run Los Angeles season.  I am in full swing working with thirty-nine high school students and four other adults (and anyone that would like to tag along in our training) to complete the LA marathon. We are having a blast in training. The team recently completed a 15K race at the Universal Backlot and we collect 83 cans of fish/tuna for our new SRLA Cares program. Nike is also donating shoes to each of the SRLA runners after this milestone.

This is my eighth year as a coach and I must say that I learn so much every year to share with the team for the next year. For my runners that have been running with me for multiple seasons, they too have been able to share with the newbies the benefits of proper eating and training. Talk about being super lucky doing something every day that I absolutely love.

I also finished my fourteenth marathon with another PR. As much as I love running through the streets of San Francisco during the Nike Women's Marathon in October, this year was pretty exciting and extremely crowded. I wonder whether my time would have even been much faster if I wasn't weaving through walkers along the course.

I PR'ed this marathon time by two minutes without adding in much more in the way of long distance runs during the months before. I ran a few miles a few days a week and spent more time lifting weights. During the race, I was super conservative at the beginning while maintaining the typical 11 minute mile pace. I knew I could go faster, but that mental resistance for fear of hitting a wall is too scary to push myself out of that typical slow start. I think I started picking up the pace too late. Every marathon is a time to analyze every step for next time I'm out on the streets. I am really looking forward to LA marathon after finishing this race.

I had the incredibly opportunity to run the Nike Women's Marathon and earn that Tiffany necklace thanks to a very amazing and active SRLA team, the Mount Gleason Runners and their coach Craig. A group of about fifty runners traveled up to San Francisco to complete the half marathon. The team also met Kara Goucher and Joan Benoit Samuelson during the Expotique. I remember a few years ago when our students met Joan at the Expo and how starstruck I was to meet her, knowing that she paved the way for women marathoners to be integrated into the sport.

I still train at CrossFit 3-4 days a week. I augment marathon training with weights, sprints, rowing, games and have met a new group of people excited to find out what the next WOD will be. This has really helped my confidence in running, both mentally and physically. Hitting my own personal records for weight lifting has been exciting and challenging. I have developed some favorite movements like the split jerk, thrusters and back squats.

I have been humbled every day at the box, missing/failing a lift, not getting the hang of double unders, or not getting that freakin' squat snatch! I have asked for so much help during every workout that I'm sure I have (unintentionally) tried the patience of our CrossFit coaches.

I am still sticking firm to my stance on eating "clean" and staying true to that. I do allow myself some sugar, pasta, and gelato, but on the whole those foods are still kept to a minimum. I know how important food is to training now. I know how much better I can train, how much heavier I can lift at the gym and how much better I feel after eating foods that my body can take full advantage of.  And I look good. In order to remind myself to eat my fruits and veggies, I have continued to use Farm Fresh To You service  every few weeks delivered straight to my door.

Leeks are in season! I love leeks. I love potatoes. And I love that I have learned how to make Potato Leek Soup! I used a few food recipes from the Food Network a few attempts at making this soup but I think I've figured this out on my own and have some substitutions for my Vegan friends, too.

Potato Leek Soup
Serves 4
Ingredients
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
4 slices turkey bacon, chopped (don't have to use this for Vegan recipe)
2 large leeks (or 3 medium sized leeks-whatever you can find), white and light green parts only, thinly sliced (you don't need the green leafy looking top part)
3 cloves garlic, chopped
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
2 medium russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces or bigger if you like chunks of potatoes
Kosher salt and ground pepper
1/2 cup heavy cream (coconut milk works, too)
1 1/2 cups frozen peas (do not thaw)

Cook the bacon until crisp, about 8 minutes. Remove the bacon to let it cool. While the bacon is cooking, heat a sauce pan and add the butter (I use a wok, it's easier and less messy). Let the butter melt, then add the leeks and garlic; cover and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add in the paprika and pepper at this time, too.

Add the broth, 2 cups water, the potatoes and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper; cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer, partially covered, until the potatoes are tender, about 15ish minutes.

Puree half the soup in a blender (remove the filler cap to let steam escape), then return to the pot. This can get messy, so be careful. The puree is hot! It's probably good to use a measuring cup to scoop the soup into the blender.
Add the cream and bring to a simmer. Add the peas and cook until tender, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper again if needed.

Chop up the bacon into rough bits and pour it all in.

You can also toast baguette slices and use them to dip into the soup. Feel free to freeze the soup if you want to make extra for the week.

This soup reminds me of my days in Madrid when my host mom would make us puree for lunch almost every day.


One of my favorite pastimes while in Europe is lunch. It is a huge meal and almost always begins with a puree.   My recent trip to Berlin was no different.  I hope you enjoy the soup as a meal or as a primer plato during lunch or dinner.

Active Rest Day

I took a day off from the box today. After what felt like the most intense, nauseating workout yesterday, I decided to give myself a break. I went for a run in the morning with my dogs and then headed out to pick up my cousins for a day trip to the LA Zoo.


We spent a good six hours walking through each exhibit. I watched my cousins run to each exhibit with their outside voices exclaiming their raging enthusiasm as they found each animal in their habitat. It made me happy. Gordo was very good at that game. He found most of the animals before either me or his sister, Ana.


Of course, I was using my active rest day and still working it by picking up the six year old and sitting him on my shoulder to aid in his search (someone say push jerk?).



Gordo's reactions to the Reptile Lair were priceless. Both were asking me to take photos at almost every exhibit...



They even convinced me to jump on the carousel with them.








In a commercial for CrossFit (during the CrossFit games), I heard a quote that stuck with me: "The reward for doing well is the ability to express your fitness in everyday life." I was happy that I was able to throw my cousin up to sit on my shoulder as I aided in his skill of playing "Where's Waldo" with the animals.
By the end of the day, they were complaining about how tired they were. I told them that they had to keep trucking because we only had a short amount of time at the zoo. I was able to push them to keep walking and we were able to see every exhibit at the zoo. They were exhausted by the end of the day.




If anyone wants an idea for an active rest day, I would highly recommend picking up your kids (or someone else's children) and taking them for a day at the zoo (or the Aquarium). I had a blast.

Panama

Every now and then, I think it is important to get away. Spending some time away from the busy city can help put my choices into perspective.  I got to spend a few days in Panama city and Contadora Islands in Panama. Although Panama city is a major city and perhaps one of the wealthier of the Central American cities, it was still a place that moved much slower than Los Angeles. 

 

The food is different. I tried my best to take in all that was Panamanian in the three short days that I was there.
That meant that I spent most meals tasting sea bass or other seafood options. Coconut rice, curry, shellfish, wine, Balboa (the local beer). I savored the Panamanian flavors; the fish was perfectly seasoned and cooked, the coconut rice was a perfect sweet complement to the savory fish. Although I enjoyed the several days of being a pescatarian, by the time I was back in Miami for my layover before returning to Los Angeles, I was craving red meat.  I stopped by The Counter in the airport and indulged on a custom burger and fries. 
While in the country capital, we got to visit the old city and the colonial district. We shopped, and tried to stay cool in the heat and humidity.

I was ecstatic to visit the Panama Canal. I walked up to the top balcony and stood on the fourth floor, completely mesmerized by the mechanics of the canal, "sinking" enormous cargo ships low enough to move through the canal and on their path to delivering goods throughout the world. 




The canal doors quickly opened to allow the ship to pass through once it was low enough and the water rose to accommodate the ship. The particular ship I watched go through the canal weighed about 4,000 tons and went through with only 24 inches on either side of the canal to spare. Fascinating.
What I found completely mesmerizing was only two hours by boat away from the mainland: Contadora Las Perlas (it was featured in "Survivor: Pearl Island" several years ago). The resort is right off the shore of the Island and we were greeted by the The Point resort staff with a scoop of pineapple sorbet and someone taking my bag directly to my room. The service was on point. And so was the view from my room.
The group I was with were given the opportunity to relax and enjoy the island after our whale watching and snorkeling excursion. I wish I knew enough about fish and sea life to tell you the names of the blue and iridescent fish, but I don't. I also do not own an underwater camera, yet. 
On Sunday morning, I got a chance to take a dive out to Pacheca and Pachequilla Islands with Guillermo from Coral Dreams. On Saturday, I walked in to his shop and caught him before he took out a group for snorkeling. He told me that he was going out for a dive with a few people in the morning and I asked him to allow me to tag along. 
He did and we sorted out equipment and times later in the evening. After a few questions (okay about 100 rookie questions) Guillermo showed me an article written about him that he has logged in 11,000 dives in 20 years. Wow! I am in good hands.
Morning came around, I showed up at the dive shop and learned that I was diving with a group of men that work in Panama and were spending the weekend "teambuilding" or whatever, whale watching, fishing and diving. Thank the universe that our worlds collided.  
Within minutes, we were on the dive boat with our equipment and heading out to the Island where we would jump in, and experience an underwater abundance of schools of fish, sharks, coral of brilliant colors and the underwater sounds of migrating whales!

A couple of the divers had extensive experience and dives under their belt. Me and France (above on the boat) were the rookies, but our experience together as a group with Guillermo who gave us a tour of both islands, will be a memorable one.
If it wasn't for American Airlines losing my luggage and not getting it back for three days, I would say that my trip to Panama was phenomenal. I would love to visit these islands again and watch the canal open and close over and over again.