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.

30 days

Today marks 30 days since my first day at LAXCrossfit thanks to an AmazonLocal deal. Membership over. Yesterday was my last hard workout at the box. I start training for the LA Marathon with my adolescent team of runners this Sunday.

One of the reasons I started Crossfit (besides the sweet deal) was because I wanted to learn more exercises and training activities to incorporate into my workouts and believe me I did.

I also learned that I tend to err on the side of caution and with a little support and encouragement, can surprise myself with my abilities. Yesterday I did a back squat with 80lbs on the bar. Holy crap, I thought to myself. I can do this! It was almost twice the amount of weight as one month ago. James, the evening coach said that I made it look easy. Ha! That was the compliment of the year.

If there was one important theoretical concept I learned while at the box three times a week (twice last week because of the car accident/start of work/too much drama taking up my time. I know I said I'd go four times, but that was just too difficult) was to remember what I am capable of and to expand my abilities from my starting point-not someone else's.

This revelation surprised me yesterday as I was dragging my exhausted body upstairs to my bedroom after the workout. Seeing as this program is so intense and has such an incredible reputation for bad-ass-100%-in-your-face-intense workouts and the misperception that crossfitters are lifting hundreds of pounds (some of them are, but not everyone in the box does), I expected to be pushed much harder than I was. There was a strong emphasis on proper form and getting it right rather than going big.

I learned how to lift weights properly and have since learned to get better at proper form (my arms have taken much self-criticism because they can't stay straight for thrusters or jerks).

I learned that I don't have to put a hundred pounds on a bar to look cool if the work out calls for multiple reps for many minutes of the same weight. I want to be able to last during the workout until the last second-that's the endurance athlete in me. Despite the group workouts or the fact that I had to memorize my box-mates names for each workout, it was training for me. I improved for me. That was exciting.

I truly appreciate the team mentality and the support I got from the other box mates during our one hour of sweat and muscle confusion. It was cool to hear the words of encouragement and it was nice that others appreciated mine. I loved hearing how great I did during a workout and that Kasuza (the morning coach) believed I could move up another level of KettleBell weight or that I was getting better at my kipping pull up. I know I push my runners to believe in themselves, but I think I can do a better job at showing them how to do that, thanks to what I saw from Kazusa.

There are some things that I probably won't incorporate into the marathon training-the paleo diet being one of them. I can hardly get teenagers to eat more than hot cheetos and soda, much less get them to eat and enjoy spinach instead of a granola bar. Baby steps. Plus, I love bread. Freshly baked bread and manchego cheese takes me back to Spain every time I have the opportunity to savor them together. I won't give that up-and I don't expect others to give it up either. It is my hope that the youngsters also incorporate "better" foods into their system too.

I am contemplating going back to the box after SRLA marathon training season. I had a great time. My knees are just now getting used to the extra weight and my body is barely getting used to the perpetual soreness.

On another note, my whole body yearns a long run. I think I'll do that this weekend.