And this is why I hate cooking at my place…
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So last year it was freezing cold… and this year the weather forecast was rain. Luckily, rain equated to a light sprinkle during the start of the race. Didn’t make the gym photo this year, as I couldn’t find the folks from the gym :-( Kinda sad since I’ve now done it each year with the gym. I did see a few folks, but not the whole crew.
But, I had a new running partner for this year… I managed to convince Jen from the Renegades to join me! Yay! And she was brave enough to do the 10K. Neither of us have done much running recently. So needless to say, rather than “run” we ended up doing more of a jog, walk, jog, walk, walk some more, etc…
- 2011 Finish: 1:20:32 Pace: 12:58
- 2010 Finish: 1:04:46 Pace: 10:26
- 2009 Finish: 1:11:23 Pace: 11:30
- 2008 Finish: 1:08:58 Pace: 11:06
Quite a bit down from last year, but considering how bad I’ve been about going to the gym and eating… I’m not surprised. And it was more about actually just finishing and have good company while doing so.
Ben and Jen after the race!
Oh… And I did actually do the run in my Vibram FiveFingers BIKILA, which are the running version of the shoe. And I was very happy that both my feet and calves had no real issues. The bottom the feet where a little sore, but nothing major… so I guess they really do work well for running!
So I didn’t make it back to the gym much last week. My legs where just wrecked from the squats on Monday. Eating during the week was ok, not so much over the weekend.
But it was back to the gym on Monday, even if it was kinda late… hit the 7:30pm class since I didn’t leave work until 7:00pm. Workout was alright, but as usual… I didn’t scale properly and the KB swings slowed me down a lot because of my back. Was suppose to only take about 5min and I took almost 10min. I did talk to Karo a bit after and he said I need to focus on keeping my core tight when doing things like this. He said that is very common for folks to not have an issue keeping tight during heavy lifting, but they forget it about when doing high rep stuff like KB swings and box jumps. I know my core is definitely on the week side, so I really need to work on that… guess its time to start doing some hollow hold/rocks at home.
WOD:
Heavy Hang Power Cleans – 2 rep, repeat for about 15min
5 Rounds for time of:
- 20 Kb swings @ 1.5 pood (yes 1.5 pood, don’t go 2 pood)
- 20 Air Squats
RESULT:
Hang Power Cleans: 95# … 185#
5 Rounds: ~10min
A little review of my meals from last week…
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- Crockpot Beef and Veggies
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- (Una Mas) Steak Fajitas
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- Paleo Thai Chicken Soup
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- Paleo Shrimp Scampi
Its nice to be cooking at home again, although the dishes drive me nuts! Its a never ending task when you have a small kitchen. Bulk cooking helps… alot! My attempt at crock-pot beef and veggies turned out ok, but it needs alittle something-something. I’ll need to look up some recommendations. My attempt at Paleo Shrimp Scampi (recipe below) on the other hand turned out great!
I did take some time to look up some Paleo recipes and decided to try the Thai Chicken Soup as my first one. Overall it is very good, however, it does seem to be missing something. You check out the recipe below along with my notes. Next up Paleo Butter Chicken… we’ll see how that goes!
I did eat out a bit this week. Breakfast was from the office cafe since I slept in or out with friends over the weekend, just because I wanted to be social. Either a omelet or scramble with some fruit. Did eat dinner at Una Mas on Sat because I was attending open house for my drum corps (San Francisco Renegades) and it was a fundraiser. I got the steak fajitas, just meat and veggies w/ gauc and tomatoes.
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Here is a little better pic from the CrossFit Santa Clara site:
Just because… 25 burpees this morning when I rolled out of bed.
And by cave… i mean caveman, aka Paleo.
With trying to get back on track with my fitness, in spite of the up coming holiday’s, I’ve decided to give Paleo another shot. So on Nov 1st with the start of the new work week, I started back on paleo… at least trying to. And of course, there were some pot holes through out the week but over all it wasn’t too too bad. I do plan on keeping a more detailed log going forward, but for now, here is a basic recap:
- + Lunch at the office often was variations on fajita salads (chicken, steak, or pork).
- + Dinner was usually grilled chicken and side of green (salad or sauteed).
- +/- Breakfast was usually an omelet (although I did have cheese).
- + Did NOT order pizza.
- – Continued having my morning americano w/ splenda and half&half .
- – Had a Java Monster drink in the afternoon several days.
- – Broke down and had pancakes Sun morning, and a Pumpkin Latte.
- – Had a few beers over the weekend.
Overall, its a lot better than what I have been eating… which included lots of pizza :-(
I did also get Robb Wolf’s book “The Paleo Solution” and started reading through it. I like it a lot more than some of the other diet books I’ve read, its a much more casual tone and easy to read. I need to start reading his site more and subscribe to the pod casts. I did skip to the sample meal plan at the end of the book and have a look… will definitely need to try out some of the recipes.
I hate being indecisive… so over the weekend I picked up copy of REPS (fitness magazine geared to weightlifting/bodybuilding) and was reading thru it while visiting with my folks. I have to say, I love CrossFit, the community, and ideas behind it… that it will get me ready for pretty much anything, so that I can go out and do anything.
On the flip side, I attracted bodybuilding because I want to have well built muscular physique. I kinda miss the isolated exercises, focusing on the individual muscles, and slow deliberate movements. I know its kinda shallow, but I want a good looking body. I made a lot of progress using a bodybuilding cutting routine (SGX) in the past, and like I said back then… I don’t want to be thin, I want to be muscular.
But, I don’t just want a body that looks good… I want it to work good too, which brings me back to CrossFit. But I just haven’t had much luck with loosing weight and sticking to a eating regiment with CrossFit.
Ugh.
After all this… Looking at the video Jojo put on Facebook for the Barbells for Boobs Amazing Grace hosted at CFSC, I know CrossFit is what I want to do. I really just need to get focused again. Need to dial in my eating. Need to set some specific goals again.
So that being said, with the start of the month, start of the week… I’m gonna start getting back on eating Paleo come Nov 1st.
So this weekend was the NorCal Tough Mudder challenge and a ton of us (30 some I think) from CFSC/CFMV went up to compete as a team. And it was quite the challenge and a great time. Myself and Joan finished the course in 3:45, and I’m happy to say that I made it through all the obstacles! Including making over the Dragon Wheels and up the Berlin Wall in one go!
Even though the obstacles where a challenge most of the time, over I feel like it wasn’t that bad due the pace we took and I feel like I could have pushed harder. However, as the Tough Mudder pledge says “I put teamwork and camaraderie before my course time”… I know this was a big challenge for Joan and I stuck with her through it… even when she was cursing me out during our swim through the icey cold pond at the top of the mountain. That is a moment I will not forget ;-P
One of the best things about the event was the camaraderie of everyone. Everyone was helping everyone get over the 8ft high Kentucky Derby obstacle. And we even teamed up with another gal (Victoria) who was doing the event solo… props to her! And congrats her and Joan on finishing the course!! We are tough enough!!!
Several folks are thinking of going to one of the other Tough Mudder events, either SoCal or Austin… I’m considering joining them for one, as I would like to give it another go.
The Course
Boa Constrictor
Post finish beer (Joan and I)
Team WOD:
- Row
- Push-ups
- Knees-2-elbows
- Double-unders
1 team member at each station, rotate every minute until as a team you complete 2k of rowing.
RESULTS:
CHAOS!!! for at least the first few rounds, nobody could seem to keep the rotation in order ;-)
As for our time… no idea as our rower kept resetting. But it was nice workout to come back to after a few days off. And I got use my new jump rope some more.