3/17 – SUPWA Flatwater ‘20’

A week of catching up on this poor little blog (that’s been infiltrated with commenting spam monsters – hence comments being disabled)…

Where were we – yes, I’d just finished 13.2. 

Followed that up with a Sunday SUP race.  The SUPWA Flatwater ‘20’ Marathon (and 6.2km race).  There is an awesome video of the day here.

The first ever Flatwater Marathon State Championships were held at Ascot Canoe Club in Ascot, WA on March 17^th.  This was a new format for SUP (and is similar to what the flatwater kayakers do in these types of races) in that there were laps in which racers had to exit and enter off of pontoons and in between run approximately 100m with their boards in a ‘portage’ of sorts.   It was wickedly fun to watch and thankfully not a requirement of the 6.2km course.

Those racing the 20km marathon course (4 long laps plus one short lap) took off 10 seconds before those of us doing the shorter 6.2km course (one long lap and one short lap).  I was pretty squeezed out on the start line (for no reason really as there was a lot of room) and since I love my board more than many things I just backed off and let the dude go first.  I started near the back of the pack and while I knew most of the women were actually on 14’ boards (I was on a 12’6) it was still odd being so far back.  I really struggled mentally for the first 2km – though I know I haven’t been paddling much I have the skill and with crossfit I most definitely have the fitness though my mind still went to many dark places through that start.

Some of the phrases that passed through my mind during the long stretch out to the bridge:

-my shoulder hurts, I should just stop
-this hurts, why do I do this
-I hate paddling in the flats why am I on a river
-next year I should just volunteer to be that guy (passing that guy) just counting racers from his board
-man that bridge is far
-why am I at the back, I should be faster than those people
-maybe I’ll just quit after the first lap
-wondering why I’d signed up to race when I enjoy paddling moreso socially now

There were also some positives in there that were the reason I kept going namely that I don’t quit – is something that crossfit has taught me over and over and over again – perseverance even in the most horrible of workouts.  Keep fighting, never give up, it all ends eventually.  And so I kept going.

As I was nearing the bridge I could see the first few men in the marathon race coming back towards us and what I noticed in that moment was the my heart rate wasn’t at all elevated – I wasn’t struggling to breath but my muscles were aching.  I also noticed their rate and how high it was compared to my easy social paddling rate that I had carried through the first 2km (and which was similar to those around me to be fair).  It was then that I kicked it into high gear knowing full well that I could easily sustain a higher rate with my fitness and I started to close the gaps that I’d let others pull from the start.  

The other thing that worked in my favor was that the second half of the long lap was back into the wind.  There wasn’t a lot of it but enough that my higher stroke rate worked in my favor.  I easily reeled in 4 or 5 others which included one dudes on a 14’ board.  That got me back into the groove and once I was in front I didn’t want to get passed by him again.

The second small (2km) lap was back to a buoy and then around the island.  Cam had done the fun 2km race and was back on shore cheering for me (I saw him as we passed on the first lap) and I wanted to get back there and just be done (knowing that my shoulder wouldn’t be happy with me at all).  Felt pretty good at this point but also very happy not to be doing the 20km which would have taken me forever.  The guy on the 14’ board passed me again after the turn as we headed back downwind towards the island but then after the final turn fell off, I resumed the lead and made it to the finish before him.  So it goes.

I was happy to be done, no idea how I’d placed but happy that I’d found my racing groove.  Immediately I went in search of ice for my shoulder knowing I’d pushed it a bit too much (mostly paddling on my left when I could because of it) and waited around for the marathoners to finish and for awards.

I came first in my category – Women’s 12’6 – 6.2km.  I’ll start with that as there was mass confusion during the awards.  They called (what sounded in some way like) my name first (for third place) then called second and first only when the second place finisher came up I was a bit confused knowing I’d passed her on the first lap – I thought maybe she’d passed me back somewhere along the way and I’d missed it.  Then when the ‘first place’ girl came forward in her bright green shorts did I know that they had messed up because I was definitely in front of her crossing the line, poor girl went from being called first to third and then to fourth when another women realized that she was also in front of her – so much for technology helping out with the timing.  Oops.

Anyway, it wasn’t so much about winning for me or even racing for that matter.  It was about supporting a community that is just as friendly and welcoming as the paddling community I left back in Vancouver/ Washington.  They are an amazing and supportive bunch that put on a great race and I’m pretty sure everyone had a blast.  And even with the dark thoughts entering into my head early on I’m glad that I did it and will definitely sign up for the next one and once again give it my all.  This time I’ll try and remember I’m actually racing right from the start too.

Some photos from the day (thanks Cam)…

The correct winners

Green board perfect for St. Paddy's Day

 

2/10 & 2/11 - SUP and Crossfit

Sunday SUP

Caught up with Stimo for a paddle on Sunday afternoon before the big demo day.  We spent a leisurely hour and a bit paddling from Matilda Bay around the river, stopping a few times to get wet/ change boards.  It was a lot of fun and I’m glad Cam was able to get a bit more coaching from a different perspective (I’m sure he’s sick of listening to just me). 

Got some good rides too on some wash and loved playing on ‘Gonzo’.  Stimo quite loved her too but she’s all mine.  Ha.

Monday Crossfit

Back at the box last night after an extended break last week… was really feeling out of sorts last week which resulted in only two days of training…  As Cam  noted, the rest was probably better for me and it’s true I’m feeling more on my game this week and ready for it.

Warm-up

200m run

Bear complex

Mobility

Car park run

Strength

3 x 5 clean pulls (50-50-55)

These were good.  I liked having Coach Tara timing us to ensure we had sufficient rest between sets.  They also felt good and I started thinking what weight I was going to choose for the WOD. 

WOD

9-15-21

Power cleans (50/70kg)

Box jumps (24/30”)

6:56 (40kg/Rx)

Really enjoyed this one at least once it was over.  I love the high box jumps and can rebound on them which definitely helps speed things up.  The power cleans are also a fave of mine and while I considered going with 45kg (Grace Rx weight) which I know I can do I backed off a bit mostly because it was super hot – like ‘40 degree day inside a sweaty box’ hot.  I knew I’d feel the heat more than I thought which was the reason to back off. 

I did the set of 9 cleans unbroken feeling pretty good and same for the box jumps although I almost stacked it on the 3 rep when only one of my feet made it onto the box but bounced back after that (literally… haha!).  I still need to feel comfortable jumping onto the ‘triangle’ based boxes rather than the solid plywood ones I was used to.  No biggie in terms of difference but a little bit of a mental barrier.

The round of 15 cleans was by far the hardest.  I figured the set of 21 would be but that wasn’t the case.  21-15-9 is a hard enough rep scheme but to reverse it is even worse.  In my mind I am sure I was afraid of the set of 21 which inevitably made the 15’s harder.  I had planned to do 3 sets of 5 but got 3 reps in and dropped the bar so I did 5 sets of 3 with as little rest as I could manage.  The box jumps were just a mental battle, getting more than half done (8), quick breath and keep moving.  It helps that I like box jumps.

As I mentioned, the round of 21 was actually easier than the round of 15 on the cleans.  In my head I knew 7 sets of 3 would be long and drawn out and painful.  When I managed 6 in the first bunch I was hoping for a 6-5-5-5.  It was almost the case though on the last 5 I put the bar down after 3 (was starting to feel my forearms going) and quickly picked it up knowing I only had 2 left and got it done.

The final round of box jumps felt good.  I figured at this point that I’d be feeling the fatigue in my legs but they seemed fairly fresh and I just ripped out big chunks of reps knowing I was almost at the end.  I was quite happy with my time.  I probably could have gone a bit heavier but didn’t want to kill myself and was definitely hurting when it was over.

Mobility

Glute stretch

Forearm mashing

Calf roll out with ball

Paleo

Had a few indulgences over the weekend which I’m not too upset about.  Once again there is something about cold beer and SUPing that is just a requirement.  Also, a cold beer after a really hot day.  We’ve been having several lately so I had a beer on Saturday night with my Mexican fajitas (included a bit of sour cream and a few bites of rice as well) and another beer and a half on Sunday afternoon at the SUP demo day.  Totally worth it and the cravings/ detoxing seem to be waning which is nice.  Also, the abs… starting to show again.  Love it.

12/19 - 'Randy' and Tabata

Third day in a row at the box and it’s been a good week so far.  The holiday excitement is in the air and is pushing me a little bit more these days.  Tim had mentioned that he’d be at the box before class to do some clean and jerk work and I decided I’d try to get in early as well with a plan to get ‘Randy’ (it is so not a dad joke Cam!).   Southern had programmed ‘Randy’ (75 power snatches) for the day and I knew Cam would be doing it – since he was also coming over for dinner I figured I’d definitely hear all about it from his so I figured I’d do it instead.  It worked well too considering I wanted to work on snatching rather than C&J’s (did a bunch of those last week).  So I told Tim that was my plan and then of course it was pretty much set in stone.  He was no doubt holding me accountable.  It was good as well as it’s been a really long time (pre-Primal Throwdown) since I’ve done multiple WODs in a day.

WOD #1

‘Randy’

75 power snatches (25/35kg)

6:35 Rx.5

This was much harder than I expected.   A while ago Coach Match had programmed a similar WOD at lighter weights (20.5/30kg) and it took me about five and a half minutes to finish it.   Since that was almost 3 months ago I figured that I could probably do the slightly heavier weight in about the same time.  I was wrong.

I did the first 10 reps unbroken and being able to put the bar directly back onto the ground (rather than catching on my thighs which I usually do when the weight is heavier – to save my shoulders from being ripped off my arms).  The rest were done in sets of 5.  I tried to rest as little as possible but it’s amazing how heavy 25kg starts to feel after that many reps.  Angie was a great cheer squad and had a great cue about half way through telling me to be quick through the middle which made getting the bar overhead much easier though towards the end my forearms/ grip started to go.  By the end when Tim told me to get the last 5 done unbroken I almost couldn’t hold the bar.  I’m pretty sure that rep 4 and 5 of that set I was just curling my fingers around the bar and hoping I wasn’t going to drop it.  Made it though.  A minute longer than last time at the lighter weight but still a good effort.

It was interesting to be solo in doing a WOD and trying to push the intensity on my own, or at least with only a few people cheering me on.  There was also no music which I really noticed early on, no distraction just me and that bar, repetitive motions.  Definitely as much a mental WOD as it was a physical one today.

WOD #2

“Tabata This”
Wall balls (6/9kg)
Row for calories
Shuttle runs
Knees to elbows

62/49/49/56 = 216

We worked in ‘teams’ on this one – basically we all did all the work we just rotated stations with our ‘team’ with teams all starting on different movements and rotating through in order.  Angie, Tim and I were a team and it was great.  I chose wall balls to start basically because I was standing beside them at the time, because they were first on the list and out of everything they were the ones I was least looking forward too – figured might as well get them out of the way first.  So glad we did because I couldn’t even have imagined doing them once we finished the knees to elbow.  They would have really hurt (more).  For the wall balls we could select the weight we used and the line we went to but had to stick with it.  I ended up using the 9kg med ball so I only went to the 8 foot line.  This was hard enough especially after ‘Randy’.

The row was fine.  The only down side was trying to get moving again after each 10 second rest.  Once you were going hard it was almost time to stop again.  I was hoping for 50 calories but came up about half a stroke short unfortunately.  Working on it.

The shuttle runs were awesome.  I kept pace with Angie and Tim on the first couple and then decided to try and keep pace with Tim for them all.  He got about a half length lead on me at times but I’d close in just before time ended so I was on pace until… until the last 20 seconds.  He shot straight out of the gate, full on and I went right with him.  Unfortunately he got one more rep in than me, though I was only half a length behind him he managed to just touch the wall when time ran out and I didn’t.  Boo.  Was definitely good tough and I was happy consistently getting 6 lengths per round until getting that bonus one on the last go.

The knees to elbows were truly horrible.  My hands were (are) killing.  Even though I had my hand grips on it was still really hard to hold onto the bar – between my lack of grip strength from ‘Randy’ and the (very) sore callouses on my hands from hanging off the bar so much this week it was a battle.  My abs also started to really feel it after the first few rounds as well.  I was quite happy when they were over and we were completely done for the day.

Cam came over for dinner and we did a good debrief on ‘Randy’ and more importantly feasted on bbq… steak and veggies, so happy.

My body is quite achy today from the last three days.  I’m back in tonight for what I hope is a chipper (was begging Coach Match for one as it’s been forever since I’ve done one) which should be fun.  Rest day tomorrow (Friday) and if the world doesn’t end then back at it again for Saturday’s Cooee Christmas WOD – ‘The 12 Days of Christmas’, one of my faves because of the excitement of drawing it out of a hat.  Then it will be a few days of rest and/or playing on my (new) SUP that is coming soon (hopefully it’s on a plane now).  Can’t wait as I saw a photo of it yesterday and it is AMAZING!

Also, huge, HUGE congrats to Angie who killed her goal of getting unassisted pull-ups by the end of the year – she not only did one, but she did two’s and three’s a few times and made it look easy at that.  Awesome work chick!  I knew you had it.  Next pull-up WOD… Rx!!

Angie rocking the kipping pull-ups! Source

The graphics on the new SUP

11/19 – (Half) Cindy with a Twist

Been a bit of a delay in posting as there was a lot to write about the Affiliate and it’s been a crazy busy week so there is a lot to catch up on.

Monday it was back to the box and though my legs were still a little cranky my shoulder felt no worse than it did going into the weekend so that was a bonus – still hurting but on track to getting right.

Strength
60 sec bench press

I skipped this portion of the workout as I knew that it wouldn’t be good for my shoulder – baby steps easing back into things.  I know better than to let my ego get in the way.  I did a bit of shoulder work instead and cheered on Kayla when she went.

WOD
10 min AMRAP
5 pull-ups
10 push-ups (knees)
15 squats
Run 100m every 2 mins

6/19

I enjoyed this one though I mentally blocked out the fact that I was doing push-ups on my knees again.  Though it wasn’t that long ago that I was (still) doing push-ups on my knees it feels like a huge step back to go back there BUT… it’s for the best and I know this too.

Stimo was the smart one on this WOD and parked himself nearest to the door.  I should have done that as well but was in the middle of the room.  This was a bit awkward when I was trying to sprint out the door as I had to weave my way around people. Essentially it made me start off the run faster than I would have liked to get ahead and then chase Stimo into the box (where he’d instantly stop right in the way – ha!).  I managed to beat him in on the first run when we started evenly but on the next three he came in one or two steps in front of me and all I could hear was Coach Match’s – good work Stimo and this fueled me even more.  On the last run there was no way I was letting him come in first so I really pushed the 100m and beat him. It was satisfying. (um, why yes, I *am* competitive… haha).

The pull-ups, push-ups and squats were all fine.  I didn’t push as hard as I did on the last go of Cindy and I think mostly did sets of 3-2 on the pull-ups, wasn’t too bad through the push-ups as I was on my knees and then had full reps on the squats.  Kayla called me out (which is good) on the squats saying that I wasn’t always getting full depth.  From then on I really tried to and thought I was though afterward she told me that I would be good for a few rounds and then not get deep enough again.  She recommended that I video myself doing a WOD with a lot of squats so I can actually see if for myself.  I need to do this.

When we can back from each run we started wherever we had left off in the round – a couple of times I had to come back in and start into push-ups and this was probably the hardest since all the blood was flowing to my legs on the run.  The sudden transition was a bit of a shock. 

Murph is this weekend and I’m (still) planning to do it but I need to be prepared to scale back as the WOD progresses if I feel my shoulder acting up.  I’ve avoided push-ups again this week, subbing them out because that is the ‘crunchy’ feeling for my bicep/ shoulder so it will be interesting to see how it goes.  Must not let ego win.  That’s a hard lesson.

10/20 - Saturday SUP5000 (the second)

Saturday morning I was up bright and early for the second SUP 5000 hosted by Stand Up Surf Shop and DC Boards.  The name is a little misleading for the ladies as we only do 3000m – the boys get the extra 2000m race making it a 5000m for them.

My recap of the inaugural race can be found here.

Once again, the format (for the ladies) was as follows:
1500m race
paddle back easily to start
1000m race
paddle back easily to start
500m race

The combined total from your placings in the three races determined the winner (lowest total wins). 

Once again Michelle led the pack and not just by a little but she set a furious pace that no one could keep up with and the battle for the rest of us was far behind.  There were some fierce battles as well.  In the first race I think I placed 3^rd or 4^th unable to chase down Jade but close to Ann (I think I might have passed her near the end).  I had a horrible start and was chasing the pack though thankfully I have sufficient endurance to easily last the 1500m and make up some ground at the back end of the course. 

The second race was by far the hardest for me.  It was neck and neck between Jade, Ann and myself for 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th.  I think I beat them both at the line but barely and I had to work really hard for it.  I definitely felt my shoulder rebelling – we had a side wide that made for a lot of paddling on the left.  Going into the final race I knew I needed to have a good start as it was only 500m and not much distance to make up any ground as I could from the previous two.  I think it went well and my endurance got me to the finish in second place – not as tight as the previous race either so it hurt a bit less.

At the end of the day I placed second with Michelle in first and Jade  in third.  It was a great day all around.  The turnout was amazing – seemed like double the people from the first go round.  Angie came out and raced my board (her third time on a SUP I think) and she did amazing and I think is getting hooked on the sport which I’m super excited about.  The sun was shining and the wind was (mostly) at our backs which made for a great day on the water.  I’m a bit sore and a little sunburned but it was worth it.

Some pictures from the day – ‘borrowed’ from the SUP forum, thanks Roger and your crew on the finish line boat and to all the SUPWA board members and those who volunteered on the day – without you guys these things wouldn’t happen…and the biggest thanks to Stimo for letting me use his DC12'6" race board.  I love it and am looking to pick up a DC board of my own in the near future.  Check out the DC website.

Loving the DC board (thanks Stimo)

The smile says it all!

Michelle, Me and Jade

10/2 - 21/15/9 day

Back at the box and with Match and Kirst away and a uni break we had Jack coaching rather than Tim (he worked out with us instead).  It was a fun little change up though unfortunately still included shuttle sprints on the back parking lot lines. 

Warm-up 
Run to back fence
10 shuttle sprints (parking lot lines)
Run back to box
Hamstring stretch across box
Quad stretch across box
(young and spritely) bear crawl across box
Lunge stretch across box
3 rounds:
10 air squats
5 pushups (normal, wide, narrow)

Pretty solid warm-up and I really like the mini-WODs within them but I loved the partner warm-up we did last week.  Definitely added an extra element of ‘fun’. 

WOD 
21-15-9
Knees to elbows
Burpee box jumps
Hand-release push-ups
KB thrusters
Sit-ups
Squats 
19:34 Rx/20” box/12kg KB

This was a tough/ long one.  Knew that going in as all 21-15-9 rep schemes are harder than they sound.  I find knees to elbows harder than toes to bar but pushed through them.  I was pretty slow though because of my (as usual) hurting hands.  Good thing I had shaved off my callouses after Monday’s WOD or there would have likely been ripping.  The burpee box jumps told me just how tired/sore my legs were.  The jumps were a killer and there were more than a few times when I thought I’d face plant – especially on the way back down as I dropped to the floor fully with my face quite close to the box.  The hand release push-ups I did all Rx.  The last round I started them on my knees and after 3 reps realized this and so I didn’t count them and did 9 more Rx.  I used a bit wider positioning on my hands which made them feel a bit easier and didn’t ‘crunch’ my shoulder so much.  The KB thrusters were the worst/ hardest part of this WOD.  I knew they would be.  We used a KB in each hand and I did the first 21 with a 10kg KB and then upgraded to a 12kg KB for the 15/9 rounds because Angie was beside me and using the 12kg so figured I should push myself a bit more as well.  It hurt but I made it through it.   After all the other stuff, the sit-ups and squats were like gravy… just something to be added on but didn’t really account for much.  Managed to get through them unbroken and quite quickly.  In the first round however I did 25 sit-ups as early on I was trying to ask Coach Jack to grab the 12kg KBs for me and I was so focused on keeping count while communicating that I somehow managed to forget the rep scheme and figured 25 was a pretty standard number.  Ooops, just a bit closer to that six-pack I guess.

Apparently I don’t entirely pay attention/ quickly forget instruction when I get into a hard WOD because for some reason as I was on the round of 15 knees to elbow I thought we had a 15 minute cut-off and when I glanced at the clock and saw that almost 11 minutes had already passed I figured it was impossible but I was determined to try and get there so I sped up at this point.  Found another gear (which was a good thing of my forgetting) and pushed.  I think it wasn’t until I was near the end of the burpee box jumps that I thought ok, maybe it was a 20 minute cut-off and then shortly thereafter realized it was in fact a 25 minute cut-off.

How I broke the workout down – I did as many knees to elbow as I could without coming off the bar – as the rounds progressed the reps increased a bit because my hands I think just got used to it.  In the later rounds though the muscles were starting to cramp (after the sit-ups) which was a killer but still, I just kept at them even though it was slow going.  The burpee box jumps I just kept moving through all the rounds which is really how this goes.  I know I got slower near the end but there wasn’t any stopping.  The push-ups I managed in reasonable chunks (surprisingly).  I did 11-10 in the first round then I think 8-7 and 5-4.  I started to struggle towards the last few reps but managed to push them all out (and not on my knees either for a change).  The KB thrusters were hard.  I knew this going in because we did push-presses with 2 x12kg KBs at the primal throwdown and it killed.  As I mentioned I did the first 21 with 10kg KBs – 11-5-5 in terms of reps then went up in weight and did 8-7 and then 6-3.  Shonelle was cheering me on in the last set and told me to get the first 5 and so I did six because I could and knew that having to finish out with 3 would be a heck of a lot easier than 4.  I finished strong and under 20 minutes which was great.  Definitely a challenging WOD with no really places to stop and hide.  

Muscle-up School 
Reverse pull-ups on rings
1-1

Shonelle roped me into doing this again.  She’s a killer that girl.  We each did two reverse pull-ups then she continued on to some ring holds but I gave up at that point.  Everything was hurting so I went and rolled out instead. 

Mobility 
Rolled calves
Rolled glutes

Both hurt a lot.  Lots of tender spots and though I did this for a while I could probably use an hour at least of each.  I think 10 minutes is not enough anymore.  I also should have rolled out my pecs/ lats but didn’t and am definitely paying the price for it today.

Today is a rest day. Was supposed to SUP tonight but my body is telling me rest is more important and given Stimo is also still hurting from his insane amount of self-programmed burpees on Monday I think it's best for us both.  Will be doing lots of mobilisation and getting to bed early.  I can't wait. 

WLC Day 18(?) 

Totally compliant on all things today.  It was another food swap day and I’m excited to dig into Angie’s paleo lasagna and Brenda’s lamb chops with yummy salads over the next day or two.  Last night I dug into my creation that I shared with them and hadn’t had any of yet.  It was a slow cooked mix of beef mince, stewed tomatoes (from scratch), zucchini, mushrooms, onions and lots of chili spice over a bed of cauliflower mash.  Yummy.

Water consumption was beyond the WLC challenge number of 32ml/kg (body weight) or as they said 0.5oz/ lb body weight (I mean who actually understands US fluid ounces anyway)… heh.  So by their (underestimated in my opinion) standards I need to drink approx. 2 liters of water a day which I typically cover before noon. Given that it’s getting hotter and I also crossfit on many days I probably need to be drinking double that number (which I do).  Anyway… definitely something to keep in mind given the ‘guidelines’ that are lacking in any real clarity.  Also, remember to drink more as well if you have coffee as this acts to dehydrate you also and you need to make up for it.