Simply Tri: June 2012

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Crabbing & CrossFitting Weekend

CrossFitter vs. Ironman Triathlete

Over the weekend my brother, Simon and I treked down the shore to visit my parents and to celebrate Father's Day. On the drive down my older brother challenged my to a Cross Fit workout. He's been doing it for a year and loves the high intensity workout. Me? I'd rather run 10 miles than do pull ups. I can't even do one pull up if you asked me to right now. Sit ups? Sure, I can do them... but I haven't... in a very, very long time. Push ups? They go in the category if sit ups... except I have to do the "girly" ones.

So Saturday morning we woke up and even though it was a "rest" day for me, I eagerly awaited my Cross Fit fate. Our workout was: 200 meter sprint, 20 sit ups, 200 meter sprint, 20 push ups and repeat 3 times. Let's be honest. I was nervous. The sprinting I could do in my sleep, but the sit ups and push ups? Eek. I knew I was gonna be sore after this.

We hit our watches and off we went!

First run. Bring it BRO!

The only time I had a lead was in the first run.

1st run = 52 seconds 5:55 pace. Whoops. I went a little too hard here but I wanted to beat my brother
1st sit ups = 49 seconds. Not too shabby but my brother did them in about 30 seconds or less
2nd run = 1:00 7:20 pace. A bit slower here but I was trying to conserve some energy
1st push ups = 36 seconds. Full on girly mode

Is it over yet?

3rd run = 1:00 7:16 pace
2nd sit ups = 53 seconds. Shoot, slower than the first!

Seriously? Did he miscount his sit ups??

4th run = 1:02 7:25 pace. Yikes... getting a bit slower
2nd push ups = 37 seconds
5th run = 1:02 7:29. I was hurting here.
3rd sit ups = 51 seconds
6th run = 59 seconds 7:15 pace. OK pick it up, not much longer
3rd push ups = 35 seconds. Arms. Are. Hurting.
7th run = 1:01 7:16
4th sit ups = 51 - glad those are over with
8th run = 58 seconds 7:02 - last one, sprinted it out!
Last and final push ups = 31 seconds - my fastest of the day!

My terrible push up form on the last set, while my brother is finished.

I completed the entire workout in 13 minutes and 45 seconds. My brother finished at 13 minutes. I think I had him on the runs but he smoked me on the strength part. So yes, my brother is number 1 at CrossFitting!

Sweaty, tired and my bro is #1

Overall, it was a fun challenge and the almost 14 minutes went by super quick. I definitely should add more sit ups and push ups to my weekly routine, but, being time-strapped, that is always the first to go. I was really sore Sunday and Monday. My abs and ~~minuscule~~ pecs were on fire. Even my quads were tight during my Monday morning run. I guess that's what happens when yous print all out 8 times in a row!

After our workout, we ate, showered up and went to the bay to do some crabbing. I haven't been crabbing since I was a little kid so I was excited. It's kind of early in the crabbing season so you could only keep the crabs if they were 4 1/2 inches long. We weren't planning on keeping and eating them, we just wanted to have some fun.

What a beautiful day for crabbing!

Of course, Simon, who has never crabbed before in his life caught the most crabs! I caught one and my brother got nada. Ha Ha *a la Nelson from the Simpsons

Simon's first crab catch!

So of course, my Dad got Simon a prize for his catches.

My Pops holding a crab - eek!

Please meet the "Crab King!"

Crab King!

It was a really special weekend with my family and we definitely made some really nice memories. There's a couple of other things happening in my world at the moment... In 3 days I will be flying 2 South Africa for a 2 week vacation!! I'm super psyched!

The other thing is, if you check out my 2012 race calendar you might have noticed I added a little 70.3 into the mix. Bring on the hills of Timberman 70.3 in August! After Quassy, I knew that with consistent training I will be able to break 6 hours so I'm giving myself another chance to do it in August. When I get back from South Africa, I will have 5 1/2 weeks to consistently train hard. Work is pretty slow during the summer so that takes away added stress. I've been wanting to check out Timberman for a while and it winds up that my Coach is signed up too, so that's an added bonus. I could have waited til late September to do another half in Montauk, but I'm one impatient person so Timberman it is! I'll be out of the blogging world for a while so good luck to those who are racing Syracuse 70.3, Mont Tremb 70.3 and Coeur 'd Alene Ironman!!

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Quassy Race Non-Report

I am building a fire, and every day I train, I add more fuel. At just the right moment, I light the match.
~Mia Hamm

It's been a week since I crossed the finish line of my 5th Half Ironman. Rather than giving you numbers, reasons ~~excuses~~ and a long-winded race report, I'd like to think that the photos and the smile on my face will say it all. I had a strong race despite a 6 month training period that wasn't ideal. External factors lead to inconsistency and my fuel was low. I finished in 6 hours and 11 minutes, only 4 minutes slower than last year. But more importantly, I appreciated every single second of those 6 hours and 11 minutes. I smiled, I talked to the other athletes, I thanked every volunteer and police officer I could and I thought about how blessed I was to have a body and the will to put myself through this grueling test. I may not have broken 6 hours like I would have wanted. But on that day, in those moments, I was a truly happy girl... swimming, biking and running my way to the finish line.