Monthly Archives: February 2011

Run, then run more

I’ve never run 6 miles before.

I’m going to do it in just a few weeks.  For time.

This year I signed up to run the Capitol 10,000 — commonly known as the Cap10K.  I had been planning to do it it last year, but pregnancy, and the torture of running kinda put a stop to it.

But now that running is no longer torturous, Jenny and I are going to run — and get a qualifying time.

I’ve only been running 5K distances, so Jenny and I decided we better start adding miles.  I met her at our usual spot on the hike and bike trail very early Sunday morning for a run.  This week we ran the loop between the South First Street bridge and the MoPac bridge — a total of 4.2 miles.

We stopped at both water stations, and I wish I had been timing us, because I don’t know how much time it took us to run that distance.  I’m guessing 45 minutes.  Next week I’ll use my stop watch.

But the big news of the day was the OTHER run I did — about 8 hours later.  I wanted to rest Monday, so I knocked off my LAST endurance workout of the challenge Sunday evening.

Run 2 miles for time

OK — this was it!  A test to see how far I’ve come in 8 weeks!  I did this same WOD the first week of the challenge.  And I ran 2 miles for time again in the Army PT WOD in week 3.  Could I beat my time?

I ran the same route through the neighborhood, and — drumroll, please! — a PR!

Time: 17:43
Average pace: 8:48 min/mil

There is no doubt that I have gotten faster over the course of this challenge.  As I was celebrating, Andy said, “Now you just need to shoot for 400m in 90sec.”

Yes, Andy, but I’m going to enjoy my success for a few days before pushing toward the next goal.

Getting dirty at UTB

There is one thing certain about my gym’s free boot camp workouts — you’re going to get dirty.

Just about every month, Crossfit Central hosts free workouts at their two indoor facilities and one boot camp-style workout under the bridge along the Town Lake hike and bike trail.  They call it UTB, and since current clients DON’T have to bring a friend to UTB, it’s a great way to fit in an extra workout.

Four members of my I AM team showed up Saturday morning for the February UTB, including me.  There was a chill in the air, but I knew I’d get warm fast, so I threw my white jacket next to a pillar and took my place behind one of the dozens of medicine balls that had been laid out in rows.

Just to give you an idea of the locale — it’s right by the lake, in the dirt and grass, under the pedestrian bridge that goes across the lake under the MoPac bridge.  It’s loud from all of the highway noise, but a prime location to be SEEN by the hundreds of runners and walkers that pass by during just that hour.

And it’s a great way to get dirty.

I had leaves and dirt all over my clothes after just the warmup.

The coaches had us do all sorts of stuff — from jumps to around-the-worlds with a partner to something that I can only describe as team plank holds and duck-duck-goose.  The real meat of the hour was this:

For 1 min, 45sec, 30sec do the following with 1 min rest in between rounds:
Wall ball shots
Swings
Med ball wood choppers
Shoulder press with kettlebell
Squats
Pushups

When I say we got dirty — I mean it.  The med balls were covered in sand, and the sand would fall in your face for the wall balls.  And of course, my pants were covered in leaves and dirt from the push ups.

After we were done, I met Andy and the kids for a trade off.  Andy took Luke to a birthday party at the nearby Austin Science and Nature Center and Mads and I took off for the Farmer’s Market where we picked up eggs, grass-fed beef, mushrooms, liverwurst, kohlrabi and collards, and a cup of coffee for me.

Talk about an excellent Saturday morning.  Too bad I was too pooped from UTB to get in a home workout that I had planned to take care of for the challenge.

Ah well….

SINS Challenge and my goals

Stronger, faster, leaner.

Those words have been echoing in my head for the past 7 weeks.  Probably longer.

What do I want this year?  To be stronger.  To be faster.  To be leaner.

Seven weeks ago I set a number of goals for Crossfit Central’s I Am Crossfit Challenge.  I’ve reached a few, and while there is only one week left in the challenge — and I may not reach all of them — I WILL reach my goals at some point in the near future.

After all, they’re MY goals.  And MY quest to be stronger, faster, leaner does not end with this challenge.  I already have plans to do as many challenges as I can that my Crossfit gym offers, but what do I do until then?

I will rest up for a couple of weeks.  Let loose a little.  Have some wine.  But my goals will continue to be in the back of my head.

For several days now, I’ve contemplated joining the Strong is the New Skinny Challenge.  And I have finally decided to jump in.  I already blog about my workouts, food and goals — so why not continue to hold myself accountable?

I realize that my story of transformation from this point on my not be as dramatic as others.  I don’t have much weight to lose.  I have gained strength and endurance.  But many of my friends don’t realize how far I’ve come.  I decided to pull out a few old pictures to give you an idea of how much I have changed.

Cindy poses in front of the St. Paul skyline in 1997 or 1998.I can’t remember whether this was 1997 or 1998.  Andy and I were in Red Wing, Minnesota for a wedding, and we trekked up to St. Paul for the day.  It seems like I’m looking at a totally different person.

Close up of a young CindyI was 20 or 21 when this was taken very early in my relationship with Andy.  I was still in college, because I recognize the balcony.

Andy and Cindy dress up for dinner in 1996Wow.

I hope my sense of style has changed as much as my weight and appearance.  And yes, that is Andy.  This was the summer of 1996.  Nearly 15 years ago.  That is one chunk o’ love.

There are so many more.  Andy and I were laughing at all of the old photos last night as I tried to pick out the ones to display in this blog.  They are pretty hilarious.

Needless to say, I’ve come a long way:

Cindy holds the barbell at the top of a hang power cleanBut I’m not satisfied with just looking skinny.  I want to be strong.  I want to feel lean.  And I want to run fast.

And with I AM coming to a close, the next week is a great time to reassess my goals and set some new ones.  In the meantime, I’m going to finish this challenge out strong.  I’m still practicing my handstands and pushups.  My shoulder press goal will be tested on Tuesday morning during Crossfit Total.  And I can celebrate what I’ve already accomplished — pushups on my toes, jumping on the box, and running 400m in under 2 minutes — consistently!

I will be strong enough to write RX on the board next to my name most of the time.

I will be an athlete.

 

 

A WOD ‘sandwich’

I had a feeling Wednesday evening as we chose the workout with the 800m runs that, somehow, the fates would get together to make me run 800s again on Thursday morning.

Afterall, it’s been a week of running 800s.  Why stop now?

And damned if I wasn’t right!

For time:
800m run
30 pull ups
30 R-armed DB Thruster (M 35# / W 25#)
30 L-armed DB Thruster
30 pull ups
800m run

Zach, who was in a particularly peppy mood Thursday (what the hell was that about?!), described the WOD as a kind of sandwich.  The 800s were the bread; the first set of pull ups was the lettuce; the thrusters were the bread and cheese; and the other set of pull ups was the condiments.

Someone pointed out that we don’t eat bread, so Zach told us it was Whataburger and we had just been at the bars, drinking.  Oooo—kaaaaay.

Despite my attempt to sleep more the previous night, I had been foiled, and I was still really tired.  I got off to a slow start on the run, and by the time I got back someone had taken my pull up spot.

“Dude!”  I yelled.  The thief explained there weren’t enough pull up stations, but he moved anyway.  And I finally got started.

Someone also took my dumbbell, but Zach quickly pointed me toward another one.  I used the RX weight, and we were not allowed to switch arms.

Our assistant coach pointed out how I was losing form and getting inefficient with the move, and suggested I work on keeping my core tight.  I always laugh when people say stuff like that to me, considering how weak my abs are still, but I always try.

Anyway, this WOD was brutal, but I pushed through.

Time: 20:38

It wasn’t RX because I’m still using a band for pull ups.  One day.  One day.

Eat your heart (out)

I’m sure I shocked many of my Facebook friends yesterday when I posted this:

Cindy Brummer You would never believe what I just ate for dinner. I can’t believe it myself. In fact, just a year ago the idea would have given me a heart attack. Pun completely intended.

And then, after a couple of friends guessed, I wrote this:

Cindy Brummer That’s right, Fred. Heart. It was in our freezer — one of the few remaining cuts from the half calf we bought over a year ago. So I found a recipe on MDA and cooked it up. And you know what? It was pretty damn good.

I grossed out a few people.  Heart is not what most people would consider a good meal.  But I ran across this recipe on Mark’s Daily Apple, and since we just happened to have a beef heart in the freezer, I decided to give it a try.

The heart was already halved and most of the valves and connective tissue cut out, so I didn’t have to do much.  Slow-cooking it definitely made it tender.  I really enjoyed it, although, when I stopped to think about what I was eating, I had a little trouble getting it down.  So I just put it out of my mind.  Andy, on the other hand, just couldn’t put it aside, and he ate little of his portion.

I’m no dummy, and I didn’t tell Luke it was anything other than “beef.”  Which isn’t a lie.  And I don’t think I was withholding the truth either, because I rarely tell him where the cuts of meat that we’re eating were taken from the cow.  But that’s because I usually don’t know.  But Luke liked it and ate a bit of what he was served.

Anyway, the beef heart was good.  I loved grossing out my friends.  And I love trying new stuff.  I mean — it’s not like I was eating intestines or something.  We’re talking about a muscle!

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The drive to be stronger

Luke eats a cucumber chunk while posing next to Cindy and Madeline

Luke, Cindy and Madeline at the Austin Zoo

Children amaze me.

They seriously do.  And not just because they’re like little sponges and pick up “book” learning so quickly.  It’s their constant drive to be physically strong.

My daughter never stops moving.  I call her squirmy.  She’s 5 months old (as of Wednesday) and is rolling from her back to her belly.  She’s sitting up more easily.  It’s amazing that this creature, who hardly moved when she was born, is constantly striving to get stronger.

My son is no different.  At 4, he never stops moving.  He loves to show visitors to our home the gymnastics moves he practices almost incessantly: flips, headstands, balance beam and floor routines.  During my Wednesday workout with Steph and Beth, he ran with us on our 400m warmup run.

He’s signed up to run the Junior ‘Dillo in April.

It’s too bad many adults “forget” that drive to move.

I did for a long time.  I think I’m finally in better health than I was when I was a kid.  I remember running and running and running when I played soccer.

I think I’m faster now than I was then.  Maybe not by much.  But it’s a start.

On Wednesday, the Week 7 workouts we had to choose from both involved running.  Beth and I couldn’t agree on which one to do, so we let Stephanie be our tie-breaker.  This is what she chose:

3 rounds
800m run
8 Sumo deadlift high pulls
8 Front squats

The elite weight for this WOD was supposed to be 35# dumbbells.  I only have 1 30# DB, and we were confused as to whether you would use both on the SDLHPs or front squats.  Steph and I chose to use the 45# bars instead, and Beth used the dumbbell.  I measured out the distance.

It was A LOT of running.

Time: 14:30

We also did the strength component.

Push Jerk 7×1

Results: 55-60-65-70-75-80-85

I was tired.  The bar felt heavy.  But I think 80 may be a PR?  But at this rate, my goal to get an 80# shoulder press is looking grim.  I better rest up before I make the attempt on Tuesday morning.  Because, unlike my kids, I don’t have endless amounts of energy.

(I’m on Technorati now!  8HY4KWPQ34YC)

RX and the bruises to prove it

I did not relish the idea of my Crossfit class this morning.

For one, I’ve been up late just about every night for over a week, and I’m tired.  But also, I saw what the workout was Monday night when they tweeted it out.  We had only just done the exact same workout about 6 weeks ago, and I wasn’t thrilled with it then.

I half considered staying home.

“Christine”
3 rounds
500m row
12 Bodyweight deadlifts
21 Box Jump

I went anyway, obviously, but the whole way there I was half-hoping it had been a mistake and that it would be something else.

Nope.

Ah well.  I resigned myself and decided I was going to up the ante in the process.  Last time I used only 125# and I didn’t finish.  This time I was going to do it RX.

I happen to know my body weight, so I loaded 130# on my bar.  Heavy, but doable.  And the box jumps… well… I just proved last week I could do them.

Arm bruise and scrapeThe WOD tested me, for sure.  I fell on the box in a few seconds of not paying attention to what I was doing, and I really bruised up my arm.  It’s hard to tell from the photo. I can tell it will be very black and blue tomorrow — ’cause it hurts.

But I remembered reading that you have to immediately jump on the box again if you fall, so you can avoid that fear — so I did.  And it worked.  I finished the round and jumped through the 3rd round without fear.

Time: 17:23 RX

Ahhhh… it feels nice to write that.

Wait — why does this seem early?

Why is it that 5:30am on Tuesdays and Thursday seem absolutely normal, but 6am on Monday seems soooooo early?

Beth and I were wondering that very question as we met at Murchison Middle School’s track for our weekly endurance WOD on Monday.

It was dark, but not too dark.  And we weren’t the only ones taking advantage of it.  There were a few other folks out for a track workout.

I misread our workout when I first read it on Friday.  On Friday, it seemed simple.  easy.  On Monday, I realized it was not.

2 x 800m (rest 4 min in between)
2 x 600m (rest 3 min in between)
3 x 400m (rest 2 min in between)
3 x 100m (rest 1 min in between)

I’m so proud of myself for meeting my running goals for this challenge.  I’m managed to increase my speed and remain fairly consistent.  In fact, Andy asked me Tuesday morning whether I would be keeping my current workout schedule and if he could do it with me.  I told him yeah — and that a weekly endurance WOD would be part of it.

He didn’t look so thrilled with that statement.

But I digress.  Here are my times: 4:10 / 4:02 / 3:02 / 3:02 / 1:50 / 1:50 / 1:50 / 24sec / 25sec / 27sec

Paramount Break-A-Leg 5K 2011

My friend and running buddy Jenny puts the Paramount 5K like this — it’s the race for lazy people.

It’s held in conjunction with the Austin Marathon and Half Marathon.  It’s 3 miles versus 13 or 26.  It sure seems lazy on the surface.

But in reality, 5K isn’t anything to turn your nose up at.  It’s a great distance for people who want to be fit overall — not just have great endurance.  Plus it seems like EVERYONE is doing a marathon these days, and I hate following the crowd.  I’m OK with the 5K and 10K for now.

I like running the Paramount.  The course is good and it’s kind of cool to be there with all of those runners, feeding off of the excitement about the marathon.

Last year really sucked.  All I wanted to do was finish.  This year was different.  My running has improved, but I just wanted to have fun.  And it was.

Here are my stats.

My time was 29:46.  I was 286 overall.  Could I have run faster?  Yeah — I think so.  I wasn’t pushing myself like I could have.

But this run was a reminder that the 10K is only a month away.  I went home and signed up.  And Jenny and I are going to start increasing the miles.  I’ve never run 6 miles before.  This should be fun.

I snapped off a few photos after the race, once I met up with the family at the finish line.  see the guy in the Livestrong outfit?  Is that Lance Armstrong finishing the Half?

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Our paleo potluck

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My I AM Crossfit team gathered on Saturday evening to share some paleo food and some stories.  I was really worried, because so many people had things come up in the week before.  I kept thinking it would be just me and Andy and Luke and a huge pot of chili.

Fortunately, 5 of my teammates were able to make it (out of 12).  Believe me, we trash-talked the rest.  (Just kidding).  No. really, it was a great evening, and the food was amazing.

On the menu:

  • Bacon deviled eggs
  • Bacon-wrapped dates
  • Guacamole and vegetables
  • Apple slaw
  • Chili
  • Shrimp
  • Baked apples with raisins and nuts
  • Berries

(We forgot to serve the roasted cauliflower and pecans)

I didn’t take a lot of photos because I was holding the baby or eating or talking.  But here’s what I got:

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