Drum Roll Please

The results are in from my Spartan 300 Challenge and here's how it went down.  Woke up at 6:30 Saturday morning, didn't sleep well Friday night due to nerves so I was a little tired but excited.  Wasn't really sure about what I should eat but knew I needed something in my stomach so I had some green tea with honey and a banana with almond butter.  I rolled out at home and then made my way over to CFC to watch the heats before mine. 

At check-in I had to chose my competition level from beginner, intermediate or elite.  I knew that I was between beginner and intermediate but closer to intermediate.  I didn't want to sell myself short come the final challenge workout on June 26th because by then I will definitely be a solid intermediate so I went intermediate.  By going intermediate I would deadlift 65#, use the same weight for the floor wipers and 16 kg for the kettlebell press.  I knew the 65# weight for the deadlifts and 16 kg for the kb press would be no problem but I was worried about holding 65# over my head/chest while flat on my back and swinging my legs from the floor up to tap the weight on each side of the bar 50 times after doing 25 pull-ups and 50 pushups.

I arrived in time to see heat 2 and heat 3 compete and was so happy to see Annie and Lory there to cheer their fellow Crossfitters on.  It was great to have them there for feedback, advice and most of all moral support!  I was also stoked to have my fellow Spartan team member Jessica in my heat.

Coach Travis led us through a typical CF warm-up minus the run and went over the workout with us.  Then we were matched up with out counter and I was so psyched to get Carey!  She is an incredibly motivating and inspiring person so I knew if anyone could push me through this she could.  As she got my station set-up and walked me through it, my heart began to pound in my chest and the butterflies in my stomach started.  She led me over to the pull-up bar and helped me position my foot in the green band and I was relieved to see Annie and Lory's smiling faces standing right in front of me!  When I stepped into the band I realized that it was a newer band so my pull-ups would be super easy which made me feel like  would be cheating but I didn't have time to change bands so I had to go with what I got.  Big Mike started the count down from 15 seconds and all of the sudden this rush of adrenaline shot through my entire body and I felt like I was going to pass out, my legs and arms felt like noodles and I seriously thought for a moment I am not going to be able to do this but as soon as he said GO! I swung into action, it took a couple of pull-ups to get my rhythm down but soon I was knocking out pull-ups without a problem!  I was right about the band, I didn't need that much help so there wasn't a huge challenge and I finished pretty quickly.

I jumped down and headed over to my station for a sip of water and Carey got me started on my deadlifts, I knocked out 50 without a rest.  Afterward Annie and Lory said my back was as flat as a washboard and that my deadlifts looked really strong! 

It was time to knock out the pushups.  I have been working on doing my pushups strictly on my toes but knew at this moment that I needed to save my arms and shoulders for the floor wipers.  I started strong but lost steam pumping out 3 at time and then pushing back to rest as Carey reminded me to breathe deeply and counted down from 5.  Got those out of the way and moved on.

Next came the box jumps.  I hate box jumps because I'm afraid of falling, hitting my shins or worse my head or face and knocking out my front teeth so I typically use a 14" box.  The box I was facing was 20" and I told Carey that I would stepping not jumping.  One of my goals for this 7 week challenge is to overcome my fear of box jumps.  I got through the 50 step ups with Carey coaching me to open my hips at the top and moved on to the floor wipers. 

I took a sip of water and laid down on my mat, Carey hovered over me with the bar, told me that if I got to tired to tell her and she would take the bar and give me a rest then she said "Ready?" and handed me the weight.  When it dropped into my hands I thought "oh crap, there is absolutely no way I can hold this!" then I remembered everyone's advice to lock my shoulders in and to use them and my lats not just my arms to hold the weight so I plugged my shoulders into their sockets and immediately felt much stronger and more stable.  I knocked out 8 and asked Carey to take the bar.  Next set I got in 5 before I took a rest and stayed at that pace for a while but my hip flexors were talking loudly to me so I dropped down to 3 before a rest as Carey reminded me to breathe and counted down from 5 before handing me the bar again.  I finally finished the 50, got to my feet, ready for the kettlebell press.

I started with my right arm and knocked out 10 switched over to the left arm and knocked out 10 back to the right for 10 more then to the left for 10 I got to #38 and Big Mike called time.  Darn it!  Only 12 more presses and I would have been on to the last 25 pull-ups.  A felt a fleeting sense of disappointment but then realized what I had just done and felt a tremendous sense of accomplishment!  I am 43 years old, just 5 months prior was in the worst shape of my life and I had just done 25 pullups, 50 deadlifts, 50 pushups, 50 floor wipers (something I had never even done until that day!) 50 box step-ups and 38 kettlebell presses in 20 minutes.  That was a victory and deserved celebration!!!  YAY ME!!!

After a quick group picture I made my way down to the Farmer's Market to pick up my meat and eggs order from Richardson Farms and headed to Vinyasa yoga class.  I was on Cloud 9 with adernaline still coursing through my veins and a grin on my face from ear to ear.  I practically skipped from my car to the front door of the yoga studio!  When I got to the front desk to sign in they informed me that the class may have to be cancelled since the teacher was out of town and her sub forgot and left town too.  Most of the people there to take the class were students and friends of mine so I volunteered to teach the class to avoid cancellation.  They were are great group and very grateful for having a teacher. 

After class I went to Whole Foods to pick up lunch and then home for some R & R.  Around 5:00 I finally took a nap and then around 6:30 went for a 3 mile walk.  I could already feel the stiffness and soreness creeping into my body.  Mr. X and I ate an delicious steak dinner to celebrate.  My ribeye from Richardson Farms was INCREDIBLE!

Sunday morning I went to a Hatha Flow yoga class that I knew would be more gentle than the typical classes I attend, I just want to get my blood flowing, stretch and sweat a little to lessen the DOMS I knew were inevitable.  I was amazed at how hard it was for me to hold poses, my body trembling quietly in warrior poses and goddess squats. 

Last night we had a team potluck dinner meeting at Crystal's.  I took my spaghetti squash with meat sauce so that Jori could finally experience the yumminess of spaghetti squash.  Jessica brought a delicious salad, Jori brought Paleo Brownies, and Crystal grilled some chickem, squash and zucchini.  Jori and Lindsay shared their vision boards and goals.  My vision board is all laid out on my sofa waiting for a glue stick to secure it in place. 

We have yet to name our team so I sent out an e-mail to everyone today with my suggestion.  Since we are an all female team and this is the Spartan 300 Challenge, I suggest the name Team Gorgo in honor of the queen of Sparta who was the daughter of King Cleomenes I and the wife of Leonidas. Her son also went on to become King of Sparta. She was greatly respected for her intellect, political acumen and wisdom. She is mentioned by name in the writings of Herodotus and by Plutarch. Herodotus mentions her twice in the context of political interactions where she is present at court or in council and gives advice to the king or the elders. This either indicates that Gorgo was highly thought of by Herodotus who often left out the names of the female figures he included in his books, or that as the wife of Leonidas I, her actions and counsel were all the more noteworthy. She was a powerful figure and represented the strongest of female energy. "When asked by a woman from Attica, 'Why are you Spartan women the only ones who can rule men?', she said: 'Because we are also the only ones who give birth to men.'" So far I've heard back with a yes vote from Jori.

I woke up with the tightest hip flexors of my life and little soreness in my low back, I'm sure the culprit is the floor wipers from Saturday.  I'm looking forward to but dreading tonight's WOD at the same time. 

1000 m row
30 pull ups
30 wall balls
1000 m row

The pull ups are not the issue, it's the rowing in and the squats in the wall balls that I'm afraid are going to have my hip flexors screaming!!! 

Fuel Log for 5/7 - 5/9/10

Friday:

Breakfast 8:00 a.m.
3 egg whites
1/2 c chopped onion and green peppers
1 tsp coconut oil

Snack 10:30 a.m.
1/2 Cashew Cookie Larabar

Lunch 12:00 p.m.
1/2 lb baby back ribs
squash, zucchini, broccoli

Dinner 8:30 p.m.
hamburger patty
guacamole
mixed field greens
2 paleo margaritas

Saturday:

Breakfast 7:15 a.m.
1 banana
1/2 tbsp almond butter
green tea with honey

Snack 9:45 a.m.
Coconut Water

Lunch 1:30 p.m.
1/2 lb baby back ribs

Snack 3:00 p.m.
Chocolate Hazelnut Larabar

Dinner 9:30 p.m.
8 oz ribeye
spinach sauteed in olive oil
mushrooms sauteed in red wine and olive oil
2 paleo margaritas
1 glass of red wine

Sunday

Breakfast 8:00 a.m.
green tea with agave nectar
1 Cashew Cookie Larbar

Lunch 3:00 p.m.
6 shrimp sauteed in olive oil
salad of field greens, cabbage, beets and carrots

Dinner 7:00 p.m.
spaghetti squash with meat sauce
grilled squash and zucchini
salad of tomatoes, artichokes, mushrooms, olives in basalmic vinegar and olive oil
paleo brownie